35. Guarded by the Spider

By Cassie Alexander (346 pp, ebook)

I have heard of these monster romances and thought I would check one out and sorry, not for me. No judgement! I think people should read and enjoy whatever they want but this was too much for me. There's a man-spider bodyguard sent to retrieve a kidnapped billionaire's daughter who they assume is dead. She is not and she and the bodyguard have to escape danger while being super hot for each other. Somehow it turned out I was always reading the super steamy stuff on the bus.

34. Love Lettering

By Kate Clayborn (303 pp, ebook)

Another contemporary romance. In this one Meg is become local famous for doing hand-lettered planners and journals. She used to do wedding materials and as the book opens, the groom, Reid, from her last job comes in with the wedding program and asks her how she knew his marriage would fail. Pretty good opening, huh. He ended up not getting married and they slowly get to know each other. Then there's a big dramatic thing that they have to overcome if they will end up together. I liked this one - there is some wonderful friendship stuff and great setting in NYC.

33. Spoiler Alert

By Olivia Cade (409 pp, ebook)

This is another contemporary romance and I loved the beginning. It's about a super famous actor in a fantasy tv series who after a social media kerfluffle asks a fan on a date. The fan, April, is a woman who write fan fic and does cosplay. The set up is so fun but the longer it went on, the most angsty and dramatic everything got. By the end it was hard to root for the main characters. Still, I would read this author again. There was some fun dialogue and characterization in there.

32. Wicked Deeds on A Winter's Night

By Kresley Cole (401 pp, ebook)

Another in my Kresley Cole 3-pack. This one isn't that much different than the other one. There's a werewolf with a cartoony Scottish accent and the fated mate has some kind of powers that she hasn't fully understood burbling under the surface. This one threw in a lot of world building and a lot of characters and factions and creatures. Maybe if I read all the books in order it would be okay but at times I couldn't keep up. Perfect fun reading for the bus.

31. In the Unlikely Event

By Judy Blume (512 pp ebook)

It's Judy Blume! If you haven't seen the documentary about her, prioritize at once! Most of this story is set in the 50s in Elizabeth, New Jersey where there are 3 tragic plane crashes within 2 months. It sounds like an insane plot device except this really happened. Judy Blume grew up in Elizabeth. The story follows a collection of families and characters and has lots of 50s specific details and ends at an event in the 80s to wrap up some story. It took me a little bit to connect with it but ultimately I enjoyed it.

30. A Shadow in the Ember

By Jennifer Armentrout (647 pp, ebook)

I have been wanting to try this author for a long time and really enjoyed this book. It's a fantasy where the MC was chosen at birth to fulfill a duty that will save the land. She's supposed to seduce the Primal of Death but there are complications. It's a tough book to summarize in a few sentences. She and the Primal finally meet and everything is not what it seems. Also, things get steamy. It got long for me and I'm not sure if I will continue the series but I will try this author again for sure.

29. The Friend Zone

By Abby Jimenez (386 pp, ebook)

A contemporary romance. Kristen is straight-forward, "what you see is what you get person" -- I enjoyed this aspect of her character. She meets Josh who is very easy going and hilarious. Somehow they are connected by mutual friends, I can't remember the details. I loved the interaction between the characters and how they gradually fell for each other. But this book falls into extreme drama and angst and one of those "if they just talked about it" issues they might have sorted things about soon. Still enjoyed.

28. A Hunger Like No Other

By Kresley Cole (410 pp, ebook)

One of the drawbacks of not doing these little updates until months after I read the book is that I lose some of the details. A friend got me into th eFated Mates podcast so my TBR book pile has been growing like crazy. I have never read this author and grabbed a 3-pack on sale. This one is about a werewolf who has been tortured by vampires who learns that his mate is a vampire who wants nothing to do with him. He spends most of the book trying to convince himself and her that this is how it is. I enjoyed it enough -- there's humor and drama and it was fun to read.

27. We Had A Little Real Estate Problem

by Kilph Nesteroff (336 pp ebook)

Bob gave me this book. It's about Native Americans in comedy and starts back with the wild west shows and spends a lot of time with Charlie Hill who had a big career starting in the 70s. He influenced a lot of later NDN comedians. I loved the first 2/3s of the book. There was history in there that I was unfamiliar with and I was impressed with the early comedians breaking ground and representing NDN people. It got long for me near the end.

26. Secrets of Shooting Star Lake

By Susanna Strom (318 pp)

Another book purchased at the local author book fair. Paranormal romance! Shifter romance isn't my favorite but I enjoyed this one. In this one Marit and her sisters have a bakery and have inherited a lake cabin from Grandma. The pack needs the lake house to keep their compound safe. They meet and sparks fly, even though it isn't a good idea. Loved the setting and characters.

25. From First Breath to Last

By Dede Montgomery (104 pp)

I went to a local author book fair and this is one of the books I bought and having a great visit with the author. It's lovely mother-daughter memoir. The mom, Patty, wrote a memoir and the author sorted through this plus her mother's journals and other writing and added her own memories. Most of it takes place different areas around the Pacific Northwest. Patty lived during a time when women's roles were just starting to shift and she pushed against that. And later the story is relatable as Dede deals with aging parents. Really wonderful book.

24. Dear Enemy

By Kristen Callihan (393 pp, ebook)

I love this author. This is a romance about Macon and Delilah who met growing up. They did not get along and actively despised each other but also he dated her troubled sister as a teen. They are brought back together when the troubled sister is in trouble again and Delilah, now a successful chef/caterer, has to bail her out or else Macon, huge TV star in a Game of Thrones type show, is going to call the police and send troubled sister to jail. There's a lot of drama in this story that is tough to sum up in a sentence but needless to say, Macon and Delilah learn there was a lot of misunderstanding from their youth and now they are into each other. What will happen?