38. Story of My Life

By Lucy Score (541 pp)

I bought the actual paperback of this book and it's very pretty with illustrated edges (I don't know what the real term is.) This a contemporary romance by a popular author that I was not familiar with. The story is about a successful romance novelist who goes through a nasty divorce and loses her writing mojo so she impulsively moves to a small town where she crosses paths with the Bishop family including sexy brother Cam and there is an immediate attraction. They decide to have some no strings fun and if you're a romance reader you can guess what happens next. It took me a little bit to get into the book -- I didn't get the tone right away and the heroine felt messy for the sake of messy and the hero seemed grumpy for the sake of being grumpy. But as the story went on, it was really funny and cozy with lots of great side characters and I enjoyed a great deal.

This is my last book of 2025. I only read 38 books but I read quite a few longer books and met my vague goal of 15k pages.

Happy reading in 2026.

37. Hamnet

By Maggie O'Farrell (372 pp, ebook)

I might be on track to read 40 books this calendar year. We'll see how the last couple weeks go. I had a mishap that has led to it being uncomfortable to sit for long so I'm not sure I can read as much as I would like since my favorite reading position in slouched in bed or on the couch. Bob gave this book to Mom and I know she really liked it. We talked about possible seeing the movie when Mom was in town so I hurried to read it. It is a fictional interpretation of what happened to Shakespeare's only son who died at 11 and is told through the POV of his wife who in this story has some supernatural tendencies. It's a very literary style and initially I enjoyed it but to be honest, it got a bit tedious for me. Didn't love it as much as I wanted to and as of this writing, I have not seen the film.

36. The Magpie Lord

By KJ Charles (271 pp, ebook)

This was another Fated Mates deep dive episode. What a treat to discover this author. The book is a Victorian fantasy romance. Lord Crane has inherited his family's estate/title after his father and brother both die under magical circimstances. But also they were terrible people. Lord Crane also suffers from a magical problem and needs to hire a magician named Stephen Day to figure it out. Only Stephen has a bitter past with Crane's family and comes to the job reluctantly. This story has powerful magic, creepy bad people, magpies. Sweet romance to see these two fall for each other while trying not to. Can't wait to read more books by this author.