For What It's Worth


Monday, January 20, 2020

Monday Minis…



Well, I haven’t done one of these in a really long time. I’m maybe…hopefully…getting back into a reading groove. Sadly, nothing has been WOW for me yet but I think the following books were all solid reads.


Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn ~ Goodreads
Source: Library – audiobook

My thoughts: This is the *IT* book right now and I adored the premise. Meg does hand-lettered, custom planners for NYC’s elite and had secretly encoded messages in her wedding packages previously. One of those clients was Reid who caught the message that his upcoming marriage was a mistake.

A year passes and Meg is suffering from creators block as she tries to resist adding more messages in her lettering while Reid is a numbers guy stressed out over his job and a reluctant resident of the city – but together they find inspiration and more walking the streets of New York.

This is a lovely, slow burn story/romance. Meg & Reid are both so pragmatic and a little sad yet perfect for each other. I love how Meg sees the world in bold swoops of letters & Reid sees things in numbers and patterns.

However, they are both so…uptight isn’t quite the right word…but proper? Prim? I don’t know – they lacked personality for me other than always feeling hurt and on audio that came off as sad. And at 11+ hours… it started making me sad.

I so wanted Meg to embrace her coded messages in her hand-lettering. I thought that was so cool! Nothing to be ashamed of. There are also several big blow ups and twists by the end and I guess they were necessary for character growth but came out of left field for me.

It’s a case of me expecting the book to have more whimsy (about the lettering & NYC) based on reviews that I had read, rather than a women’s fiction vibe, but it had important messages about standing up for yourself, evolving friendships and asking for what you need from those you love. If you love slow burn romances with a focus on craft and detail – both personal and professional - this is the book for you.

Finding Mr. Better-Than-You by Shani Petroff ~ Goodreads
Source: ARC provided by the publisher – Swoon Reads

My thoughts: Cam is dumped her senior year of high school by her boyfriend of 3 years and hatches a plan to follow her rom com movies and catch herself a new guy to make her ex - Marc jealous.

Don’t roll your eyes – this is the rare YA non romance book. Despite the description, Finding Mr. better Than You turns out to mean learning not to shape your entire life around a boy/girl friend, learning to be a better friend and to forgive and let go. This is a lighter read but full of positivity and great messages for all teens.



Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec, Andi Arndt ~ Goodreads
Source: Library – audiobook

My thoughts: Heidi is an out of work kindergarten teacher who accidentally starts a podcast – Heidi’s Discount Erotica - while drunk and drops all the truth bombs about her crush on her next door neighbor and (non existent) sex life.

Shockingly, she develops a growing following. Her new job at an audiobook recording studio, where they record steamy romance novels, sets Heidi on a wacky fun filled path where she learns to say dirty words, talk (coherently) to her sexy neighbor and become more confident in her own skin.

Heidi’s parents are incredibly overbearing and that usually drives me up the wall but I think it was resolved really well.

This veers very close to far fetched ridiculousness a few times but I think that’s what they were going for and embraced it with a wink to rom com readers.

I’m really enjoying this trend of using romance novels to empower characters without making fun of the genre or it’s readers.

What have you all been reading and loving? Hit me up with your recommendations!

A few books I have coming up are Lucky Caller by Emma Mills, Girls With Razor Hearts by Suzanne Young & Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams.

26 comments:

  1. My enjoyment of both Love Lettering and Mr. Better-Than-You came from first adjusting my expectations. Neither were full on romances, though they had romantic elements (Love Lettering more than Mr. Better-Than-You), but both came with great messages and were entertaining for me.

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    1. I think with Love Lettering I was expecting her to embrace the hidden messages Instead of being so down on herself. I still liked it - just not as much as I thought I would.

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  2. I'm also getting back into the reading groove so it's nice to see I'm not the only one getting back into the swing of things. I'm sorry to hear Love Lettering wasn't as big a hit for you as it was me, maybe it was the audio? Oh well, you can't win them all. I loved that Love Lettering made me want to crack out my bullet journal and get all creative, it had a creative spark in there somehow. I'm excited to see your thoughts on Lucky Caller, I love Emma Mills books.

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    1. I'm so unlike Magda - I'm not artistic in any way and I'm not a planner or that precise so there was a bit of a disconnect event though I liked her.

      I'm hoping to read Lucky Caller this week.

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  3. Oh yes they really went for ridic and I loved it

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    1. That's a fine line for me but I think they handled it fairly well.

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  4. Great mini reviews. I have been lucky this year to have some wow reads, but I have had some okay reads too. But these sound like solid stories to enjoy.

    I really loved Toxic Game by Christine Feehan, The Will by Kristen Ashley, and Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross

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    1. Thanks for the rec's! I had a good reading year as far as quality in 2019 so I'm hoping for the same this year.

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  5. I ended up LOVING Love Lettering. Yes it's slow, but I just loved listening to the personal growth and learning to love yourself parts, too. I also loved HEIDI and my favorite lately is Get a Life, Chloe Brown.

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    1. I was expecting a bit of a different story from Love Lettering so I think I wasn't in the right frame of mind and I'm REALLY different from Magda. But I did like it!

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  6. Heidi's Guide looks super cute! I feel like that's one I may actually need to check out.

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  7. All three of these are appealing, thanks for sharing your thoughts

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  8. I've been too distracted with getting all this stuff loaded onto my TBR to actually read! I've been trying to get work done around the house as well which is driving me nuts!

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    1. I feel this - even if it's for different reasons lol

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  9. I’m excited for Love Lettering. I pre-ordered a physical copy since there was an nice offer with it and just received it last week. It just sounds right up my alley. Fingers crossed it doesn’t disappoint. I thought Heidi’s Guide was fun but it definitely veered into the silly realm at times. Heidi’s (over)reactions to the *gasp!* sex scenes in the books was so ridiculous. It’s like, okay are you actually a grown adult? Or a pre-teen Amish girl who really is scandalized but such things. *insert eye roll*

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    1. I liked it! I was just just expecting a different one I guess. I saw the edition you got and it fits with the theme so well!

      Heidi got a bit wacky. I stuck with it and enjoyed but it was a close call lol

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  10. I like the premise of Heidi's guide, though I don't know that it would be a good fit for me or not. Love Lettering sounds really good - sorry it was a bit more sad than you'd hoped for!! I hope you find a WOW book soon.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. Heidi was fun but really rides close to edge of over the top wacky if that's not your thing.

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  11. Hmmm... I'm looking forward to Love Lettering and like slow burn romance just fine but would have a problem with women's fiction if I was expecting a romance so I'm glad to have the warning!

    I hadn't heard of the others...
    Glad you're slowly getting the reading mojo back!

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    1. It's still a romance! Just super slow burn and more about her growth. My bigger problem was that I was hoping it was ABOUT her hidden messages - not her beating herself up over it.

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  12. I haven't heard of any of these before, but they sound like they are all pretty fun, light hearted and good reads. I hope you will have one with a WOW factor for you soon though!

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    1. Love Lettering was a little sadder than I expected but they were all pretty good.

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  13. I love the title of Finding Mr. Better Than you! 😀

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    1. It was really cute too. A rare YA where the girl realizes friends and the *right* boy are more important than just having a boyfriend because you feel like you need one.

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