Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre in Books
Jun 10, 2021
"Our theater's cursed. That's the rumor, anyway. Strange things have been happening here for years. Unexplainable things."
This book wins the award for one of the most stressful openings ever, as Mel's love life falls apart during an actual show. I was sweating bullets on her behalf. It's a very theater-oriented book and if you like drama or Les Mis, you will adore reading it. Robin Talley writes in her very sweet author's note that she took inspiration for the plot from her wife, who is involved in the theater--totally adorable.
"All right. So be it. If I fall in love, the musical's doomed."
As with nearly any Talley YA read, LOVE CURSE is filled with wonderful diverse representation, cute high school kids, and a sweet love story. There's some high school drama, of course. Here there's much ado about a curse--sometimes too much for this adult--but I could completely see my theater friends in high school being completely into something like this in high school.
As for Melody and Odile, I adored them. Mel put theater first above all and Odile felt pressured as her acting career took off. I would have liked a little more buildup to their love story, but their romance was really touching. I love how Talley always makes it okay to be queer, especially for teens, in her books and works through coming of age and/or coming out in approachable and realistic ways.
Overall this is a cute theater-themed read filled with diverse characters and a touching love story. 3.75 stars, rounded up.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Escorted (Escorted, #1) in Books
Jan 6, 2021
I loved it from the start, when Lori's worrying over meeting Ander and phoning her cousin for advice, to finish, when they are taking things slow and explaining certain points about their times together.
It was funny in places and romantic.
Reading how Ander's changed as he got to know her more was really sweet but Lori was a bit too blind to it from early on and I wanted to scream at her. She eventually realised but by then she was determined to push him away... *sigh* Lori...
Everything worked out in the end, though, so yay!
I devoured this in one sitting, which shows just how into the book I was (finishing it at 1am this morning), and I look forward to reading more from the author.
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Debbiereadsbook (1303 KP) rated Courting Mr. Cutthroat (Campy Romances #3) in Books
Oct 31, 2021
I enjoyed this, it just didn't blow me away.
It's a lovely sweet, small town, second chance (kinda) romance, with some steam, but not too much.
Cutter's art sounded interesting, and I googled nuts and bolts art to see what came up, and I loved them!
I liked that Gemma still held her crush for Cutter, even after all this time. And Cutter too, to an extent, held his feelings for Gemma but it takes time for him to fully admit to them and give in.
I loved that, while Cutter and his brothers appeared to have everything, being born into wealth, it's clear that money doesn't really buy you happiness.
It was a nice book, and someone will love but I couldn't, and for that I'm sorry!
3 solid stars
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