RLbooks (in and out) > Recent Status Updates

For those who enjoy it, some Stuff Your Kindle Day books are already available for free even though tomorrow's the day! I'm not saying I've already downloaded over 10 books...

Always a sucker for scenting and scent marking. Their first time is awkward AF but still hits that spot.

Loving the BFF banter!

Whether you're celebrating a holiday today/tomorrow or just enjoying the last week of 2023, I hope all of my GR friends have an amazing end to December! ❤️ Maybe even fit in some last minute awesome reads or find something that looks fantastic to add to the TBR for 2024.

I'm spending time with family, trying to last minute hit a goal, planning 2024 book goals (maybe more BRs coming), and generally trying to relax.

I intentionally don’t have Kindle Unlimited for the first time in almost six years! Going to start 2024 focused on what I own and what I can get from the library for a bit. Hopefully this lessens my choosing anxiety…🤞

This book should not be as long as it is. A wonderful book boyfriend can’t balance out a too long page count.

“There’s a difference between invisible and insignificant. And you, Annie Smith, are neither. You’re not just Annie. You’re not just anything. You’re not a mirror, reflecting what’s around you. You’re not a window—an empty necessity. You’re stained glass—broken and shattered but beautiful and whole. Divinely complex.”

🫠

“So, Miles Zhou, you used to party like a rockstar, winning MMA fights and celebrating with a different woman in your bed every night, and now you’re stuck babysitting a romance author with crippling anxiety.” She clicked her tongue. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
Goddamn, I wanted to kiss her again. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be, Annie Cakes.”

Some parts of this book are a little too meta since it’s a romance about a romance author. Her background for why she has anxiety about being an author is also a little odd, but the humor and cuteness are thankfully overwhelmingly good.

“Butterflies are brave. It takes courage to work on yourself. It’s a painful, ugly process to grow into who you’re supposed to be. It takes strength to break a shell and become yourself.”

The h is the introvertiest introvert but she’s hanging with author friends and livening up and the way they’re talking about romance book tropes and asking what tropes the h and the H might be is hilarious.

He gets a fanny pack (that he calls an Annie pack) with supplies for her in case she needs anything while at a book signing (she’s an author). He’s a former UFC fighter turned bodyguard wearing a fanny pack proudly for his client.

“What you need is a pair of eyes and ears that are trained in threat assessment, a body capable of quickly and quietly neutralizing those threats, and a personality that’s a full-blown fiesta on legs.” I stretched my arms out. “Here I am, ladies. Triple threat.”

I love him 😂🤣

This H has major golden retriever energy from the start and I’m here for it!

Repeats to self: I cannot get sucked into GoodReads today, things to do.

*after an hour later on GR*

Repeats to self: I cannot get sucked into GoodReads today, things to do.

The last couple of the weeks of the year are so fun to see everyone's updates and getting those last minute reads in for the year! I'm not going to hit my number goal, but I'm still trying to hit my series continuation goal. Which means I might be slow to review (I have 3 I need to write as I type this) 😬🫣. I'm also thinking up what book goals I want to set for 2024 cause y'all, it's almost here!

I saw this conflict coming but I really like how it’s playing out. Verbal set-downs included.

“My world so often revolved around others; it was a rare gift to watch someone center me.”

The way this man cares for her 🫠. He has a ritual after caring for her another way 👀😉🔥 of washing her, brushing her hair, and lotion all over. The swoon is real.

Obsessed wealthy hero, caretaking small business owner heroine, food and acts of service as love languages, cute dog, excellent steamy times…but this is almost too sugary and a bit slow for my current mood. Hoping it clicks more soon, though it really is cute.

I know this is meant to be light and fast but even a funny novella can take a couple sentences to carefully address a main character’s life pre-apocalypse. Esp when a young child is brought up.

She chases away the first person she’s seen in months with an ax (for just trying to talk to her) because he could be a rapist or a cannibal and this is so oddly relatable if I was in a post-apocalyptic scenario. 😂

🎶 All I want for Christmas is a half star option, a half star option, a half star option. All I want for Christmas is a half star option so I can better review. 🎶

I know it doesn't work but I tried 😂

I wish there was a reset button for reading mood. A big red button we could push and *boom* slumps ended, moodiness halted, the whole TBR looks bright and shiny.

Completely unrelated - the weather's gloomy here, I dnf'd two books and then barely finished the next so the moodiness is strong AF right now.

Not sure if GoodReads just broke or if I’m being punished for trying to do so much catching up on friends and moved too quickly for this wonky app 🤣. Maybe both.

“I don’t think as a society we appreciate the mental effort that goes into planning three meals a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. An effort that falls disproportionately on women and mothers.”

I felt this so hard. I’m currently avoiding making a meal plan for this week 😂.

I'm clearing out my current KU so if I mark something as currently reading and then it disappears shortly after, no one saw anything...if you DNF a book before anyone notices, did it really happen?

So many cute scenes of the H and h with little kids, it’s so heart melty 😍

He made her a homemade peppermint mocha, is snuggling a baby, and recalls how he cried years ago when her mom made him a stocking with his name on it 🥺😭❤️

This is cute but I don’t 100% get why the h never made a move on the H. It makes sense why he didn’t, but both have crushed on each other for years (known each other since she was 19) and she’d flirt with him 🤔🤷‍♀️. She even lies to him that she thinks of him as a brother while wanting to jump him 🤦‍♀️.

Went right to the Chestnut Springs short story and it was delightful! Family moments with lots of sweetness and playfulness for each of the couples. And babies (well babies for some).