The Little Library Project

  When I say that Kindle Unlimited has changed my life, it is NOT an exaggeration. It has opened up a world of books that I had no idea existed and I just cannot believe what I have been missing out on.   It’s only been a few months but I have read a ridiculous amount of books from there already. And the one that sticks out for me the most? The Words.   I think I found this one on TikTok – I’d never her of Ashley Jade and this certainly wouldn’t have been a book I picked up without recommendation because this kind of cover is not the one for me.   But within a few pages I was so hooked.   I have no shame in admitting that if I was to admit to a weakness – it is tortured musician. My best friend will willingly regale anyone with stories of my ill-fated romances with guitarists, bassists or singers. So this book SPOKE to me.   Told in two person POV, The Words follows Lennon and Phoenix; from their days in high school, through to four years later, when Lennon...

  Tessa Bailey is a bit of a Queen when it comes to smutty rom-com and I was so excited to read Secretly Yours. I’ve read a few of her more recent books and I must say, they always deliver.   This one had grumpy/sunshine down to perfection and I’m excited for Unfortunately Yours when it comes out later this year.   Hallie is a gardener who leave chaos in her wake; whether it’s running to her own personal and uncoordinated work schedule, or stealing cheese from an unwelcome wine tasting business. Harbouring a crush on Julian; the heir to the local vineyard since school, she devises a plan that allows her to see him again when he comes back to town to write his novel.   With no memory of Hallie whatsoever, Julian is forever asking why on earth this unorganised and flakey woman has been sent to disrupt his highly scheduled and very precise life.   There were a couple of plot points that I found to be unbelievable but it didn’t ruin the story for me. Everyone needs ...

Ahead of reading Happy Place, I wanted to catch up on Emily Henry’s back catalogue and the last one for me to read was You and Me on Vacation. Thanks to Waterstones Double Points last bank holiday – I grabbed a copy to add to my collection and I couldn’t resist jumping int it as soon as I could.   12 years ago, Poppy and Alex met in their first years at University and made a promise to go on vacation together every year. But two years ago their trip to Croatia took a turn and since then, they haven’t spoke beyond the customary “Happy Birthday” texts.   But Poppy is in a slump. Reaching her end goal as a travel writer for an exclusive magazine, her adventures aren’t quite ticking the boxes they used to. She decides to reach out to Alex to see if they could reinstate their summer vacation and get back to her roots.   Having read Henry’s books in pretty much, a reverse order – it was interesting to see her writing style go back to the beginnings. I adored Book Lovers and Bea...

  I have no shame in admitting that I have been in constant pursuit of the ACOTAR-vibe since reading the series back in October. It was such an immersive series that I couldn't help but be lowkey obsessed and I've struggled to find anything that gives me similar feels since.  Thankfully, with my trusted Kindle Unlimited subscription, I've been able to sample a fair few series since and whilst they've been great - they haven't quite hit the mark.  Well, The Mist King series definitely comes pretty damn close. Fae - CHECK Series - CHECK 400+ page reads - CHECK Fated Mates - CHECK Smut - CHECK War - CHECK It's all there.  For me personally, the characters aren't written quite as well as I'd like. I want to hate some, I want to love some, but they lack the depth to really become invested in them.  But the twists and turns in the plot definitely make up for it.  I'd highly recommend this to fans of fantasy romance. There is a fourth (and final) book due o...

  If there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling and this, was stunning. The fairytale has always been my favourite and everytime I see a new version I'm guaranteed to add it to my To Be Read or buy it straight away. I can't help myself.  Told from the Beasts perspective, the insight into what brought him to the point where Isabeau (Belle) is introduced into his life.  Firstly, we learn about the years following the curse when he is learning about his new self.  "I did not know if I was a beast who dreamed of being a man, or a man who dreamed he was a beast" The isolation and introspection that he goes through in those years is wonderfully written. The whole book is extremely poetic in it's writing but this part especially was stunning.  There is no dialogue in the first few chapters, allowing the reader to truly feel that alone with just The Beasts thoughts.  I don't believe it's possible for anyone to not know th...

I think I've found my new favourite Tessa Bailey.  I really enjoyed It Happened One Summer and Hook Like and Sinker so when this one was on offer - I ust had to add it to my basket. But I definitely didn't expect to love it!  Taylor is taking her brother on vacation - they've gone all out on a beach house in Cape Cod but when they turn up, they made a gruesome discovery. A Bounty Hunter-come-Private Detective rocks up on his motorbike and the fun starts.  I won't lie - I think Myles is the reason I enjoyed this one so much. Long hair, tattoos and 2 wheels? Sign me up. Fox and Brendan were hot, but they didn't quite push the right buttons for me. And what I enjoyed most is that the murder mystery element of the story was just as good as the rest of it. I was definitely a little hesitant because, it takes a different type of skill, but Bailey aced it. 

In the words of one of my favourite book characters... Jesus H Roosevelt Christ. I'd read one of Simone's previous works with A Merry Little Meet Cute but nothing could have prepared me for the level of smut that I found in this book.  I loved it.  And I know this is going to sound like that cliche go to line ("But I watch it for the plot") but I genuinely did enjoy the story in this as well as the extremely graphic scenes. Tyler is a priest, with a vow of celibacy and a promise to his congregation that he's one of the "good" priests, he's lead very literally to temptation, and distraction, by a new parishioner. Unable to deny their mutual attraction to each other, Tyler is forced to confront his feelings and decide who he wants to commit his life to... God, or her? I'm relatively new to the smut genre of books but this ticked a fair few boxes. As always, read the content warnings before you turn a page though.   

In true Me style, I was in fear after Fairy Tale that I would enter into a reading slump. I mean, what on earth is going to match up to that?! So naturally, I launched straight into a new easy read.  This is a very new addition to my collection as it was purchased as part of my birthday book collection after seeing some really good reviews on Twitter from other bloggers.  A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating A Demon was exactly what you'd expect - fun and cute with plenty of grumpy/sunshine. Mariel is from a powerful and respected family of witches but she isn't quite meeting up to her mother's expectations. Whilst working on her spellcraft, she accidentally summons a demon - and he's a soul-bargainer and can't leave until she's promised him her soul.  This was a sweet read that is perfect for fans of The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling. And it gave me some very cosy Autumn/Halloween vibes. 

If someone told me 6 months ago that I'd be using Blue Alien smut as a palette cleanser between my books.. I probably would have laughed at them. But that's apparently the BookTok curse. Once again, I found myself diving into the world of Ruby Dixon's sci-fi romance series and this time we were following Kara's story. Once again, this is a FUN series. The format is similar in all of them, so it's not groundbreaking writing or literary fiction but it's good natured, easy to read and there's plenty of big blue alien d*ck.

All hail the book that dragged me out of my reading slump back in October!  After a bit of a dry couple of months bookwise - I'd seen a fair amount about the ACOTAR series on BookTok and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I ordered the first book but, resisted buying the rest of the series straight away. I think I was only about 100 pages in before the rest of the series was in my basket - thankfully delivered the next day (Thank you Prime). I devoured the whole series in a week and ever since, I have been reaching for the vibes that I got when I first read them. I've come close but so far, nothing has hit the mark. I wasn't planning on a re-read any time soon - I've got the Throne of Glass and Crescent City books waiting to be started BUT when I finally managed to talk the best friend into taking the leap, I couldn't resist joining her along for the ride. So as a break between my other books, and a reward for being so far into my 2023 reading challenge, I...

I'm not going to hark on about my love for Jenny Colgan because if you've paid any attention to my previous reviews - you'll know that I ADORE her. So when I saw that her next release was available to review on NetGalley I was crossing all of my fingers in the hope that I'd be approved... And I was! It was strange but lovely to be reading a stand alone novel of Jenny's after following the lives of those on Mure and Kirrinfief for so long but the story of Morag and her family in the highest reaches of Scotland still felt like home to me.  Following in the footsteps of my Father and Grandad, Morag is a pilot. But she long ago decided that the little runner plane that was used by locals to island hop wasn't enough for her. After an incident that's left her more than a little bit shaken, she's struggling to get back in the cockpit but thanks to the safe and dependable Hayden, things are looking up for her. But as her Grandad comes down ill with the flu, she...

After reading The Spanish Love Deception a few weeks ago - I couldn't wait to get stuck into this one and see Rosie and Lucas' story play out. Whilst I enjoyed watching Lina and Aaron's antics, there was an element of it that felt forced and I had hopes that The American Roommate Experiment would be a smoother story.  And it was. Definitely a slow burn, but it felt so much more natural and organic in the way their relationship developed.  Rosie is classically awkward in the way that only someone with a secret crush can be and Lucas is cocky without being arrogant, and clearly an absolute snack.  Of course, it was predictable, no one wants to read a romance where the couple doesn't get together at the end right? (I'm looking at you, The Idea of You) but it was a lovely read that left you invested in the couple.  The American Roommate Experiment was a nice one day read for me and Elena Armas will probably now be auto-buy author for me!

I *know* I read these out of order but thankfully, I don't feel like it ruined anything for me. I read Hook, Line and Sinker back last year and thoroughly enjoyed watching Hannah and Fox's relationship develop.  Piper is a socialite known for her immaculate style and wild antics. But when her step dad cuts her off after she breaks into a rooftop pool bringing all of her friends along... she's left without a clue in how to navigate the world.  Finding herself in a remote fishing town, she's having to start again and learn how to look after herself. Immediately making an enemy out of brooding fisherman Brendan, she sets about restoring her late fathers bar.  It's your classic moody/sunshine romance and as we have come to expect from Tessa Bailey - there's a little bit of spice too.  Did I prefer the first or second? Personally, I preferred Hannah's story, but that might just be because Fox is more my type of guy. But this was a good little gap filler in betwe...

There was no doubt in my mind that book would leave me emotionally broken. When I red They Both Die At The End last year - I was in awe as to how much emotion I felt. So I went into this with my eyes wide open but I nothing could have prepared me for the pure ugly sobs that wracked through me. Similar to its predecessor, the book focuses on Death Cast. However this story is from the beginning of the system - the first person called by Death Cast on its launch. To talk about it will take away from the sheer beauty of the story but this much can be shared; The story weaves everyone together in a truly gorgeous way.  Characters from our first visit to Adam Silvera's New York make a welcome appearance and draw the two books together beautifully.  If you read the first book and loved it then I'm sure this one is already sat on your TBR (if you haven't already dived in) BUT if you had any hesitation as to if it can match up - it absolutely does.  Now, I'm going to continue to...

I'm going to kick this off by saying that there seems to be a trend of Romeo and Juliet retellings at the moment and I am LOVING it. Don't be put off thinking - "If I've read one, I've read them all" because that is not the case. Especially, where this book is concerned.  An ARC courtesy of NetGalley - I was super intrigued by this one as it's not your classic, two people from warring families fall in love. It is beyond that. Romeo is cursed and his Juliet is completely oblivious, and he's destined to live through the tragedy over and over again.  I adored this book so much.  There wasn't a single part of the story that left me feeling bored, confused or underwhelmed. It was stunningly written and the characters were perfect.  I'm especially glad that neither the build up or the end were rushed. It was perfectly balanced.  I don't want to write too much more because I definitely don't want to spoil it for anyone. But I will say that thi...

  I am going to willingly admit that I am enjoying this series. It's quickly become my guilty pleasure and.. newsflash, I read for so many reasons but the primary one - is to have fun.  And this series definitely delivers.  Following on from Vektal and Georgie's story in Ice Planet Barbarian, this instalment follows hotheaded Liz and brooding Raahosh as they realise they're resonating. Raahosh is scared and steals Liz away, whilst Liz is furious and wants to do everything she can to get away from him.  I can't wait to read the next one BUT I'm going to save it for when I've read the rest of my TBR for the month. I'll be dreaming giant blue aliens otherwise. 

  Well.  That was fun. As always - I was TikTok influenced and saw this little gem in my Kindle Unlimited library so thought to myself, why the hell not? After a couple of semi-serious and intense books, I fancied filling my Saturday afternoon with something fun and this absolutely delivered.  The first 20 pages or so in - I could tell this was going to be an easy read but there is definitely a dark element that the trigger warning on the first page relates too. After that? Plain sailing. Georgie has been abducted by aliens. On their way to deliver their cargo of human females, the aliens crash and disappear, with plans to collect them later. Georgie becomes elected leader and goes off to find out where they are and is snared in a trap but Vektal.  What I wasn't expecting was a plot. I know that sounds silly, but there is a plot that you can't help but get a little bit invested in. And there is spice. A fair amount of spice in fact.  Overall, I loved it. It's fu...

  As far as Romeo and Juliet inspired writings go - this was by far, the most perfect I could have expected. On one hand, the trope is familiar to us all but can sometimes come across as cliched and forced.  However, One For My Enemy used so many layers to bring this story to life in a really compelling way.  Using familiar settings of New York and underworld crime families, magic is weaved in to create this love story that focuses not just on our modern-day Romeo and Juliet, but their families.  The writing is stunning, it's extremely plot driven but the insight into the characters is just enough to choose favourites.  This is my first read of Olivie Blake and now I am SO excited to read Atlas Six because her writing is stunning.  And whilst it's completely unrelated, I'm glad that I'd previously read The Witch and the Tsar because it gave some of the Russian family names and terms so much more meaning. 

Rosie meets Will in sixth-form. He's tutoring her twin brother and a late night conversation around a bonfire begins a complex and deep friendship between the two opposites. Will is your stereotypical bad boy and Rosie is wholly focussed on her studies.  But in their final summer before they go their separate ways, a horrific incident leaves them emotionally bound to each other. Over the years, they drift in and out of each others lives and both deal with what happened in their own ways.  The premise of this book is almost cliche... but the execution is going to make this book a classic in its own right.  At first, I struggled with how it was written - the dialogue was basic and written in an untraditional way but I feel like this only added to the simplicity of the story in it's early pages. By the mid-point of the story, it was no longer a problem.  The characters are beautifully flawed, selfish and stubborn. The peaks and troughs are well thought out at there is s...

I've never bought into "tropes" but this one ticked some serious boxes... I may be converted.  Catalina's sister is getting married. Her ex is the best man and she is definitely NOT going to turn up on her own - especially after finding out that he's now engaged.  But she's still single, so what choice does she have? Aaron. That's her choice. Irritating, smug Aaron - work colleague and general pain-in-her-arse. But what's in it for him? The Spanish Love Deception is a fake romance, one bed, enemies to lovers FEST and I loved it.  Armas' writing was exactly what I needed - easy to digest, character driven and brilliant storytelling. My only criticism? I would have LOVED more scene setting in Spain. Maybe it was the dreary February British weather but that would have been the icing on the cake for me.