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The Restricted Section

Nerdy Girl, Romantic Reads

Top Ten Tuesday: Anticipated Releases 2021 – First Half

January 5, 2021 Comments : 7

Since I shared my Anticipated Releases for January and February yesterday, today is a sneak peek at March through June. I find myself very pleasantly surprised that it was hard to narrow to ten choices (rather than barely coming up with ten!).

March 9 – Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
April 6 – Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
April 6 – You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes
April 20 – The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert
April 27 – Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey

May 4 – Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane
May 4 – Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
May 11 – People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
May 18 – The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
June 15 – Isn’t It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams

Can’t wait to see all of your anticipated releases, too! XOXO

7 Comments Categories: Top Ten Tuesday

Anticipated Releases: January & February

January 4, 2021 Comments : 3

January 5

Love Songs for Skeptics by Christina Pishiris
Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan

January 12

Ever After Always by Chloe Liese

January 19

Mr. Right Across the Street by Kathryn Freeman
Shipped by Angie Hockman
Enjoy the View by Sarah Morgenthaler

February 2

Before I Saw You by Emily Houghton
A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel

February 9

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams

February 23

It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian

XOXO

3 Comments Categories: Anticipated Releases

Top Ten Tuesday: Best of 2020

December 29, 2020 Comments : 7

2020 was quite the year. If given the chance to time travel at some point in the future, it’s not one I would revisit. Even still, there were a few good things – and even a few good books and bookish things. I’m not doing my normal year in review (mostly because I didn’t read enough books to pull that off) but I still want to highlight the couple that brought me some joy.

Best Book

Devotions by Mary Oliver

Best Audio

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Best Debut

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Best New-to-Me Author

Talia Hibbert, notably The Brown Sisters series

Best Graphic Novel

Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughn & Cliff Chang

Best Quote/Passage

“This is the middle.
Things have had time to get complicated,
messy, really. Nothing is simple anymore…
This is the thick of things.
So much is crowded into the middle—
…too much to name, too much to think about.”
— Billy Collins, Sailing Alone Around the Room

Best TV Series Based on a Book

Flight Attendant

Best Movie Based on a Book

Rebecca

Best Playlist for Reading

Instrumental Study

Best Miscellaneous that Helped Me Get By

Storyteller App by Morgan Harper Nichols

Wishing you all an infinitely better 2021 – XOXO

7 Comments Categories: Top Ten Tuesday, Year In Review

Top Ten Tuesday: Pretty Please Santa

December 22, 2020 Comments : 10

I don’t know if there is a stocking big enough for the amount of books I want to welcome into the hoard this year. Santa, pretty please with a cherry on top, can you bring me these?

Books I want now…

A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough
I could listen to Attenborough talk all day and not be tired of it – I can’t wait for Santa (or my next Audible credit) to bring this into my life

The Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
Missed connections and serendipity and an HEA, I’m frankly surprised I don’t own this already

The Awakening by Nora Roberts
Dragon in the series name, check, fae, check, traveling to Ireland to find yourself after you strike it rich, check

ARCs I want the Galley Gods to bless me with…

The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
After The Roommate, you can count me as eager for future Danan releases

Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl
Oooooh, the messy hijinks this one promises with a secret service to take down enemies, yep yep yep

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
A lone astronaut has to save the world – sounds familiar but just shut up and take my money already

Stuff I just want to be written already…

How to Be Good by Michael Schur
What I know: a book by one of my favorite television creators of all time, nuff said

Gallant by Victoria Schwab
What I know: Supposedly a Secret Garden retelling meets Stardust, yas

The Jaguar King by C.L. Wilson
What I know: the final book (maybe?) in what is one of my favorite fantasy romance series of all time, I needs it

The one that got away…

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
I don’t know if this one grew wings and flew home to its dragon homeland, but I know it’s missing from my collection – both from its spot and in my heart. Come back sweet book!

XOXO

10 Comments Categories: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR (2020)

December 15, 2020 Comments : 15

A lot of these books have shown up on past reading challenges (or some future ones planned for 2021, surprise!). Because this year was such a hellscape, I didn’t get a ton of reading done – who knew an existential crisis would be so time consuming? When I glance over my TBR, these are ones that make me most excited to get back to my favorite pastime.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
Meet You in the Middle by Devon Daniels
The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

XOXO

15 Comments Categories: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: My (Overly Ambitious) Holiday Reading List

December 8, 2020 Comments : 7

I am filled to the brim with holiday cheer – and that’s a first for me. I have been exclusively Team Bah Humbug my thirty-*mumbles* years on this planet, but as I work on this list I find there are stockings hung with care and a too-large tree taking up most of my not-at-all-large living room (which is under constant attack by the demons masquerading as kittens I adopted recently). I even hung mistletoe in case Santa is 1) real, and 2) a certified hottie instead of a fat man with a well documented B&E crime spree who has never been apprehended by fairy tale police. In that spirit, I am starting to read the suspiciously large amount of Christmassy books that I have amassed over the years. I’ve already read Mangos and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera and In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (both come with a stamp of approval). Here are a few others on my list for December…

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis
We Met in December by Rosie Curtis
All About Us by Tom Ellen
All the Love in the World by Karina Halle

Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert
Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert
The Tourist Attraction by Erin Morgenthaler
Christmas in the City anthology
Secret Santa by Kati Wilde

Meowy Christmas from Krampus and Belsnickel (aka Elijah and Niklaus) – XOXO from me

7 Comments Categories: Top Ten Tuesday

2020 Gift Guide

November 30, 2020 Comments : 3

A few of my favorite bookish things for the reader in your life for the holiday season or a few things to add to your own wish list. Or if you’re like me, I’m just adding directly to cart because my personal mantra is…

In no particular order of awesomeness:

The Ripped Bodice’s new subscription box: Read, Romance, Repeat

This sexy af mug

And these sassy teas to go in it

Something wonderful for your walls

Or an infographic of literary badassery

Some smelly stuff for you

Or a smelly thing for your home

Some sweary socks to keep your tootsies warm

Bookends to hold up your precious/precarious stacks

A placeholder for when you need a break (or a nap)

A game to create your own stories (also available as dice)

A tote for all those books you’re going to bring home

And the most adorable pin there ever was to put on it

Or a keychain to rep your favorite book

And lastly, a journal to keep track of it all.

XOXO

3 Comments Categories: Cool Stuff

Short and Sweet: Anxious People & Crazy Stupid Bromance

November 24, 2020 Comments : 2

Short and Sweet: Anxious People & Crazy Stupid BromanceAnxious People by Fredrik Backman, Neil Smith
Published by Atria Books on September 8, 2020
Pages: 341
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined
Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.
Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.

Sometimes I come across a book that restores my faith in humanity a small bit, and Anxious People is that kind of book. It is funny and sometimes heartbreaking, but left me remembering there is kindness in this hard, hard world – a sorely needed reminder after this year.

“They say that a person’s personality is the sum of their experiences. But that isn’t true, at least not entirely, because if our past was all that defined us, we’d never be able to put up with ourselves. We need to be allowed to convince ourselves that we’re more than the mistakes we made yesterday. That we are all of our next choices, too, all of our tomorrows.”

*****

Short and Sweet: Anxious People & Crazy Stupid BromanceCrazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
Published by Berkley on October 27, 2020
Pages: 352
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

Alexis Carlisle and her cat café, ToeBeans, have shot to fame after she came forward as a victim of a celebrity chef’s sexual harassment. When a new customer approaches to confide in her, the last thing Alexis expects is for the woman to claim they’re sisters. Unsure what to do, Alexis turns to the only man she trusts—her best friend, Noah Logan.
Computer genius Noah left his rebellious teenage hacker past behind to become a computer security expert. Now he only uses his old skills for the right cause. But Noah’s got a secret: He’s madly in love with Alexis. When she asks for his help, he wonders if the timing will ever be right to confess his crush.
Noah’s pals in The Bromance Book Club are more than willing to share their beloved “manuals” to help him go from bud to boyfriend. But he must decide if telling the truth is worth risking the best friendship he’s ever had.
A hacktivist and a cat café owner decode the friend zone in this romantic comedy from the author of Undercover Bromance.

I have become such a fan of this series, the latest book does not disappoint. I hope there never comes a day when I’m not giddy about a friends-to-lovers trope in a rom-com. Like books one and two of Bromance, there are some heavier themes in the subplot here, the same feminist energy of how men should treat women, and a bonus hilarious demon cat. I literally clapped when I learned The Russian is getting his own book next summer, and that’s the kind of excitement we all deserve right now.

“There is no more universal story than of two people working through their shit to overcome huge obstacles and find their way to happiness,” Malcolm said. “But every journey is different, every obstacle unique. And it’s in that unique journey that we find lessons for our own lives.”

XOXO

2 Comments Categories: Review, Short and Sweet

Anticipated Releases: November & December

November 2, 2020 Comments : 2

November 3

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer

November 10

A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins
The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly

November 17

The Flip Side by James Bailey
Philosophy for Polar Explorers by Erling Kagge
The Boy Toy by Nicola Marsh

November 24

The Awakening by Nora Roberts

December 1

The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia
How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams

XOXO

2 Comments Categories: Anticipated Releases

Well Met & Well Played by Jen DeLuca

October 27, 2020 Comments : 2

Well Met & Well Played by Jen DeLucaWell Met by Jen DeLuca
Published by Berkley on September 3, 2019
Pages: 336
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

All's faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.
Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?
The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?
This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

“The other greeting we’ll be using a lot at Faire is ‘well met,’ which can be a simple ‘nice to meet you,’ but it can also mean you’re particularly pleased to see that particular person at that particular time.”

I don’t think anyone will be surprised to learn I’m an absolute dork for Ren Faires. How it took me so long to get around to this book, I will never know because weekend wenches and pirates (and men in kilts) give me LIFE.

This rom com starts out with a dose of real life. Emily only finds herself in this small town because her sister was in a terrible accident, and she and her teenage daughter need help while she recovers. Emily to the rescue…and also Emily with the convenient escape from her own problems back home. It’s a familiar circumstance to Simon, who a few years earlier moved back to his hometown to help with a sick brother. The two meet in a hot auditorium (where all the classic romances start, right?) and instantly butt heads over a Renaissance Faire sign-up sheet. Weeks of animosity turn to lust when they both don their costumes.

If you’re looking for a fun weekend read, this is your book!

*****

Well Met & Well Played by Jen DeLucaWell Played by Jen DeLuca
Published by Berkley on September 22, 2020
Pages: 336
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-half-stars

Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it's been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she'll even find The One.
When Stacey imagined "The One," it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she's not sure what to make of it.
Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey's shock, it isn't Dex—she's been falling in love with a man she barely knows.
Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story.

In book two, we follow along Stacey’s journey to break out of her humdrum life into one that fills her with passion of all kinds (insert eyebrow waggle here ).

“I needed to get my head on straight. Stop living my life online. Of course, the problem was my online life was much more exciting than my real one. I needed to do something about that.”

Like Emily, our heroine in Well Met, Stacey is kept in this small town because of a sick loved one; she put her dreams on hold to care for her mother, but after a few years her mom doesn’t need help any more and Stacey is just stuck. After a drunken message to an old flame, Stacey finds something that’s fun again and has her itching for change. As we follow along their ever-deepening emails and texts, Stacey gets her opportunity for a new life…but not with who she thinks she’s texting.

Well Played is an easy and fluffy romp, and Well Matched (book three in this series, due out next year) stars some of my favorite side characters – so I’ll be sure to visit Willow Creek again in the future.

XOXO

2 Comments Categories: Review, Short and Sweet
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Hi! Welcome to The Restricted Section. I'm Dani and I love love...in my books anyway. Come enjoy all the first kisses, broken hearts, and happy endings with me!

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