On My Bookish BS

As an ARC reader for volumes 1,3, and 4 of this charity anthology , I was absolutely blown away by the bench depth of the authors involved in this project. Some of the authors I was very familiar with, and some were brand new names to me and I fear my TBR has grown exponentially due to the number of new authors I have been introduced to. Every story hit me with how each author interpreted the task at hand and I felt rage, hope, despair, joy, fear, and despair in equal measure and I read through these stories. It was a whole dang ride. Some of the standout stories to me include: Karma, Madi Danielle - Sometimes the most dangerous thing is a pretty face Southern Discomfort, Aurora Graves - In the south revenge is a dish best served with a glass of sweet tea and a smile but try telling that to these ladies. Lucky Number 19, Alina May - A purveyor of snide talking medical malpractice gets what's coming to them The Bloom After Ruin, Maree Rose - Using art to heal from trauma and delicio...

You know I love hockey romance. You know I love mafia romance. You know I love bully romance. So this was pretty much a guaranteed 5 star read for me.  Enter Heartless Game by Jo Brenner. Isaac and Tovah are a match made in well.. not heaven that's for sure.  So many secrets. His. Hers. Theirs. Shared history - known and unknown. Family secrets. Sexual tension that absolutely cannot be denied. Oh ... and maybe some mafia stuff for flavor? There is absolutely so much to love about this story that is INSANE that it is packed in to one volume. Honestly, it's a steal. It's like two stories for the price of one. You get sexy, college hockey dark romance on one hand and crazy mafia thriller on the other.  Brenner also manages to splice in some phenomenal prose, the best dark humor (literally, THE BEST) and interpersonal relationships into this story. I cannot wait to find out what's up with Lawson, and Judah, and Levi down the road because really... those boys got secrets an...

 Yes, I am easily swayed and after all the back and forth on BookTok/Bookstagram/BookThreads I had to know whether Deep End by Ali Hazelwood was really THAT spicy or not.  Personally? Not the spiciest thing I've ever read but I LOVED it. Lukas is top tier book boyfriend material and I absolutely love him.  What made this book so good to me was the way it addressed trauma and healing and the importance of trust and connection in terms of sexual relationships. It was really well done. It was sexy. It was just a good read.  I'm a fan.  Now I have a ton more books to read which my poor TBR just cannot handle. Excuse me while I drown in books.