#Lindsey Kelk

[libraryofxaviersring]

Fantasy Arcs ❤

Netgalley and Edelweiss e-arcs I recently got ✨

The Black Hunger by Nichollas Pullen (netgalley)- a queer, gothic, horror historical novel (October 8, 2024) The Bell Witches by Lindsey Kelk (netgalley)- YA Fantasy Romance (September 26, 2024)

The Night Mother by Jeremy Lambert and Alexa Sharpe (netgalley)- Dark Fantasy, Graphic Novel (October 8, 2024) Inheritance of Scars by Crystal Seitz (edelweiss)- YA Dark Fantasy, Norse Myth (October 1, 2024)

Bookstagram Booktwitter Goodreads

[lovebooksgroup]

BOOK MAIL - Thank you @BookMinxSJV | @TeamBATC showcase | @tjalexanderNYC @jackiejcollins @LindseyKelk |#RespectRomFic #bookmail #bookblogger #scottishbookblogger #lovebooks

BOOK MAIL - Thank you @BookMinxSJV | @TeamBATC showcase | @tjalexanderNYC @jackiejcollins @LindseyKelk https://amzn.to/3P4yCAj https://amzn.to/4bZjSwh #RespectRomFic #bookmail #bookblogger #scottishbookblogger #lovebooks

Huge thanks to Sara-Jade for my bundle of goodies. I am so grateful to be included. I got an array of samplers of upcoming titles and I was so lucky to be gifted two books. Second Chances in New Port Stephen  by TJ Alexander  Pre-order TRIPLE SEC, the brand new TJ Alexander novel, coming Summer 2024.A trans man returns to his Florida hometown for Christmas after his career goes up in flames,…

[travelingtostories]

F I N I S H E D : The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk.

[queenvreads]

REVIEW: Love Me Do by Lindsey Kelk

2/5 ⭐⭐

**Thank you to Harper 360, HarperCollins & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own.**

During her two-week trip to LA, Phoebe unexpectedly becomes a matchmaker for her sister's friend Bel and the appealing new neighbor, Ren. What takes her by surprise, however, is her gradual romantic feelings for Ren, which she realizes only when she's already emotionally invested. Getting into this book was was a challenge for me. I anticipated a fun, beachy, summer rom-com based on the gorgeous cover, but it came across more as women’s fiction, which wasn't what I was in the mood for. I had to push through the first quarter, and it just didn’t get better. Despite the presence of romance, the premise revolved around Phoebe setting up Bel with Ren, despite her own feelings for him. Phoebe and Ren shared a few moments where their mutual attraction was evident, yet Phoebe was merely a visitor, and Ren was committed to Bel, leading to a tangle of emotions.

The story felt predictable and lacked innovation to me. Certain elements closely resembled scenes from the movie "The Holiday,” and in comparison, I found the movie more enjoyable. The impersonation trope, which, for me, is almost as bad as miscommunication, turned me off. I found it really cheesy :(

The characters presented a mix of positives and negatives for me. I found Phoebe cute and funny, but her choices were cringy. Ren came across as a nice guy, and his shared interest in bird watching with Phoebe, was random but endearing. However, I found Bel to be quite annoying. I didn't appreciate how she forcefully inserted herself into situations. I am disappointed that I didn't like this one, as all the reviews are so positive! I will try to give this author another chance. I see she has a popular Christmas book that I have yet to check out.

🥳 FOLLOW ME :) HERE

[libertyreads]

Book Review #77 of 2023--

The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk. Rating: 2.5 stars.

Read from June 14th to 16th.

Another Christmas in July June novel is complete. And I have to say how thankful I am that I’m getting a lot of these books from the library. This book is a prime example of something I was sure I was going to really like but in the end would have been a waste of money for me. This is a novel about a 32 year old lawyer who feels stuck in real life but ends up stuck in a Groundhog Day situation on Christmas. Will she ever be able to get it right and move forward both in life and in real time? If you’ve been around for a few of my Christmas in July reads, you’ll me getting an ARC of In a Holidaze and loving it. That one is a Christina Lauren novel that also has a Christmas Day time loop in it and that one is a book I rated 4.5 stars. So, what’s the difference here? What made this Christmas time loop not work for me?

My biggest issue with this one was that it was over the top on the Com side of the Rom-Com. Everything was so over the top disastrous in the first Christmas Day that I don’t know how this woman could ever look down the barrel of going through that day again, let alone doing it 10 times. At one point, our main character actually blows up the house--and herself--and is forced to redo Christmas thanks to actually dying. It’s just too much for me. I prefer a little bit of Com in my Rom-Com. I get second hand embarrassment so easily and there was almost no other emotion I was feeling for the first third of this novel. I also felt like it was almost wrong to slate this as a romance in the first place. The romance isn’t even the secondary plot line. I would say it’s the third. First, we have the main character’s issue with being stuck in her real life and having to make some hard choices. Second, we have her unhealthy relationship with almost literally every single member of her family and her having to make choices that will help create better relationships. Thirdly, we have the romance. I don’t mind that so much. As long as I’m expecting it. By the time we get to the romance I just don’t see the point.

There were moments of self-reflection that I thought were beautiful. I know how hard it is to look at your life and try to figure out what the next step forward is. We also get some actual funny moments that aren’t over dramatic or over wrought which I enjoyed. The romance when it was there was actually good. I just don’t feel like I understand who they are as a couple or why they like each other. But there were quite a few sweet moments that would also have this poignant side to them thanks to the fact that he wouldn’t remember them the next day. The Christmas scenes we got were good. Very festive. I just wish we had more of them in the novel.

Overall, I give the book a 2.5 star rating, the romance a 2.75 star rating, and the holiday-ness of it all 3 poinsettias.

[mimisreadingnook]

a chill reading day with the cats outside <3

[the-forest-library]

January 2024 Reads

The Gentlemen's Gambit - Evie Dunmore

A Lady Guide's to Mischief and Mayhem - Manda Collins

The Ladies Rewrite the Rules - Suzanne Allain

One Night in Hartswood - Emma Denny

The Breakup Tour - Emily Wibberley

Places We've Never Been - Kasie West

Most Ardently - Gabe Cole Novoa

Okay, Cupid - Mason Deaver

Love, Me - Jessica Saunders

Dungeons and Drama - Kristy Boyce

Seven Percent of Ro Devereux - Ellen O'Clover

Eight Dates and Nights - Betsy Aldredge

Rules for Being a Girl - Candace Bushnell, Katie Cotungo

The Christmas Wish - Lindsey Kelk

After the Forest - Kell Woods

All the Hidden Paths - For Meadows

Shady Hollow - Juneau Black

Strong Poison - Dorothy L. Sayers

The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis

The Chalice of the Gods - Rick Riordan

The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel - Natasha Lowe

Elf Dog and Owl Head - M.T. Anderson

Winter - Kelsey E. Gross

The Bookstore Cat - Cylin Busby

The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls

Brain on Fire - Susannah Cahalan

A Book of Days - Patti Smith

Karma - Boy George

I Hate Everyone, Except You - Clinton Kelly

The Life Brief - Bonnie Wan

The Stress Prescription - Elissa Epel

Infectious Generosity - Chris J. Anderson

Break the Cycle - Mariel Buque

Eve - Cat Bohannon

House Love - Patric Richardson

Pests - Bethany Brookshire

Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek - Thea Glassman

But Have You Read the Book? - Kristen Lopez

The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie - Tanya Lee Stone

Normal is Just a Setting on the Dryer - Adair Lara

Men to Avoid in Art and Life - Nicole Tersigni

Friends to Keep in Art and Life - Nicole Tersigni

Parenting Advice to Ignore in Art and Life - Nicole Tersigni

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts: 

Messy memoirs, healing from generational trauma, and recovery from burnout - these are a few of my favorite things.

Goodreads Goal: 43/200

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads | 

2022 Reads | 2023 Reads | 2024 Reads

[taylorswiftstylequestions]

Sarah, I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this to you, but Lindsey Kelk did a special Taylor episode of her Full Coverage makeup/beauty podcast with Kat McKenna, and they gave you a really lovely shout-out! It genuinely brought a tear to my eye, like ‘I know her, parasocially!’

Um OMG?!?!?!?! Please this is so sweet. I'll have to listen???? Tysm for letting me know.

[godpleasedontlookatme]

“People go to LA to "find themselves", they come to New York to become someone new.”

- Lindsey Kelk

[beadickel]

Mais uma leitura para o mês de julho

Oi oi gente, tudo bem com vocês? Na postagem de hoje vou comentar sobre o livro mais recente que estou lendo, "Eu amo New York", de Lindsey Kelk. Acho que essa é uma das minhas primeiras experiências lendo um livro Young Adult que não envolva fantasia ou ficção científica, então espero gostar bastante ksksksk

Gosto dessa temática água com açúcar (sou fã de carteirinha de Minha Vida Fora de Série, é isso aí), ainda mais para passar o tempo durante o período meio turbulento que estou vivenciando nesses últimos dias...

Além disso, ultimamente tenho focado em escrever minhas próprias histórias, e por isso tenho lido livros mais "fáceis" ou mais curtos, hehehe. Ah, terminei o Your Name!

[thelonesomequeen]

ALSO! What Holiday rom coms do you have on your reading list? Drop them book recs girllll

This is just a TBR of books I put together based on posts I saw on Bookstagram, BookTok, and the coming soon tab on Libby. I have no idea if any of them are good or not because I haven’t read them yet. Let’s hope they’re all good 😂 I’ll probably run out of time to read them all, but here’s the list so far:

The Holiday Swap-Maggie Knox

The Christmas Wish List-Lindsey Kelk

Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist-Codi Hall

The Mistletoe Pact- Jo Lovett

Window Shopping-Tessa Bailey

The Summer of Christmas-Juliet and Keith Giglio

All I Want For Christmas-Maggie Knox

One Last Gift-Emily Stone

Once Upon a December-Amy E. Reichert

A Merry Little Meet Cute-Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

The Rewind-Allison Winn Scotch

The Twelve Dates of Christmas-Jenny Bayliss

25 Days ‘til Christmas-Poppy Alexander

Always, In December-Emily Stone

Christmas Shopaholic-Sophie Kinsella

So, This Is Christmas-Tracy Andreen

[sambergscott]

What's your Christmas book

a christmas wish by lindsey kelk!! it’s a TIME LOOP!!!!

[stacyalesi]

Spotlight Review: LOVE STORY by Lindsey Kelk

Spotlight #BookReview: LOVE STORY by Lindsey Kelk, a fun romance set in the literary world. #lindseykelk @lindseykelk @harpercollins #romancereads #romcom #romance #romancestagram #bookstagram

CLICK TO PURCHASE From the publisher: She’s a small-town schoolteacher, he’s a hotshot creative director. Together, it’s hate at first sight. Sophie Taylor has a secret and Joe Walsh is the last person she’d tell. He’s devilishly handsome, incredibly hot – and far too sure of himself. But Sophie desperately needs his help. Because she’s not just hiding something small. She is Este Cox, the…

[bucolicbook]

Love Story by Lindsey Kelk 

US pub date - 9//17/24

3.5 stars, rated up 

Having trouble sleeping (falling asleep at an earlier hour than 4 am, hot flashes waking me mostly) thanks to perimenopause has been giving me headaches during the day, to the point where this particular day’s headache made me vomit and feel generally like garbage. This was the day that I began Lindsey Kelk’s newest novel Love Story. 

So I started this one because I knew if anything would make me feel better on this day, it was this new book (it did help). 

*instalove

*enemies to lovers 

*a capital ‘B’ for banter 

*forced proximity

*third act issues/breakup

What I didn’t love - 

*secondary characters - many of them were such jerks that I was aggravated because Sophie didn’t put some boundaries in place

*the consistent TikTok / social media mentions 

*instalove (sort of) 

*the ending - this really needed an epilogue as it just felt so abrupt after the buildup of the story 

Ms Kelk is an autoread author for me but this one wasn’t my favorite. Absolutely looking forward to reading more in the future.

Thank you to Harper360 and NetGalley for the DRC

[romcombc]

Book Review for Dear Dotty

For lovers of Sophie Kinsella, Lindsey Kelk, and Beth O’Leary, prepare to welcome Jaclyn Raggio Westlake to your list of favorites. Her novel, “Dear Dotty,” written in the spirit of “coming-of-age” or “chick-lit,” offers a refreshing take on life’s possibilities—whether we play by the rules or craft our own.

They say when one door shuts, a window opens. For Rosie, it seemed all doors were locked, and each window firmly nailed shut. In the span of a week, she lost her job, her best friend, and the one person on the planet who understood her. To add to that, her parents were getting a divorce after 30 years of marriage, and Rosie was ready to throw in the towel. The only sliver of good fortune was a chance encounter that seemed to finally bring good fortune where there was none. The problem is, with each new opportunity presented, Rosie feels like she is moving further and further away from who she thought she would be, in her career and in life in general. When the dreams of her old self become a possible reality, Rosie must decide if the new her is the real her or if she is ready to make the ultimate gamble, going all in on herself, like Dotty always did.

Some who read “Dear Dotty” may simply be entertained by the cute banter, witty humor, and vibrant characters. Others may find much-needed truth within the words of these pages and walk away motivated, energized, and renewed. In either case, Jaclyn has definitely left a mark with her debut novel, and I, for one, am grateful.

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Avon Books for allowing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Check out the spoiler-free review in the Facebook Group - The Romantic Comedy Book Club or the full review on the main website: https://romcombc.com/book/dear-dotty/

[janestewart]

Best Books of 2023 📚

1. Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez 6⭐️ - I avoided this book for so long because I didn’t think I’d like it for some reason. Boy was I wrong! This is now my all-time favorite romance. I felt ALL the emotions reading this. I swooned, I cried, I laughed so hard I was left gasping. It was perfect. I felt the magic. READ THIS BOOK. Also read Yours Truly, which almost made this list too.

2. When We Were Young by Richard Roper 5⭐️ - Richard Roper became my favorite author last year with Something To Live For and this one is also outstanding. I related to Theo so strongly, even when that meant being uncomfortable. The ending tore me to pieces and I threw the book at the wall—and then picked up and made sure it wasn’t damaged so I could hug it for the rest of the day/week/year/my life. READ THIS TOO.

3. The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall 5⭐️ - Katy Birchall is quickly becoming a comfort author for me. The romances are always cute, but even better are the friendships in her books. This one is the best of all. It has the grumpy-sunshine dynamic I love but in the context of a friendship and it is so much fun. So heartwarming, definitely pick it up if you need some happy feels.

4. Jane in Love by Rachel Givney 5⭐️ - Jane Austen is transported to the modern day. ‘Nuff said. I’ve gotten really into Jane Austen this year so this was a treat. It felt like being in one her novels but the language was easier since it’s modern.

5. On a Night Like This by Lindsey Kelk 5⭐️ - I feel very similarly to this one as Secret Bridesmaid. Cute romance, but an even more endearing story of friendship. Another perfect comfort read.

6. When In Rome by Sarah Adams 5⭐️ - I rated this a 4/5 at first but I haven’t stopped thinking about it all year so I had to bump it up. It’s not particularly complex but it’s just what you want in a romance. Adorable small town, grumpy-sunshine. Can’t ask for more. The sequel Practice Makes Perfect almost made this list too.

7. Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa 5⭐️ - This was my first read this year, and it was a strong start. I don’t know why I was drawn to it so strongly, but I kept going back to it at this one little bookshop in Prague day after day. My soul somehow knew that this was exactly what I want in a romantasy. Feels a lot like Gena Showalter if you’re into that.

8. The Bromance Bookclub by Lyssa Kay Adams 5⭐️ - Perfect concept, excellent execution. Don’t get that too often. I liked that this involved men who read and respect the romance genre and also that it’s about an existing relationship that the characters are trying to save. I feel like I don’t see those elements very often so it was a nice change.

9. There’s Something About Merry by Codi Hall 5⭐️ - The coziest read of the year. Mixes all of my favorite romance elements: small town, holidays, grumpy-sunshine (sort of), single dad. It’s what you expect, but don’t we all need that sometimes?

10. Little Thieves by Margaret Owen 5⭐️ - I haven’t gotten so into a YA book in a long time. This one completely sucked me in. The main character is deeply flawed but understandable and (probably more importantly for me) funny enough to keep me liking her. Loved the other characters and the plot. It was fast-paced and so fun from beginning to end.

I hope everyone else had a great reading year! Here’s to 2024 *clinks books with you*