LaurelLit.com
Writer, Reader, English Teacher
My favorite genres are contemporary romance, women's fiction, suspense, and psychological thrillers. I mostly read books on my kindle, and I listen to audio books every morning when I go for my run.
I do NOT love star ratings for novels. For each book review, I give background, my thoughts, and if I would recommend it. Full disclosure: if I'm not into a book, I don't finish it. Since I review books I finish, most of them will be positive.
“I love you in a way that feels brand-new. You make every single thing that went wrong feel like it was just a step in the right direction, and it—it makes me excited. For life to keep surprising me.”
I just finished Emily Henry’s Funny Story this morning, and the last line had me happy-crying. I want to be Emily Henry when I grow up (yes, I’m aware she’s younger than me), and I want to live inside one of her novels. Since neither …Melanie Gideon's Did I Say You Could Go is a page-turner/psychological thriller full of twisted characters. I had a pretty good idea how it would end early on, so the "twist" wasn't much of a twist for me. But I still enjoyed it.
Widowed Gemma and divorced Ruth bond over being single mothers living in a snobby community where everyone else seems to be married. They become fast friends when their …Hannah Orenstein wrote Head Over Heels before Covid happened, and before the 2020 Olympics were postponed. So, her novel reads like a "what if?" sorta proposition. The story follows Avery, a former elite gymnast whose Olympic dreams were dashed by an injury, and her emotionally abusive coach traumatized her as well. After years of listlessness, a bad breakup causes her to move back to her hometown. There, she runs into her former …
The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther captures the raw emotions of grief, the complexities of growing up, and the intoxicating magic of summer love in a flawless narrative. The setting of Martha's Vineyard is more than just a backdrop - it's a character that weaves itself into every aspect of the story, beckoning readers to pack their bags and book a trip ASAP. With echoes of The Summer I Turned Pretty and shades of We Were Liars, this …
