Tag: romance

Review, ARC, books, Young Adult

Book Review: The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar
Book Review: The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar

Having read Adiba Jaigirdar before, when I saw that she was releasing a YA baking competition book with a sapphic romance? You know, I was immediately intrigued. I was lucky enough to be sent a – signed! – proof of the book from Team BKMRK over on Instagram. It took me a little while to get to this book, but when I finally did, I read it in a single day.

Shireen Malik has been struggling since breaking up with her ex-girlfriend, Chris. With her best friend away with family in Bangladesh, Shireen has just been lying in bed rewatching Bake Off. But when she gets an email confirming that she’s gotten onto a new televised baking show, Shireen knows she has to get her butt into gear and win the show to help her family’s doughnut shop. But Chris is also competing on the show, and when Shireen meets another contestant, Niamh, sparks start to fly there too. If Shireen wants to win the show, she’s going to have to be able to put her feelings and any potential sabotage aside to win.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review

Blog Tour: Best Men by Sidney Karger

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Blog Tour: Best Men by Sidney Karger
Blog Tour: Best Men by Sidney Karger

I love when there’s a tour for a book that I was anticipating SO HIGHLY, and I get to be a part of it. This time it’s for Best Men by Sidney Karger. The book is being published by Harper Collins, and the tour is run by Ann from Random Things Tours, so thanks so much for allowing me to be part of this.

An hour after meeting a man in a bar, Max messed around with him on a roof. But only five minutes later, he ran out, assuming he’d never see the guy again. But after discovering his best friend is getting married, he also discovers that the hot stranger is the Groom’s Best Man. Now the pair have to work together, as they compete to find out who really is the best man. Unfortunately for Max, he wants to keep this stranger closer than he probably should…

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Lose You To Find Me by Erik J. Brown

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: Lose You To Find Me by Erik J. Brown
Book Review: Lose You To Find Me by Erik J. Brown

You’ll notice that I’m reviewing a lot of contemporary and romance at the moment, and I’m perfectly fine with that as we start going into the warmer months. I’m reviewing Erik J. Brown’s second book this time, which might be totally different genre-wise from his debut, but he’s done an excellent job. I was lucky enough to be sent a proof of this through Team BKMRK’s Instagram. They asked if anyone would be interested, and I said yes. I’m so glad that I did.

Tommy is in his senior year of high school and aiming to get into the culinary school his Dad had attended. He’s focused on his application until his childhood crush pops up in his kitchen and his life again. As Tommy tries to juggle his returning feelings with his dreams for his future, his life begins to take turns that he didn’t expect.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Out of Character by Jenna Miller

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: Out of Character by Jenna Miller
Book Review: Out of Character by Jenna Miller

I’ve had this book for a while, and I’ve been very excited to read it with it being about a queer teenager who rps. But I decided to wait until HarperCollins had come to an agreement with the union. But now they have, and this review is only a few days late, ha! I was lucky enough to get a physical proof of this from the Harper360 blogger email, so thanks to the team there.

In this book, we follow Cass, a 17-year-old fangirl of the Tide Wars books who’d proudly describe herself as a fat lesbian. But what people don’t know is that she likes spending her free time roleplaying with her friends online. It might be nerdy, but it’s her escape from the world, whether she’s stressed over her parents fighting or how difficult it can be to date the resident cool girl. Her roleplay is becoming an addiction, though and as well as that, she thinks she might be falling for her online bestie, Rowan. As her lies build up, she has to decide whether, to be honest about everything and lose her safe space or be honest and watch everything change.

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Adult, book tag, books

Top Ten Tuesday: Valentines Day

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books11 Comments on Top Ten Tuesday: Valentines Day
Top Ten Tuesday: Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day is here! It’s not a holiday I feel particularly excited about, but I don’t dread it either. For many of us, it’s just another day. But as someone who loves to read about romance, I couldn’t let this opportunity to list some of my favourite chick-lit and romance books go to waste! With the holiday, this week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie to list anything we like regarding books and love.

The Top Ten Tuesday tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now held over on The Artsy Reader Girl. It’s a weekly tag where everyone is given a bookish prompt for bloggers to curate a top ten list. You can then share your blog post on The Artsy Reader Girl’s post for that week. Just make sure you check out and comment on other people’s blog posts too!

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Adult, books, Review

Book Review: Looking Out For Love by Sophia Money-Coutts

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: Looking Out For Love by Sophia Money-Coutts
Book Review: Looking Out For Love by Sophia Money-Coutts

February is the perfect month for reading romance and chick-lit, even if you aren’t big on Valentine’s Day. Looking Out For Love is the newest book by Sophia Money-Coutts, and it’s definitely one that you’ll want to pick up this month. I was lucky enough to be sent a free copy from the publisher in return for a review. So thank you, HQ!

Stella has spent her life looking for love, but after recently being dumped, she found herself single without her Dad’s money. But she thinks her life will improve when she stumbles upon a new job and a handsome guy in a pub in a single day. Finally, she has a chance at all-encompassing love, but working with the Affair Hunter means she doesn’t know whether she can truly trust others.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review

Book Review: How (Not) To Marry A Duke by Felicia Kingsley

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Book Review: How (Not) To Marry A Duke by Felicia Kingsley

Every now and then, I stumble across a romance novel on NetGalley that I’ve never heard of but sounds a lot of fun. How (Not) To Marry A Duke was one such book. This was an audiobook that I was happy to get through super quickly, but I will admit…I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped in the end.

Jemma is a struggling makeup artist who, after losing her Grandma, discovers that she could inherit a family fortune. The only problem is she has to marry someone with a title to do so. She’s certain this will never happen as she wants romance. But then she meets Ashford, a duke with no money who Jemma’s lawyer suggests she marry. Eventually, she agrees, but when it gets out to the public that they’re married, they have to pretend to be in love for a year to keep their money.

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ARC, books, new adult, Review

Book Review: You’re A Mean One Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: You’re A Mean One Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky
Book Review: You’re A Mean One Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky

We love a cheesy queer rom-com in this house, and after reading Never Been Kissed earlier this year, I’ve been desperate to get my hands on this one. I was lucky to get a physical ARC from Martina Pennetta and Sourcebooks Casablanca. I was expecting an e-copy through Netgalley, so that was a very pleasant surprise. This book was filled with queer joy and Hallmark cheese, but it also features a realistic depiction of anxiety, and that makes this a book that can’t be beaten.

Matthew has been exiled to his grandparents’ place with no cards, and no social media. After he bought an island with his parent’s money, he’s told he needs to learn a lesson. But he needs to get back before NYE for his party. He hatches a plan to get out of there but to succeed he’ll need to work with his handsome roommate Hector. But the holiday and town work their magic, and soon even a grinch like Matthew sees the good.

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books, Will I Like This Book?, Young Adult

Will I Like This Book? – Gwen and Art Are Not In Love

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Will I Like This Book? – Gwen and Art Are Not In Love
Will I Like This Book? – Gwen and Art Are Not In Love

I’m back with another Bloomsbury book sampler from YALC back in July! I’ll be honest, I’d actually forgotten about this book until I saw a cover reveal on social media the other day. As soon as I saw the title, I was like, damn, I have a preview of this one and now I’ve read it? Yeah, I’ll definitely be preordering this one.

Gwen and Art Are Not In Love is a queer kind-of historical fantasy rom-com following two teenagers, Gwen and Art who have been betrothed since birth. The only problem is that they don’t like each other. On top of that, both Gwen and Art are trying to hide the fact they’re gay. When they both catch each other act, they reluctantly agree to be allies and pretend to fall in love to hide their true feelings. But as they grow closer to the people they like, the fakery becomes more difficult.

This book is coming out from Bloomsbury on the 2nd of February 2023.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review

Book Review: A Cosmic Kind of Love by Samantha Young

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: A Cosmic Kind of Love by Samantha Young
Book Review: A Cosmic Kind of Love by Samantha Young

Sometimes you see a book with an intriguing premise, but it just winds up falling flat. I wouldn’t say I was excited by A Cosmic Kind of Love, but it looked enjoyable. I wanted another romance to review, so I requested it from Piatkus. I was kindly gifted it on NetGalley, so I wish I could give a better review.

But by the end, I was just rolling my eyes.

Hallie is a successful event planner but in every other aspect of her life? She’s a mess. When she opens files from a client, she finds video messages sent to them from Christopher Ortiz about his life in space. Hallie is intrigued by him and winds up wanting to send a message back. But when it bounces, she decides to continue doing so. It won’t hurt to use them as a diary, right? Chris, on the other hand, is trying to get used to life back on earth. He doesn’t know what to do, and these videos start off as frustration. But he becomes curious about Hallie, and eventually, they meet.

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