The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas (2022)

Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well paid job to focus on her secret career as a romance writer. She hasn’t told her family and now has terrible writer’s block. Then, the ceiling of her New York apartment literally crumbles on her. Luckily she has her best friend Lina’s spare key while she’s out of town. But Rosie doesn’t know that Lina has already lent her apartment to her cousin Lucas, who Rosie has been stalking—for lack of a better word—on Instagram for the last few months. Lucas seems intent on coming to her rescue like a Spanish knight in shining armor. Only this one strolls around the place in a towel, has a distracting grin, and an irresistible accent. Oh, and he cooks.

Lucas offers to let Rosie stay with him, at least until she can find some affordable temporary housing. And then he proposes an outrageous experiment to bring back her literary muse and meet her deadline: He’ll take her on a series of experimental dates meant to jump-start her romantic inspiration. Rosie has nothing to lose. Her silly, online crush is totally under control—but Lucas’s time in New York has an expiration date, and six weeks may not be enough, for either her or her deadline.

I think I've grown tired of contemporary romance. This review could be considered 'spoilery', so be forewarned. 

This is the story of a girl (Rosie) who has a crush on her best friend's cousin, Lucas. Said cousin lives in Spain.  Rosie covertly stalks Lucas's Insta and has kept her crush a secret. The ceiling in her apartment collapsed, to the point that she could look through the ceiling and see her neighbor's private bits from underneath his robe. (Not a pleasant sight.)

Her best friend, Lina, just got married. The ceiling situation forces her out of her apartment and she goes to stay at Lina's while Lina is on her honeymoon. Lucas arrives and tries to get in the apartment, rattling the doorknob. She thinks he's trying to break in and calls the police. (I thought this was a bit of an over-reaction, a corny contrived way to make it an awkward meet-cute.) He eventually convinces her that he's the cousin. And that begins their relationship.

2023 TBR Challenge

Whenever the subject of someone tackling their TBR comes up, I always think, "I'm not going to even bother." My TBR -- especially my ebook TBR -- is so huge, that if I read 1 book a day it would take me almost 40 years to finish it. And that's if I don't add any more books to it between now and 2063. Which is not going to happen. But, I saw this challenge and thought it might be fun. Books completed are indicated in Blue. 

Last updated 15 Jul 23.

1. Only One - Recursion by Blake Crouch - on my TBR since Dec 2019
2. Binary - The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders - a planet divided between permanent frozen darkness or eternal sunshine
3. Three's Company - Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou - descendants of the Fates
4. Four Corners of the Earth - The City & the City by China Miéville - I figure multiple dimensions should work
5. Five Finger Discount - The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - since Jun 2022
6. At Sixes and Sevens - Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch - pretty much covers Peter Grant's life
7. Showstopper - The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik - I adore the series but have yet to read the last book because then it will be over - since Oct 2022
8. Book Page Total Ends in 8 - Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher - 248 pages (3.5/5)
9. Nine to Five - Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
10. Top 10 - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna - top 10 fantasy from 2022
11. From the Library - Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson (my review: 4/5)
12. Let's Try This Again - The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake - since Jan 2022
13. Sweet Revenge - The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner - since Apr 2021
14. Technical Challenge - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - since Jun 2021
15. My Old Friend - The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - this whole series is an annual re-read (4.5/5)
16. Scrumptious - A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher - since Apr 2021
17. Cover with Only Text - Salvation Day by Kali Wallace - it might be 2-tone, but it's just text (my review: 5/5)
18. Around the Shelf - Book Lovers by Emily Henry - she's a book rep, he's an editor, can't be more around the shelf than that (5/5)
19. Bingeworthy - Qualify by Vera Nazarian - the shortest book is 556 pages (3,344 pages total) and I just got done binging the entire series (my review: 5/5)
20. Zero to Hero - Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (my review: 4/5)

Time Squared by Lesley Krueger (2021)

Summary: 

Robin and Eleanor meet in 1811 at the British estate of Eleanor’s rich aunt Clara. Robin is about to leave to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, and Aunt Clara rules out a marriage between her niece and the handsome young soldier. Everyone Eleanor knows, including Robin, believe they’ve always lived in the early 19th century, in the Regency era that Jane Austen so vividly portrayed.... 

Neither sci fi nor romance, but a critically-acclaimed literary mash-up, Time Squared examines the roles women are forced to play in different centuries, the power they’re allowed, the stresses they face — and what this does to their relationships. Shakespeare famously wrote, "Love alters not when it alteration finds."Or does it?

(I skipped most of the summary because it's misleading and doesn't sound like the book I read. Maybe it was created from an earlier draft?)

If you're looking for a straight-forward historical romance, or a twisty time-travel tale, this might not be the book for you. Because (despite how it reads in the summary) this is a story that flows from one era to the next. With each jump forward, the world and the characters are adjusted to fit the new era. Occasionally, Eleanor will have flashes of other times, but she always quickly dismisses her confusion at the dissonance they create with her current life. These time jumps aren't resets, where Eleanor and Robin start their story over in a new time. Instead, their story is picked up and put somewhen new. (Occasionally, the characters reference things from the past, not realizing that they were the ones who actually experienced them. Maybe.) None of this is done in a flashy, loud manner, but rather -- like the life that Eleanor is living -- things are tweaked as the characters' stories move forward. 

The result is a thought-provoking book. 

Nine Liars (Truly Devious #5) by Maureen Johnson (2022)

When everyone lies, somebody dies.

It's the latest installment of the Truly Devious series. Stevie and the gang (Janelle, Vi and Nate) are in their senior year at Ellingham Academy (except for David, because he graduated). Everyone is feeling the pressure of their impending graduation -- while Janelle is stressing over what schools to apply to (is 27 too much?), Stevie is avoiding the subject, because graduation = losing the family she's found in her friends. 

Stevie's still dating David (and I like the boy, even if he can be an arse sometimes), but it's a long-distance thing because David's studying at Cambridge. David invites the 4 to come to London for Thanksgiving Break. The gang is able to persuade Dr. Quinn to approve the trip (even though she's onto them about the real reason they're going). Stevie's excited (as excited as anxiety-prone Stevie can get) but the trip isn't the romantic rendezvous she imagined: David has a perky new bestie in the form of Izzy, a classmate at Cambridge. (Cue Stevie's insecurity). Stevie really wants to hate her, but Izzy is genuinely nice, so she can't.

Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs (1999)

This first book in the series is well-written. It quickly gives you a sense of Tempe, the world she inhabits and the challenges she's dealing with. As is typical, this Temperance Brennan is much different than the Temperance Brennan on the TV show. I'm not sure how I feel about her. I may have really liked her if I hadn't watched (and loved) the series, but I kept thinking 'that's not how Tempe would act' and I kept wondering when when Booth was going to show up.

If I was in a different headspace, I probably would have finished it, but it was just too gruesome for me. (I normally have a pretty high tolerance and will skip the descriptions if it's too gross.) I got as far as the woman who was cleaved basically in two up to the sternum (body #5?) and then called it a day. 

It's a little disappointing because I'd been wanting to read the books since the second season of 'Bones,' when I realized that the series is based on the books. I may pick it back up in the future, since normally, gruesomeness doesn't get to me. But for now, it's a DNF.

I've giving this a 4/5 stars.