LIFE'S A PEARL

It’s time for another Quick Lit post! Every month on the 15th, Modern Mrs Darcy, one of my favorite book blogs, hosts a link up inviting fellow readers and bloggers to share what they’ve been reading lately.

So far in February, I have read a few romances, a celebrity memoir, and my year of health nonfiction book pick, Mating in Captivity. Four of the five books below include new to me authors. One of my 2021 reading goals was to read at least one new author a month. A lot of my reading has been done through audiobooks this month and I’m loving incorporating the listening experience back into my reading life.

February Quick Lit:

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

Rating: 3.5 stars

Steam Level: 3

Rhiannon Hunter is the creator of a hugely successful dating app. Driven and career focused she doesn’t date, instead she has very strict rules when it comes to the occasional hookup. She never sees the same person more than once. After a passionate night with former pro-football star Samson Lima, he convinces her to see him again… and then disappears.

Months later, they run into one another at a work conference. Rhi is shocked to discover he’s helping his aunt, the new sole owner of a rival company she’d love to acquire, and that he may have a reasonable explanation for ghosting her. As they make a deal to help one another out, Rhi realizes her attraction to Samson is still strong and he would give anything to convince her for another chance.

I’ve wanted to read Alisha Rai for awhile now and this Modern Love series has been popping up all over the place. I listened to this first book on audio. The dual narrators were awesome!

There’s a lot going on in this story – the business side, Rhi working through past trauma, the introduction of tons of secondary characters, and CTE, a brain disease caused by multiple concussions plays a big part in Samson’s story. With all those elements, the love story became lost for me in some parts, making their connection feel a bit “instalovey”.

On the other hand the chemistry between Rhi and Samson was off the charts! I loved how the details of their previous encounter were wound into the first few chapters when they meet again. I also thought it was interesting that both characters seem to be incredibly wealthy but it’s rarely brought up in the story and certainly never flaunted.

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

Rating: 4 stars

Steam Level: 2

On her first day of law school, Kailyn literally runs into the TV heartthrob she’s crushed on since her teenage years. Daxton Hughes is a fellow student trying to embrace a normal college experience despite his famous past. They banter and compete for the top spot in their law class until he betrays her.

Eight years later, Kailyn finds herself face to face with Dax again, but this time she puts aside her anger to give him legal aid as he deals with his devastating new role of sole guardian to his teenage sister. The more time Kailyn spends with Dax and Emme, the more they feel like family and her attraction to Dax rekindles. But complications of a custody case, work pressure to bring Dax on board with her firm, and past mistakes threaten their connection.

I discovered Helena Hunting at the end of last year and fell hard for her Pucked series. This book is not the light romantic comedy that the title and cover suggest. Several reviews I saw were very disappointed by the story and felt the marketing was misleading.

I loved this book though which I found surprising since it starts out much darker than I expected with Dax’s parents passing away. This story was full of the kind of angst that works for me. Emme’s character stole the show a bit too. I felt like there was great balance in this love story. It had moments of grief, parenting mistakes, anger, steamy scenes, and a lot of love throughout!

Wildflower by Drew Barrymore

Rating: 2.5 stars

Wildflower is a collection of short stories from Drew Barrymore’s life. She looks back on her troubled childhood, her career challenges, and some of her closest relationships. I listened to this on audio and it’s narrated by Drew herself.

It is impressive how hard she worked to turn her life and career around after a terrible upbringing. With neither of her parents being functioning adults, she had to completely teach herself how to be a grown up, from figuring out laundry to forming healthy relationships. Her chapters to her daughters were raw, honest, and full of love. Those were probably my favorites.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I expected too. The chapters about where she gushed about her in-laws and now ex-husband made me cringe. While it was awesome that hear Drew Barrymore’s familiar voice telling her own stories, the loud screechy sound effects were very disruptive and the volume level jumped around a lot to the point of being incredibly frustrating.

Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey

Rating: 3.5 stars

Steam Level: 4 

Rosie and Dominic Vega have been together for 10 years. They used to be the perfect couple but now they only connect during their standing agreement of sex on Tuesday nights. One night Rosie decides enough is enough and Dominic can’t believe she’s leaving him until she’s out the door.

Knowing he can’t stand to lose her, Dominic agrees to do something Rosie never believed her macho emotionally repressed husband would ever do – couple’s therapy. Dom’s determination to cooperate makes Rosie realize the role she’s played in them growing apart. As their kooky hippy therapist gives them one crazy assignment after another, Rosie starts to believe they really can make it work. Dom is still keeping one secret though, something that could destroy all their progress.

Wow! This couple was seriously hot. They were crazy for one another. I’ve heard Tessa Bailey described as the queen of dirty talk and I second that after reading this book.

I adore stories where married couples are fighting to save their marriage and fall back in love with one another. The conflict in this one did seem a little too easy. They both obviously still loved the other and it seemed like one conversation could fix everything. I honestly didn’t really mind because their connection was so hot!

This was the second book in Tessa Bailey’s Hot and Hammered series. The side characters were really fun in this one. I plan to read more of this series because I’m curious about their stories.

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel

Mating in Captivity is my year of health book pick for February. Years ago, I saw her Ted Talk, The secret to desire in a long-term relationship and found her fresh perspective fascinating. After purchasing it during a daily deal, I’ve had her first book sitting on my kindle for far too long. Intimacy in relationships seemed like the perfect theme for this month.

Esther Perel studies the conflict between domesticity and eroticism in modern relationships and marriage. She argues that good sex is based on two conflicting needs, security and surprise. She shares how creating an element of space and mystery can keep passion and desire going.

I’m enjoying Perel’s insights into the model for modern marriage, how society’s expectations influence our own idea’s of eroticism, and the way a person’s sexual identity develops. I’ll discuss this book further in my year of health recap for February.

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What have you been reading lately?