One of our reading goals is working on our Netgalley feedback ratio. Eventually we want to get it to 80%. And to help motivate us we decided to do this new post every week. We pick three of our eARCs and based on the first line, paragraph, or page we decide which one we’ll read next. Let’s take a look at today’s picks!
Mistakes Were Made – Meryl Wilsner
From the critically acclaimed author of Something To Talk About comes a sharp and sexy rom-com about a college senior who accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom.
When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school’s Family Weekend, she isn’t looking for a hookup—it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around and her friend drags her along to meet her mom—the hot, older woman Cassie slept with.
Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn’t known Cassie was a student when they’d met. To make things worse, Erin’s daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin’s better judgement—how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad?—she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night.
What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?
“A stranger caught Cassie’s arm as she moved past him toward the bar. “Hey, beautiful, lemme buy you a drink.” The guy’s grin was cocksure, like he knew he was going to get what he wanted. Cassie flipped her long blond ponytail over her shoulder and gave the man a syrup-sweet smile, blinking at him through her lashes. “Let me go before I break your arm.””
So right from the start I know I’m going to like Cassie. She seems feisty and knows how to handle herself. I’ve been wanting to read Mistakes Were Made since I heard about this book. She sleeps with her best friend’s mother and we know it’s going to get messy. This really is on the top of my list!
Kiss Her Once For Me – Alison Cochrun
The author of The Charm Offensive returns with a festive romantic comedy about a woman who fakes an engagement with her landlord…only to fall for his sister.
One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.
Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.
Perfect for fans of Written in the Stars and One Day in December, Kiss Her Once for Me is the queer holiday rom-com that you’ll want to cozy up with next to the fire.
“Snow days are a special kind of magic. When I was a kid, snow days meant freedom from the stress of school and from the debilitating social anxiety I felt there. On a snow day, I could wander outside and make friends as easily as packing a snowball between my gloved palms.”
I love how Kiss Her Once For Me starts. Snow days really were magical. Not only going out and playing in it, but just how pretty and quiet everything was in the morning. I definitely miss those days. So I haven’t read The Charm Offensive yet (but I don’t think I need to first). I have a feeling this is going to be a very cozy book and one I end up loving.
Places We’ve Never Been – Kasie West
A sweet and swoony contemporary Young Adult novel about a cross-country family road trip that puts one girl and her childhood best friend on an unexpected road to romance!
Norah hasn’t seen her childhood best friend, Skyler, in years. When he first moved away, they’d talk all the time, but lately their relationship has been reduced to liking each other’s Instagram posts. That’s why Norah can’t wait for the joint RV road trip their families have planned for the summer.
But when Skyler finally arrives, he seems…like he’d rather be anywhere else. Hurt and confused, Norah reacts in kind. Suddenly, her oldest friendship is on the rocks.
An unexpected summer spent driving across the country leads both Norah and Skyler down new roads and to new discoveries. Before long, they are, once again, seeing each other in a different light. Can their friendship-turned-rivalry turn into something more?
“”Norah, Breathe,” Willow said with a laugh. “I swear I’ve never seen you this excited in my life. I’m starting to get jealous.” I swatted her arm with a folded blue sweatshirt, then added it to the open suitcase on my bed. “You should be jealous,” I teased. “He was my best friend for most of my life. You only just passed three years.””
Kasie West is an author I’ve read before and really enjoyed. I love contemporary books and that’s exactly what she writes. Places We’ve Never Been is one I’ve wanted to read since it released in May, but I have a habit of getting distracted. The opening paragraph doesn’t really tell me much, but I know the story is going to be great.
After reading the first paragraphs in these few books Mistakes Were Made and Kiss Her Once for Me stand out the most to me. At the moment I’m really looking for coziness I think, so the first one out of these three I plan on reading is Kiss Her Once for Me. I’m definitely already getting into the festive and cozy mood. So what do you think of the opening lines in these three books? What book would you choose to read first? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
