Anchored Musings

Trust Fall – Lynn Painter

Trust Fall –3.5/5 ✩

Trust Fall is Lynn Painter’s newest YA sensation. It follows Julia, a small-town-girl adjusting to the elite lifestyle of the Upper West Side, and Damion, a mysterious classmate who has a vendetta against Julia’s family. Naturally, as the pair clash, they also manage to fall in love.

Lynn Painter truly never disappoints. I loved the setting of this book, I loved the dual POV, and I absolutely adored Damion! He has a rough exterior, but he is kind, he is respectful, he is loving, and he shows up and holds himself accountable for his actions. If anyone knows how to write men – YA or adult – it’s Lynn Painter!

The chemistry between Julia and Damion is unmatched and Lynn manages to seamlessly weave such poignant themes –like love, mental health, bullying, and standing up for yourself and the people you leave – into her narrative.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for the arc via NetGalley!

The Twelve Loves of Christmas

The Twelve Loves of Christmas – 3.5/5 ✩

What a fun holiday read! I was thrilled to get this ARC approval – I’ve never read an advent calendar style book and I loved the idea of having one story every day leading up to Christmas. For a reader, this is like the dream advent calendar!

Overall, the book was lighthearted and fun, exactly what you want when you think of a holiday read! My only piece of criticism is that I wanted more from some of the stories, but that’s the nature of short stories, they’re short. I’d give the book a strong 3.5/5 stars!

A Merry Little Christmas, Jessica Joyce
- This story was SO CUTE, I want MORE! It was my favorite of the bunch
- Jessica Joyce is such a talented writer. She conveys emotions so well
- Tropes: second chance romance, forced proximity, bringing a fake date to the family function

Decking His Halls, Alexis Daria
- I love a brother’s best friend romance and I liked that the characters openly communicated with each other
- Tropes: close proximity, brother’s best friend

I’ll Be Home for Ex-Mas, Alexandria Bellefleur
- I loved the nostalgia, but I wanted MORE! It felt a little too quick and I wanted to dig deeper into the characters’ emotions
- Tropes: second chance romance, reuniting after years apart

Someone to Hold On To, Elise Bryant
- Cute story, very lesson-heavy, especially when you find out who the thief was. I wish there was a little bit more romance
- Trope: Friends in unlikely places

Ho Ho Oh No, M.A. Wardell
- I LOVED the angst and the cuddling. It was so CUTE
- I liked Philip, he was quirky and self aware
- Tropes: Mistletoe, only one bed, grumpy/sunshine

Twelve Seconds to Forever, Rebecca Jenshak
- I like it, but the end was so abrupt and open ended and we don’t get to see them together – I wanted MORE!
- Dual POV
- Tropes: Best friend’s brother, forced proximity

A Solstice Kiss, Olivia Dade
- Oh, it was so cute! Felix was adorable and KIND and I really liked Ellie’s growth. I LOVED it!
- Tropes: Time abroad, making an ex jealous

All Roads Lead Home, Joss Richard
- The nostalgia!!! It was cute and sweet! Loved this one.
- Tropes: home for the holidays, small town, reuniting with childhood best friend, friends to lovers

Skipping Christmas, Rebekah Weatherspoon
- Tropes: neighbors, not going home for the holidays

Holiday Blackout, Susan Lee
- Lighthearted and cute workplace romance
- Dual POV
- Tropes: Work frenemies, second chance

Hope This Helps, Sarah Hogle
- The millennial references were funny
- I know it’s a short story but I really needed more at the end!
- Tropes: emailing, enemies to lovers

Is It New Year’s Yet?, Zakiyah N. Jamal
- Very cute! Really great display of the tension and making you WANT these characters to be together
- Tropes: childhood best friends, friends to lovers, kissed but it got weird now we’re facing the music and admitting feelings

Thanks to Atria Books for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Grim Tidings – B.K. Borison

Grim Tidings – 5/5 ✩

Can B.K. Borison write me a man? She knows exactly how to create your dream man and bring him to life on the page!

While Good Spirits felt fun and innocent, Grim Tidings dives into the nitty-gritty of what it means to love yourself, your life, and maybe even your soulmate.

Grim Tidings is about Darcy, a Reaper responsible for bringing people to the afterlife, and Gabriel, a Guardian tasked with protecting lives at all costs. These two characters are juxtaposed from the get-go and are set up perfectly to fall into the forbidden love and enemies to lovers tropes in what I view as the least cliché way possible.

The tension built between them is palpable and I love that at the start of the novel, they both choose to remain close just to ‘keep their enemies close’ *wink wink*. I totally fell for these two and the way that even though they can’t initially see eye to eye, they also can’t figure out how to stay away from each other either.

The romance stole the show for me in this book, but I also think it’s a stellar example of the interconnectedness of people in the world and how our actions impact others and show others love. It was beautiful to see these characters grow into themselves and learn how to open themselves up.

Can’t recommend enough!

Thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers, and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It’s Different This Time – Joss Richard

It’s Different This Time had such potential, but ultimately, fell super short for me.

It’s Different This Time – 3/5 ✩

Let me start by saying this: Joss Richard is an extremely talented writer, her prose is beautiful. But my issue, and it’s a big one, lies with her FMC and I can’t really look past it.

It’s Different This Time is a second chance romance, reuniting former best friends June and Adam. The pair haven’t lived together for years, but at the start of the book, they’re both summoned to an office in the city, notified that they’ve inherited the home they used to live in. For the next month, June and Adam decide that they’re going to move back into the home and live together, all the while, fighting their ever-present chemistry and the things in the past June’s been too scared to confront.

Reading just the summary, there is so much potential here. Not only are we with these characters in the present day as they try to juggle what their new relationship can be, we also flip back and forth to the past and see how these two met and how their relationship developed.

You’re still with me, right? This is stellar. The storyline: Absolutely impeccable work.

But the execution… Joss, you’re starting to lose me.

Something that’s so special about second romances, especially ones with dual timelines, is that there’s a lot of angst and a lot of nostalgia and a lot of emotion. If done well, I’m on the edge of my seat, often times fighting tears, because the chemistry is sizzling, the nostalgia is THERE, and I’m just waiting for the couple to have That One Conversation that makes them realize why they didn’t work before, but why they can work now.

I didn’t feel that here. The nostalgia was missing and the feels just weren’t feeling.

Did I like June and Adam’s relationship in the past? Yes. Did I like how the love between them was absolutely undeniable? Also yes.

But I didn’t feel the yearning and that absolute need to be together that I think you need in a second chance romance. Therefore, their reunion in the present day really didn’t pack too much of a punch. And if we’re going to be really nitpicky here (and sorry, I am), there really wasn’t much to go back to anyways.

Spoiler alert: They were never together! These two never actually got together in the past, so that fear of being reunited and facing each other after years have passed in the present day didn’t feel as important as I think Joss may have wanted.

All that to say… I was still ready to give this book 5 stars. I seriously am such a sucker for a nostalgic second chance romance, and at first, I truly did think it was well done.

BUT! THEN!

We get to just about the end of the book. You know either a third act break up or some sort of big conflict is on the way and this is where I just lost it. And not the kind of ‘wow, this is amazing, I’m losing my mind!’ kind of lost it. No. The ‘I was in a great mood listening to this book at work and now I’m ready to snap at anyone who comes to talk to me’ kind of lost it. I went from being in such a great mood to genuinely being so pissed off.

The lack of communication from JUNE is, pardon my language here, FUCKED. Absolutely fucked. up.

She’s always had some issues with communicating that I was willing to write off, but this was my breaking point and it made me look back at all those other instances of her not communicating and I was enraged. This wasn’t a story or a tactical writing problem for me. This was a character problem and it was personal and I truly considered not finishing this book (and I NEVER DNF books).

Let’s set the scene. *Ahem* June has just cooked dinner for Adam. Mind you, June is not a cook and Adam is a CHEF, so this is big. The two are back together. They’re happy. But June found out this afternoon that Adam had proposed to a girl June had met before she just up and left New York a handful of years ago in a jealous, heartbroken rage. And now, she has the NERVE to be mad at him and confronts him about it. But instead of actually having the conversation, she decides she’s just going to tell him she knows, wait until she can sign the paperwork granting her full ownership of the home, and pack her bags AGAIN and leave New York AGAIN.

Does girlie pop have a reason to hurt? Sure. She’s head over heels in love with Adam and has been for awhile now, but let’s take a look at a conversation they had just days before this dinner.

We’re in chapter 18 if you’d like to follow along. June and Adam are in the kitchen at Adam’s restaurant and Adam says, “Look, earlier about Riley–” and June thinks to herself, “I don’t want to talk about our exes. I don’t want us to think about the past. All that matters to me is the here and now.” and then she says to Adam, “Adam, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything. Whatever happened with you and Riley, with me and Liam, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s done.” And then she SMILES. AS IF SHE REALLY MEANS IT!

So now, for her to get mad at him at the end of the book for not telling her about Riley… WHEN SHE LITERALLY TOLD HIM NOT TO?! Get outta here. He literally TRIED to tell her and she shut! him! down! And now she’s using this information that she didn’t want to hear against him. It’s hypocritical as fuck!

Be mad, be hurt. Maybe even let him leave and take a night to think all this through. But that’s not what our girl June does! She let’s him leave, doesn’t talk to him for a week, then chooses to leave New York. AGAIN.

So, as I was plenty pissed off at this point, I started to go back and think about all the times this girl just refused to fucking communicate. I will list some examples:

June leaves New York (for the first time) without telling Adam. She knows full-fucking-well she’s not coming back and doesn’t have the decency to tell him, her best friend (whom she splits rent with, mind you) that she’s not coming back. Who in their right mind thinks it’s okay to treat their “best friend” like that?!
- She also doesn’t tell Chloe she’s not coming back either, which again, proves she’s a shit friend. She gives Adam’s little sister a more half-assed explanation about her trip to LA than she does to either of her best friends which is messed up.
In the past, June grapples with her feelings for Adam for awhile, tries to make a move, lets him basically confess that he’s in love with her, then acts like she doesn’t know what she wants? When she knows full well what she wants from and with him? And THEN gets upset when he starts to date someone else? Cool, June. Cool.
She doesn’t tell her current roommates in LA about Adam at all? Does this girl not know how to be a friend or what it’s like to have friends?
She doesn’t tell Adam (in the present day) about her being cast in Les Mis… Isn’t that the kind of news you want to share with EVERYBODY, especially when it’s quite literally your dream job?!

I can’t even rationalize wanting to have someone like June in my life.

To me, it just seems like June is so scared of being vulnerable and is borderline-insecure, so she assumes she knows what’s best for Adam and makes choices “for Adam” , but in reality, they’re choices that keep her from having to show vulnerability, and I’m sorry, Adam, but that’s not a quality your partner should have.

As I said before, I was ready to be all ‘WOO HOO 5 STARS!’ but genuinely, her overreaction and complete inability to communicate throughout the entire novel took this from a 5/5 ✩ rating to a 3/5 ✩, and that’s generous. It’s one thing to be a poor communicator when you’re young but grow and mature and realize your mistakes as you age, but dare I say, June was even more immature in the present day? I understand being afraid to face your past and things and people that hurt you, but when you’re the one that literally caused your own pain and then you still refuse to talk about it and continue to make the very same mistakes over and over again? No thank you. Don’t think the irony in the title of this book is lost on me, because sorry, Joss, when it comes to June, it is not different this time.

I wish the beginning of this book wasn’t so strong because honestly 3/5 ✩ feels too generous, but the opening of this book was impressive, especially for a debut.

The Pools – E. Lockhart

The Pools – 4/5 ✩

The Pools by E. Lockhart takes place in a town with several pools which are rumored to be magical. When Lexie moves to town, she meets Chester at the pools and they quickly fall in love. Only a few months later, though, five people go into the pools and their lives are completely changed. They have turned into birds. Not only is Chester one of the five who is changed, but so is Lexie’s little sister, and so begins Lexie’s journey to figure out how to save them, if she can save them.

E. Lockhart is an auto-read author for me. If she releases a new book, I’m going to read it, regardless of what it’s about. When I picked up this book, I hadn’t read the synopsis yet, so I was startled when these characters turned into birds. It was unexpected – something I’ve never read before – and I couldn’t put it down. This uniqueness made me feel like I couldn’t stop reading.

The fact that the book is written in verse also kept me very engaged. The book is fast paced and felt refreshing to read. At first, I wasn’t sure if I loved the verse – I felt like I couldn’t connect with the characters and get in their heads as much I would have if it was normal prose – but the novel flows so beautifully and with a storyline like this, there’s a little bit of a magical quality to not have all the answers.

I do wish there was a little bit more to the story at the end. I got to the last page and flipped, expecting more, and was disappointed there wasn’t more to read, but overall, I really enjoyed the book. I love how unique the story is, while also maintaining hallmark qualities of E. Lockhart’s writing like her love for stories and fairytales that we see in her other books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Find Something That Makes You Feel It In Your Bones

I’ve never been great at expressing myself. In fact, I think it’s safe to say, I’ve always been terrible at expressing myself. I remember this one time, I was having a conversation with a professor of mine in college. I was struggling a little bit, having trouble participating in class and speaking out even though participation was a large percentage of my grade. As I sat in his office, opening up about why I was struggling, he told me how I keep things close to my heart, not easily showing people how I really feel. I remember being so astonished when he said it to me, not because I was upset he said it, but because I couldn’t believe he saw it. That he saw me. I wasn’t used to people seeing me. And instead of taking what he said to heart and learning how to let people see me, I held onto this like a badge of honor. I walked around with my head held high thinking that ‘yeah, I do hold in what I think and that’s okay’ and I stayed like that for a long time.

Looking back, I think what he said to me was really just a nice way of saying that I didn’t always know how to be vulnerable with people. I think that I fear being wrong and I fear looking stupid in front of others, and I think that by keeping my mouth shut, I was able to prevent people from thinking things about me that I didn’t want them to think. And I suppose it helped, but it also did keep people from knowing me. It kept me from really knowing how to express myself and from allowing myself to live and present myself as the person that I know that I am.

Am I still self conscious? Hell yes I am. But I’ve also gotten better at peeling my own layers back and existing in this world as the person I want to be and being that person for other people.

I grew up as someone fully engrossed in the media. I loved (and still love) reading and losing myself in a movie or a tv series, and there have always been some stories that fill me with a type of nostalgia I can’t quite describe, but I’m going to try my best to do it here.

When I find a story like this, I find myself overcome with emotion. It’s like this pressure that builds in my chest, and I sit there, sometimes with tears in my eyes, and for a moment, I really feel seen. The nostalgia and the connectedness I feel with the characters is almost sometimes too much to bear, and I love every moment of it. It feels so special because it’s a feeling I don’t often feel.

It’s like I can see and I can feel these characters so strongly that it pushes me toward this emotional precipice and I just get to sit there and take it in and absorb it and relish in the beauty between the pages or shots. This reaction to a piece of art is what makes art feel beautiful to me.

I think the first time I felt this way was watching Dawson’s Creek. I watched the show for the first time going into high school when I wanted nothing more than to be a writer and to be a filmmaker. I could see pieces of myself in Dawson and I could also see myself in Joey. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a Joey and Pacey girl for life, but there’s something about the nostalgia and the innocence in the relationship between Joey and Dawson in the pilot of the series that I’ve never been able to shake. I still get emotional reading the words “See ya, Dawson / See ya, Joey” or watching that scene. There’s something about the series that is forever engrained my heart. The first season, in particular, brings me back to an emotional state of mind very few other things do.

Another one is We Were Liars. I picked this book up after finding out there was an adaptation in the works by two of my favorite writers and it clawed its way into my heart without leaving a path back out. It sounds cliché, but there truly is a Before We Were Liars and an After We Were Liars in my life. There’s no other way to look at it.

These characters are like family to me and the emotions they draw out of me are completely unparalleled. I can’t read the book or watch the show with a dry eye. I was able to attend the premiere of We Were Liars at Tribeca Film Festival last year, and I found that pressure building in my chest and the tears coming to my eyes as the lights went down in the theater and I let myself fully appreciate how lucky I was to not only be at the premiere, but to exist at a time when a story like this exists. What I think is so special about We Were Liars is the way that it encapsulates the feeling of a 90s WB drama the way that series don’t know how to do anymore. Particularly the scenes between Cadence and Gat. I think it’s the first episode, there’s a flashback of when Cadence and Gat first meet and she says, “Are you real?” and there’s nothing particularly special about this scene that makes it stand out amongst the rest, but I felt like scene rocked my world. It was like the ground wasn’t beneath my feet anymore and I had to just exist in this moment as long as I could until the world could right itself again. And I felt that way later in the episode when they kiss for the first time. I don’t know if it’s the young, innocent, summer love that made their yearning feel so nostalgic or what exactly it is that made me feel like I did as a young teenager watching Dawson’s Creek for the first time, but something about it brought me back.

The same thing happened with Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. I remember the first time I read the book, I was on a cruise and I was sitting in the library overlooking the ocean on a rainy day at sea and I lost myself in the book. When I finished it, I looked out on the water with tears streaming down my face and I couldn’t believe that a book had made me feel something so deeply, and now suddenly, I had to go to back to real life and leave Sam and Percy behind. I recall laughing at myself for how much I was crying, and the more I laughed, the more I couldn’t keep the tears at bay. I re-read the book again a couple of years later, on a plane of all places (I should’ve known better), and the same thing happened. So what is it about Sam and Percy that hits so close to home?

With the adaptation Every Year After dropping on Prime tomorrow, I figured I should re-read the book again, and I didn’t even get three pages into the book before I was getting teary eyed. I had to put the book down for a little bit before I could pick it up again, and I’m only now in chapter 5 and I have so many little passages I’ve highlighted that have given me that jolt of emotion in my chest and made me stop and really absorb everything for a moment.

Carley Fortune has this ability to create characters that are so real on the page. They are completely three dimensional and there isn’t a single scene in any of her books where you feel like you aren’t in that very moment with the characters. Even the line “You came home.” packs such a punch. Three words, and yet you feel it in your very bones. To risk being completely repetitious, Percy’s narration carries this uncanny nostalgia that very few authors can actually replicate or match, and Percy makes these off-hand comments that don’t scream at you that she’s unhappy, but you know it without question that there’s this feeling of discontent that she feels and has felt since she and Sam parted ways. It’s beautiful, and honestly, Percy feels like a character that understands the way that I sometimes feel deep down inside, even if I don’t know how to express it myself.

It’s reading lines like, “I’ve become skilled at warding off the loneliness that threatened to pull me under in my early twenties” (Kindle, p.49) and “But somehow it also hurts that his life continued without me as planned.” (Kindle, p.58) that make me feel like the characters and their feelings are being injected so deeply into my veins that we’re past the point of no return.

I felt this same way when I watched the trailer for the series as well. I just sat there, watching, tears pooling in my eyes, not able to comprehend how a story could make me feel such deep emotions. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’ll link the trailer here.

Even as I sit here and write this, I still am trying to pull the why out of the emotions. Why is it that Every Summer After makes me feel the way that it does? What is it about this story that makes all the emotions come bubbling to surface? I don’t have a particular attachment to second chance romances and friends-to-lovers honestly is not my favorite trope, but Every Summer After is one of my favorite novels in the world.

So, what is it? Is it that yearning pulls on some heartstrings that don’t get enough attention? Is it seeing myself in characters and feeling like it’s a miracle they know how to express my feelings without ever having met me? I’m not sure. But I don’t take it for granted when I find beautiful stories like these. I find them, I cherish them, and I hold them as close to my heart as possible because it isn’t often we find something that can touch us so deeply. We crave connection in this world, and I feel like the harder we look, the harder it is to find, so when you find something that can hold meaning for you, I encourage you to keep it close and leave space for those stories that touch your heart.

Off Campus

You know I can’t resist a cute lil romance…

I’ve been counting down the days until Off Campus dropped on Prime, and yes, I did binge the entire series in one sitting.

I’d like to say I binged the series because I was avoiding spoilers online (which I was), but we all know it also had to do with a complete lack of self control that’s coming from the fangirl reborn inside of me.

I’ve spent years dedicated to the fangirl lifestyle, but I don’t know, Heated Rivalry reignited something in my inner fangirl that I don’t ever want to ever go away (iykyk) and I’m so happy that fun romances are making a comeback.

I knew I’d love Off Campus, but for some reason, I always put off reading the books (shoutout to Christina for pushing me to FINALLY read them). On the one hand, I’m grateful I’m reading them so close to the show dropping, but on the other, it’s like, why did I wait SO long to jump into this glorious hockey world?!

Like I said, I binged the whole series yesterday when it dropped, and overall, I absolutely LOVED it. I literally was grinning and kicking my feet while I watched. Who DOES that?! A fangirl. A fangirl does that.

This show made me feel like I did with the old 90s/2000s WB dramas and I am SO here for it. I literally cannot wait to go back and rewatch and catch all the little details I missed on my first watch.

I think the casting was perfection. The chemistry between Ella and Belmont is spot on, Antonio, Stephen, Jalen, and Khobe add the perfect amount of depth and humor to the show, and Mika literally was Allie pulled straight off the page. I absolutely adored her. Josh was different from what I pictured Justin being in the book, but I liked the expansion of his role, even if I was waiting the whole time for him to get out of the way so Hannah and Garrett could be together.

I really loved how Dean and Allie’s story made its way into this first season, especially because I was wondering if the series would stay consistent with season 1 being about Hannah and Garrett, season 2 about Logan and Grace, and so forth like the books. But I really felt the chemistry between Allie and Dean early on and I like that they started developing their relationship alongside Hannah and Garrett’s.

I remember hearing prior to the show premiering that they added Logan’s sister into the storyline, but I definitely was surprised to see that addition and I’m curious as to how it will impact Logan’s character going forward. Logan’s story and his future hinges so strongly on his relationship with his dad and brother, so I’m eager to see how this will be changed in the following season(s).

One thing I had a hard time with, and this is purely selfish, is that I LOVE Steve Howey. I’m such a big Steve Howey fan, and I knew from reading the books that he’s a horrible character. My issue lies in the fact that I didn’t WANT to hate him (and of course, I did hate him. How could you not?!). Going into the show though, after watching him on High Potential, I was like, how am I supposed to hate him?! But wow, good on you Steve Howey, because you whipped out those acting skills and brought me from a fan to a certified Phil Graham HATER.

Lastly, I was so impressed by the music on this show. For me, music can make or break a show. It’s one of the first things I notice when I watch something new. It can take a piece of art from a good story, to an immersive experience. Amanda Krieg Thomas, you did the thing! Major props.

Here are my thoughts I wrote down during each episode after my first watch. Warning: There WILL be spoilers!

Episode 1

I’m smiling like an IDIOT, I LOVE this
That door transition (G shutting the door, Hannah opening her door), I love. (I can try, but I can never really shut the film studies part of my brain off!) I love the parallel between G and Hannah in that entire scene actually.
The way that the music plays when Garrett says Hannah disappears when she plays music is BEAUTIFUL. It immerses you right in their little bubble.
The emphasis on THE DEAL! I love the distinct reference to the book.

Episode 2

I like the setup for book 3 with Allie trying to convince Sean to be more adventurous in bed. It was a small note in book 3 and I like that the writers are doing their best to stay faithful to the books with the little details.
I love that Beau’s role is expanded (but I’m SCARED. IYKYK!)
That Hannah/Garrett kiss in the gym, right into kissing Logan… DAMN
THE F-ING MUSIC!!! Using Deeply Still in Love by ROLE MODEL, I love it!!!
I am LOVINGGGG the Allie and Dean set up!! From him noticing her at the party to them dancing together… OKAY, I SEE YOU GUYS
Garrett… Garrett…. WHY DID YOU STOP SPOONING HER. Like, I see that inner conflict in your head but COME ON. Just admit you feel something already
- I love seeing his jealousy when Hannah and Justin sit together on the bus…

Episode 3

GOD, the way I was watching the beginning of this episode with such skepticism… I was like this is NOT Hannah behavior lol
Okay so Allie and Sean’s story is moving quicker here than in the books I think. And Sean is a total dick? Thinking she’d outgrow acting and just wanting to talk later because he’s cold? Grow up and grow a pair, bro. Get out of your head for one second and think about the girl you “love”
G WALKING UP THE STAIRS PICKING UP ALL HER STUFF MY GOOODDDDDD
- One thing I noticed here is that I MISS Garrett and Hannah’s Breaking Bad marathon. I’d understand if they had to change the show or something since Breaking Bad isn’t *THE* show anymore, but I loved the simple intimacy of them watching a show together all night and bonding over it.

Episode 4

Okay Sean is on my NERVES! “I think we should break up.” / “Okay.” Like what a dick?! And why is Sean trying to make Allie out to be the bad guy here when it’s clear he’s in the wrong. He literally doesn’t listen to her and prioritizes all of his own needs over hers. Obviously, they aren’t right for each other, but I don’t like the way she’s being treated.

Drunk Shakespeare would give me so much anxiety, thank god I’m not in their shoes
My heart is breaking for Garrett as Hannah goes to sit with Justin at Shakespeare….
Hannah turning down Justin and showing up at the rink ABHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Episode 5

THIS OPENING MONTAGE IM CRYING
I love the lil recreating the cover moment here
The Thanksgiving scene was SO WELL DONE
Logan is such a SWEETIE
Poor Tucker – he’s trying so hard. He’s hilarious, I love him. Protect Jalen Thomas Brooks at all costs.
oh the ENNNNDDDDDDDDDD FUCK – I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

Episode 6

DEAN AND ALLLIIIIEEEE!!!!! I am loving this
- I love how their relationship is *mostly* starting the same way with Allie’s breakup, the threesome fail, the joint…
THE BROADWAY TALK BAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
- I actually screamed at the Broadway talk – from J. Groff to Legally Blonde… This show was made for me.
The Allie and Hannah conversation about flings/Allie’s problem being rebound dating feels very book accurate
AT THE BAR THE SONG REQUESTS !!!!!!!!!!
- Feels loyal to the book/jukebox scene and I just LOVE Dean and Allie’s relationship
Grace????? Won a raffle???? WHERE IS SHE

Episode 7

The Garrett and Logan tension that started in episode 6 is surprising and a little off putting to me. I know G didn’t communicate everything about his dad in the book, but this tension is weird to me and feels out of the blue and out of character for them
Soooooo Garrett breaks up with Hannah, no Phil Graham intervention….
The phone call between Hannah and her mom has me in TEARS
SOMBR…. The music is killer
WHY CAN I NOT STOP CRYING
- Also the Massachusetts song is DOING IT IT’S KILLING ME

Episode 8

I LOVE a shot where they keep looking at each other and keep missing each other. It’s very A Walk to Remember
Garrett’s suspension is whack. But I guess it adds more conflict to the show
GARRETT IS SO REAL FOR CHECKING WHO VIEWED HIS STORY AND THEN HANNAH TRYING NOT TO VIEW IT
I love all the Garrett/Hannah side by side shots throughout the series
Logan pushing Garrett to fight for Hannah even though he has feelings for her too KILLLLS ME. I love Logan
Oh my god the twist at the end of Allie having hooked up with Hunter Davenport FUCK
- Fucking Jules video taping the fight – fuck OFF. I don’t mind that they added Jules into the story, but it annoys me how everything has to be posted online. Like these are your brother’s (and your) friends, where is your loyalty…

One Bigger Takeaway

I wish we got to see more of Hannah and the guys. I feel like they should have spent more time together for their desire to be at the showcase at the end of the show to really pack a punch.

Overall, I really loved the series, so I don’t want this to be a post about how this and that were changed, but there are some things I noticed:

Episode 1 – Hannah working at the school and seeing Garrett in locker room, Hannah playing the clarinet/being involved in composition and not having her sole focus be on vocals and the showcase, working at Malone’s (Malone’s serving as both the diner and bar)

Episode 2 – Logan’s sister is an addition to the cast, Justin is a musician and not a football player and they collab for her to win the scholarship. He also stays in the story more in the show than the books

Episode 4 – So Logan entered the draft and has been passed over twice? And Jules says he’ll end up stuck with MOM at the garage? I don’t think Logan entered the draft in the book (though he said he did) and his dad is the one who owns the garage in the book. I wonder why those details had to be changed.
Episode 7 – Phil didn’t break them up
Episode 8 – OH so Garrett didn’t instate the hands off law on Hannah… It started out of a miscommunication?

I’m so thrilled that they’re starting to film season 2 soon! I’m excited to see India Fowler as our new leading lady and to see Phillipa Soo join the cast as well!

Last weekend, just days before the show dropped on Prime, Creation Entertainment hosted a Romance Page to Screen convention and brought some of the Off Campus cast and I’m beyond grateful my friends and I were able to meet some of the cast. Check out the pictures below!

April 2026

For someone who loves music like I do, April was surprisingly lacking in music. I flew down to Atlanta to visit a friend and to see the band The Maine, so I listened to a lot of their discography this month, but otherwise, my time was dominated by audiobooks.

If you’re looking for audiobooks, some of my standouts were: the Twilight Saga (of course) and The Hunger Games series. I also listened to a couple Lynn Painter books (the Mr. Wrong Number duology) and several Abby Jimenez books! My favorites of hers were probably Say You’ll Remember Me and The Night We Met, but I’ve never met an Abby Jimenez book I haven’t loved, so really, you can’t go wrong. I also loved The Wedding People by Alison Espach.

As for the official April Playlist, here it goes:

Bella’s Lullaby
Come Down With Love – Allstar Weekend
Die to Fall – The Maine
Sticky – The Maine
Taxi – The Maine
Loved You a Little – The Maine, Taking Back Sunday, Charlotte Sands
blame – The Maine
Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu – The Maine
Another Night on Mars – The Maine
English Girls – The Maine
Do the Damn Thing – Hot Chelle Rae
Right Girl – The Maine
I’ll Believe in Anything – Wolf Parade
All The Things She Said – t.A.T.u.
Une journée parfaite – Dumas
All the Things She Said – Harrison

If this looks good to you, check it out here! I think it’ll honestly be a long time before the Heated Rivalry soundtrack doesn’t make its way onto my monthly playlists. It didn’t help either that I went to Book Con this month and saw Rachel Reid and Jacob Tierney… The Heated Rivalry obsession only grows…

March 2026

Another month is in the books for 2026! This was kind of a crazy month for new music – from Harry Styles to Katelyn Tarver to Ryan and Rory… There was always something new. 2026 in general has had some great new releases, so I kept track of my favorites here.

Other than the new releases, I listened to a ton of The Summer Set – you can read more about that here! Guys, my favorite band is SO cool – I was still vibing with the Heated Rivalry tracklist, and I discovered a new band called People R Ugly. Their name may be crazy, but their music really hits. They opened for The Summer Set in Boston.

Here’s my official playlist for March:

Une journée parfaite – Dumas
Boyfriend – Wingtip
Wasn’t Thinkin’ – Ryan and Rory
The Price – Katelyn Tarver
Kiss Her You Fool – Kids That Fly
Self Respect – Bleachers
Second Wind – Daniel Seavey
Homewrecker – sombr
I’ll Believe in Anything – Wolf Parade
All To Myself (Rave Mix) – Marianas Trench
All The Things She Said – t.A.T.u.
One Last Night – MR. FANTASY
Who We Are – Hozier
All The Things She Said – Harrison
80’s Films – Jon Bellion
All My Friends – The Summer Set
Taste Back – Harry Styles
American Girls – Harry Styles
I Don’t Wanna Party – The Summer Set
Under the Influence(r) – The Summer Set
Jukebox (Life Goes On) – The Summer Set
Legendary – The Summer Set
All Downhill From Here – The Summer Set
Miserable – The Summer Set
Flowers – The Summer Set
Dizzy – The Summer Set
A Heart Still Breaks – Knox
All We Ever Do Is Talk – Del Water Gap
BRAIN DEAD – People R Ugly
BETTER – People R Ugly
Get Over It – People R Ugly
DUMB – People R Ugly
Still – Niall Horan

If this looks good to you, click here to listen to the playlist! If you only listen to a little bit of it, take my advice and listen to Flowers right into Dizzy – it’s SUCH a satisfying transition.

The Ex Vows – Jessica Joyce

The Ex Vows – 5/5 ✩

I truly haven’t been moved by a book like this one in years. I loved every moment of Georgia and Eli’s story. These two characters felt so realistic – I could feel the love they share, the yearning between them, the hurt that’s festered but the pull that remains between them. Their need for stability for stability felt like my own, their struggles with their jobs was a feeling that sizzled deep in my bones, their need to be needed but inability to ask for it like a buzz under my skin, and their growth by the end of the novel a feeling embedded deep in my heart.

The Ex Vows is about Georgia and Eli, two former best friends turned lovers who are forced to come back together to help save their mutual best friend’s wedding. While Georgia is against their reunion, it seems like Eli is ready and willing to have a talk years in the making. As much as she tries to push him away, ultimately, Georgia can’t fight the spark between them, but getting back together isn’t as easy as just having a conversation, their history runs too deep for that.

I thought the chemistry and tension between these two was refreshingly realistic and it felt like a privilege to see how much they grow from the first page to the very end. It’s been a long time since a book made me cry like this one did, but there’s no denying how much I could feel these characters’ emotions and how proud I felt by the end. I loved every second of it.