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Hello sassy people! Today’s post is the best books I read in 2024!

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

The Romantic Agenda

by Claire Kann

 

Joy is in love with Malcolm.
But Malcolm really likes Summer.
Summer is in love with love.
And Fox is Summer’s ex-boyfriend.

Thirty, flirty, and asexual Joy is secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm, but she’s never been brave enough to say so. When he unexpectedly announces that he’s met the love of his life—and no, it’s not Joy—she’s heartbroken. Malcolm invites her on a weekend getaway, and Joy decides it’s her last chance to show him exactly what he’s overlooking. But maybe Joy is the one missing something…or someone…and his name is Fox.

Fox sees a kindred spirit in Joy—and decides to help her. He proposes they pretend to fall for each other on the weekend trip to make Malcolm jealous. But spending time with Fox shows Joy what it’s like to not be the third wheel, and there’s no mistaking the way he makes her feel. Could Fox be the romantic partner she’s always deserved?

This book was sooooo good!
As a Demisexual, I understood so much of what Joy was feeling and seeing that on the page was so validating I almost cried at times.
Fox is amazing, perfect, my new book boyfriend! He’s the kind of fictional man you wonder if they actually exist, sounds to good to be true!
The characters, all of them, had so much personality, and the book deals with different kinds of love, which is so beautiful.
We have discussions about asexuality, race, love, friendship, identity and so much more!
And, with all of that, with all the lessons it teaches us and all the conversations it starts, it’s just so cozy!
It’s a feel good book, that just made me smile all the time.
I can already see a reread in the future (probably a near future).

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: Asexual rep, Black main character, Fake Relationship, Grumpy and Sunshine, Cinnamon roll Hero, My new book boyfriend
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: MF
𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: 🔥 🔥 2/5 closed door (kissing and sex are implied)
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞: 2/5 🌶️🌶️
𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐔? Nope 😭
𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? Absolutely!!!!!

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

Kiss Her Once for Me

by 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 DecemberKiss Her Once for Me is the queer holiday rom-com that you’ll want to cozy up with next to the fire.

This is a book about family. Even though it is a romance, with a couple in the center, the story is mostly about found family, and self acceptance, put together with amazing characters, great representation and a funny fake engagement!

This book was not what I was expecting!
I did not expect:

– laugh out loud moments
– swoon your heart out moments
– deep themes and amazing representation
– an amazingly written story, that takes a common romance trope and turns it on its head!
Amazing!
Can’t way to read more books by this author and reread this on e-book and highlight all the cute parts!

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: Christmas Romance, Foodie Romance, One-Night Stand, Only one bed, Second Chance, Snowed in Together, Anxiety rep, Bisexual rep, Demisexual rep, Depression

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: FF
𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: 🔥 🔥 🔥 3/5 (sex on the page)
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞: 2/5 🌶️🌶️
𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐔? Nope 😭
𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? Absolutely! Go read it right now!

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care 

by Ashley Herring Blake 

 

A clever and steamy queer romantic comedy about taking chances and accepting love—with all its complications—from the author of Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail .

Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her.
 
When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there’s some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.
 
Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they’ve known each other for years, they don’t really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they’re forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn’t sure she has the strength to resist Delilah’s charms. Even worse, she’s starting to think she doesn’t want to…

This book was so cute!
Delilah is now a new favorite character! She is so badass and complex and awesome!
I loved how each and every character in this book was so well developed, had their own story and their own baggage and all of that plays into how they live their lifes.
I also love that their sexuality was not a plot point, it was simply part of their identities, like Iris’ sarcasm and spontaneity.
I didn’t like the whole bet thing, it feels very “miscommunication trope” and a cheap way of inserting a third act break up. It felt unnecessary.
And the whole “you can’t date my sister” feels very immature…
But otherwise, a great book!

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

Sinner

by Sierra Simone

 

I’m not a good man, and I’ve never pretended to be. I don’t believe in goodness or God or any happy ending that isn’t paid for in advance. In fact, I’ve got my own personal holy trinity: in the name of money, sex, and Macallan 18, amen.

So when the gorgeous, brilliant Zenny Iverson asks me to teach her about sex, I want to say yes, I really do. Unfortunately, there are several reasons to say no—reasons that even a very bad man like myself can’t ignore.

1. She’s my best friend’s little sister.
2. She’s too young for me. Like way too young.
3. She’s a nun. Or about to be anyway.

But I want her. I want her even with my best friend and God in the way, I want to teach her and touch her and love her, and I know that makes me something much worse than a very bad man.

It makes me a sinner.

Sinner is a standalone companion to Priest about Father Bell’s brother Sean. You do not have to read Priest or Midnight Mass to read Sinner.

Oh my God! I did not think I would love this book this much!
Sierra Simone is an exceptionally talented author, who is able to write about religion, trauma, abuse, sex, sexuality, sin, religious trauma, consent, kink, EVERYTHING!
It all makes so much sense together, when alone, a lot of it would be really depressing. These are serious and hard topics, that have touched so many lives, and she gives the subjects the respect and reverence they deserve. (I don’t even know if I’m making sense, I’m still in the high of this amazing book).
I also loved how Sierra was able to write a black character, but without stealing their narrative. She was able to make her character (a white, cis, het, male) understand his own privilege and mistakes.
The consent was chef’s kiss, I’ve never seen it so well done before (outside a kink book) and it was so important here.
Ok… I’ll stop my fangirling!
This is a new favorite, and I’ll probably reread it soon!

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: Nun Romance, Brother’s Best Friend, Religious trauma, Sexuality, Sexual Abuse, Trauma Recovery, SEXY CONSENT
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: MF
𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 5/5 (Sierra Simone level)
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐔? Nope 😭
𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? Absolutely!!!!

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

One Last Stop

by Casey McQuiston

 

A new romantic comedy that will stop readers in their tracks…

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures.

But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.

Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.

Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a magical, sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.

I think I just found a new favorite book!

I went into this book with no knowledge besides being a queer romance.
And I’m so glad I did!

This is a book about found family, friendship, love, magic, pride, courage. It’s poetic, beautiful, magical and proud.
There’s so much representation, and the exploration of the LGBTQ history, so beautiful.
Also the narrative about the city, the train, the experiences, it’s so well done!
This book made me laugh, swoon, almost cry and 🥵.
The complete experience.

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: Romance, Science Fiction, Fated Mates, Queer History, New York Train.
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: FF/saphic
𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 4/5 (Sierra Simone level)
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞: 4/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐔? Nope
𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? ABSO-F*KING-LUTELY! GO READ IT RIGHT NOW!

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 

by V.E. Schwab

 

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

Lessons in Chemistry

by Bonnie Garmus

 

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

Butcher & Blackbird

by Brynne Weaver 

 

Every serial killer needs a friend.
Every game must have a winner.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country. But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in the Ruinous Love Dark Romance trilogy of interconnected stand-alone dark romantic comedies. This dual POV novel ends on a HEA.

***Butcher & Blackbird is a DARK ROMANCE intended for an adult audience – please see Brynne’s website for a comprehensive list of CWs***

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

A Lesson in Thorns 

by Sierra Simone

 

When librarian Poe Markham takes the job at Thornchapel, she only wants two things: to stay away from Thornchapel’s tortured owner, Auden Guest, and to find out what happened to her mother twelve years ago. It should be easy enough—keep her head down while she works in the house’s crumbling private library and while she hunts down any information as to why this remote manor tucked into the fog-shrouded moors would be the last place her mother was seen alive. But Thornchapel has other plans for her…

As Poe begins uncovering the house’s secrets, both new and old, she’s also pulled into the seductive, elegant world of Auden and his friends—and drawn to Auden’s worst enemy, the beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian. And as Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around them, Poe, Auden and St. Sebastian start unravelling into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Together, they awaken a fate that will either anoint them or leave them in ashes…
***
From the author of the USA Today bestselling New Camelot series comes an original fairy tale full of ancient mysteries, lantern-lit rituals, jealousy, money, murder, sacred torment, and obsessions that last for lifetimes…

***A Lesson in Thorns is the first of four books in the Thornchapel series.***

Sierra Simone impresses me more and more with each book I read by her.
This series was everything. I don’t even know how to continue my life without it anymore, I feel the slump starting already.
The series was deeply queer, kinky and fantastical, while also being political, religious and historical.
It’s incredible how this author was able to create a whole magical world with only a door, roses, a house, a chapel and a forest. There were no magical creatures showing up, only a sacred place and folclore.
And (as an architect) the way she handled architecture was amazing! She spoke like an architect, seeing philosophy, feelings, abstract concepts build into architecture, specially sacred architecture.
A new favorite series for me.

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: Dark Academia, Kinky, Poly and Queer, Magical Realism
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: MMMFFF
𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 5/5 (Sierra Simone level)
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐔? Nope
𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? Abso-f*cking-lutly!!!

Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry

Madame

by Sara Cate

 

They think they know me, but they have no idea.
As a professional Domme, I see men and women come and go. But no one ever sticks around, and I like it that way.
I have a secret to protect—at all costs.
So when the cocky, handsome, and submissive Clay Bradley weasels his way into my heart, I do the one thing I’ve always excelled at. I push him away—forever. And like a good boy, he listens.
But a few months later, during a chance encounter, he shows up again, but this time he isn’t alone. He has the stunning Jade on his arm. And she has a request of her own.
She wants me to teach her.
I should say no. Training a woman who makes my knees weak is bad enough. But this particular woman is dating the man who still has my heart. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Made worse by one simple fact—they know my secret.
And they won’t let go.
But how can I protect what’s mine if I’m holding onto them too?
Jade and Clay are the only ones who truly see me and the only ones who know… I’m so much more than Madame.

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: Throuple, Domme, Kinky, Single Parent, Second Chance
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: FFM
𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 5/5
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞: 4/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐔? Yes!!!!
𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? Abso-freaking-lutely

Well, that is all for today, I hope you like this post, hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. Feel free to leave your opinion about it in the comments and I will see you next time! 

Bye sassy people! 

 

  • I know that some comments I make about decent guys on my posts are the bare minimum a guy should do, so no, they don’t deserve to be treated like gods for doing the minimum, but at the same time, I’ve read a lot of sexist books and I appreciate authors who make characters that can serve as role models and examples of how a decent guy acts and what a loving and respectful relationship looks like. I believe we should always encourage these authors and bring attention to the ones that still write sexist characters and stories. 
  • I make a lot of comments about sexism and healthy role models in books, but a lot of times these characteristics don’t make the book a bad book and definitely don’t make the author a bad author. Please never shame these authors and these books for these comments, I simply feel that we need to have awareness of the less than ideal situations some books bring us, and not use the romanticized problem as examples of what a relationship should be. Most of these authors are still amazing, and the content they write doesn’t reflect directly with their personal views and opinions. Always make sure to respect and be kind to everyone, even while criticizing their content. 

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