bookishobsessedmama's reviews
437 reviews

I was pleasantly surprised with how much i enjoyed this! It was sugar, spice & everything nice! 🤌🏼 

I really enjoyed the fact that this story was spicy, but didn’t loose character growth or plot throughout either. I really enjoyed the overall growth in Cameron. His character was deeply relatable and beautifully written. 

I was annoyed at first when Maddie’s brother was so mad about Maddie and Cameron being together because he was literally in the same situation with Maddie’s best friend, but I was happy to see that conflict didn’t last long. I would have preferred if he was just supportive of them as she was of him. 

I really enjoyed Maddie’s character too, but overall it was just a quick, bingable read that I would definitely recommend. 

It has: 
-Brother’s Best Friend 
-Secret/Forbidden Romance
-“Sports” Romance (story is set during spring break, so there isn’t really any sport involved) 
-Childhood Crush
-Friends to Lovers  

I would definitely read more by this author & recommend this to my peers.

Swift & Saddled is a quick, fun & giggling good time! It flew by and was so fun to read about and return to such a cozy place - Rebel Blue Ranch. 

Lyla’s writing is very bingable and relatable! I know I will get a quick, fast paced story with enjoyable characters. 

You’ll get a workplace romance, cowboy/city girl, instalove and small town romance. 

I think that overall the instalove was a bit far fetched for me, you were getting intimate thoughts from our MMC on page 7, but it didn’t ruin it. 

I also feel like the call from the ex fiancé was unnecessary? I get that we’re seeing a recovered queen that doesn’t need to interact, but it felt like an unnecessary plot point that didn’t really go anywhere. 

Overall, I will absolutely continue in the series as well as recommend it to my peers! It’s a quick, lighthearted fast paced read you can count on. 

as someone who wasn’t able to go to the Eras Tour, I adored this! The little notes from Taylor and the high quality photos were so fun to flip through & my 5 year old who ADORES Taylor absolutely loved it as well. 

Chasing Through Time may be the biggest surprise of 2024 for me. I am not a huge YA reader as the characters just aren’t very relatable to me anymore and cuz of that i tend to not enjoy them, BUT Tara did an amazing job crafting Sarah and Emma and making them relatable to EVERYONE - teenagers, young adults and adults. At some point we’ve been one of the characters in this story. 

The magical realism in this book is done so well as well. Tara found a way to show the positives of social media, but also the harsh negative reality that it revolves around as well. She did it in an authentic, relatable way that included two girls delegated by a decade and tons of differences. 

I absolutely ate up Tara’s writing style! It was fresh, bingable, raw and emotional but also just absolutely gripping. I didn’t want to put it down and felt so connected to Emma and Sarah from start to finish. 

This should be required reading for teens. It touches on some really touch topics - suicide, depression, anxiety, loneliness, parental neglect - but it’s done with care and compassion. 

I would absolutely recommend this book to peers & will definitely read more by this author! 

i have quite a few thoughts on this one - 
I have really liked this series from Tessa, but this one was more of a miss than hit for me. 

I started this book unsure if I even was going to finish it - soon to be step siblings trope written as they meet before they even know they’ll be step siblings. It was an interesting take and i was excited for the angst and the build with banter and flirting and while there was flirting… we were in chapter 2 and the MMC was begging the FMC to have sex. It gave me the ick tbh. 

I didn’t get any angst or tension build from them at all which made the romance not really believable. His character is portrayed as being romantic and caring and his actions came off as almost narcissistic controlling to me. 

I continued to read because I hoped it would turn around, but after getting to the end and reading the way the step sibling trope was “resolved” i was disappointed. 

It felt like this book was VERY rushed and the normal angst, tension, and banter you get from a TB book was left out. I was left underwhelmed and wishing i would have just put it down. 

If you loved this book, i love that for you. Reading is subjective and this one just wasn’t for me.  

i really enjoyed the overall plot of this book - i think how our MCs starting talking was unique and not cringy and their banter was top tier. Our MMC left a note asking for her number, she gave it - but low & behold the note wasn’t meant for her. 

I feel like our MMC was a huge golden retriever book boyfriend - he constantly showed her how he was interested and she just was blatantly oblivious. I was almost frustrated with the FMC for a good majority of the book. I felt like the “let’s just be friends” was used too long in this! A fake dating has to have the mutual pining and tension/angst build up for it to be successful, and while that was there it felt a bit tooo slow for me, but that’s just my opinion. 😊 

Once we got to about 45% into the book, I was hooked. I really enjoyed them together. The spice was well done and the curveball at the party they went too was fun! I didn’t see that coming. 

Overall, I did enjoy it! I was a bit bored at the beginning but overall I would recommend! 😊 

this had me giggling and kicking my feet! I absolutely adored both our FMC and MMC. The tropes were well done without being super trope heavy, and i really enjoyed the growth in both our MCs by the end of the book! 

THE BANTER 🔥 banter in a book can make or break and this book’s banter was TOP TIER. Our FMC was sassy and witty and had me laughing at her remarks from spicy moments to a proposal to a wedding speech, I adored her. 

OUR GOLDEN RETRIEVER MMC. He was everything, truly. He was protective, he had a secret crush, so much longing, jealous (but not in an icky unhealthy way) OH and he’s a single girl dad. 

You’re going to get single dad, brother’s best friend, TWO secret crushes, forbidden romance, slow burn & CHRISTMAS OBSESSED characters (and i loved that tbh). 

It’s such a week, fun read for this time of year! I absolutely recommend & would def love to read more by this author! Her writing is very bingable and flows really well. I was never bored and really connected to the characters - side and main. 

This was such a knock out of the park for me! 
I honestly feel like there nothing I didn’t love this this book.  The pacing was very well done - It felt like we were moving, but not flying so fast you can’t enjoy it. The writing was so bingable and enjoyable. You have top tier banter where you’re laughing out loud, but also extremely deep and sentimental moments where you’re on the verge of tears. 

It gave everything it needed to give for enemies to lovers in the workplace. Enemies is a tough word to fit, so I would say this is more rivals. You have three kids that just add to the story for me - imo kiddos in books can either add or take away from a story and in this case they were sweet, funny and real and I loved that. 

Single mom / single dad is such a refreshing take as well because you constantly see single dad/nanny and i just love seeing new takes on it! 

There is a third act conflict, but I didn’t hate it. I feel like it was semi predictable but it ended up adding to the story in my opinion. It allowed our FMC to grow in ways I don’t feel like she would have without it. 

LASTLY - the author did a phenomenal job at writing grief in a very beautiful way. She got the bad of it, but also the good in it and having a partner like our MC to hold your hand through the other side of grief was beautiful. It’s a tough topic to touch and she did so great with it! 

All in all, i loved this. I will absolutely be reading whatever this author puts out next! For a debut novel, this was very well done and I can only see her getting better from here! 

OHHHHHH MY HEART. 

Juliana has a beautiful way of writing deeply authentic and relatable characters while also holding that fictional gaze that keeps you pulled away from the real struggles in your own life. 

As a single mom, any single parenting story really is a meaningful to me and Juliana did an amazing job at portraying the struggles, the highs and the demons that follow from the past in our MCs. It didn’t feel too down, but was still authentic and i adored that. 

I loved the pining. our MC was DOWN BAD, and i loved his POV chapters because you really saw how much he hoped that the entire “fake dating” scheme would turn real. 

I really adored the link that ended up being shown between our FMC and MCs mom. It was sweet and just added to the overall enjoyment. 

I LOVED the kiddos here. They truly added so much to the story.. they were witty, funny and just the bond they shared was beautiful. 

You’ll find fake dating, opposites attract, single parent/guardian, workplace romance & NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP (which we love). 

This was such a fun, enjoyable holiday romcom. Def recommend! Haven’t read one by Juliana Smith i didn’t love! 

I’ve learned to set my expectations low for certain aspects of a Freida book. Her books are super inconsistent for me - i absolutely love some of them, others i hate deeply and some i’m just like ehh whatever.

The teacher came in as expected in a sense that it was quick, tense and kept you on the edge of your seat cuz you know something is going to happen - but you’re not sure what. Frieda is also really good at hooking you at the beginning to make you want to buckle in during. 

This particular book i think just felt underdeveloped. I feel like it was rushed too much and because of that it has toooo many plot holes. I don’t normally mind a couple things here or there that don’t add up or aren’t realistic because at the end of the day this is fiction. BUT i finished and didn’t feel like i had an omg wtf thought in that i couldn’t believe what happened, but more in a that doesn’t even make sense wtf thought. 

I feel like i walked away from it unsatisfied. This is definitely not Freida’s best work. It was still her same quick, easy read but it needed more love. 

I enjoyed the narrator, i’m giving it a higher rating due to that. Overall, this one just wasn’t for me.