~ Goodreads TBR Cleanup #12 ~

To aid my efforts to clean up my endless TBR, I decided to go with the Goodreads TBR Cleanup (created by @ Mega Bunny Reads). This challenge can be done bi-weekly or weekly (or any other timeframe that suits you). If you’re interest in the other Down the TBR Hole meme, then you can check it out following the links. The meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story — she has a new blog though called Sunflowers and Wonder!

How It Works:

• Go to your Goodreads want-to-read shelf.
• Ask Siri (or any other generator) to pick a number between 1 and however many books are on the list.
• Go to that book and look at it and the 4 after it, for a total of 5.
• Read the synopses of the books.
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

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For the number selection, I used an online random number generator.

TODAY’S RANDOM NUMBER: 793

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1. Meet Cute

Talk about an embarrassing introduction. On her first day of law school, Kailyn ran quite literally into the actor she crushed on as a teenager, ending with him sprawled on top of her. Mortified to discover the Daxton Hughes was also a student in her class, her embarrassment over their meet-cute quickly turned into a friendship she never expected. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming either…

Now, eight years later, Dax is in her office asking for legal advice. Despite her anger, Kailyn can’t help feeling sorry for the devastated man who just became sole guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister. But when her boss gets wind of Kailyn’s new celebrity client, there’s even more at stake than Dax’s custody issues: if she gets Dax to work at their firm, she’ll be promoted to partner.

The more time Kailyn spends with Dax and his sister, the more she starts to feel like a family, and the more she realizes the chemistry they had all those years ago is as fresh as ever. But will they be able to forgive the mistakes of the past, or will one betrayal lead to another?

THOUGHTS:

This book was actually the first by this author to end up on my TBR, but I ended up listening to the audiobook version of her newer 2020 novel, Kiss My Cupcake first. As I enjoyed this novel, I decided to keep this one and most likely will do the audiobook version as it is narrated by the same two that did the other. Hopefully, this novel is just as cute as the other and won’t let me down!

2. Crushing It

In life, as in gaming, there’s a way around every obstacle . . .

To pitch her new role-playing game at a European conference, developer Sierra Reid needs to overcome her terror of public speaking. What better practice than competing in a local bar’s diary slam, regaling an audience with old journal entries about her completely humiliating college crush on gorgeous Tristan Spencer?

Until the moderator says, “Next up, Tristan Spencer . . .”

Sierra is mortified, but Tristan is flattered. Caught up in memories of her decade-old obsession as they reconnect, Sierra tries to dismiss her growing qualms about him. But it’s not so easy to ignore her deepening friendship with Alfie, the cute, supportive bar owner. She and Alfie were college classmates too, and little by little, Sierra is starting to wonder if she’s been focusing her moves on the wrong target all along, misreading every player’s motivations.

Maybe the only winning strategy is to start playing by her heart . . .

THOUGHTS:

On the surface, this book seems like a great choice for me to read. The synopsis seems entertaining, but I just cannot picture myself reading it anytime soon. This book does not seem bad in anyway, but it just is not one that I would be picking up and it would end up collecting dust on my TBR. Therefore, for now, it is a toss, but maybe one day it will make it’s way back onto my list.

3. Playing House (Uptown #1)

Romance blossoms between two city planners posing as newlyweds in this first in a bright new series by acclaimed author Ruby Lang

The last thing Oliver Huang expects to see on the historic Mount Morris home tour is longtime acquaintance Fay Liu bustling up and kissing him hello. He’s happy to playact being a couple to save her from a pushy admirer. Fay’s beautiful, successful and smart, and if he’s being honest, Oliver has always had a bit of a thing for her.

Maybe more than a bit.

Geeking out over architectural details is Oliver and Fay’s shared love language, and soon they’re touring pricey real estate across Upper Manhattan as the terribly faux but terribly charming couple Darling and Olly.

For the first time since being laid off from the job he loved, Oliver has something to look forward to. And for the first time since her divorce, Fay’s having fun.

Somewhere between the light-filled living rooms and spacious closets they’ve explored, this faux relationship just may have sparked some very real feelings. For Oliver and Fay, home truly is where their hearts are.

THOUGHTS:

I was on the fence for this novel as it sounds fun and is also a short read. However, I decided to toss this one for both timing and the fact that this novella is a part of a series.

4. The Divines

With the emotional power of Normal People and the reflective haze of The Girls, a magnetic novel that moves between present-day Los Angeles and a British boarding school in the 1990s, exploring the destructive relationships between teenage girls.

Can we ever really escape our past?

The girls of St John the Divine, an elite English boarding school, were notorious for flipping their hair, harassing teachers, chasing boys, and chain-smoking cigarettes. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cuttingly humorous in the way that only teenage girls can be. For Josephine, now in her thirties, the years at St John were a lifetime ago. She hasn’t spoken to another Divine in fifteen years, not since the day the school shuttered its doors in disgrace.

Yet now Josephine inexplicably finds herself returning to her old stomping grounds. The visit provokes blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community. Ruminating on the past, Josephine becomes obsessed with her teenage identity and the forgotten girls of her one-time orbit. With each memory that resurfaces, she circles closer to the violent secret at the heart of the school’s scandal. But the more Josephine recalls, the further her life unravels, derailing not just her marriage and career, but her entire sense of self.

Suspenseful, provocative, and compulsively readable, The Divines is a scorching examination of the power of adolescent sexuality, female identity, and the destructive class divide. Exposing the tension between the lives we lead as adults and the experiences that form us, Eaton probes us to consider how our memories as adults compel us to reexamine our pasts. 

THOUGHTS:

I remember this book was highly anticipated with a lot of people that I know, but I just never got around to reading it or even requesting the ARC when it was available. There is still a part of me that is intrigued to try this novel out, but, similarly to a lot of others that I toss, there just are more that are higher on my TBR. Therefore, this novel still sounds great to me, but it could be years until I actually get a chance to read it (haha – maybe more).

5. Thriller Meets Romance: A Comedy

A 99-cent romance had an affair with a James Bond novel. Thriller Meets Romance: A Comedy is the result.

When grad student Molly Mazurski collides with seemingly deluded billionaire’s son and former Navy SEAL John Stock in a Bahamas rave bar, her days of boredom come to an end…but will she find love? She’s swept away to Monte Carlo and then to Bangladesh, galivanting through high-stakes poker rooms, being romanced on Mediterranean cliffside vistas, flying blissfully first class, traipsing through the bazaar of downtown Dhaka, Bangladesh. Along the way she acquires a stunning new wardrobe as John Stock spins a secret agent intrigue with himself in the lead, but is his story real or fantasy?

THOUGHTS:

This novel does not seem very popular as it only has 21 ratings and 6 reviews, so I feel bad about tossing it and not giving it a chance. However, I have a lot of other novels that interest me a little more and the time, unfortunately, just is not there to give this book a chance.

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Clean-up number 12 is now complete! This time I managed to toss four and keep one. The one I kept, Meet Cute, is one that I gave a chance as I enjoyed Kiss My Cupcake by the same author. The novel was not perfect, but it did make me curious to check out the author’s other works. The rest of the novel that were tossed were either tossed solely for timing or a mix of timing and a slight loss of interest. One day my TBR will be manageable, but for now it is being reduced very slowly. Before these clean-ups I had about 1600 on my Goodreads TBR and now it is down to about 1400 so not too bad. Happy Clean-ups to those that are doing these every week and good luck to those who are giving it a shot!