[47] The American Roommate Experience by Elena Armas
Fiction / Romance / Multicultural & Interracial, part 2 of The Spanish Love Deception, audiobook

Synopsis: Rosie can’t stay at her apartment because the ceiling caved in, and decides to crash at her friend Lina’s until it’s fixed, since Lina is out of the country for a few weeks. But then Lina’s cousin Lucas unexpectedly shows up to stay there as well – Lucas, the surfer, from Spain, who Rosie has had a secret crush on ever since she first saw his photo. They come to an agreement that they’ll both stay in the studio apartment, and when Rosie confides in Lucas that she is struggling to write her second romance novel because she hasn’t felt a romance spark in ages, he offers to take her on “experimental” dates until she gets it back. I can’t make this sh*t up. Ha.

Review: Ugh, I listened to this on audio, and it was my first audio book with dual narrators, and the male narrator was so cheesy it was distracting and took away from the enjoyment of the book. I literally rolled my eyes each time it was his chapter and he said “chapter whatever, Lucas.” Gah. It sounded like he was trying to do some sexy whisper voice and it was NOT doing it for me.

This also felt like it drug out a bit too long. And major eyerolls at the big miscommunication at the end. I wonder if I am finally getting sick of romances, or if I was just so annoyed with the male narrator. I am definitely a little over the “these feel like real feelings but we are just pretending so they can’t be” narrative.

Recommend? No, but if it sounds good to you, maybe skip the audio version

[48] Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Contemporary Romance, heard about from Stephany, read on Kindle

Synopsis: Sally’s been a writer on The Night Owls (think SNL) for ten years and loves the chaos and energy of working there, and the close friends she’s made. It hasn’t left her much time for a personal (read: romantic) life, but she’s fine with occasional hook-ups. She thinks it’s ridiculous that so many of her dorky, average male coworkers have hooked up with (and even married) the uber successful gorgeous women that have hosted or been a musical guest on the show. She’s convinced that would never happen in reverse – a beautiful successful man being interested in an average female writer – but when musical guest/host Noah Brewster comes for a week, they have an undeniable connection.

Review: I have a lot of thoughts about this book. Mostly that I ended up LOVING it, but that it was a ride to get there.

The beginning of the ride involved me being annoyed it took until 25% into the book for these characters to connect that they liked each other. But I realized I’m just so used to the regular romance formula. It was actually nice to spend a large chunk of the beginning of the book getting to know Sally and Noah and getting a fun behind the scenes look at running The Night Owls. I loved all the details on the mechanics of the show.

The middle section, which is emails between Sally and Noah, was really hard for me. I read emails all day at work and don’t want to read them for pleasure. Thankfully I got through that fast.

And the ending was what made it a 5-star read for me. I don’t want to give it away, but Noah’s character is so sweet, kind, patient, and endearing, and Sally grows so much throughout the book (I really appreciated her “I was going to say this funny probably snarky thing, but said this instead” narration). I was really rooting for these two. I think I would actually read this again. At least, the third part.

Other interesting factors – the book leans in heavy to the pandemic, which made it feel more real to me, since it’s so recent. And the book has a Kansas City connection that resonated with me because I have been there so much (Steven is from there).

Recommend? Yes

[49] Shift by Hugh Howey
Fiction / Dystopian, second in the series, listened to on Libby

Synopsis: This book is part two in the “Silo” series, where a bunch of folks live in a huge silo underground, but don’t know why, and are discouraged to leave. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will just share that this book goes into the history of why they’re in the silo, and the early days in the silo.

Review: This is such an interesting topic, but gosh, this book is so damn long. And again, with the long descriptive sections traveling silo stairwells. GAH. I wonder if it would have felt less boring if I was reading it on my Kindle and not listening to it while I worked out? Perhaps. I was thinking about skipping book 3 but things finally started to come together in the third part of the book, and I saw book 3 is only ten hours, so I’ll probably listen to it.

Recommend? No