[10] Love on Deck (Arcadia Creek #1) by Kasey Stockton
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, saw book #3 recommended on pippipost.shop, Kindle

Synopsis: Lauren’s blind date with her sister’s fiancé’s friend, Jack, was a total disaster. Now, with her sister’s wedding set to take place on a cruise, she’s dreading spending more time around him – especially when Jack asks her to pretend to be his date to keep another wedding guest at bay. She’s still annoyed about their awful first date, but she agrees, hoping Jack might send some business her way.

Review: Eek. Lauren is uptight, too work focused, and highly unlikeable. Her refusal to talk to Jack about what happened on their first date was super annoying. It didn’t make sense to me why Jack would be attracted to her, other than looks. This was actually pretty boring, apart from the other wedding guest causing drama.

Recommend? Nah

[11] For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men by Shaunti Feldhahn
Religion / Christian Living / Women’s Interest, for WWM Book Club, hard copy

Synopsis: In For Women Only, Shaunti Feldhahn shares “insights” from “research” with thousands (or so she claims) of men to help women better understand them. She explores topics like why respect matters more than love, how men view their role as providers, the impact of visual attraction, the emotional side of sex for men, and what they wish they could express ABOUT HOW THEY WANT YOU TO LOOK GOOD FOR THEM.

Review: Okay, look at the genre. I obviously read this against my will. My gym’s book club alternates between fiction and nonfiction, with each member suggesting a title. We write them all down, draw randomly, and the last one picked is what we read. The moment I looked this one up, my reaction was UGH. And NO THANKS.

Honestly, I could write a whole post about the things that bothered me about this book. First, was some of it true? Sure! I bet so! Was in deeply rooted in being a Christian woman who serves her husband? Definitely. And that might be for someone, but was NOT for me. When we reviewed it in class, a lot of us wondered if reading the companion book For Men Only would have made us hate this one less. If we saw that there was a book that was telling men how to understand and serve us.

Alright, here we go. This is just a small list of the things that bothered me.

• The “insights” in this book perpetuate gender stereotypes that are learned. Either sex can act a lot of the way she was saying most men do. In fact, in the review, some people brought up they related more to the “men” side. It was way too “us vs them” and “wE CoUlD nEvEr GeT iT cAuSe ThEy ArE wIrEd DiFfErEnTlY.”
• Here is the awesome advise on how to be supportive of your husband when you yourself need support “cast our cares for provision on the Lord rather than on our men. It the end, it is His job to carry the burden.” How about therapy? Or communication? At least as supplemental?
• And shortly after, if you have financial worries and your man is stressed about supporting the family? “By praying for our husbands and looking to the Lord rather than to our circumstances we trust Him to carry both our husbands and their burdens. Then from the overflow of our hearts, we can give back to and encourage our men.” So if you have financial problems, the Lord will take care of it. Cool, cool.
• There is advise to do everything in your power to please your man sexually and “enjoy God’s intimate gift, and make the most of it.”
• Ugh, there was a whole chapter about how your man is always tempted and has a rolodex of visual porn popping up in his mind WITHOUT WARNING. Of course, based on her studies, churchgoing men are the best at resisting these temptations. OBVIOUSLY! And if your man is tempted, pray for him. What. Also, wait for this “It’s natural to enjoy being noticed, but he doesn’t want you in there. You’re cluttering up a good husband’s mind and tempting him to dishonor his wife.” WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK.
• And the very last chapter was about how your man wants you to take care of yourself cause you obviously don’t love HIM if you don’t. I cannot even get into the HORRIBLE examples in that chapter. Oh, OH! And she said it’s a really sensitive topic so don’t bring it up with him! Just do it!

That was like the gist of the book – pray and don’t really communicate. What a pile of trash. To me at least. Maybe this book is really helpful to a ton of people and that is great! But for me, it was a no.

Recommend? Fuck no

[12] Unromance by Erin Connor
Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Green Light from Kamie on The Popcast, Kindle

Synopsis: Sawyer Greene, a former bestselling romance author, hasn’t believed in love since her college girlfriend left her with nothing but writer’s block. When she gets stuck in an elevator with a charming stranger, she sees it as a one-night fling and nothing more. But when she cross paths with him again at a picture-perfect Christmas market, fate might have other plans. They decide to make a list of romance tropes to ruin – to get her writing groove back, and to cure him from being a romantic.

Review: This is a cute premise and the characters are really likeable. Each chapter has a romance trope that is happening or that they are going to try to ruin. Clever! A bit too long though, and the double dark moment was kind of annoying. But I still enjoyed it overall.

Recommend? Sure