Review: Unbridled

Unbridled by D. Jackson Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 24, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "P.S. Your clothes are on the chair, except for the black lace panties. I'm keeping those."

I was very interested when I saw this book on Netgalley. I have previously read a book by D. Jackson Leigh and I remember really enjoying it. Since this book had an interesting premise, I decided to read another book by this author.

Disclaimer: I received this book through Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for a fair, honest review.

Review: Home Is Where the Heart Is

Home Is Where the Heart Is by Jenny Frame
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 20, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: Chapter 21 (Just everything about this chapter)

I have been excited for this book from the second I heard about it. I may or may not have set an alarm on my phone so that I knew when it was being released. I did receive an eARC of this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Review: Ana on the Edge

Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 19, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "That's not a foreign language. They're gender-neutral pronouns."

I was recently able to get my hands on this book and I was so eager to read it that it passed many books on my TBR list. I was so excited to get it and it lived up to my hopes. I’m going to be using they/them pronouns for Ana.

Review: Gracefully Grayson

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finished on June 19, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: Chapter 34

This is one of those books that I’ve owned for many years but haven’t gotten around to it until recently.

Review: Zenobia July

Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 19, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "Why did Aunt Phil have to be so nice? Ruining a perfectly good bad mood."

4.75/5 rounded up

A middle-grade book with a transgender girl with serious hacking skills. I picked this book up because that was enough to get me interested. I wasn’t fully sure what to expect, but I had good hopes.

Review: Weekend Girl

Weekend Girl by Alex Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finished on June 17, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "They had managed to misgender themself again, and honestly, it was getting old."

I am trying to read more books with nonbinary main characters, and I was very happy that I managed to stumble across this book. I thankfully received a review copy from Netgalley and the publisher, Nine Star Press, in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was quite pleased with this book because it wasn’t overly angsty, but there was some angst that provided a driving force.

Review: I Wish You All the Best

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 18, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "And you've seen twitter, right? A cesspool."

4.5/5 rounded up

I bought this book a short while back because it had a nonbinary main character in it and I had heard good things about. A few days ago, I was finally able to read it and I am so glad that I did.

Review: Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love: An LGBTQ Romcom

Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love: An LGBTQ Romcom by Kim Fielding
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Finished on June 18, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "Is that what you're supposed to wear when meeting a famous fashion designer?"

I knew practically nothing about this book when I grabbed it from my library. I saw that it was gay and decided that I would check it out.

Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finished on June 18, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "What's a dementor?"

      "Nora, you are no longer my sister."

        "So it's some Harry Potter thing."

4.5/5 rounded down

I’ve owned this book for a few years now and I finally got around to reading it. It was long overdue, but I’m not sure how I feel about it exactly.

Review: Thrust

Thrust by Rachel Spangler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 17, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "I only mother you because you're not housebroken."

I heard about this book for the first time maybe a month or so ago and I was intrigued. I read and loved Fire & Ice, so I wanted to see what Spangler could do with fencing. When she put out that review copies were available, I jumped at the chance to get to read this book. So, I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review and that’s what she’s going to get.

Review: Accidental Honeymoon

Accidental Honeymoon by Miranda MacLeod
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 14, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "Why wouldn't the words come out? How hard was it to say I love you and I don't want to be alone anymore?"

4.5/5 rounded up

I am a complete sucker for a good fake dating/marriage book. I really wanted to read this book from the first time that I saw the book, but I had to wait a bit to get Kindle Unlimited. I have some complicated feelings on this book. I really enjoyed it, but something felt like it was missing.

Review: Swipe Right

Swipe Right by Tagan Shepard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finished on June 10, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "Yearning hadn't worked out for me yet. Maybe ambivalence was the key to lasting love."

I saw this book a bit ago when I was checking out some of Bella Books upcoming releases. I really enjoy friends-to-lovers relationships, especially when one of them is a bit oblivious. I was intrigued and really wanted to read this book. I was lucky enough to be able to request and receive a copy from Netgalley. Thank you so much for allowing me to read this book!

Review: Melissa's Story by Alex Gino

George by Alex Gino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished on June 8, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: Scott finding out about Melissa

I’ve owned this book for a couple of years now or so and I only just got around to reading it. For a bit of context: I am an adult and this is a middle-grade children’s book. That being said, this book was good. I absolutely loved it and it felt very authentic. Anyone who reads this should know that there is going to be a lot of deadnaming and misgendering, even the title is technically deadnaming. If you’re uncomfortable with that, you might want to avoid this.

Review: The Girl from the Sea

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 7, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "Okay. Naked girl. This is an entirely different kind of stressful situation."

I love graphic novels and this year I’ve been able to find several LGBTQ+ graphic novels. I’m very happy that I was able to receive a digital review copy of this book from Scholastic and Edelweiss. I thought this book was excellent, but I also really want to see what it looks like in full color.

Review: Hot Dog Girl

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finished on June 7, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: Founder's Day Fireworks

For some reason that I don’t understand, I was drawn to this book from the first time that I saw the cover. I hadn’t even read the summary, but the cover and the title were enough for me to want to read this book. After a while I was finally able to fulfill that desire.

Review: The Princess Deception

The Princess Deception by Nell Stark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 7, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "We aren't born intolerant. We learn the prejudices we are taught and absorb the biases around us, to our detriment."

4.5/5

I really wanted a book that featured a woman disguised as a man and eventually I managed to find this one. I was a bit confused by the summary at first (it reminded me too much of She’s the Man) until I realized that both were based on Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night. At that point, I was sold. Royalty and people not being who they say they are, sign me up.

Review: Worthy of Love

Worthy of Love by Quinn Ivins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on June 4, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: The confrontation and follow-up at Overstock Oasis

I was interested in this book the second I heard about it. The idea of an ex-con meeting someone at her menial job and both of them having to deal with the attraction was beyond interesting. This book did a great job at keeping me interested. It dug its claws in me and kept me hooked until the very ending.

Do I Have That Book Challenge

I've been spending a lot of time on Booktube recently and I came across the "Do I Have That Book Challenge". I was interested in the challenge but I own a lot of books, I'd likely have something for everything in that challenge.

I decided to make the challenge a little more difficult. I would only use the books that are on my LGBTQ+ bookcase. (Yes, I have a bookcase just dedicated to those books.) This would make it more difficult. I did this challenge like a month ago and I've bought more books since then. I'll mention if any of the new books I bought fit a category.

Review: Running With Lions

Running With Lions by Julian Winters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finished on May 31, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: Grey playing against Mason

I didn’t really look at the summary for this book before I grabbed it, so I only had a rough idea of what to expect. All I knew was that there was soccer and that it was going to be gay, that’s it. I decided to try it out anyways and see if I enjoyed it.

Review: Cattywampus

Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on May 31, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "I'm a lone wolf."

"Ain't such a thing. There's always a pack."

"I don't have a pack."

"You're the leader, silly goose."

The cover for this book immediately drew me in and then I learned that one of the characters was intersex and I knew I had to read it. I requested it at my library and split it up between two nights.

Review: Under Her Influence

Under Her Influence by Amanda Radley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finished on May 16, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "The algorithms of Instagram and YouTube were hard mistresses to appease."



4.5/5 rounded up

I’ve really enjoyed most of the Radley books that I’ve read previously, so when I saw that a new one was being released, I knew I was going to want to read it. Luckily, I was given an ARC eBook from Netgalley and the publisher to aid that desire. So disclaimer, I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.