Sunday, November 25, 2018

Review: Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale



Title: Small Town Hearts

Author: Lillie Vale

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Young Adult

Release Date: May 2019

Rating: 4/5 Stars













Sometimes, you just need a solid small-town romance to cleanse the palate after reading a pile of literary fiction titles and for me, Small Town Hearts was the perfect sweet treat. Small Town Hearts is a bittersweet, beautifully written book that perfectly captures the in between of growing up and childhood, of moving forward or staying in place. The story follows 19-year-old Babe, who works and lives in the small Maine town of Oar's Rest. Babe is happy to stay in town after graduation and pursue her love of baking and coffee, and plans on spending the summer with her best friends who also happen to be dating. Babe herself hasn't dated since her ex girlfriend left for college, and she certainly doesn't plan on pursuing the cute, mysterious "summer boy" Levi who is in town for a summer art program. But Babe's summer gets complicated real fast and nothing turns out quite as she plans.


Babe is the best, she bakes and makes coffee

What I loved: the setting! Oar's Rest is an idyllic small town set on the coast of Maine. Babe lives in a freaking lighthouse and is a baker and barista at a super cute coffee shop called the Busy Bean. There's an annual fish fry and sandcastle competition, and neighbors around Oar's Rest look out for each other. Yet even in this sweet small town, there's drama. Babe doesn't know her father, and her mother basically takes off most of the year to work on a cruise line. At nineteen, Babe is basically on her own and supporting herself, so her friends play an extra important role in her life as sort of her found family. So when her perfect summer plans come to a halt when her best friend, Penny, decides to break up with her other best friend, Chad, and asks Babe to do it for her, Babe knows that no matter how much she hates change, this will be a summer full of it. Babe finds some relief in Levi, an artist in town for the summer as a part of the town's Art Center's artist in residence program, but she has no desire to fall for a boy who will only be in town for a few months, so she tries her best to keep him at arm's length. Meanwhile, she finds out her ex, Elodie, also an artist, is back in town for the summer and she dreads seeing the girl who broke her heart. As you can see there are lots of juicy moments throughout the story, but overall the authenticity of the characters really shines through, even with all of their faults.

How I pictured Babe's front yard
Plus, It was nice to read a story with a bisexual heroine whose coming out isn't the focus of the story, but instead her sexuality is just already a fact about who she is. The writing is really evocative and the setting makes you wish this town was real. Although there are quite a few dramatic moments between friends and exes, I thought that was very authentic given the age of the characters. Everyone is right on the edge of being done with high school and forced to start growing up, but also reluctant to be a full-fledged adult. Babe's story really rang true for me, and I would definitely recommend this to readers who love small town settings, realistic angst, and complicated friendships and relationships. Also, it will make you really hungry so make sure you have coffee and a baked good while you're reading!


Admittedly, it was kind of odd to read this book during the holidays since it takes place in the summer, but it actually perfectly captured that warm-and-fuzzy first love feeling that is fun to read about this time of year. It's expected publication date is next May, so it will come out right in time to be a perfect summer read. A really solid YA contemporary, and I look forward to hearing more from this author!

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Is It Worth It: The Audible Romance Package


As someone who lives in L.A. and commutes about 2 hours round trip every day, I love a good audiobook. Since I spend so much time at work/driving to work, sometimes reading an audiobook is the only way I can get my reading in. As an audiobook lover, I of course have an Audible subscription (plus: shoutout to Libby for free audiobooks from the library!!!) and have heard tales of the famed Romance Package that Audible recently introduced. At the basic level, an Audible subscription, which is like $14, includes one free book a month and a discount on the library of audiobooks. The advantage of this service is that, if a book is on audio, it is usually on Audible. Although I love Libby, it is limited to whatever titles a library owns, and some popular titles have enormous waitlists, so I usually read new releases and popular titles on Audible. There are also so Audible-exclusive podcasts that I haven't listened to much, but they seem to be good quality and address a range of interests.

So that's the basics of Audible-- now, you may ask, what is the Romance Package??? For an extra $6.95 a month, subscribers get access to a huge selection of romance titles that are categorized in really user friendly ways. You can browse by Romance Category (historical, urban fantasy, etc.), Character Types (viscounts, vampires, etc.), Story Themes (pick your trope catnip), and, ahem, Steaminess (self-explanatory, right?). Disclaimer: not every romance title available on Audible is part of the package. Nonetheless, there are a ton of options and, get this, you can listen to unlimited titles within the package. Say what??? Romance readers have put other subscription services out of business, so I have no idea how Audible is making this happen but I'm not one to question a good thing. Still, paying for an extra service can be annoying so I decided to do the one month free trial to see if it's worth it. Here's what I've found out.

Navigating the Romance Package
At first glance, it seems like there aren't that many books that are part of the package, especially through the Audible app. However, there are a ton of books available and you just have to dig a little to find them. I think browsing the website version is a little easier than the app version, or even just searching authors I like, sometimes I'm surprised to find that they have books that I can listen to as part of the subscription. Sometimes entire series are available, or almost every book except one or two is part of the package. So if at first it seems like there aren't a lot of choices, don't be discouraged. This isn't one of those situations where only the books that you wouldn't read anyway are available for free, there are actually solid titles to borrow. Admittedly, you do have to do some searching to find titles if you don't have a specific one in mind, as the curated lists aren't very long. This is kind of a draw-back, but there are literally thousands of choices so I can see why they can't all fit on a list.

Romance Nerd Features
I love that the website seems to have been put together with a true romance nerd in mind! You can search by trope, by steaminess, and more; I personally love a friends to lovers romance or (even better) a fake relationship, and I love that I can search for books this way. The designers who put together the content really did their research into what romance readers are looking for when it comes to browsing books.

Recommended Romance Package Titles

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang; narrated by Carly Robins

One of my favorite reads of 2018, The Kiss Quotient is a must-listen available through the Romance Package. Data-minded math whiz Stella Lane loves her work but is ready to take the next step in her personal life: practice romance until she's competent enough to ask out her co-worker, who seems like a logical choice. Stella's Asberger's has always gotten in the way of her past relationships, so she figures hiring a professional - a male escort - will help her sort out some of her hang-ups with making out and sex. Turns out, her male escort is super hot, super patient Michael Phan, and her carefully laid plans are turned upside down. I loved the relationship between Stella and Michael, but also Michael's big family and learning about his troubled past. This book was equal parts funny and romantic. The steaminess level is rated Hot Damn and I found the narration to be well-acted and engaging.

The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan; narrated by Rosalyn Landor

To be honest, I recommend this entire series and lucky for you it's all available in the Romance Package, but this just happens to be my favorite in the series. Miss Jane Fairfield wears what society views to be unfortunate gowns (they sound kind of awesome) and always says embarrassing things, and hopes to avoid marriage at all costs to protect her sister. The hero, Mr. Oliver Marshall, is a bastard who must maintain a facade of perfect despite his inner disdain for the social injustices in English society. When they come together, they are both flawed but also they are the first people to really see each other in a long time. I love their story, and the narrator does an excellent job with the humor of Milan's writing. Rated as Sizzling.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder; narrated by Gabra Zackman

If fantasy romance is more your thing and you're like me and are 10 years behind reading books on your TBR, I recommend the Study series starting with Poison Study. Most of the series is available through the Romance Package as well. In the first book of the series, Yelena, a prisoner, is offered an exchange of her death sentence for a new death sentence, that of a poison taster for the Commander of Ixia. Set in a land where everyone has a role, a uniform, and a part to play in society, and where magic is outlawed, Yelena learns the art of poison tasting from Valek, an infamous assassin, and becomes entangled in political plots, confronts an old enemy, and has a little time for romance in between. I liked Gabra Zackman's narration, especially how she differentiated each characters voices.

So . . . is it worth it?
If you're a hardcore romance reader, definitely, yes. For me, whenever a book I'm waiting on from the library isn't available or if I just want a quick read without spending hours agonizing over my TBR, having the option to just see what's new in the Romance Package and start a new book is really convenient. As far as the costs, I think if you are are a regular reader of audiobooks and you already subscribe to Audible, it's worth it. With the regular membership, you only get one free book a month and this package is half the price but you get way more free books so to me it's a win. I don't see myself canceling my subscription anytime soon. So if you're on the fence but you find yourself buying romance audiobooks beyond your free credits, I would recommend this add-on.

Happy reading (and listening)!