Hello Frolic Babes! I hope you are safe and home relaxing amidst the very crazy times we are living in at the moment. In between hiding in the closet for an uninterrupted glass of wine, spaghetti dinners, Connect Four tournaments, learning to homeschool, Disney Plus and (thankfully) weekend Hallmark Christmas movie marathons-I have also been able to read quite a bit. I have noticed that with everything going on, a lot of friends have experienced the opposite-they’re unable to concentrate on reading. If that’s the case for you, girlfriend, it’s completely okay and understandable! I just wanted to drop in with some recommendations you didn’t ask for but reads I’ve enjoyed. If you’re a bit unsure of what to read right now, I got you!
My current read is my first ever Lucy Coleman, A Springtime to Remember. This is available via Kindle Unlimited. If you are subscribed to KU and one click it, it also lowers the price of the audiobook, so I took full advantage of that as well! There is something about travel romances that fits perfectly with Spring in my opinion. Our heroine is Lexie, a tv producer, who gets the chance of a lifetime to travel to Paris for work. The trip represents more than that for her though. She knows her Grandmother spent a year in Paris once upon a time but never talked about her trip. Lexie is determined via the help of diaries and scrapbooks to piece the pieces of the puzzle together to learn more about her Grandmother Viv’s experience abroad. Of course, our girl finds a love of her own along the way. I am not very far into A Springtime to Remember, but I’m enjoying it so much already! The audiobook narration is calming and fantastic and it’s the perfect escape read.
An Everyday Hero by Laura Trentham is my next recommendation. Our heroine Greer returns home to Madison, Tennessee from Nashville after her attempt at the music industry doesn’t pan out like she hoped. At the beginning of the book we are with her in a court room as she gets sentenced to community service at a local nonprofit music program whose mission is to aid veterans and their families. Greer is assigned to work with teenage Ally who everyone else has basically given up hope on and Army veteran, Emmett. This is a beautiful story about how it can feel comfortable to succumb to your circumstances, but how much more beautiful it can be to choose to rise above. It’s about realizing sometimes things don’t work out as you planned but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a purpose.Â
Lauren Layne is back! I was so bummed when I finished the last book in her Central Park Pact series. I needed another Lauren Layne book. I am happy to report that Yours In Scandal is out. I read it, I loved it! This one has been available via Kindle Unlimited with the audiobook for free with your one click. This is young, hot mayor of NYC Robert, and event planner Adeline’s romance. As Robert’s final term as mayor comes to a close, he has his dreams set on the governor’s seat. His assistant does some digging and learns that the current governor, who has an estranged relationship with his daughter, Adeline, has no idea Adeline has been back in the city running an event planning business. He convinces Robert to hire her for an upcoming event they are hosting, befriend her and see what dirt he can get from her on her father. I loved this. I loved the insight into being a kid in the spotlight. How there are times where scenes are set up for a photo to be taken that you’re unaware of. I loved the insight into the world of making sacrifices for what you want and how sometimes, unfortunately, that means willingly sacrificing relationships with your family. The ending to this book was everything I needed; I can’t recommend one-clicking enough!
The Heavy Vinyl series by Carly Usdin with illustrations by Nina Vakueva is my next rec. There are four books in this series, and I literally laid in bed one night reading them all. It is so good Babes. If you are new to the world of graphic novels, trust me! Don’t sleep on them. Specifically, for girlhood stories, I am a total fan of the stories they depict and bring to life. This series takes place in New Jersey in 1998. Our heroine Chris has landed her dream job! (Think back to the 90s) we all wanted to work at our local music store! She begins working at hers, Vinyl Mahem. She is ready to handle whatever comes her way, until Rory Gory, the lead singer of the all-girl staff’s favorite band goes missing right before their upcoming performance. Chris soon learns her co-workers sort out more than just records. She has found herself working with an all-girl vigilante fight club. This series is amazing. Lesbian romance. 90s nostalgia. A girl gang fighting the bad guys! It’s a must read.
Need something quick? I have been reading novellas like crazy because life as an online college student hasn’t stopped and after hours of reading and interpreting European Renaissance history, sometimes I’m in the mood for a quick to the point romance!
I highly recommend Blind Date With A Book Boyfriend by Lucy Eden. Our heroine, Jordyn, flies to Culver City, California for the job interview of a lifetime! She finds the local romance indie bookstore to do some romance shopping damage to calm her nerves while awaiting the interview. While shopping, she meets Mike. Yes, they fall in love, but I’ll leave all the in between for you to find out. It was so much fun and a true ode to the romance genre and romance culture.
Lastly, if you’re in the mood for something nonfiction, I recently read Open Book by Jessica Simpson and loved it! I listened to this via audiobook which Jessica narrates herself and while I can’t wait to snag a physical copy for my shelves, I can’t recommend listening to it on audio enough! At a time when we are all staying inside, keeping to ourselves, I think this is the perfect read to feel like you’re having coffee with a girlfriend catching up! Jessica gracefully shares snippets of her life and while I’ve always viewed her as the really pretty girl with the huge voice from Texas, hearing stories like what happens when you share a story with a friend who then uses it against you, made her more relatable and so much more. It was a five-star read for me, definitely one I will be recommending for a very long time.
I really hope you are doing well, finding ways to occupy your time and also finding the time to relax. It was very anxiety inducing for me in the beginning, but I’m slowly finding my groove and reading has definitely helped with that. Make time for yourselves Babes, happy reading!
