just a lil scamp out here reviewing media
Two messy queers falling in love after a seven-year-long argument? Sign me up!
Learning how to deal with your baggage and trust other people? Hell yeah!
A road trip? Go for it guys!
An adorable dog? Are you kidding?! This is heaven!
Star Shipped is my first book by Cat Sebastian and I am so glad I decided to pick it up. I listened to it on audio and found the narrator skilled and emotive. Excited to read another!
Courtside by Taylor E. Weston follows grad-student-serving-as-men’s-basketball-team’s-team-manager Sage and former-team-captain-turned-head-coach David. The novel shows two characters learning how to be vulnerable with each other and trust both each other and themselves. Which is what I loved so much in Weston’s most recent book Making Time.
First of all, Taylor E. Weston (yup, I’m fulling naming here), how dare you torture me with the slooooowest of burns! That first kiss is great but soooo far in. I really, really appreciate that the wait made the relationship above board power dynamics wise. I also love me some yearning and Sage and David yearn away for each other.
The side characters shine. The most important side character of course is Daisy – David’s adorable muppet of a dog. I especially loved David’s friend group from college. Their yearly trip to a lake house reminded me fondly of my own college friends with whom we try to do at least a gathering per year. The one paragraph about Tommy and Chuck had me ready to read Poolside immediately.
Finally, it’s not often I have to pull out the physical book tabs but needed to here:
“You know you don’t have to have it all together with me right?”
Sage stopped. She looked at him, really looked at him, and saw nothing there but trust and care and all of the things she’d never let herself need from another person.
Fully worth the read. Five stars!
I read the first five issues of Jem and the Holograms when they came out and thought they were great. At the time I didn’t have enough room in my pull list to keep up though so I didn’t keep up with the comic. Seeing a new collected edition coming out and successfully getting and ARC (thanks Netgalley and BOOM!) means I get to catch up.
The new collection includes Jem and the Holograms #1-10, the Holograms Outrageous Annual 2015, Jem and the Holograms Holiday Special #1, and Jem and the Holograms Valentine Special #1. I prefer the art style of the first five issues, but still had fun with the whole book. The gift exchange special in the holiday special was a highlight for me.
I hope that the book is successful enough to continue on to further collections which I hope to read!
An adorable edition to this new version of a classic comic. It was lovely seeing the world when tea dragons were more common and more recognized by the population. And it was nice having a mix of familiar and new characters.
A delight!
I’ve been intending to read this adorable series for quiet sometime and this arc of a new edition provided a wonderful opportunity. The signature art style is cute and captivating. And the new concept art and character studies add new content for fans.
A welcome addition to any comics collection.
I was sold on this pairing before I even opened the book. I heard Emily Shacklette talking about this new book on a panel at Sports Romance Con 2026 and knew I needed to read it as soon as possible. Thanks to an arc from her and Love Notes I got my wish!
I had an absolute blast reading this book! The main characters Ivy and Delilah jump off the page and the side characters, especially Sadie, are well-rounded as well. The smutty scenes are spicy and well varied. I thought the jobs of tattoo artist and artisanal jam maker were unique and interesting.
The author creates tension but leaves the reader feeling safe knowing everyone (except Earl) is going to be okay. The revenge is sweet. I am excited to read other books from Shacklette to see more of the characters that I think are making guest appearances here.
I highly recommend this book! Find it here in print, kindle, and KU.
Much like Jamie I am a lover of romcoms of the 09s and early 2000s, so this book won me over quickly. The references plus the setting of wedding planning quickly called up a particular image of finding love. Speaking of settings I loved the inclusion of the LGBT+ center and that it featured in pivotal scenes.
Looking at side characters, Jordan’s family features prominently and easy to love. I like that Javi was given a chance to move from asshole to respected, even appreciated asshole. And I wish I could have seen a certain conversation between Jamie and his parents.
I love when a central message of a romance novel is that are partners, as they are, are enough for us. And that in turn we, as we are, are enough for them. Even better when it is explicitly said. 4 stars.
The first section of this book and some select art work were provided to me by the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
Witch Hat Atelier is such a delightful, magical, and heartfelt work. I started reading off of the recommendation of a friend a couple of years ago. I am behind with the current volume as I have to go by my library’s purchasing schedule and my heavy tbr.
I wish I were able to get my hands on a physical copy of this edition before reviewing as I want to see the foil and illustrations in all their glory. Once I am able to see it in person I will add an update to this post. Even looking at the ebook gives an idea of the beauty and detail of each of the elements that make this edition so special. A wonderful piece to add to a collection.
Fence was starting to come out right around when I stopped regularly getting floppies for budgeting reasons. It is exactly the kind of comic I would have love and would have added to my pull list. It is still exactly the kind of comic I love now – sports romance is the genre of romance I gravitate to most and Fence fits the bill.
The comic is a nice mix of comedic, tense, and hopeful. The characters are well drawn literally and metaphorically. The pacing is solid. I look forward to future volumes!
I heard about Take Him Home by Ashlyn Harmon while attending a panel at Sports Romance Con 2026. It was a panel on LGBT+ representation in sports romances and had a stacked group of panelists. I was caught off guard by how emotional I became during the event. Being in a room of people celebrating queer joy hit me hard and left me feeling grateful. When I saw Ashlyn Harmon was looking for arc readers, I didn’t walk, I ran. Well, thanks to years of volleyball, I got weak ankles, so I walked enthusiastically.
In Take Him Home out and proud country star Wyatt steps up to the plate as a fake boyfriend when his high school crush turned the Kansas City’s star hitter Adrian is publicly outed. Wyatt promises himself he won’t let old feelings reemerge but things get complicated when it seems Adrian may want more too. Will the fake boyfriends become real boyfriends? Will they find a way to live authentically in conservative, traditional career fields? And will someone adopt that adorable pittie mix with the cute name?
It can be rare to see a story that understands the benefits and obstacles of Midwest life as a member of the LGBT+ community. The author Harmon does not shy away from the fact that Adrian and Wyatt have to deal with plenty of homophobia in their perspective fields and in their location. Wyatt recognizes he has more to learn about racism in baseball and does the work there as well. Small moments like the zip line attendant/instructor talking about one of Wyatt’s songs being her and her wife’s first dance are sweet. Finding those moments of kinship in what can be an isolating part of the world is everything.
Favorite line: “How much fiddle is too much and does that answer exist in country music?”
Hedgehog Harry 