Outmatched – Kristin Callihan, Samantha Young. A boxer and a geek are thrown together in an opposites attract/enemies to lovers. This was cute, not my favorite from these two authors, but I appreciated the modern spin in the story. Parker (the heroine) is passionate about the environment and I learned some things just from her part in the story.
Marriage for One – Ella Maise. Both characters had something to gain from marrying each other. He proposes on the first day they met. I raced through this one. I love a good marriage of convenience trope, and this one was done so well! There were a few times I thought the characters went on a little too long with the head thoughts, but it was fine. I also liked the twist that kept things interesting. This author is new to me and I’ll be sure to read more of her.
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life – Ali Wong. This is written in letter form to the comedian’s two young daughters. Some of the letters read like a memoir of Wong telling her daughters the crazy, R-rated stories of her youth, but others are hilarious yet cautionary tales of her younger years. Ali Wong has a frank humor, and I appreciated her maternal perspective, even if it was raunchy. It was fun! I listened to this and it added to the appeal because it was narrated by Wong herself.
Come Back for Me – Corinne Michaels. The first book in a new series, written as a second chance romance. The heroine is trying to leave an abusive marriage and the hero is retiring from the military. These two met eight years ago, but they never exchanged names. Fate brings them back to the same small town where they first met and the story takes off from there. When I read the summary of this, I knew I had to read it. I enjoyed the story and the cute little girl in the book added to this.
The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness – Susannah Cahalan. I’m a slower nonfiction reader, and I’m still making my way through this, but its fascinating. Cahalan takes a look at the history of pyschiatry and an experiment where eight sane, well-adjusted volunteers admitted themselves undercover to an insane asylum. It was up to these individuals to get themselves out. It’s been interesting to read about what the study has meant for the field of psychiatry and how doctors have defined mental illness over time (which is to say, it didn’t take much at one point).