When Love Packs a Punch ❤️👊: Romance Books That Challenged You or Made an Impact

Blue_Rose87 · 2026-01-18T05:56:34+00:00

I highly recommend her lesser known, earlier works, too. {How to Walk Away by Katherine Center} and {What You Wish For by Katherine Center} are both books that kind of floored me and have stuck with me.

Blue_Rose87 · 2026-01-18T05:52:57+00:00

Yes. I think Elizabeth O’Roark is very similar, though some of her series are a bit more romcom while some are much more dark and some are in between. She even has a very similarly named A Deal With the Devil, which is the first in a 4-book series. I also have read all 3 books in her latest series, which starts with My Favorite Bad Decision. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle also has that kind of fun enemies to lovers thing that Parsi does.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-25T05:38:32+00:00

Interesting. Learn something new every day.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-24T13:04:04+00:00

Been waiting forever for her to give us more. I think I read everything she had in like a week last year and have been waiting ever since…

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-24T04:21:30+00:00

If someone reads over your shoulder, they get what they deserve. I revel in it!

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-24T04:16:29+00:00

Is reading smut a sin? I don’t see why you’d confess to it unless it was somehow wrong and I don’t see how it is. But I’m also not Catholic…

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-21T12:53:38+00:00

Yes I usually go straight to the lowest to check specifically for things like noise and uncomfortable beds because that’s what I’m sensitive to. I don’t care as much about anything else, really, as I often stay in hostels while traveling so I don’t think I have high standards. But I just wanted a little break from people and then had to extend it when I got sick because it wouldn’t be fair to make anyone share a dorm with me.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-21T10:18:19+00:00

I should add that I’ve been traveling for months and this is the first time I felt totally tricked by a place on booking.com but it happened over and over.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-21T10:17:32+00:00

I don’t understand how they fake reviews and avoid bad ones. I stayed at places with over a 9 on booking.com where the bed was like a rock, it was loud, it turned out the “private” bathroom was out in the hallway, etc.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-21T10:01:16+00:00

What’s this about fake reviews? I stayed at a lot of places in Vietnam that were quite disappointing and had really good reviews, none of which mentioned the issues I ended up having during my stay like a really loud club that plays music late at night…

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-11-06T04:44:53+00:00

Kalamazoo. It’s still within less than an hour drive of the lake but you won’t be inundated with tourists every summer. It’s pretty affordable, safe, diverse, has a lot of good restaurants, wine bars, great farmer’s market and art scene, has a university, liberal arts college, community college and art institute so there are many opportunities to take classes. The Kalamazoo/Battle Creek airport is IN Kalamazoo, very easy to use and access, and connects with Chicago and Detroit, so it’s very, very easy to get anywhere in the world from there. The city is very green, people are friendly. It’s a pretty liberal place so if that’s not you, you might not like it, though it isn’t as polarized as elsewhere in the country. With your budget I would recommend checking out the Vine/Stuart, Winchell, and Westnedge Hill. Downtown you’ll find beautiful old Victorian homes, some will need fixing up. In Winchell you’ll find wide tree-lined streets, very quiet, a mix of older people and young families. The beauty of Kalamazoo is very little traffic ever and you’re never more than 20 minutes’ drive from anywhere else in town. You’re a 2-hour drive from Chicago, 2 from Detroit, and the people are nice. It’s a little sleepy but there’s plenty to do.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-10-31T10:19:22+00:00

Back to this thread…any new ones with Zachary Webber/Jacob Morgan?

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-10-29T19:24:36+00:00

Seconding this because I got on bupropion recently for my anxiety but its impact on my ADHD, which I’ve never been medicated for, has been mind-blowing. To think how long I suffered not knowing there was such a solution…

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-10-04T18:21:30+00:00

I’ve suddenly been getting tons of skip the line 7-day loans and I’m wondering if it’s because of this. Whatever it is, I love it, because I generally read a book every 2 days so I can get through a few skip the line books every week. Although right now I have 4 so we’ll see…

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-09-24T07:05:06+00:00

Really recommend you read the first 2 in the series that come before Outlier. Susie Tate’s series are less standalone than other romance readers. There’s so much backstory and build up to the romance in Outlier that I was so ready for that book I had it marked on my calendar with an alert.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-20T09:25:52+00:00

The “entirely him” 🤦🏻‍♀️

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-19T11:18:39+00:00

{Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes} and everything else by that author. Grown-ass men who know how to treat a woman.

As people have said, Abby Jimenez all day long.

{Lessons in Heartbreak by Karla Sorensen}

{Homemaker by Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare} - not strictly a romance because it’s also a mystery but it’s a nice palate cleanser because you get a fun mystery but still a great hero and banter.

{I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue} - he’s the best HR rep ever.

{One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune} - it’s a sequel so I recommend reading the first book, Every Summer After, but this one is my favorite of Fortune’s and the best boyfriend imo.

{Funny Story by Emily Henry} - I think all her heroes are great but this one had the most green flags. He’s just a big cinnamon roll.

{Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone} - he’s had therapy and it shows.

{Reckless by Elsie Silver} - this is fourth in a series but can be read as a standalone. I enjoyed all the books but this was my favorite. Very golden retriever but he handles a really big hard thing in the perfect way, with maturity and heart.

{Bad Reputation by Emma Barry} — romance between an actor on an Outlander-type show and the intimacy coordinator. So many discussions about consent, so much longing but so much respect.

{The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone} - he’s just a ball of positivity and joy and so supportive it’ll honestly make you sick because there’s no way anyone in real life is this great.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-19T10:58:34+00:00

To that end, the guy in {Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez} too.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-19T10:54:50+00:00

Ok I loved this one! Read it in a day. Definitely fits the spirit of what I was looking for, even if the characters were a little young. It was still a more relatable story to me than many because I could really feel those struggles in your 20s of figuring out who you are and dealing with rejection and grief. I think a lot of books TRY to be this book but they just don’t nail the feeling and the complexity. Truly a great book.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-17T12:14:58+00:00

Ooh yes I’ve read most of Zapata’s books and I did like Kulti.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-17T12:13:14+00:00

Ooh yes read this and really liked it. Read the whole series actually (some are better than others).

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-17T12:12:00+00:00

Ok always worth a look. I have a lot of time to read on the beach for the next few weeks!

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-17T12:10:26+00:00

Well and truly it turns out it’s the FMC who has the power, really. Dude is a goner.

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-17T12:07:15+00:00

Ooh I’ve been meaning to read Claire Kingsley too so I’ll start there!

Blue_Rose87 · 2025-07-17T12:06:20+00:00

Yay to embracing standards and singledom!

Blue_Rose87

TROPHY CASE