Waiting on Wednesday...Tessa Bailey and Bridgerton!

 Waiting on Wednesday posts are meant for books that you're looking forward to reading (or Bookish things you're looking forward to), so this post will include a couple of my favorites.

First, I'm waiting on the next Tessa Bailey book, The Au Pair Affair, out on July, 16, 2024.

I LOVE Tessa's books and will usually pre-order them because she's so consistent and good, and I love her characters and their witty banter. This is book two in a series called the "Big Shots" series, which is Tessa's first entry into the genre of sports romance. 

Here's a summary from Goodreads:

 #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey returns with an all-new sports rom-com about a burly, surly, single dad who falls head-over-hockey-stick for his quirky live-in nanny...

Tallulah is smart, vivacious, and studying to be a marine biologist. She’s also twenty-six and broke. So when Burgess, a battle-scarred hockey veteran and newly single dad, offers her a job as his live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity to get paid while living in a super fancy neighborhood and being around Lissa, his cool but introverted tween.

Her tween charge isn’t the only one who could use some help fitting in, though. According to…well, everyone except Burgess, he needs to get back on the dating scene, and adventurous Tallulah is just the girl to show him how. But as boundaries are slowly crossed and Burgess finds himself pulled between his daughter, who wants her parents back together, and his insane chemistry with Tallulah, a huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—breaks her own heart and walks away.

Though Burgess knows it’s for the best—he’s too jaded, with too much baggage—a chance meeting, and a new push from his daughter, forces him to put everything on the line and fight to prove he learned his lessons well and is worthy of a happily ever after with Tallulah (Goodreads).  

I really liked the first book in this series, Fangirl Down, which was about a down-on-his-luck golfer and the fangirl turned caddy that helps him turn his game around.  It was a true grumpy-sunshine romance that Tessa Bailey does so well, and it delivered with the banter and characterization of the couple as they bicker their way into falling in love. I adore books that are dual perspective and where the guy falls for the girl early on and we get to see how his "grumpy" turns off, only for her, as she brings out a different side to him that no one has seen before. We also meet the characters in The Au Pair Affair in this first book, and I already love them, so the next book can't come out soon enough! 

Here's a quick Goodreads Summary of Fangirl Down: 

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey launches a super sexy sports romance series with a rom-com about a bad boy professional athlete who falls for his biggest fan...

Wells Whitaker was once golf’s hottest rising star, but lately, all he has to show for his “promising” career is a killer hangover, a collection of broken clubs, and one remaining supporter. No matter how bad he plays, the beautiful, sunny redhead is always on the sidelines. He curses, she cheers. He scowls, she smiles. But when Wells quits in a blaze of glory and his fangirl finally goes home, he knows he made the greatest mistake of his life.

Josephine Doyle believed in the gorgeous, grumpy golfer, even when he didn’t believe in himself. Yet after he throws in the towel, she begins to wonder if her faith was misplaced. Then a determined Wells shows up at her door with a wild proposal: be his new caddy, help him turn his game around, and split the prize money. And considering Josephine’s professional and personal life is in shambles, she could really use the cash…

As they travel together, spending days on the green and nights in neighboring hotel rooms, sparks fly. Before long, they’re inseparable, Wells starts winning again, and Josephine is surprised to find a sweet, thoughtful guy underneath his gruff, growly exterior. This hot man wants to brush her hair, feed her snacks, and take bubble baths together? Is this real life? But Wells is technically her boss and an athlete falling for his fangirl would be ridiculous… right? (Goodreads).

I would recommend both of these books (even the one I haven't read yet) and anything else by Tessa Bailey!

In other Romance Waiting on Wednesday news...

I am also looking forward to the next season of Bridgerton on Netflix, which is released (Part 1) on May 16th, 2024. The Bridgerton series of books is one of the first that really got me hooked in the Romance genre when I was in high school, and I have read every book by Julia Quinn, including all of the Bridgerton books, multiple times. 

   

The first two books have been made into seasons for the series, and I'm eagerly anticipating the third season, starring Penelope and Colin, the heroine and hero of book #4, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. This is my second favorite book in the series because it was the first time I could see myself in a romance character when I was younger. In a sea of skinny and beautiful girls, there's Penelope who's a little curvier, a lot wittier, and still so deserving of love. This book is a friends to lovers romance, and I'm so excited to see it on screen after the first two seasons of establishing their friendship on the show. The actress who plays Penelope, Nicola Coughlan, is one of my favorite actresses, and I'm excited for her to finally be the main character!

Happy reading and watching!

- C

Currently Reading...

 Little Fires Everywhere

by Celeste Ng

Penguin Books, 2017

Summary from Goodreads: Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town - and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost . . . (Goodreads).

I picked this book because it was on the NYT Bestseller list for awhile and Barack Obama added it to his recommendations list that he publishes every year. I really like mystery, so I thought it might be fun to read and then watch the television series that was created based on the book. Now that I'm a little ways into the book, I am enjoying the different characters and learning each of their stories through flashbacks. It's interesting that once I'm feeling a little put out with a character or not understanding why they're doing what they're doing, the story will switch perspectives and give me a little more backstory to help me understand them, and I usually end up liking them more as a result. The most interesting part of this book is the beginning - the story starts at the end, with the fires, and then the entire book is written with you, the reader, trying to understand who is really at fault and why they started the fire in the house that most of the book is set in. I feel like I'm on their side, but I'm excited to find out if I keep that perspective as more and more is revealed. I'll let you know...

Happy Reading!

- C