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Totally Bex

Dani Atkins

The Story of Us by Dani Atkins – Book Review
Reviews

The Story of Us by Dani Atkins – Book Review

The Story of Us by Dani Atkins is a skillfully written story about deep friendships, tragic loss, and finding your true happily-ever-after.

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Hi, my name is Bex and I love romance books, stripes, and all things cozy.  Slow burn romances are my jam!

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Have you heard of fika before? Basically, it's a S Have you heard of fika before? Basically, it's a Swedish institution — a coffee break that focuses on slowing down and enjoying time with friends (or family). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I first heard of this concept a few weeks ago, even though I have visited Sweden where I ate my weight in delicious pastries. Soon after learning about fika, I stumbled upon @doriegreenspan and then her Baking with Dorie cookbook. Once I saw Dorie's recipe for Swedish Fika Cake, I knew I had to make one!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Needless to say, the cake is absolutely delicious and the cookbook is gorgeous. If you love sweets as much as I do, you're going to want to get your own cookbook and use it as an excuse to have many fika breaks of your own 😂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I have a blog post with more information about how to fika and a mini-review of Dorie's cookbook, plus information on how to get your own copy. Follow the link in my bio for more!
Do you ever lie to yourself at 11pm and say, "I'll Do you ever lie to yourself at 11pm and say, "I'll just read one chapter"? You can see where this is going, right? Part of Your World by authorabbyjimenez captured my heart from the very first chapter and I couldn't put it down until the very last page.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I loved Daniel and Alexis so much! The story and the writing are fantastic, the side characters are amazing, and I smiled so much while reading—even though it deals with some heavy subjects, they are handled with care and balanced with delightful banter.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There's an age gap (she's older 🙌🏻), a small town that's nothing short of magical, weighty familial obligations and expectations, adorable and entertaining side characters/animals, and a hero who will MELT your heart.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I know Part of Your World doesn't come out until the spring (April 19), but you *need* to put this on your TBR, pre-order it or request it from your library, and prepare to block off an entire day for reading it. You won't regret it!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Head to the link in my bio → Books Featured on Instagram to get more information!
In my world, fall is for baking with apples and re In my world, fall is for baking with apples and reading cozy contemporary romances!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My family and I picked a couple of bushels of apples at a local orchard and I have been on the hunt for recipes to use them. I saw this apple dumpling pull-apart bread on the Fall Baking edition of @tasteofhome and knew I had to make it immediately. Let me tell you, it is delicious and I could eat the cider cream cheese glaze by the spoonful 😋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Another thing I could eat with a spoon is Well Matched by @jendelucawrites. I enjoyed Mitch and April's story of fake dating set amongst the backdrop of the Renaissance Faire so much. It was a delightful way to spend an afternoon, all snuggled up under blankets and eating sweet treats while reading this sweet story.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For more information or to pick up a copy of Well Matched, click the link in my bio → Books Featured on Instagram.
✨ Book Mail & Recent Release! ✨⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✨ Book Mail & Recent Release! ✨⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do you feel like you crave different tropes at different times of the year? It was in the 60s here today and I don't know about you, but that makes me want to snuggle up and read hockey/sports romances!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Hard Fall by @brendarothert and @katmizera released last week and I can't wait to dive in because it's been a hot minute since I've read a hockey romance. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Plus, I've heard this one is emotional and I'm looking forward to finding out if it makes me cry 😂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thank you for the paperback copy, ladies!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 📘Blurb⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The St. Louis Mavericks are having the best season in team history. On pace for a pro hockey record, the unexpected death of their captain and star player knocks them off course in ways they never expected.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Weston⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My world was turned upside down the day Ben Whitmer died. Best friends since junior hockey, Ben was like a brother to me. My voice of reason and a grounding force on and off the ice. But as heartbroken as I am, I don’t have the luxury of grieving his loss.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Not only do I have to hold our team together, I was named guardian of the two young children Ben and his wife left behind. Well, not just me—me and his wife’s best friend, Hadley. We’ve been left with the impossible task of deciding which of us will raise the kids, but there’s no way I’m letting that uptight ballbuster have them.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Lines are drawn, but they begin to blur as I find out there’s more to Hadley than I thought. A lot more.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ [click the link in my bio → Books Featured on Instagram to read the rest + grab a copy!]
Don't you love it when you get an unexpected packa Don't you love it when you get an unexpected package from Amazon and it turns out to be a preorder you ordered months and months ago and then forgot about 🤦🏼‍♀️Actually, I was so happy to see this arrive on my doorstep yesterday!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Happy release day to the ladies of @ChristinaLauren! The Soulmate Equation is a delightfully charming romance with a whole bunch of my favorite things:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✓ Single mom of a precocious 7-year-old⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✓ Solid familial and female friendship support system⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✓ Pretentious grumpy/nerdy hero⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✓ An interesting concept of a DNA-based dating app with tons of sciencey terminology⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✓ Slow burn/fake relationship/opposites attract/smart romance⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ See? Sounds awesome, right? Needless to say, I highly recommend grabbing a copy of The Soulmate Equation! (link in bio >> "Books Featured on Amazon")⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 📚 About the book⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents--who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno--Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father's never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn't "father material" before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely. (click the link in my bio to read more!)
This book kept me up until 4am. It's been a long t This book kept me up until 4am. It's been a long time since I have read a book in one sitting, but this book was so worth staying up past my bedtime.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I know it doesn't come out until September, but this is the one book you need to preorder! If you're a fan of nerdy/sceince-y romance or Penny Reid or The Wall of Winnipeg or The Hating Game, this one NEEDS to be on your TBR!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I've added a link to my bio to get more information (click on "Books Featured on Instagram")⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thank you, @berkleyromance, for the advanced copy—and for the sleepless night 😂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🔖 About the Book:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

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