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Home / Contemporary - Page 2

Contemporary

Blog posts that feature books in the contemporary genre.

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Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann: Review

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Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan: Review

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The Rival by Emma Lord: Review

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Too Soon for Adiós by Annette Chavez Macias: Review

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Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters: Review

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This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith: Review

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Thirsty by Jas Hammonds: Review

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We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds: Review

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As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter: Blog Tour

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Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles: Book Tour

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Don’t mind me. I’m just here screaming and yod Don’t mind me. I’m just here screaming and yodeling because @simonteen sent me the deluxe boxed set for #TheSummerITurnedPretty series 🥳 This birthday month is showing up and showing out.

This is my favorite series by Jenny Han, and I completely ate these books up when I read them, so I’m so happy to finally have physical copies 😍

I haven’t watched the TV show yet because I need every episode to be out before I start, but I’m excited to see how the book translates into TV. Has anyone watched it? What do you think?

Thanks again so much Simon Teen 🫶🏼 Love y’all and being a #SimonTeenInfluencer 

#BookishEnds #Bookstagram #YoungAdultBooks #YASeries
💋Kiss Me, Maybe — 05/06/25💋 Kiss Me, Mayb 💋Kiss Me, Maybe — 05/06/25💋

Kiss Me, Maybe was so much messier than I thought it was going to be, in a good way. I should have expected it though because grappling with your identity is never clean-cut. But even beyond Angela’s questions about herself and what she truly wants out of life, the family drama was intense. I was gagged and shocked multiple times as family and friends clashed in the most unexpected of ways.

I really loved the premise being centered around a twenty-seven-year-old who’s never been kissed and the woman she’s been pining over for years being the one to help her try to fulfill her mission. This book was a great example of how chemistry should be done. Sometimes writing can harp on telling the reader how much chemistry two characters have without actually showing it, but Angela and Krystal’s every interaction showed the way two of them fit beyond just being friends.

This book was such a good dive into figuring out being ace, and I think it’s helpful for those who don’t know much about the identity or have a wrong opinion of it while also being relevant and relatable to those sure of themselves. I also never get tired of found family and loved the message surrounding the fact that some people will always be set on misunderstanding you, and there’s nothing you can do to change their mind.

Overall, I had a good time with this one and think it’s a fitting read for those in their twenties and thirties still trying to find themselves and separate society’s expectations from their own desires.

Full review on my blog 🤓 *Thank you to the publisher for the gifted finished copy. All opinions are my own.*

#BookishEnds  #Bookstagram #KissMeMaybe #ReadForever #RomanceBooks
Thank you to @caseykelly.co @oneworldbooks @random Thank you to @caseykelly.co @oneworldbooks @randomhouse and @mstinaknowles for the VIP experience at the Matriarch Tour.

A time was had! Ms. Tina was so nice and looked stunning. I appreciated that Tyler Perry clearly read and enjoyed the book, so his questions were very tailored and allowed Ms. Tina to detail moments in the book.

Honestly I could have listened to them talk for another hour. This experience made me even more excited to dig fully into the book because she was a well of wisdom and experience during the talk.

#BookishEnds #BlackBookstagram #MatriarchBook #TinaKnowles #OneWorldBooks #BookTour
I went to the influencer grand opening of Shelf Lo I went to the influencer grand opening of Shelf Love this past Saturday, and it was such a great experience 🤩 The selection is great, and I just love how the store is set up.

I got to catch up with @islandgirlreads, and we both ended up buying Pucking Around 🏒 I also got a blind date with a book, so I’ll do a haul post soon of everything I got during the opening.

Thanks so much for the invitation Shelf Love 🫶🏼 I’m definitely going to be shopping here again, so if you live in Metro Atlanta, you should support this local indie.

#BookishEnds #Bookstagram #IndieBookstores #ShelfLove
Thanks so much to @leoprny for the invite to Anna Thanks so much to @leoprny for the invite to Anna Todd’s Decatur tour stop for The Last Sunrise. As I told Anna, I was reading After on Wattpad when I was in high school, so it was so exciting to get to meet her for the first time 🫶🏼 Listening her talk about the book was so interesting, and I wish I could have listened to her talk longer about producing and casting. Can’t wait to dive into this book! 🌅

Description: When twenty-two-year-old Oriah (Ry) Pera learns that her mother’s job is relocating them to Majorca, she knows this summer could be the start of her very own coming-of-age story. Between chronic health issues and her mother’s overprotective tendencies, Ry feels like she’s stuck waiting for her life to begin.

In her first small act of rebellion, she heads off to the beach alone and meets an infuriatingly charming Spaniard. Julián makes Ry feel even more naive and inexperienced than she normally does, but she can’t tamp down her growing attraction.

As the summer continues, Julián pulls Ry out of her shell and into the adventures she’s always craved. But with her return to America looming, Ry must decide if she’s brave enough to finally follow her heart and live for herself.

#Bookstagram #AnnaTodd #TheLastSunrise #GalleryBooks #IndieBookstores
🚙 Get Real, Chloe Torres — 05/13/25 🚙 “ 🚙 Get Real, Chloe Torres — 05/13/25 🚙

“The soft parts of ourselves—the parts that don’t know better, that yearn for love and acceptance and home—can’t help but hope.”

Get Real, Chloe Torres is the definition of a summer book. It has such a whimsical and wholesome vibe to it that really makes it an uplifting story. It’s evident the author respects fandom and the connection it brings, and it made me think of my own fond memories of supporting boybands as a teen. Where my 1D and 5SOS girls at?

And while the book was fun, there were still a lot of moments of realness, like Chloe’s ADHD causing struggles on the trip, Sienna’s feelings about her biological father, and Ramona’s hesitancy to allow herself to enjoy the trip. But all of the hard moments and disagreements were bridged with such joy-filled and heartwarming moments. Not to mention the love triangle was well-done and satisfying. I enjoyed following the girls’ trip, and the formatting of the book added a special element with the bucket list getting crossed off and the itinerary/locations being placed in the chapter headings. 

I also don’t know if I’ve ever read a character that’s as nostalgic and sentimental as I am, so I fully understood Chloe’s desire to reconnect with her former friends. I genuinely still think about people I was friends with in kindergarten and wish I could talk to them, so she’s a girl after my own heart, even with her intense personality.

If you need to read something that’s going to lighten your day and make you want to cherish your friendships even more, I’d recommend this one! I would also pay to get a book with Diego’s adventures because he was a hoot and a half.

*Thank you the publisher for the gifted finished copy. All opinions are my own.*

#BookishEnds #Bookstagram #BookReviews #YAFiction #QueerBooks #GetRealChloeTorres #HolidayHouse
🏃🏽‍♀️ If I Could Go Back—05/06/25 🏃🏽‍♀️

If I Could Go Back was a strong debut novel, and I eagerly await whatever the author writes next. I finished the book in three hours as it has the perfect pacing for YA, which I think a lot of teens will appreciate. The content itself pulls at the heartstrings, and I quickly became invested in Aaliyah’s journey to reunite with her birth parents. It was a journey filled with ups and downs as Aaliyah’s focus was more on keeping others happy than making herself happy.

I think for many of us who have an absent parent, there are times of being perfectly content and never thinking about them, and then there are times where the what if’s won’t leave your mind, and you desire answers, no matter what you have to do to get them. I don’t think everyone will understand why Aaliyah went through the lengths she did, especially since her own family wasn’t always on board in the story, but I really felt for her. And while I don’t have generalized anxiety, I do have a panic disorder, so I really loved that representation and seeing how it affected Aaliyah in her everyday life, and why it made it so hard for her to shake this need for reunion.

One thing I really appreciated about the book was the portrayal of an abusive relationship with the man being the one abused. It allowed for some very vulnerable conversations between him and the main character while also showing tangible ways to support someone being stalked and struggling to escape the cycle of abuse.

I did not get through the book without shedding a few tears, so a story that can make me cry is always going to end up on my recommendation list. While adults can surely get something out of this book, I truly feel like this is a book that can help a lot of teens recognize their own feelings and struggles.

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me a finished copy. All opinions are my own.*

#BookishEnds #BlackBookstagram #PeachtreeTeen #BookReviews
Look what I just got in the mail 😍 Thanks so mu Look what I just got in the mail 😍 Thanks so much to @mstinaknowles @oneworldbooks @penguinrandomhouse @caseykelly.co for my #giftedcopy of the #MatriarchBook 

This is a thick book, so I’m already ready for all the insight 🙌🏼 It also recently hit # 1 on the NYT. I can’t wait for the tour stop in Atlanta this week 🤩 Is anyone else going? 

Description: Tina Knowles, the mother of iconic singer-songwriters Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Solange Knowles, and bonus daughter Kelly Rowland, is known the world over as a Matriarch with a capital M: a determined, self-possessed, self-aware, and wise woman who raised and inspired some of the great artists of our time. But this story is about so much more than that. 
Matriarch begins with a precocious, if unruly, little girl growing up in 1950s Galveston, the youngest of seven. She is in love with her world, with extended family on every other porch and the sounds of Motown and the lapping beach always within earshot. But as the realities of race and the limitations of girlhood set in, she begins to dream of the world beyond. Her instincts and impulsive nature drive her far beyond the shores of Texas to discover the life awaiting her on the other side of childhood. 

That life’s journey—through grief and tragedy, creative and romantic risks and turmoil, the nurturing of superstar offspring and of her own special gifts—is the remarkable story she shares with readers here. This is a page-turning chronicle of family love and heartbreak, of loss and perseverance, and of the kind of creativity, audacity, and will it takes for a girl from Galveston to change the world. It’s one brilliant woman’s intimate and revealing story, and a multigenerational family saga that carries within it the story of America—and the wisdom that women pass on to each other, mothers to daughters, across generations

#BookishEnds #BlackBookstagram #BookFeature #MatriarchAMemoir #TinaKnowles #OneWorldBooks

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Books I've Read This Year

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Banner for the Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport review with a cover of the book
The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport: Review
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I Think They Love You by Julian Winters: Review
Banner for A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley review with a cover of the book, a graphic of a cupcake, and a graphic of a camera on a tripod
A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley: Review
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Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan: Review

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