Horse Talk Reviews

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian My rating: 5 of 5 stars I don't know what it is about baseball that makes it the perfect backdrop to a story equally about grief as it is romance but it does. Perhaps it is the inherent nostalgic romance of baseball or the skill of Cat Sebastian as a writer but this book was incredible. It felt like the spiritual successor to KD Casey's baseball books (highly recommend everyone read those) while being a completely new and refreshing take on baseball romance. Which it is very refreshing! One of my notes on this book is "weirdly refreshing about sports and homophobia??" because similarly to We Could Be So Good, the historical realism of being gay in mid-century New York - particularly as a well-known professional athlete- is absolutely present, the book is still incredibly hopeful and sweet. And the romance! It's an absolute masterclass on domestic slice of life slowburn. Eddie and Mark are ...

If you were here last year you may remember me saying I was going to stick with Hallmark movies instead of reading Christmas romance books in 2023. WELL GUESS WHAT. I lied. I watched basically zero Hallmark movies and read approximately three thousand Christmas books because I did not choose self-care. This year's crop of Christmas horrors was worse than last year's which is saying a lot. Even more death, even more mayhem, even less romance, and even more overly dramatic dingalings ruining Christmas for everyone around them but especially ruining it for me. Also, apologies this is super late I was busy doing stuff like "not reading" and "procrastinating" and "washing my hair" and didn't finish the last Christmas book until December 30th. Just like last year, I've ordered the reviews below based on the rating I gave them on Goodreads from highest to lowest. Clicking on the title of the book will take you directly to my Goodreads review. ...

Lucky Bounce by Cait Nary My rating: 5 of 5 stars 5 stars Lucky Bounce is my favorite of Cait Nary's books so far. It's fun, fast-paced, has good hockey content, and I didn't even mind the kid (and i am not a big fan of kids in romance novels). The romance is great too - I was invested in the two main characters getting to know each other and eventually figuring it all out. There was some Personal Family Stuff with both dudes that wasn't really explored in depth or resolved at all but I don't enjoy family drama so I didn't mind that it kinda went nowhere.  The ending is probably my biggest complaint because it is A B R U P T. It seriously just ends with the world's most vague sentence and i kept trying to turn the page for more but nope. Nothing. If this was beefed up a bit it would be 5++++ stars lol. Still worth the read and a great addition to the annals of gay hockey romance. I received an ARC copy of this book from Ne...

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars I'm as surprised as you are that I didn't completely hate this book after the last several tries with AJH. I'd even go as far to say I quite enjoyed it. Sure it had the very annoying thing where -y is added to the end of words to be cutesy (see what I did there) and it is written in what I assume is a northern accent so if i never see a sentence end in "like" again it'll be too soon. But the amensia plot was kind of fun, I liked the two MCs, and the meddling family and meddling coworkers were rather enjoyable. What's keeping it three stars is the rather predictable 95% breakup, the 97% Christmas Death (ugh we were so close to a mostly death free Christmas! But no here they are kissing in a cemetery wtf), and the aforementioned annoyingly accenty (lol) narrative. It helped a lot that the POV character, Sam, wasn't completely full of anxiety ...

Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars Ah yes nothing says Merry Christmas quite like re-living the day you bombed a job interview and your beloved fiance got hit by a truck because you shook a magic snow globe and made a Christmas wish. Who wouldn't want to see how many different ways that delivery truck can hunt down Linus (aforementioned fiance) to run him down and put him in a Christmas coma?? After failing the same horrible job interview for a promotion at work?? Not me, that's for sure. I had fun reading this book because after the first groundhog day loop Diana went through I wanted to see just how much more horrible it could get. And boy did it. Linus ended up in a coma after being hit by the delivery truck while riding his bike, as a passenger in a car, while walking, and while standing outside all at different times and situations. That truck had it out for his ass.  The rules of the snowglobe groundho...

New Adult by Timothy Janovsky My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4 stars I was rather surprised by this book (positive). It's about a comedian which I have absolutely no interest in because improv is my actual nightmare and it involves magic crystal which I do have an interest in as a part time spooky person but what it's really about is one of my FAVORITE tropes which is waking up in the future with absolutely no idea how you got there. (magic, amnesia, time travel??? all three??? read and find out!) I very much liked that the comedian character Nolan turns out to be a total bag of butts in the future and built his fortune on the back of horrible raunchy jokes which thank goodness this book has very little of the actual tight tens in it because no one needs to read those. It focused more on Nolan trying to redeem his alternative future self's buttwad lifestyle and reconnect with his BFF (and love), his family, and his comedic roots. And of course f...

Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin My rating: 2 of 5 stars 2 stars This book was a mess. First of all, it was set in the year 2000 but had absolutely no reason to be. It wasn't any different than a book set in 2023 except no one had smart phones. The book wasn't even accurate to 2000 with the phrase "main character energy" and very tight airport security. In a pre-9/11 world? No way. And I am not sure why this is categorized as a "romance" either. The two POV characters are Maryam and Anna, who become airplane friends, and it's more about their friendship and families? Also, they are both kind of spineless and passive in an irritating way. Just ask the boys you like if they have a girlfriend and if they want to go out with you is this so hard!! There is also inexplicably a Christmas/Holiday pageant they put on in the town they get stranded in because of Christmas snow reasons. I'm pretty sure they were...

The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars I love a good found family book but this one was rather mid. The timeline and POV jumps made it confusing to follow the arc of Finn and Hannah's friendship (the two POV characters) and why Christmas mattered so much to them. They also didn't seem like friends. Even in the years they allegedly weren't fighting it seemed like they hardly spent any time together? And barely knew each other? I don't know but it was a weird vibe. This is another book that is being categorized as "romance" when it is more about the friendships. There is SOME romance but it's mostly at the end and not very impactful to the overall plot. I wish there was more focus on Finn and Theo getting together because a queer romance between two people in the Christmas Orphans Club seems like it would have some intriguing dynamics but it was glossed over completely because they get ...

A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss My rating: 3 of 5 stars 2.5 stars (rounded up) This book was fine but not as whimsical as I expected. The curio shop was not actually magical it was unfortunately only filled with some valuable antiques they sold for cash (of course). And the seemingly ageless cat that had always been at the shop/family ancestral home was never explained. And the book was mostly about the three half sisters cleaning out the dusty old shop and reconnecting with each other while completing a scavenger hunt and party planning as were the rules of the will their weird old dad left them. But the focus was more on other stuff I didn't particularly care about like having babies and property law. It was also very long and had POVs from all three sisters. If it was more tightly written and didn't dedicate so much to, like, housing and leases and focused more on the whimsy it would've been better, I think. Also, it starts wit...

Once a Rogue by Allie Therin My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars rounded up This series is what I consider a popcorn read where you consume it without thinking too hard about it and everything works out and you remember almost nothing once you're finished. This book is no exception. I like Sebastian but Wesley can be kind of grating with his "im the worst man on the entire earth how can you POSSIBLY like me" stuff it, man, you are not the worst AT ALL. The magic is also rather convenient especially in this book (which it was very convenient in the whole series) but you know what? sometimes it's nice to know everything will be fine. I am looking forward to their next book and hopefully Wesley stops with the thinking he's some unloveable monster crap and lives his truth of being a cat dad and doting boyfriend to Sebastian. I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. ...

Prince and Bodyguard by Tavia Lark My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4 stars This was cute and had nice forehead kisses and caretaking but I do not remember nearly enough of the previous books to follow the intricacies of the political gambit parts. I also expected the series about the House Dire princes in the evil land of blood magic and dragons and whatnot to be darker but this was as light-hearted and neatly wrapped up as the previous series. Which is fine but a bit more evil angsty grit would be great! Of course, as always, it's a very readable and sweet book. Even if I couldn't remember who any of these people were lol. I received an ARC copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. View all my reviews

Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson My rating: 2 of 5 stars 2 stars I love a Hallmark movie romance plot as much as the next person but I require them to be at least a tiny bit original or, you know, accurate. This book was perfectly set up with Cat being a disgraced influencer who moved back to a small town (or into a national park her uncle was the...something of? Head ranger? Overlord?) and a hot mountain man guy who helped her survive her idiotic City girl impulses like improper footwear and driving a convertible Mercedes in the snow. Sounds great, right? Well you would be WRONG. This book, in the year 2023, requires you to believe: - mason jars were never popular and this influencer made them sell out across the country! I did not suffer through the hipster and Pioneer Woman eras where we made small batch pickles and poured carafes of water into mason jars for this crap. - a national park needs a City girl influencer to make them popular ...

Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars Ah yes, the delightful tale of a white collar criminal being released from prison and conning her con-man-filled family into never conning again because crimes are bad or something. So while Jillian, the criminal, is trying to outcon her family in the one (1) week this book takes place she: - hires and sleeps with her bodyguard - that she hired because one of her cousins keeps trying to kill her?? - because Jillian controls the money but if she's dead then ... Profit!!!??? - I'm not sure the bodyguard did any actual protection work. What kind of professional sleeps with their client who just got out of prison after 2 days of knowing each other?? - finds another conman lady trying to steal from her Uncle Conman and exposes her! - never leaves the estate at any time?? I wish a hot bodyguard would show up at my house and date me. And also that I was wealthy with a giant hou...

Best Men by Sidney Karger My rating: 3 of 5 stars 2.5 stars rounded up A chaotic stream of consciousness liveblogging style book loosely disguised as a romance wherein the point of view character is a dude who is almost 40 but constantly drinks, never sleeps, has way too many inside jokes, eats diner food at all hours, and is generally Bad at Life. The book gave me a lot of sympathy heartburn and made me want to sit on my couch and talk to no one. The title is apt as the two main characters are both Best Men in the same wedding. Max, the POV character, is bad at wedding planning but is a huge baby about being left out, and Chasten is good at wedding planning and is a Grown Up and shenanigans ensue! Like, a LOT of shenanigans. Too many shenanigans. I needed this whole thing to be turned down like 10 or so notches. The word "gay-xpectations" was used. Approximately four hundred songs were mentioned by name, artist, and song lyric. Every offic...

Light Up the Lamp by Kit Oliver My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars Perhaps my expectations were way too high but this book did not live up to them. Let's set aside the absurd shithole-level arena and facilities for an NHL team that would never be allowed and the training camp with roughly 6 people in attendance and focus on the non-hockey parts. First of all, the miscommunication in here was off the charts. Poor Gil tries so hard but he only knows how to speak in hockey and no one helps him out at any point they only ever say "Oh, Gil" to him. Someone please help my buddy out and clearly explain the problems!!! How is he supposed to know anything at all he has one brain cell and it's dedicated to hockey and thinking "Sebastian" 500 times a second but he's so willing to try if only someone would guide him :( This made the entire book frustrating to read because the 80% breakup is Gil speaking in his single-minded hockey w...

Baseball Field Guide, Fourth Edition: An In-Depth Illustrated Guide to the Complete Rules of Baseball by Dan Formosa My rating: 5 of 5 stars 5 stars I decided it would be a really good idea to get into baseball for real because I read a baseball romance book or two and was ~influenced ~. I thought I would be able to pick it up quick because I've been regularly exposed to baseball as I am a red blooded American and you can't go five feet without ending up in a ballpark or watching Moneyball again. But that was my sports watching hubris tricking me because baseball is absolute nonsense to watch (or listen to) if you don't know what's going on. That's where this book comes in! I wanted a quick reference for the structure of the game and the rules because the best way to tell sportsbros they are wrong on the internet is with citations. The baseball field guide was especially helpful because it has a chapter on how the game is played a...

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian My rating: 5 of 5 stars 5 stars I loved this book so much. It balanced a mostly vibes and very soft romance with just enough historical accuracy to give it an edge. It is also an incredibly timely book considering it's about the news and queer people existing and finding their communities in the 1950s and while a lot has changed for the better we are also regressing so it was nice to read something so sweet and happy and hopeful despite all the things working against them. As for the romance, the caretaking was an absolute delight with the grumpy one, Nick, being so soft for the sunshine one, Andy, and making him soup and keeping track of his keys and doing anything at all Andy needed him to. And yet again Cat gave me urban planning as a treat because it had just enough dumping on Robert Moses and all the crap he did to the city to entertain me but mostly focused on the neighborhoods and people of mid-century ...

The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores My rating: 2 of 5 stars DNF @ 53% 2 stars I really wanted to like this one because of the cover and the description which is why I read as much as I did but it was a huge letdown. I stopped caring at about the 15% mark, to be honest. None of it made any sense and it was going nowhere by the time I stopped. Like, this is about a witch and a vampire but the witch is way too angry and vengeful and the vampire is way too sheltered and naive and it was just boring to read. I kept the extra star because of the cover, mostly. I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. View all my reviews

Game Misconduct by Ari Baran My rating: 3 of 5 stars 2.5 stars rounded up This book was straight up baffling to read. The two main components of the book, the hockey and the romance, were equally weird and made me question if I knew anything at all about hockey or reading romance. To start, the hockey. I was initially ok with the idea of the two main characters being enforcers but they were Extreme Enforcers who fought multiple times every game. In the year of our lord 2023, hockey fighting and enforcers are barely a thing. The players in real life hockey who fight a lot have maybe 12-14 fights an entire season! What makes it even more confusing as a character choice is this is a league that's progressive enough to have a female hockey player. It makes no sense to have both of these be true at once and still have a homophobic league. As for the rest of the hockey it was all a little...off. Like words might be used in hockey but they were slightly...

Solomon's Crown by Natasha Siegel My rating: 5 of 5 stars 5 stars This book is low on historical accuracy but very high on vibes. It was such a compelling read and I could not put it down. It has some truly beautiful moments in it despite it being about two very problematic medieval kings getting it on throughout various castles and manors. I probably could have done without the political gambits and all the people dying in the background (or foreground in a few instances) so they could be together but it was also the 1100s so, like, stuff was weird. Honestly the less you think about this book and the more you vibe along with it the better off you'll be. I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. View all my reviews