killercahill: (Reading)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Witty, wistful, and a little sunburned in the best way

📚 Quick Take:

A fizzy friends-to-lovers romance told through snapshots of summer trips past and present—equal parts hilarious, heartfelt, and oh-so-human. Poppy and Alex are a study in chemistry, missed timing, and emotional slow burns.


✍️ My Thoughts:

You know that feeling when you’re sitting on a balcony at golden hour, sipping something cold, and laughing with someone who just gets you? That’s the energy of this book.

Emily Henry does such a brilliant job with voice—Poppy is funny and chaotic and deeply lovable, while Alex is her quiet, repressed, khaki-wearing match. Their banter snaps, but there’s so much underneath it: yearning, vulnerability, and the ache of not quite being ready for each other… until maybe, just maybe, they are.

The timeline structure—bouncing between past summer holidays and their current attempt to reconnect—works beautifully to build tension. You know something went wrong, but you’re not sure what, and you’re too invested in their goofy little adventures to stop reading.

Why not five stars? A few pacing dips and the will-they-won’t-they dragged just a touch too long for me. But emotionally? It lands. And I love that Henry doesn’t shy away from exploring the messy parts of relationships: the fear, the timing, the inner stuff we have to figure out before we can show up fully for someone else.


✨ Vibe Check:

  • 🧳 Friends to Lovers
  • ⏳ Slow Burn, Slow Yearning
  • 💬 Witty Banter Goals
  • 😬 Emotional Avoidance Experts
  • 🥲 Summer Nostalgia + Sadness
  • 🧠 Therapy But Make It Sexy
  • 🍕 Eating your feelings in different cities


💬 Favorite Quote:

“You couldn’t have held my hand. I was using it to hold yours.”
(Insert a little scream here.)


⭐️ Final Rating:

4 stars. Funny, messy, romantic, and real. It’s a beach read for people who cry under their sunglasses.


killercahill: (Default)

Hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer

Hey everyone! I didn’t manage to post anything on the blog this week because, well… I’ve been in Monte Carlo soaking up sunshine, sea air, and seriously good tennis. It’s been a blur of match days, long walks back to the hotel, and collapsing into bed too exhausted to even think about writing. But I’ve started using my Instagram again a little (baby steps!), so that’s something!

✨ Last Week on the Blog
Let’s be honest: not a lot happened blog-wise. But I’ve got a backlog of thoughts percolating and some posts lined up for next week (fingers crossed the Barcelona sun lets me sit still long enough to write them).

📚 What I’m Reading
✅ Finished: Interview with the Vampire — moody, brooding, and yes, a little theatrical in all the best ways
📘 Almost done: You and Me on Vacation — soft and sweet and hitting all the right romcom notes
🧛 Next up: The Vampire Lestat — because clearly I’m having a bit of a moment with long-haired immortals right now

📆 Coming Up This Week (…maybe)
A review of Interview With the Vampire
A review of You and Me on Vacation
Maybe a little “Meet the Blogger” post
And possibly: My Unpopular Bookish Opinions – which is bound to ruffle a few covers!

🎾 Tennis Talk
Monte Carlo has been everything. Nothing compares to watching live tennis—the atmosphere, the tension, the ridiculous beauty of that centre court against the sea.

There were a few upsets this week that properly got to me (Dimitrov’s quarterfinal still stings), but it’s all part of the thrill. And—this was unexpected—I ran into Darren Cahill. I’ve met him a handful of times over the years, but I wasn’t expecting to see him in Monte Carlo, so it felt like such a lovely surprise. He’s always exactly what I need him to be: steady, kind, and so much more real than you’d ever guess from the commentary box. That moment will be tucked away in the highlight reel for sure.

💬 Life Lately
Life has mostly been sunshine, good food, and beautiful backhands. I made friends with a lovely Spanish couple while watching a match and—because life sometimes writes a better story than I can—I’ll be heading with them to Spain after today’s final for an unexpected little adventure to the Barcelona Open.

Sometimes, you just have to say yes.

 

killercahill: (Default)
 Month Wrap-Up Summary Graphic, Vertical Format. The image shows books read, pages read, and hours listened to during the month, average book length and average time to finish a book, nonfiction/fiction, genre, pages/minutes, and format charts.

Books read in March 2025:
Emily Henry - Beach Read
Freida McFadden - The Housemaid
Freida McFadden - The Housemaid's Secret
Freida McFadden - The Housemaid is Watching

April 2025

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