Week of December 22, 2025

Here we are in the home stretch of 2025. What a year it’s been. I remember starting this newsletter in April as a lark, thinking it’s just something to keep me busy. It’s been so much more than that for me. Thank you to all of you for subscribing and sticking with me this long!

I took full advantage of the free Stuff Your Kindle Day on 12/26 and I downloaded about 50 books. So I’m starting the new year off with huge TBR. Granted, I probably won’t keep all of those books, but it’s nice to have a big selection to choose from when I go to pick my next read. I hope some of you were able to find a few books to try as well.

And as I write this, I literally am mourning the end of Heated Rivalry on HBO ☹️ I’m not sure how I’ll survive until 2027 when the next season comes out. If you’ve been reading my weekly posts for the last month or so, it’s not a surprise to you that I was a huge fan of this show. The fact that it was a MM romance was perfect for me, but the way this show resonated with so many people was stunning to me. It was bridging divides that no one even predicted. Straight male hockey podcasters are raving about the show, about the characters, and about the way the characters communicate with each other. And I couldn’t be happier to see it. It was so well done and the season finale was absolute perfection. I understand that the MM component to the show will instantly turn some people off, and that’s too bad, because when you boil it down to the bottom line, it’s a beautiful love story. My TikTok feed has been flooded with HR content, and the simple recurring theme has been “I WANT THAT.” Until you’ve let yourself experience the show, you’re not going to get it. But it was absolute perfection, and I fully expect to see everyone involved with this show all over the awards shows in 2026 - it definitely deserves all the accolades in my book.

My GoodReads totals for the year of 2025 as of the end of this week look pretty good. I’m about 22 books off my goal for the year, but that’s ok - I can forgive myself that! And I honestly think I’ll shoot for something a little more conservative next year. I used to have targets for running, like I’d try to run 1500 miles a year. Things like that were probably a lot healthier for me, so maybe I should revert to those sort of goals. Not running - those days are definitely behind me, sadly - but perhaps just miles covered, be it walking or biking or elliptical or whatever. But activity is going to be my goal. Yes, I’d still like to shoot for about 200 books a year, I’m not giving up on reading. But I think incorporating more miles into my life would be beneficial. So you heard it here first! I’ll keep you posted.

• As always, here’s my rating scale for your information:

  ⭐️ Did not like this book, would not recommend. Lots of errors, plot holes, not worth the effort to read, most likely didn’t finish. But I’m giving this author a single star for making the effort to publish a book. Not everyone’s even gotten that far, so yay for you.

  ⭐️⭐️ Didn’t really like it, multiple issues with style, plot, syntax or characters. Most likely forced myself to finish it. Would consider other books by the same author but I might have to be convinced.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyed the book. Perhaps there were issues with plot or style but it was an enjoyable read. I could see recommending it if it were of a specific genre or trope or series. Most of what I read could easily fall into this category and I’d be a happy camper.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a good book. Like a really good book. I will think about this book when I’m finished, and there’s a really good chance I’ll buy it for my personal library if it was a KU read. I’d recommend it to other readers of the same genre or trope. I’ll definitely search out other books by this author, probably as soon as I’m finished reading.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wow. Just wow. Amazing book, amazing story. If there were flaws in the book I’m completely overlooking them because in my mind the book was sheer perfection. I didn’t want the book to end and I’m immediately adding it to my favorites and my re-read pile. And if there’s an audio version I might have to buy that, too. I have a book hangover, I miss the characters, and I feel actual, physical loss in my life when this book is finished.

Thanks for joining me this week! Let’s dive in!

1. Taming Teddy, by Lucy Lennox ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   This was book 2 in the Made Marian series and I liked this one just as much, if not more, than book 1. Jamie, one of the Marian brothers, is a wildlife vet living in Denali, Alaska, and is pursued (professionally) by wildlife photographer Teddy. This plot line is introduced briefly in the first book and I liked the tie-in there but reading the first book wasn’t necessary. Jamie doesn’t like to have his work glorified in photos, as he thinks it sends the wrong message to the public and makes them think wildlife isn’t as dangerous as it really is. Teddy doesn’t like to take no for an answer and is seeking a once-in-a-lifetime photo to submit for a pinnacle award as a photographer and he’s convinced that partnering with Jamie will get him the shots that he needs. So he shows up on Jamie’s doorstep. Literally. After a surly start to their partnership, the two realize that a wildlife vet and a wildlife photographer actually have a fair amount in common, and the fact that they’re both attracted to men doesn’t hurt the situation. The author’s use of the scenery and descriptions of the wildlife is wonderfully done and it was easy to picture the two men in these beautiful, remote settings with just the animals and wilderness around them. I enjoyed the scenery as much as the story, I think. Well done on this count.

2. Off Season, by Jodi Oliver ⭐️⭐️⭐️

   This was a very sweet book. This is a MM romance featuring Jacob and Ethan, who couldn’t have been more different and yet they complimented each other so well. Ethan is a closed off hockey player with almost 2 decades of playing time under his belt. He’s closed off to everyone, even his teammates, after being jilted on his way to the alter in the beginning of his career by his boyfriend/fiancé. Jacob owns a bakery with his brother Alex, who happens to be dating Ethan’s teammate, so the two are acquainted. And Jacob has a major crush. When Ethan is heading back to England for his cousin’s wedding and knows that he will be seeing his ex, he decides to ask Jacob to go with him as his fake boyfriend for support. But, of course, the two fall for each other while they’re away. And they fall hard. This book is overly sweet, and overly idealistic I think - after living in the Heated Rivalry world for the last month, it’s hard to dive into a book where all of these professional hockey players are out and coupled and openly accepting. Yes, I get that it’s fiction - but I was having a little bit of trouble with it.

3. Shots On Net, J.J. Mulder ⭐️⭐️⭐️

   This is the first book in the SCU hockey series (I need to get off this hockey roller coaster…) and I didn’t like it as much as the second book, Save The Game.

   I had trouble reconciling the two MMCs together - Carter and Zeke just didn’t click for me. Carter was huge and grumpy and constantly hooking up with others and he just gave all that up for Zeke? It felt very contrived to me. It was a standard boy meets boy, they start to enjoy each other’s company, it turns into more. But I didn’t see enough of a patient personality in Carter for him to wait literally months for Zeke’s feelings to emerge. I had a hard time embracing the reality of that plot line.

4. Benching Brady, by Samantha Christy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   This book took me by surprise, in a great way. This was a really charming MF romance that didn’t give me any “ick”s at all. Brady is a major league pitcher, in the final inning of what has been a perfect game up to this point, when an line drive to the pitching elbow takes him out. Literally. After surgery, he goes to the teams training facility in Florida for extensive rehab to regain the use of his hand after the injury left him with nerve damage in his pitching arm. His physical therapist, Riley, doesn’t take his crap and knows his reputation as a ladies’ man, but has no idea the reason why he hides from any sort of commitment. And she, of course, has secrets of her own, that almost derail him. I’ve been off the MF romance train for quite a while because the MMCs have all felt too domineering or too, ugh, something. But this was really nice - a very pleasant surprise. And the story introduced a couple of other characters that have their own books that I’d be willing to try out. I’ll keep you posted!

5. If You Only Knew, by Kristan Higgins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   She’s done it again. When I need a solid read that isn’t dripping with sex but still holds my attention and let’s me lose myself in great characters and even better storytelling, Kristan Higgins is my girl. Her writing is always witty and somewhat snarky and the characters are so honest and transparent, and this book was absolutely superb. Sisters Rachel and Jenny are each going through marriage trials that nearly all of us can relate to on either a personal level or we’ve held a friend’s hand as they battle something similar. And on top of that Rachel is raising triplets (!) and Jenny is running a successful business and they both are dealing with their widowed mother who makes nit-picking look like an Olympic level sport. So much happens in this book and yet it could very well be a biographical story of just about any woman you know. It was so enjoyable.

6. Unexpectedly You, by JoJo Stone ⭐️⭐️⭐️

   Back in my MM romance era here with a book that I grabbed for free on my SYKD shopping spree. I’d never heard of this author before so I picked this book based on the hurt/comfort and found family tropes. And it wasn’t bad. Tattoo artist Haden is reeling from the sudden death of his sister, and learns that she has left her 4 month old daughter to him in her will. His estranged parents object to his gay lifestyle and abandoned him at age 16 so his sister was his only remaining family, and he takes her death quite hard. On the night of her funeral, he witnesses a young man being SA’d in the alley behind a bar and he rushes to help. It turns out the victim, Jay, has been forced into prostitution to pay off a former boyfriend’s debt, and generally doesn’t trust anyone he doesn’t know. When Haden tries to get him to the hospital and Jay panics, Haden instead brings him to his own house where his neighbor, who happens to be a doctor, can take a look at him. The two end up confiding in each other and forming a friendship (and more) that neither planned. It’s a sweet story, and Jay and Haden and the baby become a very cute family unit.

7. Gray Hair Don’t Care, by Karen Booth ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

   After reading Benching Brady earlier in the week and enjoying it, I decided to search for MF romance books with “more mature” female characters and this is one of the books that popped up. It was fun! It was nice seeing a gray haired FMC where her gray hair was celebrated rather than covered up. This is a story of Lela and Donovan, college best friends, who re-connect in their late 40’s and have a romantic encounter. But Donovan panics and sneaks out in the middle of the night. Lela puts it behind her and uses the experience to spur her into moving forward and not backward and reinvents herself, including letting her gray hair come in. [On a personal note: I respect this decision a lot! I was 49 when I decided to stop coloring my hair and let my gray take over and I’ve never looked back.] Anyway, fast forward 3 more years and the two of them end up working together and having way more to do with each other than they intended. And as their lives become intertwined again, they both realize that, at age 50, there’s no time or inclination for the insecurities of youth. They either have to jump in or not. It’s a nice story that’s relatable to someone my age, so I liked it a lot from that perspective.

That’s it for this week! As always, you can keep up with all of my reading on my Goodreads if you want to. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12921106-karen

Love, Karen