Sorry for the disappearing act at the end of the month, it's been so busy at work! Let's review the month and I'll catch you up on anything you might have missed.

Can't Stop Listening

Let's begin with the song I've had on repeat lately. It came up on one of those Spotify created lists one day and it just caught something in my brain and I found myself going back to listen to it often last month. Not sure why, but it reminded me that I do really enjoy Rogue Wave's music. I used to lsiten to their song Eyes all the time, anyone else think of Heroes when they hear that song as well?

Life

My February has  been very work focused. Way back in January I offered to help out with a culture group which had been formed to try and focus on improving our team's culture as it's grown rapidly and managers are concerned good work culture has been lost in the rapid growth. I agree culture has been less than great so I agreed to assist from an employee perspective. It was proposed it would just be about discussing future changes and ideas for change from the team perspective rather than management. It turned into a presentation role all about presenting things to the managers and inspiring change and after speaking to a key communications person within our company she's changed the whole concept of the group to be team members pushing culture change and being a comms committee who will relay team communications and help keep everyone informed. It actually sounds like a really positive role and I am happy to do it with some of the people I work with… but if I had known the amount of work involved I would have planned things very differently and not let us plan the day so late because it was stressful having only a vague agenda and there was lots of miscommunication along the way which I really didn’t need. It was very full on and I was glad to have a couple of days off of work at the end of February just to relax. I also should mention that within that whole culture project there ended up being some push back from managers on what we were doing that created a whole heap of drama and basically meant we had to go over their heads to get action to happen. It was an uncomfortable month for me, I won't lie. But it's over now and there's still loads more work to come but I'll worry about that later.

Apart from work I’ve not done too much. It was my birthday at the end of February so it was all about me relaxing and doing as little as possible. I watched a lot of Netflix, ate a lot of cake. One of my friends made a red velvet cake for me and it was delicious but so much cake! Mostly because my mom also bought a cake so there was cake for everyone for a few days. Apart from my birthday, though, February was fairly low key. Just lots of time at home with Artemis (who is now fully vaccinated) and mostly trying to teach Artemis I am not a chew toy and she should definitely use the toys I’ve bought for her.

Reading

I entered a bit of a reading slump in February. It wasn’t a slump exactly, my mood reading was just been strong so I spent a lot of time uncertain what I felt like reading. This led to a lot of half hearted attempts to read things and spending longer reading books I would usually fly through. It all came to a head when I started House of Blood and Earth and it was bad! I struggled to get into the book because it was so info dumpy at the start and eventually I hit 50% and decided to abandon all hope of it getting better. I have seen other bloggers rating it 5 stars and I decided they were deluded because I didn’t care how much of a twist there was at the end, it simply wasn’t worth me entering a genuine reading slump to find out. I was annoyed as I actually own the second book but if a publisher won’t edit down an unnecessarily long book then I won’t waste my time reading it. Especially when the romance itself wasn’t good. I won’t complain anymore because, thankfully, I did manage to fit in a few decent reads in February. My reading numbers weren’t as high as January but I did find I read a few amazing books. My first 4 reads of the month, Only When It's Us, Book of Night, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, and Girl Gone Viral were all really good reads for me. And I did start Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry right at the end of February but I finished it in March so I'll talk about it next month instead. So I suppose I started the month strong with my reading so that's better than nothing.  

Challenges

Romanceopoly

It was a pretty strong month with Romanceopoly. I've kind of been letting the board guide my reading as I've not been sure what I've been in the mood to read. I finished 5 prompts, although I do feel like I didn't trule finish the gym prompt as I never finished that book but oh well.

Monthly Key Word

Watching

This time I wanted to include what I've watched lately too. It's a weird mix of stuff, I've hopped back onto the k-drama bandwagon full steam ahead. I flew through the series Love To Hate You in just a couple of days and definitely recommend if you want a fast but brilliant romance watch. It was short enough it didn’t get bogged down in some of the unnecessary drama that occasionally creeps into K-dramas.

But I also indulged my F1 obsession and binge watched all of Season 5 of Drive to Survive when it came out. To say I'm pissed off the show missed out major events in the F1 season from last year is an understatement. There was genuienly a lot of drama  last season without Netflix needing to manufacture some and yet they glossed over it to try and create the narrative they wanted. They could have actually made a statement about some of the situations in F1 right now, like the bombing near the Saudi track or the safety issues following the tractor on track during the Japanese grand prix but instead they focused on pointless things and overdid the crash at Silverstone. I am angry about it but at least F1 is back with a new season with hopefully new drama. I can't wait, even If my favourite drivers aren't in it this year.

What were your highlights in February? Can you recommend any good shows? And what was your favourite book of the month?

What a week! This month is really being so full on when it comes to work I’m exhausted. I'd quite appreciate a quiet couple of weeks now but I don't think that will happen until I get through this coming week.

I'll start this post my saying I'll be taking a week off and I'll be back at the start of March. This is partially because I'm exhausted, but also it's my birthday next weekend so I want to relax and enjoy that so I'm treating myself to some time off from the blog to come back fresh the start of March. I know I won't have the time to focus on blogging as much as I want so I'm being honest and taking a step back instead.

As far as work goes let's just say never join a group that's meant to work on culture without checking first what exactly it will entail. I wasted so many hours in meetings this week for it that I am amazed that I got any work done. Between that and meetings to do with a project I'm on I seriously have had no time to just relax. I miss the days when people forgot about me at work and I could keep my head down and do my own things. I even used to be able to work and listen to audiobooks. Those were the days. Add in the fact the culture group has had a serious amount of drama around it it’s safe to say I’m exhausted when it comes to work. I won’t get into it because I don’t want to be a gossip, even though you don’t know anyone I’m talking about I’ll still feel bad, but work needs to slow it down with the drama. I do think I’ve made another work friend though so let’s look at the positives.

My life just revolves around work now so the only other things I’ve been doing are reading, hanging with Artemis, and playing PlayStation. I seriously need to get a life again. My friends are all coupled up so I’m having to book them weeks in advance to have a chance to meet them. Unfortunately, that’s meant a quiet February for me but it’s fine I’m meeting a friend for tea tomorrow (potentially today with how late I’m writing this post).

What I’ve Been Reading

Honestly, I regret picking up the Crescent City series by Sarah J Maas as it’s not hooking me in. I picked up the first book as I rolled the prompt of reading the longest book on my shelf and that’s it but it’s too long and just plain bad. Why do I keep reading Sarah J Maas when she doesn’t let her books be edited down? It’s just tedious and definitely could have been edited better. All these 5 star ratings say im the odd one out but im 51% of the way in and im hating it. I don’t want to DNF but I might have to come back to it.

New To Me

No new books because I've been dragging myself through trying to finish the stupid book I didn’t think I deserved any new reads. Honestly, need to find a new book to read as my current read it bringing me down.

How was your week? Any good books I should check out since I'm not enjoying mine? Tell me all so I can catch up when I'm back in a week.

 

Published: 7th September 2021

Source: Purchased

Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQ+

My Rating: 

In this witty and heartwarming romantic comedy—reminiscent of Red, White & Royal Blue and One to Watch—an awkward tech wunderkind on a reality dating show goes off-script when sparks fly with his producer.

Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.

Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.

As Dev fights to get Charlie to open up to the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

I had been excited about reading The Charm Offensive ever since I saw the first blog review about it. It sounded right up my street as an interesting LGBTQ+ contemporary romance read. I was so excited I actually found myself putting off reading because that is what I do every time I get excited about a new book. Put off reading until I forget why I wanted to read.

Unfortunately, I ended up reading it when I wasn’t in the mood for it. I was hoping once I started I would find myself growing into the right mood for it as that does happen sometimes. That didn’t end up being the case and I dragged myself through reading it. As such, my rating doesn’t truly reflect the book but instead reflects my mood when reading it as I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped. I want to acknowledge that although I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I hoped I adored it for so many of the important conversations it had and the complexities of these characters and the journey they went through. Part of my rating reflects that, because even though I wasn’t in the right mood for this book I can recognise it was good and it might have been an amazing book on another day.

The star of this book, for me, was Charlie. He was an adorable guy who hadn’t had the right people around him in the past to help him realise he was not the problem. He decided to go on a dating show for all of the wrong reasons, he had hoped it would help show he wasn’t crazy or difficult to be around. It was a chance to boost his profile and show himself as real person. He wasn’t looking for love but he ended up finding it anyway, just not with any of the women he was meant to be dating for the show. It was great to see the struggle he faced with his OCD and anxiety and how that he could be perceived as difficult but only because people didn’t understand. He was sweet and honestly never expected to find love as he had never felt sexual attraction before. Until Dev. In some ways it seemed like the mental and emotional struggles of this book would centre on him but Charlie had been through therapy and recognised the importance of his mental health and was trying to build healthy coping strategies into his life. He had good people in his corner so you worried for him but not too excessively. Charlie’s book was about him discovering his sexuality and being brave enough to accept and tell people about it. He had backed himself into a corner signing the contract to star in the show which meant he had to date these women despite the fact he had no interest in any of them, and most of them had no interest in him either. Dev was the one who went through an emotional journey and discovered his faults and acknowledged the mental health journey he needed to go on.

Dev was a sweetheart who believed in love and had rose coloured glasses about the show he worked on. He never meant to develop feelings for Charlie but he did. But really this book was about him accepting his mental health struggles and acknowledging he had depression and then learning how best to live with this. He very much ignored it and tried to push those who cared for him away when he was in a depressive episode as he didn’t seem to want them to associate that side of himself with who he was. That was obviously a terribly unhealthy coping strategy but Dev seemed unwilling to accept help from others and was a touch too independent and isolated despite viewing himself as a romantic and a man who was looking for love and a relationship. It was great seeing him at the end getting help and developing healthier strategies in his life to cope. And most importantly allowing others close to him and help him when he needed it. It was about him acknowledging fairy tales aren’t true and that love is not easy. It doesn’t follow a set narrative and you cannot control it.

Honestly, this book did so much well and I wish I’d DNFed and tried to read it again another day as I would have loved it if I’d been in the right mood for it. Instead, I struggled through and acknowledge the potential there without truly connecting with it which was sad.

Have you read The Charm Offensive, if so what did you think? And if you're a mood reader what was the last book you read and you knew you should like but just weren't in the right mood for it?

What a week! Again, the blog fell to the wayside as I got stuck working and just feeling utterly exhausted when the end of the day hit.

Work has been manic this week and I don’t even know why. It just felt never ending. It got to Friday and I was exhausted and my assistant manager called me right at the end of the day and she even said I just sounded fed up and I kind of was. I don't know what it was about this week but it has taken it out of me. It probably didn't help I was in the office Monday and Tuesday, who goes into the office on a Monday? I mean, I had to for trainignbbut still it was a bit much. But it was the first time I’d seen my manager in several months so that made a nice change for me as he’s usually based in London. I don’t think it helps I’m part of a culture working group and that stuff is just demotivating with all the complaints sometimes.

What I’ve Been Reading

I really have been slow reading this week. I started The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy after Sam recommended it to me and I am so glad she did! I was slow starting, but I was in the office and of course every time I was in the office there were train problems which meant we were packed in like sardines with no space for me to sit and read. But I managed to stay awake long enough to read a few nights and finally finished Saturday morning. I then flew through Girl Gone Viral Saturday evening and finished a book in an evening.

New To Me

I didn’t own Hart and Mercy when it was recommended to me so I had to purchase that. I also treated myself to For Your Consideration as it was 99p and it really did sound like an interesting story. I've had Amy Spalding's YA books on my maybe buy list for a long while but as I've drifted from the YA reading world I've never bought them. I hope I enjoy her first adult romance instead.

How has your week been? Anyone else finding the working week to be longer than it was last year?

What a month! Sorry I was a bit quiet there at the end of January but life really got in the way. But it’s cool I’ll catch you up on things and we can talk books! I think occasional 2 weeks absences on the blog are totally fair and part of my 2023 philosophy of enjoying myself with blogging.

On Repeat

Let's start off with a song to keep you entertained whilst reading. I discovered the artist Lizzy McAlpine this month and Doomsday has been on repeat for a good long while. I just cannot get enough of it.

Life

What can I say about life? I think I mentioned my neighbour started having their extension built so I've had that noise to contend with when I work from home. But they also fixed my front light and have been so nice the whole time they've had the work done so I'm not too bothered. Or not too bothered until you hear some loud banging in the middle of a Teams call and have to hastily mute yourself. But in all honestly, it's fine, the worst of the noise has passed and it's nice being nosy watching the progress. I mostly miss having the blinds open in the conservatory and being able to get down the side of the house.

The only other interesting thing in my life in January was the bottomless brunch I went to with friends at a bar with a ball pit in it. I very much felt like Sheldon swimming about in it and it's safe to say kids are athletic playing in these things as it was hard work. It was a fun afternoon/evening out and I was definitely feeling a little tender the next day. Bottomless brunches are lethal every time.

Books

18 Read
6 unhauled
5 purchased
Favourites: How to Fake it In Hollywood, Taste
Least Favourite: The Ex Hex

I cannot believe the number of books I read in January! I know so many were shorter reads, there were a lot of novellas and short stories in my life last month, but even taking those out of consideration I hit double figures and that is an achievement. It was a strong reading month with Romanceopoly helping to guide my reading

Challenges

Romanceopoly

Monthly Key Word

I read my first book for January and it was a physical book. Funnily enough, the next prompt I've also picked upa  physical book, guess who is possibly going to try and do physical books only for this challenge.

I think that covers my month, I can't remember if there's anything I'm missing. It's been so long since I've done one of these posts! How was your January? What were your favourite reads or favourite moments of the month?

It's been a minute. Sorry about that, life has got a little busy so the blog fell to the backburner for a little while. I don't even really have posts drafted for you right now but I'm working on it. It doesn't help little Artemis takes up a lot of my free time. After I finish work I'm trying to entertain her as she's left a little to her own devices otherwise. She is very popular on all of my Teams calls, though. But we move, I'll figure it out.

Artemis went for her first visit to the vets this week to begin her vaccinations and she is such a curious cat. There was no real hesitation on her part, she just wanted to explore and was calm in her cat carrier which was good. All the staff at the vets loved her and she'll be back in 3 weeks for the next course of vaccinations and to see if she's big enough to microchip yet. She's getting a little clawier and seems to want to chew on everything, but turns out kittens teeth so I imagine that's part of the problem if she's beginning to get adult teeth in. She is such a babe though I don't mind. She's been left alone for one day in the office this week and she seems to handle it well, which is a relief, just full of beans when I get home and tried to get me to stay up late playing. She seems to have developed a fascination with getting under the bed covers which is less than ideal for me, I found her down by my feet when I woke up last night and that was rather confusing for me half awake at 3am.

I treated myself to a PS5 last week. I had been planning on waiting as there aren't really any exclusive games to the console I absolutely need to play but I know the next Final  Fantasy game is due in June so I wanted one by then. Once I found out I could play PS4 games and transfer my data it was a no brainer, though. I got an end of year bonus with work and I thought I should put it towards something impractical as well as something practical, so I'm looking at blinds for the living room and need to get the garden sorted once I can actually access it through the side gate again, but then I have my nice impractical PS5 that I didn't need but wanted anyway. I suppose I'm trying not to buy all of the books under the sun so I need to put that money elsewhere and not just on bills.

Last week was just pure chaos, as was this week to be fair. Work has been so busy and I hardly had a moment to myself. I was covering for my replacement as he rudely took annual leave and I honestly forgot how much work my old role was, it meant I couldn't really do any of my usual work, not the standard I usually would anyway. Add in that I picked up a major error they had made at the beginning of this week and it's safe to say I'm exhausted work wise. I cannot wait for some time off at the end of the month, I think I need to book more time in as well whilst I can and just spend a few days relaxing.

Outside of work I've also been busy, I went to a bottomless brunch with friends and what was meant to be an evening out which turned into a night out last Saturday. I then lost most of Sunday to feeling fairly delicate. But I can now say I've been to an adult ball pit and it was fabulous. I hate the photo pf myself (but I hate every photo of myself) but I think you can tell by my face I'm enjoying myself. Highly recommend if you're ever in Birmingham, which I know makes it quite a niche suggestion but I imagine they have similar bars in a few places. Bars in the UK seem to be leaning towards experiences as well as good drinks and I am not complaining.

What I've Been Reading

New To Me

I borrowed Taste and Lick from Kindle Unlimited when I was hunting for a book to vit the vampire paranormal prompt. It's safe to say I am not a massive vampire reader, I almost used a reread to fill that prompt but I want my reading challenges to be exclusively books I've not read before. Lies & Lullabies was then a freebie on Amazon which I dithered over getting but couldn't help myself. And finally I borrowed Daisy Jones and the Six from the library when I went in to sort registering my card again. 

Again, I ask for any and all book recs to help me on my next Romanceopoly square. And please tell me how your week has been while I catch up on more blog posts.