Book Review: They Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed Midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.

But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz’s plans come crashing down . . . until she’s reminded of her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen. There’s nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington.

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TV Show Review: Get Even

I’ve been reading Gretchen McNeil’s books religiously since I met her in 2013 and when she started talking about this series, she pitched it as John Hughes with a body count. I grew up on John Hughes’ movies and Gretchen is one of the few people on this planet that can get me to read murder and horror, so I was IN.

When I found out it was going to be developed into a TV show by BBC, I was SO excited and I’ve been anxiously awaiting its arrival on Netflix. It was just released this past Friday, July 31st and the second I got home from work, I turned on Netflix and settled in, refusing to go to bed until I had finished the show. I am SO insanely proud of Gretchen and SO happy for her because I thought the show was AWESOME.

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TV Show Review: The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix

I can’t remember the first time I read a Baby-Sitters Club book because I was seriously young. My aunt – who is only six years older than me – passed along her books to me when I was young and I built my collection from there. I have all the books, including the mysteries, super mysteries, super specials and more. I grew up on these books – they inspired me to start my own club with my friends when I was thirteen. I’m pretty sure my early “novels” were just basically BSC fan fiction, even before I knew what that meant haha.

The Baby-Sitters Club series was instrumental to who I am, as a person, as a reader and as a writer. I was lucky enough to meet Ann M Martin, the creator and writer of the first 36 novels, six years ago and it honestly is a highlight in my life.

When I heard Netflix was doing a show, I was SO excited. I love the old TV show and I love the movie but I think its awesome to do it again so that this generation’s young girls can benefit from the awesomeness that is Kristy, Mary Anne, Dawn, Stacey, Claudia, Mallory and Jessi. It released on Netflix, ten episodes, on Friday July 3rd and after I watched the Hamilton premiere on Disney+, I binged the entire season of the new BSC show.

Here’s my review. I’ll do my very best to keep it as spoiler free as I possibly can, but, as you’ll read, this show does a GREAT job sticking to the original material – so it would only be spoiling books that came out 30 years ago lol.

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Triple Book Review: Intercepted, Fumbled and Blitzed by Alexa Martin

INTERCEPTED…Marlee Harper is the perfect girlfriend. She’s definitely had enough practice by dating her NFL-star boyfriend for the last ten years. But when she discovers he has been tackling other women on the sly, she vows to never date an athlete again. There’s just one problem: Gavin Pope, the new hotshot quarterback and a fling from the past, has Marlee in his sights.

FUMBLED…Single-mother Poppy Patterson moved across the country when she was sixteen and pregnant to find a new normal. After years of hard work, she’s built a life she loves. It may include a job at a nightclub, weekend soccer games, and more stretch marks than she anticipated, but it’s all hers, and nobody can take that away. Well, except for one person.

BLITZED…According to Brynn Larson, Maxwell Lewis is more trouble than he’s worth. She doesn’t care if he’s a football god with a rock-hard body that brings most women to their knees. After an encounter that ends poorly, she’s not interested in giving him a second chance. The last thing Brynn expects is for him to turn up at her bar months later, hat in hand. It doesn’t matter if he brings more customers to her business–she’s still not going on a date with him.

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