#TNReads: Real Quick Reviews for Lazy Readers featuring Lindsay Emory

The Royal Runaway surprised me. I opened it with the expectation of reading a fun summer beach read in the vein of The Princess Diaries and instead I got a spy novel, plus a fun summer read. So obviously, I loved that.

Crown Princess Thea has just returned from exile after her fiance ran away on their wedding day. Nick is the Scottish asshole who starts as a distraction but quickly becomes her partner in unraveling the mystery surrounding her ex-fiance’s abandonment. Obviously, Nick is stupid hot (and I did mention, Scottish, right?) so the chemistry is unavoidable even as the danger surrounding them ramps up to a satisfying climax.

Pun intended.

What If It’s Us is a heartwarming first love story. It toys with the idea of fate and the universe working to bring us the right people in our lives.

Arthur and Ben cross paths randomly, but both of them can’t help thinking of their meeting as a missed opportunity for something more. And we read through both of their perspectives as they think about each other and wish their meeting could have gone differently. They both think about taking out a Craigslist missed connection ad, change their mind, and wallow some more. Until one of them changes their mind and decides they have to meet. And they do.

Then comes a story about how relationships are a little bit more than just how much you like someone else. Arthur and Ben try to make it work against the odds of inexperience, deadlines, and different backgrounds.

This story is cute, despite a less than satisfactory ending, in my opinion. Arthur and Ben make a good couple, despite their different interests and cultural upbringing. Their story is worth reading.

Sofia and the Pornographic Penguin has all the makings of a classic farce. An English manor home, a baffoon of a husband with a buxom wife, an inept handyman and a horny Vicar all come together in this zany story of scandal, jealousy, and blackmail.

Richard Harrington’s first volume in the Sofia and the Manor House Saga follows the improbable and silly goings on in the Twinklebottom household. As family and servants scramble to help and protect each other and maintain peace in their country estate, misunderstandings and raunchy comedy abound. If you are a fan of dry British humor or are just looking for something really different to read, Sofia and the Pornographic Penguin may be your cup of tea.

One snowy day in December 2008 Laurie made eye contact with a man outside her bus. Their instant connection could be described as nothing less than love at first sight but a whole year of searching for him lead to nothing but disappointment. Well, that is until she meets him again when he’s introduced to her as her best friend’s new boyfriend.

Over the next ten years, Laurie and Jack circle around each other both as friends and sometimes as something more, but always with those first moments of instant love as a cloud over them.

One Day in December made me cringe with anxiety, yell at the characters, and finally accept that their journey was long but it was theirs.