For fans of celebrity romance, journalist protagonists, and cozy winter-set romances with a dash of mystery, then The Lodge is a great book choice for you.

In The Lodge, Alix is a ghostwriter tasked with helping compile the memoir for former True North boybander Sebastian Green. Sebastian even offers Alix the use of a penthouse apartment at a luxury ski resort in Vermont. In between writing chapters, Alix (who, coincidentally was the last person to interview Sebastian’s bandmate Jett before he mysteriously disappeared) starts ski lessons with the athlete yet handsome Tyler. So, naturally, they get together, right? Well, despite their sizzling chemistry (it’s a closed-door romance), there’s more to the story … but that’s redacted for now.

This had compelling language from the start, which made The Lodge easy and quick to get into as a reader. It reads quickly, too. As a romance, it’s cute and intriguing with a bit of mysterious twists and turns as a subplot. While, yes, I clocked the twist way before the reveal, I still just HAD to figure out what would happen next.

This is one-hundred percent a book for readers who have already devoured the rest of author Sarah Adams’ When In Rome series. I mean, technically it can stand on its own, and does, but it makes more sense for context and continuity if you already know the backstory and the lore of the Walker siblings.  They also all make plenty of cameos.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal is older sister Emily’s love story with rival second-grade teacher Jack Bennett. The twist? Both Emily and Jack are also secretly novelists to varying levels of success. The story picks up right as Jack returns to Rome, Kentucky after being left at the altar. Oh, and he buys the fixer-upper right next to Emily’s house. Despite mounting animosity, it turns out that Emily needs Jack’s help when she accidentally jeopardizes her teaching gig. Hero love interest to the rescue!

Beg, Borrow, or Steal was so easy to get into and this dual-perspective rivals-to-lovers romance has such delicious banter. Like, um, yes please!

I’m a big ice skating fan, so this book hooked me by just the summary alone! Once I started reading, I found myself equally hooked by the storyline and the absolute twists and turns that I did not see coming — like at all.

In The Favorites, Katarina “Kat” Shaw and Heath Rocha rose from troubling childhoods to Olympic medal hopefuls in the world of competitive ice dancing. While the childhood sweethearts captured the hearts of a nation, everything came crashing down thanks to a major scandal. A decade later, an unauthorized documentary (told via chapters mimicking a script) charts the highs and lows. At the same time, Kat recalls the same experience in first-person prose.

I was completely drawn in by the compelling language and the mysterious hook on the page. It’s thrilling and intriguing, and yes, as I already mentioned, hooked me the whole way through. I did not know what would happen until the very end, and woah, I’m literally shook at every single twist. This one kept me on my toes until the very last page.

Unfortunately, in my personal opinion, not all of this author’s books are created equally which meant that The Rival, as much as I wanted to love it, just fell sort of flat.

In The Rival, Sadie and Sebastian “Seb” are high school rivals, childhood neighbors, and the respective children of longtime BFFs. They also both get into a coveted university and are both going out for the lone new spot on the school’s famed zine. Oh, and Seb doesn’t actually hate Sadie like she thinks he does, like at all.

This book felt short in length and was hard to get into, in my opinion. However, I can’t deny that this author still brought her trademark compelling language to tell this rivals-to-lovers New Adult romance. It’s fine, let’s leave it at that, but are there other books in the writer’s catalog I’d go back to first? Definitely.

This book is technically a sequel, but as someone who did not read the first in advance, I felt it wasn’t needed and could stand on its own. This is a fun, spicy, and vulnerable fake-dating, sports romance between a hockey star and a ballet dancer.

In Spiral, Elias “Eli” is a new rookie on the Toronto Thunder pro hockey team, who is in the tabloids way more than he’s scoring goals. At the same time, he meets Sage, an aspiring ballet dancer and the niece of the Thunder’s general manager. After tabloids get wind of a one-off appearance together, they decide to fake-date. After all, it will get the mags off his back and boost her social media following to increase her odds of getting hired by a professional ballet company. Yeah, but the fake-dating rules are no match for the sizzling, real AF chemistry.

It’s told from dual points of view and written with a compelling tone of voice and language. Thanks to an intriguing story and relatable characters, I just wanted to know what would happen next. In short, it was very easy to get sucked into this one.

For anyone who read The Au Pair Affair, you’ll be smitten by Sig and Chloe’s love story — no joke. It’s a dual point-of-view, opposites-attract romance that was just so damn cute from the start to the very end.

In Dream Girl Drama, Sig (Burgess’ hockey teammate, IYKYK) and his soon-to-be stepsister (Chloe, a sheltered socialite and harp prodigy) have a codependent relationship and some not-so-secret pining feelings. It turns out they actually met (and shared a swoon-worthy kiss) hours before learning that their parents planned to get married. The book primarily takes place after the events in Au Pair Affair.

I found myself completely drawn in by all the compelling language that I didn’t want to put the book down. And now, I just want [Spoiler] and [Spoiler]’s novel after their story was teased ever so briefly in this one!

Change of Heart was a really cute, slow-burn, and second-chance-ish romance with a dash of a magical element.

In Change of Heart, Cam is a 34-year-old workaholic attorney in NYC with no interest in dating or finding love. After a botched blind date with pediatric surgeon Ben (as set up by her grandmother), Cam wakes up the next morning to discover that they’ve both been magically transported to Heart Springs, a small town that’s straight out of a Hallmark film. In order to go home, they each have to accomplish three tasks. For Cam, one means experiencing true love. And what do you know? Her journey keeps intersecting with Ben along the way.

A comp would be Apple TV’s Schmigadoon and so, it’s very fun, sweet, and a mostly wholesome (but not totally) romance that I found equally enjoyable and indulgent. It is primarily a closed-door romance, but there are still some SPICY steamy scenes, so fair warning. Author Falon Ballard, once again, brings her compelling language and authentic writing style to the page. However, I don’t think that Change of Heart is my favorite out of all her books, and don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved them all. That revelation, however, shouldn’t diminish Change of Heart in the slightest. Just noting in comparison to the rest of Ballard’s catalog.

Fan Service is Danan’s latest supernaturally charged romance between a TV show fanfiction moderator and the former series lead who mysteriously transforms into a werewolf. Alex reluctantly accepts Devin’s pleas for help, teaming up to understand his transformation and how to best control it. In the end, it’s about acceptance.

From the first few chapters, it is evident that Fan Service is chock full of compelling language as it reads quickly. Also, even though there is a supernatural element (hello, werewolf MMC) this book still reads as realistic and authentic. Like, even literal werewolves have feelings, thoughts, fears, and more! This was a fun, dual-perspective, rivals-to-lovers, age-gap romance.

I spent many of my formative years reading and devouring Jennifer E. Smith’s YA novels, so I was instantly intrigued by her transition into writing for adults with The Unsinkable Greta James and, now, Fun for the Whole Family. And well, let me tell you: this book delivers everything you’d want in a literary fiction novel. It takes place in multiple points of view and multiple timelines, so readers really get to see what the Endicott siblings were like over the years and even different perspectives on the same tragedies and traumas. In Fun for the Whole Family, the four Endicott siblings (Gemma, Connor and twins Roddy and Jude) have been estranged for decades after a mysterious fight. Out of the blue, famed actress Jude summons her siblings, their partners, and even their respective kids to North Dakota for a long weekend. They all oblige, quickly learning that Jude’s been holding onto three closely guarded secrets – and it’s time to clear the air once and for all.

Smith writes with as compelling, gripping language as ever that completely pulls me into the story. I literally couldn’t put this book down, and luckily I was reading on a plane, where I had an uninterrupted window to do so. Each character (specifically the main siblings) was equally authentic and gripping to follow. I was intrigued by each of their individual journeys, too. Like, I equally cared about each of the siblings versus just one.

 Fun for the Whole Family was easily one of the best books I’ve read in 2024, hands down. It was just so intriguing, unique and compelling. There’s not much in the market like this one. Fun for the Whole Family is truly nothing like any of Smith’s YA novels (two of which inspired Netflix rom-coms) because it’s completely tragic, heartbreaking, and real AF. Then, the epilogue literally made me cry, like, for real. Overall, just wow. take all five of my stars, please. It was just so poignant, vulnerable, and real times a thousand.