Pageant Dreams and Crime Scenes

Pretty Perfect is the second book by JoAnna Illingworth that I've had the honor of advance reading and reviewing. It is equal parts small town pageant drama, YA rom-com and whodunnit mystery, and it's packed with small-town Tennessee charm. The story centers around the Miss Friendly Pageant and the protagonist, June Bell, has lived her entire life preparing to be crowned Miss Friendly.

This is the last pageant before June and all her friends go off to college and they've determined to make it the best pageant ever. But accidents keep happening, putting the pageant contestants in peril and soon June finds herself being labeled as suspect numero uno.

June struggles to clear her name, save the pageant and keep her lifelong friendships from crumbling under the pressure of competition and accusations while juggling a blossoming relationship with a boy she meets at a bakery as the story races to its explosive finale.

Lessons in Love

Have you ever read a romance with that has a teacher protagonist and thought "This is so unrealistic!" Never fear, because I have some teacher romance recs that are possibly the most realistic I've ever read. The Lessons in Love series by Ana Kirk Shaw is a brand new series: 1 books was released in late 2024 and the 2nd comes out later this month. The author has real life experience in education and it shines through on every page.

The first book, Beyond the Bell, follows the story of Oliver and Georgia. Oliver is the passionate, but kind of type-A, principal of PS 2 in New York City. PS 2 has been in need of a teacher, but he was certain that the latest applicant was an absolute no-go. But to Oliver's chagrin, he's forced by the superintendent to hire the, in his mind, flighty and disorganized Georgia. Georgia is talented, passionate, and free-spirited with a tendency to butt heads with administration as she stands up for her students. And it doesn't take long for her to butt heads with Oliver.

Despite their initial antagonism, attraction grows between them and after a while they find themselves in a secret relationship. But that secrecy begins to take its toll on their relationship after a while.

I loved how Georgia and Oliver had to work through their own personal problems as a part of working on their relationship problems. The mental health rep was well done. Oliver's nosy family were so much fun and Georgia's BFF is the kind of always-in-your-corner best friend everyone needs. And the other teachers at PS 2 were a hoot.

The second book, Teach me a Lesson, takes place the next school year after the end of Beyond the Bell. This is the story of Elias, the hot golden retriever, himbo gym teacher, and Mia, one of the 3rd grade teachers. Mia and Elias have known each other their whole lives: they grew up next door to each other, and Elias and Mia's brother Leo are best friends.

After a 2 year dry spell, Mia is ready to put herself back out there and asks Elias to be her dating coach. But things go off the rails when they're sent to New Orleans for a teaching conference by their new, autocratic principal. Soon their friendship has evolved into a secret friends-with-benefits situation and both are fighting feelings that they've both had for far longer than they care to admit.

The spice was definitely spicing in this story and Teach me a Lesson is my new favorite example of the "idiots in love" trope. The character growth of Elias and Mia was immaculate. I wasn't sure I could love a couple more than Oliver and Georgia, but Meems and Lax Bro Captain America have taken the crown. ❤️

Book 3 in the Lessons in Love series takes place the school year after book 2. Strictly Extracurricular is the story of Lina, the backbone of the PS2 family. I was overjoyed so see that she would finally get her HEA in this book. I am also pretty sure that it is my favorite of the series now. 😍

After years of spreading herself too thin for the benefit of everyone around her, Lina decides that over the summer she's going to work on becoming "New and Improved Lina" and that she was going to start doing more for herself. She drops her dead weight moocher boyfriend and wants to binge Bridgerton, grow tomatoes and maybe take an edible from time to time to relax. But saying and doing are two different things and she's quickly falling back into her usual patterns of taking on more than she should: principal duties (because the superintendent STILL hasn't found a new one), summer classes, caring for her aging mother.

Near the end of the summer she gets a chance to do some of her "New and Improved Lina" checklist when she agrees to go on vacation for a week with Georgia, Oliver and some of Oliver's family. That's where she learns that the new (smoking hot) PTO president is Oliver's cousin.

But between Lina's obligations as the assistant principal and Dominic's obligations as a business owner and super-dad, can their steamy vacation fling become something more? Or will their insecurities and bad habits get in the way of them building their own "happy ever after"?

I loved how the PS2 family and Flores family were always there for Lina and Dom, giving them the cheerleading and tough talk whenever they needed one or the other. They both grew as people and as a couple over the course of the book, even though there were hiccups. And Frankie was an adorable, lovable, smart as a tack glitter typhoon who reminds me so much of my own daughter at that age.🤩

Neon Bubblegum Horror Romance

When a woman with undiagnosed autism unwittingly makes a deal with a demon, her neatly ordered world takes a turn for the really, REALLY weird.

Gwendolyn is 37 and she works at a craft store for the insurance and to get the employee discount for supplies for her fixation hobby of customizing dolls. She has carefully curated her appearance and attitude in public to be unremarkable, because her whole life she's been told that she "too much".

One day her favorite customer mentions that a nearby antique store has a rare doll that Gwen has been desperate to get her hands on. The eerie proprietor only agrees to let her have the doll if she will 1) kiss him and 2) satisfactorily customize the doll.

Begrudgingly, Gwen agrees to his odd deal and takes the doll home after an equally odd kiss. As the days pass life gets weirder and weirder for Gwen. She wakes up one morning with shockingly pink hair. A strangely colored spider crawls out of the dolls clothes and vanishes when Gwen tries to remove it from her apartment. She has oddly erotic nightmares of the antiquarian proprietor who takes on decidedly non-human characteristics in her dreams.

Her carefully curated mask begins to crumble.

Sick of the weirdness, she tries to bring the doll back to the antique store. To her horror, she learns that the proprietor is an actual DEMON and by accepting the doll she has entered into an agreement with him to be his warlock.

As Gwen and the demon butt heads over whether she will actually be his warlock, a strange sort of attraction begins to grow between them (which horrifies both of them).

If you love horrormance, autistic protagonists, demisexual rep, chronic pain rep, and heroines becoming a villain, then Wicked Flavors might be the book for you.

Gwen and Ambrosius by colinarcartperson