Sloth Goes Places is a feature where I share books I have tracked from the Literary Escapes and Read Around the USA reading challenges.
Today we are looking at books set in ....
The District of Columbia
Back After This by Linda Holmes
Published by Ballantine Books on February 25, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads
From the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over and Flying Solo, a podcast producer agrees to host a new series about modern dating—but will the show jeopardize her chance at finding real love?
Cecily Foster loves to make podcasts. She fiercely protects her colleagues, dearly adores her friends, and never misses dinner with her sister. But after a disastrous relationship with a colleague who stole her heart and her ideas, she’s put romantic love on hold.
When the boss who’s disappointed her again and again finally offers her the chance to host her own show, she wants to be thrilled. But there’s a catch—actually, two catches. First, the show will be about Cecily’s dating life. And second, she has to follow the guidance of influencer and newly minted relationship coach Eliza Cassidy, whose relentlessly upbeat attitude seems ready-made for social media, not real life.
Cecily would rather do anything other than put her singledom on display (ugh) or take advice from the internet (UGH). But when her boss hints that doing the show is the only way to protect a friend’s job, she realizes she has no choice.
To make matters more complicated, once she’s committed to twenty blind dates of Eliza’s choosing, Cecily finds herself unable to stop thinking about Will, a photographer she helped to rescue a very big and very lovable lost dog. Even though there are sparks between the two, Will’s own path is uncertain, and Eliza’s skeptical comments about Cecily’s decision-making aren’t helping. On the one hand, Will seems great. But on the other hand . . . don’t they all?
As Cecily struggles to balance the life she truly desires and the one Eliza wants to create for her, she finds herself at a crossroads. Can Cecily sort through all the advice and find a way to do what she loves without losing herself in the process?
All of Holmes' books have been hits for me, so it came as no surprise that I loved this book. Cecily was a great character. She was smart and driven, but someone she thought she loved did her dirty, and now she was determined to do whatever it took to get her own show. The price seems to be allowing an influencer to be her romantic coach. The result was a lot of rom-com gold as Cecily resisted her attraction to a great guy in order to follow the her coach's rules. This story was fun and charming and had lots of interesting information about the podcast world.
[review]
Betrothal or Breakaway by Leah Brunner
Published by LBP LLC on April 4, 2024
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads
My best friend—and unrequited love—has a hole in her heart. Literally and figuratively.
First, Amber’s fiancé left her when she told him she was pregnant, and then her daughter's birth left her with complications from a heart defect she didn’t realize she had.
I’m devastated.
Of course I offer to pay for her surgery, but Amber (stubborn woman that she is) insists on wanting to pay me back, which I don't understand. As captain of an NHL team, I have plenty of spare cash, and I’m more than happy to help. I want to help.
So I come up with a plan.
I’ll marry Amber, my health insurance will cover her surgery, I’ll help with the baby, and the gold band on my finger will get my parents—who seem to think I'm incapable of love—off my back.
It's a win-win for both of us.
Two years of platonically wedded bliss before we amicably go our separate ways, and remain best friends, as always.
Only, how am I supposed to let Amber go when I’m not only in love with her, but also with her baby girl… who now feels like my own.
And I might have to let her go sooner than I ever wanted to.
Betrothal or Breakaway is a dual POV, fade-to-black romance with mild langauge. This book is light-hearted, but contains themes of minor heart surgery, broken engagement, and difficult parental relationships.
I have greatly enjoyed this whole series (which is getting another book!), but this was my favorite. There was something special about the history and friendship that Amber and Ford shared. Their love ran deep, and I was all for it going to platonic to romantic. The team added a dash of humor to this very sweet friends-to-lovers romance.
[review]
Published by William Morrow on June 28, 2022
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Goodreads
Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.
It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out.
But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.
From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?
As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?
The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.
This book still lives rent-free in my head. There was something so profound and thought provoking about this length of rope that told you how long you had to live. I loved that Erlcik explored all the different situations - opening the box, not opening the box, lying about being long or short. She delved into how it affecting each of the characters in different ways, and all this made me ponder many deeper questions as well. This is definitely a book I will continue to hype.
[review]
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