Friended by Kilby Blades
We’re still in the trenches of the free Ebooks I bought when I first got my Kindle. To be honest, this is probably something I would have really enjoyed at the time, but I was still a teenager and this feels very teen based on its synopsis. I don’t think mid-twenties me would enjoy this very much, even though I do still read books set in high school every now and then.
Verdict: remove
Synopsis: Compared to life on tour with her wannabe rock star mother, finishing high school in Rye is a snooze. At least Roxy has her best friend, Zoë, her dad, and her music. When her standoffish Civics class partner, Jag Monroe, breaks ranks and randomly friends her on Instagram, Roxy swiftly declines.
Jag is Roxy’s total opposite: stinking rich, conceited, and hot in that obvious kind of way. Roxy’s sure that his repeated friend requests must be a joke. Then Zoë does the unthinkable: snatches Roxy’s phone, accepts Jag’s latest friend request, and follows him back.
As the posts (and sparks) fly, Roxy begins to suspect that Jag may not be as shallow as everyone thinks, and that he may be into more than just her music.
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
This is one of those books that always just slips through my fingers. I’ve wanted to read it for such a long time that I’m constantly scrolling past it on my Kindle and saying to myself “I’ll pick it up soon”. Which isn’t a complete lie, I do still have a desire to read this book but it’s on the slightly longer side so I’ve dodged it on many occasions. I’m determined to make 2026 the year I actually put a dent in my to be read though, so who knows? Maybe I will pick this up soon.
Verdict: keep
Synopsis: Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.
But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.
With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.
Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas
It feels very easy to say that this isn’t a book I’ll ever pick up. As yet another book I got for free on my Kindle, it will join the ever growing pile of random books destined for the delete button. I won’t actually delete them unless I need the space, but I don’t think I will ever pick this up. Nothing against the author or the book itself, it just doesn’t seem like something I’d enjoy.
Verdict: remove
Synopsis: A man consumed by a meaningless life is going to do something he’s never considered doing before. He’s going to enjoy the day…
For hyper-particular publishing heir Jonathan Grief, the day starts like any other—with a strict morning fitness regimen that’ll keep his divorced, easily irritated, cynical, forty-two-year-old self in absolutely flawless physical condition. But all it takes to put a crimp in his routine is one small annoyance. Someone has left a leather-bound day planner with the handwritten title Your Perfect Year in his spot on his mountain bike at his fitness course!
Determined to discover its owner, Jonathan opens the calendar to find that someone known only as “H.” has filled it in with suggestions, tasks, and affirmative actions for each day. The more he devotes himself to locating the elusive H., the deeper Jonathan is drawn into someone else’s rich and generous narrative—and into an attitude adjustment he desperately needs.
He may have ended up with a perfect year by accident, but it seems fate has set Jonathan on a path toward healing, feeling, and maybe even loving again…if only he can meet the stranger who’s changing his life one day at a time.
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