Title: Totally Folked
Author: Penny Reid
Series: Good Folk: Modern Folktales #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Year: 2021

Even though Jackson is a bit of a douche from the moment you meet him in Beauty and the Mustache, I always found it kind of hard to dislike him. He definitely has his idiot quotient, but underneath, there’s always this sense of decency about him. That definitely shines through in Totally Folked. And shows me that I had reason to think good, happy thoughts about the man with his many appearances throughout the Winston Brothers series.

Aside from the romance, one of the things that stuck out the most to me was Jackson’s rationale for his approach to the Winston’s. In particular, there is a moment when he talks about Duane and his many, many speeding tickets. It’s kind of cool to see so much of that story and courtship from both sides. And yeah, I think that both sides had a lot of validity.

Reid also doesn’t shy away from the realities of being an emergency service worker and the horrors that they see. Something that I really appreciated. After all, sometimes being an emergency service worker is romanticised and glorified. It’s an amazing calling and I could wax poetic about the wonderful people who choose to pursue this, but it’s not all sunshine and roses. In fact, one of my favourite moments is when, towards the end of the book, Jackson finally admits that everything is not okay, and it was a sucky day.

Raquel and Jackson are a wonderful couple. And I love that when they both realise that this is REAL, they genuinely try to make compromises. It’s a fear I have for some people in my life, that that unwillingness to give a little will result in losing everything. Which, it almost does in this story, but, as with all good romances, it all ends up okay. With compromise!

Image source: Amazon

Title: Just Folking Around
Author: Penny Reid
Series: Good Folk: Modern Folktales #0.5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Year: 2021

I knew that Raquel and Jackson start out as a fling night, and then there’s the reception. But honestly, knew no more than that. Because you know, I like to avoid spoilers. I kind of thought that this fling moment would be hashed out in a short prologue that gives you the bare bones of the interactions. Instead, Reid granted us with this amazing novella that gives us SO MUCH MORE than I expected.

Rachel and Jackson are, indeed an incredibly cute couple. I love that Raquel is a little bit off kilter. Like most of us who are slightly odd, she is constantly censoring herself. I love how neurotic she is (kindred spirit much?) The constant censoring is way too familiar and incredibly sweet. But, I also love how she is able to release some of that control around Jackson.

This was a beautiful novella, one that I’m likely to read again and again. In part because I really loved the whole set chess thing. I might have to suggest this for my next date night…

Image source: Amazon