Unboxing: Hushbug Book Box – February 2022

I have a very fun unboxing post today! One that I whipped up really quickly because I was so excited about it. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I was looking into book subscription boxes. I thought this would be a breeze with many options available, but I was sorely mistaken. I could barely find any book subscription boxes that ship from Canada or were based in Canada. Like, what? We are in 2022! I was shocked! When I got a sponsored post advertised to me for Hushbug, I jumped! A subscription box from Toronto with a focus on romance novels? YES PLEASE! When those sponsored posts work, amirite?

About Hushbug Book Box

Hushbug is a brand new subscription box service based on Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This is a small business with Kat, the owner, fulfilling and curating the boxes. It features a brand new rom-com book with 5-6 curated items. Their February box is their very first box. I personally bought the single box just to try it out, but they have 3-month or 6-month options available.

The price on this for a single box is $84.99. With tax and shipping for me, it came out to $96.04 CAD. They ship to both Canada and the US.

What’s in the February 2022 Box

How to Love Your Neighbor

First up is the book! Included was How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan ($22.76 CAD). This is a brand new book, it was just published on January 18, 2022. I really appreciate that they tried to pick a new book which would then limit the chance of having read it! Sophie Sullivan is a Canadian author which is amazing. Here’s the synopsis of it:

Interior Design School? Check. Cute house to fix up? Check.

Sexy, grumpy neighbor who is going to get in the way of your plans? Check. Unfortunately.

Grace Travis has it all figured out. In between finishing school and working a million odd jobs, she’ll get her degree and her dream job. Most importantly, she’ll have a place to belong, something her harsh mother could never make. When an opportunity to fix up—and live in—a little house on the beach comes along, Grace is all in. Until her biggest roadblock moves in next door.

Noah Jansen knows how to make a deal. As a real estate developer, he knows when he’s found something special. Something he could even call home. Provided he can expand by taking over the house next door–the house with the combative and beautiful woman living in it.

With the rules for being neighborly going out the window, Grace and Noah are in an all-out feud. But sometimes, your nemesis can show you that home is always where the heart is.

Even just from the synopsis, this book is definitely up my alley!

One other really special aspect was that Hushbug was able to get a signed bookplate! So cute.

Green Tea Lavender Brittle

I was so happy to see this Sweetsmith Green Tea and Lavender Brittle ($6-$10 CAD). I’ve actually purchased from Sweetsmith at the One of a Kind show and was very impressed with the quality. The flavour of this is definitely unique. Green Tea and Lavender is definitely out of the ordinary! So I’m eating this now and it’s not my favourite. It’s super floral which is to be expected. But strangely, I can’t stop eating it? Haha I’m almost done the bar. So what I’d say is not good enough to choose to buy, but good to enough to finish off and eat. :p

Heart Pillar Candle

So next up is the cutest little heart candle from Kiki Candles ($9 CAD). This is actually a special made-for-this-box candle with the cute packaging. This candle smells SO GOOD. Honestly, I don’t know if I’m gonna burn it, or just keep it on my desk to smell whenever I like. The scent is Peach and Cream and that’s pretty spot on. It’s very fruity, but has a light undertone of sweetness. Another Canadian (specifically Toronto) based product from a small business, so another win!

Bless Your Heart Coasters

Next up are the Bless Your Heart Cork-Backed Coasters from Danica Imports. They don’t have their prices online, but I was able to find a comparable which they were selling these for $20. These are really cute coasters. I’ll definitely be using a few for flatlay photos. Definitely a nice choice for a Valentine’s theme! From my googling, it looks like Danica Imports is a Vancouver based company (with manufacturing overseas).

Knotted Stud Earrings

Next up we have Knotted Stud Earrings from That’s Sew Me ($10 CAD). These are handmade and Canadian from a small business! I actually don’t have my ears pierced, but not too fussed with these. I sometimes use gifted earrings as push tacks for my cork board (sounds strange but they end up looking quite cute).

Ocean Spray Body Scrub

We also have this Ocean Spray Foaming Salt Scrub by Bella and Bear. So I had to do a bit of reverse engineering for the price. You can buy a pack of 24 travel pouches for $45 USD. CAD that’s about $57 CAD. For one of these, it’s around $2.40. We’ll round up to $3 for discussion purposes!

This is described as a scrub and shower gel in one! I’ll definitely be trying this out during my next bath!

Wild Riders Trinket Tray

This is a randomly delightful trinket tray from Danica Imports. Again, since Danica Imports sells wholesale, it was hard to find a price. I was able to again find a decent comparable at around $17 CAD.

I actually really love trinket trays and have a few already. I was thinking of getting one for my husband to put his razor on and this looks like it will be perfect. 🙂

Lip Butter

Last but not least we have this Blue Raspberry Lip Butter from Northern D’Lights ($5 CAD). This is a small business out of Saskatchewan which is Indigenous owned. I’m pretty picky about my lip balms. I just tried this, and in terms of moisturizing, it’s very nice. I’m actually pretty impressed since I am so picky over these. The one thing to note is that this scent is a tad overwhelming. It’s a bit too sticky-syrupy sweet. This is just a preference, but again, happy with the formula!

Overall

And there we have the box! So adding up to figure out the value, the value is around $94.76. So pretty close to the price paid.

I’m okay with this knowing that I’m supporting local, Canadian businesses (and Hushbox as a whole) for having the curated box. I’d say most of the things I’d get use out of.

For me personally, I’m just glad to have more options in the Canadian book subscription box sphere. I can totally see why subscription boxes are a bit of a tough go business-wise with sourcing everything, maintaining a subscriber base, etc. Another reason to support local when you find a product or offering you really like!

All in all, I’m not ready to make the plunge to be a monthly subscriber, but I think this box is perfect if you’re like me, trying to find a new rom-com book to read with some cute little extras. Or, you’re looking for a great gift for a book lover! I would totally recommend this. Shipping was extremely fast (but I’m in Toronto where they are based).

Thanks so much for reading! Hope this was helpful if you’re looking for a fantastic Canadian romance book box!

*Purchased