A Quick Look Into Books
I have decided to step away from book blogging. I have enjoyed sharing reviews, participating in weekly themed posts, and talking books with the book blogging community through A Novel Glimpse over the years. I appreciate everyone who has stopped by to comment and talk books. I hope you have enjoyed my reviews and posts over the years.
Burnout
Author: Rebecca Jenshak
Publication Date: April 25, 2024
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
My thoughts:
Burnout was an entertaining read. The writing was light, sweet, and a teeny tiny bit angsty. All things I love and expect in a Rebecca Jenshak NA sports romance. If you have read Tempting the Player (Campus Wallflowers, #4), you will recognize Knox. He’s the eldest of Hendrix’s younger brothers. Not only is there a connection to that previous series with Knox and Hendrix, but Avery also goes to Valley U.
Knox is part of the Motocross world. He is loyal to his family and has a bit of a temper. He needs to work on being a team player. Avery is a talented collegiate and Olympic gymnast who has recently recovered from an injury. She loves the color pink and helping other gymnasts improve. These two initially despise each other but are pushed together by their friends when Knox needs help perfecting some of his freestyle motocross moves. The progression from Knox and Avery disliking each other to falling for each other was a lot of fun to read. I even enjoyed their ups and downs. I might have even teared up at one point. They were a great couple.
I mentioned Knox’s brothers before, and they showed up to support Knox in this book. I loved getting another look at their family dynamic, this time through Knox’s POV as the brother who stayed to keep the family together. I’m glad that at least one more brother will be getting a book after this. I also loved getting to know Avery’s best friend and her boyfriend. They were fun characters. I wouldn’t mind Jenshak giving us a book for them.
One last thing I want to mention is that Jenshak did a good job with the motocross parts of this book. As someone who has watched the sport for 0ver 20 years alongside their husband, I appreciated that she did her research. I can’t speak to the gymnastic part, but it seemed like she did that justice as well. The way these sports were woven into this romance to complement each other was really cool.
If you like sports romances, especially those in the racing or gymnastic worlds, I recommend Burnout. It was a sweet and slightly emotional romance.
The Last Party
Author: A.R. Torre
Publication Date: August 20, 2024
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
A loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre.
Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection. It seems an ideal life, if not for a decades-old crime that has become Perla’s dark and consuming secret obsession.
Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum confessed to murdering two young girls during a birthday party. Though he’s been condemned to a life sentence, his crime is not forgotten. Not by Perla, nor by an inquisitive doctoral student interviewing Folcrum for his dissertation. He’s getting the killer to open up—about his motives, his confession, and the truth of what really happened on that horrible night.
As the past and the present entwine, the deceptions behind the infamous murder begin to surface. But who’s deceiving who now? And why? And as an ingeniously twisted plan is set in motion, who will be the next to die?
The Last Party shows once again why A.R. Torre is one of my favorite thriller authors. This book was addictive. I wish life wouldn’t have gotten in the way and I could have read it in one day because I didn’t want to put it down.
Perla was unhinged. The more I got to know her, the more disturbed I was. Her relationship with her husband and daughter fascinated me. As things started to happen and the drama played out, I felt like I was driving by a car wreck: I wanted to cover my eyes but couldn’t look away. Everything was so messy. And just when I thought I knew everything that was going to happen, Torre managed to surprise me. I should have known she would do that; she always does.
If you enjoy fast paced, unhinged thrillers with short chapters, multiple POV, and twisty plots, The Last Party is for you.
Dishonestly Yours
Series: Webs We Weave, #1
Authors: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Synopsis:
Starting fresh is the only way Phoebe can escape a life of crime, but her best friend’s older brother complicates honest dreams in this gripping new series from the authors of the Addicted series.
Phoebe Graves grew up in a family where deception and seduction are as commonplace as breathing. The Graves and her best friend Hailey’s family have been on the run their whole lives, but after a high-stakes con job goes south, Phoebe and Hailey decide to run away and start over. The small Connecticut town they settle in seems too good to be true.
The biggest flaw in their plan is Hailey’s frustratingly handsome brother, Rocky, who insists on coming with them. Living honestly isn’t in his DNA, and his past with Phoebe is downright messy. He’s everything she wants, but nothing she can have.
Phoebe worries that Rocky will tempt them back into their old ways, where lying is second nature. She doesn’t want Rocky to mess up the new life she’s begun for herself. The longer she stays in town, the more she realizes what it means to have a reputation—and what a normal life with the man she loves could look like.
I’m probably in the minority when I say this, but I have been waiting for Krista and Becca Ritchie to leave behind the Hale/Cobalt/Meadow families for years and give their readers something fresh and new. I know they haven’t left them for good, but it was nice to get the start of a new series with Dishonestly Yours.
Dishonestly Yours had me hooked from the very start. I was a little worried I wouldn’t love the grifter concept, but it made the characters in this book unique, and the plot interesting. Phoebe was a seductress but also the protector of her best friend Hailey. She was tough and adaptable while trying to hide her big emotions. Rocky came off cool and collected but was always hanging on by a thread. I ached for these two. The love and affection they had for each other always had to be contained and it made for the perfect amount of tension and angst. They needed to be able to finally be together. There was a lot trying to push them together and pull them apart in this book. It was a ride with all the revelations and twists that came.
Phoebe and Rocky’s siblings were along for that ride. Best friend Hailey was a goth girl who came across as surprisingly timid. She was also Rocky’s sister. They also had a younger brother who makes an appearance. Phoebe has two older brothers: Oliver and Nova. They were along for part of the ride as well. These six were a close-knit group (think Hale/Cobalt/Meadows style).
There are a lot of other things I want to say about this book, but I would be giving everything away. Instead, I’ll end with a few more comments. The Ritchie twins gave me another addictive friends to lovers romance that was angsty and messy. I was completely invested in all of the book’s characters and the fact that they were morally grey only added to that. I loved the summer vibes of the coastal town and its rich inhabitants. The twist and turns this book made surprised me when I was least expecting it. And that cliffhanger… I need the next book NOW.
The DM Diaries
Author: Teagan Hunter
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Publisher: Montlake
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Falling in love with a guy like this is easy. Finally meeting him is a different story in a funny, flirty, and emotional romantic comedy about celebrity, secrets, and plus-sized dreams.
Olive O’Brien is a plus-size influencer with half a million followers and big dreams. And she’s feeling the pressure to stand out while staying true to herself. To cope, Olive finds solace in an unexpected place: the DMs of Jasper Rafferty, the world’s hottest movie star, where she feels safe to share her hopes, fears, and secrets because it’s not like he’ll read them. Until he does. Kind of.
Career-wise, Jasper’s younger brother, Jude, is in free fall. After an interview gone wrong, Jude now has the thankless job of managing his brother’s social media accounts to help reboot his own image. Olive’s messages are unexpected, and her wit and vulnerability catch his interest. How can “Jasper” not respond? And how long can Jude keep up the ruse?
As the DMs get flirtier and more personal, the bigger question is what’ll happen when Olive finds out she’s fallen for a fraud. It might not be what either of them expects.
The DM Diaries was split into two halves for me. The first half was the You Got Mail like half with Olive and Jasper (Jude really) getting to know each other over social media DM. This half was a lot of fun and I sped through reading it. I probably could have stayed in this world where Olive and Jude didn’t meet for longer because it was so entertaining. The second half was Olive and Jude recovering from Jude’s deception and falling for each other in person. Jude was unexpectedly shy despite his fame. I adored how he worshipped Olive. Olive was a celebrity in her own right and I loved how she followed her heart and purpose while modeling. They were so cute together! I know a lot of people aren’t fans of third act breakups, but the one in this book is perfect for a celebrity romance. Plus, I loved how it all worked out in the end. The DM Diaries was another fun romantic comedy from Teagan Hunter.
Husbands & Lovers
Author: Beatriz Williams
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by a mysterious family heirloom—reclaim family secrets and lost loves in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.
New England, 2022. Three years ago, single mother Mallory Dunne received the telephone call every parent dreads—her ten-year-old son Sam had been airlifted from summer camp with acute poisoning from a toxic death cap mushroom, leaving him fighting for his life. Now, in a search for the donor kidney that will give her son a chance for a normal life, Mallory’s forced to confront two harrowing secrets from her past: her mother’s adoption from an infamous Irish orphanage in 1952, and her own all-consuming summer romance fourteen years earlier with her childhood best friend Monk Adams—now one of the world’s most beloved singer-songwriters—a fairytale cut short by an agonizing betrayal.
Cairo, 1951. After suffering tragedy beyond comprehension in the war, Hungarian refugee Hannah Ainsworth has forged a respectable new life for herself—marriage to a wealthy British diplomat, a coveted posting in glamorous Cairo. But a fateful encounter with the enigmatic manager of a hotel bristling with spies leads to a passionate affair that will reawaken Hannah’s longing for everything she once lost. As revolution simmers in the Egyptian streets, a pregnant Hannah finds herself snared into a game of intrigue between two men…and an act of sacrifice that will echo down the generations.
Timeless and bittersweet, Husbands And Lovers draws readers on an unforgettable journey of heartbreak and redemption, from the revolutionary fires of midcentury Egypt to the moneyed beaches of contemporary New England. Acclaimed author Beatriz Williams has written a poignant and beautifully voiced novel of deeply human characters entangled by morally complex issues—of privilege, class, and the female experience—inside worlds brought shimmeringly to life.
Husbands & Lovers is my first solo read from Beatriz Williams and I enjoyed it a lot. I had a feeling I would since I have liked the books she has written with White and Willig, but it was nice to affirm it. Williams wove an interesting tale that alternated between past and present.
Williams’s writing was addictive and easy to read. I liked how the present was in first person and the past was in third person. It truly made the book feel like there were two timelines going on. As someone who favors first person narration, I did tend to connect more to the present storyline than the past. I found it more interesting and entertaining for the most part.
The present revolved around Mallory Dunne. She came across as a no-nonsense woman whose first priority was her son. Her son’s kidney disease made that even more apparent. Her relationship with her sister was always a bright spot in this book for me. I enjoyed how they were searching for their mother’s adoption history together. I found Mallory’s past and present relationship with Monk Adams interesting and also a little frustrating. Mallory had a lot of secrets she was keeping, and some were buried deep. I liked her, but I didn’t truly understand her reasoning for keeping her son’s paternity a secret until a shocking reveal.
The past was all about Hannah Ainsworth. Hannah has been keeping secrets buried just like Mallory. One of her secrets is building as her story does. The other come out in bits and pieces throughout her story. With every new revelation, I felt sorrier and sadder for her. I didn’t love some of the choices she made, but her losses made me understand them more. Williams did a great job tying the past to the present. The bracelet was a cool way to do it.
When I got to the ending of Husband & Lovers, I felt a little conflicted. While I loved it for the most part, there were a few of things that kept me from giving it 5 stars. First, the romance of the story. Mallory and Monk’s love for each other was something I felt strongly in their past. Their present was where I questioned it. I could feel the lingering emotions, care, and attraction from the past, but I was missing romance in the present. There’s an HEA, but the true romantic build up to it was lacking. Second, is what I’ll call extra side characters. One was Sedge. He didn’t really add anything to the story and felt like wasted time. Third, I’m still not sure how I feel about the shocker from Mallory’s past and the reason her life took the turns it did.
Overall, Husbands & Lovers was a great read. I enjoyed the two timelines and the drama. Williams managed to shock me with her revelations and that is not something many authors can do these days. I do recommend checking out trigger warnings for this book if there is anything you are super sensitive about. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
The Unraveling
Author: Vi Keeland
Publication Date: July 9, 2024
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
This chilling, sizzling, and addictive thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Vi Keeland follows a New York psychiatrist’s dark descent into dangerous obsession.
This isn’t a love story.
It’s a story about obsession.
After experiencing a terrible loss, New York City psychiatrist Meredith McCall feels painfully adrift. When she crosses paths with a man with whom she has a tragic connection, she follows him, sparking an unhealthy obsession with Gabriel Wright. How is he doing so well while her life is in shambles?
But when Gabriel walks into her office as a patient, seemingly unaware of who she is, she knows it crosses all ethical and moral bounds to treat him. Yet, Meredith can’t bring herself to turn him away and becomes further entangled. With her life and career continuing to unravel, it appears that things could not get any worse…until they do.
The Unraveling was a twisted psychological thriller that kept me on my toes. I went into it completely blind. I hadn’t read the blurb or reviews or anything about it. I’m glad I did that because it paid off in the best way. I loved how the story unraveled at a fast pace. I had all of these different hunches about what was going on and why while reading. When I thought things were finally making sense, something would happen to twist things around. I was always a little worried and uncomfortable. I wanted to feel sorry for Meredith, the main character, but she was slightly unhinged. I’m not going to say anymore because I don’t want to ruin the reading experience for anyone, but I will say that Keeland managed to surprise me in the end. That alone would give this book 5 stars even if I hadn’t loved reading this book.
Right Where We Left Us
Author: Jen Devon
Publication Date: June 18, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ½
Synopsis:
Perfect for fans of Carly Fortune and Lucy Score, Right Where We Left Us is a searing and unforgettable romance.
Temperance Jean Madigan and Duncan Brady have never gotten it right. After one radiant, secret summer together when they were eighteen, they’ve been on-again off-again ever since. Now, despite red-hot chemistry and TJ’s closeness with Duncan’s family, they’re virtually strangers, only capable of adversarial banter, awkward small talk—and the occasional messy hookup.
When a wedding at the Bradys’ vineyard lands TJ there for the summer, their mutual avoidance strategies prove impossible. The last thing TJ wants is to be under those angsty, heated glances Duncan thinks he hides. And for Duncan, having fiery TJ constantly close is the ultimate distraction that he absolutely can’t afford. When forced proximity begins to chip away at their armor, buried tensions resurface, old wounds urge confrontation, and once-in-a-lifetime love demands one last chance to finally get it right.
I want to love this author’s books, but they are just not for me, and it makes me sad. When I read Bend Toward the Sun, I listened to it. I had some frustrations with the third person flowery writing during that process that I thought might have been better if I read instead of listened. Well, Right Where We Left Us proved me wrong. Reading was not better. In fact, it might have been worse because it influenced the pace of the book for me.
The descriptive writing style made it feel long and slow. In the beginning, I was intrigued by the characters and their story. I loved getting to know Declan and Temperance. I was curious what had driven them apart and how they would find their ways back to each other. That initial intrigue was lost as I waded through the rest of the book. Repetitiveness made some parts feel boring. There were many times I wanted to yell at Declan and Temperance to have a mature conversation. Same for them when dealing with their families. I had to push myself to continue to read after 20% all the way to about 80% before I was interested again. Which is sad because I enjoyed how things ended up working out for them at the end.
I have a feeling this book is going to work out for other readers, it just wasn’t a great experience for me despite loving the characters and setting.
A Novel Love Story
Author: Ashley Poston
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Romance, Magical Realism, Women’s Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½
Synopsis:
A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction…literally, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics.
Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don’t leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she’s so set on going her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures—no matter what.
But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel…
Because it is.
This place can’t be real, and yet… she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story.
Elsy is sure that’s why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending.
Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can’t place—a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book.
Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town’s happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.
A Novel Love Story is a book for readers. It does what may readers wish could happen to them by putting a reader in her favorite book world. I enjoyed the surprise and wonder Elsy felt finding herself in the fictional world of Eloraton. It was fun to get to know the small town and its characters through her eyes. That being said, this book was missing the romance I expected to find in a Poston book. Elsy and Anders were good characters, but they lacked chemistry. Their romance was missing a spark or something to make me feel connected to them as a couple. The romance almost felt like an afterthought to the town and its people, which gave this book a women’s fiction feel rather than a romance. That being said, I still enjoyed reading A Novel Love Story. Readers are going to enjoy it, especially those who like their books light on the romance aspect of the story.
The Five Year Lie
Author: Sarina Bowen
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Bestselling romance author Sarina Bowen’s debut thriller, about one woman’s search for the truth after receiving a text from her deceased ex.
She thought it was love. Then he vanished.
On an ordinary Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty’s phone buzzes with a disturbing text message. Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP. The words would be jarring from anyone, but the sender is the only man she ever loved. And it’s been several years since she learned he died.
Seeing Drew’s name pop up is heart-stopping. Ariel’s gut says it can’t be real. But she goes to the tree anyway. She has to.
Nobody shows. But the text upends everything she thought she knew about the day he left her. The more questions she asks, the more sinister the answers get. Only two things are clear: everything she was told five years ago is wrong, and someone is still lying to her.
The truth has to be out there somewhere. To safeguard herself—and her son—she’ll have to find it before it finds her. And with it, the answer to what became of Drew.
For fans of Laura Dave and Julie Clark, but with a heart-stopping romance that only Sarina Bowen can execute, The Five Year Lie is a page-turning, spine-tingling thriller that will have you guessing until the very end.
Sarina Bowen is a favorite romance author of mine so I knew I loved her writing, but I had no idea how her talents would fit into a thriller. The answer: perfectly. I loved The Five Year Lie! It had my attention from the first page and kept me intrigued the entire length of the book. Bowen set this mystery up to play out in an entertaining and suspenseful way. Each new thing that Ariel learned or that I was given by other characters kept me wanting more. I loved how the timeline went back and forth between the present and 5 years prior to give us other pieces of the story as well. It feels weird to call a thriller fun, but I found The Five Year Lie to be exactly that.
What else can I say about this book? Not much. You wouldn’t want me to because I would be giving away way too much. What I will say is that if you enjoy mysteries and thrillers, this is a fun one to read. You will love the characters and want to know what happened just as much as they do.
Everything We Never Said
Author: Sloan Harlow
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Dark romance, high stakes, and plot twists abound in this paperback original YA thriller that’s perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover.
What you don’t know can hurt you….
It’s been months since the accident that killed Ella’s best friend, Hayley, and Ella can’t stop blaming herself. Now Ella is back at school, and everywhere she looks are reminders of her best friend—including Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. Little by little, they grow closer, until Ella realizes something horrifying . . .
She’s in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend.
Racked with guilt, Ella turns to Hayley’s journal, hoping she’ll find something in the pages that will make her feel better about what’s happening. Instead, she discovers that Sawyer has secrets of his own and that his relationship with Hayley wasn’t as picture-perfect as it seemed.
Ella knows she should stay away but finds herself inextricably drawn to him—and scared of everything she never knew about him. Perhaps it’s his grief. Or maybe his desires, cut short by tragedy. Or could it be something twisted only Hayley knew about?
A dark, romantic thriller perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover and Laura Nowlin, Everything We Never Said explores the secrets in even the best of friendships and asks how well you ever know the ones you love.
Wow. I’m impressed. Everything We Never Said may be Sloan Harlow’s debut novel, but it didn’t feel like it. Harlow crafted a well written, dark, and twisty romance/thriller that I didn’t want to put down. The only reason I did at times was because I had to take a break from the suspense. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.
Senior year is just beginning for Ella and the students of North Davis High. This year there is no excitement or happiness in the new year for Ella. She is consumed by the grief and despair of losing her best friend Hayley in a car accident last year. Ella blames herself for Hayley’s death and knows she’s not the only one who does. The only person who seems to understand what Ella is going through is Hayley’s boyfriend, Sawyer. When he unexpectedly steps in to help and comfort Ella, she can’t help but start to feel things for him she knows she shouldn’t. Now she has even more to feel guilty about. Ella becomes even more confused when she finds out Hayley didn’t tell her everything about her relationship with Sawyer.
Everything We Never Said was one of those books that felt like it was a living, breathing thing. All of Ella’s feelings were palpable. Her thoughts and feelings moved the story in a captivating way. Just when I thought life was improving for her, big things started happening and the intensity of the story grew. I was constantly on edge waiting for the next thing to surprise me. I felt constant concern and worry for Ella.
Ella wasn’t the only POV in this book. Sawyer also gave insight into what was going on. I liked some of his chapters more than others, but that is understandable if you have read this book. There are also chapters from Hayley’s diary that give insight into her thoughts and feelings prior to the accident. Both of these POVs add different aspects to the story that make the twists and turns even better than they would have been without them.
I can’t really say more without giving too much away. There were some things I guessed were coming, but I could never be 100% sure of anything and there were some big surprises. This story is a ride you will want to experience all on your own. I don’t know that I have been this impressed by a YA thriller debut since Karen M. McManus’s One of Us Is Lying.
The Letters We Keep
Author: Nisha Sharma
Publication Date: May 1, 2024
Publisher: Skyscape
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½
My thoughts:
I am new to Nisha Sharma’s writing but had heard great things about her books. I decided to give The Letters We Keep a try because I was intrigued those great things and by the blurb. It was a good reading experience but one I thought could have been even better.
Sharma’s writing was strong. The Southeast Asian culture that permeated the story was interesting and entertaining. The present storyline dominated. Jessie and Ravi were strong characters. Despite his “nepo-baby” status Ravi was easy to like, but Jessie took me longer. Her first actions towards Ravi didn’t seem to come from anything but her preconceived notions and unwillingness to be kind when it came to him. My love of their relationship and like of their characters grew right along with them while reading. It was easy to feel the emotions Jessie and Ravi were having and sympathize with them, even when I didn’t always like them.
My main problem with this book revolves around the letters and the mystery they hold. I wish the letters from the past had been a little longer, more detailed, and more frequent. The letters that were their own chapters were sparse. There wasn’t enough substance in them to make me curious about what happened to the characters who wrote them. There wasn’t anything in them that helped me get to know the characters or feel connected to them. There was a little more substance to the few Jessie and Ravi read in their chapters, but it wasn’t enough. Sharma was telling us what happened in the past than showing us. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book would have felt more complete to me with a dual timeline between the letters and letter writers and Jessie and Ravi.
Overall, this was a good book. I felt it could have been stronger in the mystery and letter but enjoyed the present timeline.
Barely Even Friends
Author: Mae Bennett
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Publisher: Alcove Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Retelling
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: DNF @ 58%
My thoughts:
DNF @ 58%
I tried with this book. I really did. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt because so many of the reviews I read were so positive. It wasn’t that the writing was bad or that I didn’t like the characters. It was just that Barely Even Friends gave me déjà vu. It didn’t feel like the lose retellings I have read in the past. It felt like the author took the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast and just switched out parts to make her characters and their story fit into it. I also felt like there were parts of the story that were missing. I would be expecting a scene, and it would jump past it making the next one feel out of place. It came to the point where I was kind of bored and annoyed with it all, so I decided to give up. The writing had potential, so I would be willing to try a book by this author again if it wasn’t a retelling.
Catch and Release
Author: Erin Hahn
Publication Date: October 15, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
In Erin Hahn’s latest cozy, swoony romance, Maren Laughlin has been fishing her whole life, but she’s finally ready to be caught.
At thirty-three, Maren Laughlin’s just turned down her boyfriend’s proposal, walked away from her decade-long position as a park ranger, and returned to her childhood playground in Northern Wisconsin to accept her inheritance: a decrepit waterfront bait shop. After a lifetime of letting things happen to her, she’s ready to start making her own moves, even if everyone else thinks she’s making the wrong ones. Well, not everyone—at least the local heartstopper and resort owner is on her side.
Josiah Cole has made some missteps in his life, but he’s proud of what he has: two awesome kids and the keys to the kind of getaway spot that has families coming back every summer– their up north home away from home. After his marriage dissolved, leaving him a single dad, he feels he’s the last person to judge Maren for her recent transformation (even if his best friend, her brother, wants him to feel otherwise). Besides, he genuinely likes having her around. She’s a breath of fresh air, his kids adore her (not to mention her dog, Rogers), and it doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful.
Things between Maren and Joe are easy. So easy, they’re fully immersed in the middle before they even decide to begin. It’s not a question of should they, but rather can they make it last? Are things too easy, or is this just how real love works? In Erin Hahn’s heartwarmingly sexy Catch and Keep, Maren and Joe have to be brave enough to find out.
I ADORED Catch and Keep! It made my heart so happy. Here’s why.
Out of the three adult books Hahn has written, Catch and Keep is my new favorite. It had everything I love in a romance. Now excuse me while I go dream of summer on the lake.
Haunted Ever After
Author: Jen DeLuca
Publication Date: August 13, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
It’s love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits in this new series from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.
Small Florida coastal towns often find themselves scrambling for the tourism dollars that the Orlando theme parks leave behind. And within the town limits of Boneyard Key, the residents decided long ago to lean into its ghostliness. Nick Royer, owner of the Hallowed Grounds coffee shop, embraces the ghost tourism that keeps the local economy afloat, as well as his spectral roommate. At least he doesn’t have to run air-conditioning.
Cassie Rutherford possibly overreacted to all her friends getting married and having kids by leaving Orlando and buying a flipped historic cottage in Boneyard Key. Though there’s something unusual with her new home (her laptop won’t charge in any outlets, and the poetry magnets on her fridge definitely didn’t read “WRONG” and “MY HOUSE” when she put them up), she’s charmed by the colorful history surrounding her. And she’s catching a certain vibe from the grumpy coffee shop owner whenever he slips her a free slice of banana bread along with her coffee order.
As Nick takes her on a ghost tour, sharing town gossip that tourists don’t get to hear, and they spend nights side-by-side looking into the former owners of her haunted cottage, their connection solidifies into something very real and enticing. But Cassie’s worried she’s in too deep with this whole (haunted) home ownership thing…and Nick’s afraid to get too close in case Cassie gets scared away for good.
Jen DeLuca has stepped away from the ren faire to give us a fresh, new setting with a bunch of interesting characters. Haunted Ever After was a slow burn romance with a cozy mystery theme running through it. I loved Boneyard Key and all its inhabitants. It was easy to imagine all of the shops, houses, and landmarks in Boneyard Key. They had a life of their own with their ghostly inhabitants. I loved how everything was centered around the acceptance of the ghosts in town. It made the mystery of the story a lot of fun. I also loved how both the ghosts and the mystery brought Nick and Cassie together. Their romance was the slowest of slow burns and sometimes felt more like a subplot than the main part of the book. These two took their time getting to know each other, falling in love, and solving the mystery. That is probably the biggest complaint I have about this book. The pace was slower than I normally like. The third person narration didn’t do the pace any favors either. All in all, it was a fun read.
The Best of All
Author: Karla Sorensen
Publication Date: July 16, 024
Publisher: Montlake
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
My thoughts:
If you loved the movie Life as We Know It with Katherine Heigel and Josh Duhamel, you will love The Best of All because it has a similar but different enough plot. Zoe and Liam know each other through their best friends Amie and Chris. They have disliked each other since they met, which makes things even more complicated when Amie and Chris are killed in a tragic accident and leave their toddler daughter, Mira, in Zoe and Liam’s care.
Zoe and Liam were both devastated by the loss of their best friends. They both handled their grief differently. Zoe threw herself into caring for Mira. Liam was angry and took his anger out on the football field. There were so many times I teared up as they made peace with their loss and new normal. Things were rough as they tried to work together, slowly forming bonds and starting to truly get to know each other, but the payoff was big. Everything tough and uncomfortable they went through was worth it to see them give Mira the family she needed and fall in love in while doing so.
I have to give a shout out to Zoe and Liam’s friends and family who supported them along the way. Zoe’s mom was a therapist, and I loved that Zoe turned to her for support. I also Rosa, the older neighbor, and her friends who gave Zoe a book group. Liam had his mother as well along with the guys from his and Chris’s professional football team.
I only had one tiny complaint – I would have loved to have had more time with Zoe and Liam as a couple. This was a slow burn romance, and rightfully so, but I wanted more time with them. Readers will be happy there isn’t a third act break up or any unnecessary drama with everything Zoe, Liam, and Mira are working through. Overall, this was a fantastic read and I loved where Sorensen took this story.
Business Casual
Series: Lovelight Farms, #4
Author: B.K. Borison
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
My thoughts:
Charlie and Nova’s romance was everything I wanted it to be. Charlie was the goofy, helpful, loving guy he’s shown himself to be, and Nova was the independent, happy in her own skin, close to her family gal I have admired previously in this series. I love how their personalities complimented each other and how they truly saw what other people missed. Their attraction, passion, and care for each made what was supposed to be a fun, casual relationship easily turn into more. The closer Charlie and Nova got and the stronger their emotional connection became, the more I loved them together. This entire romance was one big swoon for me with a tiny bit of drama thrown in. I do feel the need to warn other readers of this series that this is probably the steamiest of all the books.
Of course, this book wouldn’t have been as great as it was without Lovelight Farms and the rest of the town being the setting. I loved seeing all of the main characters and side characters who have made this series feel like home present for Charlie and Nova. I could feel the warmth and love of their community. I’m sad this is the last book in the series, but also hopeful I’ll see more of this setting and some of its characters in future Borison books.