Monthly Archives: February 2024

Feb25

Snowed In On Valentine’s Day (Love & Holidays, #2) by Alana Highbury

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Snowed In On Valentine’s Day (Love & Holidays, #2) by Alana Highbury

Highbury, Alana. Snowed In On Valentine’s Day. (Love & Holidays #2) Independently Published. 2024. ISBN 1230351230351

*

When Hazel and Peter meet in the wedding party of her best friend, Hazel dismisses him as rude and grumpy. Her drunken rant at him when they connect at the bar is a long exposition to establish the plot of what Hazel wants and needs. Peter isn’t exactly warm and hospitable. The next morning, Hazel’s best friend and new bride is the one to help her through her hangover (a device to allude to her and Terry’s relationship from the previous book in the series).

A month later, whilst bringing freshly baked goods to her new neighbor, Hazel is displeased to learn it’s none other than her nemesis Peter, but when she loses power during an intense blizzard and he has a generator, he insists (several times) that she come stay with him. She finally stops being stubborn and agrees, but is mean to him, for example, calling him Pete when he insists on Peter is disrespectful bullying behavior, and if he were a trans character and she was misgendering or calling him by a dead name, it would be unacceptable; why is it presented as okay and even flirtatious? They weather the storm, work through some issues, and part as almost friends, and then begin walking together, and when Peter becomes ill, it’s Hazel who is there to help.

There is a Pride and Prejudice element to this tale, as they are unable to see one another as other than they appeared upon their first meeting. Peter and Hazel come as flat and one-dimensional characters., with many missed opportunities. For example, Hazel is Japanese American, but there are few details about her culture or background, and the FMC pictured on the cover does not indicate this was intended to be a diverse read. Peter’s characterization makes him appear to be neurodivergent, and his quirks are opportunities for Hazel to tease him. There is more showing than telling, and no editing to speak of. While I didn’t find many typos, there are inconsistencies, like when Hazel wakes with a cold forehead at the beginning of Chapter 11, and in the next paragraph, takes off her nightcap (her wearing a nightcap to bed is an interesting character quirk). Worst of all is that Hazel’s career is as a motivational speaker, and she has zero self-awareness or emotional intelligence.

This was a frustrating, predictable, and clean (sex off the page) read. A quibble, but this was not well-formatted for NetGalley, and my delay in reading it before the Valentine’s Day holiday was that I couldn’t change the font or easily scroll. Once sent to Kindle it was fine, and I did slog through the whole book, hoping it might redeem itself.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #SnowedInonValentinesDay via #NetGalley, courtesy of the author.

Feb22

The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch by Jacqueline Firkins

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The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch by Jacqueline Firkins

Firkins, Jacqueline. The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch. St. Martin’s Press, 2023. 352 pp. ISBN 9781250836526 $18.00.

***

Poor Imogen. She’s been dumped seventeen times and is returning to her coastal home to lick her wounds, when she encounters the One That Got Away: Eliot, back in town for his father’s funeral. He’s determined to help her crack her mother’s prophecy that she will never be first in anything she tries (hence, all the breakups–they all leave her for someone else) with a series of summery challenges to win SOMETHING.

Chapters of the present-day narrative’s experiments with games, contests, and competitions are interspersed with scenes from relationships gone wrong and Imogen’s texts with her bestie Frannie, sprinkled with humor, pathos and spice in equal measure.

The will they/won’t they is a strong pull as the author explores Imogen’s history and personality, asking the central question of whether Imogen’s mother is clairvoyant… or if Imogen just has really bad timing. Eliot doesn’t seem to believe in the curse, even as he helps Imogen to break it. To what degree is her mother’s prediction a self-fulfilling prophecy? What’s the flaw in Imogen’s selection of partners? To what degree are we responsible for the role we play in our own recurring disasters in our lives? The amount of angst in this book makes it less a romance than women’s fiction, and with the strong focus on the female protagonist, Eliot comes off less well developed and a little hero/savior complex for me. Still, it was a quick and enjoyable read.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #ThePredictableHeartbreaksOfImogenFinch from #NetGalley, courtesy of #StMartinsPress.

Feb20

Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

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Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

Ruiz, Sarah Grunder. Last Call at the Local. (Love, Lists & Fancy Ships #3). Berkley, 2024. 368 pp. ISBN 9780593549063. $17.00.

***

Raine Hart’s solo European tour as a wandering musician comes to an abrupt end in Ireland when her guitar is stolen. Luckily, the pub she’s wandered into needs a worker, and owner Jack is enthralled with her ideas to improve the place. She assists with some redesigns and begins to find a place for herself in the community. There is a nice mix of banter and deep conversation.

Ruiz’s portrayal of living with ADHD and OCD, and the complications, doubts, and benefits that come along with their neuro-atypical diagnoses is raw, poignant, vulnerable and healing. The narrative has a slow burn but it’s worth the wait.

This seemed to be a stand-alone book with references to characters from other books in the series Love, Lists & Fancy Ships; it’s a solid, cozy read.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #LastCallAtTheLocal from #NetGalley, courtesy of #Berkley Publishing Group.

Feb18

Sweeten the Deal by Katie Shepard

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Sweeten the Deal by Katie Shepard

Shepard, Katie. Sweeten the Deal. Berkley, 2023. 384 pp. ISBN 9780593549315 $17.00

****

A naive and sheltered MBA student with a large inheritance hires an escort in this tale about art, wealth, loneliness, and falling in love. Tennis champion Caroline is looking to broaden her cultural horizons, rather than find companionship or sexual favors. Artistic prodigy Adrian signs up an escort service at his roommate’s urging to pick up some cash between projects.

The power dynamics in the story (Caroline has the money, Adrian has the culture) flip both the traditional May/December age gap and sugar daddy/baby tropes upside down. Caroline’s neuro-divergence is mentioned once, and then the author shows her struggles through depictions, language, and situations to highlight this aspect of her personality; it’s subtle and effective. Adrian is grumpy and a little jaded and the perfect foil. They have strong chemistry but it takes some forming and norming to figure out their relationship, which has a lovely slow burn. The Boston setting (my backyard!) was familiar and true, with nods to local institutions. Katie Shepard gives good banter, and writes compelling and complex characters in interesting situations.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #SweetenTheDeal via #NetGalley courtesy of #BerkleyPublishingHouse

Feb18

Effie Olsen’s Summer Special by Rochelle Bilow

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Effie Olsen’s Summer Special by Rochelle Bilow

Bilow, Rochelle. Effie Olsen’s Summer Special. Berkley, 2024. 384 pp. ISBN 9780593547908 $18.00

***1/2

In this swoony friends-to-lovers culinary romance, professional chef Effie returns to her hometown in Maine and reconnects with Ernie, the best friend she hasn’t spoken to since graduation when he made things weird. The local farm-to-table restaurant just happens to need help, and she becomes gainfully employed while she contemplates her next move.

The descriptions of coastal Maine in summer, culinary lifestyle, and restaurant characters and antics are warm and engaging; the details of what exactly happened between the two friends, and strange things afoot at the restaurant propel the narrative. The romance is a slow burn, with a first kiss not until 50% of the way through, followed by Effie pulling back, followed by steamy sexting.

Fans of Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year will appreciate the small town setting, food descriptions, and richly detailed personalities.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #EffieOlsen’sSummerSpecial via #NetGalley courtesy of #BerkleyPublishingGroup.

Feb17

Switched by Sarah Ready

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Switched by Sarah Ready

Ready, Sarah. Switched. (Ghosted #2). W.W. Crown, 2024. 328pp. ISBN 9781954007703. $24.99

*****

Science, sex, physics and the paranormal blend in this enemies-to-lovers globetrotting adventure. Serena of the two Ph.Ds doesn’t really believe in relationships, or even repeats, relying on one-time no strings one night stands to fulfill her needs. When Serena and Henry meet in a bar in Geneva, it’s chemistry at first sight, and they depart for his hotel and have mind-blowing, love at first sight sex–and then she learns Henry is the new project lead at work, beginning the following week. Since Serena doesn’t do repeats, AND they’re colleagues, she gives him the cold shoulder for… about two years. And then, during a freak thunderstorm on the eve of shutting down the Large Hadron Collider for annual maintenance for three weeks, they are both in the room at the same time arguing of course) when forces of nature and the supernatural combine for a body switch.

The ensuing freak out is comical as Serena has to navigate periods and has to deal with erections. Both have set plans with their respective families during their break, so it makes sense that neither should be left alone lest someone discover the person they know is “off,” so Serena attends Henry’s brother’s wedding and gets to know his (large) family–and ex-fiance–in a drafty English castle, and Henry meets Serena’s parents and experiences the California redwood forest. Forced proximity and international travel serve to bring them closer together.

Serena and Henry are completely different types of physicists (an experimental physicist specializes in the observation and analysis of experiments, while theoretical physicists specialize in mathematical modeling to rationalize, explain and predict) and neither can function without the other. Also: Henry is neat, British, a meat eater, and a runner, and Serena is… none of those. Ultimately, Ready puts together a fantastic case of opposites attract with a delightfully geeky, science nerdy, Ali-Hazelwood worthy STEM setting, complete with footnotes *swoon*.

Switched is a stand-alone novel, with characters from Ghosted making an appearance; this served to make me want to read the first book in the series, and frankly, everything else she’s ever written (I did really love the Josh and Gemma series, which is rich with emotional depth and medical and mental health issues).

I received a free advance review copy of #Switched via #NetGalley, courtesy of #W.W.Crown.

Feb17

The C*ck Down the Block by Amy Award

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The C*ck Down the Block by Amy Award

Audiobook: Award, Amy. The C*ck Down the Block. Narrated by Stella Hunter; Christian Fox. Dreamscape Media, 2024. ISBN 9781666657135 $24. 99 7 hours, 54 minutes.

****

I only watch the Superbowl for the commercials, and barely follow sports, but I unexpectedly loved this football-themed romance liberally sprinkled with football jargon and analogies and I knew enough to get the gist and appreciate author Amy Award’s cleverness with a turn of phrase. Plus-sized librarian Trixie is a teen advocate and chicken mama to a brood with names honoring Star Wars–her rooster, Luke Skycocker, has a special fondness for her. While she’s comfortable with both her body and her former porn-star mother, the mean girls at her high school still rib her about both. Trixie and her (lesbian) best friend are serving on a reunion committee fundraiser in spite. When Trixie agrees to be the plus-one for her neighbor and best friend Chris, a pro-football quarterback, at a restaurant opening and they’re photographed together, she accidently spits out that he’s her boyfriend to shut up the popular girls. Chris readily agrees to be her fake date to the reunion… but suggests they “practice” to really pull it off. Many sweet and awkward moments follow; Chris has had it bad for Trixie since high school, when she shot him down for a date; Trixie just assumes she’s out of his league.

The C*ck Down the Block features some of the best non PiV sex I’ve read this year. God bless Trixie’s mom, who sends exotic erotic toys from her travels around the globe as a sex educator. The dual point of view romance is sexy, funny, warm, and righteous. Contrary to the author’s assertion that this is “just fluff,” the story is pro-plus size and anti-body shaming, and tackles (see what I did there?) sexual harassment, slut shaming, fatphobia, consent, fame, and social media in addition to the construct of virginity, high school bullying, disordered eating, and trauma. Trixie’s sexist bully of a boss gets put in his place, the mean girls get their come-uppance, and the author sets up the next volume in the series very nicely.

The narrators did a great job emoting and expressing the novel, and of varying voice for the various characters; their voices fit the personalities very well.

I received a free reader’s review copy of #TheC*ckDownTheBlock from #NetGalley courtesy of #Dreamscape.

Feb17

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

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Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

Holiday, Jenny. Canadian Boyfriend. Forever/Grand Central Publishing, 2024. 384 pp. ISBN 9781538724927 $16.99

**** 1/2

Single, hockey playing widow Mike falls for his daughter Olivia’s dance teacher Aurora in this charming, deeply-layed sports romance. Rory is pretty sure she and Mike met as teens when she worked at Mall of America, where he visited while his travel team toured–he was a cute blonde with a chipped tooth and she promptly made him her fake boyfriend, even writing letters never sent to him, and buying herself small gifts “from” him. When they meet as adults, she’s pretty sure the handsome defenseman is the one she flirted with ten years ago, only now he has a kid in her ballet class. When he proposes that Rory, who has a strong connection with Olivia, provide some childcare in the form of a ride home and babysitting when he, as a stay at home defenseman, has work (being a hockey star), Rory agrees. Pretty soon, Mike’s trying to solve Rory’s rent problem by inviting her to move into the lower level of his home. They consummate their relationship, but then Rory puts the brakes on and decides it complicates things. It turns out, you can’t compartmentalize love.

Will withholding a teenage crush be deceitful and detrimental to their burgeoning relationship? After all, Mike wants always to be valued for who he is, with the hockey part removed, and the one thing he requests of Rory is that she never lie to him… does omission count? Mike provides a sweet deal to his new friend turned nanny, with a car and credit card, and Rory and Olivia’s relationship expands to include binge-watching Little House on the Prairie and impromptu dance parties to 80’s dance tunes.

Told in dual points of view, the still-grieving Mike holds a lot of guilt from his wife’s death, but has emerged with a understanding of emotional labor and tween parenting skills that make for an attractive second-time-around partner. Rory is prone to panic attacks, but keeps them mostly under control with EFT therapy. She’s recovering from/struggling with a toxic relationship with her critical, demanding, mother–a relationship that led to disordered eating and thankfully, lots of therapy. Mental health is a strong theme throughout the novel.

The secondary characters (Rory’s protective best friend Gretchen, and precocious Olivia) leap off the page, and even the hockey characters have personalities drawn in just a few sentences, from bromancey got-your-back Ivan to annoying Badger ; only Rory’s mother is full on, one-dimensional Cruella de Vil. Holiday brings Midwestern sensibilities, customs and manners and sprinkles it with Canadian vocabulary, food and customs to enrich the setting. Love letters from teenage Rory, Wikipedia articles, and text messages flesh out the narrative to move the story along. Olivia was Sarah’s daughter with another man, but to Mike she’s always been his, and a custody battle with her biological grandparents adds another level of drama to the story. Therapy scenes can be juxtaposed against the sex: emotional and forthright, sometimes a little raw, insightful, asking for what they need, sharing their emotions, and communicating. All in all, this hockey romance is a cut above.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #CanadianBoyfriend via #NetGalley, courtesy of #Forever.

Feb4

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Jenkins Reid, Taylor. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Atria Books, 2017. 400pp. ISBN 9781501139239. $30.00

*****

You know how in Titanic there’s that scene in the contemporary part of the narrative where all the people on the boat are leaning forward staring at Rose while she tells her story? I felt like that at the end of every chapter of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: and emotional leaning in, with AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED???

A journalist gets the gig of a lifetime when she is handpicked to write an article at the end of a famous and now reclusive actress’s life; it turns out celebrity Evelyn wants only Monique to ghost-write her biography and reap all the rewards and benefits the publication will bring. But why? The mystery is unraveled through the telling of Evelyn’s tale, and through learning the details of Evelyn’s life and loves, Monique is able to process the end of her own marriage. Fantastic dramatic literary fiction.

I purchased and read my own copy.