So many words. So little time.
Author: tamaramorning
This was an excellent writing week! Granted, I only worked two days, then had surgery and had not much else to do except lay around and read, but still. I wrote four book reviews, The Deathly Grimm, by Kathryn Purdie, Holy Terrors, by Margaret Owen, The Wandering Season, by Aimie K. Runyan, and Love, The Duke, by Amelia Grey, plus my February reading post and the best books I read in February.
Happy writing!
Books Read in February: 23
Books Read for the Year: 42/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
Onyx Storm, by Rebecca Yarros (TBR, audio): This series on audio is absolutely enthralling.
Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo (TBR, audio): I really enjoyed this! Already got the second one on audio, too.
The Answer is No, by Fredrik Backman (TBR): This short story really made me laugh. I love Backman’s quirky characters.
The King of Koraha, by Maria V. Snyder (TBR): I generally love Snyder’s books, but this trilogy wasn’t as good to me.
Misfits, Gemstone, and Other Shattered Magic, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR): That ending, though.
Hearing God, by Dallas Willard (TBR), spiritual: Excellent read.
Dance of a Burning Sea, by E.J. Mellow (TBR): Still loving this trilogy.
Deeper than the Dead, by Debra Webb (TBR): I liked this first book in a series, and pre-ordered the second.
The Dark Enquiry, by Deanna Raybourn (TBR): I think I’m done reading this. The MC is really getting on my nerves.
Under the Magnolias, by T.I. Lowe (TBR): LOVED this.
For Review:
A Circle of Uncommon Witches, by Paige Crutcher. This was just a meh read for me. It felt pretty done to be, like I’d heard it all before, and it was pretty predictable.
The Lost Passenger, by Frances Quinn. I really loved this read! The MC was great, strong and determined, and I loved her tenacity as she learned to be a whole new person.
Southern by Design, by Grace Helena Walz. Loved this Southern fiction read! Charleston itself was a big character in the novel, and I’d love to visit. The characters were great, although the mother was TERRIBLE.
Spring Fling, by Annie England Noblin (forthcoming). This was a cute small-town, second-chance romance. All the characters were great–so many quirky people! And the raccoon…
The Filling Station, by Vanessa Miller (review forthcoming). It was terrible to read about this horrific event, but the book itself was a good read, although I kept getting the two sisters mixed up.
My Big Fat Fake Marriage, by Charlotte Stein (review forthcoming). This was a meh read. It came across as wanna-be porn and just did not work for me.
Mother of Rome, by Lauren J. A. Bear (review forthcoming). I am ashamed to say I went into this expecting to DNF if because most mythology re-tellings I’ve read have been horribly slow. Instead, I binge-read the entire thing in one sitting, and I highly recommend it.
The Bane Witch, by Ava Morgyn (review forthcoming). This was a little slow for me at the beginning, but it soon drew me in. If found it kind of fascinating, and king of horrifying, but the premise was unique and I enjoyed Piers.
His Mortal Demise, by Vanessa Le (review forthcoming). I enjoyed this second book in this duology. There dual POVs/dual-timeline actually worked really well.
The Deathly Grimm, by Kathryn Purdie (review forthcoming). A solid fantasy read, although who the murderer was really wasn’t much of a surprise.
Holy Terrors, by Margaret Owen (review forthcoming). The sheer level of snark in this alone made this read a winner! I didn’t have a clue who the murderer was, but I enjoyed every page of this read.
The Wandering Season, by Aimie K. Runyan (review forthcoming). I do love a good travel/finding yourself novel, and that’s what this was, combined with a lot of great foodie things.
Love, The Duke, by Amelia Grey (review forthcoming). This was just a meh read for me, as both MCs were obstinate and unwilling to see the other’s POV.
Left Unfinished:
All the Hidden Monsters, by Amie Jordan. I was intrigued by the premise of this, but the execution just didn’t work for me. The characters bored me, and I just couldn’t stay interested enough to keep reading.
True Life in Uncanny Valley, by Deb Caletti. This just did not capture my attention. The whole spying-on-her-famous-father thing didn’t work for me, because, really? Someone this well-known and wealthy would not have a house you could just sit there and look into for hours. Not believable.
Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, by Gregory Maguire. This was altogether to disjointed and hard-to-follow for me. I didn’t like the writing style at all.
Title: The Lost Passenger
Author: Frances Quinn
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Sometimes it takes a disaster to change your life.
Marrying above your social class can come with unexpected consequences, as Elinor Coombes discovers when she is swept into a fairy-tale marriage with the son of an aristocratic English family. She soon realizes that it was the appeal of her father’s hard-earned wealth rather than her pretty face that attracted her new husband and his family. Curtailed by rigid social rules that include being allowed to see her nanny-raised infant son for only moments each day, Elinor resigns herself to a lonely future. So a present from her father—tickets for the maiden voyage of a luxurious new ship called the Titanic—offers a welcome escape from the cold, controlling atmosphere of her husband’s ancestral home, and some precious time with her little son, Teddy.
When the ship goes down, Elinor grasps the opportunity to take Teddy and start a new life—but only if they can disappear completely, listed among the dead. Penniless and using another woman’s name, she must learn to survive in New York City, a brash new world that couldn’t be more different from her own, and to keep their secret safe. But alas, it’s not safe—she’s been spotted by another survivor who’s eager to profit from his discovery.
I loved this story! I liked Elinor from the beginning, and I felt her heartbreak when she found out her husband married her for her money (Although I was suspicious of him anyway). I had a feeling who he was cheating on her with, and his mother was truly terrible. The description of the actual sinking of the Titanic was well-done and very sad.
I loved Elinor’s life in New York, as she learned to stand on her own two feet and make her way in the world as a successful businesswoman and a mother. The secondary characters were believable and I read this straight through in one sitting.
Frances Quinn is a journalist. The Lost Passenger is her new novel.
(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)
Title: A Circle of Uncommon Witches
Author: Paige Crutcher
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Doreen MacKinnon is doomed to die of a broken heart – if she can’t break the centuries old curse placed on her family.
Three hundred years ago, Ambrose MacDonald, a powerful male witch, fell in love with a MacKinnon. And when the MacKinnon witches forbade him from seeing his love, by secretly hiding her away, he retaliated by cursing the family and its future generations to never find love. But it wasn’t without a cost. Now, Ambrose is imprisoned by those same witches, trapped in a tempest and doomed to outlive everyone he has ever loved.
But Doreen isn’t like the other MacKinnon witches. As the 13th generation of the MacKinnon line, Doreen is one of the most powerful witches in centuries… and one of the loneliest. So when she discovers where Ambrose has been trapped, she releases him to help her break the curse, once and for all. Ambrose agrees to help, but with his own motive: vengeance. He plans to use her as bait to enact his revenge on her family.
Together, they enter a series of trials, which take them to a castle in Scotland, off a cliff, and into a world beyond their wildest dreams. As they work together, sparks start to fly, but soon Doreen must choose how far she is willing to go to break the curse, and what she’s willing to sacrifice.
Normally I love family saga type stories, but this one didn’t work for me. Family secrets were taken to whole other level, and the flip to “Oh, we were on your side all along” felt completely made up with no supporting evidence. I wasn’t a fan of the insta-love aspect, either.
Paige Crutcher is a former journalist. A Circle of Uncommon Witches is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)
Title: I Am the Cage
Author: Allison Sweet Grant
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5
Fish Creek, Wisconsin—Beautiful. Quiet. Isolated. Anonymous. It’s all that nineteen-year-old Elisabeth needs, and everything she wants. Cloistered in her tiny cabin, Elisabeth is determined to be alone, hiding from her memories and making sure that no one can ever hurt her again.
But when a massive snowstorm strikes, plunging the town into darkness, Elisabeth finally allows herself to accept help from her neighbor, Noah, the town’s young sheriff. Forced to show him more vulnerability than she ever intended, Elisabeth realizes she can no longer outrun the scars of her childhood, and facing the darkness might be exactly what she needs to let the light in.
I have a hard time with passive people who just let life—and people—happen to them. What Elisabeth went through as a child was horrific and is something no child—or anyone else—should ever have to go through. What the doctor did, and what her mother let happen, was terrible. And what kind of mother lets her child be tortured like that?
But Elisabeth as an adult kind of got on my nerves a bit for a while, with her passivity and hiding from the world and everyone in it. You do not have to let things that have happened to you control your life—you can move past them and grow stronger from them. For a long time, Elisabeth was content to live in the shadow of her past without attempting to heal from it, and that was very hard for me to read. I was glad when she started to embrace who she was now without clutching the horrors of her past around her like a protective cloak.
Allison Sweet Grant lives in Philadelphia. I Am the Cage is her new novel.
(Galley courtesy of Penguin Group/Dutton in exchange for an honest review.)
This was a good writing week! I wrote four book reviews: My Big Fat Fake Marriage, by Charlotte Stein, Mother of Rome, by Lauren J. A. Bear, The Bane Witch, by Ava Morgyn, and His Mortal Demise, by Vanessa Le, all forthcoming.
Maybe I’ll get in some fiction next week.
Happy writing!
Title: Never Planned on You
Author: Lindsay Hameroff
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.8 out of 5
Ali Rubin has a reputation for spontaneity. Like that time she made a drunken bet in London that led to matching tattoos with a stranger. Her joie de vivre is one of her best qualities; she lives every day to the fullest and follows her dreams wherever they take her. And now, they’re taking her from her career as a chef in New York City back home to Baltimore, where she’s interning as a wedding planner.
Despite the occasional fantasy about her British tattoo twin, Ali never expected to see Graham again. So no one is more surprised than she is when he turns up in Baltimore, ordering a latte at her favorite cafe. When they reconnect during an enchanting evening together, Ali can’t help but wonder if Graham might be someone special.
At the same time, she’s desperate to succeed in her new career and prove that she isn’t the family flake. When she gets a job planning a high profile wedding at a historic hotel, it seems like things are finally falling into place. That is, until Graham turns out to be the groom.
Graham’s family owns the once-grand, now struggling Black-Eyed Susan, and he’s returned to Baltimore to help his grandmother get it back on its feet. He’s certain that hosting a wedding at the hotel is just the publicity boost it needs. Ali’s boss agrees, and promises Ali a full-time gig if the affair goes off without a hitch. Unfortunately, Ali and Graham can’t seem to ignore their rekindled chemistry, especially when it’s revealed that Graham and his fiancée are planning a marriage of convenience. Still, staying away from each other is the best thing they can do, since giving in to their growing feelings might cost them everything.
Because when it comes to love, all bets are off.
I liked Ali…except that she thought it was okay to be involved with an engaged man. I wasn’t okay with that. I loved Ali’s family, but her self-identifying as the black sheep/family disaster was kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. I liked a lot of the secondary characters, too, but Ali and Graham just didn’t work for me because of the whole he’s-engaged-to-someone-else thing.
Lindsay Hameroff lives in Pennsylvania. Never Planned on You is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)
Title: The Dressmakers of London
Author: Julia Kelly
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
In 1940s Great Britain, plain and awkward Izzie finds comfort in retreating into the safety of the backroom of her mother’s dressmaking shop. The predictable world of stitches, patterns, and fabric has been a sanctuary from the cruel, chaotic world that took her father in a tragic accident years ago.
Her beautiful sister Sylvia was old enough to watch her father’s tragic death force her mother to give up their respectable middle-class home and open a shop to support their family. That’s why, when she meets the sophisticated, wealthy Martin Pearsall, Sylvia isn’t surprised at her mother’s encouragement to seize her chance for a better life, even if it means distancing herself from her family at Martin’s insistence.
When their mother unexpectedly dies, the two sisters are surprised to discover that her will stipulates that they both inherit the dress shop, stirring up old resentments and hurt feelings. However, when conscription forces Izzie to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service in another part of the country, she realizes that Sylvia is the only person who can save the shop from closure. As the sisters begin an ongoing correspondence, they must confront old emotions to forge new beginnings.
I really enjoyed this read! I didn’t have a favorite POV character like I usually do. I loved both Izzie and Sylvia’s storylines and voices. It was so much fun to watch how they both changed and grew into themselves in the course of the story, and as always, Julia Kelly’s writing is lovely and evocative, and her storytelling is engrossing.
Julia Kelly is a bestselling author. The Dressmakers of London is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.)
This was an okay writing week. I wrote two book reviews, Southern by Design, by Grace Helena Walz and Spring Fling, by Annie England Noblin (forthcoming). Got some less-than-ideal health news that I’m still processing.
Happy writing!
Title: The Perfect Rom-Com
Author: Melissa Ferguson
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
She’s written dozens of smash hit novels as a ghostwriter. Too bad no one knows it.
Aspiring author Bryony Page attends her first writers conference bursting with optimism and ready to sell her manuscript with long-shot dreams of raising awareness for The Bridge, her grandmother’s financially-struggling organization where she teaches ESL full-time. But after a disastrous pitching session, she stumbles into correcting another author’s work in a last-ditch attempt to make a good impression with the agent. And she, as it turns out, is spot on.
No one is more surprised than Bryony when the agent offers her the opportunity to be a ghostwriter for Amelia Benedict, popular rom-com novelist. Bryony agrees on one she’ll write books for this vain, demanding woman just as long as Jack Sterling, literary agent of the legendary Foundry Literary Agency, works to sell her own book too.
What nobody predicted, however, was that Bryony’s books would turn Amelia Benedict into the Amelia Benedict, household name and bestselling author with millions of copies sold around the world.
And just like that, the Foundry Agency can’t let her go.
But on a personal note, Jack is realizing he can’t either.
I wouldn’t quite describe this as a rom-com. The writing is solid, and I like the characters (Except Amelia. She’s terrible.). The interactions between Jack and Bryony are great. I really enjoy their banter. But…very little of this story is actually about their romance. It’s more about Bryony finding herself and her place in the world. That being said, as long as you aren’t expecting a full rom-com, this is a solid read.
Melissa Ferguson is a bestselling author. The Perfect Rom-Com is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 