Author: tamaramorning

Book Review: 15 Summers Later, by RaeAnne Thayne    

Image belongs to Harlequin Trade/Canary Street Press.

Title: 15 Summers Later          
Author: RaeAnne Thayne         
Genre:  Romance       
Rating:  4 out of 5

15 summers ago, everything changed…

Ava Howell seemed to have it all. She moved away from Emerald Creek, Idaho, married the love of her life and published a bestselling memoir. But she never expected that her husband would feel so betrayed by a secret from her past—the truth of what happened to her and her sister all those years ago—that he’d walk away. Now Ava is back home and trying to move on with the only person who can truly understand…

Following years of healing, Madison Howell is finally happy. After college she built a no-kill shelter where she works with animals every day, and she’s in love with the town veterinarian, Dr. Luke Gentry. But she can’t ever bring herself to tell him. Years ago, his dad died protecting Madi and her sister, so how could he ever love her back?

With the truth laid bare, and the past that Ava and Madison have worked so hard to leave behind threatening everything they have built for themselves, the Howell sisters’ reunion is bittersweet. And as Ava and Madi attempt to remedy the rifts in their lives and reconcile their futures, they must face the demons of their past together.

This was a sweet read! I had some problems understanding why Maddie was so bitter towards Ava, and why she refused to even consider Ava’s point-of-view about the book, though. That came across as really selfish to me, so it was a bit off-putting, but I did enjoy both sisters. All the secondary characters were likable and believable, too, and this was a solid read.

RaeAnne Thayne lives in Utah. 15 Summers Later is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade/Canary Street Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Rom-Commers, by Katherine Center   

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  The Rom-Commers   
Author: Katherine Center  
Genre: Romance        
Rating:  5 out of 5

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?

Like all of Katherine Center’s reads, this was stellar! I don’t even know how many times I laughed out lead reading this. Emma’s voice is fantastic and her and Charlie together are so much fun. I loved the style of this novel and found it drew me in from the very beginning and made me part of the story. This would be an excellent beach or weekend read.

Katherine Center is a bestselling author. The Rom-Commers is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Right Where We Left Us, by Jen Devon  

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Right Where We Left Us     
Author:   Jen Devon       
Genre: Romance        
Rating:   4 out of 5

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 Brady’s 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 didn’t realize I’d read the previous linked standalone book before I started this, so seeing familiar characters was a nice surprise. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Temperance and Duncan a lot, but the entire Brady family was almost as engrossing as these two. Bonus points for the Mr. Darcy/P&P references, too. I enjoyed this read and read it straight through in one sitting. Definitely recommend it for a solid weekend read.

Jen Devon lives in Ohio. Right Where We Left Us is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:   Icon and Inferno, by Marie Lu

Image belongs to Macmillan.

Title:  Icon and Inferno     
Author:  Marie Lu
Genre: YA        
Rating:  4 out of 5

A year has passed since superstar Winter and secret agent Sydney Cossette went undercover – on a dangerous mission to bring down the baddest man in London.

Winter hasn’t stopped thinking about Sydney since, and she’s been trying not to think about him

Family secrets and nasty newspapers has Winter desperate to re-enter the secret world. And it’s not long before he gets his chance.

Sydney is back, and this time the mission goes right to the heart of the United States of America. A rescue gone wrong, an assassination attempt – and the return of an old flame – puts Winter right back into the action . . . and into a country on the brink of chaos.

And when a murder accusation has Sydney on the run, suddenly it’s not just a life at stake, but all-out war.

I hadn’t read the first book in this series, but that didn’t really cause a problem—although I think it would have been better to read it. I enjoyed these characters and everything they had going on and loved the chemistry between Winter and Sydney. Lots of action, of course, and a bit of mystery about what was happening. This was a quick, fun read.

Marie Lu is a bestselling author. Icon and Inferno is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #283

This was a tough writing week. It was a tough week in general. I had to alter my Monday-Friday writing schedule, and just now finished up my fifth fiction session for the week. I also wrote one book review, The Seaside Sisters, by Pamela M. Kelley.

Happy writing!

Book Review: The Seaside Sisters, by Pamela M. Kelley     

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:   The Seaside Sisters
Author:  Pamela M. Kelley      
Genre: Fiction      
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

One summer can change everything.

Brooklyn-based Hannah is a bestselling author struggling to write her second book after personal losses. Her older sister, Sara, still lives in Chatham, Cape Cod, where they grew up, and is married with four children. Once a dedicated librarian, Sara dreams of reviving her love affair with literature, but instead, she is stuck with too many family responsibilities and a fizzling marriage.

When Hannah gets the chance to retreat to her aunt’s oceanfront house in Chatham for the summer, it seems like just the thing to get her creative juices flowing. And she’ll be able to spend more time with Sara, who is eager to find her way back into the workforce, to do something rewarding and book-related. The pair will spend the summer making friends, rekindling romance― especially Spencer, an old acquaintance from high school-turned very hot grump― and opening themselves up to the magic of books and the beach.

This…felt very conflict-free to me. Hannah’s storyline did, anyway. It felt almost placid, with only token obstacles thrown up, and Hannah’s “romance” basically didn’t take place at all. They hated each other. They became friends. There was no sign of attraction between them except for one almost-kiss. Then, poof. Hannah’s sister and her aunt had much more conflict in their relationships. This wasn’t a bad read, it was just so-so.

Pamela M. Kelley is a bestselling author. The Seaside Sisters is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Barely Even Friends, by Mae Bennett

Image belongs to Alcove Press.

Title:    Barely Even Friends  
Author: Mae Bennett         
Genre: Romance        
Rating: 4 out of 5  

Bellamy Price has just been offered the job of a lifetime: lead contractor on the restoration of the mysterious and sprawling Killington Estate. If she meets the owner’s ridiculous timeline, she’ll finally make a name for herself in this male-dominated industry. But when she rolls up her sleeves, slips on her suspenders, and shows up at the crumbling mansion, Bellamy finds the estate very much occupied.

After a traumatic car accident that left his parents dead and himself injured, Oliver Killington, heir to the Killington empire, took up residence as the grumpy caretaker of his grandfather’s mansion. None too pleased by the presence of the hammer-wielding woman who’s moved into his house, Oliver tries to block her at every turn.

But when Bellamy discovers Oliver’s facing his own ultimatum from his grandfather, the two form a cautious truce, which leads to flying sparks that are definitely not from faulty wiring. As Bellamy restores the gleam to the Killington Estate, she’ll have to decide if the walls she’s built around herself are worth knocking down to make space for someone else.

This ended up being a cute read! I like the grumpy/sunshine trope—if it’s done well and Grumpy doesn’t come across as a jerk—and this one was done well. Bonus points for the body positivity message. Bellamy was a lot of fun, and her voice was so relatable it made me laugh. Her developing friendship with Oliver, as well as the secondary characters, made this a fun read.

Barely Even Friends is Mae Bennett’s debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #282

This was a decent writing week: I wrote one book review, All’s Fair in Love and War, by Virginia Heath, and five fiction sessions. I finally finished going through my original draft and cleaning it up/getting everything switched over for the genre change, so This next week I’ll be back to actual new writing.

Happy writing!

Book Review:  All’s Fair in Love and War, by Virginia Heath

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:   All’s Fair in Love and War    
Author:  Virginia Heath        
Genre:  Romance       
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

When the flighty older sister of former naval captain, Henry Kincaid, decides on a whim to accompany her explorer husband on an expedition to Egypt, he finds himself unwittingly left in the lurch with her three unruly children and her giant, mad dog. With no clue how to manage the little rascals, a busy career at the Admiralty that requires all of his attention, and no idea when his sister is coming back, Harry has to hire an emergency governess to ensure that everything in his ordered house continues to run shipshape. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Girls prepared to pay whatever it takes to get a governess quick sharp to bring order to the chaos.

Thanks to her miserable, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgina Rowe does not subscribe to the ethos that children should be seen and not heard. She believes childhood should be everything that hers wasn’t, filled with laughter, adventure, and discovery. Thankfully, the three Pendleton children she has been tasked with looking after are already delightfully bohemian and instantly embrace her unconventional educational ethos. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely…

Like all of Virginia Heath’s books, this was a fun and cute read. Georgie really made me laugh several times, and I loved how she interacted with the children. Henry was great, too. I think I enjoyed his flasher incident at the party the most, as I can only imagine how mortifying this would have been for him. This is definitely a fun weekend read.

Virginia Heath is from London. All’s Fair in Love and War is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Better Left Unsent, by Lia Louis    

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:  Better Left Unsent  
Author: Lia Louis   
Genre: Romance  
Rating:  4 out of 5

So many ways to torpedo your career and your love life…So little time.

Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herself—her feelings, her truths, even her dreams—in an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.

But Millie does write emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One.

As every truth, lie, and secret she’s worked so hard to keep only to herself are catapulted out into the open, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused, and face everything she’s ever swept under the carpet.

First of all, can you imagine if this happened to you? I’d have to quit my job and move away where no one knew me. I almost stopped reading about 20% in because I wasn’t totally invested in the story, but…I really liked Jack. He was great! I loved how supportive of Millie he was and how he treated her. That was well-worth reading!

Lia Louis lives in the U.K. Better Left Unsent is her newest novel.