Category: characters

Book Review:  Morgan Is My Name, by Sophie Keetch   

Image belongs to Penguin/Random Hose Canada.

Title: Morgan Is My Name       
Author: Sophie Keetch     
Genre: fantasy     
Rating:  5 out of 5

Young Morgan of Cornwall lives a happy life in Tintagel Castle until King Uther Pendragon, with the help of the sorcerer Merlin, murders her father and tricks her mother into marriage. Furious, brilliant, and vengeful, Morgan defies her brutal stepfather, taking up a secret education, discovering a lifelong affinity with the healing arts, and falling in love with a man far beneath her station. However, defiance comes at a cost. Used as a bargaining chip in her stepfather’s war games, Morgan finds herself banished to a world of isolated castles and gossiping courts, amidst the machinations of kings, sorcerers, and men.

But some desires are not easily forgotten, and the search for her independence is a quest Morgan cannot give up. As the era of King Arthur approaches, she must use all her wit, knowledge, and courage to fight against those who wish to deny her intelligence, crush her spirit, and control her body. But, in seeking her freedom, Morgan risks losing everything–her reputation, her loved ones, and her life.

I love Arthurian legends and retellings, but most are not as well-done as this one. I truly loved this read! Morgan is a fascinating character as a child, and she only grows more fascinating as she gets older. I loved her forceful personality, her wit, and her determination to live her own life. Uther Pendragon—and Merlin, too—was a horrible person in this story and he made my skin crawl. Morgan, however, is vibrant, inspiring, and had me rooting for her from the first page.

Sophie Keetch is Welsh and lives in South Wales. Morgan is My Name is her new novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin/Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Charm City Rocks, by Matthew Norman  

Image belongs to Random House.

Title: Charm City Rocks       
Author: Matthew Norman    
Genre:  Romance   
Rating:  4 out of 5

Billy Perkins is happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He loves his job as an independent music teacher and his apartment in Baltimore above a record shop called Charm City Rocks. Most of all, he loves his brainy teenage son, Caleb.

Margot Hammer, on the other hand, is far from happy. The former drummer of the once-famous band Burnt Flowers, she’s now a rock-and-roll recluse living alone in New York City. When a new music documentary puts Margot back in the spotlight, she realizes how much she misses her old band and the music that gave her life meaning. 

Billy has always had a crush on Margot. But she’s a legitimate rock star—or, at least, she was—so he never thought he’d meet her. Until Caleb, worried that his easygoing dad might actually be lonely, cooks up a scheme to get Margot to perform at Charm City Rocks.

It’s the longest of long shots, but Margot’s label has made it clear that any publicity is an opportunity she can’t afford to miss. When their paths collide, Billy realizes that he maybe wasn’t as happy as he thought—and Margot learns that sometimes the sweetest music is a duet.

I really enjoyed this read! I’ve never had any desire to visit Baltimore, but I loved how this city was such a big character in the story, and I loved the characters themselves. Even Billy’s cardigans. The family dynamics in the novel were interesting, to say the least, and they added so much to the story. Thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these characters!

Matthew Norman is from Nebraska. His newest novel is Charm City Rocks.

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

The Best Books I Read in May (2023)

In May, I read 14 books, bringing my total for the year to 84. Three of those were re-reads of beloved classics: Pride and Prejudice, The Return of the King, and All Creatures Great and Small. All excellent reads, of course. Some of the new-to-me reads were also excellent:

The Secret Book of Flora Lea, by Patti Callahan Henry. This book was a lovely read! I was enchanted from the very first page—with both timelines.

Emma of 83rd Street, by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding. I was on the fence with the first, frivolous scene of this book, but I ended up enjoying it very much!

Painted Devils, by Margaret Owen. This was the second book of a series, and I enjoyed this from the very beginning. Love the characters, the setting, and everything.

Book Review: Painted Devils, by Margaret Owen   

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co.

Title:  Painted Devils      
Author:  Margaret Owen   
Genre:  Fantasy, YA
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 

When misfortune strikes, the “reformed” jewel thief Vanja manipulates a remote village for help and in turn, accidentally starts a cult around a Low God, the Scarlet Maiden. Soon after, her nemesis-turned-suitor Emeric and a supervising prefect arrive to investigate the claim of godhood, and she realizes how in over her head she must be. But the Scarlet Maiden does reveal herself . . . only to claim Emeric as her virgin sacrifice. Desperate to save the only man she’s ever cared for, Vanja decides to seek an alternative: bring the Scarlet Maiden a drop of blood from each of seven brothers for the midsummer feast.

While the thief and prefect-in-training still have feelings for one another, Emeric must determine whether Vanja has committed fraud as his final test for prefect-hood. And as they travel the Haarzlands, a harsh land far from the rules of the city, the past that Vanja barely remembers comes into full view and she fears a future that does not require her to keep running.

The amount of snark in this novel is genius-level. I was snickering within two minutes after I started reading. Unlike the previous book, I was invested from the very beginning, and each obstacle the characters met only drew me further into the story. This is a gritty fantasy, not a sweetness-and-light one, but the characters and the world have so much depth that you feel everything they experience. I highly recommend this read and this author.

Margaret Owen lives in Seattle. Painted Devils is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: The Viscount Who Vexed Me, by Julia London    

Image belongs to Harlequin/Canary Street Press.

Title: The Viscount Who Vexed Me     
Author: Julia London    
Genre:  Romance   
Rating:  4 out of 5

Daring. Darling. Determined.

Next to the Season’s newest diamond, Harriet (Hattie) Woodchurch feels like a plain Jane. But that’s of no consequence, since Hattie’s plan for her future is to earn enough to live far, far away from her embarrassing family.

That is until Mateo Vincente, Duke of Santiava and newly minted Viscount Abbott, arrives in London. While the shy European’s spoken English is impeccable, his writing is less fluent. The ton is eager to meet the handsome bachelor, and so many invitations flood in that Mateo needs a correspondence secretary.

With her perfect penmanship and way with words, Hattie is recommended, and the two bond over books and the ton’s eligible ladies. But when Hattie’s friend Flora becomes smitten with the viscount, things get complicated. Flora is tongue-tied in his presence. To help, Hattie feeds her information about Mateo’s interests. Soon things turn around and Flora appears on track to become his duchess. Yet for Mateo, something’s not quite right. Conversation with Flora isn’t as scintillating as it is with Hattie…

This was a cute read! Hattie’s family is an absolute nightmare and made my skin crawl. I think I would have lived on the street before putting up with them any longer. They were just so horrible to her. Mateo was an interesting dashing hero, with his reticence and reluctance to be around people (same), but I really liked how their growing relationship changed them both.

Julia London is a bestselling author. The Viscount Who Vexed Me is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Emma of 83rd Street, by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding     

Image belongs to Gallery Books.

Title: Emma of 83rd Street    
Author:  Audrey Bellezza; Emily Harding   
Genre: Romance    
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.

As I first started reading this, I was wavering if it were going to annoy me enough to stop reading. I mean, Mr. Woodhouse’s obsession with the refined sugar content in everything was annoying, and Emma’s background monologue on appearances and the labels on her clothes was low-key irritating, but…she grew on me. She seemed superficial and flighty at first—and she was—but she learned self-awareness and started to be less self-absorbed.

I loved her friendship and banter with Knightley! Their friendship was just so much fun, including their large family/friend group. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this read!

Audrey Bellezza is an Emmy-nominated producer. Emily Harding is a writer and television producer. Emma of 83rd Street is their debut novel.

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

Book Review: The Secret Book of Flora Lea, by Patti Callahan Henry

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:    The Secret Book of Flora Lea   
Author:  Patti Callahan Henry
Genre:  Historical fiction   
Rating:  5 out of 5

In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone—a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.

But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.

Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars . Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.

I really enjoyed this read! I do love WWII fiction, but this isn’t a typical one—and it isn’t only WWII fiction. I really loved all of it, and I thought the relationship between the young sisters was so well-done and believable. Hazel is a great character, despite all her thorns and trust issues, and I loved watching the storyline of their childhood meet up with Hazel’s adult life. I highly recommend this!

Patti Callahan Henry is an award-winning and bestselling author. The Secret Book of Flora Lea is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley    

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co.

Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed       
Author: Angeline Boulley    
Genre: YA, mystery    
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that was entirely not her fault, she’s stuck working to pay back her Auntie Daunis for repairs to the Jeep.

Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn’t feel so lost after all.

But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains, and Perry and the Misfits won’t let it go on any longer.

Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline’s perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right – for the ancestors and for their community.

I enjoyed learning so much about the Anishinaabe tribe and culture. I found those details fascinating. Perry was a great character! She truly learned from her mistakes and grew from that knowledge, and she fully embraced her culture and heritage and determined to honor it in every way she could. I also liked the connections to Firekeeper’s Daughter.

Angeline Boulley is from Michigan. Warrior Girl Unearthed is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: In an Orchard Grown from Ash, by Rory Power     

Image belongs to Random House/Ballantine.

Title: In an Orchard Grown from Ash
Author:  Rory Power   
Genre:  Fantasy   
Rating: 3 

The Argyros siblings have lost everything. With their father dead and their family home captured, they’re no longer the rulers of their fractured kingdom—and no longer bound to each other.

In the frozen north, Rhea struggles to wield her newly inherited command over death and to find her place in an increasingly distrustful rebel group. Chrysanthi travels to a distant, war-torn land in search of her elusive brother Nitsos, certain that he is there on a dangerous mission to restore the family to its former glory, this time with himself at its head. And Lexos, now stripped of all his power and a political prisoner of the Domina family, is left to rot in a hauntingly desolate palace with nothing but thoughts of revenge.

Alone and farther apart than they’ve ever been, the siblings must reckon with the pain of their past and find a new path forward—or risk their own destruction.

I really enjoyed the first book in this duology, In a Garden Burning Gold; this one, however, felt like a waste of my time. I will say that I enjoyed Chrysanthi’s growth, although she felt so passive through the first 2/3rds of the story, just letting everything happen to her without taking action herself.

Nitsos was almost a non-presence in this book—and he was pointless. Lexos was useless:  all he did was whine about not having power. And Rhea…man. I really liked her in the first book. In this one, she was a terrible human being, and I just wanted her to hurry up and die already. I do not recommend this read.

Rory Power lives in New England. In an Orchard Grown From Ash is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)

What I Read in April (2023)

Books Read in April: 16
Books Read for the Year:  70/225

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

Lessons at the School by the Sea, by Jenny Colgan (TBR). I thoroughly enjoyed this. So glad to see more of these characters—and I wish the random, unnecessary drama at the school wasn’t quite so accurate.

The Beauty of Spiritual Language, by Jack Hayford (spiritual).

The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis (re-read). Loved this.

The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien (re-read). No matter how many times I read these books, they are still magical.

Iron Wolf, by Siri Pettersonh (TBR). This was dark but absolutely riveting.

Water from My Heart, by Charles Martin (audio). Wow. I have no words to even tell you how fantastic this was.

For Review:

Divine Rivals, by Rebecca Ross. I enjoyed this read, and found it quite unique. Interesting culture—but I would have liked to know a bit more about the history. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Fateful Words, by Paige Shelton. This was a solid cozy mystery. No surprises, but a fun adventure.

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, by Garth Nix. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as I did the first book in the series, but this was a solid read. It did feel a bit low-stakes to me, though, so I wasn’t totally invested in it.

Silver in the Bone, by Alexandra Bracken. I enjoyed this immensely! I do love a good King Arthur tale, so this caught my attention initially, but the setting and Tamsin’s voice kept me engaged—I actually read all 500 pages of this in one sitting! The only thing I didn’t like about this was the cliffhanger ending—which would have been fine if I had access to the next book immediately.

How to Best A Marquess, by Janna MacGregor. This was a fun read! I really enjoyed the characters and how this tied in with the other two books in the series.

Pieces of Me, by Kate McLaughlin. This was an interesting read, although I thought her family’s acceptance of her diagnosis was sugar coated a lot and that made the rest of the story hard to accept, too.

An American Beauty, by Shana Abe. This was a decent read. I felt pretty distant from the MC—and she was keeping secrets even from the reader, so that felt a bit off—but it was interesting.

The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin (review forthcoming). I didn’t really care for this. The writing was solid enough that I finished it, but I didn’t like the characters. The first 60% or so felt very…familiar to me, like I’d seen that basic premise done so much it just felt worn and stale. The last 40% felt like absolute chaos and nothing made sense. Even the “explanation” didn’t make sense or explain everything. I would not recommend this.

In an Orchard Grown from Ash, by Rory Power (review forthcoming). Yeah, no. I loved the first book in this duology, but three out of the four siblings in this one were either horrible, useless, or pointless—and the fourth one was useless for the first 2/3rds of the book.

Just Because:

From the Grave, by Kresley Cole. I have been waiting for this book for years! This is the only love triangle I’ve ever read where I didn’t have a favorite. I loved the rest of the series so much that I think anything would have been a bit of a letdown, so that was no surprise, but it was a fitting ending for these characters, even if I couldn’t quite see it.

Left Unfinished:

The House Is on Fire, by Rachel Beanland. The first 5% of this just absolutely didn’t catch my interest at all.

The Seaside Library, by Brenda Novak. I read about 15% of this, but the story did not feel fresh or new to me—it felt similar to other things I’d read, so I got bored quickly.

Blind Spots, by Thomas Mullen. Solid writing. This just wasn’t a good fit for me at the time.

This Isn’t Going to End Well, by Daniel Wallace. I made it about 20% of the way through this because I liked the voice, but I absolutely did not care for the narrator/author character at all.

Where Coyotes Howl, by Sandra Dallas. I read 25% of this, and, while I enjoyed it, there was no conflict. None. While that sounds good in theory, it doesn’t make for an engaging story, no matter how solid the writing is.

The Dutch Orphan, by Ellen Keith. I didn’t get very far in this, because the POV just didn’t work for me. It felt very distant, and I didn’t care for that.

Under the Cover of Mercy, by Rebecca Connolly. The MC felt very haughty and distant in the first 10%, and I just didn’t feel a connection.