Category: characters

Book Review:   Lucy Checks In, by Dee Ernst

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: Lucy Checks In    
Author: Dee Ernst   
Genre: Romance   
Rating:  5.0 out of 5

Lucia Giannetti needs a fresh start. Once the hotel manager of a glamorous NYC hotel and intimately involved with the hotel’s owner, Lucy had her entire future planned out. But when the owner disappears, taking millions of dollars with him, Lucy’s life as she knows it falls apart.

Two years later, forty-nine years old and unemployed, Lucy takes a job in Rennes, France to manage the Hotel Paradis. She pictures fur quilts and extravagant chandeliers, but what she finds is wildly different. Lucy is now in charge of turning the run-down, but charming hotel into a bustling tourist attraction. Between painting rooms, building a website, and getting to know Bing, the irritatingly attractive artist, Lucy finds an unexpected home. But can she succeed in bringing the Hotel Paradis to its former glory?

I would like to say:  I’ve never had a desire to visit France—except when I read books that make it seem so magical I absolutely must go. This was one of those books. Except the setting was really the Hotel Paradis, not France itself, so really, I want to go to this hotel and live.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I love that the main character was not a woman in her 20s or early 30s, but one almost 50. I love Lucia’s journey back to finding herself and confidence in herself just as much as the journey to restore the hotel. I also loved that romance took a backseat, not the driver’s seat in this story. This is just a wonderful book!

Dee Ernst is from New Jersey. Lucy Checks In is her newest novel.

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

Book Review:  Bend Toward the Sun, by Jen Devon

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Bend Toward the Sun    
Author:  Jen Devon  
Genre:   Romance
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Rowan McKinnon doesn’t believe in love. With a botany PhD, two best friends who embrace her social quirkiness, and some occasional no-strings sex, she has everything she needs. But she hides deep wounds from the past—from a negligent mother, and a fiancé who treated her like a pawn in a game. When an academic setback leads Rowan to take on the restoration of an abandoned vineyard, she relishes the opportunity to restore the grapes to their former glory.

She does not expect to meet a man like Harrison Brady.

An obstetrician profoundly struggling after losing a patient, Harry no longer believes he is capable of keeping people safe. Reeling, Harry leaves Los Angeles to emotionally recover at his parents’ new vineyard in Pennsylvania.

He does not expect to meet a woman like Rowan McKinnon.

As their combative banter gives way to a simmering tension, sunlight begins to crack through the darkness smothering Harry’s soul. He’s compelled to explore the undeniable pull between them. And after a lifetime of protecting herself from feeling anything, for anyone, Rowan tries to keep things casual.

But even she can’t ignore their explosive connection.

Rowan was a little challenging for me to like at times, just because she was so self-focused and really couldn’t be bothered to try to understand what Harry is going through. I loved the family dynamics in this—I’d definitely read anything written about them—as well as the friendship between Rowan and her two best friends. The vivid supporting characters made this a wonderful read, and Harry was pretty great, too. Sign me up to live at a vineyard and work with plants!

Jen Devon lives in Ohio. Bend Toward the Sun is her debut novel.

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

Book Review:  Hello, Goodbye, by Kate Stollenwerck

Image belongs to SparkPress.

Title:  Hello, Goodbye    
Author: Kate Stollenwerck
Genre:   YA
Rating:  5.0 out of 5

Fifteen-year-old Hailey Rogers is sure her summer is ruined when her parents force her to spend a few days a week helping her grandmother, Gigi. Although she only lives across town, she never sees her grandmother and knows little about her. But Gigi is full of surprises–and family secrets. Throw in the gorgeous boy down the street, and Hailey’s ruined summer might just be the best of her life.

Then tragedy strikes, lies are uncovered, and Hailey’s life suddenly falls apart. After unearthing clues in an old letter written by her great-grandfather, she takes off on a road trip to solve the family mystery with the only person she can trust. In a forgotten Texas town, the past and the present collide–and Hailey is forced to choose what she truly values in life.

I loved this! I think Hailey is a great character, and I loved seeing how her mind works and how she changed through the course of this book. The family dynamics were intriguing, and I really wanted to know what was going on with Gigi. I enjoyed the Beatles obsession—and the car. I just thoroughly enjoyed this from the very first page.

Kate Stollenwerck lives in Florida. Hello, Goodbye is her debut novel.

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

Book Review:  Love and the Dream Come True, by Tammy L. Gray

Image belongs to Bethany House.

Title:  Love and the Dream Come True
Author: Tammy L. Gray
Genre:   Christian, romance
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

When Cameron Lee’s music career takes a nose dive, he reluctantly returns home, where he falls fast for single mom Lexie Walters. But fantasies only last so long, and soon they have to face the real world, one fraught with heartbreak and disappointment and questions that can only be answered on your knees.

This was such a sweet read! I can’t relate too much to Lexie and her always-positive attitude—as well as her being so forgetful and always running late—but I really enjoyed her story arc with Cameron:  ending up with your childhood crush/rockstar is a pretty sweet fantasy come to life. Cameron’s struggle with forgiveness was hard to read, but I loved how that worked out. This was just a solid romance read, with faith woven seamlessly into the characters’ lives.

Tammy L. Gray lives in Texas. Love and the Dream Come True is her newest novel.

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

Book Review:  How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying), by Cristina Fernandez

Image belongs to HarperCollins.

Title:    How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying)  
Author:   Cristina Fernandez
Genre:   YA, fantasy
Rating:  3.0 out of 5

Falling for a superhero is dangerous. You have to trust that they’ll catch you.

Astrid isn’t a superhero, not like the ones she sees on the news, but she has something she thinks of as a small superpower: she has a perfect sense of time. And she’s not going to waste a single second.

Her plan for college is clear—friends, classes, and extracurriculars all carefully selected to get her into medical school.

Until Max Martin, a nerdy boy from her high school, crashes back into her life. Things with Max were never simple, and he doesn’t keep to her schedule. He disappears in the middle of dates and cancels at the last minute with stupid excuses.

When a supervillain breaks into her bedroom one night, Astrid has to face the facts: her boyfriend, Max Martin, is a superhero. Double-majoring as a premed was hard, but now Astrid will have to balance a double life. This wasn’t part of her plan.

This was an okay read. Definitely an alternate reality setting, with superheroes and aliens accepted as commonplace, and the rest of the world more or less the same as ours. Astrid was…overwhelmingly selfish, frankly. Beyond obsessed with her schedule and infuriated by anything that dared impinge on it—or her life plans. This is a fairly light read, and if you can deal with a selfish and self-absorbed main character who’s oblivious to all the signs being put out by everyone around her, well, give it a shot.

Cristina Fernandez’s debut novel is How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying).

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

Book Review:  Master of Iron, by Tricia Levenseller

Image belongs to Macmillan/Feewel & Friends.

Title:  Master of Iron    
Author:  Tricia Levenseller
Genre:  YA
Rating:  4.2 out of 5

Eighteen-year-old Ziva may have defeated a deadly warlord, but the price was almost too much. Ziva is forced into a breakneck race to a nearby city with the handsome mercenary, Kellyn, and the young scholar, Petrik, to find a powerful magical healer who can save her sister’s life.

When the events that follow lead to Ziva and Kellyn’s capture by an ambitious prince, Ziva is forced into the very situation she’s been dreading: magicking dangerous weapons meant for world domination.

The forge has always been Ziva’s safe space, a place to avoid society and the anxiety it causes her, but now it is her prison, and she’s not sure just how much of herself she’ll have to sacrifice to save Kellyn and take center stage in the very war she’s been trying to stop.

I hadn’t read the first book in this duology, so it took me a few minutes to get into this, but then I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ziva’s point-of-view is well-done and really shows how her anxiety feels from the inside—and the things she notices about how people respond to it. A nice level of magic and an interesting culture, as well as vivid and likable secondary characters made this an above-average fantasy read.

Tricia Levenseller is from Oregon. Master of Iron is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Violet Made of Thorns, by Gina Chen

Image belongs to Random House Children’s.

Title: Violet Made of Thorns     
Author: Gina Chen  
Genre:  Fantasy
Rating:  4.5

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.

But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.

Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.

I enjoyed this story, but I have to say, Violet and Cyrus are both kind of unlikable jerks. Especially to each other. Cyrus’ arrogance is almost overwhelming at times, and Violet is just rude and hateful at least half the time. I enjoyed the culture and mythology, but their personalities were almost enough to make me DNF this. I’m interested in reading more about them—probably—but this isn’t a warm and fuzzy tale.

Gina Chen lives in California. Violet Made of Thorn is her debut novel.

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

The Best Books I Read in July (2022)

In July, I read 18 books, bringing my total for the year to 136 books. I also DNFed 12 books, which is a lot. I’m eight books behind schedule for the year. Hopefully I catch up! Of those 18, several of them were excellent. The best of those were:

The Bodyguard, by Katherine Center. I love this author’s books, but this one was the best of hers I’ve read. This made me laugh out loud several times (especially the “attacking” cow) and really relate to the main character. If you need a fun weekend read, grab this.

Long Story Short, by Serena Kaylor. This has everything: an awkward main character, a hot, brooding love interest, the enemies-to-lovers trope, great secondary characters. and lots of Shakespeare!

The Shadow Wand, by Laurie Forest. I’m still loving every page of this sometimes dark magical series.

What I Read in July (2022)

Books Read in July: 18
Books Read for the Year:  136/250
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
Mark’s Story, by Tim LaHaye (spiritual). I might have cried at the end of this…
Chasing Love, by Sean McDowell (spiritual). This was quite an interesting read.
Frequency, by Robert Morris (spiritual). Loved this re-read.
The Shadow Wand, by Laurie Forest (TBR). This series is SO good!
Trouble with the Cursed, by Kim Harrison (TBR). As always, I loved this.

For Review:

Potiphar’s Wife, by Mesu Andrews. This was a fascinating story, but I didn’t really care much for Zully herself. The secondary characters, however, were excellent.

Cold, Cold Bones, by Kathy Reichs. This just did not work for me: Tempe is normally such a smart character, but she kept doing flat-out stupid things in this novel.

Paradise Girls, by Sandy Gingras. This ended up being a sweet, semi-magical read that I really enjoyed.

Upgrade, by Blake Crouch. Like most of Blake’s novels, this one was waaay over my head, but the author did a great job making something inconceivable believable.

The Bodyguard, by Katherine Center. I absolutely loved this! Such a fun read.

The Librarian Spy, by Madeline Martin. I do love a good WWII historical fiction, and I enjoyed this a lot. These women are so, so strong.

Long Past Summer, by Noué Kirwan (review forthcoming). I really didn’t care for the either of the MCs in this. One was totally selfish, the other was passive.

The Codebreaker’s Secret, by Sara Ackerman. Loved this read!

Long Story Short, by Serena Kaylor. This was a wonderful YA read! I related so much to the MC and her awkwardness.

Accomplished, by Amanda Quain. Sometimes Jane Austen re-tellings are terrible. This one was actually excellent, although Georgie’s continued infatuation with Wickham was very annoying.

Violet Made of Thorns, by Gina Chen (review forthcoming). Desptie hard-to-like MCs, I enjoyed this read.

Master of Iron, by Tricia Levenseller (review forthcoming). I didn’t read the first book in this duology, so it took me a bit to get situated in the story, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Just Because:

Unashamed, by Francine Rivers. Wonderful read!

Left Unfinished:

Corinne, by Rebecca Morrow. I think I made it about 15% in this, but the characters just felt so distant I couldn’t get into it.

The Man Who Could Move Clouds, by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. This just started off too slowly for me. I enjoyed Fruit of the Drunken Tree, but couldn’t get into this.

Wake the Bones, by Elizabeth Kilcoyne. I read 20% of this, but the characters were jerks: cruel, mean, and just kind of ugly to each other. I didn’t want to waste any more time reading about people I wouldn’t care to be around.

Death and the Conjuror, by Tom Mead. I didn’t get very far in this because the POV kept shifting without warning. Nora Roberts can (mostly) pull that off, but that’s about it.

Ruthless, by Gena Showalter. Normally, I love Showalter’s stuff, but this one was…not good.

For Butter or Worse, by Erin La Rosa. Initially, I liked Nina, and thought Leo was a total tool. Then I realized they were both jerks and stopped reading.

Point Last Seen, by Christina Dodd. I really tried with this one. The first 15% or so felt a bit erratic, with a series of coincidental occurrences that just weren’t believable mixed with character actions that just didn’t add up. Then, Elle’s actions just became too far-fetched for me, and Gothic itself was peopled with characters that just weren’t believable, and I had to give up at about 40%.

Dark Earth, by Rebecca Stott. Solid writing, but it just felt so slow, and I didn’t feel a connection with either of the sisters.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia. I read about 25% if this, but I didn’t really like any of the characters, so I didn’t care to read more.

Bet On It, by Jodie Slaughter. I read about a third of this, then I just couldn’t take it anymore. Walker was a total jerk. He’s holding the mother of all grudges against everyone in this town and feels perfectly entitled to hate them all because of his experiences as a child. He’s either seething with self-righteous hatred, or lusting after Aja, there is no other facet of his personality.

Mint Chocolate Murder, by Meri Allen. I tried. I read about 30% of this, but it was just so slow, and the murder hadn’t even happened yet!

Round Up the Usual Peacocks, by Donna Andrews. The opening of this just bored me.

Book Review:  Accomplished, by Amanda Quain

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:   Accomplished   
Author:   Amanda Quain
Genre:   YA
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

 It is a truth universally acknowledged that Georgiana Darcy should have been expelled after The Incident with Wickham Foster last year – at least if you ask any of her Pemberley Academy classmates. She may have escaped expulsion because of her family name, but she didn’t escape the disappointment of her big brother Fitz, the scorn of the entire school, or, it turns out, Wickham’s influence.

But she’s back for her junior year, and she needs to prove to everyone—Fitz, Wickham, her former friends, and maybe even herself—that she’s more than just an embarrassment to the family name. How hard can it be to become the Perfect Darcy? All she has to do is:

– Rebuild her reputation with the marching band (even if it kills her)

– Forget about Wickham and his lies (no matter how tempting they still are), and

– Distract Fitz Darcy—helicopter-sibling extraordinaire—by getting him to fall in love with his classmate, Lizzie Bennet (this one might be difficult…)

Sure, it’s a complicated plan, but so is being a Darcy. With the help of her fellow bandmate, Avery, matchmaking ideas lifted straight from her favorite fanfics, and a whole lot of pancakes, Georgie is going to see every one of her plans through. But when the weight of being the Perfect Darcy comes crashing down, Georgie will have to find her own way before she loses everything permanently—including the one guy who sees her for who she really is.

I completely enjoyed this story! Sure, Georgie’s lingering obsession with Wickham was more than a little annoying, but I loved seeing how she grew and changed as she learned to stand on her own two feet. In the end this was a fun read—and I think Austen would have enjoyed it, too.

Amanda Quain lives in Pennsylvania. Accomplished is her debut novel.

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