Tag: family

Book Review: The Notorious Virtues, by Alwyn Hamilton

Title: The Notorious Virtues
Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Genre: Mystery/thriller, Fantasy, YA
Rating: 4.8 out of 5

At sixteen, Honora “Nora” Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money–and all the magic–in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.

But there’s a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt. When Lotte’s absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she’d abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.

And soon, Nora discovers that her mother’s death wasn’t random–it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.

With everyone against her, Lotte’s last hope is hunting for the identity of her father. But the dangerous competition–and her feelings for Theo, one of the Holtzfalls’ sworn protectors–turns her world upside down.

I really liked this read! Nora was a bit insufferable at first, but she grew on me quickly. Nora knows her family and her world are messed up, but she doesn’t at first realize how badly. I can’t even imagine being in constant competition with my entire family, or how miserable that sort of life would be.

I did not like Lotte at first—she wasn’t a very nice person—but I did feel sympathetic to her. Talk about growing up with gaslighting and emotional abuse. It’s a small wonder she turned out as well as she did. There’s a bit of a Cinderella story for her, but everything wasn’t all sunshine and roses, which was much more believable. I loved this world and can’t wait to read more!

Alwyn Hamilton is a bestselling author. The Notorious Virtues is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: The Wandering Season, by Aimie K. Runyan

Title: The Wandering Season
Author: Aimie K. Runyan
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Unraveling the tangled roots of her family takes her places she never expected.

Veronica Stratton, a specialty food broker with a business riding close to the margins, visits her parents in idyllic Estes Park for Christmas. With the holiday comes a DNA test from her younger sister and an engagement ring from her longtime boyfriend. The test confirms her secret she’s adopted. The ring rattles her even more, and she realizes that she might not be as ready to commit as she’d thought.

With so much that she’d counted on suddenly falling apart, Veronica is looking for an escape. Inspired by her best friend, she plans to go to Europe to see four of the places listed on her DNA ancestry report. She treks to County Mayo in Ireland; the Dordogne region of France; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Tuscany in Italy. She hopes to learn a bit about where her family lived and to make more connections for her struggling business, but she finds that each stop brings her visions of her ancestors that raise more questions than they answer. And among those pressing questions is how brooding Irish restauranteur Niall Callaghan will fit into her visions for the future.

I really enjoyed this from the very first page. The food aspect was fascinating and made me want to try everything they talked about, and I’ve always loved travel novels like this. (I think that started with Eat, Pray, Love, years ago). Journeying with Veronica to find her roots was a fascinating read, and the vignettes she kept seeing of the women in the past were engrossing and added even more enjoyment to the story. Really liked this read!

Aimie K. Runyan lives in Colorado. The Wandering Season is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: The Bane Witch, by Ava Morgyn

Title: The Bane Witch
Author: Ava Morgyn
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Piers Corbin has always had an affinity for poisonous things—plants and men. From the pokeweed berries she consumed at age five that led to the accidental death of a stranger, to the husband whose dark proclivities have become… concerning, poison has been at the heart of her story.

But when she fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her volatile marriage and goes to stay with her estranged great aunt in the mountains, she realizes her predilection is more than a hunger—it’s a birthright. Piers comes from a long line of poison eaters—Bane Witches—women who ingest deadly plants and use their magic to rid the world of evil men.

Piers sets out to earn her place in her family’s gritty but distinguished legacy, all while working at her Aunt Myrtle’s cafe and perpetuating a flirtation with the local, well-meaning sheriff to allay his suspicions on the body count she’s been leaving in her wake. But soon she catches the attention of someone else, a serial killer operating in the area. And that only means one thing—it’s time to feed.

I wasn’t too sure about this at first. It started off slow for me—or I had trouble connecting with Piers at first. But somewhere on her flight to the mountains, I became invested in Piers’ story. I actually didn’t care for her aunt or the other Bane Witches at all, and the small-town kind of gave me the creeps, but Piers herself was a joy to read. I may never look at mushrooms the same way again!

Ava Morgyn lives in Houston. The Bane Witch is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: The Dressmakers of London, by Julia Kelly

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.)

Book Review: A Sea of Unspoken Things, by Adrienne Young

Title: A Sea of Unspoken Things
Author: Adrienne Young
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4 out 5

The only thing James and Johnny Golden have ever had is each other. For as long as she can remember, James’s deep connection with her twin brother, Johnny, has gone beyond intuition—she can feel what he feels. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life.

When James arrives in the rural town of Hawthorne, California to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to rehash the ominous past she and Johnny shared and finally face Micah, the only person who knows about it. He’s also the only man she’s ever loved.

But James soon discovers that the strange connection she had with Johnny isn’t quite gone, and the more she immerses herself into his world, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was keeping secrets, and he’s not the only one. What she uncovers will push her to unravel what happened in the days before Johnny’s death, but in the end, she’ll have to decide which truths should come to light, and which should stay buried forever.

I’ve read—and loved—all but one of Adrienne Young’s novels, so I expected to enjoy this one. And I did—I read I straight through in one sitting. She brought Hawthorne to—rather unsettling—life. I don’t like small towns, and this one gave me the creeps, but it was very well-done and believable. That was a fascinating read, and I was eager to find out what was going on. The landscape itself is a character, and a very vivid one, and I enjoyed this story a lot.

Adrienne Young is a bestselling author. A Sea of Unspoken Things is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams, by Karen Hawkins

Title:   The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams
Author: Karen Hawkins
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

When an antique tin of love letters is found hidden in her family home, noted historian Tay Dove rushes home to Dove Pond to investigate. Tay is still reeling from a romantic betrayal, so she’s relieved to refocus her energies on her latest project: a biography of her great-great-grandmother Sarafina, a star reporter who began her career in Dove Pond in the late 19th century before abruptly leaving town.

Tay believes the letters could be the key in solving what happened, but they only add to her questions—especially when they reveal a forbidden love affair with William Day, a wild youth who took part in a notorious train robbery. Some answers might be found in eighty-year-old Rose Day’s bookshop, which doubles as a town archive, but Rose is curiously resistant to give Tay access. Just when Tay thinks she’s reached a dead end, she finds an unlikely ally in Rose’s grandson, Luke, a fellow puzzle lover. Together, they set out to uncover what really happened all those years ago…and find the truth behind a love story that could be more precious than gold.

I do love the Dove Pond Books! I enjoyed the first two more than the third one, but I think this one I just as good as those first two. I love the small-town feel of Dove Pond, and the Dove family is just so much fun. I like the dual timelines in this story and found myself engrossed in both of these, although knowing only one of them could have a happy ending. Love this newest installment in this magical series!

Karen Hawkins is bestselling author. The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Strange Folk, by Alli Dyer

Title: Strange Folk
Author: Alli Dyer
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia but when a man is found dead in the woods nearby, it seems the family has conjured something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel that is perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva’s world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother’s spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva’s magic may have summoned something dark.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn’t leave behind.

This was a very atmospheric novel. I enjoyed the setting a lot, the small-town feel, but I didn’t enjoy the darker aspects of the story at all. The characters were not very nice people, and that was off-putting for me—I don’t enjoy reading about cruel and nasty people, no matter how atmospheric the setting.

Alli Dyer is from Virginia but now lives in L.A. Strange Folk is her debut novel.

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

Book Review: It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee

Title: It’s All Relative
Author: Rachel Magee
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Helena Crosby is on her way to be a bridesmaid… in her mom’s wedding.

Of course she’s thrilled for her mom–the man she’s marrying is great–but this family wedding is complicated. For starters, after twenty-eight years of it just being her and her mom, navigating family dynamics isn’t exactly her strong suit, especially when she has nothing in common with said family. Take her soon-to-be stepsister, for example. They might be the same age, but Amelia is an always-put-together, successful architect whose hobby is organizing her pantry while Helena favors the messy bun and has decided meal prepping means scarfing down whatever she gets out of the vending machine while writing up lesson plans before class. And as if things weren’t challenging enough, Helena managed to develop a monster crush on Amelia’s fiancé. Now, on top of figuring out how to claim a spot in this family, she has to will herself to not be attracted to the most attractive man she’s ever met. So, yeah. This week of wedding festivities at her new family’s beach house should be super fun.

Amelia Maddox has everything under control.

Or at least she did until this whole wedding thing came up. She’s happy her dad is dating again, but getting married? So soon? It’s only been three years since her mom died, and Amelia has worked too hard to hold her family together to let it fall apart now. And then Helena shows up with him. What are the odds that the stepsister she barely knows happens to be best friends with her ex? But Landon is part of her past–which is absolutely behind her–and now she has to stay focused on the future. The bright, shiny, expertly planned future.

Of course, life has a habit of not going according to plan.

I enjoyed this read, although Helen kind of made me a bit twitchy with her judgmental attitude towards the Maddox family, and her rather careless approach to life. I liked her voice, just not her personality so much. And Amelia was the complete opposite, and also a bit annoying to me. That being said, I did like the read.

Rachel Magee lives in Texas. It’s All Relative is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.) Book Review: It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee

Book Review: My Favourite Mistake, by Marian Keyes

Title: My Favourite Mistake
Author: Marian Keyes
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5

Anna has just lost her taste for the big apple . . .

Anna has a life to envy. An apartment in New York. A well-meaning (too well-meaning?) partner. And a high-flying job in beauty PR. Who wouldn’t want all that? Anna—it turns out.

Turning a minor mid-life crisis into a major life event she packs it in, heads back to Ireland, and gets a PR job for a super-high-end coastal retreat.

Tougher than it sounds. Newsflash: the locals hate it. So much so, there have been threats—and violence.

Anna, however, worked in the beauty industry. There’s no ugliness she hasn’t seen. No wrinkle she can’t smooth over. Anna’s got this.

Until she discovers that leaving New York doesn’t mean escaping her mistakes.

Once upon a time she’d had a best friend. Once upon a time she’d loved a man. Now she has neither. And now she has to face them.

We all make mistakes.

But when do we stop making the same one over and over again?

This was the first Marian Keyes novel I’d read, and I was really impressed with the writing—the setting was so well done! I enjoyed Anna’s voice a lot; that was the only reason I kept reading, because she was too whiny for me and spent way too much time feeling sorry for herself. I was happy that Anna managed to grow and change throughout the novel—but I’ll probably not read the rest of these books, as Anna’s drove me up the wall.

Marian Keyes is from Ireland. My Favourite Mistake is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Castle of the Cursed, by Romina Garber

Title:   Castle of the Cursed
Author:   Romina Garber
Genre: Fantasy
Rating:4 out of 5

THE HOUSE IS ALWAYS HUNGRY…

After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized.

I feel like there was a lot going on in this novel: romance, magic, a bit of scifi, a mystery, family drama, and a whole lot of darkness. I enjoyed the read, but it did feel a bit chaotic. I liked how the opening scene gave a glimpse into Estela’s life and relationship with her parents, which later turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg. This was a solid read, and I’d be interested in seeing more in this world with these characters.

Romina Garber is a bestselling author. Castle of the Cursed is her newest novel.

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

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