Tag: fiction

Book Review: It’s You Every Time, by Charlene Thomas  

Image belongs to Scholastic.

Title: It’s You Every Time   
Author: Charlene Thomas     
Genre: YA    
Rating: 4.5  

In a twist of fate, Sydney Michaels bumps into cute boy stranger Marcus Burke in the heart of midtown NYC during an impromptu trip to Dunkin’. But what had initially been an effort to soften the blow of failing her impending pre-calc exam, turns into a day-long, unforgettable adventure—when Marcus asks her to have breakfast with him instead. In just a few hours, Sydney’s already starting to fall, and there’s just something about Marcus that makes it feel like she’s known him forever.

As the night comes to an end, Sydney can’t believe that after all the loss she’s faced in the past two years, “the good part” is finally here and this perfect day gets to be hers—until an accident at the end of the night, quite literally, leaves her stuck in it.

This did not end like I expected it to—but that isn’t a bad thing. I loved how Sydney and Marcus both learn and grow during their time loop. They truly become themselves, and that was fun to watch amidst their missteps and wobbles. I like both of these characters equally and wanted things to work out for them, so it was fun to watch everything unfold—over and over again.

Charlene Thomas is also a marketer. It’s You Every Time is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Time Loops & Meet Cutes, by Jackie Lau

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title: Time Loops & Meet Cutes
Author: Jackie Lau         
Genre: Romance   
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Noelle Tom really shouldn’t have eaten those dumplings at the night market. But the old lady at the stall said they’d give her what she needed most, and what Noelle desperately needed after another long workweek was food.

Except now she’s reliving the same Friday over and over. Every morning her alarm goes off at 6:45 no matter what, the Wordle answer is always “happy,” and she watches a silly squirrel video go viral day after day. And no matter how much she works on the same proposal, it’s always erased when she wakes up. It seems Monday will never come in this workaholic’s worst nightmare.

Noelle has no idea how being trapped in a time loop is the “thing she needed most,” especially now that everything seems meaningless. Sure, three fancy meals in a row is a fun treat, but it’s getting repetitive. Noelle’s not sure what lesson the old lady was trying to impart. Even a trip to the dumpling stall doesn’t help…because there’s no sign of it.

But then she meets a young woman who also ate the dumplings, and good-looking Cam, who appears in multiple places on her Friday. While he seems to have no memory of their encounters, there are signs he might be the key to getting un-stuck. But Noelle will have to put work aside and live a little in order to make him notice her. As their flirtation progresses, Noelle begins to worry that if she ever gets to turn the calendar page, Cam won’t know who she is and her life may never return to what it was before that fateful Friday…

I wouldn’t say this was just a romance, because a large part of it was Noelle figuring out who she was—and who she wanted to be, and making changes to make that happen. The freedom she gets from knowing is she screws something up, the mistake will just reset gives her the courage to try new things, and that’s a lesson I think I could learn. The food in this book all sounded fantastic, too, and the night market was something I’d like to visit. Cam was pretty great, too, and I loved how he all tied into the time loop situation.

Jackie Lau lives in Canda. Time Loops & Meet Cutes is her newest novel.

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

  

Sundays are for Writing #327

This was a great writing week! I wrote my April reading post, my best books I read in April post, Their Double Lives, by Jaime Lynn Hendricks, Our Last Wild Days, by Anna Bailey, Come As You Are, by Dahlia Adler, and Bodies and Battlements, by Elizabeth Penney. I also journaled every day.

Happy writing!

Book Review: Austen at Sea, by Natalie Jenner

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: Austen at Sea   
Author: Natalie Jenner         
Genre: Historical fiction  
Rating: 4 out of 5

In Boston, 1865, Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson, daughters of a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, have accomplished as much as women are allowed in those days. Chafing against those restrictions and inspired by the works of Jane Austen, they start a secret correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother, now in his nineties. He sends them an original letter from his sister and invites them to come visit him in England.

In Philadelphia, Nicholas & Haslett Nelson—bachelor brothers, veterans of the recent Civil War, and rare book dealers—are also in correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, who lures them, too, to England, with the promise of a never-before-seen, rare Austen artifact to be evaluated.

The Stevenson sisters sneak away without a chaperone to sail to England. On their ship are the Nelson brothers, writer Louisa May Alcott, Sara-Beth Gleason—wealthy daughter of a Pennsylvania state senator with her eye on the Nelsons—and, a would-be last-minute chaperone to the Stevenson sisters, Justice Thomas Nash.

It’s a voyage and trip that will dramatically change each of their lives in ways that are unforeseen, with the transformative spirit of the love of literature and that of Jane Austen herself.

I felt like this took a little bit to get into, but it ended up being a good read! I like all of Natalie Jenner’s other books, so this was an easy reading choice to make. I liked all the characters, and enjoyed seeing how their lives came together—and how they turned out. The historical aspects were fascinating to read and I was nice to see these men change their minds about women’s rights and life in general.

Natalie Jenner is a bestselling author. Austen at Sea is her newest novel.

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

The Best Books I Read in April (2025)

In April, I read 21 books, bringing my total for the year to 86 books read. I also DNFed six books. OF those 21 books, three were really excellent.

The Beekeeper’s Promise, by Fiona Valpy. This had been on my TBR pile for a while, and I’m so glad I got around to it! Love me some World War II historical fiction. And this made me crave honey!

The Love Haters, by Katherine Center. I usually look forward to Katherine Center’s novels, because I know there’s going to be some laughs, some solid characters, and usually some swoon-worthy moments. This did not disappoint.

My Friends, by Fredrik Backman. The first Backman book I read was Beartown. I could not care less about sports and I don’t like small towns, but I was enthralled in that book. And My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry is probably in my top ten favorite books ever. So when I tell you that My Friends was just as good? You should read it!

What I Read in April (2025)

Books Read in April: 21
Books Read for the Year:  86/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
It is Finished, by Charles Martin (spiritual, TBR): This was wonderful.
Ruin and Rising, by Leigh Bardugo (audio): I really enjoyed this whole trilogy on audio.
Demons and DNA, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR): Wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy these new characters in this world, but so far, I’m really liking them!
The Beekeeper’s Promise, by Fiona Valphy (TBR): Wonderful read!
Magic in the Blood, by Devon Monk (re-read): Still loving this re-read.
The Naturalist Society, by Carrie Vaughn (TBR): This did not turn out like I expected.
Your Perfect Year, by Charlott Lucas (TBR): This was a great read! Felt kind of Fredrik Backman-esque.
Adulting, by Liz Talbot (TBR): I was on the fence at first with this, but I ended up liking it.


For Review:

Time Loops & Meet Cutes, by Jackie Lau. I enjoyed this read, although it felt less like a romance and more like Noelle figuring out who she wants to be and moving towards that.

It’s You Every Time, by Charlene Thomas. Not sure how I ended up reading two time loop novels back-to-back, but I liked this YA read.

The Thrashers, by Julie Soto. This ended up being different than I expected—or the Thrashers themselves were different–but I found it engrossing with a hint of creepy.

The Language of the Birds, by K.A. Merson. This was an okay read, but most of it was explaining the intricacies of the puzzles, and that just bogged everything down.

Out of Air, by Rachel Reiss. This was a quick read, but I feel like everything was left unexplained.

The Love Haters, by Katherine Center. I do love Katherine Cenbter’s books, and this one had me laughing out loud many times.

Death at a Highland Wedding, by Kelley Armstrong. I thought I’d read the first book in this series, but maybe not. It was still easy to jump in at book four, and I thoroughly enjoyed this.

My Friends, by Fredrik Backman. On the surface, this should not have been as good as it was. But, it’s a Backman book, so it had characters that grabbed a hold of your throat and drew you into the story—and never let go.

Heart of the Sun, by Mia Sheridan. This was a solid romance/dystopian read.

Their Double Lives, by Jaime Lynn Hendricks. I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters—they weren’t the nicest group of people and were pretty shameless about using others.

Our Last Wild Days, by Anna Bailey. I didn’t like any of these characters at all, but the setting was vivid enough to make me sweat along with them.

Just Because:

Bonds and Broken Dreams, by Meghan Ciana Doidge. I ended up binge-reading this over a weekend. Really like these characters.

Between, Georgia, by Joshilyn Jackson (audio). I enjoyed this so much! Bernice was not my favorite, but I loved the other characters.

Left Unfinished:
The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince, by Jeffe Kennedy. Um, no.
The Lost Queen, by Aimee Phan. The first third was pretty good. I made it halfway, but it started to seem just to-good-to-be-true, you know? And I didn’t like–or trust–Huong.
Murder Land, by Carlyn Greenwald. Unexpected content.
Wildbound, by Elayne Audrey Becker. This just didn’t hold my attention. At all.
Slipstream, by Madge Maril. I didn’t make it very far in this because Lilah got on my last nerve with her passiveness and poor-me attitude, and Arthur came across as a self-absorbed jerk.
Just Another Meet Cute, by Jenn. P. Nguyen. I had device issues while trying to read this, and I didn’t like it well enough to persevere.

Book Review: The Murder Machine, by Heather Graham

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title: The Murder Machine
Author: Heather Graham         
Genre: Thriller, Mystery  
Rating: 3 out of 3

 Artificial intelligence meets genuine murderous intent.

This state-of-the-art smart home has a next-generation entertainment system, an ultramodern kitchen where every appliance is online and even a personal AI to control it all. Standing above its owner’s lifeless body, FBI agent Jude Mackenzie is faced with the daunting task of discovering how the woman was killed by her own home. How do you catch a murderer that doesn’t leave any fingerprints?

Enter Special Agent Victoria Tennant, whose familiarity with cybercrime reveals the stark a machine can only do what it’s been directed to. As the number of grisly “accidents” begins to rise, the pair must race to uncover the perpetrator even as they find themselves caught in their digital crosshairs! There’s nowhere to hide when danger may be as close as the very phones in their pockets.

This was…not as good a read as I expect from Heather Graham. I knew who the murderer was about 2/3rds of the way through the book, which was fine, but no one else seemed to suspect them.

My real problem, though, was the “relationship” between Jude and Vicky happened so fast—overnight—and with barely even any hints of attraction to each other before they were both thinking they were in love. All the relationships in the book felt superficial and glossed over, and I almost put the book down halfway through, but decided to keep reading in the hopes it would improve. It didn’t.

Heather Graham is a bestselling author. The Murder Machine is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Staircase in the Woods, by Chuck Wendig

Image belongs to Random House/Del Rey.

Title: The Staircase in the Woods
Author: Chuck Wendig        
Genre: Fiction, horror, mystery/thriller  
Rating: 3 out of 5

Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what.

Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something a mysterious staircase to nowhere.

One friend walks up—and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears.

Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared. Now the group returns to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods. . . .

This was the first book by Wendig I’ve read, and I have to say, I wasn’t impressed. This didn’t feel like horror to me—gross and disgusting, yes, creepy, absolutely, but not horror. This book felt like a political agenda, and I’m never on board with that, but I also found the characters genuinely unlikeable, and the book just seemed to drag pointlessly along to an ending with zero resolution.

Chuck Wendig is a bestselling author. The Staircase in the Woods is his newest novel.

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

Book Review: Night Swimming, by Aaron Starmer 

Image belongs to Penguin Workshop.

Title: Night Swimming
Author: Aaron Starmer         
Genre: YA   
Rating: 3 out of 5

It was just one swim… How could they know it would never end?

It’s the summer of 1994 and Trevor can barely wrap his mind around the fact that he and his friends have graduated high school. The future is a murky thing, filled with a college experience he feels neutral about at best, endless mixtape relistens, and the growing realization that his crush on the enigmatic Sarah isn’t going anywhere.

That is, until Sarah approaches him with a mission: they’re going to swim in all the pools in the neighborhood. Soon, their quest leads to them sneaking into backyard pools every night and continuing to get closer. But not close enough for Trevor, who yearns for Sarah despite her college boyfriend, despite her “not yet”s, despite the way she keeps pulling away the moment things feel real.

So when they learn about a natural pool hidden deep in the woods, it starts off as just another spot to check off their summer bucket list. But once they get there, they soon realize the natural pool has a curious hold on them, and something very strange is happening…

Okay, I’m not going to lie: this book seemed really pointless. The pacing was slow, and I felt like nothing happened. Nothing. The only reason I even finished it was because it was a quick read. The characters felt hazy and indistinct. There was basically no action. And I didn’t feel like the characters grew or changed.

Aaron Starmer was born in Northern California. Night Swimming is his newest novel.

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

Sundays are for Writing #326

This was an okay writing week: I wrote two book reviews, My Friends, by Fredrik Backman, and Heart of the Sun, by Mia Sheridan. My Friends was a fantastic read, and you should definitely pick it up when it comes out. I also DNFed Slipstream, by Madge Maril, because I refuse to read about a MC that sits around and feels sorry for herself and makes a big deal about being special because she has ADHD. I also journaled every day this week. Still not in the right mindset for fiction, though.

Happy writing!