Tag: fiction

Book Review and Blog Tour: The Last of the Seven, by Steven Hartov

Image belongs to Harlequin/Hanover Square Press.

Title: The Last of the Seven
Author: Steven Hartov
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: DNF

A lone soldier wearing a German uniform stumbles into a British military camp in the North African desert with an incredible story to tell. He is the only survivor of an undercover operation meant to infiltrate a Nazi base, trading on the soldiers’ perfect fluency in German. For this man is not British born but instead a German Jew seeking revenge for the deaths of his family back home in Berlin.

As the Allies advance into Europe, the young lieutenant is brought to recover in Sicily, where he’s recruited by a British major to join the newly formed “X Troop,” a commando unit composed of German and Austrian Jews that’s training for a top secret mission at a nearby camp in the Sicilian hills. They are all “lost boys,” driven not by patriotism but by vengeance.

This DNF was all me: solid writing and characterization, I just wasn’t in the right headspace to read this at this time. I was intrigued by the subject, as this was something I’d never heard of in my WWII historical reading, but it just wasn’t a good choice for me right now.

Steven Hartov was born in Connecticut. The Last of the Seven is his newest book.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Hanover Square Press in exchange for an honest review.)

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

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.)

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 and Blog Tour: Long Past Summer, by Noué Kirwan

Title: Long Past Summer
Author: Noué Kirwan
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.0 out of 5

Mikaela Marchand is living the polished life she always planned for: a successful New York lawyer, with a promotion in her sights and a devoted boyfriend by her side. She’s come a long way from the meek teen she was growing up in small town Georgia, but the memory of her adolescence isn’t far—in fact, it’s splashed across a massive billboard in Times Square. An old photograph of Mikaela and her former best friend, Julie, has landed on the cover of a high-profile fashion magazine advertised all over the city. And when Julie files a lawsuit, Mikaela is caught in the middle as defense lawyer for the magazine.

Not only will she have to face Julie for the first time in years, Mikaela’s forced to work closely with the photographer in question: the former love of her life–and Julie’s ex-husband–Cameron Murphy. Mikaela needs to win the case to get her promotion–and as a junior partner, she has no margin for error. But unresolved feelings still exist between Cam and Mikaela, and jealousy always made Julie play dirty…

Solid writing from a debut author, I just didn’t really care for the characters. Mikaela was totally self-absorbed and so focused on other people’s perceptions of her that she forgot to be human—and forgot other people have feelings, too (like her doctor boyfriend). Cameron really wasn’t any better, and for me, these two came off as uncommunicative, needy, and co-dependent. Despite the quality of the writing, the characters themselves made this a lackluster read for me.

Noué Kirwan is from New York. Long Past Summer is her debut novel.

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

Book Review and Blog Tour: The Codebreaker’s Secret, by Sara Ackerman

Title: The Codebreaker’s Secret
Author: Sara Ackerman
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4.8 out of 5

1943. As war in the Pacific rages on, Isabel Cooper and her codebreaker colleagues huddle in “the dungeon” at Station HYPO in Pearl Harbor, deciphering secrets plucked from the airwaves in a race to bring down the enemy. Isabel has only one wish: to avenge her brother’s death. But she soon finds life has other plans when she meets his best friend, a hotshot pilot with secrets of his own.

1965. Fledgling journalist Lu Freitas comes home to Hawai’i to cover the grand opening of the glamorous Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Rockefeller’s newest and grandest project. When a high-profile guest goes missing, Lu forms an unlikely alliance with an intimidating veteran photographer to unravel the mystery. The two make a shocking discovery that stirs up memories and uncovers an explosive secret from the war days. A secret that only a codebreaker can crack.

I’ve really enjoyed all of Ackerman’s books that I’ve read, and this was no exception. A fascinating look at the codebreakers from World War II—and something I had basically no knowledge about prior to this. I loved both storylines equally—which is unusual for me—and I was fully invested in all the characters. The writing is excellent and I did not want to put this down!

Sara Ackerman is from Hawaii. The Codebreaker’s Secret is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Accomplished, by Amanda Quain

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.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: Point Last Seen, by Christina Dodd

Title: Point Last Seen
Author: Christina Dodd
Genre: Mystery
Rating: DNF

LIFE LAST SEEN

When you’ve already died, there should be nothing left to fear… When Adam Ramsdell pulls Elle’s half-frozen body from the surf on a lonely California beach, she has no memory of what her full name is and how she got those bruises ringing her throat.

GIRL LAST SEEN

Elle finds refuge in Adam’s home on the edge of Gothic, a remote village located between the steep lonely mountains and the raging Pacific Ocean. As flashes of her memory return, Elle faces a terrible truth—buried in her mind lurks a secret so dark it could get her killed.

POINT LAST SEEN

Everyone in Gothic seems to hide a dark past. Even Adam knows more than he will admit. Until Elle can unravel the truth, she doesn’t know who to trust, when to run and who else might be hurt when the killer who stalks her nightmares appears to finish what he started…

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%.

Christina Dodd is a bestselling author. Point Last Seen is her newest novel.

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

Book Review and Blog Tour: For Butter or Worse, by Erin La Rosa

Title: For Butter or Worse
Author: Erin La Rosa
Genre: Romance
Rating: DNF

All chef Nina Lyon wants is to make a name for herself in the culinary world and inspire young women everywhere to do the same. For too long, she’s been held back and underestimated by the male-dominated sphere of professional kitchens, and she’s had enough. Now, as co-host of the competitive reality TV series The Next Cooking Champ!, she finally has a real shot at being top tier in the foodie scene.

Too bad her co-host happens to be Hollywood’s smarmiest jerk.

Restaurateur Leo O’Donnell never means to get under Nina’s skin. It just seems to happen, especially when the cameras are rolling. It’s part of the anxiety and stress he has come to know all too well in this line of work. So nothing prepares him for the fallout after he takes one joke a smidge too far and Nina up and quits—on live TV.

To make matters worse, the two are caught in what looks like a compromising situation by the paparazzi…and fans of the show go absolutely nuts. Turns out, a “secret romance” between Nina and Leo may just be what their careers need most.

Now all they have to do is play along, without killing each other…and without catching feelings. Easy as artisanal shepherd’s pie. Right?

Initially, I liked Nina, and thought Leo was a total tool. Then I realized they were both jerks and stopped reading. Nina’s best friend was great, but Nina herself and Leo were both so selfish and concerned only with what made them look better. And they were just mean. No, thank you.

Erin La Rosa lives in Los Angeles. For Butter or Worse is her newest novel.

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

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