Tag: fiction

Book Review: Eight Perfect Hours, by Lia Louis

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:   Eight Perfect Hours
Author:   Lia Louis
Genre:   Fiction
Rating:  4.5

On a snowy evening in March, 30-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear.

 The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again, but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence.

This was such an enjoyable read!  From when Sam and Noelle met in the snow on the highway to all of their heartwarming “coincidental” run-ins, this made me laugh, smile, and just sigh sometimes with the perfection of it. I loved how all of the things from their pasts melded together and lit up their present. This is perfect for a binge-read.

Lia Louis lives in the UK. Eight Perfect Hours is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: A Reckless Match, by Kate Bateman

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:   A Reckless Match
Author:   Kate Bateman
Genre:   Romance
Rating:  4 out of 5

Maddie Montgomery’s family is in debt, and her hope rests on the rival Davies clan missing their yearly “pledge of goodwill,” ceding the land that separates their estates. With Maddie’s teenage nemesis, Gryffud “Gryff” Davies, Earl of Powys, away, hope is in reach.

 But then, Gryff shows up and is stunned that the tomboy he once teased is now a woman. When Gryff and Maddie discover contraband on their land, they realize it can benefit both families. But they’ve also uncovered a dangerous plot, and they need to work together to get out alive. Soon, their hatred for each other starts to feel more like attraction.

 This was an enjoyable read. I like the enemies-to-lovers trope, and with the addition of a centuries-long family feud, this was even more enjoyable. Maddie was a fun character, and she and Gryff made a good clash of personalities. I like the set-up for later books in the series as well.

Kate Bateman splits her time between the UK and Illinois. A Reckless Match is her newest novel.

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

Book Review and Blog Tour:  You Can Go Your Own Way, by Eric Smith

Image belongs to Inkyard Press.

Title:   You Can Go Your Own Way
Author:   Eric Smith
Genre:   YA
Rating:  4 out of 5

No one ever said love would be easy…but did they mention it would be freezing? 

Adam Stillwater is in over his head. At least, that’s what his best friend would say. And his mom. And the guy who runs the hardware store down the street. But this pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to protect it from Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul, who wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafés.

 Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her parents split up. She lost all her friends. Her boyfriend dumped her. And now she’s spending her senior year running social media for her dad’s chain of super successful gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town.

 But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops?

I know basically nothing about pinball games, but this was a fun read. I loved the banter between him and Whitney. Whitney….the people in her life kind of suck (except her mom). Seeing her realize that and change what she could was a positive journey. This was a really solid read, perfect for a lazy weekend afternoon.

Eric Smith lives in Philadelphia. You Can Go Your Own Way is his newest novel.

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

Book Review: I Am Margaret Moore, by Hannah Capin

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:   I Am Margaret Moore
Author:  Hannah Capin
Genre:   YA
Rating:  3.0 out of 5

I am a girl. I am a monster, too. 

Each summer the girls of Deck Five come back to Marshall Naval School. They sail on jewel-blue waters; they march on green drill-fields; they earn sunburns and honors. They push until they break apart and heal again, stronger.

 Each summer Margaret and Rose and Flor and Nisreen come back to the place where they are girls, safe away from the world: sisters bound by something more than blood.

 But this summer everything has changed. Girls are missing and a boy is dead. It’s because of Margaret Moore, the boys say. It’s because of what happened that night in the storm.

 Margaret’s friends vanish one by one, swallowed up into the lies she has told about what happened between her and a boy with the world at his feet. Can she unravel the secrets of this summer and last, or will she be pulled under by the place she once called home?

This book just didn’t work for me. I found it very disjointed and confusing. I figured out the twist—if you can call it that—pretty early on, but that didn’t make the confusion any less chaotic. I also wish I’d known when the girls were at the school, as that might have made it slightly less confusing.

Hannah Capin lives in Virginia. I Am Margaret Moore, is her newest novel.

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

Book Review:  The Alchemy Thief, by R.A Denny

Image belongs to the author.

Title:   The Alchemy Thief
Author:  R.A Denny
Genre:   fantasy, history
Rating:  4 out of 5

When the secrets of the past threaten to destroy the future… 

A tale of hope, resilience, and the indomitable spirit of a woman, this sweeping epic spans the Atlantic from New England to Morocco during the Age of Exploration. 

2019: A young woman finds a relic engraved with a mysterious symbol off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. Terrorists in Morocco steal a 17th-century book engraved with the same symbol. As the woman struggles to unravel the secrets behind the symbol, her life changes in ways she could never have imagined. 

1657: Transported back in time, she meets the alchemist, John Winthrop, Jr. who is plotting to lure the greatest scientific minds to the New World. But the more she learns, the more she fears for the lives of the loved ones she left behind. 

In a stunning twist of fate, a modern terrorist has traveled into the past, where he has become a Barbary Corsair. He has plans of his own. And he will stop at nothing to succeed.

This was quite an interesting read. I haven’t read any time travel novels set in Puritan New England (Well, before it was actually New England.), so that kept me interested. Peri was just an innocent in 2019, so she fit right in in the past—in a manner of speaking.

The writing here is solid, and the characters, even the Corsair from the future, were intriguing enough to keep me engrossed in the novel. There’s a lot going on, but it blends together to make for an entertaining read.

R.A Denny has a law degree from Duke University but chooses to do just what she loves:  write. The Alchemy Thief is her newest novel, the first in the Pirates and Puritans series.

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

Book Review and Blog Tour:  A Cowgirl’s Secret, by Melinda Curtis

Image belongs to Harlequin.

Title:   A Cowgirl’s Secret
Author:   Melinda Curtis
Genre:   Romance
Rating:  4 out of 5

Could saving the ranch… 

Mean a future together? 

Cowgirl Cassie Diaz has a secret—a bull riding accident may have stolen her dream of motherhood. She needs to recover, but how can she rest with her family’s ranch in peril? Recent Second Chance, Idaho, arrival Bentley Monroe offers help, and his quiet strength makes her feel safe. Loving him could heal her wounds, but would she have a future with this family man?

I enjoyed reading Bentley’s point-of-view. I liked Cassie’s, too, but I could totally relate to Bentley. I felt like Cassie’s potential health issue was inflated quite a bit—any confusion could have been cleared up with a simple phone call—but maybe that’s just me. I also had a little trouble with the idea of the Monroe family owning this entire town and its inhabitants, basically, but this was still an entertaining read.

Melinda Curtis is a bestselling author. A Cowgirl’s Secret is her newest novel.

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

Book Review and Blog Tour:  Finding a Christmas Home, by Lee Tobin McClain

Image belongs to Harlequin.

Title:   Finding a Christmas Home
Author:   Lee Tobin McClain
Genre:   Romance
Rating:  4 out of 5

Two little girls need a family…in this novel by New York Times bestselling author Lee Tobin McClain

 They are his nieces…

 But she can never tell him. 

As the new guardian to her twin nieces, Hannah Antonicelli is determined to keep her promise to her late sister—that she’ll never reveal the identity of their father. But when the girls’ uncle, Luke Hutchenson, moves in next door and takes a job where Hannah works, the truth threatens their growing connection. How can she keep the secret when she can’t even guard her own heart?

I’ve read the previous book in the Rescue Haven series, but it isn’t necessary, as these are standalone novels. Hannah was so determined to be awkward and unpretty that it was a bit annoying, but I liked her. It was also nice to see Luke get that chip off his shoulder. This was a pleasant read.

Lee Tobin McClain is the bestselling author of small-town romances. Finding a Christmas Home is her newest novel.

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

Book Review:  Sankofa, by Chibundu Onuzo

Image belongs to Catapult.

Title:   Sankofa
Author:   Chibundu Onuzo
Genre:   Fiction
Rating:  4 out of 5

Anna is at a stage of her life when she’s beginning to wonder who she really is. She has separated from her husband, her daughter is all grown up, and her mother—the only parent who raised her—is dead.

 Searching through her mother’s belongings one day, Anna finds clues about the African father she never knew. His student diaries chronicle his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London. Anna discovers that he eventually became the president—some would say dictator—of a small nation in West Africa. And he is still alive . . .

 When Anna decides to track her father down, a journey begins that is disarmingly moving, funny, and fascinating. Like the metaphorical bird that gives the novel its name, Sankofa expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present to address universal questions of race and belonging, the overseas experience for the African diaspora, and the search for a family’s hidden roots.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Anna has spent most of her life stagnating, so it was good to see her finally take some sort of action. But, Anna still lets life happen to her, going along with a lot of things instead of speaking up or standing up for herself. Her father was kind of awful, a far cry from the man she got to know from his diary.

Chibundu Onuzo is from Nigeria. Sankofa is her new novel.

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

Book Review and Blog Tour:  Lies My Memory Told Me, by Sacha Wunsch

Image belongs to Inkyard Press.

Title:   Lies My Memory Told Me
Author:   Sacha Wunsch
Genre:   YA
Rating:  3.0

Enhanced Memory changed everything. By sharing someone else’s memory, you can experience anything and everything with no risk at all: learn any skill instantly, travel the world from home, and safeguard all your most treasured secrets forever. Nova’s parents invented this technology, and it’s slowly taking over their lives. Nova doesn’t mind—mostly. She knows Enhanced Memory is a gift. 

But Kade says Nova doesn’t know the costs of this technology that’s taken the world by storm. Kade runs a secret vlog cataloging real experiences, is always on the move, and is strangely afraid of Nova—even though she feels more comfortable with him than she ever has with anyone. Suddenly there are things Nova can’t stop noticing: the way her parents don’t meet her eyes anymore, the questions no one wants her to ask, and the relentless feeling that there’s something she’s forgotten…

This was just a meh read for me. Nova never felt like a real person to me at all. She just let things happen to her, and then was astonished. The other characters, especially Kade, felt like mere shadows of people, and there was just so much that felt unfinished. Even the ending was…lackluster.

Sacha Wunsch is a bestselling author. Lies My Memory Told Me is her newest novel.

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

 

 

Book Review:  I Am Not Who You Think I Am, by Eric Rickstad

Image belongs to Blackstone Publishing.

Title:   I Am Not Who You Think I Am
Author:   Eric Rickstad
Genre:   Mystery/thriller
Rating:  3.0

Wayland Maynard is just eight years old when he sees his father kill himself, finds a note that reads I am not who you think I am, and is left reeling with grief and shock. Who was his father if not the loving man Wayland knew? Terrified, Wayland keeps the note a secret, but his reasons for being afraid are just beginning.

 Eight years later, Wayland makes a shocking discovery and becomes certain the note is the key to unlocking a past his mother and others in his town want to keep buried. 

With the help of two friends, Wayland searches for the truth. Together they uncover strange messages scribbled in his father’s old books, a sinister history behind the town’s most powerful family, and a bizarre tragedy possibly linked to Wayland’s birth. Each revelation raises more questions and deepens Wayland’s suspicions of everyone around him. Soon, he’ll regret he ever found the note, trusted his friends, or believed in such a thing as the truth.

Wayland…ended up being a horrible person. Completely self-absorbed, selfish, and prone to jumping to conclusions, I never felt any sympathy for him. Later in the book, I actively disliked him and found him even less sympathetic. While the writing was solid, I found the premise—and the truth—outside my realm of belief.

Eric Rickstad lives in Vermont. I Am Not Who You Think I Am is his newest novel.

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