Tag: reading

Book Review: The Fiance Dilemma, by Elena Armas   

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:  The Fiance Dilemma
Author: Elena Armas          
Genre:  Romance      
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.

Matthew Flanagan is in the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.

What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement—and a stunt, at that—makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colorful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.

This book was so much fun! Josie’s voice was so funny to me, and the situations she landed herself in had me laughing out loud. I loved the chemistry between her and Matthew and enjoyed watching it grow. I thought her fear of marriage was a little…random and pointless, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this book.

Elena Armas is a bestselling author. The Fiance Dilemma is her newest novel.

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

Book Review and Blog Tour: Second Tide’s the Charm, by Chandra Blumberg

Harlequin/Canary Street Press.

Title:  Second Tide’s the Charm
Author:  Chandra Blumberg       
Genre:   Romance     
Rating: 4 out of 5  

Love puts you in uncharted waters.

At first glance, Hope Evans just landed the perfect job: spending the summer on a shark research boat. Except as every marine biologist knows, it’s what’s going on beneath the surface that counts, and Hope’s new position comes with a big catch—the boat belongs to her ex-boyfriend, Adrian Hollis-Parker. For three years Hope’s been treading water, staying away from anything that reminds her of their past. It’s time to dive back into a job that could springboard her career—and maybe offer much-needed closure.

Since their split, Adrian has risen to internet fame as a shark expert with the launch of his YouTube channel to dispel myths and educate viewers about sharks. But success rings hollow without Hope. Embracing this new career trajectory was a risk, but working in cramped quarters with the woman he never stopped loving? That has the potential to backfire in heartbreaking ways.

Side by side, weathering storms of every kind, they’ll have to navigate the murky waters of past hurts…and hope it’s not too late to chart a new course…

This was a cute read! I enjoyed the scientific setting—and the ocean views—and found the shark details fascinating. I loved both Hope and Adrian, and the author did a great job showing their struggles, both alone and together. It was fun to watch them work things out, and I liked their chemistry.

Chandra Blumberg lives in Chicago. Second Tide’s the Charm is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Canary Street Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #288

This was a good writing week! I got in five fiction sessions, three book reviews, That Prince is Mine, by Jayci Lee, My Favourite Mistake, by Marian Keyes and Castle of the Cursed, by Romina Garber, and also my July reading post and the best books I read in July.

Happy writing!

Book Review: My Favourite Mistake, by Marian Keyes

Image belongs to Penguin Random House.

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.)

The Best Books I Read in July (2024)

In July, I read 17 books, bringing my total for the year to 124 books read. Most of those were solid reads, but some were exceptional.

Winter Lost, by Patricia Briggs. Because all of the Mercy Thompson series is fantastic, and this was no exception. A bit chilly for me, though.

The Iron Vow, by Julie Kagawa. A fitting ending for the Iron Fey series. I’m a bit late to the party, but I re-read the entire series and fell in love with the world and characters all over again.

The Lost Story, by Meg Shaffer. I really enjoyed this immensely. This had Chronicles of Narnia vibes and was just a magical story in itself.

What I Read in July (2024)

Books Read in July: 17
Books Read for the Year:  124/215
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
Winter Lost, by Patricia Briggs (TBR): I love this series and these characters!
Alpha, by Rachel Vincent (TBR): I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this series!
The Iron Vow, by Julie Kagawa (TBR): I loved the ending of this series!
Devils and Details, by Devon Monk (TBR): I’m really enjoying this new-to-me series.
A Deceptive Composition, by Anna Lee Huber (TBR): I enjoy this series so much.
I See You, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR): Loving this spin-off of the Adept books.

For Review:

Beyond Summerland, by Jenny Lecoat. I found this to be a pretty depressing read.

Not You Again, by Ingrid Pierce. This was a fun read, although the lack of communication was frustrating.

Writing on Empty, by Natalie Goldberg. This was…beyond disappointing. It was just a bunch of whining and sitting around feeling sorry for herself, and exactly zero actually helpful advice. Don’t bother.

The Darkness Within Us, by Tricia Levenseller. I enjoyed this read, although I liked the background stuff a bit more than the main plot.

The Backtrack, by Erin La Rosa. This was an interesting read. I thought the scenes in the past were very vivid, and the details made me laugh and shake my head.

Dashed, by Amanda Quain. This was such a fun read!

The Lost Story, by Meg Shaffer. I very much enjoyed this story! It had a bit of a Chronicles of Narnia feel, and I found it an engrossing read, filled withe everyday magic.

The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish, by Paula Brackston. I’ve enjoyed Brackston’s other books, so I was excited to read the start of a new series. And it did no disappoint! The historical details are so well-done, and I loved Hecate.

That Prince is Mine, by Jayci Lee. This was a cute read!

Castle of the Cursed, by Romina Garber. This was a very atmospheric, fairly dark read with bits of scifi and family drama mixed together with fantasy and romance.

Just Because: Praying the Names of God, by Ann Spangler. I enjoyed this weekly devotional.

Single Today, by Ryan Wekenman. This was a great audio read.

Left Unfinished:

On the Surface, by Rachel Mcguire. I read 10%, but the characters just all seemed like terrible people, and I wasn’t in the mood for that.

Ladykiller, by Katherine Wood. The first 15% of this felt like a trainwreck in slow motion, involving people I didn’t like, so, no.

The Bright Sword, by Lev Grossman. I only got about 5% into this because it just didn’t hold my attention.

Three Keys, by Laura Pritchett. The MC bored me and I wasn’t interested in her at all.

The Summer Club, by Hannah McKinnon. I read 15% of this and just found it boring, with very surface-level characters.

Book Review:  Castle of the Cursed, by Romina Garber

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

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.)

Book Review:  That Prince is Mine, by Jayci Lee    

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:   That Prince is Mine
Author:  Jayci Lee       
Genre: Romance      
Rating: 4 out of 5

Emma Yoon runs a small business as a culinary instructor in Los Angeles teaching Korean royal court cuisine to young ladies striving to marry into the exclusive upper crust Korean families. She has built her business alongside her renowned Korean matchmaker godmother, which brings her one step closer to her dream of opening up a culinary school on her own. But when her godmother’s fellow matchmakers decide to meddle in Emma’s love life in a bid to sabotage her godmother, and indirectly push Emma’s dream out of her reach, she must go on a series of arranged first dates and find herself the perfect-on-paper husband to help save both, her godmother’s reputation and her dream–even if she’s not ready for love. But when she meets Michel Aubert, a professor at USC, after a series of disastrous first dates, she wonders if she might reevaluate her position on love.

Prince Michel Aubert is bound by duty and responsibility to his country, but an arranged marriage is the last thing he wants. If he is going to spend the rest of his life in service of his people, then he at least wants someone he loves and trusts by his side while doing it. He needs to find a woman who loves him for who he is before his engagement to his handpicked bride is announced. Emma Yoon might be just the woman he is looking for.

This was a fun read! A prince in disguise, a girl who doesn’t believe in love, and lots of yummy-sounding food combine to keep the reader invested and entertained. Emma’s cynicism regarding love is understandable, and I enjoyed how she slowly became open to changing her mind about it. The secondary characters were a lot of fun here, and I’d be happy to read more about them.

Jayci Lee lives in California. That Prince is Mine is her newest novel.

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

Sundays are for Writing #287

This was an okay writing week: five fiction sessions and one book review, The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish, by Paula Brackston. Had some stuff going on in my family this week, so writing was a struggle, but it happened.

Happy writing!

Book Review: The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish, by Paula Brackston      

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish     
Author: Paula Brackston         
Genre:  Historical fiction      
Rating:   4.5 out of 5

England, 1881.

Hereford cathedral stands sentinel over the city, keeping its secrets, holding long forgotten souls in its stony embrace. Hecate Cavendish speeds through the cobbled streets on her bicycle, skirts hitched daringly high, heading for her new life as Assistant Librarian. But this is no ordinary collection of books. The cathedral houses an ancient chained library, wisdom guarded for centuries, mysteries and stories locked onto its worn, humble shelves. The most prized artifact, however, is the medieval world map which hangs next to Hecate’s desk. Little does she know how much the curious people and mythical creatures depicted on it will come to mean to her. Nor does she suspect that there are lost souls waiting for her in the haunted cathedral. Some will become her dearest friends. Some will seek her help in finding peace. Others will put her in great peril, and, as she quickly learns, threaten the lives of everyone she loves.

I really enjoyed this read! Hecate is a fascinating character, and I loved getting to know her. This is a very atmospheric novel, and I was fully absorbed into the setting. The characters—including the ghosts—are well-done and believable, and I was eager to see where the story took them. Can’t wait to read more in this series.

Paula Brackston is a bestselling author. The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish is her newest novel.

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