Can’t Wait Wednesday – ROSALINE PALMER TAKES THE CAKE by Alexis Hall
/28 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is ROSALINE PALMER TAKES THE CAKE by Alexis Hall. I’m excited for this book because I just finally got around to reading her popular novel, Boyfriend Material, and I absolutely loved it. The fact that this one features a reality TV show about baking just sounds like so much fun!
ROSALINE PALMER TAKES THE CAKE by Alexis Hall
Publication Date: May 18, 2021 by Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
From Netgalley:
Fans of Casey McQuiston, Christina Lauren, and Abby Jimenez will love this scrumptious and sweet romantic comedy from the “dizzyingly talented writer” of Boyfriend Material (Entertainment Weekly)!
Following the recipe is the key to a successful bake. Rosaline Palmer has always lived by those rules—well, except for when she dropped out of college to raise her daughter, Amelie. Now, with a paycheck as useful as greaseproof paper and a house crumbling faster than biscuits in tea, she’s teetering on the edge of financial disaster. But where there’s a whisk there’s a way . . . and Rosaline has just landed a spot on the nation’s most beloved baking show.
Winning the prize money would give her daughter the life she deserves—and Rosaline is determined to stick to the instructions. However, more than collapsing trifles stand between Rosaline and sweet, sweet victory. Suave, well-educated, and parent-approved Alain Pope knows all the right moves to sweep her off her feet, but it’s shy electrician Harry Dobson who makes Rosaline question her long-held beliefs—about herself, her family, and her desires.
Rosaline fears falling for Harry is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. Yet as the competition—and the ovens—heat up, Rosaline starts to realize the most delicious bakes come from the heart.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂
Top Ten Tuesday – Books Set in Places I’d Love to Live
/32 Comments/by Suzanne
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Places In Books I’d Love to Live. If I had invested more time and thought into this, I probably could have come up with 10 fictional places I’d love to live, but after a year of sitting in basically the same place thanks to COVID, all I could think about was a change of scenery and places that were loaded with endless entertainment – theater, museums, art, history, etc. Since that’s what was on mind, I decided to share some books set in actual places, if money was not an obstacle, I’d love to live. I did throw in one fictional town at the end of my list for good measure though. I love it because it’s a quaint small town in Georgia filled with wonderful neighbors, cute shops, etc.
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Books Set in Places I’d Love to Live
1. New York City
2. Italy
3. Greece
4. Paris
5. London
6. San Francisco
7. Canada
8. Nantucket/Cape Cod/Martha’s Vineyard area
9. Australia
10. Peachtree Bluff, Georgia (fictional small town)
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Question: If you could live anywhere different from where you live now, where would you choose to go?
Reviews: THE INFINITY COURTS & HELLO, CRUEL HEART
/16 Comments/by Suzanne
Hey everyone! I’m back today with a couple of new reviews to share on some upcoming YA releases. I was very excited to read the first book as it’s a sci-fi/fantasy novel written by Akemi Dawn Bowman. I’ve read several of her YA contemporary novels so it was fun to read something so different from her. I was equally excited to read the second book because Cruella is one of my favorite Disney villains. It was fun to imagine a backstory for her.
The Infinity Courts (The Infinity Courts, #1) GoodreadsAuthor: Akemi Dawn Bowman
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman quite literally starts off with a bang when the main character, 18 year old Nami Miyamoto, is shot and killed on her way to her high school graduation party. I was hooked right away because of course I’m trying to figure out where the story is going if the main character is dead within the first few pages. Well, it turns out we’re following her to the afterlife, specifically to a place called Infinity. Infinity is where a human’s subconscious goes after his or her physical body is no longer living. Once she realizes where she is, Nami is shocked to learn that the afterlife has been taken over by Ophelia, the popular virtual assistant humans use to do their bidding. Ophelia has crowned herself Queen of Infinity and she seeks revenge against the humans by forcing them all into servitude as they die. Revenge isn’t Ophelia’s endgame either though. Nami flees before she falls into Ophelia’s clutches, meets up with a small band of human rebels, and joins them in their fight to preserve the afterlife for their loved ones who have yet to die.
First of all, I have to give props to Bowman for coming up with such a unique premise for a story. She definitely had me giving the side-eye to both Alexa and Siri as I was reading this, haha. I was also fascinated by the creative worldbuilding with respect to Infinity and the various courts it contains. There’s Victory court, which is beautiful and vivid and known for its many parties, at which humans work as servants. There’s also War, a grim and brutal court where uncooperative humans are sent to battle for their souls. And finally, there’s Death, the mysterious court that appears to be where Ophelia conducts experiments related to her endgame, which is to exterminate all human consciousness so that she can have Infinity all to herself.
Aside from the creative worldbuilding, I was also a fan of the complex characters Bowman has created. Nami and her band of rebels are of course very easy to root for as they are the underdogs trying to take down an AI tyrant who doesn’t seem to have a weakness of any kind. Nami was all the more interesting though because she has moments where she’s torn about what they’re trying to do. She of course wants to preserve the afterlife for her family for when they die, but at the same time, to a degree, she understands why Ophelia hates humans and wants to get back at them. Nami wonders if there’s any way for Ophelia and the humans to reach a compromise and ignores the other rebels when they tell her they’ve already tried. Nami’s internal struggle creates tension and mistrust within the group because they’re never 100% sure if they can trust her. Ophelia is also an incredibly complex character. She is not your typical AI by any stretch of the imagination, especially as it relates to her desire for revenge.
The unique premise, creative worldbuilding and the complex characters kept me entertained from start to finish. I also really loved the exploration of humanity and what it really means to be a human. The only weakness for me was the ending, which just fell a little flat for me and seemed abrupt. I’m definitely on board with continuing the series though. I need to see who will come out on top! 3.5 STARS
Hello, Cruel World Goodreads
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
Publisher: Disney Press
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Have you ever wondered how Cruella de Vil came to be the way she is? Was she always evil or once upon a time, was she just a normal average young girl with dreams of love, success, and happiness? Inspired by the upcoming Disney live action film, Cruella, Hello, Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson sets out to explore that exact topic and provide a plausible origin story for this Disney villain extraordinaire.
The story is set in London in the late 60’s and follows 16-year-old Cruella, actually known as Estella here, on her quest to become a famous fashion designer. Orphaned at a young age, Estella has been basically homeless for years, living in an old bombed-out building with two boys, Jasper and Horace, who are in similar dire straits. They teach her how to pick pockets and shoplift, and thus the three of them muddle along, stealing enough to survive and forming a little makeshift family of their own. Estella dreams of bigger things for herself though. She aspires to become a famous fashion designer and often steals fabric and other items so that she can practice her craft. Sadly, much of her time is spent sewing disguises and costumes for their many heists rather than the high fashion clothing she dreams of creating.
Johnson does a wonderful job of making young Cruella/Estella very likeable and sympathetic. Who wouldn’t root for an orphan, who also happens to be a gifted fashion designer, to realize her dream? When Estella has a chance encounter with Richard and Magda, two of London’s most fashionable young people, and they invite her to join them, Estella wonders if this is the out from her old life she has been looking for, especially when they take such special interest in her designs. She hopes this friendship is the start of something big and is invited to one party after another and is inspired to create dress after dress for these events that are the envy of everyone she meets. She’s so happy doing what she loves and making friends and even meeting boys that I found myself cheering her on that she really would have a happy ending even though I knew it was impossible.
The only area where I struggled a bit to connect with the story was that Cruella was used almost as an alter ego whenever Estella did something bad, like a ‘It wasn’t me, it was Cruella” kind of thing. As Estella got a little older, Cruella then became a mean voice in her head telling her would never have friends or love. This Cruella alter ego didn’t turn up very often in the story, but each time she did, it just read awkwardly for me. There was an instance, for example, where she gets into a fight with Horace and Jasper and when she goes to apologize to them later, they’re all “We know it wasn’t you, it was Cruella.” The ending of the book was also somewhat awkward for me for similar reasons. I just couldn’t exactly tell what Cruella was supposed to be. At first I thought maybe mental illness but, by the end, I had more questions than answers. Hopefully the movie will bring some clarity.
Even with my Cruella issues though, I still enjoyed Hello, Cruel Heart overall. It’s a creative villain origin story that definitely made me feel sympathy for one of Disney’s most despicable villains, which is quite a feat in and of itself. 3.5 STARS