Reviews – THE BRIGHT SPOT & RED STRING THEORY
/7 Comments/by Suzanne
Hey everyone! Well, we’ve made it through another week. I can’t decide if the year is already flying by or if it’s dragging, but all I know is that I’m ready for some warmer weather. The older I get, the less I like the cold. Anyway, today I’m back to share a couple of romance reads that I enjoyed this month. I’m so late to the Jill Shalvis game, but I am really loving her Sunrise Cove series. I want to read some of her backlist titles but the list is overwhelming. If anyone has a rec for which series I should try next, let me know! I’m also sharing my thoughts on Lauren Kung Jessen’s latest novel, which is just as much of a gem as her debut was last year. Let me know if you have read either of these!
The Bright Spot (Sunrise Cove, #5) Goodreads
Author: Jill Shalvis
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Publisher: Avon
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
The Bright Spot is the fifth book in Jill Shalvis’ heartwarming Sunrise Cove series. As with the other books in the series, The Bright Spot is set in the picturesque Lake Tahoe region and even though it’s part of a series, it works quite well as a standalone.
Luna Wright, adopted at birth, grew up knowing little about her biological family. She has created a home and family for herself at Apple Ridge Farm, the charming but struggling farm she has managed for years. When the crotchety owner Silas passes away suddenly, Luna is surprised to find that she has inherited one half of the farm. The other half is under the control of his investment manager, Jameson Hayes, who arrives unexpectedly to help Luna save the farm. Luna doesn’t trust him but is willing to do whatever it takes to save her beloved farm so she and Jameson begin to forge an uneasy alliance.
There’s so much to love about this book. Apple Ridge Farm is just the most perfect setting, filled with adorable rescue animals, including a baby goat named Dammit Ziggy who had me laughing from the very first page of the book. There’s also a quirky and lovable cast of secondary characters who all adore Luna and think she’s amazing, even when she doesn’t see it for herself. The found family vibes on this farm are everything!
I also just loved watching Luna find her way, especially after several big secrets Silas was keeping are discovered after his death and practically turn her life upside down. Jameson has some issues that he is working through as well so in many ways, the story is a journey of self-discovery for them both. I also enjoyed the two of them interacting. Once they get past those initial trust issues, it was lovely to watch them start to grow closer. I loved the easy banter between them and that they worked together so well as a team.
If you’re in the mood for a heartwarming story, you can’t go wrong with The Bright Spot! 4 STARS
Red String Theory Goodreads
Author: Lauren Kung Jessen
Publication Date: January 9, 2024
Publisher: Forever
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Red String Theory is the latest romance novel from Lauren Kung Jessen. I really enjoyed her debut, Lunar Love, so I was eager to read this new one, an opposites-attract romance that explores the idea of whether or not some people are fated to be together.
Rooney is a Chinese-American artist who wholeheartedly believes in the Chinese legend that everyone is tied to their soulmate by the red string of fate. She believes in this idea so passionately that she has even created an outdoor art exhibit that is inspired by it. Jack is a NASA engineer who is all about science and facts. He doesn’t believe in fate at all but on a trip to New York, he happens across Rooney’s red string art and is very intrigued by it.
When Jack later meets Rooney, he has no idea that she is the red string artist, but the two of them really hit it off and end up spending the most magical night seeing all of the sights around the city and just enjoying each other’s company. By the end of that night, they both feel that they have a special connection and Jack tells Rooney his number so that they can keep in touch after he heads back home. Sadly, Rooney mistypes the phone number and Jack is lost to her. When fate unexpectedly reunites them months later as coworkers, Rooney is convinced that this is a sign and that Jack must be her soulmate.
I really enjoyed this one. I’m always on the fence about whether or not I believe in fate, so as Jack and Rooney find themselves debating the topic, I could understand where they were both coming from since they were each voicing some of my own thoughts on the subject. Ultimately though, I just loved them together so much that I was just rooting for them to find a way to agree to disagree and just be happy together.
Jack and Rooney’s magical night in NYC was a highlight of Red String Theory for me, as was the inclusion of so many elements from Chinese culture. This was a sweet romance, but at the same time, a thought provoking read, which is a combination I enjoy. I look forward to reading more from Lauren Kung Jessen. 4 STARS
Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE LOST STORY by Meg Shaffer
/6 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 THE LOST STORY by Meg Shaffer. I just read this author’s debut novel The Wishing Game last month and fell in love with her storytelling. This new book sounds like it has the potential to be just as whimsical and as a huge Chronicles of Narnia fan, I’m beyond excited to read it.
THE LOST STORY by Meg Shaffer
by Random House – Ballantine Books
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.
As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell vanished in a West Virginia state park, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.
Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Jeremy is a famous missing persons investigator with an uncanny ability to find the lost, while Rafe is a reclusive artist unable to stop creating otherworldly paintings and sculptures he shows to no one. He bears scars inside and out from his disappearance but has no memory of what happened while they were gone.
Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth behind their time in the woods. While the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons.
But the time for burying secrets comes to an end when vet tech Emilie Wendel hires Jeremy to find her long-lost sister . . . the long-lost sister he and Rafe knew while living in that hidden kingdom. Now the former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories. Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy return to the enchanted world they called home for six months . . . for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.
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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 – Valentine’s Freebie – Books with Heart in the Title
/24 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 a Valentine’s Day Freebie so I decided to share some of my favorite book with “Heart” in the title. I don’t know if my brain just wasn’t working or what, but it was surprisingly hard to find ten even though I primarily read romance.
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Books with Heart in the Title
1. ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART by Stephanie Garber
2. THE HEART PRINCIPLE by Helen Hoang
3. WILD AT HEART by K.A. Tucker
5. HEARTSTOPPER by Alice Oseman
6. THE KEY TO MY HEART by Lia Louis
7. HEART BONES by Colleen Hoover
8. OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng
9. THE TRAIL OF LOST HEARTS by Tracey Garvis Graves
10. JAR OF HEARTS by Jennifer Hillier
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