Holiday Reviews: A WINTER IN NEW YORK & WRECK THE HALLS

October 9, 2023/6 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday everyone! As you can tell by how late I’m making a post today, it has been a day! We have two big work deadlines coming up on 10/15 so things have been a bit hectic. I have gotten a ton of reading done but have been too tired to actually sit down and write reviews. I did read two fabulous holiday romances last week though and wanted to share my thoughts now that they’re both available in stores.

A Winter in New York Goodreads

Author: Josie Silver

Publication Date: October 3, 2023

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and a complimentary ALC from Penguin Random House Audio. All opinions are my own.

Set in New York City around the holidays, Josie Silver’s new novel A Winter in New York follows Iris Raven, a young chef who, following the death of her mother, has just moved to New York City, looking for a fresh start. Iris and her mom spent countless evenings watching movies set in New York while eating delicious gelato from her mom’s favorite recipe. Those movies, however, did nothing to prepare Iris for just how huge the city really was.

Thankfully, Bobby, Iris’ neighbor and immediate best friend, makes it his mission to get her out into the city to experience it to the fullest. When he takes her to a food festival in Little Italy, Belotti’s, a family-run gelateria immediately catches Iris’ eye. She recognizes it from an old cherished photo of her mom’s and wants to visit the shop as a way to feel close to her mom again. What Iris doesn’t realize as she’s making plans to return the next day, is how truly life changing visiting this shop will actually be.

Iris returns the next day and is surprised to see Gio behind the counter, only because she has just recently met him in an awkward encounter at the bookstore. Gio and Iris get reacquainted, and he informs her that the shop is actually in danger of closing. His uncle Santo, the owner, is sick and in a coma, and because of a strict family rule, no one else knows the secret family recipe for their beloved gelato. As Gio tells this story, Iris starts to suspect that the recipe she and her mother have enjoyed for years may, in fact, be the Belotti secret recipe. Why would her mother have this family’s top secret recipe? Is there any way she can hand over the recipe without creating drama for this family since they’ll know that someone, probably Santo, gave the recipe to someone outside of the family? Iris decides the best course of action is to volunteer to help try to recreate the recipe. Her hope is to help save the business in time for the holiday season while also protecting both her mother and Santo.

This story really was a delightful and heartwarming read. I loved watching Gio and Iris work together every day to try to recreate this recipe. They of course have wonderful chemistry that Silver brings to life beautifully, but they are also both very much dealing with grief and loss. While Iris is still mourning the loss of her mom, Gio is grieving the loss of his wife. Working comfortably side by side every day allows both Iris and Gio to start moving past that grief and to find their way to one another. They had so many sweet moments together in that shop. The Belotti family was also fantastic and I adored them. They were a big-hearted, loud, loving family and it was just such a joy every time they appeared on the scene.

Another wonderful element of the story was Iris following the clues to figure out what exactly Belotti’s shop meant to her mother. We get some beautifully done flashback scenes to when Iris’ mom was a young woman living in the city. I love a good dual timeline story so I very much enjoyed watching this aspect of the story unfold.

I alternated between the e-book and the audio and thoroughly enjoyed both. Emma Appleton narrates the audiobook and she just did such a magnificent job creating distinct voices for each character and capturing both the humorous and the heartfelt moments of the story.

If you’re looking for a heartwarming, heartfelt holiday read, be sure to check out A Winter in New York. 4.5 STARS

Wreck the Halls Goodreads

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: October 3, 2023

Publisher: Avon and Harper Voyager

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I know that I can always count on Tessa Bailey for an entertaining rom-com so I, of course, couldn’t resist her latest book, Wreck the Halls, a holiday-themed rom-com that features the adult children of two estranged former rock band mates who team up to try to convince their moms to reunite for a Christmas Eve concert.

Melody Gallard may be the daughter of a rock legend, but one awkward tabloid photo when she was a teen was enough to make Melody shun the spotlight and the attention that goes hand and hand with fame. Instead, she has chosen a quieter path for herself and spends her days restoring old books. When a producer comes forward and offers her a huge sum of money if she can convince her mom to reunite with her band on live TV, Melody wonders if this is a sign it’s time to step out of her comfort zone. She loves the idea of having enough money to be financially independent and is also very intrigued by the fact that she’ll have to team up with the only other person who can possibly convince the estranged band members to get back together, Beat Dawkins.

Beat is the son of the band’s lead singer. Charming, handsome, and not at all awkward in front of the cameras, Beat’s experience with fame was quite different from Melody’s. When he and Melody met as teenagers while the band was still together, Beat immediately felt very protective of Melody, especially when he saw how the media treated her so differently from the way they treated him. Beat thought they might become friends but instead, they lost touch after the band broke up. These days Beat finds himself dealing with one of the serious downsides of fame, someone with a secret about his mom’s past, is blackmailing him. Every time Beat thinks he’s done with the guy, he shows up again demanding more money. When Beat is approached about trying to reunite the band, he truly hopes the payout is enough to get the blackmailer off his back once and for all. Plus, there’s the added bonus of finally getting to see Melody again.

This book was such a fun ride! I loved that the premise of this reunion was done in the vein of a reality TV show, with both Beat and Melody mic’d up and followed by camera crews at all times. Trying to get these two rock divas to reunite was basically Mission Impossible for the two of them, but I loved every minute of the rom-com style shenanigans that took place. I also loved that it gave Melody and Beat a chance to get reacquainted as adults and finally explore the sparks that flew between them when they first met as teens. Tessa Bailey is the queen of the spicy rom-com so of course things heat up between these two and I was here for it and cheering them on.

If you’re looking to add a little spice to your holiday romance TBR, you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy of Wreck the Halls. 4 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: In a Quiet Town & Finders Keepers

October 5, 2023/10 Comments/by Sharon

Hi everyone! Time for another edition of Thriller Thursday with Sharon. 🙂 This week I have two psychological thrillers, Amber Garza’s, In a Quiet Town and Natalie Barelli’s, Finders Keepers. I really like both of these authors and they did not disappoint with these books.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: In a Quiet Town & Finders Keepers

In a Quiet Town Goodreads

Author: Amber Garza

Publication Date: August 8, 2023

Publisher: Mira

Amber Garza’s newest book, In a Quiet Town, is a psychological thriller that follows a determined mother as she searches for her missing daughter.

Tatum has finally reconnected with her daughter Adrienne after not seeing or talking to her for a couple of years. Tatum’s husband, Shane, is the Pastor at the local church and he and Adrienne had always had a strained relationship. Adrienne could do nothing right in Shane’s eyes. A couple of years ago Shane cut off all contact with Adrienne. Tatum went along with it because she never questioned her husband, but now she has secretly been visiting Adrienne at the bar she works at on Wednesday nights when Shane is at his men’s club meetings. But one Wednesday night Adrienne does not show up for work. When no one has heard from her for a couple of days Tatum goes looking for her, but Adrienne is not at her apartment or anywhere in town. When Tatum reports her as missing to the police, they do not take her seriously because Adrienne as always been on the wild side, “She probably just went off for a few days” they said. The only other person that is taking Adrienne’s disappearance seriously is her fiancé Seth, Who Tatum didn’t even know existed until she met him at Adrienne’s apartment. Together they work to find Adrienne, but the more time Tatum spends with Seth, the more suspicious she becomes of him. Can Tatum find her daughter before it is too late?

The story is told in dual timeline. The present-day chapters are titled “The Mother” and are told from Tatum’s POV and the past chapters are titled “The Daughter” and are told from Adrienne’s POV and also chapters titled “The Fiancé”. Now I don’t want to talk about the fiancé’s chapters, well I do but I cannot LOL, because anything I say will be a major spoiler. I’ll just say that I really enjoyed trying to piece things together while reading those chapters.

In Tatum’s chapters we get to follow her as she works to find Adrienne. I really liked Tatum, the whole time she was married to Shane she had to act a certain way because she was the pastor’s wife. She never stood up to Shane and always took his side over Adrienne’s. She was excited to be reconnecting with Adrienne. When Adrienne went missing, Tatum’s momma-bear persona came out and I loved watching her get a backbone and stand up to Shane.

I really liked getting the lead-up to what happened in Adrienne’s chapters. In these chapters, we get a look into what life was like for her with her father, as well as her relationship with Seth. The whole time I was reading Adrienne’s chapters, I was hoping that she was alright.

In a Quiet Town is full of twists and turns that kept me guessing and turning the pages. The tension and suspense slowly inched its way up and by the end of the book I was on the edge of my seat. 4 stars

Finders Keepers: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller Goodreads

Author: Natalie Barelli

Publication Date: August 23, 2023

Publisher: Furphies Press

I have enjoyed all of Natalie Barelli’s books, so I was excited to read her latest, Finders Keepers, and I am happy to report that this did not disappoint.

Emily Harper is an entitled influencer who found a laptop at an airport a couple of years ago. The only thing on the laptop was a diary, which Emily decided to publish as her own. She changed a few things up and now she is the successful author of a novel called, Diary of an Octopus. Rose is the real owner of the laptop and diary and when she sees the book in the window of Barnes and Noble, she stops dead in her tracks. No, she thinks, the book name is just a coincidence. But when she reads a few paragraphs of the book she knows that Emily did not write this book, because this is her diary, the one she kept when she was thirteen years old. Rose needs to get her laptop back, because this diary is not just about a schoolgirl crush, it is also about a murder that could land Rose in jail.

This book is broken up into two parts. The first part of the book is when Rose comes up with her plan to get close to Emily so she can get her laptop back. I loved Rose. She made me laugh quite a few times while I was reading. The plans she kept coming up with sounded so good in her mind, but they never worked out. I loved how she would roll her eyes at Emily and then be thinking in her head how easy it would be to just kill her. She has already committed one murder, what is one more? LOL!

I have to say I did not like Emily at all. Right from the start she came off as so condescending. She thinks she is all that and everyone should be ready to serve her when needed. Plus, Hello! She stole the laptop and used the diary for her own gain.

The first part of the book ends in a twist that I did not see coming. This twist starts the suspense and tension in the second part of the book. I cannot say what the twist was, but I will say it made me hate Emily more than I did in the first part. I also did not trust anyone in this half of the book.

We also get excerpts from the diary Rose kept when she was thirteen, and the more I read the more sympathy I had for Rose. I couldn’t tell though if what she was writing was truth or just the wild imagination of a teenage girl. But either way I loved Rose even more.

Finders Keepers is a psychological thriller that is full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. 4 stars

Blog Tour – FAKING CHRISTMAS by Kerry Winfrey

September 29, 2023/7 Comments/by Suzanne

Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey

Published by BERKLEY on September 26, 2023
Genres: Fiction, Holiday, Romance
Pages: 288
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
Goodreads

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the free copy of Faking Christmas and to Tina Joell for the invitation to take part in the blog tour for this book!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m a huge fan of holiday reads and that I also love Kerry Winfrey’s books so I was over the moon to learn her newest novel was a holiday romance. Faking Christmas is an enemies to lovers romance that also features fake relationships and the coziest of Christmas vibes. I devoured this book in a day and adored every page of it!

The story follows Laurel Grant, who works as the social media manager for Buckeye State of Mind, an Ohio tourism publication. When she landed this job, Laurel unintentionally led her boss, Gilbert, to believe she owns Meadow Rise Farm, which is actually owned by her twin sister, Holly. She thinks nothing of this little white lie until Gilbert’s wife dumps him right before Christmas and he invites himself to the farm to partake in all of the holiday festivities that Laurel has chronicled in detail on the farm’s social media page as if she were the one hosting them even though she can’t even make Easy Mac without creating a kitchen hazard. Now all she has to do is switch places with her sister and pretend she is basically the Martha Stewart of the Midwest. Oh and that she is married to Max Beckett, a man she has loathed ever since she met him at her sister’s wedding. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything about this read was pure perfection to me! Laurel is such an endearing character that I couldn’t help but root for her to somehow pull off this crazy plan. I also loved how Laurel’s sister, Holly, was immediately onboard like “Sure, let’s do this. I’ll find you a fake husband!” Her cooperation provided the setup for the perfect blend of hilarious romcom antics, that snarky banter that goes hand in hand with enemies to lovers romances, and all of the festive and cozy holiday vibes. The chemistry between Laurel and Max was also off the charts, so if you like a little sizzle in your holiday romances, Winfrey has you covered there as well. Lastly, there’s even a lovely found family feeling as Laurel’s family practically adopts Gilbert to infuse his broken heart with a little holiday cheer.

If you’re looking for a delightful, feel good romance to add to your holiday TBR, you’ll definitely want to check out Faking Christmas!

About Kerry Winfrey

Kerry Winfrey is the author of the adult romantic comedies WAITING FOR TOM HANKS, NOT LIKE THE MOVIES, VERY SINCERELY YOURS, and JUST ANOTHER LOVE SONG, as well as the teen romantic comedies LOVE AND OTHER ALIEN EXPERIENCES and THINGS JOLIE NEEDS TO DO BEFORE SHE BITES IT. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her family.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram

Holiday Romance Reviews: THE WAKE-UP CALL; LOVE, HOLLY; & THE EX-MAS HOLIDAYS

September 25, 2023/7 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful first weekend of fall. I spent it celebrating my son’s 16th birthday, preparing for a tropical storm to blow through, and reading three holiday-themed novels that come out tomorrow. I wasn’t really ready to start my holiday reading but I have to say that these books did make me start feeling the Christmas spirit and looking forward to my beloved Hallmark holiday films which will start next month. Anyway on to the books. Two of these are by authors I love, Beth O’Leary and Emily Stone, while the third is a new-to-me author I was excited to try this year.

The Wake-Up Call Goodreads

Author: Beth O’Leary

Publication Date: September 26, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e- copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and an ALC from PRHAudio. All opinions are my own.

I’ll confess that I was a little nervous going into The Wake-Up Call. Workplace romance is not typically my favorite trope, but I love Beth O’Leary’s writing and wanted to see how she would approach it. I’m so glad I gave the book a chance too because it turned out to be such a wonderful and heartwarming read for me.

When we first meet Izzy, we can tell right away that she is not a fan of Lucas, her coworker at the Forest Manor Hotel, and that he doesn’t appear to be a fan of hers either. They are a classic grumpy-sunshine duo and they have a fierce rivalry, always trying to one-up the other. Additionally, there appears to be some history between them. Well, it turns out that Izzy used to have a major crush on Lucas and poured her feelings for him out into a letter that was delivered to him at last year’s Christmas party and invited him to meet her under the mistletoe. Something clearly went wrong for her feelings to have taken a drastic turn, and I was dying to find out what, especially since it’s so clear that the two of them have major chemistry between them no matter how much they are trying to pretend they don’t. When they learn the hotel is in trouble and might not make it, Izzy and Lucas are forced to work together to try to save it.

I loved the direction this story took as soon as Izzy and Lucas teamed up. They are tasked with helping to sell off some items, including what’s in their lost property room, to raise funds for hotel repairs. While completing the task, they come across a collection of wedding rings that have been lost there over the years. Both Izzy and Lucas are competitive at heart and make a little wager as to who can find and return the rings to their rightful owners. The romantic in me became very invested in seeing these rings returned to their owners. The ring competition was probably my favorite part of the story as the banter between Izzy and Lucas starts to shift from snarky to playful, and you can just tell their feelings for one another are starting to shift as well. While some of the story is focused on more dramatic and emotional themes, this ring challenge gave all the rom com vibes and was so much fun to read!

I also really loved the whole vibe of the hotel. It’s clearly an important place to both Izzy and Lucas for different reasons and they have both come to think of it as home rather than just a place of employment. Their attachment to the place added a sentimental touch to the story and had me rooting for them to save the hotel as much as I was rooting for them to work through their issues and find their way to a happily ever after together.

I alternated between the e-book and the audiobook for this one and really enjoyed both formats. The audiobook is narrated by Jessie Cave and Lino Facioli and they both do such an incredible job of capturing the chemistry between Izzy and Lucas.

If you’re looking for a laugh out loud funny story that is also quite moving, be sure to check out The Wake-Up Call. 4 STARS

Love, Holly Goodreads

Author: Emily Stone

Publication Date: September 26, 2023

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e- copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and an ALC from PRHAudio. All opinions are my own.

Love, Holly is the latest book from Emily Stone, and it packs an emotional punch! I love Stone’s books because they always take me on these emotional journeys where they break my heart into a million pieces but then slowly but surely put it back together again. I’m not entirely sure why that kind of read appeals to me as much as it does, but boy, do I love it!

Holly has been estranged from her family ever since a devastating car accident tore their lives apart. As a way to feel a bit less lonely, Holly joined a lonely-hearts holiday letter writing group. Every December she sends an anonymous letter to a stranger who is also alone at Christmas and she receives one as well. Because the letters are anonymous, it’s a way for the senders to really just pour out their hearts. When Holly receives her latest letter, there’s something different about it. First, the sense of grief in it speaks to her because it is so much like her own. The letter writer, whose name is Emma, is also estranged from her loved ones, in particular, her grandson, who she has not seen since he was a little boy. But second, the letter mentions a place Holly knows all too well because it’s near where her car accident took place. Holly realizes she might actually be able to find this letter’s author and makes it her mission to find Emma and help her reunite with her grandson, not realizing how life changing this same mission will be for her as well.

One of my favorite parts of this story is the bond that forms between Emma and Holly, once Emma gets over the shock of learning that her heartfelt letter was not anonymous after all. Emma becomes the family that Holly has been estranged from and the two of them are really able to support each other through their grief and form a beautiful friendship. I also loved that there’s an element of kismet to the story in that through meeting Emma, Holly is also reintroduced to Jack, a man she met and found herself quite attracted to the night of her car accident. Jack had given Holly his phone number that fateful night but it was lost in the accident. It turns out that Jack is also the grandson Emma has been estranged from for so many years. As you can imagine, the story becomes an emotional roller coaster as these characters deal with long-buried emotions and try to find a path forward. I adored all of the characters and cried for them so many times as I was reading and hoping for reconciliations all around for both Emma and Holly.

Love, Holly is just such a beautiful story. The writing is gorgeous, filled with those raw emotions that just grab your heart and won’t let go, and the characters are so well-developed and their experiences feel so authentic. I alternated between the audiobook and e-book for this read and thought both formats were so well done. I especially enjoyed the audio narration of Heather Long, who just captured those emotional moments so well and had me reaching for my tissues numerous times. If you’re into stories about love and forgiveness, and about families, both real and found, then this is the book for you! 5 STARS

The Ex-Mas Holidays Goodreads

Author: Zoe Allison

Publication Date: September 26, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e- copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and an ALC from PRHAudio. All opinions are my own.

The Ex-Mas Holidays is an entertaining holiday romance that gives two ski instructors a second chance at love.

Set in the Scottish Highlands, the story follows Maya Bashir, who is returning home to live with her parents after losing her job and breaking up with her boyfriend. On her way to her parent’s house, Maya stops off for a few minutes at a bachelorette party she was invited to and it is there where she unexpectedly reconnects with Sam Holland, her high school crush and former coworker at the local ski lodge. It’s clear they are attracted to one another, but they are both so awkward around each other that it’s equally clear that something happened to drive them apart. When the two of them end up working together again as ski instructors, it becomes an opportunity to move past that awkwardness and reconnect.

I really enjoyed watching Sam and Maya reconnect as they teach classes at the ski resort. There’s plenty of fun banter between them and also several adorable moments as many of their classes center on teaching young children how to ski. The more I watched Sam and Maya and saw how good they were together, the more invested I became in learning what went wrong between them in the past. This story isn’t all rom com antics though because as we learn more about what came between Sam and Maya, Allison explores more serious topics such as toxic relationships and the emotional fallout from them. I thought she did a wonderful job realistically portraying this kind of relationship and just how much it can mess with a person’s head, although I absolutely loathed the character of Kat to the extent that I had to walk away from the book a couple of times.

Another aspect of this story I really enjoyed was Maya’s journey with respect to choosing a career path that makes her happy versus just doing what her loving but very overbearing father wants her to do. The two of them have some hard conversations throughout the course of the story, and I loved the growth we see in Maya as she has those conversations.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read. I especially enjoyed the audio narration, which was read by Nikki Massoud. The Scottish accents really immersed me all the more in this charming, heartwarming story. I recommend The Ex-Mas Holidays to anyone who enjoys second chance romances as well as friends to lovers. 3.5 STARS

Blog Tour – THIS SPELLS DISASTER by Tori Anne Martin

September 18, 2023/12 Comments/by Suzanne

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin

Published by Berkley Romance on September 12, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, LGBTQ, Paranormal, Romance
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
Goodreads

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Tori Anne Martin’s debut novel This Spells Disaster is a queer witchy romcom that takes place over the course of a spellcasting festival. Not only does it feature fantastic worldbuilding and lovable characters who are easy to root for, but it also features one of my favorite romance tropes, fake dating.

The story follows Morgan Greenwood, a potion witch who considered herself to be a hot mess. Morgan has had a crush on Rory Sanders, a badass elemental witch, but is too intimidated by Rory to even approach her. Instead, Morgan has admired her from afar for ages, that is, until fate puts Rory in her path one night at a bar. Rory is complaining about the unreasonable expectations her family always puts on her and that she is dreading spending time with them at the biennial New England Witches’ festival. A drunken Morgan volunteers to fake date Rory and act as a buffer between her and her family. Morgan can’t believe she did that, but even more unbelievable to her is that Rory decides to take her up on her offer.

I adored both Morgan and Rory. Morgan is just the most adorable protagonist. She’s incredibly loyal to those she cares about. Her heart is always in the right place, but she can definitely be a bit chaotic and impulsive at times. Rory is equally fabulous but in a much more reserved way than Morgan. She can be standoffish at first, but once you get to know her, Rory is a sweetheart. She’s also a brilliant spellcaster and both she and Morgan have a competitive streak that makes for some of the most entertaining banter. I just loved watching the two of them get to know each other.

My favorite part of the fake dating trope is when those fake feelings start to become real, and in This Spells Disaster, the author has added a unique complication to this trope. Morgan crafts a relaxation spell for Rory and after Rory starts taking it, she starts behaving as if she has romantic feelings toward Morgan. Morgan can’t believe that Rory could ever feel that way about her and is soon horrified to realize that her feelings for Rory may have slipped into the potion, accidentally turning it into a love potion. Love potions are illegal in the witching community because they take away a person’s right to give or refuse consent. I felt so bad for Morgan since it’s clear she didn’t intend for this to happen, but at the same time, it made the story all the more compelling for me, waiting to see how this would all play out, especially once Rory realizes the truth. I was rooting for them to work things out so hard because fake relationship or not, they were perfect for each other.

I don’t want to give anything else away, so I’ll just say this is a delightfully witchy romance. If you’re a fan of witchy romcoms, adorable characters, and fake dating, This Spells Disaster needs to go on your fall TBR.

Thanks so much to Kristin Cipolla and Berkley Romance for the invitation to take part in this blog tour!

About Tori Anne Martin

Tori Anne Martin lives in New England where she collects pen names, tattoos, and hoodies in shades of gray and black. Previously, she collected degrees, including a doctorate in psychology where she studied interpersonal power, consent, and sexual assault. She much prefers writing romance. If you can’t find her online, it’s because she’s lost in the woods.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram

Blog Tour – Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

September 15, 2023/16 Comments/by Suzanne

Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Published by Berkley Romance on September 12, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 320
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
Goodreads

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I started my spooky season reading with vampires and now it’s time to bring some witches into the mix. I chose Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland as my first witchy read of the season, in part because of that gorgeous cover and also because it features elemental magic, which I love. It also features a romance that is complicated by secrets, as well as a family dynamic that is complicated by grief. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that all of those elements are like catnip for me!

At the center of this story are the women of the Flores family. Legend has it that many years ago a Flores woman offended the old gods and caused all of her female descendants to be cursed with magical powers. Sage Flores is the protagonist of the story and her magical abilities are tied to plants. Nicknamed the “Plant Whisperer,” Sage can identify any plant and not only that but she can actually communicate with them. Sage’s sister, Teal, has powers that tie her emotions to the weather — extreme emotions equal extreme weather conditions. Lastly, younger sister Sky’s magic allowed her to communicate with animals.

When the story opens, we meet Sage as she has just been fired from her job and is headed back to her hometown. Sage is not looking forward to this because she has been estranged from Teal ever since the death of Sky eight years earlier. Teal holds Sage responsible for their sister’s death and wants nothing to do with her. What we also learn about Sage in these opening scenes is that Sky is actually haunting her, following her around and leaving her gifts of coffee. Sky is trapped here and wants Sage to find a way to mend fences with Teal, in hopes that will allow her spirit to move on. Needless to say, emotions run high between the two remaining sisters as they come face to face after so many years apart.

Sage isn’t just being haunted by her sister though. She’s also being haunted by her past, in the form of Tennessee Reyes, a boy she had a crush on in high school who broke her heart. When Sage takes a job with the Cranberry Rose Company to hunt for unique plant specimens, she ends up partnered with Tennessee. Being with Tennessee brings back so many memories for Sage and as she starts to grow closer to him all over again, she knows she has to tell him a secret that she has kept from him for nearly a decade. I loved how the author has their relationship unfold, through the use of both present day scenes and through flashbacks from their high school days.

I really loved everything about this book. The story grabbed my attention from the opening scenes and I flew through it in just a couple of sittings because I was so invested in Sage’s journey. She’s a messy and flawed character, but she grows so much throughout the course of the book, both in terms of her relationship with her sister and her relationship with Tennessee. The writing was also just so gorgeous. I loved all of the nature vibes and the descriptions of the magic. It was truly an enchanting read!

Thanks so much to Kristin Cipolla and Berkley Romance for the opportunity to take part in the blog tour to promote Witch of Wild Things! It’s available now so be sure to pick up a copy!

About Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is a Mexican American poet, novelist, and painter. She received an MFA in poetry from the University of Alaska, Anchorage in 2017. She’s most inspired by fog and seeds and the lineages of all things. When not writing, Raquel tells stories to her plants and they tell her stories back. She lives in Tennessee with her beloved family and mountains. Raquel has published two books of poetry. Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything is her first novel.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Trap & The Drowning Woman

September 14, 2023/12 Comments/by Sharon

Hi everyone! Sharon here and it is time for Thriller Thursday! This week I am excited to share my thoughts on Catherine Ryan Howard’s, The Trap and Robyn Harding’s, The Drowning Woman.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Trap & The Drowning Woman

The Trap Goodreads

Author: Catherine Ryan Howard

Publication Date: August 1, 2023

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard was inspired by the unsolved disappearance of women in Ireland in the 1990’s. The story follows three different perspectives. Lucy, who has taken matters into her own hands as she tries to find out what happened to her sister, Nicki, who disappeared a year ago after leaving a pub in Dublin. Angela, who works in the missing person’s unit and desperately wants to be a full fledge member of An Garda Síochána, the Irish police force and is pulled into the cases of three women who have disappeared in the Dublin area. And then we have the unsub, driving through the night with his latest victim in the back of his car. He is telling her his story, from his home life, to what started him on this road to kidnapping women.

Out of the three POV’s, the Unsub’s was my favorite. I got the chills while reading his chapters and listening to his story, all the while knowing there is another victim in his car. I could just feel her terror, and I was getting claustrophobic imagining being her in the back of that car with no way out listening to this man tell his story.

I had a lot of sympathy for Lucy. I know if one of my sisters was missing and the police were not getting anywhere finding her, I would be doing anything and everything to find her, just as Lucy was. Yes, some of the things she was doing were dangerous, but she was determined to get answers.

Angela was a tough cookie. I really liked her determination to prove herself and finally getting on the police force. When she found herself pulled into the investigation of the missing women, she knew this could make or break her chances. Angela is working with Garda detective, Denise Pope, who does not always do things by the book. I really liked watching them work together to figure out what happened to the missing women.

Catherine Ryan Howard did a great job in creating these characters as well as bringing their storylines together.

The Trap was an edge of my seat, fast paced read, that kept me turning the pages. I could not wait to find out how everything was going to end. And OMG! what an ending it was. I so did not anticipate how this book was going to conclude. My jaw was literally hanging open. I have loved everything I have read by Catherine Ryan Howard. The Nothing Man was my favorite, but now that is my second favorite, and The Trap has jumped to the number one spot. 4 ½ stars

The Drowning Woman Goodreads

Author: Robyn Harding

Publication Date: June 13, 2023

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Robyn Harding’s The Drowning Woman is a twisty mystery that follows two women, Lee Gulliver and Hazel Laval, who are both trying to escape their past and they form an unlikely friendship. Lee is homeless and living in her car in Seattle. She never thought this would be her life, but after her restaurant went under during covid, Lee had to flee New York due to her owing money to a very unsavory character. Hazel is married to a wealthy criminal attorney, but her life is anything but roses. Hazel’s husband is abusive and will never let her leave of her own accord. Lee and Hazel meet when Hazel is trying to drown herself, but Lee pulls her out of the water and saves her. The women form a friendship and share their secrets with each other. Hazel then asks Lee to help her disappear. At first Lee is apprehensive, but after learning the abuse Hazel lives with, she agrees. But Lee soon learns that Hazel may not be the friend she pretended to be and not everything is as it seems.

This story is broken up into four parts. Parts one and three are from Lee’s POV and parts two and four are from Hazel’s POV. I loved how Harding presented the book this way. Each part ended in a twist that had me craving to find out what was going to happen.

I felt closer to Lee than I did to Hazel. I think it is because of the fact that the book starts with Lee’s POV, and we learn more about her first. And when we get the twist at the end of that first part, I was like “Hazel you bitch!” So, by the time I got to Hazel’s POV, I already didn’t like her. Lol! Though by the end of her part, I did warm to her some.

I liked how strong and resourceful Lee was. She was a bit too trusting at times though. The more Hazel was telling Lee about her plan and what she needed Lee to do, the alarm bells went off in my head. I wanted to scream “No Lee, do not do it!”

I did feel for Hazel, even though I did not like her much. Her husband was abusive and controlling, and the more I learned about her situation, I understood why she just couldn’t walk away from him. One main reason was that Hazel’s mother had Alzheimer’s and was living in a nursing home, which her husband was paying for and if she left him he would stop paying and her mother would have nowhere to go. I just wish she went about things differently.

The Drowning Woman is full of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. 4 stars

Book Tour Review – WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO? by Linda Corbett

September 11, 2023/10 Comments/by Suzanne

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Linda Corbett

Published by ‎HarperCollinsUK on June 16, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

MY REVIEW:

Linda Corbett’s new novel What Would Jane Austen Do? follows Maddy Shaw, a young journalist and Jane Austen fangirl who has been writing an advice column for a national paper. When we first meet Maddy, she has just been told her column is cancelled and that she’ll have to find work elsewhere. Maddy can barely make ends meet as it is so she knows she’s going to have to leave London to find more affordable housing. Before leaving London, Maddy attends one final interview and it’s here that she meets a famous crime writer who is the grumpiest, most cynical person she has ever encountered. He also has a very negative opinion about romance novels, which Maddy just isn’t having, and the two of them passionately debate the subject. I fell in love with Maddy during that encounter. Her passionate defense of the romance genre was so moving and I agreed with every word she said.

Maddy’s life takes another unexpected turn and it is this turn that drives the plot of the novel. She inherits a huge house in the English countryside from a cousin she never really knew. While Maddy would love to sell the house and get some much needed cash, the will stipulates that she must live in the house for twelve months first. Reluctantly, Maddy moves into her new home, having no idea how truly life changing the entire experience will be.

I had such a fun time reading this book! The village where Maddy has relocated is full of quirky, literature- loving neighbors who are committed to carrying on the literary festival that Maddy’s cousin had hosted for years. Another stipulation of the will that no one told Maddy about was that she would follow in her cousin’s footsteps and plan the whole festival. Not only that, but when they hear she could really use a lodger to help with her financial situation, they find her a roommate, who of course turns out to be none other than her least favorite grumpy crime writer, whose name is Luke, and his adorable dog, Buster. Needless to say, there are plenty of laughs and shenanigans as Maddy awkwardly tries to navigate both the planning of the festival and how to live peacefully with Luke.

I will also say that while this is a romance, it is most definitely a slow burn one. Both characters are so well developed though that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them, and I also enjoyed watching the dynamic between them shift as they got to know one another. That slow burn was worth the wait!

What Would Jane Austen Do? is a fun and heartwarming contemporary romance. It also pays homage to all things Jane Austen, which is sure to delight any Austen fan. This book isn’t just for Austen fans though so no worries if you haven’t read her entire canon.

Thanks so much to Laurel Ann Nattress at Austenprose for inviting me to take part in this tour.

PRAISE FOR WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO?

“Witty, sharp and beautifully observed – I feel sure Jane would approve.”— Julie Caplin, author of The French Chateau
“Sparkling romance, secrets from the past…Witty and romantic, I couldn’t stop myself from turning the pages.”— Alison Sherlock, bestselling author of The Village of Lost and Found
“…sheer fun from beginning to end, beautifully written, and with a real touch of originality.”— Anne Williams, Being Anne
“What a lovely book! It also fills my need to see British colloquialisms on occasion. Yes! I highly recommend this book!”— Michelle, Tales Untangled

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | HARPERCOLLINS | GOODREADS | BOOKBUB

About Linda Corbett

Linda Corbett lives in Surrey with her husband Andrew and three permanently hungry guinea pigs. As well as being an author, Linda is treasurer and fundraiser for Shine Surrey – a volunteer-led charity that supports individuals and families living with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. For many years she also wrote a regular column for Link, a disability magazine, illustrating the humorous aspects of life with a complex disability and she is a passionate advocate of disability representation in fiction. Love You From A-Z was her first published novel.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Romance Reviews: THE LOVE PLOT & MY ROOMMATE IS A VAMPIRE

September 1, 2023/7 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Friday everyone! Today I’m back to share my thoughts on two fantastic new releases from Berkley Romance. Samantha Young is one of my favorite romance writers so I was thrilled to read her latest, and Jenna Levine is a debut author that I was excited to try after hearing her talk about her book at a recent Berkley event that showcased upcoming fall releases.

The Love Plot Goodreads

Author: Samantha Young

Publication Date: August 29, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and a complimentary ALC from Penguin Random House Audio. All opinions are my own.

Samantha Young is fast becoming one of my favorite romcom authors. I’ve loved everything I’ve read from her so far and her latest, The Love Plot, is my new favorite! It’s just the perfect combination of sexy, swoony, heartwarming fun and I loved every page of it.

The protagonist, Star Shine Meadows, as her name might suggest, is quite the free spirit. All Star wants to do is be happy and to do what she can to spread that happiness to others. When we meet her, she is working two jobs, one as a professional costume character actor who mainly attends kids’ birthday parties, and the other as a professional line sitter, where she waits in line for items her clients do not have the time to wait for. She meets Rafe, the sexy but grumpy male love interest, at his niece’s birthday party, & sparks fly.

Rafe is Star’s opposite in pretty much every way. He’s a broody, reserved veterinarian, and he doesn’t understand Star at all. She’s too cheerful, obnoxious & he doesn’t get why she works the jobs she works. Yet, there’s just something about her that gets under Rafe’s skin. Rafe is also desperate to get his family to stop playing matchmaker, so he offers Star money to be his fake girlfriend. She agrees & shenanigans ensue!

I had so much fun reading this one. Both Star and Rafe are just so adorable & they have sizzling chemistry. I loved their hilarious and snarky banter, as well as the more heartwarming moments when they realize they’ve caught feelings for one another. I also loved that there were some more serious moments, particularly when they talk about their families and the future.

I alternated between the physical book and the audio (thank you, @PRHAudio), and I loved both. Savannah Peachwood read the audio and she did a phenomenal job bringing these wonderful characters to life.

This is the perfect read for any fan of the fake dating, opposites attract or grumpy-sunshine tropes. The Love Plot is out 8/29 so be sure to pick up a copy! 4.5 STARS

My Roommate Is a Vampire Goodreads

Author: Jenna Levine

Publication Date: August 29, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and a complimentary ALC from Penguin Random House Audio. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been enjoying the witchy rom com trend that has really taken off the past few years, so when I saw that Jenna Levine’s debut novel was a vampire romcom, I just had to read it! I’m so glad I do too because this was just such a charming book.

Cassie is an artist who is struggling to make ends meet, so much so that she’s being evicted from her apartment. When she comes across an ad for an apartment in a great neighborhood and the rent is only $200 a month, Cassie is of course suspicious because it sounds too good to be true, but she decides to take it because she really has no other viable option. Cassie is a fun character, a little messy and chaotic at times, but very likable.

I adored Frederick J. Fitzwilliam from the moment we first meet him. He may be a vampire but he looks and sounds like he stepped out of the pages of a Jane Austen novel and he is a cinnamon roll. We learn early on that Frederick was the victim of a prank (courtesy of his friend Reginald) that left him in a coma for 100 years. When Frederick woke, he had no idea how to function in such a modern society so he has been struggling to fit in.

While Cassie and Frederick rarely ever see one another, they exchange notes every day. The notes are super cute, filled with lots of flirty banter, and the two of them soon become friends.

When Cassie accidentally learns that Frederick is a vampire, after an initial freakout, she accepts Frederick’s offer to let her keep living there in exchange for her help in making a modern vampire out of him. I loved watching their relationship evolve as Cassie gives him a makeover. So cute & so hilarious! And even though their relationship is a slow burn, there is definitely some steam for those who enjoy that.

There was some drama near the end that I could have done without, but overall I just loved this delightful paranormal romance.

I alternated between the physical copy and the audio version (thank you, @PRHAudio) and thought both were excellent. The narrator Gilli Messer did an especially fabulous job capturing Frederick’s personality and it was such a fun listening experience. 4 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Narrow & Dead of Winter

August 31, 2023/8 Comments/by Sharon

Sharon’s back with another edition of Thriller Thursday. Spooky season is upon us and this week I have a couple of great books to kick the season off with. I have a not too scary ghost story in Kate Alice Marshall’s, The Narrow and a slasher/horror story in Darcy Coates’, Dead of Winter. Both of these books were great and I loved them.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Narrow & Dead of Winter

The Narrow Goodreads

Author: Kate Alice Marshall

Publication Date: August 1, 2023

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

The Narrow is a YA ghost story, and it is also a story of friendships and finding lost loves. This is my second read by Kate Alice Marshall, and I loved this just as much as What Lies in the Woods.

Behind the Atwood School, a prestigious boarding school, is a river called the Narrow. The Narrow is only a few feet wide, but the water is deep and vicious. It is said that no one that has fallen into the Narrow has ever survived, what the Narrow takes it never gives back. But Eden White knows this is not true. Six years ago, Eden and her best friend Veronica saw Delphine Fournier fall into the Narrow and survive. Although now Delphine has to live on the school grounds in Abigail House. If she leaves the school grounds she becomes gravely ill. She also cannot come in contact with unpurified water, as a single drop could kill her. This year in exchange for her tuition, Eden has agreed to live at Abigail house with Delphine and keep her company as well as ensuring she stays safe. As Eden and Delphine get to know each other and begin to unravel each other’s secrets, Eden realizes something is haunting Delphine and now that something is coming for Eden as well. Eden hears rain on the windows, but the sky is clear, she has seen a ghostly silhouette in her doorway and wet footprints by her bed. The school has been rumored to be haunted by the Drowning Girl. What does the Drowning Girl want with Delphine and Eden?

There was so much to love about this book. I loved the spooky ghost story and the tale of the Drowning Girl. I cannot say too much about her, but whenever she showed up all I could picture was the girl that crawled out of the TV in The Ring.

I really liked the friendship that Eden and Delphine formed. Eden was determined to figure out what was going on and help Delphine break whatever was haunting her. Eden was willing to risk her life for Delphine. Eden enlisted the help of her friends, Veronica, Zoya, and Ruth to help her uncover the mystery of The Drowning Girl. And what a mystery that was. As we were given bits of information on her, I thought I knew what was going on, but then a twist came and knock that out of the water (no pun intended lol).

I really loved Eden and the more we learned of her backstory, the more sympathy I had for her. She hides a lot about her home life from her friends and at times she would push them away because she did not want them to find out. But I liked it when she needed them they were there for her and had her back.

I think Kate Alice Marshall did a great job in weaving the ghost story, friendships, and lost loves aspect of this story together. If you are looking for a book to start off the spooky season that is not too scary, then I highly recommend The Narrow. 4 stars

Dead of Winter Goodreads

Author: Darcy Coates

Publication Date: July 11, 2023

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

I have never read anything by Darcy Coates before, but when Dead of Winter popped up as a suggestion from Goodreads, it sounded just like the kind of book I would like, and it definitely was. Dead of Winter follows a group of strangers stranded in the Rocky Mountains during a snowstorm. Oh! And one of them is a killer, picking the others off one by one.

Christa Bailey and her boyfriend Kiernan are on a bus with nine other people on their way to Blackstone Alpine Lodge in the Rocky Mountains. When the bus has to stop because of a large tree branch in the road, Christa and Kiernan decide to take in the mountain scenery while the others try to clear the road. When a snowstorm comes in, Christa and Kiernan get separated from the group, as well as each other. Christa is able to find her way to an abandoned cabin, where the others from the bus have taken shelter from the storm. They promise Christa they will go looking for Kiernan in the morning, but come morning Brian, their tour guide, is also missing. When they go out to look for Brian, they find just his head and it is impaled on a tree branch. Terrified, the group does all they can to stay safe and wait out the storm, but one by one they are killed, and their heads are impaled on the tree with Brian’s.

Wow! I loved everything about this book. The Story is told from the POV of Christa. I loved being in Christa’s head as she tries to figure out who can be trusted when it became obvious that one of the group was the killer.

We don’t get a lot of backstories on the rest of the group, but I think Coates did a great job of creating them and giving us just enough information, so that along with Christa we tried to figure out who was the killer.

I loved the snowy mountain and small cabin setting as well, that just added to the spookiness of the book. Darcy Coates did an amazing job of creating this setting, so that I could feel the coldness and could picture how claustrophobic that cabin must have been. You would think being in a small cabin they should be safe and they would be if they stayed together. But oh no, at one time or another someone would go off on their own and then sure enough their head was added to the tree.

I thought for sure I had things figured out and knew who the killer was, but when their body turned up, I was like “Damn! I was so sure!” I was totally clueless when the killer was revealed. So good job Darcy Coates on keeping me in the dark.

Dead of Winter was full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end. This book would make one hell of a great slasher movie. Be forewarned though, this book is not for the weak of heart. So, I of course loved it. LOL! I definitely want to check out more from Darcy Coates. 4 ½ stars