Fiction

The Paper Pirate by Dawn McIntyre

This is an entertaining contemporary mystery set in a bookstore in a small town in Pennsylvania. A few years ago five retired seniors in a writer’s group bought the town bookstore. Unable to secure a traditional loan, they obtained one with a large balloon payment. A flash flood caused significant foundation issues, eating up the store’s savings, and now they can’t make the balloon payment. While the partners struggle to come up with ideas to raise the funds, and cope with issues they’ve kept secret from the group, a thief systematically searches the bookstore and their homes for an old book someone is willing to pay $500K for.

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August 23, 2023 0

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

It is a truth universally acknowledged that two hundred year old Jane Austen quotes and advice is timeless and no less relevant today. This is an adorable contemporary romantic comedy about love, community, and finding lost family history. Maddy Shaw is a Jane Austen fan and journalist that wrote a column called Dear Jane dispensing advice with a Jane Austen spin. She was unceremoniously fired by email and left with no job and no way to pay rent on her London flatshare.

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August 20, 2023 0

Get a Room by Casey Dembowski

3.5 stars

This is a cute and fluffy contemporary grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers romantic comedy that is a quick and easy read. The story involves Brian and Sarah. Brian lost his girlfriend, job and apartment and finds himself moving into his sister Jess’s tiny apartment. Sarah’s boyfriend proposed to her and when she said no, he kicked her out and she returned to live with her former roommate Jess. Brian and Sarah don’t like each other and fight over the second bedroom in the apartment. But, after being forced to interact with each other on a daily basis, their hatred turns into something else.

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August 20, 2023 0

Positively, Penelope (Skymar #2) by Pepper D. Basham

This is a really cute contemporary romantic comedy about a ray of sunshine named Penelope and a grumpy theater owner named Matt. Penelope is working a paid internship after college to help save a century-old family-owned theater on the island of Skymar. The family has recently lost two of their matriarchs and are grieving their losses. Penelope is just the ray of sunshine and can-do attitude they need. But, will a new contemporary theater threaten their come-back?

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August 20, 2023 0

The Husband List (The Worthington Brides #2) by Ella Quinn

3 stars

Lady Madeline and her two sisters are entering the marriage mart and create a list of qualities for their prospective husbands to meet. As they navigate the balls and carriage rides, Madeline is drawn to MP Harry Stern. He’s a great dancer, his conversations are interesting and he makes her pulse pound, but he’s not a peer, and therefore, does not meet the one qualification her mother insists upon. Harry is insistent on his pursuit of Madeline. Will she let her feelings rule her decision or the husband list?

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August 18, 2023 0

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

This book is crazy, and I really liked it. When Grace Bernard discovers her absentee millionaire father has rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows revenge, and sets about to kill every member of his family. She reasons that once they are all gone, she will inherit the money and have her revenge too. The book is told in first person as Grace writes her story as she sits in prison for the one murder she actually didn’t commit. The ending was twisty and fitting for the story.

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August 14, 2023 0

A Hollywood Ending by Melanie Summers

This is a cute contemporary romance involving a famous actress and the bodyguard hired to protect her. Courtney is married to an A-list actor who publicly dumps her for a younger woman. She flees her movie premiere and finds herself in the woods at her bodyguard, Damien’s, cabin. The paparazzi are trying to find her, so her management team suggests she hide out there until they can plan a way to deal with them.

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August 13, 2023 0

Give the Devil His Duke (Drop Dead Dukes #1) by Anna Bradley

This regency era romance involves Giles, Duke of Basingstoke, and Lady Francesca, daughter of the parents that Giles’ father ruined 10 years earlier. The ton believe she’s in London for the season, but really she’s there to beg her horrible uncle for money for her and her mother. They’ve been living in the country in a cold, drafty cottage and are barely surviving.

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August 13, 2023 0

Love at First Site by Phoebe MacLeod

This is a cute, funny, contemporary romcom set in England about a project manager named Ella whose life is derailed when her longtime boyfriend and colleague Lee jumps ship to work for her company’s competitor, causing her to lose her job. Deciding that her boyfriend is a selfish narcissist that she has made excuses for for far too long, she takes a job in southern England working as a project manager on a building site – something she’s never done before. As she slowly starts to get her feet underneath her, and gains the respect of her colleagues, the rug is once again pulled out from underneath her.

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August 3, 2023 0