This is book 3 of A Jane Austen Tea Society Mystery series, and it’s a sweet and cute cozy mystery. This is a stand alone mystery, so you don’t need to have read the first 2 books to enjoy this one. I haven’t read them, and I found enough backstory in the book to understand everyone’s relationships and history.
Continue reading “Cyanide and Sensibility (Jane Austen Tea Society Mystery #3) by Katie Oliver”
I loved this contemporary LGBTQIA romance set during the Christmas holidays in Florida. After getting fired from his tv writing job, Eli returns to his childhood home in New Port Stephen, FL for the holidays. As he navigates dealing with his family and feelings, he runs into his high school ex Nick. Nick is divorced with a precocious 4 year old daughter and is running the local restaurant. Sparks fly between the couple, which only serves to confuse them both because the last time they dated, Eli was a teenage girl. At almost 40, he finally feels at one with his mind and body, and wants to selfishly protect the peace he’s found within himself, despite his attraction to Nick. For his part, Nick is surprised that his feelings for Eli are still there, even if Eli’s exterior doesn’t match up with Nick’s memories.
Continue reading “Second Chances in New Port Stephen by T.J. Alexander”
4 stars
I really enjoyed this book. Syd is a complex, complicated character with so much going on in her life it’s incredible she can get out of bed in the morning. The author does a fantastic job of integrating Native American history, culture, and issues into the story without it feeling like a history or civic lesson.
Continue reading “Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie”
This is an action-packed mystery/thriller set in the wilds of Alaska. This is book 5 in the series, but it’s a standalone mystery that can be read without reading the other books. There was also enough backstory that I didn’t feel too lost.
The MC, Beth Rivers, is a gory mystery author that moved to Alaska after suffering a brutal kidnapping in Missouri. She’s trying to make a new life, heal, and gain distance from her kidnapper and the upcoming trial. Her long-lost father moved to Alaska to be near her after spending time on the run in Mexico. Their relationship is fragile, but she’s trying to let him back into her life.
Continue reading “Lost Hours (Alaska Wild, #5) by Paige Shelton”
The book came out on Nov. 7 & I highly recommend you pick it up now! It’s available on Kindle Unlimited, paperback & audible.
I made the mistake of picking up this mystery/thriller to start reading at 10pm. Long story short, it’s 3am & I only stopped reading because I fell asleep & the book hit me in the face. I could not put it down! The story is set in a small remote town in the Sierra Mountains of California. It’s told from the POV of Silas, a man who is moving back to the area to run his aunt’s mountain resort with his two young sons, & Meg, a woman who works at the sheriff department & is married to Danny.
Continue reading “The Wild Between Us by Amy Hagstrom”
This is a really cute YA contemporary romance that is a quick and easy read. It’s the quintessential regular person/famous person doppelganger switch story. Red just graduated high school in Iowa. She lives on a farm with her large family and intends to attend college and come back and run the family farm. Zay Zay is a young global pop star that is uber famous and seemingly has a charmed life. When Red is taped singing and pretending to be Zay Zay, the video goes viral, and Zay Zay’s plan to sneak away from her life for a week is hatched. Red only needs to fly to LA, attend a few red carpets, and a date with Zay’s hot famous fake boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong?
Continue reading “Fake Famous by Dana L. Davis”
My book club chose this book to read, so of course I read it. I always go into overly hyped books with trepidation because I’ve been let down before. Sadly, this book is another popular book that I didn’t love as much as everyone else. It did provide for lively discussions at our meeting, however, especially since there are several lawyers in our group that all had different opinions about the legal side of the story.
Mother Olivia leaves her abusive husband, taking her son Asher with her. They return to her childhood home town and Olivia takes over her father’s beekeeping business. The business starts doing well and Asher is flourishing in school, until he’s arrested and accused of killing his girlfriend Lily. While Olivia doesn’t believe Asher is guilty, deep down she worries that he’s just like his father.
There are a lot of moving parts in this book. The chapters alternate between several characters, often depicting the same scenario but from different viewpoints. Initially this was helpful to build out the characters and storyline, but after awhile became repetitious and annoying. Things look bad for Asher when he’s first arrested, but as we learn more about the months leading up to the murder, we realize several people had motives for killing Lily.
This book was way too long and really dragged in the middle. A lot of fluff could have been eliminated without destroying the story. The pacing was a bit off, with the story focusing way too much on some things, and way too little on others. The ending, for example, was pretty abrupt.
All in all, this book was just ok for me. I’m not mad at my book club for choosing this book. It wouldn’t have been my choice, but several members liked it so that’s good. If you are a Picoult or Boylan fan, you will probably like this one, so definitely check it out for yourself.
4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this book and series. I read this series and The Winston Brothers series backwards, but I still loved both of them, so no big deal. Plus, it’s a great excuse to read them all again! This series is set in Chicago and revolves around 7 women that are in the same knitting group. Janie doesn’t knit, but she likes to drink and dish with the other women every week. The women are either roommates or co-workers of each other, but eventually become one unified force of bad-assery, and I’m there for all of it. I wish I had a circle of friends as loyal and tenacious as this group.
Continue reading “Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City, #1) by Penny Reid”
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.
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