I was on a plane flying home from a conference and I had finished the one print book I took with me. I still had at least an hour, maybe more of my flI was on a plane flying home from a conference and I had finished the one print book I took with me. I still had at least an hour, maybe more of my flight left and I wanted something I could get stuck into quickly that wouldn’t take much effort. I had recently downloaded this ARC from NetGalley and thought it might be a cute little read for the rest of my flight.
It was okay. This was definitely a quick and easy read, in fact I read most of it on the plane and only had to read about 50 pages when I got home in order to finish it.
It features Sol, a Brazilian woman who works in game development. She moved to Copenhagen to work for a company there but has lost the place where she’s living and needs to find another one immediately or she’ll have to return home to Brazil. And that is something that Sol doesn’t want to do. She finds a flat share with a man named Erik (shenanigans ensue to get this) and he’s a big blonde Viking-looking man that Sol definitely finds attractive. Erik has one fast rule though – no feelings. Last time he had a room mate, it cost him pretty much everything and now he’s protecting himself.
Except…fate kind of intervenes and to look good for her family oriented boss and hopefully give herself an edge over her hated colleague, Sol pretends she’s in a steady relationship. When they insist on meeting her partner, she has to beg Erik to pretend to play the role of boyfriend. For his own reasons, Erik agrees but not everyone is fooled. Sol is up for a big promotion that she really wants and the person who also looks like they’re going to be in the running is her nemesis…and Erik’s.
I liked the beginning of this and I enjoyed the fake dating scenes but I feel like the second half was….maybe not long enough? The conflict felt rushed and there were aspects of the real relationship that I felt could’ve taken a bit more time to develop. Likewise with some of the stuff surrounding the antagonist (Sol’s coworker, whom Erik also knows) felt a little bit like it could’ve simmered a bit more, maybe been drawn out a little? This whole book is under 300p which is not much time to set up Sol and Erik meeting, get into the fake dating, make that real, also play out the workplace drama, then finally have everything go wrong before it is put right. There were times when the second half felt like it suffered because of this low page count and I don’t often say that books could be a bit longer. This one though? I feel like it could’ve benefitted from a little more time. Let it cook, as my kids say.
I loved the setting. Haven’t read much, if anything, set in Copenhagen before and I enjoyed Sol and Erik exploring the city. Erik definitely makes it a priority to show Sol things as a local might experience them but also with a touristy twist and that was fun. I also enjoyed Sol’s busy Brazilian family (on the other end of a FaceTime) and her feelings about them and her culture. The romance was fine, I liked this without ever becoming too invested in it. I’d try another book from the author in the future because I think the bones were there but a little was lacking in the execution for me in this one.
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review***...more
This was another book I read before heading off on my reading retreat (I’m there right now) and although it is part of a series, you don’t need to havThis was another book I read before heading off on my reading retreat (I’m there right now) and although it is part of a series, you don’t need to have read the rest. I hadn’t and I had a great time with this, I enjoyed the local community and didn’t feel like I’d missed anything.
Ava has bought a beautiful old house in the small town of Bellethorpe in Queensland. She’s on the run, having basically escaped with the clothes on her back and fled halfway across the world back to the town she lived in as a teen. She has her young son and it’s clear she’s hiding. Ava is paranoid about being found, she keeps everything locked, she doesn’t want to take any chances.
Noah is a local man who desperately wanted to buy the house Ava has just purchased. He thought he had an agreement with the real estate but then Ava swept in with her cash offer and now Noah is devastated. He has a dream for that house. He’s desperate to get his daughter back after his wife moved away, taking the six year old with her. The house seems to be part of that dream he has and he’s upset to have it snatched away….enough to be difficult at first with Ava, until he realises that there could be opportunity in being hired by Ava to fix it up.
I had a good time with this, I enjoyed both Ava and Noah as characters. Both are newly single parents – Ava has left her husband behind in a foreign country and returned to Australia with their young son, having realised that there will be a strong difference in how she wants him to be raised and how he will be raised if she’d stayed in that country. Noah’s wife has left him and returned to Brisbane, unhappy with life in the small town. She’s taken their daughter with him and although she isn’t restricting access to her, she isn’t exactly helping either, with all the onus on Noah, which, with balancing work, is difficult. Noah is very invested in Bellethorpe remaining this small town, rejecting any development and progress that might bring more people and that might change the ‘feel’ of it. Noah in general, seems upset with change and he doesn’t react well to Ava purchasing the house he dreamed of buying, even though Ava knew nothing about it.
Ava hires Noah to help renovate the house and this allows them to overcome their rocky start and get to know each other. There’s definite attraction there but there are also so complications too. Ava makes a fascinating discovery on her land which is incredibly interesting, especially for Ava both personally and professionally but it also brings about both of their worst (very different) fears and will need to be handled delicately. There were times when Noah frustrated me and I think the book did a good job of showcasing his frustration with the situation and look, it was unfair but it was always going to be unfair to someone, unfortunately, whether that be Noah or his former wife, etc. She was the primary caregiver, she had made arrangements to get herself some support and a ‘village’ I guess. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t sympathise with his problem, I did. I did think it was unfair she was able to move the child away from him without helping to shoulder any of the responsibility of travel or helping facilitate a better form of shared custody other than Noah just having to drive to her every second weekend. He and Ava were always going to have a difference of opinions on one issue in particular but I did feel like Noah was very black and white in his original reaction.
I did feel like the resolution of Ava’s issue was a bit….idyllic. I’m not saying that it couldn’t happen but it did feel like it was this sort of dream scenario in the end, the best possible outcome for her. Which is good, for Ava but given the background information and the situation she’d fled, it did feel a bit like it was a lot of build up for not much happening in the end. It didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the book, as I was looking for a gentler, less stressful story anyway but it was something that I noticed.
I did enjoy this and I feel like I will read the other books in the series. They seem perfect for when I do want a gentle, rural-based read with a sweet romance in a great setting. ...more
If you’ve read The Farmer’s Friend then the setting of this one will be very familiar. We are returning to Featherwood in rural northern New South WalIf you’ve read The Farmer’s Friend then the setting of this one will be very familiar. We are returning to Featherwood in rural northern New South Wales with a familiar cast of supporting characters and two new main characters. Hannah is Gracie’s friend and a chance visit leads her to move to Featherwood to open a GP office. The town desperately needs one and Hannah has a steady stream of patients from the very beginning. One of her first patients is the young son of a mysterious man named Jude who lives on a property out of town. No one seems to know much about him but that doesn’t stop the rumours flying. Hannah is fleeing an abusive relationship and the last thing she needs is the be drawn in by the mysterious man but…..she can’t help it. There’s something there. She just has to hope that her instincts aren’t leading her wrong.
It was such a delight to be back here, reconnecting with characters like Gracie and Jed, Nell, Mavis and her grandson Archie. In the previous book, the community was facing the threat and aftermath of bushfires and now it’s the complete opposite, with pouring rain that is in danger of bringing terrible floods instead. Parts of the country have been really hammered by natural weather phenomenon lately and it honestly doesn’t feel uncommon to go from one extreme to the other.
The way Fiona McArthur writes the weather is so……incredibly evocative, there are some truly terrifying moments in this book. I’ve never lived through a flood although the area I grew up has flooded once or twice since I left. I’ve lived through bushfires and evacuation and being sent home early but I’ve never lived anywhere when there was genuine threat of a terrifying flood. However I’ve watched so many documentaries and news reports especially on places like Lismore, that flooded multiple times in recent years. I felt like reading this book really captured the experience of not just the awful, devastating weather event, where people who lost their homes in a fire face losing them again in a flood, but also the ways in which communities come together to help in the face of such adversity. Everyone in this book pitches in in some way or another, be it housing those that have been forced to flee, search and rescue, providing food and meals and comfort, helping to provide medical care, helping move stock and belongings to higher ground. You see examples of this in real life scenarios all the time and this book encapsulates that human spirit and connection so well.
I really enjoyed the romance. Jude was my sort of hero and I found his backstory really interesting. I liked the contrast between him and Hannah and I also loved his relationship with his son. Also what Jude was doing on his farm would make a great book all on its own. I understood Hannah’s conflicted feelings though as Jude is a bit reticent and standoffish and given her history with her previous boyfriend, you can see why she’d want to know more about him, to be wary of falling for the aloof one on the gated property. Small towns are always rife with rumours, especially about people who don’t seem to conform to the norm and there’s definitely been a few thoughts about what Jude might be up to. Leo, his son, is a great kid and he and Archie make a great little dynamic duo.
This book gave me all the emotions! It’s so heartwarming, I love the community but it also really made me fear for certain people and not going to lie, I definitely teared up twice.
This book has been getting a lot of traction recently. I was curious about it and I love a fantasy series. I borrowed this one from a family member whThis book has been getting a lot of traction recently. I was curious about it and I love a fantasy series. I borrowed this one from a family member who didn’t end up loving it enough to want it back. I think I liked it more than they did but it didn’t become a favourite. Although it was entertaining there were parts of it that felt very fantasy-by-numbers.
The world was interesting. It’s very Norse mythology inspired, Viking times, with lots of wars and pillaging and raiding going on. In this world, some people are touched by the Gods…imbued with their power. Freya’s awful husband is one such person and his gift keeps their village well supplied with fish. He sells Freya out to the….kind of King? of their area, as Freya is apparently the subject of a prophecy that says she will unite everyone beneath the power of the man who controls her. That’s the King guy, who marries her and charges his oldest son Bjorn with looking after her. It’s not a real marriage, the King is already married to another woman he’s supposedly faithful to but what is definitely inconvenient is Freya and Bjorn’s attraction to one another that began before they even knew who the other was. They had a chance encounter before Freya’s husband sold her out and now they’re forced into close proximity every day. The complication being that to everyone else, Freya is Bjorn’s ‘stepmother’ and supposed to be loyal to her husband.
The King isn’t a particularly good guy. He’s not evil, like Freya’s husband was but he’s also very power hungry and very into controlling Freya because the wording of the prophecy basically makes him feel like he has to wield her like a weapon and have her beholden to him. This he does in various ways including but not limited to threatening the various useless members of her family. If Freya has an Achilles heel, it’s definitely her family, although why is a bit of a mystery as she’s never been treated particularly well by any of them. She’s always played second fiddle to her brother, who grew up spoiled. Although he fights in the King’s army, he’s a weak man and you get the feeling he’d sell her out at first opportunity too.
I really enjoyed the idea of some people being touched by one of the gods and what that meant. For example, if you possess a drop of Thor’s blood, you can control thunder and lightning. Bjorn is also god touched, it’s his job to train Freya, who has always had to hide her abilities previously. There’s a war coming and basically once it’s known that Freya, the child of the prophecy has been found, almost everyone wants to kill her. Or sway her to their side, rather than be under the control of the guy who wants to be King of the united people which apparently, he can only do whilst he possesses or controls Freya. The wording and implications are a bit gross.
I think the biggest issue with this one is that the characters spend a lot of time walking places. Freya has to go make an offering to the gods or something as part of the prophecy, I don’t know, so they have to trek there and then back and then somewhere else and then there’s a battle, etc. It does occasionally make the book feel a bit slow as they’re just walking around for a while, with this being broken up sometimes by someone or other trying to kill Freya. It’s not until close to the end, where there’s a big battle and then…well….something I should definitely have seen coming and didn’t, happens. I knew part of it was coming but when it was all revealed….I was annoyed at myself for not noticing it.
I did like this enough to read book 2 but the ending of this one severely impacted on my liking of one character. I understand why they did what they did but the way in which they went about it is going to be almost unforgivable. It’s going to be interesting to see how they try. ...more
This was a highly anticipated release for me. I have read both The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. I liked the first one and loved the second This was a highly anticipated release for me. I have read both The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. I liked the first one and loved the second one so I was excited for this. I also thought it sounded right up my alley because I don’t think I’m alone in wondering what it would be like to be magically transplanted to your favourite book series. It’s like the ultimate fantasy, being able to wander around the world you know so well, meet the people that feel like they are friends. Maybe even find your own happily ever after, if your chosen world is a romance series. If it’s a fantasy that’s also potentially possible but let’s face it, there’s the chance for danger in some worlds more than others!
This is what happens to Eileen. After her virtual book club abandons their yearly in person meet up, she decides to go alone, only to get lost on the 16hr drive and find herself within the town of her favourite book series. Everything is as she pictured it almost – the pub where the burgers are always burnt, the cafe, the inn that is still in the stages of being renovated. She finds herself with a front row seat of what happens to your favourite couples in the ‘after’ – after the book has finished. Although in this case, the world is somewhat in limbo because the author of this series died before the fifth and final book so some of the characters…..where they are, is clearly in the middle of something. The only person who is in this town that Eileen doesn’t know is Anders, the grumpy bookstore owner who wasn’t in the books. She assumes that he was supposed to be the love interest in the never-released fifth book, but unlike the other characters, Anders is aware that he’s in a book series, which feels weird although it’s not something Eileen examines in the ways that she should. Instead she starts trying to fix the things she feels are ‘wrong’ – some of which she thinks she may have caused by being an unplanned arrival into the town.
I loved the idea of this, both for the fantasy of being dropped into the world and also the exploration of what might happen to a couple after we close the book. They’ve got their HEA but….in many cases, the practicalities of that haven’t been explained or demonstrated on page. This is a look at how sometimes, when that hasn’t been established, how things might not be the dream we imagined, for the couple. And Eileen realises that in some ways, these characters aren’t what she pictured exactly, there are differences and they do things and react in ways that she wouldn’t expect (such as when she gives one of them what she thinks is a pep talk or some advice only to find herself abused in return). There are things about this world that aren’t so idyllic, like everything seems to be in the books. There are parts that are blurry, that can’t be focused on – because the author never had to imagine them in a fully fleshed manner. Every single day is the same, because in the books, we are treated to a snapshot.
I did enjoy this and I did enjoy the things that the book was making me think about. But I have to say, the romance really wasn’t it for me. I wanted to love it. It had so many things that I felt would be specifically for me. A grumpy bookstore owner? How is that not the dream? Anders had potential but a lot of their interactions left me wanting. The book takes so much time to explore the town and introduce us to the characters and give us the backstories to the books, because we haven’t read the books like Eileen does, these people mean nothing to us. But something has to give because of that and so often for me, it felt like it was the romance that did. It was like just kind of drifting along, they were still in the stage of not really doing anything other than bickering when the author seemed to realise we were getting close to the end and she’d better ramp that bit up so then it felt really quick? Also I did not really love the…I won’t call it a third act break up as such, but the decision made because it made Eileen feel like a consolation prize. And I didn’t love that, at all.
I did love the book club (Hi Benji! I love when things get a bit twisted in on themselves, there were some funny easter eggs in this). And I loved Eileen figuring things about herself via her time in the town, coming to terms with the things that had happened to her in her life and what she’d kind of allowed that to do and realising that she had to take her life back and get out of the rut she had found herself in. Sometimes I don’t want to think about the reality of the couples I love in books and how things might work for them after I finish the last page. I have definitely read some books where I am like “lol, they will be divorced in five years, I was not convinced by that at all”. Other times I love the couple but I can still see a few things that weren’t made clear or little discrepancies and I’m like nope, pretending they’re not there, everything is fine.
For me, this was a good read but I did not fall in love with it. I fell in love with the idea but the execution was just a little bit wanting for me. I get it, Anders has minty green eyes. I don’t need to be reminded every four pages.
Recently, my family member that works in a bookstore that I swap books back and forth with a lot, got into this series. I thought I’d finished the firRecently, my family member that works in a bookstore that I swap books back and forth with a lot, got into this series. I thought I’d finished the first one on KU, but I don’t think I ever fully did, so I went back and re-read it in order to read the next two that she’d loaned me. To be honest, it’s not entirely necessary, you can read these stand alone (it’s not a secret who anyone ends up with). This takes place pretty much directly after the finish of the first book – the end of that first book is the set up of this one, which also happens in this book as well.
Memphis Ward has recently been hired at the Eloise Inn, in Quincy Montana. There’s a reason she picked this tiny town and Eloise, her new boss, helped her find accommodation that she can afford. She comes with her two month old son Drake and has found a daycare spot for him while she works in town. Memphis is definitely having a hard time – she’s sleep deprived, struggling for money, working a physical job for the first time in her life and it’s clear that she’s alone. Very alone. Her new landlord Knox Eden is suspicious about her story. He’s pretty sure Memphis is hiding something and he’d like her to sort her life out so that she can exit the apartment above his garage. Her baby cries at night, keeping him awake and Knox finds that even though it’s not something he should get involved him, he can’t help but offer help. And the more he helps Memphis, the more he wants her to stay. Maybe move even closer.
I really enjoyed this second one. I really liked Memphis, who has divided her life into Old Memphis, who lived a certain way and did certain things and this Memphis, or New Memphis, who has a completely different life and different priorities. She is definitely on her own but is swept up in the small community with a boss who values her input. There’s definitely a certain something simmering between Knox and Memphis as well. Knox runs a restaurant at the Inn and is Griffin’s brother, one of the famous Edens (Eloise is one also). When it looks like the past Memphis has left behind her is about to find her, Knox finds himself standing with her, alongside of her, wanting to shelter her and protect her and let her know that she isn’t alone facing this. That she doesn’t have to be alone. He’s so good with Drake as well, Knox has a bit of a complex past regarding children which is revealed throughout the course of the book and that past shapes a lot of his interactions with Drake.
Look, is this book a bit dramatic towards the end? Yes. I cannot lie. Did I also eat it up, fully invested in how it was going to play out? Also, yes. It’s possible we didn’t need two such dramatic things but I was having too much fun to really care that much. I liked the development of Knox and Memphis, it’s obviously very physical but there’s a lot of emotional development as well, especially when they finally begin to share pieces to themselves with each other properly, with no attempts at skirting details. I liked Knox a bit more than Griffin I think, he was a bit quieter. And I still really enjoy the large, noisy extended family and their get togethers. The way they embrace Memphis is sweet, even if they probably would be a little overbearing in real life. The way they infantilise Eloise in this is a bit weird, I’m tipping that will be expanded upon in her book – which is not the next one though. This did set up the next one but….. I’ve heard that book 3 is rough. I’m trying to go into it with an open mind but I already have questions.
The Edens is a series that was originally self-published and gained a lot of popularity on Kindle Unlimited. I actually downloaded this one, the firstThe Edens is a series that was originally self-published and gained a lot of popularity on Kindle Unlimited. I actually downloaded this one, the first one, from KU a really long time ago and since then they’ve been removed from KU for traditional publishing, based on the strength of the success they found. Because I’d downloaded this one prior to its removal, it stayed on my device (and will do so until I return it). Recently a family member loaned me the 2nd and 3rd books in this series so I decided to finally go ahead and finish this one. I’d read a portion of it when I downloaded it but had abandoned it for other books.
Winslow Covington is the new chief of police in the small town of Quincy, Montana. The town is dominated by the Eden family, who own a lot of the local businesses and have been longstanding citizens of importance in the area. As you might’ve guessed from the title of this series, all of the books are going to be about the six current generation of Edens and in this one, Winslow meets Griffin Eden and they have a one night encounter that is supposed to be exactly that until Griffin realises that Winslow is the new chief of police and Winslow realises she’s going to be seeing Griffin all the time. Recently out of a long term relationship that went wrong, Winslow (Winn) isn’t looking for anything permanent and it seems, neither is Griffin. But both of them didn’t count on the other, although there are complications here, namely a spate of local suicides by young women that Winn is looking at with fresh eyes as potentially not being suicides at all. This does put her at odds with Griffin, especially with one person in particular, that Winn needs to question.
I ended up enjoying this. The Edens are a big, bold, fun family and although I didn’t love Griffin at first introduction, I’d warmed to him by mid way through the book. I did like Winn and her grandfather, who is Quincy’s mayor. Technically he hired her, but with an objective eye, although not everyone in the town feels like Winn should’ve gotten the job. Winn is good at her job though, she immediately sees through these suicides, wondering if there might be more to them. I liked meeting all the siblings and I loved Winn’s relationship with her grandfather, which is very sweet. I too had a very close relationship with my grandfather before his death in 2013, and I have to admit, I have a soft spot for that sort of relationship portrayed well.
If I had one criticism, it would be that for me, the relationship between Griffin and Winn didn’t really convince me that it got so deep so quick. I believe that they were attracted to each other and had chemistry but most of their interactions occurred late at night in one bed or another, except when Griff was following Winn around as she did her job. I think I could’ve done with a few more scenes that showed them being vulnerable with each other in deeper ways. There are a couple but they feel sudden, although, going by the epilogue, everything about Griff and Winn ends up being sudden.
Honestly, I think this is fine – the suspense story is done relatively well, the characters were enjoyable if a bit only ever feeling surface level to me. I like the town, I feel like this book also gave a good introduction to the rest of the siblings, who feature in all of the future books. The end of this book set up the next one in a way that made me look forward to reading it. Which I can do, whenever I feel like now as it’s sitting on my TBR shelf....more
I love Danielle Hawkin’s books. Chocolate Cake For Breakfast is one of my absolute favourites but I have enjoyed every single book from her. I somehowI love Danielle Hawkin’s books. Chocolate Cake For Breakfast is one of my absolute favourites but I have enjoyed every single book from her. I somehow missed this one and just came across it during a random scroll of the books new to my library’s ebook platform.
Laura is in her late 30s and she’s finished up her latest government contract and is visiting a few family members and friends before going on a long hike in New Zealand. From ages 18-31 she dated Hamish Douglas (aka ‘Doug’) but they broke up because Laura wanted children and he did not. Doug immediately got his next partner pregnant within months. Upon visiting Doug’s mother she learns that Doug’s father Peter has terminal pancreatic cancer and makes an impulsive visit to see him. She’s shocked by his appearance and genuinely devastated at his prognosis. Laura was a part of their family for over a decade and it’s clear that not only do they still love her very much, she still loves them too. The fact that she’s not with their eldest son anymore hasn’t changed anything. She also sees Mick, Hamish’s younger brother and when their mother Cat breaks a leg Mick calls Laura for help. There’s Cat to take care of, Peter and his up and down days, not to mention that Doug’s wife has gone into early labour at 28 weeks and someone also needs to mind the two older kids while he tries to split his time between his farm and being at the hospital with his wife. Laura is happy to help – she loves Cat and Peter and even though the break up with Doug contained multiple layers of pain, they’re {mostly} civil. What ends up happening between Laura and Mick will definitely test that civility over the coming weeks….
Really, really enjoyed this. Loved the New Zealand setting, as I do in all her books and I loved Laura and her calm acceptance of basically, all the chaos. She steps in to do a lot – she has to look after her ex’s children with his wife (and one of them resents her enormously in the beginning) and those children are clearly confused and upset by the disappearance of their parents. Peter, her almost father-in-law is very ill, although he has his good days and bad days. He is still fragile and struggles some days, and Cat, the very capable head of the household, is laid up with a badly broken leg that at first keeps her in hospital for surgery and then definitely restricts her movement and capabilities, a source of frustration for her. She also runs a bookshop in town, which will need help and seems to volunteer for various community things. Laura finds herself cooking for shearers, dealing with overbearing relatives and when she is released from hospital, hostility from Doug’s wife who definitely isn’t happy to find Laura in residence. And then of course, there’s the complex situation with Mick.
Normally I’m not sure how I’d feel about the love interest for a character being the brother of her former long-term partner. And very long-term. Laura and Doug were together for about 13 years. So she was basically part of the family. Mick is younger than Laura by a couple of years and it does seem like he’s spent a lot of time travelling and working abroad so it’s unclear how close they were when Laura and Doug were together. However, I loved Laura and Mick in this. I felt like Mick could’ve called multiple people for help but what he wanted, was Laura’s help specifically. He seemed to appreciate her in a lot of ways and even though she’s very torn about things in the beginning, the fact is, Doug moved on. Years ago. He’s married with 2 kids and one about to arrive at any moment. I thought Mick and Laura worked well together and even though we never saw Laura and Doug together, Doug didn’t endear himself to me as a character at all. He was really sulky actually and Laura is pretty frank about the faults he has that annoyed her during their relationship, behaviour that she sees him still displaying.
I also loved Cat and Peter. So much. They were both wonderful. I loved their rapport with Laura and their relationship with each other. This book excelled in showcasing family relations, particularly through a time of turbulence. We also get some interaction between Laura and her complicated extended family that showcases that as well. But most of the action is concentrated at Cat and Peter’s farm and I loved that part of it. Despite what was happening it honestly did seem like such a lovely place to be and Laura finds endless patience for dealing with kids, helping Peter, making cups of tea, helping Cat, dealing with Doug and his attitude, his wife and hers, as well as relatives who raise their eyebrows at her returning presence. I got so invested in this family, even the kids. One of them is definitely adorable and the other one is very serious, definitely a bit standoffish at first, really not interested in Laura being caretaker but she gently perseveres and that combined with basically there being no other options, you get to see her develop a fun bond with them.
My only criticism of this one is that I do honestly feel like it was a bit short – I could’ve spent so much more time with these people! I wanted more from them, more with Laura and Mick and more just…general stuff. I never felt like I had trouble connecting with anyone but I do feel like a few more things could’ve been developed more. This is a relatively short book, it definitely could’ve easily had another 50+ pages, for me personally. This is still another excellent Danielle Hawkins book though. If only I had more to read! ...more
My third prompt from my TBRJar this month was to choose a book from the display shelf at my local library. They have a couple of display shelves at myMy third prompt from my TBRJar this month was to choose a book from the display shelf at my local library. They have a couple of display shelves at my local branch, a small one when you first walk in with some new books to the library and a really quite long one that is ‘recent returns’. I went there to make my choice and I picked this one solely for the cover. The cover is absolutely stunning – love the colours. I was immediately drawn to it. I knew nothing about it when I picked it up and I gave the blurb only the most cursory read over before deciding that it would be my choice for that prompt.
Unfortunately this is: beautiful cover, interesting premise but not great execution.
This book centres around a changeling girl/woman named Fia. A changeling is a child left in place by the fae for a human child they steal. Sometimes those children left behind do things like explode into a flock of birds or crumble to dust or whatever. Fia doesn’t do that however, she continues to grow and age. She is raised by the Queen in place of the Queen’s stolen daughter, who is now somewhere in the realm of the fae. Although the Queen has ‘loved’ and provided for Fia it’s in a way that makes her feel like she’s worthless and that the Queen herself is the only person capable of loving a person such as her. Fia is definitely abused but can’t see it. When the Queen discovers that there might be a way to get her real daughter back, she asks Fia to complete the task, for multiple reasons.
Going with her is her childhood best friend Rogan and a Prince of…..I don’t know, some part of this world. Fia and Rogan played together as children, definitely did more than that as teenagers. It’s complicated by the fact that Rogan has been betrothed to the Queen’s human daughter since they were children. Fia has always known that he wasn’t meant for her. But she has trouble remembering that when he’s around.
This is a love triangle. And I hated it. For me, a huge part of this book is that it focuses way too much on Fia and Rogan when it’s obvious that they can’t be endgame. Instead, Fia meets a mysterious fae when she crosses over into their world and at first he’s definitely villainous but the more she finds out about the mysterious bond that keeps the kidnapped human girls in the fae realm, the more she realises he’s more just a morally grey victim of circumstances. But she can only enter the fae realm once a month on the full moon and stay like 24 hours or something – the rest of the time she spends waiting for the next full moon. With Rogan.
I really disliked Rogan as a character. He’s spoiled (really fits that mould of sheltered Prince who doesn’t know about reality) and patronising. He’s dismissive of Fia and yet will rely on her to pick up his slack about basic things. For example they know this is an in depth mission, this rescue they’re going on and he doesn’t even pack food or a sleeping bag. He just arrogantly assumes that he will be taken care of. And you could say oh he’s a product of his upbringing…..and maybe so. But he has absolutely zero self awareness and responsibility. He claims that he cares about Fia and look maybe he does. He’s also trapped in a terrible position, being betrothed to someone he met once as a child and didn’t like. But I didn’t like the way he treated Fia at all, he sulks and drinks in the times between being able to visit the fae realm and contributes almost nothing to the mission anyway. Because the book spends so much time on them two (it must be almost 60/70% through by the time it stops?) that to me, meant that the other part of the triangle, Fia’s relationship with Irian, the fae, feels woefully underdeveloped. They can already only spend like 24hrs a month together, or whatever it is, but so much of the narrative focuses on Rogan. I can get the childhood nostalgia that Fia feels for him but he’s such a surly baby that it’s hard to imagine any actual grown adult woman wanting a bar of him. And it leads to so few deep interactions with Irian, part of which is the construct of her ability to enter fae lands, but also just because instead of focusing more of the plot on those times, instead it’s the times with Rogan that are expanded upon repeatedly. It’s not until quite late in the book that Fia makes her choice and by that time, I was already bored. I’d had to sit through far too much Rogan.
There are things about the plot I enjoyed. But I honestly felt like large parts of the plot took a backseat for Fia’s internal musings about mostly Rogan. Again, the fact that she can only enter the fae realm every month or so and stay briefly, really means that the plot struggles to be driven forward in a timely manner. There’s so much stuff in-between that is just all filler, no killer. I didn’t realise this was first in a series (I don’t know why, almost nothing is stand alone these days!) but I think that it has been set up in what could be an interesting way for book two. But unfortunately I think I won’t be coming back to see what happens, I found this very so so. The writing is pretty but I want more than pretty writing. I want plot development and relationship development and for me, this book didn’t do either of those effectively. ...more
I was excited for this, I love a book with this sort of vibe but unfortunately, this turned out to not be for me. I also feel that I’ve tried this autI was excited for this, I love a book with this sort of vibe but unfortunately, this turned out to not be for me. I also feel that I’ve tried this author twice now, two quite different books that have both sounded right up my alley and liked neither of them, so probably I can now assume that they’re not my vibe. To be honest I probably would’ve DNF’d this except one of my April TBRJar prompts was read a book with a title starting with D and this was the only one I could find that was already in my house and I didn’t want to go and get something else. So I did finish it, just so I could say that I finished this prompt for the month but I really had to push myself through it.
This started off in a promising way. Riley is a curse-breaker, something that has been passed down to her from her grandmother. So far she’s only really broken a few smaller curses, this is the sort of job that could definitely help make her reputation in this field. She’s travelled to Scotland, to a castle that is said to be cursed. On her first night she gets dinner in the pub and meets a man she finds very attractive. He’s also working at the castle – he’s an archeologist but he has no time for curses or those who think they might be able to break one and the night goes downhill fast when he realises that’s who Riley is and why she’s there. From then, it’s enemies at twenty paces. Except for all the times they’re weirdly ogling each other.
This bickering drove me nuts. Clark, the archeologist, is smug and always smirking and constantly talks down to Riley. And Riley, well she was okay, I didn’t strongly dislike her like I strongly disliked Clark but it felt like she did go out of her way to provoke Clark and then just be insulted by everything. I didn’t like them together at all and the whole curse thing that holds the story together felt very tenuous and not at all interesting.
I did not feel like they had any chemistry and the sex ritual Riley decides must break the curse was…awkward. The sex itself was awkward. There were 1 or 2 scenes that I felt were written well but overall the build up didn’t feel organic and the actual consummation didn’t either. Clark turned into one of those guys that love pulling hair and having control and….ZZzzzzzzz. There was also a lot of drama with Clark’s family and that just kept getting inserted into the story in ways that I honestly, did not care about at all. Also I don’t know anything about archeology but some of this felt dubious at best in terms of you know, what real archaeological methods are.
All in all, this one was unfortunately a no from me. But it did tick a prompt off for my challenge, so I guess I can’t ask for more than that....more
It’s weird to be reading pandemic fiction. Like, we recently passed the 4 year mark of the declaration of a pandemic and on one I really enjoyed this.
It’s weird to be reading pandemic fiction. Like, we recently passed the 4 year mark of the declaration of a pandemic and on one hand, it honestly feels like so long ago and on the other, it feels like yesterday and how has it been four years already?
In this story, Lara is in her late 50s and lives with her husband on a fruit orchard in Michigan. It’s cherry season and her three daughters have all returned to the family home for a lockdown – one lives on the farm anyway in a separate dwelling and she is the one that will be taking it over one day. All in their 20s, at least one of the others was in college and is now learning in a long distance manner. The third daughter wants to be an actress but I honestly can’t remember if she was still in college or had finished. All of them are putting in backbreaking levels of labour over the cherry picking season because they are unable to hire the amount of workers they normally would, because of the pandemic. There are mentions of social distancing, waving to neighbours, leaving things on porches, etc so you are well entrenched in the time frame but at the same time, it’s not a book about the pandemic. It’s merely a book that takes place within it.
To pass the time whilst picking (the types of cherries currently ready have to be hand picked) the three girls have asked Lara to tell them the story of when she was an actress some thirty plus years ago and had a relationship with a man named Peter Duke (known mostly just as Duke) who was also in the same play, who went on to become a very, very famous actor. It seems like the girls have known that their mother and this man had a relationship for a while in the distant past but not the details. Now they’re older, Lara agrees to tell the story. It’s obvious at least one of the daughters had some really strong thoughts about the relationship and it caused a lot of friction in their relationship – some friction that still remains to this day. Lara knows in telling the story she can’t sugar coat some of it and it may change their thoughts and opinions and everyone will have to deal with the fallout of that.
The story is told in a back and forth fashion, dipping back in time to the parts Lara is telling and you experience it as Lara did, at the time. It starts when she is a teenager in high school and a local play that is being put on. Lara watches the auditions but has no intention of actually auditioning herself….until she watches and realises that she’d do it differently. From there, she plays the same role several times over the ensuing years, it’s her way of playing that particular role that makes her. She also films a movie but that is delayed a long time in being released. When playing the role for the third or fourth time, that’s when she meets the man who would go on to be a very famous actor. Think like, award winning level of famous.
The way in which Lara tells the story is engrossing, there are reveals that work really well, particularly the reveal of her husband and how she met him and how they ended up together. There’s also the fact that her daughters, one in particular, must come to terms with the story as Lara is telling it, rather than the story she seems to have created herself. I have to say, I did find the daughters trying at times, particularly one of them, who seems to want to hear the story but their version of the story rather than Lara’s. There’s a lot of tiptoeing around possibly hurting her feelings and her attitude at times, felt odd for someone who was in her mid-20s. The flashbacks to when she was a teenager were diabolical.
I feel like this would make a great movie. The audiobook was narrated by Meryl Streep and I could definitely see an actress of her calibre playing an older Lara, telling the story to her three daughters. The backdrop of a cherry farm would make a fantastic setting, too. The way in which the story centres around acting and a play and dips back and forth would work well visually. I’m not familiar with the play (Our Town, which is apparently, an American classic). I did some research on it after finishing the book and….maybe it’s an acquired taste?
Either way, I really enjoyed this. Would recommend....more
I was so keen to pick this book up after my last read, which was traumatic and quite emotionally draining. I thought this would be super fun and cute I was so keen to pick this book up after my last read, which was traumatic and quite emotionally draining. I thought this would be super fun and cute – I really quite like Sarah Adams’ Rome Kentucky series and although I hadn’t read the first book in this series, I figured it wouldn’t matter that much.
And it didn’t. But….I have mixed feelings about this as a book.
This for me, was a story told in two parts. In the beginning, Nora ‘Mac’ Mackenzie is working for a sports representation agency and she’s about to get her first client. An agent is sick and has to take a lot of time off or retire prematurely and so one of the other agents has recommended Mac as the replacement to the client, a tight end for the Los Angeles Sharks. To Mac’s horror (it’s hard enough getting a client as a woman) the client is none other than Derek Pender, her college boyfriend whom she dumped quite unceremoniously.
Originally Derek is like ‘no way’ and walks out when he realises the ‘Mac’ he’s meeting is Nora. But she chases after him and somehow manages to convince him and Derek decides that sure, she can be his agent but he’s going to make her life a living misery. And he does, phoning her relentlessly, giving her stupid humiliating tasks, not taking her or her work seriously, refusing to listen to the deals she is making on his behalf. Derek is also injured, he’s coming back from a broken leg and is having some severe doubts as the other tight end for his team did a great job filling in after his injury, so he’s having a crisis of confidence. This he seems to take out on Nora as well but mostly, it’s because he’s angry she dumped him. Like she didn’t have a right to, or something.
I really struggled with this whilst Derek was doing the hazing thing. I didn’t find it funny or cute. I found it to be an asshole move, degrading and rude, disrespectful and taking advantage of the fact that clearly, Nora needs a break in her career. She can’t afford to walk away from this – she’s already treated shittily by the men that work at her agency. If she was to lose her first client, her life would be even worse than Derek is currently making it. It’s just gross, childish behaviour and this is dual narration so we get to hear all of Derek’s inner monologue when he’s thinking up these things too, sometimes. I honestly did not like him, at all. I considered DNF’ing this a couple of times but…..I made myself push through.
And it does get better, once the hazing stops. And I did enjoy it more after that……especially once Nora explained her reasoning for breaking up with Derek all those years ago. I mean, it probably would’ve been nice if she’d done it more at the time but I also understand why she didn’t. Their college dynamic was that their relationship was threatening things that Nora wanted to do with her life, it was very all consuming and involved. It kind of disintegrates into a situation where something happens and they need to pretend to fake be married, which brings up a lot of unresolved feelings and issues for both of them.
Neither of them have ever really gotten over the other and this reintroduction to each other when they are both older (and I would say more mature but Derek’s early actions query that for me) does given them both feelings about a second chance and whether or not it could work between them. I did enjoy some of their interactions in Vegas and the aftermath but unfortunately a lot of the early impressions weren’t good and it was a struggle to move past that. Also Derek has this group of friends (presumably the couple from the first book and a few others) and they’re honestly, the least believable group of NFL players and friends I’ve ever read. Nothing about any of their conversations or interactions felt in any way genuine or natural – more like how people want friendship groups to interact.
Sarah Adams is an author that has worked really well for me before but unfortunately I did find this one lacklustre, which was a shame.
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more
I really enjoyed this book! It was a recommendation somewhere and it was on KU so I thought I’d give it a go and I’m so glad I did.
Rach is working as I really enjoyed this book! It was a recommendation somewhere and it was on KU so I thought I’d give it a go and I’m so glad I did.
Rach is working as kind of an assistant to personal assistants and sleeping on her ex-boyfriend’s couch whilst her own place is being fumigated. She steps forward to take an assignment when everyone else steps back – being a PA to someone who has already been through multiple PAs and seems fussy, demanding and quite frankly, difficult to please. Still, Rach desperately needs the payrise this will give her. She doesn’t have contact with him other than via email to begin with, but she’s able to work out of his luxury apartment. Her first introduction to him isn’t a great one – in fact it’s so cringy I died inside reading it. Rach realises two things: it’s firstly been captured on camera, as she stumbled unwittingly on an interview and secondly – she knows her client. He’s Pres, a guy she met by chance a little while ago. Not what she was expecting at all. He’s much younger and much hotter than his emails made him out to be. And now she’s been roped into fake dating him for his movement towards running for Mayor.
This has one of my favourite romance dynamics – happy go lucky sunshine girl (who still doesn’t take much, if any, shit) and a grumpy, uptight, reserved male character who finds himself and his life turned upside down by the chaotic good that the female character brings into it. This is definitely the case with Pres – he’s a III and his father is a 4x Senator and Majority Leader. He’s been raised in the public eye in a conservative family, with image is everything honed into him. He’s had wealth, privilege, everything. And Rach’s upbringing and life could not be more different.
There’s so much in this that’s hilarious, especially Pres’ team that are basically in charge of what will be his run for Mayor. One of them is such a sycophant yes man, who immediately leaps to tell him how wonderful everything he utters is. Rach is the only person who will say to him ‘you are joking right, that is ridiculous/out of touch/not at all relatable’ whenever Pres falls back too much onto his silver spoon upbringing. To be a good Mayor candidate, Rach tells him he needs to connect with his voters. Reports back on polling have found him cold and unlikeable, which his biggest yes man dismisses but instead Rach has ideas on how to counteract that, especially when polling also suggests that people like Rach and find her funny and relatable. She makes Pres more likeable.
I really enjoyed the writing, story and characters in this. It was such a fun and clever romance, lots of funny moments and I thought Rach and Pres’ chemistry was fantastic. There’s a shower scene in this that is so great (for lots of different reasons). I know the author has other books and I’ll have to check them out for sure. ...more
This wasn’t really what I expected but at the same time I’m not really sure what I was expecting?
I read and loved Seven Days In June by Tia Williams aThis wasn’t really what I expected but at the same time I’m not really sure what I was expecting?
I read and loved Seven Days In June by Tia Williams and this was one of my most anticipated releases for 2024. That book had me expecting another really powerful, gut-wrenching love story, one that would stay with me for a long time to come. And it’s not that I didn’t like this, because that’s not the case. But I definitely don’t feel like that for me, the romance was one of those strong, all encompassing ones. It didn’t give me ‘the feels’, to be honest.
Ricki Wilde is the youngest in a very well-to-do family in Atlanta. Her father owns a chain of funeral companies, her three older sisters (who look the same, talk the same, dress the same etc) went to the expected Ivy Leagues and graduated and have proved themselves and been allowed to open their own franchises. Ricki is the odd one out. The Wilde one, so to speak. A disappointment. She’s not very interested in funeral homes, instead she’s passionate about plants and flowers. She’s put herself through some qualifications and now she wants to open a florist. Instead of receiving the trust fund to do it, Ricki is left to do it on her own and she secures the lease on the bottom floor of a Harlem brownstone. She’s slowly build up her instagram following over the past few years and now she needs to translate that into a bricks and mortar shop. It’s going to be hard but Ricki wants to prove herself the old-fashioned way. She’s not in New York very long when she spots a man in a community garden – they’re immediately drawn to each other. In a powerful, inexplicable way. But the man tells Ricki she needs to leave him be – that they can’t pursue this. But it seems that fate has other ideas.
This was…fine. I liked Ricki as a character and I enjoyed the set up, her ‘escaping’ her quite stifling family and moving to a completely new place, somewhat that inspired and captivated her. Her first meeting with the man in he garden was interesting too – I think it was what happened after that in a way, that made me wonder if this was a book I could fall in love with. The idea of fate and destiny and your inability to escape what lies in store for you was also interesting…..even when Ricki and the man, Ezra, attempt to avoid each other, in a city like New York, they continually run into each other. Even if they change their routines and whatever, they keep crossing paths. It’s a compulsion, one that Ezra understands but Ricki does not. And when he eventually tells her, it’s something that she needs time to wrap her head around.
I did realise that this had a sort of magical realism element to it from a review that I read. I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing – I think probably good, if I hadn’t been expecting it I think I would’ve found Ezra’s story very jarring. Because of the fate/destiny aspect, I didn’t feel like there was a burn between Ricki and Ezra. It felt very instalove. Like they do not even know each other, not really. In some ways that’s very difficult but their interactions are so surface level but yet underneath there’s supposed to be this roiling chemistry and I just…..I never really felt it. I felt desperation from Ezra. And I understood why. But apart from that, I wasn’t really enveloped into this love story and it was a bit of a shame. I read this in a way that felt like I was always quite detached from the story. Ultimately I feel like when Ricki and Ezra interacted, most other things fell by the wayside – Ricki’s business, her relationships with Tuesday and Della, her exploration of New York/Harlem and who she was away from the suffocation of her family. There was so much that could’ve been done here and it became surface skimmed over in favour of Ricki and Ezra but even the time spent on that didn’t really make me feel the impact.
Also – there’s this thing *thing* hanging over Ricki and Ezra making a life together and…look, I can’t spoil it but it should be something that makes you feel anxious and wonder how they might overcome this. Instead I knew what was obviously going to be the solution way before it happened. So that meant that I never felt that fear, that potential inevitable disaster. I was like well, this is going to be what is required to do this thing and….that is exactly what happened. It felt way too easy to pick unfortunately.
Tia Williams writes beautifully – Seven Days In June was stunning and there were many examples here. I just wanted more emotion from this, because it was so instantaneous, we never got that development. And I felt like Ricki’s family relationships were also left mostly unresolved. One conversation with her sisters in which Ezra does most of the talking and one example of her Dad reading a newspaper article isn’t really offsetting the years and years of her being somewhat mistreated and patronised. The idea of Ezra just Forrest Gump-ing his way through life was kind of hilarious though.
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review***...more
Last year I read The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead and loved it. This book was apparently published a couple of years ago and features Lee, tLast year I read The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead and loved it. This book was apparently published a couple of years ago and features Lee, the sister of Alexis from The Boyfriend Candidate. Lee and her husband Ben were mentioned multiple times and appeared a few times in that book as well. I knew there was a bit of a history I’d struggle with but when this book was republished this year and I saw it, I decided to give it a go. My resulting feelings are I think, partially the book itself and partially my own issues with the trope this explores.
Lee Stone aka “Stoner” works for Tesla if Tesla were created by a woman and not Elon Musk. The owner of the company and the Governor of….Austin? I want to say Austin, have a radical plan that involves making all of the public transport green – electric. They need to campaign for votes from people who hold offices I don’t really understand in order to pass the bill. This campaign means that Lee comes into contact with her former boyfriend Ben, whom she dated when she was doing her postgrad five years ago. Ben is now working for the Governor as a policy advisor and it’s going to be a shared responsibility for him and Lee to get this bill passed.
Except Lee and Ben’s relationship ended acrimoniously when, thinking he was cheating on her as many of the men in her past had done, Lee retaliated by sleeping with his biggest academic rival the day before his final exam. Ben tanked that exam and in the resulting fallout, ghosted Lee, disappearing from her life. Until now. Now he’s back and they have to work together, except pesky things like feelings and resentment over what happened, keep getting in the way. Lee is learning a lot about herself and her self-sabotage tendencies, stemming from a childhood trauma that she never learned to deal with. And Ben is caught in her crossfire as she tries to negotiate why she can’t let him go.
Oh boy. I really wanted to love this, because I loved The Boyfriend Candidate so much. But man is Lee hard work. Look, the book tries to explain why she does what she does. She does have what she calls her Four Heartbreaks or whatever, the four times bad things happened to her involving men and cheating and betrayal.
I have read romances almost my whole life. I can forgive a lot. But I really struggle with cheating and thanks to this book, cheating as a way of deliberately trying to hurt someone. An act of revenge, for something that never even happened. Lee read some messages in Ben’s phone about someone he was meeting up with for study dates and immediately assumed he was cheating and so she planned and executed sleeping with his rival deliberately. To do nothing but hurt him. Of course it turns out Ben wasn’t cheating at all, whoops. The thing that really bothered me about this book was that when they finally hash it all out, when Ben finally tries to make Lee understand that she broke his heart five years ago, bursting her bubble that she was more invested than he was, Lee is like well okay yeah I did that and that’s on me, I know I hurt you, but what about what you did to me when you ghosted me after you found out? Do you know how much you hurt me? And I had to just stop for a moment and contemplate my life choices that somehow Lee managed to paint herself into being the victim in that particular scenario, because Lee, you blew up your relationship and then his whole life when he tanked that exam and lost his clerkship (to the guy you slept with, I think?!) and you’re mad that he chose to protect himself from further heartbreak and pain by escaping you and your toxicity? Girl, get help. Deal with your Daddy issues and your previous relationship issues so that you don’t vomit them all over innocent people.
To be honest, I didn’t like Lee much anyway, her frat girl let’s get high so I don’t have to deal with my life, isn’t my idea of a fun heroine to read. But almost every interaction she had with Ben made me like her even less – the amount of times she was antagonistic to him or stormed away and he ran after her like he was the one who had done wrong. It became infuriating and in the end I just finished this because I wanted to see how it addressed Lee’s behaviour of cheating as a defense mechanism and the answer was….it really didn’t? Like it felt like Ben accepted she did it because she made a mistake and she was scared he was going to hurt her but it never felt like Lee was like wow, maybe I should really deal with why I felt the need to do this or how I might learn to deal with potential issues like a Grown Adult in the future. Not all romances you read do a good job of convincing you that the couple will be long term but this one? It’s definitely one of the ones where I was like yeah, they’ll be divorced in a few years. I think there’s a difference between a character who does make mistakes and undergoes emotional and personal growth and one that basically just self-destructed continuously and did no actual realistic work on themselves. Lee began this book being incredibly unlikable and if possible, by the end, I actually liked her even less.
I found this very disappointing. And like I said, part of that is on me, because cheating is an issue I do struggle with in terms of it being something that I find ‘forgivable’ in a relationship but Lee was just the worst sort of cheater, her reasons and justifications were awful and her acceptance and ownership of her actions even worse. Nothing about her was really redeemable to me, even the way she treated her sister was poor.
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review***...more
Although the other book I read by this writing duo didn’t work for me, I chose this one because it seemed so different in terms of it being a second cAlthough the other book I read by this writing duo didn’t work for me, I chose this one because it seemed so different in terms of it being a second chance romance but one where the couple is still married.
Eliza and Graham have been married for five years and were madly in love. They both still love each other but for some reason, their marriage is slowly failing. The two of them don’t have anything to talk about anymore, their conversations stilted. For their five year anniversary, Graham’s parents gift them a stay in a luxury resort to celebrate and the drive there is awkward and disconnected. When Eliza discovers that two rooms were booked by mistake, Eliza decides to keep both bookings. Her and Graham need some space – maybe if they have that, they can find a desire to want to be together. During their first night there, Eliza joins Graham in the bar only for the man he’s having a drink with to assume they don’t know each other. Eliza sees opportunity – she wants to see if they can ‘date’ again, as strangers, find that chemistry and fun that they had. Graham isn’t sure what this will accomplish but he doesn’t want to lose Eliza so he goes along with what she wants, even though inside, he’s not sure it’ll work. Graham feels like he is not exciting enough for Eliza – the only way he might keep her a little longer is to pretend to be someone else. But once she figures out that he’s the same person deep down, Graham is sure it’s all over anyway. In order for Graham and Eliza to rekindle their marriage, both of them are going to have to confess the fears and anxieties they have to each other and bear themselves to the bone.
I was interested to read a story that dealt with a marriage where nothing had really happened, just things were not going well. That after five years it had gotten a bit stale or the two of them had run out of things to say, there had been some insecurities that have snuck in, especially for Graham. He is of the belief that he’s quite boring and that Eliza is going to figure it out sooner or later and realise that she deserves better. On Eliza’s side, she feels like Graham has become distanced from her, like he’s no longer interested in knowing her. This holiday gives them an opportunity to reconnect in the way they did when they first met. Both are role playing strangers, giving themselves different lives. For Graham, slipping into someone else gives him more confidence – he’s smoother, easier, more charming, can flirt with her. Because it’s not him, it’s not boring Graham, it’s someone else.
This started off well. It’s dual perspective (as I think all their books are) and I appreciated having both points of view because both of them are in pain about the way the marriage is currently. Both of them still love the other. Both of them want to save the marriage. Graham isn’t sure about the idea of playing roles, he definitely is a bit confused about it – I think it taps into his insecurity that he’s not enough for her. But he’s willing to do it. It feels like Graham is willing to do anything.
I’m not sure the book really adequately explained how they ended up where they were – and maybe that’s the point, that sometimes it just happens? But I couldn’t figure out really what Eliza wanted from Graham. She felt like she was never satisfied. She made up all the rules of the game, kind of sprang it on him without any warning and any time he wanted to clarify something or felt a bit off kilter, she seemed to get mad at him. And even though she wants Graham to do these things, it feels like she doesn’t want to acknowledge what he feels like he wants/needs from her. It was honestly hard to like Eliza throughout most of the book – I did like Graham though. I kind of felt sorry for him actually, he seemed like he was completely out of his depth at times. He wants to please Eliza but it feels like sometimes she keeps moving the goal posts which only seems to make Graham feel a little less deserving, like all his fears about himself are being justified and confirmed.
For me, it didn’t feel like all their problems were aired and sorted through – some of them weren’t even touched on until right at the end and there wasn’t much indication of how they’d move past them either. Maybe it’s not that deep but I read 300+p of them wanting to fix their marriage and then it didn’t really feel like the conversations went deep enough to have a good chance of fixing the cracks. Eliza took so long to realise where she’d gone wrong and how she was shutting Graham down and out. Honestly it feels like they need marriage counselling or something. Eliza needs to learn to use her big girl words and actually talk to him instead of putting on a persona and trying to flirt with him like he’s a stranger.
This was okay. It passed the time. But I feel like it missed the boat on its own self-examination and could’ve done a better job of the two coming to an understanding of where they’d gotten complacent and how they could be better in the future....more
I read Begin Again by Emma Lord recently and really liked it so when I saw this one was coming out, I immediately requested it through my local librarI read Begin Again by Emma Lord recently and really liked it so when I saw this one was coming out, I immediately requested it through my local library. I thought it’d be a fun break of the 846p book I had been slogging my way through for almost two weeks.
Riley has just graduated from high school but with no college offers. She’s prone to hijinks, one of which apparently got her suspended and she assumes that’s the reason for being rejected from all she applied to. What Riley wants to do is catch up with her best friend Tom, who moved away a couple years ago to New York with his mother. Realising that her own mother has a bunch of stuff prepared for her to fill her days before she “thinks about her future” Riley realises that the best time is now and she decides on a whim to go to New York to see Tom so they can complete as much as they can from their Getaway List, something they created together years ago. Riley’s mother isn’t happy about this, she doesn’t want Riley to end up the same way she did – a pregnant, alone, teenager. And for some reason she seems to think Tom will be the reason for this, even though it definitely seems like Riley is the more outrageous of the two. Riley goes anyway, tearing a rift in the relationship with her mother that’s been fractured for a while, with Riley too scared to really tell her mother why.
In New York, Riley finds…well a life. She and Tom reconnect instantly (although there’s definitely an extra little layer of tension that she didn’t think was there before) and through Tom she also makes another friend, someone Tom knows from his New York school. Riley’s friend (and ex-boyfriend) Jesse and his bandmates from their school have also moved to New York to try and make it big and they all make a fun group taking on as many of the challenges on The Getaway List as they can whilst Riley is in New York. What is originally supposed to be a weekend turns into the summer as Riley realises she doesn’t want to go home. New York has given her a new purpose, a new direction. She’s experiencing freedom to make her own choices, to do what she wants. For a long time now, Riley’s life has been meticulously planned and orchestrated and now this? This is something new and different and it fits. Riley loves New York, loves the group of friends she and Tom have. And then of course, there’s Tom. Who has always been her best friend but now…now it feels like there’s the possibility of so much more.
This was fun – but I honestly did not really find that anything challenged Riley that much. She has somewhere safe and nice to stay, with Tom and he gets her a job to earn some money while she’s there. Of the circle of 6ish people they become, Riley went to school with three of them (four if you count the time she also went to school with Tom and dated one of those) and everything just seems really easy. Even when Riley decides to stay in New York there’s no struggle to afford New York or find appropriate housing or anything. Like even the band get gigs immediately, there’s one they have like their first night in New York. I did find some things funny, like Jesse chronically gets on the wrong train and is always late because he ends up in the opposite direction to where he should be. And I liked Riley and Tom, their friendship was interesting and felt like it had layers and depth to it. I also liked the way in which that part played out, with Tom’s choices and Riley’s response to them.
This was just a fine, cute read but I have to say, the Taylor Swift references were far too much for me. I know I’m not a “Swiftie” but I don’t dislike her either, as an artist or a person. But when a book is like 300p and there are 20-30 Taylor Swift references crammed into it, it doesn’t feel natural. It feels forced, like you’re deliberately trying to tap into the market that is hot right now or the author being like ‘oh I love this artist so much, how many times can I sneak her in here?’ and guys, Taylor Swift doesn’t need sneaking in anywhere. Any artist referenced this much in a book would elicit the same reaction from me but to be honest, I can’t imagine any other artist being referenced this much. Also the ending felt very rushed to me, a few more chapters would’ve actually made it feel less crammed in tied up in a neat bow in a few sentences.
The Rewilding is an interesting novel that begins in the city of Sydney, where Jagger Eckerman has discovered a betrayal that rocks his world. In retaThe Rewilding is an interesting novel that begins in the city of Sydney, where Jagger Eckerman has discovered a betrayal that rocks his world. In retaliation he sends an email whistleblowing some activity the company he works for (that’s owned by his father) are involved in. Then Jagger goes on the run, escaping to a cave in a National Park, somewhere his mother took him when he was a child. Jagger is woefully ill prepared for his camping trip – he has basic equipment but not even a change of clothes. He’s panicked and desperate, especially when Ed, his father’s even dodgier business partner, seems to be searching for him and has sent someone after him. Jagger also finds “his” cave occupied by a woman he comes to refer to as the ‘feral’ for her dreadlocks and bodyhair. She’s definitely up to no good as well and she’s part of a climate rebellion group. She lectures him on the general situation of the world in general but ultimately, despite her disdain for Jagger clearly being a corporate ‘suit’ (he’s literally still wearing his office suit when he arrives at the cave) she does help him and the two end up basically on the run, under the radar for multiple reasons.
I found the start of this intriguing – Jagger’s decision, the reason for it and then his panicky flee to the National Park, off the radar and off grid. He is not expecting company, nor the fact that the Rangers have means to make sure no one is camping there illegally, nor the person that comes after him. Jagger’s frame of mind is very well written – he has a lot of regrets, a lot of things he wishes he’d done differently and now he’s frightened for himself and his physical safety. He doesn’t know what the next step is, only that he doesn’t want to go to jail (or die). When he meets Nia (we don’t actually learn her name for a large portion of the book, Jagger refers to her as the Feral) I have to admit, I did struggle with it for a while because Jagger and Nia bicker a lot and she’s a very abrasive character. She’s a climate change warrior, an activist and she’s very doom and gloom about everything whereas Jagger tries to feed her little scraps of positivity about populations of certain animals increasing due to human intervention and efforts.
The book took multiple turns that I was no expecting, including why Nia was really in the National Park and the…..chase?….throughout parts of New South Wales. And there is real tension, built well. The reader is given good reason to fear for Jagger and by extension, Nia, especially as we move towards the climax of the book. There are multiple forces in play and it does give a real sense of urgency.
However, the book felt confused at times, like it was too many things crammed into one story and I didn’t warm to the characters for the most part. I felt sorry for Jagger but I also felt frustrated, like Jagger you needed a good lawyer. Nia was definitely a tougher character, I don’t feel like we got real depth to her until a very good way into the book and once she was given that depth and fleshed out, I became more interested in her as a person, rather than as the the climate feral who bickers and haggles over every single little thing. The romance for me definitely felt a bit out of nowhere and even though I knew that was sort of the direction the book was probably going to go in from a review I read, I just didn’t feel it.
Enjoyed the premise and quite a bit of the story but ultimately there were times it felt slow and also times it felt rushed and I didn’t really feel like some of it worked for me. However, I’d read another book by this author because I think they have interesting ideas.
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher/Quikmark Media for the purpose of an honest review***...more
I loved this. It had everything that I love about a romance book.
Noelle is in her late 20s and is going through it. She’s been Absolute new favourite.
I loved this. It had everything that I love about a romance book.
Noelle is in her late 20s and is going through it. She’s been laid off from her job and has been back living in her old bedroom at her parent’s house for months. Voted {equal} Most Likely to Succeed in high school, she’s feeling like an absolute failure, professionally. And her personal life has been rocked by the death of her beloved grandmother. Whilst going through some of her grandmother’s things, Noelle finds evidence of a deep love her grandmother shared with a man named Paul before she married Noelle’s grandfather. She puts together a video and uploads it to TikTok, hoping to track down Paul and get the story as she can no longer ask her grandmother. The video goes viral and soon Noelle has her answer. The only thing is – Paul turns out to be the grandfather of her high school nemesis Theo. Theo who was voted {equal} Most Likely to Succeed. Theo who founded his own company. Theo who makes the sort of lists that magazines publish. Theo who is around when Noelle comes to spend time with Paul and learn about her grandmother. And when Noelle decides to take the roadtrip Paul and her grandmother once planned on being their honeymoon, Paul asks that she take him along too. And…you guessed it, Theo.
This was so much fun and angst and grief and repressed lust and charm. I loved everything about this. I loved that Noelle didn’t have everything together, that she’d struggled in various aspects of her life and was struggling to reconcile this reality of herself with what she had dreamed would be her future. I loved her closeness with her grandmother and her desire to know the story of Paul. And when she found him, I loved Paul. He was such a sweet and charming man, generous with his time and well, yeah, he had a little bit of the matchmaker in him for sure.
And then there was Theo. Theo who Noelle competed with relentlessly at school. Who she’d watched from afar rise higher and higher whilst it felt like she was going nowhere. There’s a bit of animosity between them but there’s a lot more than just that competition resurfacing. The burn in this was so good. It has everything – forced proximity because of the road trip. There’s also a case of there’s only one bed. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Theo and Noelle and the burn is mostly pretty slow – they definitely acknowledge the attraction between them at one point but Noelle doesn’t want to ruin things and make the road trip awkward or make it so that she might not ever see Paul again, if things were to go wrong between her and Theo. But there’s only so long both of them can hold out. And I really liked the scenes between them and how it kind of….built. There’s a lot of things they do first which reminded me that it doesn’t have to always go from kissing to sex immediately. There are a lot of steps along the way that can be equally as enjoyable and this book reminded me of all of them!
As I mentioned, I loved Paul and the way he told the story of him and Noelle’s grandmother. How they met and fell in love and also how it ended for them – and how both of them were able to move on and still have other loves and happy lives. He obviously has a very close relationship with Theo, the two of them have shared a bond that was similar to the one that Noelle had with her grandmother. Paul is a bit of a cheeky old man, he isn’t afraid to pull the “I’m a bit frail and old to enjoy this, you kids go ahead” or in the beginning, sneakily invite Noelle over on a day he knows Theo is popping by. Paul was honestly a delight. And when the TikTok people who helped the original post go viral want answers and to know the story, Paul is happy for it to be documented and told. A photographer himself, I think he understands the value of visual storytelling even if he doesn’t particularly know the format. And it says a lot about this book that it mentions TikTok so much and it didn’t annoy me as I’m a person who doesn’t use TikTok at all.
All in all, this gave me all the happy feels when it needed to and I could identify with Noelle’s grief over the loss of her beloved grandparent (and honestly, other areas too). I am already very excited for Jessica Joyce’s next book, which comes out later this year. There’s a little excerpt in the back of this one and….yes. Sign me up!
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