Amanda
Content warnings right up front: death of parent (on-page via flashback, fairly detailed description), death by fire, sexual abuse in a character's past (vague flashbacks), abusive parent (emotional/verbal, physical once), abusive spouse (emotional/verbal), gaslighting/manipulating/threatening abuser, victim not being believed about sexual abuse If you want details about any of those, message me and I'll do the best I can to provide more info.
So despite all the content warnings above, this was actually an extremely fun read! I loved Liya and all her friends, and I'm so glad that there's going to be another book in this series (about Preeti, and I hope there's a third for Sana). I really liked the enemies-to-friends-to-love slow burn and how Liya and Jay both had their own issues to work through trusting each other. It got a little repetitive in the middle, with Liya pushing Jay away over and over, but it was definitely understandable considering her history. Jay was a little less developed as a character for me and definitely less complex, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Basically, I just liked both of these characters a lot, I loved the setting (I haven't read a lot of books set in Texas) and their friends/family members (except Liya's dad, who is the second most reprehensible person in this book), and even though I knew how things were going to end, I was still rooting for them and anxious to see how everything would work out in the end, which I think is the mark of a good romance. I could nitpick about a couple of things, like Jay's lawyer stuff and travel time between Houston and Dallas, but why? This was delightful and I can't wait for more from this author!
(2020 summer romance bingo: meddling matchmakers, would also work for ice cream or debut novel.)
Meh. Would've probably liked it better without the whole Carrie-lite thing Mary has going. I don't need an explanation for all that, but things could have gone wrong just as easily without supernatural intervention. Also, this book just sort of ... ended. I know everything's a trilogy these days, but a little bit more ending would have been nice. Not sure I'm going to read the next one.
Fascinating memoir of addiction, recovery, and life in jail and after prison. I've followed Keri on social media for years and her writing and reporting on Texas prisons has been invaluable. I really appreciate in this memoir how she consistently highlights the privilege she benefited from, even in prison and on parole. Keri is obviously an engaging writer and I finished this quickly. I wanted it to be longer, but if you're interested in criminal justice, you need to read this book.
I'm the same age as Juliet and good lord, I can't believe how long ago 2003 was. This book is amazing and I wish it'd been around when I was a clueless 19-year-old stealthily buying copies of Bitch. I love Juliet and her journey so much. This was such a great book.
I really enjoyed how each girl reacted differently to her placement on the list. Danielle was my favorite, but they all were alternately frustrating and winning. I wish I'd gotten a better idea of the lister's motivation throughout the story.
Extremely readable, even In These Times where I'm finding focusing on a book more difficult than before. Loved Emira and her friends and all the various tensions between them, loved the alternating POVs between Emira and Alix. I find it fascinating that this is a Reese Witherspoon book club pick when Alix is essentially a character Reese Witherspoon has played a couple of times before, just taller and a little younger than current-day Reese. There's so many currents and tensions playing themselves out in this - race, class (oh my god, I really want to read an essay about class in this novel), gender, age - it's incredible. Also, Kelley is such good satire of that exact type of dude. His last text to Emira made me both cackle because it was so perfect and want to throw my phone because of course. Perfect.
Rating is probably more like a 3.5, but rounding up. Reasons for the deduction: I feel like the book didn't quite stick the landing with the big live TV interview and I found the reveal at the very end (the flashback to Alix in high school and the locker cleanout) kind of pointless? Also, at one point, the narrative seems to suggest that Alix is overweight/out of shape at 5'10", 141 pounds (yeah, it uses exact numbers), and like. That's borderline underweight, and I know Alix is insecure about absolutely everything but maybe let's not endorse that viewpoint. There's also a scene earlier than that about how her friends tell her she's overweight, but if these are the numbers, again this isn't a great thing to throw in there.
Look, it's Nora Roberts, you're getting small-town coziness, banter, and three best friends who we all know are gonna conveniently end up married to three brothers. This leaned a little harder into supernatural than I expected it would, especially in the last couple chapters or so, what with the ghost living in the hotel writing a message in steam on a mirror to save the FMC from being kidnapped/assaulted, but weirdly I didn't mind it? Pretty low-conflict, low-heat for sure, but an easy comforting type of read. CW behind cut: CW for stalker and some brief sections from his POV, assault and threats. FMC's husband died in the Iraq War, some discussion of that but nothing detailed that I recall.
(2022 Summer Romance Bingo: architect. Would also work for Halloween, ghost, second chance, and widowed protagonist.)
I shelved this as “true crime” because the subjects of this book are all linked by Jack the Ripper, but I really loved how this didn't focus on the murderer at all, really, and didn't delve into all the gore and details of the murders themselves. There are a lot of ethical issues with true crime, especially when it comes to murder, but I feel like this did a good job of avoiding those and really telling the stories of these women. I got really drawn into the stories, and even though I knew how they would all end, I found myself hoping that they'd find a way to escape what I knew was going to happen. The author gets so much detail from public records and really manages to make these women into fully realized people.
This is a strange little book, but not really in a bad way. Just not what I was expecting from the blurb - I honestly didn't know this was a fantasy novel until I started reading it, and even then I didn't know right away. I could've done without Rose's chapters, since I don't have a lot of patience for poetry like this and they were so elliptical and strange it was hard to tell what, if anything, was important to the story. It's also hard to call this a romance, when there's a HFN at best between Ivory and her love interest, and the major plot is more about the circus and the threats to it, instead of their relationship. (I do love the queer/poly/non-binary rep, but the romance here isn't the central aspect of the story, that's all.) I liked the found-family of the circus as well. Overall, this was a fast read and an odd book, but one I'm glad I read.
(2021 Summer Romance Bingo: circus, could maybe work for friends to lovers, or loosely for tattoos.)
Loved this. All the characters felt realistic and well-developed to me, and I loved the relationships between Mandy, Jill, and Robin.
Fake dating is one of my favorite romance tropes and it was done really well here! I honestly didn't get a lot of Pride and Prejudice from this, certainly not as much as other retellings like Unmarriageable or Aisha At Last (which are both excellent). This had similar names and maybe an awkward/bad first meeting, but beyond that I didn't see many parallels, so if you're expecting this to be a straight retelling, it's not. It is very good, though, and quite charming. I loved Margo and Brendon and the Christmas in Seattle setting. Darcy and Elle were also adorable in that grumpy/sunshine way, and all in all this was a lot of fun, especially this time of year.
Gigi flashback novella WHEN. Also, I'm so glad the Montrose siblings are getting their own series! This series was such a delight, and I loved Eve maybe the most of all the Brown sisters. Grumpy/sunshine is one of my favorite tropes, and Eve figuring out some things about herself was delightful, as was the entire Brown family emergency trip to the Lake District, and the mutual mad dash to make a grand gesture at the end. I have more Talia Hibbert on my TBR and I might have to move it to the top!
(3.5, rounding up.) Cute, but I wanted a little more growth/development from the main characters - Skye is a great lead but seemed weirdly naive about how Instagram/reality show celebrity would work, both for Henry and herself. The villains were very one-note as well, and I wish there'd been a bit more development for them, especially the mean judge.
(2021 Summer Romance Bingo: reality TV, would also work for friends to lovers)
It was fine, I guess - I didn't feel like either of the main characters were as developed as I would've liked. I know this is the sixth book in a series, and I guess I should maybe go back and read book four, where Thaddeus first appeared (I think), but I also think I shouldn't really need to read previous books to get a handle on a character, you know?Anyway. I wanted more Joan, because I did like her in [b:Say Yes to the Duke 52695959 Say Yes to the Duke (The Wildes of Lindow Castle, #5) Eloisa James https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575393218l/52695959.SX50_SY75.jpg 66180385], but her character arc was a little flat - she wants to be an actress, she realizes she's maybe not as good of an actress as she thought, all the issues with the dukedom are fixed, hey now she's fine with being a duchess. I'd have liked to see her reckon a little more with her background and all that, instead of handwaving it. Thaddeus was also kind of a generic Grumpy and Proper Duke, who was semi-randomly hot and cold and it gave me a little bit of whiplash. I would've liked a bit more of the secondary romances - failed vicar and an actress and/or second-chance with a dowager duchess are both interesting concepts to me. Long story short - I didn't hate this by any means, Eloisa James is too good of a writer for that, but I doubt it's one I'll return to much. And also (not really a spoiler, but possible TMI) it seems like there are a lot of historicals where they find ways to get the female lead into breeches/pants and the male lead is Very Into It, but they never really do much with that in terms of the sex scenes? Leaving money on the table here, folks.
Fun while you're reading it, but the more you think about it, the plot falls apart. First, if he planned the entire thing to get her alone in a coach and then the cabin, why was he such a dick to her at the start of the coach ride? Would a driver really intentionally drive his coach and horses off the road? Seems like a big risk and likely to lead to actual injury. I really like the MC and enjoyed the cameos from other Spindle Cove characters, but this is kind of like cotton candy. Fun while you're enjoying it, but doesn't stand up afterward. (Probably more like 2.5, rounding up.)
Really enjoyed this, but I think I would've benefited from at least skimming the first book in the series before starting this one - I read it, but it was right when it came out a couple of years ago, and this one starts right after the events of that book, so it took me a second to get back up to speed and remember who everyone was. The blurb says this is a retelling of Taming of the Shrew, and ... it sort of is, but not really? There's an outspoken woman and someone who wants to court her younger, less combative sister, but there's no taming to speak of (and no payments or anything like in Ten Things I Hate About You). There's growth and change on both sides here, but most of the journey is the duke realizing what a jerk/asshole/etc he's been (and that he has a problem with alcohol) and deciding to finally grow the hell up. I wasn't a real fan of him in the beginning - he doesn't come off well in the first book and his stupid prank almost gets someone killed at first, but I thought the character development was done well and believably. Cassandra and Hyacinth are delights from the beginning, as is their mother. I thought the villain's motive was a little undercooked, but I didn't really mind, since the resolution is done so well. I don't think it'll happen in this series, but I'm gonna need Hyacinth to get a book of her own at some point as well.
Maybe more like 4.5, but a close second to A Week to be Wicked as my favorite in this series. I love the society/London aspects of it and Pauline was a great heroine.
Maureen Johnson is incredibly hit or miss for me, and this one ended up being a miss. Neither of the boys were at all worth the angst and Ellis had no personality or characterization at all. Not a fan.
This was unexpectedly delightful in the best way - I don't read a lot of contemporary romance where the characters are mafia/motorcycle club/various “sexy” members of the underworld, but I picked this book up a while ago when it was free for Kindle and it was a perfect fit for bingo this year. There's not a whole lot of focus on the bootlegger drama, and when it does take more of the plot later in the book it's resolved fairly quickly and without a lot of angst. Though Javier does beat up and kidnap a couple of the bad guys, and there's a big battle/brawl/showdown at the end that culminates in Hannah holding the big bad at gunpoint, if any of that is a problem.
Most of the book is Javier and Hannah getting to know each other and Hannah coming into her own as the leader of the Hawkins organization. There's really not a lot of conflict between Hannah and Javier, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, so I wouldn't call this anything like enemies-to-lovers, more like rivals-to-lovers? I would've liked to see a bit more of the character's lives or relationships aside from the arranged marriage - the two scenes where Javier runs into his ex at the store and Hannah visits the basement beauty parlor with her sister and friend were great, and I wish there was a little more about each of those relationships, especially about what went wrong in Javier's first marriage, which was a little underdeveloped to me. Having said all that, this was a lot of fun and extremely sexy. Even though settings like this aren't quite my thing, I'm definitely keeping an eye out for this author.
(2020 summer romance bingo: bootleggers. Would work for “there's only one bed” or ice cream as well.)
This is kind of an odd mix of traditional memoir and illness narrative (I'm not sure that's the right term for that, but it's definitely a thing). It's definitely more illness- and endo-focused than something like [b:Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir 34079155 Love, Loss, and What We Ate A Memoir Padma Lakshmi https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537395391s/34079155.jpg 45626006], and post-diagnosis, I think it does a really good job of showing how endo affects every aspect of her life. This doesn't have a tidy narrative resolution, which makes total sense, since it's a story about coming to terms with a chronic pain condition, and the author has to fight again and again to get the medical treatment she knows she needs, no less at the end of the book than at the beginning. It may be frustrating in that respect if you're looking for a neat story, but hey, welcome to being an endo patient. It's hard to say whether I liked this or not - in a way, a lot of this is my story, and will be the story of a lot of people reading this, so I feel almost too close to it to review it fairly or discuss how it might come across to someone else. It's not satisfying in the way you'd expect a traditional narrative to be, but as the author learns to advocate for herself and becomes an expert in her condition, there is the satisfaction of going on that journey with her. (Special shout-out to the section at the endometriosis conference, where she gives a presentation and all the (mostly male) doctors are astounded and almost offended that she's still in pain even after having surgery. Spare me, dudes.) If you have a chronic illness or chronic pain, read this and know that you're not alone, no matter how difficult things are. If you have someone in your life with a chronic illness, read this to see why we're so frustrated.(This doesn't have anything to do with the book itself, but per the author's Twitter, the Korean edition is titled MY UTERUS IS EXTREMELY LOUD AND TERRIBLE, which is 1) delightful and 2) true. https://twitter.com/abbymnorman/status/1123903010516631552)
See this (spoiler-heavy) review for why this is a hard pass: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2850791694