Thank you for joining me here! I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.
Book #1:
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez (Length: 417 pages) I adore this author and I was very excited to get my hands on this one via my Book of the Month subscription. This is a semi-sequel to her previous rom-com novel A Part of this World but since this newer novel just features the couple from the first novel in the series tangentially, you’re not missing anything by reading this one first. I LOVE this book! This features two ER doctors and the fake-dating trope, which I sort of enjoy. There’s a rescue dog (always!), a looming kidney transplant, goofy family members and a swearing bird. There are LOL funny lines, per usual, and the romance itself is well-constructed with characters you’ll root for. There is a tiny bit of open-door romance in one scene but it’s pretty tame overall, again, consistent with what readers expect from this author. I gave it 5 stars, as did my 18-year-old (very discerning reader) daughter.
Book #2:
Paris: the Memoir by Paris Hilton (Length: 334 pages). I was pleasantly surprised by this memoir. I picked it up because I had read that she made some pretty shocking allegations about some schools for troubling teens (“Boot camps”) that she spent several traumatic years of her teen years in. As a result of this horrific abuse she has become a leader in urging Congress to shut these places down, which is very admirable. I’m also impressed by the writing quality here (no ghostwriter that I could find) which goes right to her playing into a type (blond bimbo with a baby voice) to earn millions of dollars when she’s actually a genius with marketing and tech . . . brilliant! Her writing is introspective and insightful, and while I found it a bit wordy in places, I’m glad I read it and I won’t look at her the same way again.
Book #3:
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf (Length: 352 pages). I enjoyed this mystery quite a bit. It’s well-constructed and well-written. The main plot involves a true-crime author finishing up a manuscript in a remote farmhouse during a snowstorm when she comes across a young child collapsed in her driveway. (I did figure out the central mystery early on, but I wanted to keep reading to its resolution so that didn’t deter me from finishing this). The subject matter here is pretty intense (children abused/abducted) so reader beware, however any mentions aren’t gratuitous or especially detailed. I absolutely will read more by this author, as apparently, she’s quite prolific AND beloved, always a great combination for me.
Book #4:
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams (Length: 350 pages). This rom-com has a more interesting premise than most, which prompted me to pick it up next. This is the first in a series and features a Major League Baseball player, Gavin Scott, who is trying to win his wife Thea back by joining a “bromance” book club comprised of stereotypically tough guys who dissect Regency era romances for tips on strengthening their romantic relationships. There are LOL funny one-liners throughout, and while the central romance/plot is a bit cheesy, it’s decently written and you want the characters to end up together. (The E-book has some very annoying typos, just a heads up). I’d give it 3.5 stars so it’s good enough that I’ll keep reading in the series as they become available at the library.
Lora Terrill 