Book #10:
Drop, Cover and Hold On by Jasmine Guillory (Length: 40 pages) This is the fourth story in the previously-mentioned Improbable Meet-Cute series. Set in a bakery immediately after a big earthquake, this is the steamiest of the bunch with a grouchy, curmudgeonly baker and his frequent adorably sweet and perky customer trapped in close proximity. These tropes both work here and it’s absolutely cute with fun banter and believable chemistry. The character development is very rushed here but given the abbreviated length, that makes sense. A solid 3-star read.
Book #11:
With Any Luck by Ashley Poston (Length: 43 pages). This is the fifth in the above-mentioned series, and it’s my least favorite of the bunch, but it’s still a cute read. The trope here is enemies to lovers, a la the maid of honor and the best man are in a small-town wedding and the groom goes missing. There are some cute lines but overall it’s not very memorable and the main characters aren’t super charming or likeable. 2.5 stars from me.
Book #12:
A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates (Length: 304 pages). This creepy psychological thriller was mentioned on my favorite book podcast (Book Talk, Etc) as thriller with a great example of a possible psychopathic charming main character. In this novel, the 17 year-old nephew comes to stay with his uncle and family after the nephew’s parents have been killed in a hit and run. This is the same nephew who the uncle witnessed try to drown his daughter (the nephew’s young cousin) 7 years earlier so the uncle is understandably very wary of said nephew coming to finish out his senior year with him and his family. But he permits this out of a sense of familial duty as he has been named the guardian of the boy. The uncle is very paranoid and not likeable at all, but this novel is very well-written and it’s impossible to put this down thanks to great pacing and a creepy sense of dread. Definitely recommend!
Book #13:
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Length: 348 pages). This is our February selection for my local book club and I was so excited it was chosen as I’ve been wanting to read this light mystery for several months now. I LOVE this book! There are several LOL funny lines throughout and I especially enjoyed the random pop culture references made by the older, eponymous protagonist. (For example, referring to a character’s squint as similar to that of a Love as Blind’s Season 2 character’s notable squint.) This is a murder mystery, but make it cute, endearing and funny. Vera Wong is the best character I’ve read in a while; she’s a widow “of a certain age” and is the owner of a desolate tea shop in San Francisco who is determined to solve the murder of a random person who she finds dead in her tea shop one morning. She outlines the body with a Sharpie to assist the police and from there it just gets better. Vera gradually fosters and creates a new community of people around her, and we get to go along for the ride. This is the book you hug when you are finished. LOVE!
Lora Terrill 