Tag: book-review

February 2025–Part Two

March 30, 2025

Book #12:

The Undercurrent by Sarah Sawyer (Length: 279 pages).  This is a literary mystery, with the emphasis on literary. This is about Bee and Gus, twins in a Texas town, and when they are 15 years old, a neighborhood girl goes missing. Slow-moving, but beautifully told, this novel features alternating timelines as well as various points of view. Bee is a new mother in the present-day timeline, and the other viewpoints are in the past, including Bee, her mother and Leo (the twins’ best friend’s) mother. This is very well-written, and I enjoyed the resolution. Trigger warning for miscarriage, and there are other tough themes but those are all off the page. A solid 4 stars from me.

Book #13:

The Off Limits Rule by Sarah Adams (Length: 322 pages). This is a cute rom-com (the first in a duology) featuring a single mom who moves back home and stays with her older, very protective brother. And of course, her brother’s best friend is known as a player, so he’s “off limits” to Lucy. But of course Cooper is impossibly hot, and charming, and kind to Lucy’s son, so a secret romance occurs. The chemistry between Lucy and Cooper is believable on the page, the 4 year old son is adorable and the writing is solid. Nothing special but a fun way to spend an afternoon. 3.5 stars.

Book #14:

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (Length: 352 pages).  I enjoyed this author’s previous mystery Hidden Pictures, so I was excited to pick this one up. The protagonist is a middle-class UPS driver dad who is contacted by his adult daughter, Maggie, after a 3 yearlong estrangement, and Maggie surprises her dad with the news that she’s marrying the uber-wealthy Aidan Gardner, the son of the founder of the mysterious company where Maggie works: Capaciti. So, Frank heads to a palatial private estate in New Hampshire to join the festivities. The foreshadowing is a bit aggressive here and I figured it out way too early for my liking. But it’s an enjoyable, FAST read (I read it in one sitting) and I will remember the central mystery and plot. A solid 4 stars from me.

January 2025–Part Two

February 2, 2025

Book #5:

The North Line by Matt Riordan (Length: 294 pages).  This off the radar book is a very tense, fast-paced fictional account of a few months on a fishing boat in Alaska. Perfect for fans of adventure novels, this shorter book features the protagonist, Adam, who loses his scholarship to a private college just before his senior year and joins the crew of a fishing boat having zero experience, in a last-dash effort to make $26K. This almost reads as narrative non-fiction as it’s very descriptive (and stressful!) and the details are so interesting. The author spent his 20s on fishing boats and you can tell here. The ending is wild!! 4 stars.

Book #6

Scorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (Length: 457 pages). This standalone YA fantasy novel is set in the Great Libraries of a magical world. Featuring a fierce heroine (with perfect tone in her depiction), this almost-perfect novel has excellent world-building (that’s not too complex), decent character development and a propulsive plot. There is a bit of closed-door romance but the focus of the plot is books (or here, grimoires) and magical creatures. I adore this book and I think it’s in my top 3 of fantasy novels for sure! 5 solid stars.

Book #7:

Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage (Length: 356 pages).  This is a cowboy romance set in a huge family ranch in Wyoming. The first in a series (of 4), here, barrel racing champion Emmy Ryder abruptly leaves the racing circuit, breaks up with her boyfriend and returns home to Rebel Blue Ranch after years away. Sparks fly when she runs into Luke Brooks, the town Lothario who also happens to be the best friend of Emmy’s protective big brother. This is cheesy but overall, it’s decently written. (There are a few typos and grammatical errors which are super annoying but more common in these types of books I’m noticing.) I enjoyed the details of the ranch and barrel racing and also, meeting the secondary characters who are featured in the remaining books of this series. Also, this is very open door so keep that in mind if those books aren’t for you. 3.5 stars from me.

Book #8:

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (Length: 338 pages).  I listened to this uber-popular mystery as I’ve heard that’s the way to go, and I agree–this is PHENOMENAL on audio. The chapters here alternate between the episodes of a popular true crime podcast and the perspective of the protagonist, Lucy, who (suspected of killing her BFF Savvy 5 years earlier) returns to the small Texas town where the murder occurred. This mystery is perfectly paced, very well-written and features some strong side characters (such as Lucy’s grandmother–my favorite). I enjoyed the resolution of the mystery here as well. A full 5 stars from me!

January 2025–Part One

January 14, 2025

Book #1:

Sandwich by Catherine Newman (Length: 236 pages).  As a new member of the sandwich generation, I was very interested in picking up this slim novel. The plot is very simple: a tale of an extended family’s week at the beach in Cape Cod, written from the perspective of the mother, Rocky. The novel switches between Rocky reminiscing about her children (both alive and dead) as well as experiencing the current state of her marriage, the lives and goings-on of her adult children and her aging parents. All of this to say, nothing much happens here, but I’m a fan of Catherine Newman’s writing (and her writing style) so I thoroughly enjoyed this slice of life as portrayed by the offer. This is a slow, quiet read but it’s very insightful and I’m glad I picked it up. 4 stars from me.

Book #2

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter (Length: 303 pages). This was the “it” book of the holiday season, so I was excited to see it on a daily Kindle deal. Labelled a “cozy mystery” this is part closed door mystery (with a side of closed-door romance) and the mystery at its heart is a lot of fun. The premise here is two “enemy” best-selling mystery authors receive a last-minute invite to THE Grande dame of mystery author’s huge estate outside of London, over the Christmas holiday. There is a missing person, an attempted murder and the hunt is on for the killer. My one quibble with this is the secondary characters are given short shrift (for example, there is a third best-selling mystery author who isn’t described with much depth here). Overall, however, this is very well-written, the plot is fast paced, the chemistry between the two leads is believable and I had a great time reading this. 5 stars.

Book #3:

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend (Length: 513 pages).  This is a middle-grade fantasy book (the first of a series of 4) that is in the top 3 of many book bloggers’ top fantasy reads so I’ve been wanting to pick it up. For a book that is targeted for 8 years old and up, I found it a surprisingly great read for adults. I absolutely loved this reading experience! Morrigan Crow is a “cursed child” who lives in Nevermoor with a family who doesn’t like her (a la Harry Potter) and Morrigan is slated to die on her 11th birthday, as are all cursed children. However, the day of her birthday, she is whisked away and invited to join the trials for a magic spell society. The kicker is, if she loses, she’ll still die. This fun book has fantastic writing, snarky dialogue (which is what makes it so entertaining for adults I think) and a fast-moving plot. I enjoyed all of the ancillary characters, and I will definitely be reading further into the series. Although the word on the street is the follow up books aren’t as fun. 5 solid stars.

Book #4:

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (Length: 344 pages).  This is such an odd book that is enjoyable overall, even with a protagonist I truly did not like. Lauren lives in London and one night she discovers she is married to a man she has never met. And when this man heads up to their attic to change a lightbulb, he disappears, and a new husband appears. Rinse and repeat through the entire novel as Lauren finds something she dislikes about each husband/iteration. The plot becomes tiresome and frustrating. I did enjoy the “Twilight Zone” nature of this, and the plot is absolutely memorable, and, unlike other readers, I liked the resolution of this novel. But Lauren, zero stars from me! I’ll give this 3.5 stars because the writing is solid, and the plot is singular.

December 2024–Part One

December 16, 2024

Book #103:

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney (Length: 304 pages). This psychological thriller is very well-plotted and executed and it’s smart! I didn’t see the big twist coming here, but of course, looking back all of the signs were there. The premise is a couple who has been married for coming up on ten years wins a stay at a very remote B&B in Scotland during the winter, and things get very creepy, very quickly. I had a mounting sense of dread almost the entire way through and couldn’t stop reading. I love when that happens! Because of the nature of the twist here, I’d recommend the written version of this novel over the audio. I give this a solid 4 stars!  

Book #104:

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis (Length: 413 pages). Ashlyn Greer is a young woman who owns a used bookstore and also restores old books. She happens to have a gift for psychometry and can sense the emotions of readers/owners of old books, so when she comes across a beautiful pair of books with no author’s name but with intense emotions attached, she starts to investigate the provenance of these books. This is a beautiful love story: well-written and not manipulative, which I appreciate. The storyline here is very memorable and while this was slow to start for me, I am so glad I picked this one up. 4.5 stars from me!

Book #105:

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver (Length: 372 pages).  I’ve had this book for the entire past year, having selected it from the Book of the Month club. I waited until this month to read it because I wanted to enjoy its promised seasonal vibe, and it absolutely delivered! I LOVE this book. It’s set in New York City, obviously, and the premise here is Iris, a young British chef escapes a problematic romantic relationship and comes to New York to start over. She visits a gelato shop she recognizes from her mom’s old photos, and it turns out her mom has the only existing copy of the family vanilla gelato recipe which, thanks to a somewhat unbelievable series of events, is very necessary or the business will go under. It doesn’t hurt that the shop owner’s son Gio is a total hottie! This does have more depth than most rom-coms, I adored all of the characters here and the winter in NYC setting is magical! 5 solid stars from me.

Book #106:

Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by M.C. Beaton (Length: 224 pages).  This is the second book in the Queen of the Village Mystery Series featuring Agatha Raisin. I listened to this on audio (and it was delightful–so easy and fun to listen to!). I am growing to like Agatha a bit more but I’ve read one doesn’t truly get to like (and understand her) until further on in the series. This installment features a handsome new vet who tries his luck at opening his business in the village, but doesn’t seem to like animals at all. He does, however, seem to be drawn to all of the single ladies who have larger pocketbooks. Agatha solves the mystery here with the helpful of her reluctant (single and handsome) neighbor and they get into all sorts of good trouble. I enjoyed this one! The setting is just as charming, the mystery is more at the forefront in this second novel and it’s an easy read/listen. 4 stars from me.

Book #107:

The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Length:355 pages). This magical book is in the top 3 books I’ve read this year! Set in a fancy hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, which has been rented out for a $1 million wedding, Phoebe Stone (the sole guest who isn’t involved with this wedding), has arrived with the sole intention of enjoying her $800/night penthouse suite for one single night, before killing herself. Instead, Phoebe gets strong-armed into being the willful bride’s confidante and is sucked into participating in all of the drama of the week-long wedding. Spending a week with the various members of the party affects her in unexpected ways. The writing here is truly lovely, the main characters are all multi-dimensional and fantastic and the supporting characters are funny and charming. There are some laugh-out-loud lines of dialogue and while trigger warnings do abound (suicide, obviously, along with infidelity), nothing here is gratuitous in my opinion. A solid 5 stars from me!

November 2024–Part Two

December 1, 2024

Book #98:

Night Watching by Tracy Sierra (Length: 368 pages). I listened to this one and recommend doing so as well! This psychological thriller starts off with an intruder in a young mother’s home, and while the intruder is still there, the mother gathers her young children and hides in a secret room while listening to the person move through the house. This is a VERY scary and pulse-pounding thriller with a very propulsive first half. Then it gets even better. There are some surprises here, but it all works. The pacing is absolutely fantastic as it never lets up on the suspense or the mystery, and the tension on the page is very realistic. A 4.5 stars from me!  

Book #99:

Birding With Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb (Length: 336 pages). This cute rom-com is set in Tucson, Arizona, amongst an apparently very vibrant and cut-throat birding community. I enjoyed that the romantic leads are in their mid-40s (a middle-school English teacher and a bird enthusiast/woodworker). I adore the setting–the various beautiful parks around Tucson, as well the romance trope the author employs here: fake dating. Tucson is an amazing city, having lived there for 10 years and I honestly enjoyed the setting here the most. This is VERY open door so skip this if not your thing. I’m giving it a solid 4 stars.

Book #100:

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston (Length: 368 pages).  Many romance readers list this novel as their all-time favorite and I get the hype! This is a bit of a time travel romance set in a “magic” apartment in New York City. The romantic leads here, Clementine (a publishing company publicist) and Iwan (a chef) are both adorable and very likeable. This is well-written, with deeply-drawn characters and their chemistry is very believable and not too cloying or sweet. FIVE STARS from me! I love this book so much!

Book #101:

Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman (Length: 336 pages).  This thriller is the third by a former flight attendant; I’ve read and reviewed her first two and recommend both of them: Falling and Drowning. The premise is an airliner crashes into a nuclear power plant resulting in almost 300 deaths in the first few pages, so be forewarned if this isn’t your cup of tea. But as far-fetched (or maybe not?) as this scenario is, it’s a lot of fun to read on the page, as the entire town jumps into action to attempt to prevent a worldwide nuclear disaster. This is fast-paced, well-written for what it is and I definitely recommend picking this one up!

Book #102:

The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton (Length: 288). One of my favorite Instagram follows (a super-smart attorney who keeps me abreast of all things political–EmilyInYourPhone) is currently reading this series. There are currently 35 books so far and this is book #1 of the Agatha Raisin series. The main character is super interesting–not sure I like her quite yet but given the popularity of this series, I’m hoping she just has more redeeming qualities that have yet to be revealed. This is a cozy mystery set in the Cotswolds, and Agatha is 53 years old, which I appreciate. The mystery here is very obvious but I’m assuming the author is using this novel to introduce the main players and will follow up with some meatier plots and mysteries to solve. I did enjoy a few of the supporting character and most likely will continue reading this series. I’ve ordered the second book in audio format so stay tuned regarding that one. 3.5 stars for me for this book.