Tag: Sarah Adams

January 2026–Part One:

January 15, 2026

Book #1:

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (307 pages).  WOW. This is an amazing book! Set on an island near Antartica which contains the world’s last seed bank sometime in the future, this climate-fiction novel is about a woman who washes ashore, half dead from the cold, and meets the island caretaker and his three children. The mystery at the heart of this slim novel is where did this woman come from (as no boats would just be traveling by this remote area), and who and what is the caretaker hiding. The plot is absolutely propulsive, the writing is spare and beautiful, and I could not put this down. I cried at the end and I rarely cry, so the writing is perfectly executed in this perfect novel. A must read. 5 stars.

Book #2:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol 8 by Beth Brower (Length: 353 pages). I’m not sure how, but this series just gets better and better with each volume. This is the last volume that’s been published in this series so far and I was so sad to finish it because I know it may be a while before we get more Emma Lion in our lives. In this volume, Emma and her three male friends visit Stonecrop, the Duke of Islington’s family estate just a few hours outside London (by horse and carriage of course). For the entire month of June, Emma is free of societal constraints and is able to roam the countryside (often in a ridiculous pith helmet she purchased in London) as well as to further bond with her friends. This is laugh-out-loud funny, just like the other volumes, with beautifully drawn characters and the entire reading experience is a total delight. Remember, all of these are currently available on Kindle Unlimited, and your local bookstore is sure to have these in stock now given the series’ popularity. 5 full stars.

Book #3:

In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams (Length: 358 pages).  This rom-com is #4 and the last book in the Rome, Kentucky series. I listened to this one and the audio production is fantastic, with dual narrators-male and female-for the featured romantic couple in the novel. Maddie who believes her identity to now be a “failed chef” from New York City, returns to Rome (and her siblings–all of whom are featured in books #1-3) to help her childhood friend James open a farm to table restaurant on his family farm. Of course, James only created this restaurant idea to lure Maddie back to Rome, as he’s long had a crush on her. I enjoyed the restaurant aspect and all of the ancillary characters (from previous books) but I found Maddie to be too insecure and whiny for what the reader actually sees here. A fun reading experience overall, but it’s definitely time for this series to be put to bed. 3 stars.

Book #4:

Life & Death & Giants by Ron Rindo (Length: 324 pages). This literary fiction novel was on many Best of lists from 2025 so I couldn’t wait to pick this one up. The story is about Gabriel Fisher, a “giant” raised by his Amish grandparents after his birth family is unable to raise him. Set in a small town, Lakota, Wisconsin, the story is told from four POVs, separated by chapter–we have the local bar owner, the local football coach, the local vet, and Gabriel’s grandmother. I could not WAIT to go back to this book if I was interrupted by reading it, which is always a sign to me that this is a special book. There are a few chapters involving sportsball (what I call any sport as I’m not a person who is into football, etc) and even those chapters are riveting in this writer’s hands. The characters are so richly drawn, and the reader gets to know Gabriel from the viewpoints of others in his community, even though we don’t ever hear from Gabriel himself. This is a one-of-a-kind novel that I will remember forever. (Think Owen Meany vibes–if you know, you know). FIVE SOLID STARS from me. I love being a reader!

October 2025–Part Two:

November 2, 2025

Book #73:

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (341 pages).  I love TJRs writing. My favorite novel of hers is still One True Loves but this is officially my second favorite (with my third being The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo). I grew up loving learning about space and the astronauts, so this novel about the space shuttle in the early 1980s, featuring some of the first female astronauts is a perfect fit for my interests. The love story at the center of this book is the focus here and it’s very well-done. The dialogue and chemistry between the two female astronauts are well-drawn, and the romantic scenes are closed door. I’d say this book is 80% romance, 20% space (NASA, flight training, flight to space), and I do wish there was a bit more about space and the flight at the center of the novel, but even given that, this is a solid 5 stars from me. So memorable and TJR’s vivid writing puts the reader right there in the novel. Please read!

Book #74

Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams (Length: 368 pages). This is the third novel in the 4-novel When in Rome romance series. This is a popular closed-door romance series so if that’s up your alley, definitely check out these books. I adore Sarah Adams’ writing so much and this novel is my favorite so far. Focusing on Walker sibling #3, Emily, as well as her nemesis Jack Bennett, her second grade teacher teammate. Their chemistry is off the charts here, with a sweetness to the enemy to lovers trope that I really enjoyed. Witty banter feels organic and everything works. I adore the small-town setting of Rome, Kentucky and really enjoyed seeing the siblings from the first two books. This is cute but well-written and a must-read! 5 stars.

Book #75:

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell (Length: 576 pages).   One of my favorite TV series is HBO’s The Gilded Age and this well-written non-fiction narrative account of Huguette Clark is a perfect complement to that series. Huguette’s father was W.A. Clark, the copper mining magnate who rubbed elbows with the Astors and the Rockefellers, and who built the largest house in New York City (121 rooms for a family of 4). Huguette lived to 104 years of age, with the last 20 years of her life living in a small hospital room, by her choice, while owning three empty mansions. This is a fantastic story with so many vivid details of the wild west mining towns, the uber-wealthy families and the sad tale of Huguette, a lonely heiress. A long read but well worth the effort here. 4.5 stars.

August 2025–Part Two

September 1, 2025

Book #55:

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams (Length: 338 pages).  This is the second novel in the When in Rome romance series. Will, the bodyguard to pop star Amelia from Book 1, and Anne, flower shop owner and soon-to-be sister-in-law to Amelia, take part in the fake dating trope here. It’s cheesy, but there’s a reason it’s used so often in romances–because it works. I loved the townspeople and the fun banter here. (The scene at the Little League game had me laughing out loud). There are some annoying edits that were missed which are so distracting (ie, pumping the “breaks”) but those aside, I really enjoyed this fun read. Four stars.

Book #56:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion-Volume 1 by Beth Brower (Length: 127 pages). What a fun read! I heard about this series on a few different book podcasts, so I decided to give the first volume a try, and I’m SO glad I did. These are the delightful “journals” of a young woman living in 1883 London. Emma is a feisty and likeable protagonist with a quirky sense of humor. This one is a VERY quick read, but apparently the volumes get longer as the series develops which is a great thing. You will not be able to stop at volume 1 if you’re anything like me. My local library doesn’t have this series yet, which is a downer, but the entire series is available on Kindle Unlimited if you have access that way. A solid five stars from me.

Book #57:

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (Length: 336 pages).  This is a memoir written by the award-winning poet, Maggie Smith. The focus here is the author discovering her husband’s infidelity, and her recovery from that. Told in essays or vignettes, the author looks back at how they started and tries to discover what went wrong. The writing is (obviously) gorgeous here, with no sentence wasted. The entire memoir is about divorce, however, so it may not be for every reader. However, there is so much to ponder and learn about oneself, even if you’re not going through a divorce yourself. (Also, this would make an excellent gift for someone you care about who is going through one, if you think they’d benefit from it). 4 stars.

Book #58:

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley (Length: 383 pages).  This book is so much FUN! It’s a romantasy, heavier on the fantasy, world-building, and quite chaste when it comes to the romance part. (Although in no universe is the writing PG or even PG-13). Two sworn enemies are forced to work together to overcome their own obstacles. For her, it’s to find funding for a vaccine for a pox killing children, and for him, to save his magic and by extension, his life. She’s a scientist and he’s an assassin for hire, and their chemistry is fantastic, if extremely slow building. The writing is so strong here, with witty banter and lushly drawn worlds. There are so many laugh out loud lines and clever wordplay (various pubs serve as way stones for travel between places and their names are fantastic). This does end on a bit of a cliffhanger as it’s a duology. Five stars from me!

June 2023–Part Three

July 3, 2023

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:

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh (Length: 384 pages) This is a mystery novel with the premise that Emma, a marine biologist has a secret past life that her husband Leo starts to uncover early on in the novel. I would say this is more accurately classified as women’s fiction so if you read it with that mindset, you won’t be as annoyed with the slow start. This is so well-written, however, that I didn’t want to stop reading. The plot does pick up around the halfway mark, and there was a twist that I didn’t see coming, which I always enjoy. The author tackles a few tough topics here, such as post-partum depression and mental illness which adds depth to the story. Overall, I’d rate this 4 stars.

Book #2:

When in Rome by Sarah Adams (Length: 320 pages). I really enjoyed this author’s previous novel, The Cheat Sheet, so when this rom-com popped up as a Kindle Daily Deal, I grabbed it. The trope in this novel is that of a stranded pop star (think Taylor Swift status) who meets a small-town baker hunk, and it’s set in Rome, Kentucky. Amelia Rose and Noah Walker are adorable, the writing is very strong, and the character development of all of the characters is excellent. I especially enjoyed Noah’s three sisters. The small town setting is charming as well. Everything is very idealized, of course, but that is what makes this a perfect escapist read. I adored this book!