Tag: Tessa Bailey

June 2026–Part One:

June 16, 2026

Book #45:

The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline (376 pages).  I was excited to pick up this historical fiction novel about the real-life Siamese twins, Eng and Chang Bunker, who married and lived with two sisters in the mid-19th century in North Carolina. This is a sweeping family saga covering 50 years, which is in my reading wheelhouse. There are obviously some harder themes here such as slavery, racism, and the civil war. These themes, along with gender roles, are explored by sensitivity by the author and this book is very well-written. I could not put it down and I really enjoyed this quick read. 5 stars from me!

Book #46:

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey(Length: 380 pages). This fun rom-com is the second in the Big Shot series and features best friends of the couple in the Fangirl Down book which I reviewed here. If you’re new to this series, I’d definitely start with the first book. In this one, Tallulah becomes an au pair for Burgess, a single dad to a 12-year-old daughter and a famous hockey player. The leads enjoy the same fun banter that this author is known for, and their chemistry leaps off the page. I enjoyed the glimpses of a professional hockey player’s life, and this is a good complement to the current Heated Rivalry and Off Campus shows on TV now. A fun beach read! 3.5 stars.

Book #47:

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (Length: 391 pages).  This popular novel is about a “tradwife” who essentially goes viral online; the plot alternates between present day and flashbacks to where it all started. Present day the protagonist Natalie, wakes up in her same house with her same husband and children in the early 1900s, but the husband and children are “different” from the ones in modern day. Now, Natalie is living the same “tradwife” life she portrays online but without the modern conveniences that are hidden from her social media audience and without the two nannies and her social media assistant/producer. This is a very gritty and at times disturbing account of both timelines but is well-written and is propulsive. There are some negative reviews out there about the ending of this book, but I thought it wrapped up both timelines well. The tradwife life does NOT come across well, which I appreciated as a modern feminist. 4.5 stars

Book #48:

The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez (Length: 399 pages). I adore this author and her writing style. She writes banter so well and the chemistry between the two romantic leads is always believable, in my opinion. This book features many of the same characters from prior books as she’s known to include, and here Chris and Larissa are featured. Chris is a pharmacist and Larissa is working several part-time jobs trying to make ends meet, while dating Chris’s well-meaning best friend who is a bit of a clueless mess. The forbidden dating/lovers trope works well here, and I think the author treats Larissa’s anaphylactic peanut allergy with the appropriate care that it deserves. (Some reviews dinged this novel for this aspect of the book, but since I have a family member with the same allergy, I get the level of danger and I’m glad to see it showcased here). Bonus points for the cool animal, as always. Here’s it’s a rescue pup named Woofarine. 5 stars from me!

Book #49:

No One’s Coming by Kevin Hazzard (Length: 336 pages). This non-fiction book was recommended by one of my favorite book podcasts, Sarah’s Bookshelves Live. Phoenix Air is a private airplane service that no one’s heard of, but they’ve been a major player behind many events in our country’s history. Here, the author details the rescue of two American medical volunteers who are in the midst of a huge Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and who become infected themselves. With no one to care for them and the odds of rescue increasingly small, the US government asks this scrappy, intrepid band of pilots, engineers and medical crew to transport the 2 Americans back to the US before the 8-day timeline (organ failure and death) expires. This has never been done before, so you are getting a front row seat in this narrative nonfiction account of what boots on the ground truly looked like. A total nail-biter, excellent writing and an unforgettable plot. 5 huge stars from me. Would make an excellent Father’s Day gift, or a gift for anyone who enjoys an adventure/rescue account. This gave me the same feeling as reading Into Thin Air.

April 2026–Part One:

April 15, 2026

Book #27:

Talking at Night by Claire Daverly (400 pages).  I don’t recall where I first heard about this novel, but it’s been in my Libby holds for awhile. Rosie and Will meet in high school in England. They experience a soul connection, but a series of tragedies and bad timing seems to keep separating them. This is told in flashbacks as well as in present day. This isn’t as angsty as I feared this would be, featuring younger people, thanks to the stellar writing quality and the help of fun supporting characters such as Marley, Rosie’s best friend as well as Will’s grandmother. A story with more emotional depth and enough of a relationship thru line is what I’ve found here. 4 stars from me.

Book #28:

Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey (Length: 380 pages). This is the first book in a series of 5. I’ve read this author previously so when I saw a few of her books in this series in the clearance section of Half-Price Books, I snapped them up. This is a fun pool/vacation book, and features Josephine Doyle who has been a loyal fangirl to Bad Boy PGA tour star Wells Whitaker for the past 5 years, even during his most recent 2-year slump. Josie’s family owns a pro shop in Palm Beach and after it gets destroyed by a hurricane, Wells joins forces with Josie to help one another through their tough times. This rom-com is VERY steamy, so a heads up to those avoiding open door romances. There is a great depiction of type 1 diabetes as well as the life of pro golfers. The plot is sufficiently propulsive, this author’s writing is continually solid and I enjoy how she introduces the next couple in this series; I’m picking that one up very soon. 4 stars.

Book #29:

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Length: 603 pages).  This is the second in the Magpie Murders trilogy and I was so excited to get to it after how much I enjoyed the first one. Here we are reunited with the previous book’s protagonist, book editor Susan Ryeland who returns to London/Suffolk to investigate another murder. This one is also inspired by an Atticus Pund mystery book she previously edited, so it’s another book within a book here. Both mysteries are very well-constructed, per usual, and I really enjoyed the connections between the two mysteries. This is LONG (a two for one) but it goes down very smoothly thanks to excellent writing, well-drawn characters and fast-moving plots. 5 stars.

Book #30:

So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder (Length: 384 pages). This came highly recommended by a book podcaster I listen to, but I’ve seen some other reviewers who didn’t care for it. The premise in this novel, labeled “friendship fiction” is the author follows a group of friends from college into middle age, tracking their personal changes as well as the changing dynamics amongst the friends. The novel starts with a funeral, but the reader doesn’t know who died; from there the author starts at the beginning of the friend group. It definitely reminded me of the movie The Big Chill, where not a lot happens plot wise but there’s a lot of introspection and navel-gazing with each individual character and how they relate to the others in the friend group. The writing is fantastic and while I didn’t like any of the characters, I really enjoyed the author’s perspective and characterizations here. If you must like your characters, skip it, but if you don’t, give it a whirl. This is a memorable read! 4 stars.