Friday, April 21, 2023
Caged by Bella Matthews - Romance Sub Genres
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
A Fun Romance with a Clever Premise that Also Deals With Grief
I am here to recommend this audiobook, it's included with an audible membership and I loved the book's premise. In this story, Alice, a school teacher, has co-written and self-published a thriller that sold 73 copies. One day a man comes to see her and he demands to know where she got the information disclosed in the story. He looks and behaves just like her fictional secret agent main character!
We quickly learn that Alice's book needs to be moved from the fiction section to the non-fiction section--and Alice has to figure out who to trust as she is taken on a wild adventure. I wonder if Brynn Kelly wrote this in response to a "What if you met your book boyfriend?" prompt.
The story is engaging, packed with action and romance, and a nice amount of humor--amusing references to writing. Important content warning: It has some heavy scenes that deal with the death of loved ones from cancer, and it is a fairly larger part of the book so take that into consideration.
4 stars. Definitely worth a listen!
Sunday, April 16, 2023
The Sunday Post for Mid April
The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
Well, we had a wonderful preview of summer, and then today, back to mid-April reality. Possible Flurries tonight. I am glad I put my lettuce seeds in a container that is easy to move into the house. Hopefully, we are almost done with freezing temperatures at night or the day. Have you watched anything good on TV? We watched Transatlantic on Netflix. I liked that it didn't sugar-coat the American position of neutrality during WW2 prior to Pearl Harbor, especially the lack of American support for refugees. I also finished watching Unlock My Boss which was very enjoyable.
This week I am working on reading and reviewing these books:
Friday, April 14, 2023
The Least Amount of Awful, Definitely Not an Awful Book!
If you asked me to describe this book in ten words or less I would say: "It's a Hallmark Movie with benefits." We have a small town, we have a girl coming from the city in a fancy car, everyone is attractive and has a good job, Jake is a single dad with abs for days, Colbie owns a series of barre studios. Jake is quite rude to Colbie in the beginning, but it is overcome. The angst level and pining is low in this book.
The main characters are great communicators and Jennifer Millikin is a very good writer, the sex scenes were picture perfect, the right amount of description and heat level. She also ties in the title of the book in a pivotal way throughout the story.
Overall I enjoyed the book, I did feel that Jake and Emmett (Colbie's dad) were 'too perfect' for me, and Colbie's mom was unsympathetically awful. But hey this is a romance, and the main story is quite well done.
4 stars!
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Cook County ICU: 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases
Monday, April 10, 2023
Crying in H Mart
I don't read many memoirs and have been of the opinion that people under 40 haven't lived enough life to truly write a memoir. Based on this book and I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, I've decided that was a ridiculous opinion.
Crying in H Mart is a book about food, families, the immigrant experience, and how much cancer sucks. It's a beautiful book and I'm so glad that Michelle Zauner wrote it. She has a beautiful writing style and it makes sense that she is a songwriter and musician. I steered clear of this book for quite a while because I didn't want to read about someone dying of cancer.
However, recently I felt ready to give it a go, and I wasn't super triggered over it. This is because the book is about a daughter who is with her mom as her mom undergoes cancer treatment which isn't successful. If I had lost my mom to cancer, I don't know if I could read this book.
As I was reading the book Michelle's writing simultaneously made my mouth water with her descriptions of food and cooking, and moments later I was ready to cry with her because of how unfair so much of life can be from one day to the next.
The story doesn't end with Michelle's mom's death, we see how Michelle works through the grieving process and then how she flourishes as a musician. In the last chapter of the book Michelle talks about a song her mother loved when she was young, and I had to look it up on YouTube. It's a bop! Listen to it below:
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Happy Easter! The Sunday Post!
The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
We are heading out to see youngest child at college today since she has to work, so I'm not cooking a tasty ham today. Since I have tomorrow off, I'll be making an Easter Monday dinner. We also have eggs to decorate, which we will do tonight.
Friday, April 7, 2023
Say Victoria, Why Did you Read Romancing the Beat?
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Happy to be back in New Bison! #MurderisaPieceofCake #NetGalley
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Light and Fluffy Romance Listening for a Spring Afternoon
This is a novella, a short and charming read, a very nice listen for a day when you are feeling down and want a pick-me-up, or when are in a slump and aren't ready to dive into a novel. Rebekah Weatherspoon gives Andre and Janelle a super cute and creative Meet Cute. I'm not even going to tell you about it because it is such a fun idea, now if you go to GoodReads, you'll see it in the book description, so there you go.
This book has all the comfort tropes, two good people whose hearts are on the mend after a breakup. A super cute shelter dog, a chaotic twin sister, and the open-door sex scene is full of consent and good vibes. Andre and Janelle communicate well and there aren't any contrived miscommunications. It gets even better in my opinion, they don't resemble fashion models, and there is no third-act breakup!
The only thing I wanted at the end of this book was more Andre and Janelle content--oh I forgot to mention the narrators are fabulous!
5 Stars!!