Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez (Review)

May 20, 2021

When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn’t expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn’t just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30, and Vanessa doesn’t want to take anything for granted. But after her half sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her baby daughter, life goes from “daily adventure” to “next-level bad” (now with bonus baby vomit in hair). The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she’d be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua. Now she’s feeling things she’s vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see… Read More Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez (Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

Red Island House by Andrea Lee (ARC Review)

May 4, 2021

Shay is surprised when her husband Senna declares his intention to build her a spectacular dream house on an idyllic beach in the tropical island nation of Madagascar. But the Red Island House casts a spell from the moment she sees it, and before she knows it Shay has become the somewhat reluctant mistress of a sprawling household, caught between her privileged American upbringing and education, and her connection to the continent of her ancestors. At first, she’s content to be an observer of the passionate affairs and fierce ambitions and rivalries around her. But as she and her husband raise children and establish their own rituals on the island, Shay finds herself drawn ever deeper into an extraordinary place with its own laws and logic, a provocative paradise full of magic and myth whose fraught colonial legacy continues to reverberate. Soon the collision of cultures comes right to Shay’s door, forcing her to make a life-altering decision.… Read More Red Island House by Andrea Lee (ARC Review)

— Adult, book review —

Sandcastle Beach by Jenny Holiday (Review)

May 4, 2021

Maya Mehta will do anything to save her tiny, beloved community theater. Put on musicals she hates? Check. Hire an arrogant former-pop-star-turned-actor? Done. But what Maya really needs to save her theater is Matchmaker Bay’s new business grant. She’s got some serious competition, though: Benjamin “Law” Lawson, local bar owner, Jerk Extraordinaire, and Maya’s annoyingly hot arch nemesis. Let the games begin. Law loves nothing more than getting under Maya’s skin, and making those gorgeous eyes dance with irritation. But when he discovers the ex-pop star has a thing for Maya, too, Law decides he’s done waiting in the wings-starting with a scorching-hot kiss. Turns out there’s a thin line between hate and irresistible desire, and Maya and Law are really good at crossing it. But when things heat up, will they allow their long-standing feud to get in the way of their growing feelings?… Read More Sandcastle Beach by Jenny Holiday (Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

The Knockout Rule by Kelly Siskind (ARC Review)

May 4, 2021

Growing up with an adoring father for a boxing legend isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It looks more like hospital visits, bloody noses, and cracked ribs. Isla Slade now works as a physiotherapist, helping athletes heal their bodies. Except for boxers. She has no interest in reliving the stress of her teen years. Dating someone in the boxing world? She’d rather snort wasabi powder. Until she meets Preston Church. Preston manages heavyweight boxing darling Brick Kramarov. A brute who’s built tougher than his name, with a cocky attitude to boot. She wants nothing to do with either man, but her father begs her to help them prepare for a huge Vegas fight. She doesn’t expect Preston to recite romantic poems and slowly break her resolve. His fascinating mind gets under her skin, even if his star athlete reminds her how much she hates boxing. Too bad it’s Brick coaching Preston how to woo Isla, falling for her from the sidelines. Once she finds out, she’ll have to decide if she can risk loving another man who puts it all on the line for the knockout… Read More The Knockout Rule by Kelly Siskind (ARC Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (ARC Review)

April 12, 2021

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right. Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help… Read More Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (ARC Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

The Mystery of Mrs Christie by Marie Benedict (ARC Review)

April 8, 2021

In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car—strange for a frigid night. Her husband and daughter have no knowledge of her whereabouts, and England unleashes an unprecedented manhunt to find the up-and-coming mystery author. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away. The puzzle of those missing eleven days has persisted. With her trademark exploration into the shadows of history, acclaimed author Marie Benedict brings us into the world of Agatha Christie, imagining why such a brilliant woman would find herself at the center of such a murky story… Read More The Mystery of Mrs Christie by Marie Benedict (ARC Review)

— Adult, book review —

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick (Review)

March 31, 2021

Fortune favors the bold. Magic favors the liars. Ren is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadežra with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house, securing her fortune and her sister’s future. But as she’s drawn into the elite world of House Traementis, she realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the City of Dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled…with Ren at their heart… Read More The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick (Review)

— Adult, book review —

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron (Review)

March 29, 2021

Reena Manji doesn’t love her career, her single status, and most of all, her family inserting themselves into every detail of her life. But when caring for her precious sourdough starters, Reena can drown it all out. At least until her father moves his newest employee across the hall–with hopes that Reena will marry him. But Nadim’s not like the other Muslim bachelors-du-jour that her parents have dug up. If the Captain America body and the British accent weren’t enough, the man appears to love eating her bread creations as much as she loves making them. She sure as hell would never marry a man who works for her father… Read More Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron (Review)

— Adult, book review —

The Royal Wedding by Melanie Summers (Review)

February 11, 2021

When most girls get engaged, at most they face a disapproving mother-in-law, but in Tessa Sharpe’s case, it’s a disapproving nation. No one in the tiny kingdom of Avonia wants the former anti-royal blogger to wed Prince Arthur. The anti-royals haven’t forgiven her for abandoning ship and swimming over to the Prince’s yacht, and the royal watchers won’t ever forget all the horrible things she wrote about their beloved Royal Family. Up against all odds, Tessa has only six months to prove herself worthy of the title of Princess. Her nasty father-in-law is going to throw every obstacle in her way, including the beautiful, poised, and highly accomplished Lady Doctor Brooke Beddingfield. But Tessa is determined to make this work and keep her fledgling career as a reporter intact. Will Tessa manage to fight her way down the aisle and find her Prince Charming waiting? Or will one of them succumb to mounting pressure and run the other way before they can say I do?… Read More The Royal Wedding by Melanie Summers (Review)

— Adult, book review —

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Review)

February 2, 2021

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget. France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.… Read More The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Review)