Book Review: All is Mary and Bright (Belles of Christmas: Frost Fair #2) by Kasey Stockton

June 28, 2021November 20, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Regency romance
Length: 243 pages
Author: Kasey Stockton
Publisher: Golden Owl Press
Release Date: October 24th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s found the woman he wants to marry—it’s a shame she is already engaged to someone else.

Belles of Christmas: Frost Fair

Sweet, Regency Christmas Romances

Five Christmas romances and the Frost Fair that started them all

This is the second book in the clean and sweet Regency romance Belles of Christmas: Frost Fair series. Although this forbidden love romance is a stand-alone novel, the books are best enjoyed when read in order.

HAD ITS MOMENTS.

This was cute, but definitely didn’t love it as much as the first in this series (and I have now put together that each book is by a different author too). There was charm here, I was hoping for a bit more though.

The plot dragged throughout. There were continual tangents about Pride & Prejudice. And I didn’t feel like it even fit in the story? I get where some allusions were made between the two novels, but it took me out of the book each time it talked about P&P.

I enjoyed Andrew so much. He was an amiable and alluring love interest who really seemed to mesh well with Mary. I liked how they bounced off each other and were able to communicate about there pasts and the things they struggled with. I don’t think it needed the extra fiance (not a love triangle, it was a contract of marriage for convenience) to make things come together.

The atmosphere is incredibly Christmas and holiday. I love that and it has me wanting to continue this series. Quick romances with a lot of pleasing aspects overall. Can’t wait to continue!

Overall audience notes:

Regency Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: a bad slip and fall causing a concussion

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Book Review: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

June 25, 2021November 16, 2020 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary fiction
Length: 341 pages
Author: Fredrick Backman
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: September 8th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined

Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix up their own marriage. There’s a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.

COULDN’T PUT THIS DOWN.

Absolutely loved this. Worth the hype. What a story. This writing style was unique and magnetic. It has such a quick pace that I just kept flipping pages and couldn’t believe how much I had read. I loved going into this without reading the synopsis and I suggest you do too (but do read the trigger/content warnings list first).

I couldn’t believe how much I fell in love with these characters. Many annoyed me at the beginning and as the plot developed, wow, was I caught up in each individual’s story. The way they’re woven together and inter-connected, *amazing*.

This also plays as a mystery and that kept me wanting to unravel the entire story. I wanted to see the big picture. Feel all of the emotions rolling around and loved how the “worst hostages ever” made this novel.

There’s so much here. Love, compassion, kindness and humility. The struggles of living and making a normal day survivable. Many of the sentiments discussed resonated on such a deep level with me. I loved it.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary fiction
Language: very little (maybe even none, I read it so fast I forgot to mark if I noticed any)
Trigger/Content Warnings: suicide, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, addiction, loss of loved ones, depictions of anxiety and depression

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ARC Book Review: To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne

June 24, 2021April 29, 2021 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 288 pages
Author: Lauren Layne
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: June 29th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Love Is Blind meets You’ve Got Mail in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy following two thirty-somethings who meet on a blind dating app—only to realize that their online chemistry is nothing compared to their offline rivalry.

Perpetually cheerful and eager to please, Gracie Cooper strives to make the best out of every situation. So when her father dies just months after a lung cancer diagnosis, she sets aside her dreams of pursuing her passion for art to take over his Midtown Manhattan champagne shop. She soon finds out that the store’s profit margins are being squeezed perilously tight, and complicating matters further, a giant corporation headed by the impossibly handsome, but irritatingly arrogant Sebastian Andrews is proposing a buyout. But Gracie can’t bear the thought of throwing away her father’s dream like she did her own.

Overwhelmed and not wanting to admit to her friends or family that she’s having second thoughts about the shop, Gracie seeks advice and solace from someone she’s never met—the faceless “Sir”, with whom she connected on a blind dating app where matches get to know each other through messages and common interests before exchanging real names or photos.

But although Gracie finds herself slowly falling for Sir online, she has no idea she’s already met him in real life…and they can’t stand each other.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC. All opinions are my own!

HOW ADORABLE.

Ahhhhh so happy I got an ARC of this one because Y’ALL.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD.

Okay, first I need to preface this by saying, I have NOT seen You’ve Got Mail. I will in no way be able to convey if it’s like it or not (the summary says it is). So with that skeleton thrown out of my closet, lets get into the review!

I couldn’t get enough of this couple. Gracie and Sebastian play a perfectly sweet sunshine/grump + hidden identities (a FAV) scenario that had me grinning from ear to ear. All of their interactions were spot on and they were easy to fall in love with. The whole cast was easy to fall in love with for that matter.

This seemed to play on a little bit of an insta-love, but in a realistic style. I had no issues with the progression and timeline. Everything felt so natural that Sebastian and Gracie would fall in love. If anything I would have loved even more page time with them. I love how sweet they were on each other without even trying. Gosh the chemistry was fantastic.

Aaaand the family dynamics!! This had some of the best sibling relationships I’ve read about in a long time. They were all so kind!! And supportive!! And there for each other!! Ahhhh, I loved it. It was so meaningful to see these connections along side the romantic one. Graice had a lot of solid friendships as well. I really think all of these other people in Gracie’s life made this book sing. Nothing felt lacking even with the romance at the forefront.

There was so much to this story (and for under 300 pages I am wowza impressed). I found myself absolutely invested in that final movie ending moment and how CUTE. Just gave me all of the giddy, sunshiney feelings.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: very little
Romance: kisses
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents (happened prior to timeline in book), a side couple struggles with infertility

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Book Review: The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

June 23, 2021November 16, 2020 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 404 pages
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Release Date: July 19th, 2005
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership.

Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer–and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope–and finds love–is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back?

FIRST KINSELLA BOOK.

Was it the best one to choose? I have no idea. I did enjoy this one at least. A comment to the audio book though, did not love it.

Anywho, Samantha definitely had me laughing at some of the antics she got wrapped up in. It was funny and great to see her struggle with some of the very basics of house care. I didn’t love her at first (and that was probably the intention) because of how much of a workaholic she was. The change over the course of the book for Samantha was very needed and well crafted. Her new persona felt like it really matched the true Samantha by the end.

I wish the romance was more developed. Her and Nathaniel went from zero to one-hundred like whoa. Granted, there were some cute moments, especially near the end, that worked in their favor. Overall though, I wanted more.

I’m so glad that this story had some great resolutions. Getting more to Samantha’s life as a lawyer and what happened with her law firm helped me appreciate the entire story. I needed to know that it worked out in Samantha’s favor one way or another and this is why I love a good happy ever after!

Overall audience notes: