Tag: berkley

ARC Book Review: How to Hide in Plain Sight by Emma Noyes

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Emma Noyes
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: September 10th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The unbreakable bonds of family and love are explored in this brilliant and tender story from the author of Guy’s Girl.

On the day she arrives in Canada for her older brother’s wedding, Eliot Beck hasn’t seen her family in three years. Eliot adores her big, wacky, dysfunctional collection of siblings and in-laws, but there’s a reason she fled to Manhattan and buried herself in her work—and she’s not ready to share it with anyone. Not when speaking it aloud could send her back into the never-ending cycle of the obsessive-compulsive disorder that consumed her for years.

Eliot thinks she’s prepared to survive the four-day-long wedding extravaganza—until she sees her best friend, Manuel, waiting for her at the marina and looking as handsome as ever. He was the person who, when they met as children, felt like finding the missing half of her soul. The person she tried so hard not to fall in love with… but did anyway.

Manuel’s presence at the wedding threatens to undo the walls Eliot has built around herself. The fortress that keeps her okay. If she isn’t careful, by the end of this wedding, the whole castle might come crumbling down.

Thank you to Berkley for the gifted copy.

THE OCD REP.

This has got to be on the best and most raw representations I’ve ever read of someone with OCD. And as someone who has loved ones currently looking at potential diagnosis for OCD I was feeling all sorts of emotions. I was crying by the end which clearly means it gets five stars and a shout to say READ IT.

I loved the soft sub-romance too. Manuel was THERE. And he fought for Eliot. Those moments also made me cry. There were many heart wrenching moments. And the complicated family dynamics were incredibly well written. It was dramatic without feeling DRAMATIC. The variety of which that doesn’t cause me to roll my eyes but rather feel deeply engaged to the core issues that having a family + life’s knockdowns can cause. There’s grief and heartache and emotional turmoil woven throughout with quiet moments of levity and love.

I don’t tend to pick up books that don’t lean heavier to the romance plot line, so take that as you will for if you should read this book (you should though). It was profound, well balanced, with amazing mental health rep. I’m going to be thinking about this one for a long time.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low-moderate, scattered throughout
  • Romance: 1-2 brief open door
  • Content Warnings: OCD representation (throughout, main theme), loss of a sibling, grief and depression depiction

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Book Review: Play for Me by Libby Hubscher

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Libby Hubscher
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: June 20th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When her new job takes her to a New England boarding school, she’s surprised to find her roommates are all men – including a very handsome one who plays by his own rules. 

Sophie Doyle has her dream job as the head athletic trainer for her favorite baseball team (go Red Sox!), a handsome boyfriend, and easy access to the finest cannoli in Boston. When she loses all three and the World Series to boot, she’s forced to apply for the open trainer position at an arts-focused boarding school in New Hampshire. The only available room is a glorified closet in an apartment with three guys: Jonas Voss, the aloof and attractive orchestra teacher, and his two rambunctious roommates.

Sophie knows that training a bunch of privileged high school kids whose idea of a play is A Chorus Line instead of a walk-off homer is going to be a big change from the pro athletes she’s used to. She wasn’t expecting that these students would have big-time talent and even bigger-time problems. Sophie has troubles of her own—Jonas is a full-fledged grump who clearly doesn’t want her near him or the precious piano he never plays.

With sunny optimism, Sophie sets out to win over Jonas and help the kids she’s growing attached to. But when her relationship with Jonas moves to the major leagues and plans change at the end of the season, they have to choose whether they are playing for keeps.

NOTHING MAJOR.

I will first say though that I am very well versed in athletic training and I was going to have a big issue if this was misconstrued. BUT WHAT DO YOU KNOW. It wasn’t. And I super appreciate the author clearly being knowledgeable about the subject. Added another level of enjoyment for me.

The romance grew on me. Though I felt overall a bit meh towards it. I don’t know, some kind of lack of chemistry? I loved that there were great conversations and some really sweet moments and I just wish I could pin down that last missing component. I think the entire book needed MORE romance. It read a bit like women’s fiction (which is fine, but not what I was after when I picked this up).

I adored all of the side characters from the other teachers, to the students, and especially Sophie’s Dad. There’s cute and heartfelt moments mixed in with the pain of an aging parent and losing the job you loved. I thought the ending wrapped things up well and I was smitten with the sweetness.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: a Dad with Parkinson’s, allusions towards an abusive father

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Book Review: Until Next Summer by Ali Brady

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Ali Brady
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 9th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two former best friends each find love at an adults-only summer camp in this romantic and nostalgic novel that proves “once a camp person, always a camp person.”

Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director. 

When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.

The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?

NEW FAV.

I loved this book! It is easily my new favorite by this duo. I am not a summer camp girlie and this made me feel those nostalgic vibes that I absolutely understand those who loved camp would go through. I loved how this plot worked out with enjoying camp shenanigans, falling in love and rekindling friendships.

Jessie and Hillary were a fantastic pair. I loved seeing their friendship come alive again. I think both of them went through great growth and showed a lot of strength in perseverance and finding where you wanted to be in life.

I adored both romances too. I loved that both had a second chance vibe and had just the right amount of slow burn for the condensed timeline. I was smitten with both and loved the communication and effort each couple took to be together.

Definitely a book for all of the summertime vibes.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 2-3 open door

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Book Review: A Love Like the Sun by Riss M. Neilson

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Rating: ★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Riss M. Neilson
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: June 11th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Lifelong best friends spend a fateful summer discovering what might happen if they were to be something more in this radiant, heart-clenching adult debut.

Laniah Thompson is a homebody who craves privacy. Issac Jordan is internet famous and spends his days followed by paparazzi. She runs a small business with her mom in her hometown. He runs an international brand.

And they’ve been best friends since childhood.

When Issac comes home to Providence for the first time in months and discovers Laniah’s dream is slipping out of reach as she and her mom struggle to pay the bills at Wildly Green, their natural hair store, she refuses to take a dime from him. And so, he does what any self-respecting best friend would do: tells the world they’re dating.

Suddenly business is booming, and Laniah agrees to his ridiculous plan to pretend to be lovers for the course of the summer. Just long enough to catch the eye of an investor and get her dream back on track, like she helped him do so many years ago, he reminds her.

Too soon, though, Laniah knows she’s playing with fire, because for as long as they’ve been friends there’s an undeniable pull they’ve never given in to. And as the lines between art and life—real and pretend—blur, it becomes harder and harder to see where friendship ends and something else begins….

Told over the course of three sizzling summer months, A Love Like the Sun is about shared history, those who make us our bravest selves, and love in its many forms.

Thank you to Berkley for the free book.

ESCALATION.

This unfortunately became increasingly more frustrating the further I went on.

I don’t understand how two people that have been best friends since they were children still don’t fully discuss aspects of their lives. Laniah hid some very big pieces of what was happening in her life from Isaac and I struggled a lot with how that part of the plot went down.

And for a romance, the couple spent very little time together. And too many deep comments were made via text. And I know that can work sometimes, but I really wanted to see more of Isaac and Laniah in the same place working through their friends to lovers feelings.

The story felt haphazard. Ultimately, all of the segments didn’t weave together to create a cohesive book. There wasn’t any character growth and nothing pushing this story forward.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 3 open door + some innuendo
  • Content Warnings: missed medical diagnosis from a doctor, loss of a Dad, medical discrimination, kidney disease

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