Tag: canary street press

Book Review: Love Sick by Deidra Duncan

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Rating: ★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Deidra Duncan
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Release Date: May 13th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

First year of residency is hell, and Grace Rose, a brilliant new OB-GYN resident, starts off in the deepest circle. Her social anxiety is on high alert after she discovers she’s battling a rumour that she slept her way into the program.

Um. False.

Grace sets the record straight by putting on her devil-red lipstick and putting her rude – and frustratingly handsome – co-resident, Julian Santini, in his place. But rumours take on a life of their own, and no amount of studiousness, or support from her co-residents, can course-correct her reputation. Ironic, given Grace hasn’t been physical with anyone since her ex broke her heart in med school.

Julian is exhausted from years of studying. Despite that, he’s determined to prove he deserves the residency position he narrowly landed. If only he could buckle down and concentrate. Instead, he’s preoccupied by the judgy girl grappling with an absurd rumour – a woman he unintentionally offended on day one.

Yeah, he put his foot in his mouth. But he has no interest in participating in the hospital’s frat house culture that continues to slut-shame Grace.

Stuck together as residents, Grace and Julian begrudgingly set aside their mutual hatred to focus on training, and as their attraction grows, the cracks in the thin ice between love and hate start to appear.

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The only reason I finished this was because I was on a solo road trip and needed something to listen to and this did the trick of keeping me awake because I had to see what would make me angry next.

A small side quest to say that I was really excited to pick this up because it was a doctor romance and I feel like I don’t come across medical romances a lot. I did learn about residency programs and the drama that can happen in a hospital so all of that was fine. Oh, and I liked the MMC well enough.

ANY WHO LET’S GET STARTED.

All of the “banter” and “heated exchanges” between Julian and Grace were cringey. I did not feel any of that enemies/rivals charm and instead was gritting my teeth anytime they talked to each other. And much of the dialogue made it seem like these characters were closer to teenagers than late 20’s medical doctors.

I really wish that Grace had shown more character growth. That showing up at 95% through the book is not it. If there had been some key moments where she stopped acting weak (and this is coming from someone who has social anxiety too) and started standing up for herself and took some time to work through some of her past I could have gotten on board. And some of the trauma seemed thrown in for shock rather than naturally woven in.

DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE THIRD ACT. ABSOLUTE NONSENSE.

I’m just not convinced these two ever made it to the epilogue.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 2-3 open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: workplace bullying and gossip, slut shaming, abusive relationships (recounted), misogyny, miscarriage, birth trauma, attempted assault

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Book Review: The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance + Magical Realism
Length: 304 pages
Author: Erin La Rosa
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Release Date: July 16th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Life, rewound …

Nearly twenty years ago, Sam Leto left her small hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia, to pursue her dreams of becoming a pilot. While she’d prefer to keep flying away from her painful childhood memories, her beloved grandmother Pearl decides it’s time to sell the family home. Reluctantly, Sam is summoned back to pack up the house.

The 2000s nostalgia from Sam’s old bedroom hits Fall Out Boy posters, drawers of roll-on body glitter and even her favorite CD player with a mixtape from her best friend, Damon Rocha. Damon was always a safe place and Sam often wonders what if her teenage self admitted her feelings for him back then…

Mysteriously, the CD player still works all these years later. And somehow it has the power to show Sam an alternate version of her life.

Song by song, Sam receives flashbacks from her past—senior prom, graduation, leaving home. But the memories aren’t as she remembers them; they show what could have been. Suddenly, Sam knows exactly what would have happened if she’d taken a chance with Damon—and she can’t help feeling she made a terrible mistake leaving Tybee all those years ago.

I TRIED.

I really wanted to enjoy this one, but it felt very lackluster in the romance department. I thought the idea was clever and wasn’t bugged by the magical realism aspects (like I am known to be at times). I loved the nostalgic vibes this gave me and how seeing the flashbacks of what could have been didn’t show a “better” path, just a different one. I loved that message and theme throughout.

The romance was missing something. I didn’t feel that swoon and chemistry between Sam and Damon. They had this chance for reconnection, and did take it and I thought that would create some more heat.

The audiobook production was good and I liked that it was a quick listen. I also enjoyed that this was less spicy than the author’s previous books (personal preference). But I do find myself on the fence now about reading whatever’s next. I’m starting to have more misses than hits.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance + Magical Realism
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 1 open door
  • Content Warnings: brief mention of miscarriage, depression, parental abandonment

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Book Review: Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

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Rating: ★★★☆ (3.5)
Audience: Contemporary Mystery Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Release Date: February 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Never stop…Never forget…Just remember.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wives. Together, they have created a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery unlike any other.

Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning…they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love…every memory has vanished. Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why.

But the more they learn about the couple they used to be…the more they question why they were ever together to begin with. Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.

HMM.

This is a book broken into three parts that makes me review feel like three parts.

I really enjoyed part one. It was interesting. I liked the suspense and the drama of it all. I felt on board with Charlie and Silas’s story and was very dang curious about what had happened. Since this wasn’t a sci-fi or fantasy novel what magical realism was playing a part?!

Part two started to slow things down and was a bit repetitive. We know they’ve lost a lot of their memory and things are a bit up and down. There’s some good romantic moments looking at journals and memories I enjoyed.

Then part three brought it all together, but still left me feeling unsatisfied. I wasn’t quite on board with the big reveal of what happened and why. I think it was supposed to make me feel uber romantic, and it did to a point, but I think I was expected more drama as well. There were some story lines that I didn’t find wrapped up well and now that I’m sitting here I’m poking more and more holes into the book.

Oh well, another book off my CoHo back list!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romantic Suspense
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: memory loss, amnesia, kidnapping, incarcerated father, gaslighting parent

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