london – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Regency Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Jennieke Cohen
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: January 11th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Culinary delights abound, romance lingers in the air, and plans go terribly, wonderfully astray in this cheeky and charming historical tale, perfect for fans of Bridgerton or Dickinson.

It’s 1830s England, and Culinarians—doyens who consult with society’s elite to create gorgeous food and confections—are the crème de la crème of high society.

Helena Higgins, top of her class at the Royal Academy, has a sharp demeanor and an even sharper palate—and knows stardom awaits her if she can produce greatness in her final year.

Penelope Pickering is going to prove the value of non-European cuisine to all of England. Her contemporaries may scorn her Filipina heritage and her dishes, but with her flawless social graces and culinary talents, Penelope is set to prove them wrong.

Elijah Little has nothing to his name but a truly excellent instinct for flavors. London merchants won’t allow a Jewish boy to own a shop, so he hawks his pasties for a shilling a piece to passersby—but he knows with training he can break into the highest echelon of society.

When Penelope and Helena meet Elijah, a golden opportunity arises: to pull off a project never seen before, and turn Elijah from a street vendor to a gentleman chef.

But Elijah’s transformation will have a greater impact on this trio than they originally realize—and mayhem, unseemly faux pas, and a little romance will all be a part of the delicious recipe.

IT WAS SWEET.

I know nothing about My Fair Lady. Apparently this is a gender bend on that? Maybe so.

I did think this book was incredibly sweet. I liked the plot set-up and all of the FOOD. Oh my goodness, so much baking and cooking. I think I was hungry half the time just listening to this because everything sounded delectable. I’m a sucker for a good cuisine book and this nailed it.

I struggled the most with Helena. I knew her character was meant to be unlikeable but wow did she really annoy me. Hallelujah for the growth she showed in the end after Penelope and Elijah both showed some backbone and told her to get with the program and off of her high horse.

Penelope and Elijah were easily one of my favorite parts. Such a tender and slow burn acquaintances to lovers romance. I adored the way they connected over food and their history. The meaningful conversations surround those of mixed race and Jewish decent in the time period brought another complex layer to this read. I really enjoyed this one and the audiobook was fantastic too.

Overall audience notes:

YA Regency Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Trigger/Content Warnings: racism, anti-Semitism, discrimination, misogyny, loss of parents

Book Review: Christmas Baggage (Christmas Escape #1) by Deborah M. Hathaway

December 2, 2022October 23, 2022 GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 302 pages
Author: Deborah M. Hathaway
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 19th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

If there is one thing she has learned in England, it’s that not all Englishmen are created equal.
Because this guy was turning out to be a real pill.

Tired of spending the holidays throwing up on cruises with her parents and, you know, being dumped by ex-boyfriends, Claire Frost is determined to change her luck this Christmas. Taking time off from her flower shop, she follows her friend to London, ready to enjoy all-things England. And boy, does she. The frost-covered flowers. The frozen green hills. The bright red telephone boxes. The festive Christmas markets.

Also the men. Definitely the men.

Except, of course, her friend’s cousin. Liam Everhart is super attractive, super swoony, and super English. Too bad he’s also a super jerk. A super jerk whom she now has to spend every minute with. What a blessed, blessed relief that his Darcy/Poldark looks are overshadowed by his Darth Vader/Malfoy personality. She had enough Christmas baggage to deal with, so why would she ever add a swoony Englishman to the mix?

This is a clean, sweet, wholesome romance set in present-day London, England that features the enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity tropes, with a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

SO SWEET.

I have been waiting for this series for months and the first book started things off fantastically. I adored it. Suuuper sweet and cuddly and makes me want to fly to London ASAP.

For a very (I’m talking a week) fast paced romance, I was pretty charmed by the connection between Claire and Liam. They met on a rocky playing field and found common ground wandering London together. Occasionally things read a bit too much like a travel blog, but when this duo would banter back and forth I was HERE FOR IT.

The kissing scenes were absolutely swoooooony. Good heavens. I love well placed heat in sweet romances. This one knocked it out of the park. I felt the tension and desire easily.

Pleasantly satisfied with no ridiculous third actness. It all fit into the story well and made sense for the characters at the time. I thought the ending was delightful and gave the resolutions needed for both characters to be together and get what they needed from outside their relationship too.

All sorts of holiday cheer abound (which is something I look for when picking one of these romances up). You won’t regret diving into this series!

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Holiday Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Trigger/Content Warnings: emotionally negligent parents, loss of a parent (off-page prior to book)

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Book Review

Book Review: The Kiss (London Prep #3) by Jillian Dodd

May 14, 2021February 28, 2021 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Length: 518 pages
Author: Jillian Dodd
Publisher: Swoonworthy Books
Release Date: September 17th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s the last week of my exchange in London, and my flight leaves on Saturday.

Harry wants our relationship to progress, but his family life is falling apart. And shocking news from his parents might send him over the edge.
Noah is becoming more reckless with both his words and his actions. Between longing glances, sweet conversations and heated moments, I don’t know where we stand.
And Mohammad tells me that I have some important decisions to make.

The countdown is on, and only two things are certain.
I’m going to have to leave the three boys I’ve grown to love.
And by the end of the week, I’m not sure if any of them will ever forgive me.

It’s a good thing my time at Kensington is almost up.

COSMIC.

That’s literally the only word I can use to describe this book.

Here I am, book three. Still heavily invested y’all. I can’t wait to get my hands on book four. I NEED THE FINALE.

I did struggle with Mallory this time. She came off so oblivious and wishy-washy about every little thing. For the way the other characters described her, I did not feel the same. Mallory was a bit blinded by it all and it really led to obnoxious drama. I did love her relationship with Mohammed. They are such cute friends! And I like that there was more of his background in this story.

But WOW. Did that ending leave me gasping or what? This is a continuation type series where every book essentially is a cliffhanger because the next one picks up immediately where the previous left off. I am flabbergasted as to how this goes and I kind of hope it continues back in New York! Bringing the boys over there would be a hoot.

As usual, a lot happened and I found the pages flying by. I love escaping into these books and enjoying the magnetism of this love triangle saga. MY TEAM BETTER COME OUT ON TOP.

Overall audience notes:

New adult contemporary romance
Language: some strong throughout
Romance: kisses / make-outs; a few mild detailed love scenes
Violence: physical

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Book Review

Book Review: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 325 pages
Author: Beth O’Leary
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: April 10th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.

After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly colored mold on the walls counts as art.

Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.

Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes – first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more.

But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea…especially if you’ve never met.

What if your roommate is your soul mate? A joyful, quirky romantic comedy, Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare is a feel-good novel about finding love in the most unexpected of ways.

CUTE AT TIMES.

I didn’t know how I was going to feel about this book when I first started reading it. I wasn’t immediately drawn in and had a hard time connecting with everything. I think the second half of the book was MUCH better and I was so excited when Tiffy and Leon finally met in person.

This was a charming read. I loved watching Tiffy and Leon’s friendship start over post-it notes. That’s precious. The notes were cute and endearing and I really do think letter writing is its own form of intimacy (especially because nobody does it today). You could easily see the opposite spectrum of personalities they had. Tiffy effervescent and loud. Leon reserved and thoughtful. It was an opposites attract that worked so well.

The main conflict centered around Tiffy’s ex boyfriend, Justin. He angered me to a whole other level and I don’t feel like giving him the time of day in this review. What I did like was the approach that Tiffy’s friends had to help her. It can be hard in many ways to work through an awful situation like that (emotionally abusive) and I love that Tiffy had such a strong support group.

I thought the premise was unique too. I think I would be way too nervous to share a flat with someone I had never met, but I’m really happy it worked out for them. I got some good bubbly feelings from this, but it just didn’t have everything I needed to be a GREAT rom-com.

Overall audience notes:

Adult contemporary romance
Language: some strong throughout
Romance: kisses, make-outs, some almost love scenes (with mild description) and one fade-to-black love scene
Violence: physical
Trigger warnings: abusive relationship (emotional/controlling), PTSD from the relationship