I’m a fan of Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad books, so I was excited to see she was releasing a standalone mystery. To my disappointment, The Witch Elm has a great premise, but shaky execution. The book opens with our narrator, Toby, going home after a night out with the lads. Toby is described as one of those guys who manages to navigate the stickiest of situations without suffering any consequences–case in point, he’s recently massively screwed … Continue reading The Witch Elm by Tana French →
The first book in the Debutante Diaries series felt underwhelming and, at times, aggravating. This Regency engagement-of-convenience story did have elements that could have made it stand out: the heroine proposes to the hero, the heroine is a talented artist, and the hero has a warm, close relationship to his grandmother and values her intelligence and wisdom. Unfortunately all of that is lost to some uneven plotting, a lack of internal conflict, and a dash … Continue reading First Earl I See Tonight by Anna Bennett →
CW/TW for rape, coercion, child abuse, child murder, and general horribleness of Nazis and WWII. The Paris Seamstress is told in parallel storylines between two women, Estella and her granddaughter Fabienne. Estella escapes Paris prior to the Nazi invasion, bringing with her a sewing machine and not much else. She arrives in New York having newly learned that she is a dual citizen of France and the US because her father was American – but … Continue reading The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester →
As much as I enjoyed Better than Before and The Four Tendencies, I found reading Happier At Home to be a frustrating slog through minimal bits of usable advice and a lot of detailed personal journalling that I didn’t expect or enjoy. This line from the cover copy best describes this book: “starting in September (the new January), Rubin dedicated a school year—September through May—to making her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort, and love.” I live … Continue reading Happier At Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life →
Before I get into this romance, I want to state that I don’t really follow much of the Olympics. I get my Olympic news from my roommate and from Twitter, which means I can’t really comment on the accuracy of how the events are portrayed in this book. However, I did feel like reading a romance between two veteran Olympians would help me contribute to the Olympic spirit currently permeating every one of my personal … Continue reading Shot on Gold by Jaci Burton →
A Girl Walks into a Bar is a choose your own romance book, and I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that maybe this format either isn’t for me, or doesn’t particularly work in the genre. I’ve reviewed two similar books in the past. One, I hated. Another was cute and fun, but the awesome options were heavily skewed toward one direction. The first decision you’re asked to make in A Girl Walks into a Bar … Continue reading A Girl Walks into a Bar by Helena S. Paige →
This is a difficult book to grade. I finished it because I wanted to see what happened. At the same time, I was easily distracted while reading because I got bored being told everything. I was curious about the rules of the magic and the roles of difference characters, but I was also really uneasy and at times repulsed by the portrayal of those characters. Some existed without connection to context or larger meaning, even … Continue reading Deadly Sweet by Lola Dodge →
Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe is a modern day, gender-flipped tribute to Pride and Prejudice. In this version, Darcy is a woman who has made it big in hedge funds and lives in New York. When her mom has a (non-fatal) heart attack, Darcy returns to her hometown of Pemberley, Ohio, for the first time in eight years, where she reconnects with her adoring mom, judgmental dad, gay best friend Bingley, and childhood crush Luke, … Continue reading Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz →
If you are looking for sunshine and soothing fuzzy animals, this is not the book for you. Rape and murder are mentioned on the very first page of Atone and it just gets darker from there. I read a lot of gory mysteries and am not generally a squeamish person but this book got to me, and not in a good way. Trigger warnings: child rape, sexual assault, sex trafficking, child abuse, forced sterilization. The … Continue reading Atone by Beth Yarnall →
Texas: Yeehaw! I put on my cowboy boots, poured a nice margarita (rocks, of course), and played me some Lyle Lovett. I was all set for my RITA Reader Challenge: historical romance in a small Texas town so quirky it has TWO TIME ZONES! I settled in for a good read, but a third of the way in, I was mystified. The hero was described as distinguished looking, and tall, and distinguishably tall, but why … Continue reading Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley →
Someone To Love is an interesting romance novel because it deals with two people who are highly skilled at concealing their emotions. This book is relatively slow and calm and quiet but with so much emotion just beneath the surface. Overall, I loved it, but when it had problems… boy, were they big ones. The story involves Anna Snow, who was raised in an orphanage. Unlike many institutions of the day, the establishment was well … Continue reading Someone to Love by Mary Balogh →
