Plus One is a YA novel, and, as such, it comes with all the problems that make many books of that genre unappealing to adults like me. It is plot driven at the expense of character development or world building. The dialogue can be awkward and unrealistic. The themes are simplistic and obvious. The reader sees the surprises coming at least five chapters before the characters do. The protagonist makes tons of mistakes with no … Continue reading Plus One by Elizabeth Fama →
NB: Trigger warnings for rape, rape culture, and bullying in this review. When I signed up to review Some Boys, I was nervous. Unlike my usual method of picking books to review, I actually read the description for this one. My immediate reaction was, “Oh, damn. Yeah. That needs to be talked about.” But I can’t demand that shit be talked about and not step up to the plate myself, so I signed up. And … Continue reading Some Boys by Patty Blount →
Boys Like You has two different covers (one for the hardback, one for the paperback), and yet neither gives an accurate impression of the story inside. This is a novel about two people who are being crushed under the weight of their own guilt finding each other and the means to forgive themselves. The bright and colorful cover of the paperback screams “teen summer romance,” which is technically accurate while completely missing the tone of … Continue reading Boys Like You by Juliana Stone →
Some caveats before I begin with the actual review: I have never read an inspirational romance before, let alone an Amish inspirational romance, so it is without any doubt that I am completely unfamiliar with this subgenre’s tropes and conventions. Also, aside from that one time when I was seven my uncle took me to this place in Ohio where some nice Amish ladies made some delicious fruit cobblers, I lack the background to vouch … Continue reading Huckleberry Summer by Jennifer Beckstrand →
The fun thing about RITA review challenges is that you get to read books that you would never have considered picking up otherwise. So when I looked down the list last week and saw a whole collection of Inspirational Romances, I thought, well, why not? I mean, I’m Christian, I love romances – I am the target market! Sold! As this is the first Inspirational Romance I’ve read, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect … Continue reading Huckleberry Summer by Jennifer Beckstrand →
Despite its terrible title, A Texas Rescue Christmas isn’t a terrible book. It does too many things right to be awful, but too many things wrong to be good; it’s right in the “meh”-zone. The book takes place in Texas. There’s a rescue. It’s Christmastime. At first I assumed someone just mashed together three descriptive words and called it a title (I’ve seen worse). It turns out this is the second book in a series … Continue reading A Texas Rescue Christmas by Caro Carson →
This is a RITA nominee that the reviewer could not finish, and who knows that and hears, “I triple dog dare you”? Me. I hear a triple dog dare where none was given and here we are. It’s a good thing I read this on an airplane, because that kept me from throwing things. The set up is that Sedona is a lawyer who works at a women’s shelter, and Tatum, a 16 year old girl, … Continue reading Once a Family by Tara Taylor Quinn →
Hope at Dawn is the first book in Stacy Henrie’s “Of Love and War” series, set around the time of World War I. Since this is an underutilized period in the historical romance novel world, there’s a potential for freshness here. And the specific issue is one I’ve not seen addressed in a romance novel before, namely, the persecution of German Americans on the home front during WWI. It’s an interesting backdrop for the tale. … Continue reading Hope at Dawn by Stacy Henrie →
This nominated story was originally released as a six-part serial but is now available as two full-length books — Deception So Deadly and Deception So Dark. On Kindle the series/parts are $1.99 each and the full-length books are $2.99 each so you’re better off to just go for the two books at $6 instead of the six-part series at $12. I don’t think you’ll be content with stopping after Part I – it gets even … Continue reading Run to You by Clara Kensie →
This book grabbed me from page one and didn’t let me go. The only reason I stopped reading was because of pesky necessities of the real world (work, food, sleep, etc.). While I was reading I both desperately wanted to know what would happen to the characters and desperately didn’t want to know. Elizabeth Fama doesn’t hold back from making her protagonists suffer and struggle. She throws every obstacle in their way and doesn’t give … Continue reading Plus One by Elizabeth Fama →
The novel opens with Becky being confronted by her violent and abusive ex-boyfriend, fresh out of jail and determined to get custody of her 3 month old baby. He is, in fact, the father, though this is a matter of biology only – he definitely did not want it, and the implication is that he is out for custody simply to get revenge on Becky. Since his family is extremely wealthy and influential, and Becky … Continue reading Her Temporary Hero by Jennifer Apodaca →
