Book Review: "Annie Knows Everything" by Rachel Wood

Rom-coms are all too often the cure for what ails me emotionally. Even when the main characters are in turmoil, I’m right there supporting them and tearing up when they realize they’re meant to be together.

Rachel Wood’s debut is sweet, fun, steamy, and so enjoyable. Annie is shocked when she gets laid off from her job in the middle of the week. (People usually get let go on Mondays or Fridays.) Luckily, her best friend works in HR, so Annie gets reassigned to the Data Strategy Team.

Annie’s reassignment is a surprise to the interim team lead, Connor, seeing as he never interviewed or signed off on her joining the team. Oh, and there’s also the issue that Annie really has no idea what data strategy is, and can’t write code to save her life. But somehow, she wins Connor over with her take-no-prisoners attitude and quickly becomes a valuable member of the team.

As she’s winning over Connor and her coworkers, she’s also dealing with some family tension. Her sister is engaged to the worst man in the world (or at least Canada) after they broke up once before. Can Annie keep her feelings about her soon-to-be brother-in-law to herself this time?

Amidst lots of adorable banter and some real wins, Annie and Connor fall for each other. Of course, boss/subordinate relationships aren’t the best idea, but just looking at the two of them, you know how they feel about each other. But Annie’s tendency to go for the nuclear option first proves hazardous both to her job and her relationship. Can she salvage either?

I honestly don’t care that rom-coms are predictable. The chemistry and the banter between Connor and Annie was absolutely wonderful, and I enjoyed the other guys on the Data Strategy team, too. This was just one of those books that put a smile on my face.

Book Review: "Nothing Tastes As Good" by Luke Dumas

I am powerless in the face of Bookstagram FOMO. So many of my friends have been praising this book nonstop, and while this isn’t a genre I read that often, I felt like I had to give it a try. It definitely hit close to home for me A LOT, but it really was excellent.

Emmett has struggled with his weight since childhood and now, in his early 30s, he weighs over 300 pounds. He hates the way he looks, the way his clothes don’t fit right, and his lack of energy. But what he hates most is the way people—colleagues, strangers, his family—treat him because of his weight.

“Because fat isn’t something you wear, like a piece of clothing. When you live with it long enough, when it’s a part of who you are, that shit goes all the way down.”

With his health deteriorating and his desire to be thin again, he enrolls in a clinical trial for Obexity, a new weight loss drug. He has nothing to lose, except weight, right? The treatment itself is horribly traumatizing, but once the drug kicks in—wow! He’s losing weight rapidly, and for the first time in a long time, guys are attracted to him, people are nicer, and he feels better about himself. Tracking his weight loss journey on social media nets him praise from his followers.

After a while, he’s lost a tremendous amount of weight, but he’s starting to feel weird. He’s having memory lapses and overwhelming hunger cravings. And then people who mistreated him start disappearing, and the police suspect coyotes, but Emmett is growing more fearful about what the drug is making him do.

This is definitely a bit gruesome and violent, but it’s so, so good. As someone who endured the ridicule and punishment for eating more than I should have, Emmett’s life triggered lots of emotions for me. I honestly loved the fact that Luke Dumas imbued this book with so much heart instead of just gore and violence. This really blew me away.

Book Review: "The Book Witch" by Meg Shaffer

“All stories are love stories if you love stories.”

Even before I descended into a constant pit of despair about what’s going on in our country, I always loved when books I read had elements of magical realism. Some of my favorite authors create these storylines so masterfully, including Meg Shaffer. Her newest book was one I eagerly anticipated given how much I enjoyed her two previous books.

Rainy March is a Book Witch, like her mother and grandfather before her. Book Witches are responsible for protecting books and their characters from those who wish to do them harm. She jumps in and out of books, saving them from book burners, rogue villains, and the occasional character who goes on the lam.

Book Witches follow a strict code of rules. Real people belong in the real world, fictional characters belong in works of fiction. They’re never supposed to tell the characters that they’re not real people. The biggest no-no? Falling in love with a fictional character.

Rainy has some trouble with the last rule. She is in love with the Duke of Chicago, a handsome British detective who is the lead character in her favorite mystery series. She keeps getting reprimanded from pulling Duke into reality, but when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, Rainy needs Duke to help her solve the mystery. But the lines between reality and fiction are blurrier than she realizes.

The concept of this book really made me smile. Who wouldn’t want to help their favorite literary characters and protect the books they love? At times things got a little confusing for me, but in the end, the story warmed my heart.

Book Review: "Love by the Book" by Jessica George

Remy’s debut novel was a huge hit and became a bestseller. It was a fictionalized account of the relationship with her three best friends, and particularly, the fierce bond among them. The pressure is on for Remy to write her second book, but she can’t seem to find any inspiration.

As if writer’s block wasn’t bad enough, her friends have finally decided to follow their own paths. One is moving to a house an hour outside of London and having a baby, one is moving to New York for a new job, and one has reunited with her horrible boyfriend. Remy is devastated, lonely, and adrift. Even trying a dating app disappoints her.

One day, Remy (literally) runs into Simone, who remembers Remy from secondary school. Simone is now a teacher, and she is tremendously devoted to her students. She also has a second job to help make ends meet. But when her family finds out about her side hustle, they cut her off.

Remy wants to become friends with Simone, as they both seem to see each other clearly. But Simone isn’t used to sharing herself with anyone, and she rebuffs Remy’s attempts at friendship. Little by little, however, they start to realize how important they are to one another, a valuable discovery as each comes to a crossroads in their life.

“The way you love has always been an inspiration to me, I guess, and something I’ve maybe never told you is that being loved by you is one of the greatest things in the world…and one of the easiest to take for granted. I know I have, just because I’m so used to it, you know?”

This is a platonic love story, and a beautiful one. It would be interesting to read this and then Andrew McCarthy’s new book on male friendships. Jessica George’s debut novel, Maame, was fantastic, and it’s great to see how her talent has gotten even stronger.

Book Review: "American Fantasy" by Emma Straub

“So often, the word nostalgia felt coated in bile—a nostalgia act. Annie understood and she didn’t. Nostalgia was for the Smurfs, for erasers that smelled like strawberries. Maybe that was what the costumes were about, the goofy T-shirts, but inside her head, which is where she heard the music, it had touched some lever so deep that it couldn’t be reversed, as much as she’d chosen to ignore it. Maybe that was nostalgia after all, that the music was a direct vein to her own childhood, the least complicated part of her life.”

Annie remembered enjoying the 90s boy band Boy Talk when she was a teenager. It was a subject that bonded her and her younger sister together. All these years later, her sister is still a huge fan, while for Annie, Boy Talk is firmly in the past.

Yet here Annie is, about to board the cruise ship American Fantasy, for a four-day cruise with all 5 members of Boy Talk. And her sister isn’t even able to make it, so she’s going solo. But she quickly makes a friend in Maira, a veteran of these cruises, who takes Annie under her wing.

The cruise is unlike anything Annie has ever experienced. There are throngs of (mostly) middle-aged women, screaming and cheering for their favorite band member. Lots of alcohol is imbibed, there is so much clothing and merch with the band’s faces on it, and there are so many opportunities to interact with the band members. Some of them go after these events with gusto, while some can’t wait to go back home.

The cruise gives Annie the opportunity to reflect on what it’s like to be (and feel) middle-aged, and how it feels to relive a part of your younger years. She deals with divorce, career issues, and the uncertainty of what her life holds.

I’ve never gone on a cruise, and Emma Straub’s imagery made me feel sunburned and claustrophobic, lol. The book alternates narration from Annie, Keith (one of the band members), and Sarah, an employee of the production company that organizes the cruise.

Book Review: "Mad Mabel" by Sally Hepworth

What an absolutely fantastic book this was! I’ve been seeing so many reviews with people raving about how much they loved this, so needless to say, I was nervous if it would live up to the hype. Honestly, it blew the hype out of the water.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is an 81-year-old woman who lives a mostly quiet life. Sure, she’s a bit cranky and doesn’t suffer fools, but she tries to keep to herself. She and her best friend Daphne can still crack each other up after decades of friendship.

When she finds one of her neighbors dead in his house, the past gets stirred up. Because years ago, Elsie was known as “Mad” Mabel Waller, Australia’s youngest convicted murderer who was suspected of killing others when she was even younger.

“‘It’s a lot of stuff to be held responsible for,’ I agree. ‘And yet, when you’re accused of one thing, it becomes pretty easy to be held responsible for others too, at least in other people’s eyes.’”

Interest in “Mad” Mabel has everyone buzzing. The police are suspicious of her role in her neighbor’s death, while the media wants to learn all it can about this legendary murderer. When she is ready to tell her story, it’s time for people to understand if she’s really a cold-blooded killer or just a lonely old woman who has been misunderstood all these years.

Elsie/Mabel is one of the most memorable characters I’ve read about in some time. While in recent years, older people have been cast as criminals or amateur detectives, Elsie is a unique character all her own. Sally Hepworth has imbued her with such complexity.

Book Review: "Don't Eat Your Human Boyfriend" by Lily Mayne

You know I can’t resist books with attention-grabbing titles like this! I was looking for a fun read after a few heavier books, and this sure fit the bill.

“I wanted to eat the new guy. And by ‘eat,’ I of course meant…you know….I also meant I literally wanted to eat the new guy. I contained multitudes.”

Elliot is an ethical ghoul. The thought of having to hunt down and kill humans for food disgusts him, so he’s spent the last 8 years working at Broth with a Bite, an outlet in a mall food court. He works in the “special” kitchen which serves food to people with the same nutritional needs. Those working in the regular kitchen have no idea what Elliot and his coworkers actually cook.

Then one day, a new guy starts working at Broth with a Bite, and Elliot can’t take his eyes off of him. Ricky is sweet and good-looking, with a great body and an infectious smile. And he smells sooo good. Elliot is smitten, and judging by how much Ricky blushes when Elliot is around, the feeling is mutual.

They start becoming good friends despite the fact that Ricky has no idea what the “special” kitchen serves, and probably doesn’t even know what a ghoul is. But when attraction and sex start turning to love, Elliot knows two things: he has to tell Ricky the truth, and he needs to keep his teeth to himself.

I’ve never read a romance with a ghoul in it, particularly a handsome and sensitive one. This was really fun. It was very steamy and sweet, and it was interesting how their stories were vastly different but more similar than they first thought.