Book Review: "Something Wicked" by Falon Ballard

Thanks so much to Falon Ballard for sending me an absolutely beautiful copy of her book! I saw a blurb that described this as a blend between Macbeth and Moulin Rouge!, so you know I had to dive in!

The Uprising led to the monarchs of all four of Avon’s provinces to step down. To find the united Avon’s first president, it has been decreed that the person who kills each of their province’s rulers will be a candidate in the election.

Callum, the son of King James of Scota, was raised to succeed his father on the throne. But even though he is level-headed and would make an excellent leader, he absolutely does not want to kill his father. However, this is what his father and other family members expect of him.

To help Callum deal with the guilt he will feel upon murdering his father, his sister enlists the help of Lady Caterine, a Gifted courtesan at Avon’s most exclusive sex club. Caterine has the ability to manipulate the emotions of anyone who has an orgasm in her presence, so Callum’s sister hopes Caterine can help him.

The last thing anyone is counting on is for Callum and Caterine to fall in love. Callum has never trusted the Gifted, yet he trusts her completely. But when other forces want to take control of the country, they must team up before both are betrayed. Can they be honest with one another and save the country? Do they both want to?

I’ve been a huge fan of Ballard’s rom-coms, so I was intrigued by her first foray into romantasy. This book has all the steam, plus intrigue, family drama, and even a little espionage. It was a fun read and I look forward to the next book in Ballard’s Idle Reputations series!

Book Review: "Hollywood, Ending" by John Green

As someone who stayed up until 2:00 am to finish The Fault in Our Stars the day it was released, I’ve been waiting for a new love story from John Green for a while. This is Green’s first foray into adult fiction, and it was so much more than I expected.

“I figured that in the night sky of my life, Kai Laramie would be one of those shooting stars that streaks across the sky but then burns up almost before you can even get excited.”

Kai and Juniper meet when both are cast in a new movie called Andy Warhol Never Gets Old. Juniper is a former child star who has exceptional talent but a bit of a reputation for being hard to direct. This is Kai’s first movie, and he cannot believe he’s gotten to this point.

Even though much of the moviegoing public doesn’t know who Andy Warhol is anymore, Kai and Juniper’s performances generate star-making buzz. The sky’s the limit for both of them, and they start falling in love. But then the moviemaking machine starts its manipulations, and threatens to destroy everything—including their burgeoning relationship.

“I do not want to want to be loved by strangers, but I do not want to want most of what I want.”

There are sentences, paragraphs in this book that took my breath away. This is an emotional book, with some possible triggers, but it’s an incredibly timely look at the price of fame and the way everyone feels like they own a piece of you. I really loved this.

Book Review: "Philippa Flynn's Year of Panic and Piracy" by Jacqueline Firkins

Philippa Flynn is a history professor. She doesn’t love her job, especially the college bureaucracy and the treatment she gets as the only woman in the department. But she’s content to keep plodding away—until she nearly gets swallowed up by a sinkhole on the way to work one morning.

She sees the sinkhole as a sign that things in her life have to change, because you never know how much time you have left. So she quits her job, breaks her apartment lease, dumps the guy she’s been sleeping with, and plans to move into the dilapidated house on the water in Maine, which she inherited from her grandmother.

Her grandmother was a prolific writer of swashbuckling pirate romances. When she got sick, she started working with Dylan, another writer, to help her as her strength started to wane. Dylan has been living in the house for the last several years, although he and Philippa haven’t met in person. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that Dylan has been the cover model for her grandmother’s books!

Philippa hopes to pull her life together and come up with a plan. When she and Dylan find her grandmother’s plans for her next five books, they decide to tackle them together. But of course, they’ll have to separate fictional romance from the one happening to them in real life…

I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s definitely a bit of a slow-burn romance, but I was fine with that. My main issue was how absolutely horrible her parents—particularly her mother—were to Philippa. It hit a little too hard and I just wanted her to stand up for herself. But I enjoyed the chemistry between her and Dylan.

Book Review: "Well Versed" by Jen DeLuca

OMG!! I’m so happy that Jen DeLuca has taken us back to the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire with another book in her Well Met series! Reading this book really brought me so much joy. Thanks so much to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for the advance copy!

When she was a teenager, the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire was Caitlin’s favorite place to be. She loved working there each summer, singing and portraying the queen’s lady in waiting. But when she turned 18, she had her heart broken for the first time, and she no longer enjoyed any of the magic.

Now, six years later, she had to move back to Maryland after getting laid off from her job. She’s being pressed into service as the queen’s lady in waiting once again, as her aunt Emily is filling in for the queen this season. She just has to survive four weekends of wearing the same costume she did when she was in high school.

Returning to the Faire brings back lots of memories and helps her rekindle some friendships. But the last thing she’s expecting is to see Alex, one of the sword-wielding performers, who broke her teenage heart six years ago. His old act is gone, but he now performs Shakespeare on demand, and he’s even hotter than he was back then.

Caitlin is absolutely not going to let Alex derail her summer. But of course, they’re thrown together at every instance, so they start to become friends. Caitlin insists she will not fall for Alex again—but that’s easier said than done. But with them both going their separate ways after the summer, there’s no chance of them having a future, right? What if that’s exactly what they both want?

It was so great to return to these characters and see how they’ve been living their lives since the last book in the series was published. As always, DeLuca imbues her books with so much heart and humor, and I wish I could be there at the Faire. I hope we’ll get to return again!

The book publishes 9/22.

Book Review: "Man, Overboard!" by Kathleen Rooney

Patrick was on a cruise with his family for Thanksgiving. He remembered drinking a lot when they boarded the ship. But then he finds himself floating in the Gulf of Mexico, the cruise ship heading in the other direction. Did he fall overboard? Did he jump?

“But it’s appropriate that I’m in the Gulf of Mexico, because it felt like there was a gulf already. Between me and everything. Like everyone else was fine and I wasn’t and I couldn’t fix it and I don’t know why. But now all I want is to get back to all that.”

As he treads water and hopes he’ll be rescued, Patrick reflects on the many issues he’s dealing with in his life. He works as a physical therapist, with a part-time job as a personal trainer. But he’s been secretly attending classes to learn how to be a clown, and that has been bringing him some of the only joy he’s been experiencing.

Much of Patrick’s thoughts are about his mother, who battled cancer when Patrick was young, but after she recovered, she left the house one day and never came back. He hasn’t spoken to her in years, but recently she’s reached out to him via email and social media. He’s totally conflicted about whether or not to respond.

Each chapter of the book marks another hour that Patrick is treading water and hoping to be rescued. At various points he hallucinates that sea creatures are talking to him and giving him advice, and some even chide him for his immaturity. He wonders what his family will say when (or if) they realize he’s missing from the ship. Will it even matter?

I can’t even imagine this happening to me. Kathleen Rooney does a great job in making you feel as if you’re adrift in the gulf with Patrick. He’s not necessarily a sympathetic character, but you start to see how he could’ve wound up where he was. This was a bit of a slow burn but I enjoyed it a lot.

Book Review: "The Amateur" by Chris Bohjalian

“…when you kill someone, it breaks you. It changes you. You’ve shattered the water glass—your soul is something different and new—and the shards can never be glued back together.“

Mira is 18 years old in the summer of 1978, and she’s a talented golfer, heading to Yale in the fall. But in an instant, everything changes. While at the practice net, the ball she hit flies through the net and strikes Kenny, a 17-year-old caddy, in the head. He dies moments later.

Everyone is quick to point out the sheer unlikelihood of this tragedy happening, and they tell Mira that Kenny’s death is not her fault. But she is so rocked with guilt that she can never play golf again and decides she can’t even go to Yale because it will remind her of what she did.

But Kenny’s death is just the tip of the iceberg. Because Mira happens to be having an affair with a much older married man, and when Kenny’s father realizes he’s seen the two of them together, a new scandal erupts. Suddenly Mira isn’t just an unlucky young woman—the people in her town start to turn on her, and she gets embroiled in the lawsuits trying to identify who is at fault in Kenny’s death.

The book is ostensibly Mira’s memoir, written years later, after she’s enjoyed a successful writing career. The courtroom drama definitely added some new twists to the plot, and the epilogue was a bit of a sucker punch. Mira isn’t the most likable character, but this book is really excellent. I couldn’t put it down!

Book Review: "Yes, Chef" by Grace Reilly

A grumpy/sunshine romance with a handsome, brooding, tattooed chef with abandonment issues? Plus lots of delicious-sounding food and ultra-steamy steam, too? I’m in!

Poppy’s family owns a major restaurant company, but her own job as a brand influencer is criticized for not being serious enough. She tries hard to please her family and make them respect her, but every effort seems to turn disastrous or, worse, publicly humiliating.

One night, at one of her family’s most renowned restaurants, she has a very public meltdown when her boyfriend breaks up with and denigrates her. At the same time, one of the restaurant’s chefs, Jack Hartman, causes an angry scene before quitting. Both Poppy and Jack commiserate in a bar and lick their wounds. They both need to run away.

Jack heads back to Diamond Bay, Florida, where he grew up. His recently deceased mentor left Jack his restaurant, where he worked as a teenager. He figures he can resurrect the restaurant, show off his prowess running his own place, and hopefully parlay that into a new job back in New York City. With nowhere else to go, Poppy follows Jack, hoping he can use her influencer skills to build a brand and buzz for this new restaurant.

Of course, despite their attraction to one another, they get along like oil and water until both realize they’re working toward the same goal. Plus, Jack has unresolved issues with his mentor’s memory as well as fearing failure, while Poppy just wants to prove herself to her parents once and for all.

Give me a book that takes place in a restaurant and you know I’ll be happy. The chemistry and banter between Poppy and Jack is top-notch, as are all of the supporting characters. I loved that the book dwelled on emotional issues and featured two love interests with ADHD. Such a great book!

Book Review: "The MASH Up" by Laura Marie Meyers

This was all kinds of adorable. Definitely put a smile on my face!

Ruby lives her life according to plans and rules. She doesn’t deviate from the path she’s set for herself, and luckily, her boyfriend is the exact same way. But her carefully choreographed plans go awry at her 35th birthday party, when her boyfriend tells her he’s moving to New York for a job opportunity. It’s the biggest risk he’s ever taken—and she can’t take it with him.

When she wakes up the next morning, she discovers that she’s living inside a game of M.A.S.H. that she played in 7th grade. She wears brightly colored clothes, drives a tie-dye jeep, and owns a roller-disco diner. It’s all exactly as she dreamed back then, before her life became regimented. The only part of her dream that hasn’t manifested itself is her “other half,” which is supposed to be Penn, her twin brother’s best friend.

In this version of her life (as in real life), Penn knows how to get on her every nerve. It’s been that way since they were kids. But has he always been this sexy? Or this annoying?

Having to live such a spontaneous life is very unsettling for Ruby. But she figures that the only way she’ll get back to the “real world” is to make Penn fall in love with her. What if, once that happens, she doesn’t want to leave? What if she realizes she likes this side of her—and Penn?

This was a really fun debut novel. Penn is definitely a crushworthy book boyfriend, and the banter between him and Ruby was top notch. I loved that this had a bit more emotional depth than a typical rom-com, and I think I want a tie-dye jeep!

Book Review: "The Au Pair" by Teddy Wayne

I’m never quite sure which I like more: a popcorn thriller I can read quickly, or a thriller with lots of twists, that makes you say or think, “Wow!” This book definitely fell into the first category, although I kept hoping for at least a bit of the second.

Steven’s first novel was a huge success. He hoped his second book would be received even better, but it took a critical drubbing and barely anyone read it. He’s hoping his third book will help rebound his career.

When he married Lucy, he was the breadwinner. But she co-founded a company and they live an extremely comfortable life, thanks to her money. Steven is a stay-at-home dad, and Lucy pays him a stipend each month, while he tries to find a way out of his writer’s block.

In order for Steven to truly concentrate on his writing, they decide to hire an au pair. Astrid is from Norway. The children become enamored of her quite quickly—and Steven can’t take his eyes off her. When he learns she loved one of his books, he’s utterly flattered, and he falls head over heels for her. He tries fighting his attraction as long as he can, but his resistance is futile.

When the family takes a vacation to a house in the Catskills, Lucy is on edge most of the time. Astrid is there to care for the children, but Lucy feels left out. And when scandal results into a high-profile trial, no one’s lives will ever be the same.

This book definitely kept my attention the whole time—I read the whole thing very quickly. I felt that I had seen the whole story before, and while I hoped for surprises, the book was fairly predictable.

Book Review: "The House of Now and Then" by Edward Underhill

I thought this was a really special book. Give me magical realism, emotional growth, and a beach cottage and I’m more than happy, but this just really hit me in all the feels.

“You ever feel like when you look back at something you know happened to you, it feels sort of like it happened to someone else? Or like you’re watching a movie? Like you can’t recognize that version of you anymore?”

Harlowe needs to get away. He and his boyfriend, Jackson, have broken up and Jackson is keeping the apartment. His academic career is going nowhere as well, just like his thesis advisor told him it would. So he rents a cottage on Cape Cod for the summer in the hopes he can reset everything.

But the cottage has some surprises. The first day Harlowe is there, he realizes he has some unwanted roommates. His father is in the kitchen, his thesis advisor is at the dining room table, and Jackson is in the bathroom. No one else can see them, they won’t go away, and Harlowe has no idea how to make them leave.

As the summer moves on and Harlowe settles into the community, he starts spending time with Nathan, the cottage owner’s nephew. A younger version of Nathan appears in the cottage as well from time to time. What do the ghosts want from him, and how can he help Nathan with his own issues.

This really moved me, and I really wasn’t sure how the story would tie up. I’ve enjoyed Edward Underhill’s YA books and I definitely hope to see more adult books from him!!

Book Review: "Villa Coco" by Andrew Sean Greer

I hope when I eventually get the opportunity to travel to Italy that I love it as much as I love books set there! Even when I don’t love the book, an Italian setting always makes me feel better.

Our narrator has just (barely) graduated from college but his career prospects seem dim. He’s encouraged by his advisor to apply for a job in Italy, to be assistant to the Baronessa, an eccentric wealthy woman who shows no signs of slowing down, even at age 92.

Of course, what he pictured the job to be and what it is are vastly different. While he expected to spend the majority of his time cataloguing the art and antiques in the dilapidated estate, he quickly gets pulled in many different directions by the Baronessa, who is known as Coco.

Villa Coco always seems to be full of larger-than-life guests, from princesses to plumbers. The whole experience is well beyond his comfort zone, but he falls under Coco’s spell. And while his cataloguing efforts are hampered by the disappearance of items he knows he saw, he finds an even more noble calling. When the Baroness loses someone close to her, she realizes the one thing she must do is locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late.

There is definitely lots of emotion (repressed and otherwise) in this book, and the eccentric characters lightened the mood a bit. Parts of the book felt almost like an E.M. Forster novel—I kept expecting Maggie Smith to pop in. I wanted to love the book more than I did, but it was fun.

Book Review: "Fruit Fly" by Josh Silver

“…always remember: gay is in. Go gay. It’s cool now. It sells. However—here is the gold dust—the perfect blend is gay AND sad. You nail that, you’re minted.”

This was an intense read but an utterly addictive one as well. Thanks so much to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the advance copy!

Mallory wrote a bestseller 7 years ago and was lauded as an up-and-coming literary sensation. But after the buzz from her first book fades, she’s stuck with writer’s block and the very real fear that she’ll never be able to replicate or exceed her previous success.

When an internet search convinces her that one topic that guarantees literary success is a dark, gay story, she goes all in. She sets up an account on Grindr (using a picture of her husband) and immediately finds herself traveling down the rabbit hole of anonymous sexual conversations. She even gets invited to a party by a man she chats with.

Of course, she wonders if they’ll let her into the party, not being who she says she is. (Although she envisions becoming the center of attention, being called “Mother,” etc.) But as she arrives she witnesses a strange scene at the door: two men start roughing up a younger man who had brought them drugs. And then she watches another man beat him up. She can’t help but rescue him, and he lets her drop him off. When she gets home, her creativity flows in a way it hasn’t in some time.

Leo is the young man. He is caught in that vicious cycle of addiction and wanting to recover, and puts himself in danger as he tries to feed his addiction. Mallory wants to be involved in his story, because it’s fueling her book, but he doesn’t want her help. Who has the right to own and tell our stories? This book is dark at times but really fascinating.

It publishes 8/4/2026.

Book Review: "Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond" by Eve Plumb with Marcia Wilkie

The Brady Bunch has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Funnily enough, however, I’ve only seen the original show in reruns for 50 or so years. But there used to be a time where I could accurately name the episode within 20 seconds of it starting.

I’ve read lots of books about the series, including memoirs by Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick. But Eve Plumb has always been a bit of an enigma to me, so I was excited to read her memoir.

She gets a bit of a bad rap because she didn’t do the ill-fated variety show back in the day. But the truth is, she loved doing the original series and feels grateful it’s still part of the cultural vernacular. And she and her five television “siblings” still text each other all the time.

If you’re looking for catty gossip about the show or its stars, you won’t find that here. This is a look not just at The Brady Bunch, but also her acting career before and after the show, her family life, and her personal life. Sure, she has some regrets, but she’s pretty happy with the course her life has taken.

This was a very nostalgic look back at acting in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember other programs she appeared in, and the public reactions at the time. Truthfully, I’m glad this was a largely positive book, because I can’t take too much scandal among the Bradys.

Book Review: "The Last Sunday in May" by Kate Clark Stone

Mackenzie “Mack” Williams has always had the need for speed. In fact, her father always said she was born with her foot on the accelerator. And he should know, as he was a star in dirt track racing.

Her competitive streak compelled her to push herself as hard as she could in every race she entered. She took the motorsports world by storm, and each race she won took her closer to her ultimate goal: the Indianapolis 500.

But when she wasn’t racing, she was drinking, partying, and sleeping around, so when she became pregnant, she knew it was time for her to hang her helmet up. Now, 10 years later, she lives in rural Indiana with her daughter and her father, who requires constant care even years after an accident. She manages the family’s small dirt racetrack and fills in for drivers every now and again. And she tries not to think about what could have been.

One night, she gets a visit from her idol, Janet Joyner, who blazed a trail for women in racing. Regardless of what Mack says, Janet believes she still has the spark that could make her a winner. She offers Mack the chance to qualify for the Indy 500. It’s not going to be easy, and she’ll have to leave her father and daughter behind, but how can she pass up this chance?

Mack moves to Indianapolis and moves in with her older sister, who hasn’t been home in years. She’s determined to give everything she has to qualifying, even though it’s much harder than it was 10 years ago. Along the way, she has to deal with the stress of being away from her family, and all of the domestic dramas that come with motherhood and dealing with her daughter’s father. But she can’t let herself get distracted by anyone or anything this time.

I think I’ve only read one book about racing, and it was a rom-com, so I found this book to be a pleasant surprise. Even though I had a feeling what would happen, I was invested in the story from start to finish. This was one of Amazon’s First Reads for April.

Book Review: "Somebody Worth Killing" by Jessica Payne

Thanks so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy of this book! I found this to be a total page-turner and I couldn’t put it down. (I also couldn’t stop laughing, so…)

Nadia is a happily married mother of two living in San Antonio. She has an event planning business and a loving husband. Actually, she’s a hired assassin and psychopath who kills people who are evil and deserve to be killed. And no one suspects a thing!

“Some people enjoy hiking. Others, playing cards or knitting an afghan. They’ll tell you that it just does it for them, that something about it makes their life complete. Well, killing people does that for me.”

She’s never questioned the assignments she gets offered, but she worries she might be getting short shrift because she’s a mother and wife. So she asks for a bigger job, someone who is really worth killing. She follows her mark one day and gets a huge surprise: she’s been hired to kill her husband, Brian.

How is it possible that her mild-mannered management consultant husband is actually deserving to be murdered? Nadia can’t believe it, but the pressure to kill him increases each day. She can’t kill him until she finds out if he’s truly evil—but if she does, what will happen to her and her daughters?

This was a twisty, cat-and-mouse thriller that ratchets up the tension little by little. I honestly had no idea how things would get tied up—and I didn’t know what I wanted to happen. But this was a great read.

The book publishes 6/16.

Book Review: "A Novel Crime" by Deborah Levison

This book was wild! I found myself laughing and rolling my eyes (in a good way) at these characters and the trouble they found themselves in. Be careful what you wish for: you might just get it!

Marcy has dreamed of being a writer for years. She’s been trying for so long to finish her damsel-in-distress historical romance so she can become the bestselling, prize-winning, universally adored author she knows she’s meant to be. And she finally wants her daughter to be proud of her.

She and the other aspiring authors in her writing group lament over their lack of progress or success. Going to a book signing for famed novelist Francesca Barber makes Marcy even hungrier to achieve her dreams and more desperate to get her shot. When she discovers Francesca in a compromising position, Marcy may have just found her opportunity.

Desperate to keep her secret hidden, Francesca lets Marcy (who has adopted a pen name, Summer Branigan) bully her into finishing her novel. But Francesca keeps trying to wiggle out of the deal, no matter how much leverage Marcy may have over her.

It’s at this point that the book goes spectacularly off the rails. But while lies are spun, kidnappings are faked, and you have no idea whom to trust, the book adds a layer of social commentary about just how difficult the publishing world can be, and how nice women get taken advantage of far too often in life. If you don’t fight for yourself, who will?

There’s not a likable character in the book, but that didn’t bother me at all. If you’re in the mood for some laughs along with your twists, give this one a try!

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: "Seven Points" by Amy James

I’m loving what seems to be an influx of M/M sports romances lately. Obviously, hockey romances are still the most popular, but recently I’ve read (and enjoyed) tennis, soccer, baseball, and now, F1 romances.

⁣ ⁣ Jacob has been a test driver for Crosswire Racing, the top Formula 1 team out there. Given that he survived a life-threatening crash, the fact that he’s driving at all is a pretty big deal, but he’d like a permanent seat on the team.⁣

⁣ At the same time that he’s working hard on his career, he’s also putting the work in on his relationship with Travis, who drives for Crosswire’s biggest rival, Harper Racing. Travis’ career has been on the rise, and while some people question whether he should date a rival, he’s fully on board with Jacob.⁣

Travis is racing at the Singapore Grand Prix, and Jacob will be a reserve driver for his company, so they can spend their free time together. But the night before qualifying begins, Jacob learns that Crosswire’s driver has gotten injured, so he’ll need to fill in for the race. This could be his ticket back!⁣

⁣ Jacob wants to give the race everything he has. Then he starts to worry whether his success could impact Travis’ chances of being the champion. Should Jacob let Travis win for the sake of their relationship?⁣

⁣ This is a bit of a follow-up to Crash Test, Amy James’ first book about Travis and Jacob. These two are a really appealing couple, more so than they were in the first book. I’ll admit that I don’t know much about F1 racing so I’ve really enjoyed learning about it. And if you read about sports, does it make you more athletic? (Asking for a friend.)⁣

Book Review: "Celestial Lights" by Cecile Pin

“I was born the day Challenger fell out of the sky, and I was born blue. At least, that is what I was told.”

Oliver was a smart, quiet, English child. His life began at a tragic moment for the world, but he was a dreamer, inspired by the things we didn’t yet know. His intellectual curiosity led him to study engineering, then to a Royal Navy submarine, and finally to a career as an astronaut.

Throughout his life, Oliver had trouble expressing his feelings, and many people found him cold. But he did fiercely love his parents, his wife, and his young son, even if his actions didn’t always convey that fact.

He is tapped to command a mission to the moon Europa, to see if the conditions there could ultimately sustain human life. It would require 10 years’ time, and during most of it, there would be no communication with Earth. Oliver cannot turn down the opportunity, even though it means he won’t be present to watch his son grow up, and the decision could end his marriage.

During the mission, Oliver thinks about the life-changing importance of what they’re doing. But as he looks back on his life and his family, he can’t help but wonder if the sacrifices will be worth it.

This was a beautifully written and profoundly thought-provoking book. Oliver is a complex character and I’m not sure I had him figured out by the end of the book, but I know that this will live in my brain for a long while.

Book Review: "Toe to Toe" by Falon Ballard

Ballet has been the core of Allegra’s life since she was a young girl. Although pushed by her mother, a former dancer who gave up her career for marriage and a family, Allegra loves ballet more than anything. And she desperately wants to become a principal ballerina.

When her ballet company announces it will produce a new ballet, Allegra desperately wants the lead role. But her director told her that he doesn’t think she has the sex appeal to land the part. She is determined to prove him wrong.

After attending her sister’s bachelorette party at an all-male dance club, Allegra is mesmerized by the show’s star, and the owner of the club, Cord. In addition to his obvious physical attributes, she’s impressed by his dancing ability and his overall sex appeal.

Allegra comes up with an interesting proposition for Cord. She’d like him to teach her to be sexier when she dances. Although he’s reluctant at first, he doesn’t want to let her walk away. And being the one to help her realize her own sex appeal is a powerful motivator.

The more they dance together, the stronger their attraction grows. Allegra knows she’s fallen for Cord, but she can’t let a relationship derail her career. Cord knows that Allegra will be pressured to choose between her career and a relationship. What happens if she chooses ballet? Where does that leave him?

While there weren’t too many surprises in the book, I really enjoyed Allegra and Cord’s banter and chemistry. I’m a sucker for stories about dancers and other performers, and juxtaposing ballet with male strippers was really an interesting twist. Once again, Falon Ballard utterly charms me!