Book Review: "Patient, Female" by Julie Schumacher

I first discovered Julie Schumacher when I read her absolutely hilarious book Dear Committee Members. In that book (and a few others afterward) she created a pompous college professor adrift and amidst bureaucracy.

Her latest book is a short story collection, and it really demonstrated the depth of her talent. While one story made me laugh out loud and a few others had flashes of sly humor, most of the stories had more of an emotional pull.

In “Passengers,” an overprotective mother worries about her daughter after an incident at school. “Hospital Bridge” is the story of a middle-school student who, after being forced into volunteering at a nursing home, starts gambling on bridge games with the residents. “How My Light is Spent” follows an instructor at a community college and her short story writing class.

Some of my favorite stories in the collection were “Slow Learner,” which told of a woman’s fascination at the connection between her autistic son and her dying mother; “Your Better Self,” about a couple who get gifted a trip to a wellness spa by their late neighbor; “Syllabus,” a hilarious story written as a syllabus; “Spin,” in which four friends play a game with real-life implications; and the title story, in which a professional patient runs into someone she used to know.

As with most collections, not every story is a home run. But Schumacher creates such vivid characters, and I know I’ll have a few of these stories running through my mind for a while.

Book Review: "Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It" by Brooke Avelar

I believe the last few years have seen more phenomenal debut novels than ever before. I love reading books from my auto-buy authors, but I get so excited when the book I’m loving is a debut. Add this one to the list—it was great!!

“There were approximately one hundred and fifty boys in my grade at Manhasset Central Middle School. By the time I turned twelve, I had been in love with at least one hundred and twenty-five of them. If I didn’t have a crush, I didn’t see the point of getting out of bed in the morning.”

Phoebe is in love with love. She’s been reading romances since she was young, hiding the smuttier ones under her bed. In seventh grade she was more than ready for her first kiss—but the expectation led to anxiety, which led to, well, a disastrous reaction. Since that moment, getting close to a guy makes her so nervous that she usually cancels dates.

But now, a month from her 30th birthday, Phoebe is still a virgin. She’s determined to change that, so being the overly organized teacher that she is, she puts together a checklist on losing her virginity in 30 days. (And she laminates it.)

As she starts making her plans, she unexpectedly winds up with three potential suitors. There’s Finn, the hot new 4th grade teacher; Matthew, a former high school classmate with whom she competes in Wordle and Words with Friends; and then there’s her roommate, Jonathan, who has been one of her best friends since college. Will one of these men help her achieve her goal?

This was a fun book, with lots of banter between the characters. And while Phoebe’s plight is definitely amusing, I loved the way this book dealt with her anxiety and other mental health issues. As Brooke Averick says in her author’s note, we rarely see this side of a character in a romance, and I’m so glad that we did!

Book Review: "Dolly All the Time" by Annabel Monaghan

Annabel Monaghan is an absolute auto-buy author for me. Her characters are always so well-drawn, and her books have such an emotional richness to them. I’ve loved every one of her books, but Dolly All The Time may be my new favorite.

When a small fire occurs one night in her childhood home, Dolly and her teenage son Gus leave their lives in Boston and head back to her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island. Ever since her mother left their family when Dolly was 12, she’s been the one who has taken care of everything—for her father and her two younger siblings.

Dolly loves being back in Whitfield and quickly assumes the caretaking role once again. One day after working at the family’s fish house, she comes across Stewart Whitfield, the handsome heir to the Whitfield fortune. (Their hometown is named for his family.) Stewart’s car has a flat tire and he has no idea how to fix it. Dolly shows him how, and the press takes an impromptu picture of them, as Stewart’s engagement has just ended in a scandal.

Stewart is desperate to close the deal on his becoming the company’s new. The one drawback is that his parents think he’s too much of a workaholic to succeed. So Stewart asks Dolly to be his fake girlfriend, a challenge she accepts. Suddenly she is attending benefits and client dinners, and bringing out a whole different side of Stewart.

I’ve read tons of romances and rom-coms that have fake dating at their core. Even though the approach is familiar, the way the relationship between Dolly and Stewart unfolds is just lovely.

I absolutely loved this book. Not only were the main characters totally appealing, but the supporting characters rocked also. There was banter, steam, self-discovery, happiness, sadness, and humor. It was exactly what I needed!

Book Review: "Prestige Drama" by Séamas O'Reilly

The townspeople in the Irish town of Derry are excited, which doesn’t happen that often. A show about the Troubles in Northern Ireland is going to be filmed in town. Then it is announced that famous American actress Monica Logue is going to play the lead, and the excitement reaches a fever pitch.

Not long after Monica’s arrival in Derry, where she rubs shoulders with the locals, she disappears without a trace. Everyone in town has a theory on what happened and where she could have gone. But her disappearance throws the future of the show into doubt, which could prove disappointing to many in town.

This is one of those books with multiple narrators—some that are recurring, some we hear from only once. Everyone has their own perspectives, on the Troubles, on the show, and, of course, Monica’s disappearance. And when you have multiple people sharing their views, you don’t know who’s telling the truth.

We hear from the alcoholic screenwriter, trying for one last chance at success; the woman who lost her teenage son during the Troubles and is now the focal point of the script; a local man hoping to have a part in the show; and a woman whose house is going to be used for some of the filming, among others. Each person has their own unique voice.

This was an entertaining book, because you get to shape the plot based on how you saw the characters and what they said. There are some surprises which slowly unfold, and that made the narrative a bit richer.

Book Review: "Conflict of Interest" by C.G. Macington

I read and loved the first book in this series so I had to get to the second book quickly. While you could read this as a standalone, I definitely recommend starting with Bedside Manner.

Preston York is the younger son in the family, known as “the Spare.” His brother Max is Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the hospital his family owns; Preston is just expected to be a smiling host at parties and look good in a tuxedo. Which he does, but he’s bored.

When Max mocks Preston’s dilettante life, saying he wouldn’t last a week in the hospital trenches, Preston rises to the occasion. He goes to medical school and then starts his residency at the hospital. He’s ready to prove his brother wrong—he’s just not ready to give up his Gucci loafers.

To the surprise of everyone, Preston is impressive as a resident, taking everything thrown at him and succeeding. No one is more surprised than his boss, Chief Resident Lucas Silva. Luke works his ass off, with a huge chip on his shoulder due to his modest upbringing and his mother’s sacrifices. The last thing Luke wants to do is to tend to someone playing doctor, someone who will be gone once he’s had his fun.

But while he tries to show disdain, he’s actually impressed with Preston. When Preston works with him to save a patient, his respect turns to attraction. But when the hospital director wants to make an example of Preston and Luke, will Preston stand by his man or will he return to the board room instead of the ER?

I really love these characters that C.G. Macington has created. While Max and Jax have my heart a bit more, I enjoyed this book’s banter, steam, romance, and humor just as much. Book 3 will be read soon, that's for sure!!

Book Review: "Reality Bites" by Amy Mass

I love rom-coms so much. I know that when I need a book to lighten my mood or just make my heart melt, there are plenty of rom-coms out there. And this debut novel definitely hit the spot.

Grace is a scientist who has been working to save the Southern Mountain yellow-legged frog from extinction. She’s pretty focused on helping any animal that can’t help itself, and she’s always busy, so she never has time to date. And the fact is, she’s not really interested anyway.

She’s definitely an outlier from the rest of her family, who are all social media influencers. Her mother is a decorating influencer, her father has run a Power Yoga for Men YouTube channel for years, one brother is a TikTok thirst trap, and the other broadcasts on Twitch. Grace doesn’t have a social media channel.

When Grace finds out that her mother signed her up to be on the hit dating reality show Love Shack, she hits the roof. She’s never seen a reality show and has no desire to date people while the world watches. But when she learns the grand prize is enough to save her lab’s funding, she reluctantly puts on fake glasses and inhabits the role of “Sexy Scientist.”

She’s completely unprepared by the constant pressure of a reality show and having to be “on” all the time. She also can’t help stirring up trouble when she sees a cause worth championing, which puts her in the crosshairs of Andrew, the show’s sexy lawyer. The more they fight over breaking rules, the hotter their attraction burns.

I thought these characters were all so much fun, and there was more depth to them than at first glance. This was a fun book, full of banter, some steam, and lots of enjoyment and romance. Not bad for a debut novel!

Book Review: "Look What You Made Me Do" by John Lanchester

Jack and Kate have been together more than 30 years, since meeting in college. They both have the roles they usually play in life, Jack is a successful architect prone to pontificating, Kate has various charitable and community projects she works on.

Phoebe is a screenwriter who doesn’t care who likes her and who doesn’t, at least personally. She has a difficult, narcissistic mother and a handsome, somewhat flaky partner, Tony.

Phoebe finally hits it big with Cheating, a television series that seems to hold the whole country in its thrall. But when Kate sees it, she recognizes details of her life and her relationship with Jack mirrored back at her. Even pet names he used to call her are used in the series.

Kate is distraught. Was Jack cheating on her? Was he treating his lover the exact same way he treated Kate, using the same seduction techniques, everything? She’s determined to figure out the truth behind the creation of the series.

The book flashes back and forth, tracing Kate and Phoebe’s lives. We see the history of Kate and Jack’s relationship, and we see the issues Phoebe has dealt with all her life, particularly with her mother. And we’re captivated by how both women react to what’s in front of them.

This was definitely a slow burn, but I found the book to be a captivating story of love, betrayal, survival, and even a little bit of revenge. I really enjoyed the way things unfolded and the little twists John Lanchester threw in along the way.