Book Review: "Comfort Read" by Dylan Morrison

“Isn’t that what a relationship is supposed to be? Someone who stands with you through the good and the bad? Someone who looks at the risks and says, ‘For you: Hell yeah, bring it on’?”

Kit has lived his whole life in Cedar Falls, a charming town in upstate New York. People in town remember an accident he had when he was young, and they empathized with him when his long-time boyfriend turned down his marriage proposal.

Kit is the owner of Sawyer’s Books, a beloved shop which once was the town’s firehouse. Yet despite its history, the store is literally falling apart, and the city wants to condemn it. He cannot imagine losing the store, but he definitely doesn’t have the funds to pay for all of the necessary repairs.

Enter Sage, who has been acting since he was a child, although recently he’s been in the tabloids more than the entertainment news. His dream is to adapt a beloved sci-fi book series into movies, but his major investor doesn’t believe he’s stable enough to fund the movies.

Sage asks Kit whether he’d consider pretending to be his boyfriend for a few months. All they need to do is convince his finder that he’s a worthwhile investment, and then Sage will foot the bill for the bookstore’s repairs. Of course, it’s not long before feelings blur between fake dating and reality, but both underestimate how their lives will be totally unsettled.

I love fake dating rom-coms so much. I wanted to hug Kit and Sage because both were dealing with so many issues. I loved the supporting characters, including Throgmorten, the hat-hating cat. Dylan Morrison’s books always have so much heart!

Book Review: "Takedown" by Allison Brennan

I’ve read 5 out of the 6 stories in Amazon’s Pursuit collection—a gripping collection of short stories that explore what it means to be predator and prey, and what it takes to gain the upper hand. Allison Brennan’s was the only one that blew me away and made me wish it could be turned into a full-length thriller.⁣

⁣ Skye Truman is a police detective investigating a series of sexual assaults. She is sure she knows who is responsible: Trent Calderon, a handsome, arrogant lawyer who works for the Governor’s office. The problem is, she can’t find enough proof to justify her suspicions, which frustrates her—and amuses Calderon to no end.⁣

⁣ When a park ranger is not only raped but also murdered, Skye worries that the perpetrator is escalating. Her obsession with Calderon grows, and so does his need to toy with her. She can’t afford to make a misstep because he will make sure they take her badge.⁣

When another victim is found and a scheme backfires dangerously, Skye is found on the outside looking in. Can she regain control of the situation, or will Calderon—or, heaven forbid, the real perpetrator—win?⁣

⁣ Given that Brennan is such a prolific thriller writer, I’m surprised not to have read her books before. But I’ll certainly be remedying that soon! While I sometimes struggle with short stories feeling incomplete, this one worked perfectly for me.⁣

Book Review: "Murmuration" by TJ Klune

It’s no secret that TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors of all-time. Every book of his that I read is unique and touches my heart, and several of his books topped my year-end best lists over the last few years. Thanks so much to Tor Books and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book!

Mike Frazier owns a bookstore in an idyllic town called Amorea. There’s no crime. No hospital. No prison. No violence. And strangely, there are no parents or children. There’s just peace and routine.

Mike is in love with Sean, who is a waiter at the local diner. They’re both clearly smitten with each other—everyone in town knows it. To this point, he’s been afraid to admit his feelings, but he thinks he’s ready to take a leap.

But things are starting to unravel. Mike starts hearing arguments in his house, but there’s nobody there. Memories are starting to surface, tragic ones, but they don’t seem to be his. He’s even losing grip on his own identity: is his name Mike? And then there are the starlings…

It appears that Amorea isn’t quite the perfect town everyone believes it is. But Mike is determined to protect Sean from whatever bad things may come along.

This book is definitely a bit bleaker than many of Klune’s books. But the love story between Mike and Sean is absolutely beautiful and heartwarming. There’s so much to this book that needs to unfold for you, and it’s so worth it.

The book will publish 11/17.

Book Review: "Evie Walters Takes the Wheel" by Kathleen Fox

This was an utterly charming and heartwarming book about second chances and fighting for yourself. I found myself smiling so often while reading it.

“Women spend their whole lives taking care of others. It’s only when we’re older that we finally get to take care of ourselves.”

Evie’s husband Royce has just passed away. She’s spent so much of her life doing what was expected of her, but now she’s uncertain what to do. But she knows that she’s only 71 and she’s not ready to begin a slow descent into old age.

On the day of her husband’s funeral, she receives a very unusual flower—an egret orchid—but it was sent anonymously. However, Evie remembers receiving one of these flowers from a ranch hand back in Montana where she grew up. That young man, Novel Daniels, was her first love, and he believed she was one of the most courageous people he knew.

Years before, she and Novel dreamed of all the places they’d visit together. But the obligations and expectations of life got in the way. So on the spur of the moment, Evie buys a camper van and decides to head back to Montana to see if Novel might have sent her that orchid as a sign.

Evie’s journey from her comfortable life in North Carolina reminds her that she can do anything she wants. Of course, along the way she has to deal with the disapproval of her two oldest children, who wanted her to move into a retirement community. But she also befriends some tremendously unique and generous people. This really was such a sweet and enjoyable debut!

Book Review: "The Last to Drown" by Noelle W. Ihli

I’ve seen so much praise for Noelle W. Ihli’s books that I’ve been meaning to pick one up for a while. But when I saw a friend mention that The Last to Drown gave her The River Wild vibes, I knew I had to read it. And now I just need my heartbeat to slow down so I can go to bed!!

Kaia and her husband were supposed to go on a whitewater rafting trip to celebrate their 30th birthdays. But now she’s switched to an all-girls trip and she’s excited to get her adrenaline pumping.

Yet not long after the trip starts, some of her fellow travelers start talking about a tragedy that occurred 7 years earlier on the same stretch of river they’ll be riding. Apparently one of the guides killed a group of rafters and while his body was found, one survivor managed to get free. The murders have been the subject of a television movie and lots of conspiracy theories over the years.

Kaia’s nervous enough about the journey; she doesn’t want to think about murder. And when equipment goes missing or somehow gets lost, it’s just a coincidence, right? But when Kaia awakens to screaming in the middle of the night, she realizes that tragedy really is striking twice.

It’s the middle of the night, and they’re not sure how they’re going to get down all of the Class-3 and Class-4 rapids. Then they realize that the killer has every intention of leaving no survivors. And Kaia and a few of her fellow travelers aren’t going to let that happen without a fight.

This was just a fantastic thriller that left me breathless. The descriptions of the rapids and the struggles the women faced, the feelings of fear and despair felt so incredibly real. I really was wowed by this, and I’ll be diving into Ihli’s backlist, that’s for sure!

Book Review: "Dive Bar at the End of the Road" by Kelley Armstrong

“It’s pitch dark, pouring rain, and I have no idea where I’m going, which is also the perfect analogy for my life.”

It was a dark and stormy night…literally. Ellie is driving home to her parents in Michigan in the middle of a torrential rain storm. Her GPS had her take a detour a while back, but she hasn’t seen another car in quite some time. Suddenly in a flash of lightning, she sees a woman inexplicably standing in the middle of the road. As she swerves to avoid hitting the woman, she crashes into a fallen tree. But was there even a woman there?

Shortly thereafter, a pickup truck crashes into Ellie’s car. The truck is driven by Henry, a paramedic who was traveling to a cabin for a fishing weekend with his friends. Henry helps treat Ellie’s wounds and with no cell service, they go looking for shelter. They soon discover a dilapidated-looking bar, which is surprisingly nice on the inside.

Not long after their arrival at the bar, a young couple crashes into Henry’s truck. This same thing happens a few more times. But the crashes aren’t even the worst of it—strange things seem to be happening to each of the victims. One thinks they see zombies, one is being chased by wild animals, and no one is sure whether these things are really happening or if they’re hallucinating.

The tension definitely keeps rising as the paranormal occurrences keep happening. It seems like they’re each caught up in their own nightmare. But can they break out of these horrors, or are they doomed to repeat them forever?

This was a quick, eerie read. There was too much going on at once, however, with too many characters’ perspectives to keep track of. At one point things felt repetitive, but the story picks up speed as it barrels toward the conclusion. This is my first Kelley Armstrong book, but it won’t be my last!

Book Review: "If Not You" by Ellen O'Clover

Now THIS is how you do a former coworkers/rivals romance. I was hooked from the very start and enjoyed these characters—both the mains and the supporting ones—so much. With her second book, Ellen O’Clover is fully ensconced on my auto-buy authors list.

Mattie and Campbell are summer interns vying for one copywriter job. They’re both tremendously talented but Campbell, with his Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt, always seems to come out just ahead of Mattie. And when he wins the job at the end of the summer, Mattie is back to square one again.

Now, 5 years later, Mattie is on the verge of becoming a senior copywriter at her new agency. While she and Campbell seem to see each other at every industry event—and he still seems to come out ahead—Mattie always seems to see red whenever he’s around.

When both of their agencies are finalists for a luxury resort account, they’re going to be in close proximity for a month. Mattie tries her hardest not to let Campbell agitate her, but he knows what buttons of hers to push. Every. Single. Time.

Yet as their teams spend four weeks together at two resorts, both start to see the other in a new light. Mattie discovers that all of her assumptions about Campbell aren’t correct, and he’s far more vulnerable than she would have ever thought. And he starts to understand what’s behind her constant need for oneupmanship.

The book alternates between the present and five years ago when their rivalry first began. It definitely helps explain Mattie’s animosity and her desire to beat Campbell at his own game. The romance is slow burn but really lovely, and their banter is hilarious and sometimes very sweet.