Book Review: "Wedding Dashers" by Heather McBreen

This book was exactly what I needed! What a fun, sexy, and surprisingly emotional debut this was.

Whenever her sister Allison was sad or in trouble, Ada fixed it. She was there to pick up the pieces every time Allison’s relationships would go bad. But when Allison gets engaged after only knowing her fiancé for a short time, Ada keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop. And she might have told Allison that marrying Collin wasn’t the best idea.

The relationship between the sisters is definitely strained, which is why Ada is taking a budget airline to Allison’s fantasy wedding at a castle in Belfast. Of course, the travel gods are not on her side—her flight is canceled and there’s not another one for at least several days, which means she’ll miss the wedding.

As her travel karma goes from bad to worse, a meet-cute with a handsome man helps ease the pain. It turns out this stranger, Jack, happens to be the best man at Allison’s wedding, so the two plan to travel together—a plan that is fraught with roadblock after roadblock. They can’t deny their obvious attraction to one another, but Ada and her boyfriend of 8 years are on a break, and Jack has a reputation for being a bit of a player.

“I wish there was a word for it. The space between longing for someone but not quite loving them.”

Wedding Dashers is definitely a slow burn, and Ada’s early indecision is a little irksome, but the chemistry between her and Jack is excellent. Are there surprises? Not really. Did it matter? Not with the banter, the steam, and the emotion, not to mention the setting!!

Book Review: "The Other Side of Now" by Paige Harbison

Oh my god, I absolutely LOVED this book! I’m so grateful to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for putting this book on my radar and giving me an advance copy.

For as long as she could remember, Meg Bryan (yep, that’s her name) wanted to be an actress. She’s finally achieved stardom on a soap opera-type show called Brilliance under her stage name, Lana Lord.

But while the fame can be great, having to worry about every calorie she consumes and when she’ll need work done again gets tiring. Why doesn’t achieving the goals she has set, getting to live her dream make her happy? After a bit of a breakdown at her 30th birthday party, she decides to run away for a bit, and books a trip to the Irish village where she and her best friend Aimee had planned to attend acting school.

Avalon is everything she dreamed it would be. But strangely, everyone seems to know her here—as Meg. She has a best friend, a dog who seems to know her, and there’s a sexy bartender who is flirty yet irritated with her. When she looks in the mirror, she sees her old self—before plastic surgery, weight loss, and hair styling changed everything.

In Avalon, Meg doesn’t act—she works in a shop. But she often wonders about the path not taken. And when she discovers that in this life, her best friend Aimee—who died when they were younger—is alive, she’s thrown completely. She has no idea how she got here or how long she’ll stay, but is this the right path?

I tend to love these Sliding Doors-type books, but this one just wowed me. Maybe I’m overly emotional because I met one of my best friends 31 years ago today and he’s been gone for nearly three. Whatever the reason, this was amazing.

The book will publish 6/3/2025.

Book Review: "Evenings & Weekends" by Oisín McKenna

London, June 2019. The city is in the midst of a record heatwave. But beyond the joys of summer, London is experiencing chaos, as a large whale has gotten stuck near the shore of the Thames. The world watches as marine biologists try to figure out how to save it.

Maggie can’t believe she’s 12 weeks pregnant, but she and her boyfriend Ed are getting ready to move back to their suburban hometown to start a new chapter. Both are overwhelmed by the stress, and Ed is also dealing with the possibility that some secrets from his past might be revealed.

Meanwhile, Maggie’s best friend Phil is in love with one of his housemates, Keith, but Keith also has a boyfriend. Phil is struggling whether to tell Maggie what he knows about Ed, and he also has to figure out what he truly wants in life.

Phil’s mother Rosaleen is proud of her marriage and her two sons, but at times longs for the illicit friendship she had back in Dublin when she was younger. She’s now dying of cancer, but she can’t seem to get in touch with Phil to tell him.

All of their lives intersect over the course of several days. There will be happiness and tears, life-changing decisions, secrets and betrayals, and plenty of introspection.

This is one of those character-driven, slice-of-life books, in which not a lot happens but there are ramifications for all. I enjoyed this debut novel but at times Oisín McKenna packs so many details into a paragraph that they seem to go on and on endlessly. However, this book definitely highlights his talent!

Book Review: "Alternate Endings" by Ali Rosen

Beatrice is one of those people whose professional life is spectacular, yet her personal life is a mess. She loves her job and she’s great at what she does, and she loves her six-year-old son, Bash.

What she doesn’t love is being in the midst of a divorce with her ex, Lucas, who is living in the basement apartment of their townhouse so he can still be fully involved in Bash’s life. Every tweak to their custody schedule causes a fight with Lucas, and he threatens to rectify things when their divorce is finalized.

When Bea’s boss, Brigid, gets divorced, she decides to move to a castle in Ireland. (Half of the company is already based there.) Bea and the team are expected to fly to Ireland for a few days every two weeks, which causes significant tension with Lucas.

And if that’s not enough chaos, Brigid has hired a new chief technology officer for the company, and much to Bea’s surprise, it’s Jack Sander. As in the guy who utterly broke her heart in high school, and whom she’s not seen in 20 years. (And, of course, he has grown into an immensely sexy man.)

Jack’s presence upends Bea. She tries to juggle a potential promotion at work, fighting with Lucas, and alternately resenting and lusting after Jack. Their competitive banter is the same as it was in high school, and it turns out both of their lives are messy in different ways. When they finally give in to their sexual chemistry, they decide that what happens in Ireland stays in Ireland, and it’s purely a physical thing. (Yeah, ok.)

This was a fun second-chance romance with lots of steam and swoon-worthy moments, especially between Jack and Bash. It definitely sent the message that having it all—or trying to—doesn’t mean your life has to be perfect. I also really enjoyed the supporting characters, from Bea’s best friends to her colleagues, her sister-in-law, and even the manager of Brigid’s castle. Bash was simply adorable as well.

Book Review: "Long Island" by Colm Tóibín

I’m trying to decide which concept I like better: knowing a sequel to a book you enjoyed is coming out, or being completely surprised because it’s been a while since the first book was published. In the case of Long Island, Colm Tóibín’s latest book, I had no idea that he was writing a sequel to Brooklyn, a book I really enjoyed and a movie I loved even more.

It’s 1976, and Eilis Lacey is in her 40s and lives in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with her husband Tony and their two teenage children. Eilis and Tony live on a cul-de-sac along with Tony’s parents and two of his three brothers. Tony works with his brothers and his family dominates every aspect of Eilis’ life. She often thinks of her mother and brother back in Ireland.

One day, a man comes looking for Eilis. He tells her his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child, and he refuses to raise another man’s baby. He vows that when the baby is born, he will bring it to Tony and Eilis, even leaving it on their doorstep if he must.

Eilis feels betrayed and humiliated by this revelation. While Tony and his family try to figure out how they will deal with the impending arrival of a baby, Eilis wants no part of it. Instead, she travels home to Ireland for the first time in 20 years, ostensibly to celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday, and her children will follow soon after.

Enniscorthy, the Irish town where Eilis grew up, has both changed and stayed the same since she was last there. Her return does stir up gossip from her last trip, but as she tries to process the situation with her marriage, she wonders what her future holds.

I’ve always been a fan of Tóibín’s writing, and it was amazing to reconnect with Eilis and other characters from Brooklyn. This is a quietly powerful, thought-provoking, and moving book, which could be read as a standalone, but I’d recommend reading Brooklyn too, either before or after.

Book Review: "The Rachel Incident" by Caroline O'Donoghue

I’ve been wanting to read this since it came out last year, and I’m so glad I finally did. What a great book!

Rachel is a university student in Cork city who takes a job at a bookstore. It is there she meets James, who is effortlessly funny and always good for a laugh or even a shoulder to cry on. It’s not long before they become inseparable best friends, moving in together and helping each other through the everyday angst in their lives.

When Rachel develops a crush on Fred Byrne, one of her professors, it is James who comes up with a scheme by which she can seduce him. But things don’t work out the way they planned, and events are set into motion that have a ripple effect on all of their lives, as well as the life of Deenie, Fred’s wife.

The Rachel Incident mostly takes place in the late 2000s and early 2010s, as Ireland deals with the recession as well as the fight for abortion rights. At times it flashes forward to the present, with Rachel’s narration giving some clues to the future, but leaving most of it for you to unfold.

There’s nothing quite like the angst and stress of your early 20s, navigating love, sex, relationships, career plans, and family. This book so accurately captures those emotions, the drunken nights, the arguments over nothing, the fear you’ll be left behind by life and love. It’s so beautifully written, and though it is more of a slow-burn, character-driven novel, I felt very invested in the story.

Book Review: "Last Call at the Local" by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

I've never been to Ireland, but it's definitely on my travel bucket list, and I tend to love reading books set there. But that's not the only reason I loved Sarah Grunder Ruiz's newest book, Last Call at the Local. I've definitely been a fan of her first two books, Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships and Luck and Last Resorts, so I had high hopes for this one—and it definitely delivered.

Much to the disappointment of her parents, Raine dropped out of medical school after 2+ years and headed to Europe to work as a traveling musician. The busking life gives Raine a freedom she's never had before, and she truly loves performing (although she doesn't have the courage to perform any of her original music). But at times, her ADHD gets the best of her, and when she spends the day in the Irish city of Cobh, she makes a crucial mistake that leaves her with very little money and unable to perform.

She can't believe that her only option is to call her parents and ask for the money to fly home to Boston. The thought of having to return home and face her parents' disapproval has her on the verge of depression, but she knows she has no choice. She takes refuge in a pub, The Local, where she she figures she'll spend her last few dollars on a pint of Guinness and prepare herself. And then she finds herself flirting with handsome, tattooed Jack, who seems to be a regular at the pub.

Raine can't help but enjoy talking to Jack, even though her mind keeps wandering back to the mess she's in. But when he asks what she thinks of the pub, she is a little too honest. And then she finds out he owns the pub with his brother. But Jack isn't insulted by her comments, he's inspired—and he offers her a job as an entertainment coordinator, so she can help turn her vision for the pub into reality.

Ever since he inherited the pub from his father, Jack has wanted to make it different than the one he grew up in. However, he struggles with OCD, including intrusive thoughts which often paralyze him, so making progress has been difficult. But if Raine can stick around, maybe she can make change happen. And it doesn't hurt that he's really attracted to her.

Can both Jack and Raine keep control of their minds in order to turn The Local into the pub of their dreams? And will their hearts behave? This book is charming, funny, and emotional, and it really captures the struggles of living with ADHD and OCD. If you've read Ruiz's previous books, you'll see some familiar characters, but this could easily be read as a stand-alone.

Book Review: "Off the Map" by Trish Doller

What happens when a woman who’s always off finding adventure connects with a man who’s never had one?

Ever since Carla’s mother left when she was young, her father taught her that when the going gets tough, you should travel somewhere exciting. And when he gets dementia, he tells Carla to travel for as long as she can, so she won’t be there for his deterioration. She lives a nomadic life, traveling wherever her mood takes her, and leaving if she feels too settled.

When she flies to Ireland for her best friend’s wedding, she’s looking forward to being around people she cares about. The last thing she expects is to connect with Eamon, the best man, who is tasked with bringing her to the wedding in Tralee. They recognize each other as kindred spirits, and their chemistry is intense. Carla is the inspiration Eamon needs to stop dreaming of seeing the world and actually do it.

They take advantage of a few days’ break before the wedding and travel some scenic routes, much to the chagrin of Eamon’s family. And the closer they get to one another, the more conflicted Carla feels. She’s always run away before things get too serious—should she do so again?

This is the third book I’ve read by Trish Doller and I’ve loved every one of them, and her mix of humor, banter, emotion, and steam. You could definitely read this as a stand-alone but it would help to read the first book, Float Plan. (You should read all three of them, really.)

One trigger: if you’ve had a loved one deal with dementia, this may be a tough read. But it’s just so freaking good!!

Book Review: "Foster" by Claire Keegan

This short novella is beautifully written, poignant, and quietly powerful.

It’s summer in Ireland. A young girl is taken by her father to live with distant relatives, the Kinsellas. The girl’s mother is expecting another baby, and things at home with her other siblings are very chaotic.

When her father drops her off, she has no idea how long she’ll be staying with the Kinsellas, or whether she’ll even return home. And it’s not long before her fear of living with strangers turns to feeling, for the very first time, as if she belongs somewhere and is cared for.

Who are these people, and why does caring come so easy to them when it doesn’t for her parents? Will her parents forget her or leave her behind? And how does she feel about either prospect?

I loved Claire Keegan’s last book, Small Things Like These, so I was excited to read Foster. There is simplicity to this story yet at the same time, you can feel the emotions so vividly. I would have loved for the story to be longer, but I’ll be thinking about it for a while.

Book Review: "Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan

Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These is a heartfelt novella that packs a major emotional punch.

Thanks so much to a Bookstagram friend of mine for putting this on my radar! Despite the cover and setting, this isn’t quite a “holiday” novel, although the theme of generosity is quite prevalent.

Ireland, 1985. Christmas is approaching. A purveyor of coal and other heating materials, Bill Furlong is in his busy season. As he and his men work tirelessly, he cannot help but reflect on his good fortune. He and his wife have five lovely, intelligent, talented daughters.

But Bill knows how different his life might have been. Born to a young, unwed mother who was working as a servant for a wealthy family, the matron of the family didn’t turn his mother away, as happened to so many young women in Ireland. The woman treated Bill in many ways as if he were a child of her own, and it set him down a path he never would have been able to follow otherwise. Sure, he wishes he knew who his father was, but he was lucky.

One day, while making a delivery to the local convent, he makes a shocking discovery. He can’t seem to get it out of his mind and knows he must do something to address it, even though he is warned about how his and his family’s lives could be upended.

I thought this was just fantastic. The vernacular took a little getting used to, but the story pulled me in, and I can’t get it out of my mind. Bill Furlong is definitely a memorable character.

Book Review: "Seven Letters" by J.P. Monninger

One of those books you devour but you don’t want it to end.

"There’s no cure for love but to love more."

Kate, on sabbatical from her teaching position at Dartmouth, travels to Ireland to do research for her doctoral dissertation about the Blasket Islands, a remote part of the country that the government migrated everyone away from years ago.

Shortly after arriving she meets Ozzie, the immensely handsome, part Irish-part American grandson of a woman she met on her journey. Ozzie is intense, mercurial, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He has fled to Ireland in the hopes he can put the memories of the war behind him.

Kate and Ozzie fall intensely in love. She knows she’s only in Ireland for a short while and knows she needs to concentrate on her research. But her love overwhelms her, and the two try to build a life on one of the islands away from everyone else. It is idyllic at times, at times challenging, and when Ozzie is unable to escape the pain of his memories, it tears at the fibers of their relationship.

When Ozzie’s impulsive nature puts both of them at risk, Kate returns to America and tries to put the memories behind her. And while they creep back from time to time, she is doing somewhat well—until she gets word that Ozzie is lost at sea, presumed dead, and she feels the need to travel to Europe to find out what happened to him. She must decide whether she’s ready to move on fully or whether she needs to be tethered to his memory for her own sake.

I’m a total sap, and this book was utterly up my alley. I thought it was beautifully written—having the gorgeousness of Ireland as a backdrop doesn’t hurt—and it captured me fully. The instant-love plot thread may seem a little overly dramatic and/or unrealistic for some but you can totally see two people be utterly consumed by the fire of their love without thinking.

I can’t get this one out of my head. I've never read anything J.P. Monninger has written before, but I'll definitely do so again.