Book Review: "The Forager Chefs Club" by Rita Mace Walston

My social media feeds may be full of ads for all kinds of things, but I’m grateful for a Facebook ad promoting this book! This was really a fascinating book that was definitely right up my alley.

The Forager Chefs Club is a bit of a secret society. No one knows about it unless they’re involved, and the members of the Founders Circle are a mystery. But the club is committed to the practice of foraging, of celebrating the elements and foods that are local to a particular area.

The Club is hired to run a cooking competition in which the contestants must only use ingredients from Michigan—apart from three “exceptions.” Five individuals from different backgrounds are invited to participate in the competition, and winning could change the trajectory of their lives.

Eden spends most of her time cooking for her father’s mission in Detroit, and winning the competition could expand her ability to help those in need. Blaise is a culinary school graduate with immense talent and the attitude to match. Cooking is a way of connecting with his twin brother, who is on the autism spectrum.

Christian was attending culinary school until his mother got sick, and he moved back to his hometown of Flint to care for her. Celeste lives on Mackinac Island and is the youngest competitor, but she can’t find anyone to give her a chance. Daniel is a private chef raising his young son after the tragic death of his wife and is fighting his in-laws, who want custody of the boy.

If you’re a foodie, this book is for you. I loved the comprehensive discussions about foraging as well as the meals each competitor approved. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the story, and while there is a little suspense, it’s just a satisfying and hunger-inducing read!

Book Review: "The Broposal" by Sonora Reyes

Thanks so much to Forever and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book!!

Kenny and Han (short for Alejandro) have been best friends since the second grade, and both would do anything for the other. As roommates, they support each other, with Kenny’s executive dysfunction disorder and Han’s autism.

The biggest stress for Han is that he is undocumented, and he’s always worried that a situation might occur that will end with him being deported. When he gets a job at the restaurant where Kenny is assistant manager, his fears intensify, because the manager is always angry and threatening to fire people.

After Kenny and his on-again, off-again girlfriend break up, he gets an idea: he and Han should get married, and this way Han can get a green card. All of their friends and Kenny’s family think they’re in love with one another anyway.

Even if the marriage is just for show, Kenny loves the idea of being with Han, who has always struggled with relationships. But as they work to convince immigration officials that their marriage is real, their feelings start to blur. They’ll need to be worried about Kenny’s ex-girlfriend, though, as well as the government.

Kenny and Han really make a good couple, although Kenny is definitely wishy-washy. I wanted to love this book, but Jackie’s character is just awful—a person who works at a domestic violence shelter yet is abusive herself. She really made me consider DNFing the book a few times. But I loved Kenny and Han too much.

The book publishes 1/21/2025.

Book Review: "Catch and Keep" by Erin Hahn

I love it when my favorite authors release books on a regular cycle, so I know that each year I’ll have at least one to read. That’s definitely the case with Erin Hahn: I’ve read six of her seven books and I’ve really loved them all.

“Does the journey negate the destination? Or does the journey prepare you for it?”

In one fell swoop, Maren rejected her boyfriend’s marriage proposal (her reaction is one he definitely wasn’t expecting), walked away from her job as a park ranger, and took off with her dog to Northern Wisconsin. It was the site of some of her happiest memories growing up, and it’s where the old bait shop that she inherited is located.

While her decision to uproot her life is met with some criticism from her family—especially her older brother, Liam—Maren is determined to find her own footing and restore the bait shop and apartment so she can put it up for sale. She’s not counting on the support of Joe, Liam’s best friend, who runs his family’s resort while raising his two young children.

Little by little, she finds herself becoming a part of Joe’s life. His son Anders admires Maren’s fishing skills, while his daughter Lucy, who is on the autism spectrum, feels safe with her. Even though Liam has warned Maren from getting involved with Joe, the chemistry between them intensifies until they can’t resist surrendering to their feelings.

I loved so many things about this book. It’s romantic, super steamy, emotional, and funny. It features appearances from Hahn’s last two books, but this can definitely be read as a standalone. And the characters are incredible—I fell in love with Anders and Lucy so completely as I did with Maren and Joe. Hahn has given me another example of how much I enjoy her books.

Book Review: "Always Only You" by Chloe Liese

It’s been several years since I first discovered her books, but I am utterly obsessed with Chloe Liese. Her Bergman Brothers series is so fantastic—full of love, serious steam, banter, family, and they each feature a character living with physical, emotional, or neurodiverse issues. Yet they never condescend or create an unfair power dynamic.

In Book 2 of the series (I also read Book 5, and I’m not apologizing for reading that one out of order), Ren is a successful pro hockey player. He’s also absolutely gorgeous, almost always smiling, willing to take being a role model seriously, and he is fiercely devoted to his family.

While Frankie, social media coordinator for Ren’s team, definitely appreciates his physical attributes, as a self-proclaimed grump, she can’t understand how someone can be so sunshiny all the time. She takes her job very seriously, and dating a player is certainly off-limits, but how can she be immune to Ren’s charms?

As their friendship starts to take on a more flirtatious tone, both would love to turn it into something more. But as someone on the autism spectrum who also deals with the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, Frankie is afraid to let her guard down and be honest with her feelings, because she knows that her problems will ultimately doom a relationship.

Liese has such a knack for creating complex and appealing characters that you root for, plus her descriptions make me want to see what they’d look like in real life! I loved this book so much, and cannot wait to read Book 3. It almost makes me want to have grown up with six siblings!! (Almost.)

Book Review: "Act Your Age, Eve Brown" by Talia Hibbert

Act Your Age, Eve Brown shows you that you can prove to others—and yourself—that you can do anything you set your mind to.

I have so enjoyed Talia Hibbert’s series featuring the Brown sisters—Get A Life, Chloe Brown, Take A Hint, Dani Brown, and now this one. These books are funny, emotional, steamy, and surprisingly sensitive, featuring female and male characters who don’t have it all figured out, and who confront physical and emotional issues and challenges.

This book may be my favorite of the series so far. Eve is quite flighty. She tends to get bored easily and shift from career to career. When her stint as a wedding planner goes a bit awry (she was looking out for the doves), her parents issue an ultimatum—get a steady job for a year or no access to her trust fund.

When she interviews for a chef position at a bed and breakfast, her purple-haired, free-spirited self quickly irritates the manager, Jacob, who prizes order and decorum above all else. (It helps with his autism, too.) But when their follow-up encounter ends with Eve hitting Jacob with her car (accidentally?), it’s clear they have a situation on their hands. Jacob needs a chef and some help around the B&B, Eve needs a job. Problem solved, right?

But as much as everything Eve is and does annoys Jacob to no end, why can’t he take his eyes off her? And as much as his constant demand for perfection and his micro-management drives Eve crazy, why can’t she stop finding him irresistible?

I really thought Act Your Age, Eve Brown was great. I loved the characters and love the way Hibbert balances fun and seriousness, romance and steam. While the books are connected by virtue of the protagonists being sisters, any of them is a standalone, so if you’ve not read one yet, pick up a book and meet the Brown sisters!

Book Review: "The Heart Principle" by Helen Hoang

Wow, now I can see what all the hype for The Heart Principle has been about, since it showed up on a number of year-end best lists!!

Anna is a violinist for a symphony who accidentally achieves immense notoriety when a video of her performance goes viral. But that fame weighs on her, and she finds herself unable to keep playing her music without getting stuck on the errors she thinks she is making, causing her to withdraw from performing.

When Anna’s boyfriend Julian tells her he’d like an open relationship before settling down, she’s thrown for a loop, but she decides to get even. She plans to meet a bunch of men on dating apps and have one-night stands, even though that's totally out of character for her.

And then she meets Quan (a character from Hoang’s The Bride Test). He’s a handsome, smart, muscular, tattooed motorcycle rider. They have immediate emotional and physical chemistry but their attempts at an actual one-night stand fail—more than once. But Quan isn’t just interested in sex, he wants to be there for Anna, too, which is something she’s not used to. (Plus he's adorably nerdy, which I loved.)

When tragedy strikes Anna’s family, Quan is there for her, but slipping back into the traditional family roles takes a toll on Anna’s psyche. She’s constantly berated and belittled, and she's physically and emotionally exhausted, which causes her to question everything she’s come to believe. She has to decide whether she deserves Quan and if he’s willing to be with her regardless of her flaws.

Like Helen Hoang’s other books, The Heart Principle is a steamy one, but it’s also really tough emotionally. It deals with family illness and toxic family members, thoughts of suicide, cancer survival, and autism spectrum disorder, so one or more of these might be triggering for some. I love the respect Hoang has for her neurodiverse characters and her ability to show that they can be sexy, smart, and successful, too.

I loved Quan and Anna, and couldn’t get enough of them. I can’t believe I waited so long to read this!!

Book Review: "Tonight We Rule the World" by Zack Smedley

Zack Smedley's new YA novel (following Deposing Nathan) was so good but so heartbreaking.

For the longest time, Owen had trouble fitting in. Being on the autism spectrum, sometimes he struggled with expressing himself and making friends. But when he met Lily, he found in her a kindred spirit and his first girlfriend. And as he connects with her group of friends, he feels like he belongs for the first time.

Senior year in high school is a big one for everyone. Owen finds the courage to admit he’s bisexual. But then the school is rocked when it’s anonymously reported to the administration that Owen was sexually assaulted during a school trip. It’s something he had wanted to keep hidden from everyone—the school, his military-veteran father, who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth, and especially Lily, because everything will change after that. What happened that night? Who assaulted Owen? And why doesn't he want to share the truth?

Tonight We Rule the World is so powerful, emotional, and thought-provoking. It’s a look at gaslighting and how often we’re failed by those who say they have our best interests at heart. But more than that, it’s about finding the inner courage and self-belief to do the right thing and stand on your own. I struggled a bit with the behaviors of some of the characters, but I was just so moved.

Thanks to Page Street YA, Storygram Tours, and Zack Smedley for inviting me on the tour and providing me a complimentary copy of the book in excahnge for an unbiased review!

Book Review: "The Bride Test" by Helen Hoang

"Khai didn't hurt. He felt nothing most of the time. That was exactly why he steered clear of romantic relationships. If someone liked him that way, he'd only end up disappointing them when he couldn't reciprocate. It wouldn't be right."

Khai Diep is handsome, successful, a devoted son and brother. He has his routines and he likes everything in its place. He thinks he's broken because he doesn't feel emotions the way others do, and it has caused his problems. But his family knows it's just the way his autism manifests itself, and they want to help him because they know how special he is.

Because Khai isn't interested in getting involved in a romantic relationship, his mother decides she needs to intervene. On a trip to Vietnam she meets Esme, a young, mixed-race girl working as a maid in Ho Chi Minh City, and is taken by Esme's beauty, her integrity, and her intelligence. She offers Esme the opportunity to come to America and live with Khai for the summer and attend a few family weddings with him, in the hopes that she can make him fall in love with her and decide to marry her. If not, she'll go back to Vietnam.

While she is shocked at first about this offer, Esme realizes this is an amazing opportunity for a new life, for her and her family. Khai is handsome and kind, and she would love to marry him. But seducing him isn't as easy as she thought it might be. Although she is quickly smitten with Khai, he resists her advances even though he is immensely attracted to her. As he realizes that if he doesn't marry her, he'll lose her forever. But Esme wants it all, and won't settle for a marriage of convenience, no matter how much she has fallen in love with Khai.

"It wasn't loneliness if it could be eradicated with work or a Netflix marathon or a good book. Real loneliness would stick with you all the time. Real loneliness would hurt you nonstop."

The Bride Test is an utterly charming, sweet, and poignant rom-com, about the things we're willing to do for those we love, and the sacrifices we're not willing to make. This is also quite a sexy book—the sex scenes are pretty steamy!

I love the characters Helen Hoang created—they're tremendously memorable and likable, and I won't soon forget them. I really enjoy the way she writes, so now I'm going to need to read The Kiss Quotient, too. This is definitely a book that would make a terrific movie, if only because I'd love to see how Khai and Esme (and Quan, too) would look on the big screen!

Book Review: "The Girl He Used to Know" by Tracey Garvis Graves

Wow, wow, WOW. This book was amazing.

"It's like everyone around you has a copy of the script of life, but no one gave it to you so you have to go in blind and hope you can muddle your way through. And you'll be wrong most of the time."

Annika Rose is different from other people. She's much more comfortable with solitude, and would much rather be in the company of animals, hiding under her comforter and reading a book, or getting lost in a competitive game of chess than spending time with her fellow undergraduates at the University of Illinois.

She dreams of life as a librarian, surrounded by books, but she often doesn't notice social cues, and she wishes that people would be more direct about what they think and feel rather than make her figure it out. Luckily, Annika has her roommate, Janice, to help her navigate through the confusing and anxiety-provoking world of college.

When Annika meets Jonathan Hoffman in her senior year at a meeting of the school's chess club, she can't quite understand why he's interested in talking to her, or continuing to play her once she beat him, badly. She knows she's attractive (she's been told her face is "aesthetically pleasing") but she's sure that he'd be more interested in someone more comfortable in social situations, a girl who wears makeup and enjoys going to bars and listening to loud music.

But Jonathan keeps coming back, and after a while he makes it clear that he's interested in Annika, and he's willing to help calm her fears and understand the things that make her nervous or anxious, because he wants a relationship with her.

The two fall deeply in love and begin to plan a future together in New York City after graduation. It's not always an easy path—sometimes Annika misses Jonathan's signals, or is unable to do the things he hopes she will—but with Jonathan, for the first time since leaving home, she feels safe, understood, and loved. But even the intensity of their love isn't enough to withstand an unexpected obstacle which tears them apart, leaving them to chart the course of the future on their own.

Ten years later, Annika is living in Chicago and working at a library. She's a much stronger person than she was in college, and she understands her role in what happened in her relationship with Jonathan. But despite keeping up a strong façade, she's utterly unprepared to run into him in a grocery store. He's back in the area after a career on Wall Street and a divorce, and seeing Annika again rekindles all the old feelings. But can he trust his heart to give her a second chance?

Annika is determined to show Jonathan how much she has changed, and is willing to take it slow if that's what it takes. Can a relationship that was so intense the first time pick up where it left off, after so much has transpired between them? Is Jonathan still willing to accept Annika the way she is? Can they move past the things that drove them apart, and can they finally have the future they had dreamed of?

The Girl He Used to Know is an utterly fantastic book which blew me away. Tracey Garvis Graves has created an incredible set of characters, with such complexity and depth, and this love story is a special one. There are so many books out there that similarities with other novels are expected, but I really felt this was a beautifully unique story, despite a few more familiar plot twists.

I read the plot synopsis of this book a few weeks ago, so I honestly didn't remember what it was about when I started reading it. I loved where Graves took her story (although I'll admit I wanted more) and I just love the way she writes. There are moments in this book—not even the highly dramatic ones, but the quieter, "ah ha" moments—that just took my breath away.

Run, don't walk, to get this one.

Book Review: "Some Choose Darkness" by Charlie Donlea

There are so many thrillers and crime novels out there these days, so it takes something special to stand out. Sometimes it's crazy twists, surprise endings, or action that leaves you breathless. Other times it's the characters that get your attention, whether they're the heroes or the villains.

Some Choose Darkness, Charlie Donlea's upcoming thriller, didn't necessarily surprise me once the story got going, but its characters, particularly its protagonist, absolutely wowed me. That's what elevates a thriller.

Rory Moore is a forensic reconstructionist. She spends her days reviewing cold cases to see what the police and investigators might have missed, and she has an uncanny ability to forge a connection with the victims, to envision the most minute of details. But she knows her limits, and often needs to take breaks between cases to ensure she doesn't burn herself out or cause herself significant anxiety.

When Rory's father dies, as an unofficial partner in his law firm (she has her law degree but doesn't practice), she's responsible for disbursing his cases to other attorneys. But there's one case she can't pass off, because the client is about to be paroled, and the presiding judge worked closely with Rory's father on the terms of his parole. So reluctantly, Rory agrees to represent the man for the sake of the parole process.

In the late 1970s, the city of Chicago was rocked by the disappearances of five young women. Their bodies were never found and police couldn't find any clues, so the perpetrator was nicknamed The Thief by the media. It took meticulous research and investigative work by an autistic woman named Angela Mitchell (although back then no one knew what autism was, so she was labeled mentally ill) to help police break the case and identify the perpetrator. But Angela disappeared before the police could find out how she pulled all of this information together.

Forty years later, The Thief is about to paroled for Angela's murder. Rory doesn't understand why her father took such an interest in his case to the point that he represented this man for so many years, and even agreed to manage his financial assets why he was in prison. But the more she digs into the case, and the work her father did on The Thief's behalf, she uncovers secrets she was never meant to find, and connections between her father and Angela Mitchell that make her wonder if she ever knew him.

Donlea's previous book, Don't Believe It, was fantastic, so I had great hopes for this book as well. While I've read a lot of thrillers about murderers who enjoy the rush of killing, it wasn't until Donlea started revealing more about Rory's character, and telling Angela's story, that the book really hit its stride. It was the first thriller I've read that had people with autism as main characters who weren't necessarily the victim, and both characters were tremendously fascinating.

I really like the way Donlea tells a story, and he threw in some definite twists and turns along the way—some I saw coming and some that surprised me a bit. The narration shifts mainly between Rory in the present day and Angela in the late 1970s, with some periodic interjections from The Thief. The book really starts picking up steam, and I found myself racing to see how everything would be wrapped up.

If you want a thriller with lots of heart-pumping action, Some Choose Darkness isn't that book. But Donlea knows how to create suspense, and that, coupled with some unforgettable characters, makes this a book worth reading. I hope we haven't seen the last of Rory Moore.

NetGalley and Kensington provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

This book will be published May 28, 2019.

Book Review: "The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism" by Naoki Higashida

"Can you imagine how your life would be if you couldn't talk?"

The Reason I Jump was written by Naoki Higashida when he was 13 years old. (He is now 21.) Unable to speak more than a few words because of his autism, he learned how to communicate using a word grid and then a computer, and now has written several books of fiction and nonfiction. But this book is truly a mirror into his soul and his life, and it is both insightful and moving.

In the foreword he said, "I wrote this story in the hope that it will help you to understand how painful it is when you can't express yourself to the people you love. If this story connects with your heart in some way, then I believe you'll be able to connect back to the hearts of people with autism too."

If you've ever wondered what people with autism perceive about the world around them, and in particular instances, why they act a certain way (or don't), or seem to adopt certain characteristics or behaviors, Higashida answers those questions from his own sphere of experience. While not every autistic person reacts in the same manner, his explanations are tremendously insightful and helps broaden understanding about some common traits and patterns.

While this book is valuable simply as an information source, it is incredibly moving, almost heartbreaking, to see how many times Higashida refers to people "telling him off" or losing their patience with him because he continued doing things after repeatedly being told not to, or for reacting in a way contrary to the way people expected him to. He continually implores the reader not to "lose faith" or "give up" on autistic people. As he puts it, "The hardest ordeal for us is the idea that we are causing grief for other people."

Written simply, in question-and-answer-style, and interspersed with a few parables and stories (including a short story Higashida wrote himself), The Reason I Jump was an eye-opener for me, someone who hasn't dealt with many people with autism. This is such a valuable and moving book, and I'd imagine it would be useful for anyone to learn not just about autism, but about the need for compassion for anyone. As Higashida mentions several times in the book, just because a person doesn't appear to understand what is going in on the world around them, or they're unable to communicate with people verbally, it doesn't mean they can't feel, or think, or perceive.

I'm grateful for Naoki Higashida for sharing his feelings and his thoughts, and grateful to author David Mitchell, and his wife KA Yoshida, for translating this book into English so it can be accessible to a much wider audience, one in desperate need of this information.