Book Review: "The True Love Experiment" by Christina Lauren

I couldn’t have loved this more if I tried!

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is a famous romance novelist who loses her mojo—both creative and romantic—when she realizes she’s never had the all-consuming love she writes about. Sure, she’s had relationships and some steamy, no-holds-barred sex, but she’s never truly felt love, so she feels like a fraud. And she might have shared those thoughts. Publicly.

Connor Prince is a documentary filmmaker focused on the environment. He and his ex-wife share custody of their 10-year-old daughter and he is a devoted father. When his boss tells him he needs to create a successful dating reality show in order to keep his job, he’s thrown for a loop.

But when he discovers how popular romance novels are (and particularly, Fizzy's novels), an idea is born: how about a show where the audience watches Fizzy interact with different men, and hopefully fall in love with one of them? At first, Fizzy wants nothing to do with the show, so she makes all sorts of unrealistic demands about casting and everything else. And Connor meets nearly every single one. So now she’s trapped into doing the show.

As Connor helps Fizzy get ready for the show, the two become close friends. Both find themselves wanting more, but know it could be disastrous, especially for Connor. But how can he watch her flirt with other men, much less fall in love with one?

This was another fantastic Christina Lauren book. I loved Fizzy in The Soulmate Equation, and it was so good to see her in her own book!

Book Review: "The Golden Spoon" by Jessa Maxwell

In The Golden Spoon, the contestants on a popular baking show have more to worry about than simple competition.

Meh. I wanted so much more from this one. I mean, a mystery that takes place on the set of a baking competition? I could almost taste the possibilities. (Sorry, it did make me hungry.)

It’s the 10th season of “Bake Week,” the beloved competition show. It’s filmed at Grafton Manor, the historic Vermont home of the show’s host, baking legend Betsy Martin. The five contestants are assembled, as is Betsy’s new co-host, culinary bad boy Archie Morris, whose hire Betsy is none-too-thrilled about.

But as the competition gets started, things to go awry. Contestants’ work is getting sabotaged, tensions are mounting between Betsy and Archie, secrets are hidden, and then, murder. Hang on to your whisks!!

The plot for this one seemed completely by-the-numbers. Narration alternated between Betsy and each of the contestants, although one contestant got barely any mention.

Oh well, you can't win 'em all…

Book Review: "All I Want for Christmas" by Maggie Knox

This is a sweet, emotional rom-com set in Nashville with a sweater-wearing dog named Patsy Canine. (I mean, how could you resist?)

Sadie has dreamed of a country music career for as long as she can remember, but nothing has happened. Her final shot is competing on the singing competition show “Starmaker,” which she hopes will be the start she needs.

The son of two country music stars, Max doesn’t need to appear on “Starmaker,” but he wants to do things his way. Yet to this point, despite his good looks and his pedigree, his music hasn’t excited people. He’s determined to make this chance work.

When Sadie and Max and paired up for a duet on the show, neither wants to share the spotlight. Sadie remembers meeting Max a few years ago, and the memories weren’t positive.

Their sexy, romantic duet is gold, and video of their performance nearly breaks the internet. People quickly start worshiping #Saxie and want more. So the network forces them to compete as a duet—and pretend to be in love—or they’ll be eliminated from the show. If they’ll agree, they will win.

They agree, and while magic happens when they sing together, it’s hard to pretend to be in love when you don’t like each other. Both also have their own issues to deal with. Will they last as long as they need to, or will they crack under the pressure? Or will fake love turn real?

This book had so much I loved—fake dating, family drama, a cute dog, a sexy love interest who knits, singing, etc. I really enjoyed a lot of the characters. The biggest frustration was that so much happened because of a lack of communication. But it’s still a fun story.

Book Review: "Built to Last" by Erin Hahn

One of my favorite YA romance writers releases her first adult romance…and it’s so good!!

Shelby was a popular child star and pop singer, starring on a hit television show. When her relationship with her costar, Lyle, ends badly, she has a bit of a public meltdown and then retreats to her childhood home in Michigan, where she recognizes her talent for restoring and improving vintage furniture.

Whenever Shelby has had a problem, her other costar, Cameron, has come running. But whenever they get close enough to act on their feelings for one another, Cameron runs again, pursuing a successful career as a nature photographer and documentarian around the world.

Five years later, Lyle tries to get Shelby and Cameron together to film the pilot of a home renovation show. Shelby is interested in showing the world that she’s moved past her messy phase and is a grown woman with real talent. Cameron is tired of running, and as much as the idea of giving in to his feelings for Shelby appeals, he doesn’t know how long he can stay. And of course, Lyle is just interested in causing trouble for the both of them.

I love second-chance romance and I’m a sucker for home renovation shows, so this was such a winner for me. As always with Erin Hahn’s books, the supporting cast is fantastic—there could be books about so many of them. There’s chemistry and banter and romance and even some steam, and I was there for all of it!

Book Review: "D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding" by Chencia C. Higgins

How do you turn fake into forever?

D’Vaughn is a school counselor. She’s always been a little bit reserved, so she decides to audition for “Instant I Do,” a popular reality show. She’s hoping that the show might give her the chance to finally come out to her mother.

Kris is a gym teacher and popular social media influencer. She’s brimming with confidence and bravado, and hopes that appearing on the show might help elevate her brand. But more than that, she’s actually looking for love.

The two are paired up and have to convince their family and friends that they’re getting married in six weeks. As they negotiate the drama that wedding planning always entails, the chemistry between them intensifies, and both wonder if they’ll simply be able to walk away at the end of six weeks.

This was a sweet and romantic story, full of memorable characters, reality show moments, a bit of steam, and the tentative steps toward love. I really enjoyed this, and it’s sure to make even the biggest cynic get a little heart-eyed.

Book Review: "If the Shoe Fits" by Julie Murphy

Julie Murphy's new rom-com asks the question, Can a real happy ending be found on reality television?

So here’s a question: is a “Cinderella story” the same as a retelling of Cinderella? Because while I’ve heard If the Shoe Fits called a retelling, it’s perhaps one in the loosest sense, but that doesn’t detract from its charm.

Cindy is an aspiring shoe designer with a passion for fashion, but as a plus-sized woman, she’s often frustrated by the lack of options she has. With no real career prospects on the horizon, she moves home to live with her stepmother, a famous reality show producer, to help care for her three young half-siblings.

When a contestant is needed on her stepmother’s most famous dating show, Cindy decides to take the chance and fill in. She can show off her fashion sense and maybe jumpstart her career. What she doesn’t expect is that she’ll capture the hearts of the viewing public because of her size and her clothes.

To her surprise, she finds herself actually falling for the show’s eligible bachelor, and she deals with jealous and competitive contestants and the manipulation that comes from “reality” television. But in the end, will the show allow someone like her to get her happy ending, or does she need to go after it herself?

If the Shoe Fits was a sweet story, a kinder, gentler version of the spectacular One to Watch, which was one of my favorites last year. Murphy’s writing is always so positive and charming, but not really focusing on much of the negatives that a plus-size contestant would actually face on a show like this made the book seem more like a fairytale. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Book Review: "Reverie" by Ryan La Sala

When you read as much as I do, at times you wonder whether there are still books out there which are totally original, because quite often books tend to feel similar. And then a book like Ryan La Sala's Reverie comes along, which truly knocked me on my ass with its originality, camp, and downright craziness. I marveled at La Sala's storytelling and the creativity of this story, which is billed as Inception meets The Magicians.

"Reveries are what happens when a person’s imagined world becomes real. They’re like miniature realities, with their own plots and rules and perils."

Kane Montgomery is a high school student who has amnesia following a car accident. He can't remember much, which makes his day-to-day existence even more difficult than it has been, given the fact that he's a gay student in a small town. As he deals with bullying by his classmates and trying to figure out whom to trust, he starts to notice that things in his life don't seem to be adding up. He realizes that among the many things he's forgotten about his life before the accident is that he was part of a group called The Others, who are supposed to help save people from reveries, which are fantasies that become alternate realities.

This is one of those books that is more enjoyable when you don't know much about the plot, and instead you let La Sala transport you into a whole different world of sorts. The characters are truly unforgettable, none so much as Poesy, the drag queen who may or may not be a villainness. She's a sorceress, prone to lofty speech and trickery, and I was utterly FASCINATED every time she appeared in the story.

As crazy of a fantasy as Reverie is, it also deals with some pretty weighty issues, including bullying and homophobia. It's nice to have a book like this in which LGBTQIA+ issues and characters are at the forefront.

I love the way La Sala writes, but at times there was so much going on it was a little difficult to keep focused. I can't even imagine where he came up with these ideas, but this is one of those unforgettable stories that will stay in my mind for a long time. This isn't a book for everyone, but if you like a mash-up of fantasy and camp, Reverie might be right up your alley.

NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire gave me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Book Review: "Pretty Ugly" by Kirker Butler

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Kirker Butler's Pretty Ugly leaves no stereotype untouched—pageant moms, philandering husbands, slutty teenage girls, even devoutly religious old women get torn apart in this satire.

When she was a young girl, Miranda Ford won a local beauty pageant. (Well, she didn't quite win, but she eventually got the title.) It changed her life, and when she got married and gave birth to a little girl of her own, Bailey, she was determined to make her a true pageant star in the southeastern U.S. After eight-and-a-half years and more than 300 pageant titles, Miranda is just getting started, but Bailey is tired of sacrificing her life to pageants, tired of parading around in gowns and swimsuits, tired of being judged. Knowing there's no stopping her mother, Bailey starts binge eating in an effort to fatten herself out of contention, but even that doesn't stop Miranda, who is pregnant with another baby girl she has already named Brixton Destiny Miller. (Don't ask.)

Miranda's husband, Ray, has always tolerated her obsession with pageants, despite the financial and emotional toll it has taken on their family. Working two jobs as a nurse and a hospice worker to keep them afloat, Ray pops every random pill he gets his hands on, with often-interesting results. But a growing dependency on nearly every prescription drug imaginable isn't the worst of Ray's problems—his girlfriend, Courtney, the 17-year-old girlfriend of one of his hospice patients, has just found out that she's pregnant.

And then there's Joan, Miranda's devoutly religious mother, who home schools the couple's two sons because Miranda doesn't know what to do with them since she won't enter them in pageants. (Because they'd turn out gay, wouldn't you know?) Joan has frequent conversations with Jesus, and listens to everything He tells her—even when it comes to planning a murder.

Things go from bad—a pregnant Miranda gets into a knock-down, drag-out fistfight with the trashy mother of another pageant contestant while a reality show films it all—to worse—Courtney moves in with Ray and Miranda's family and befriends Miranda, although she plans to destroy everything by forcing Ray to marry her. (She doesn't realize, of course, that Joan—and Jesus—are watching.)

Pretty Ugly is a campy book, part Toddlers and Tiaras, part Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, with a healthy dose of soap opera thrown in for good measure. It's funny in places, ridiculous in others, and I thought the story was drawn out a bit too long, but Butler, a writer and producer whose credits include Family Guy, clearly knows what he's doing.

If you've ever wondered what the people involved in kiddie pageants are like but can't bring yourself to watch a reality show, this is the next best thing. More ridiculous than sublime, it's sure to make you chuckle—and/or offend you.

Book Review: "Any Resemblance to Actual Persons" by Kevin Allardice

Failed child sitcom actor-turned-unpublished author-turned-frustrated college instructor Paul McWeeney has a bit of a problem. His older sister, Edie, aided by memories she has suddenly "recaptured" (or imagined, as far as Paul is concerned), has decided that their Hollywood writer father was the perpetrator in the famed Black Dahlia case. And worse than that, Edie has put her memories down on paper—and this tell-all exposé is about to hit the presses, released by the one publisher Paul has so desperately wanted to work with for years.

While the fact that Edie is about to expose their late father as a violent murderer is certainly upsetting, what is truly sending Paul off the rails is that his sister, who has never succeeded at anything, is about to get her book published, while Paul, whose agent has allegedly been shopping his two novels around for years, can't catch a break. So he does the only sensible thing—he writes a letter to the publisher to tell them Edie is utterly wrong and they should cease and desist from publishing her book or face legal consequences.

"I will disprove all of this. Our father did no such thing. My sister is not of sound mind, and this should disqualify her from having a book published."

Any Resemblance to Actual Persons is Paul's ever-growing missive to the publisher. But in his effort to refute Edie's claims, Paul takes us on a meandering account of his unsatisfying teaching career, his frustration about not being published, his brief stint as a sitcom actor in the mid-1960s, his relationships with members of family, his lack of romantic luck, and pretty much everything else that crosses his mind as it crosses his mind. In short, Paul is about as unreliable as a narrator as he claims Edie is.

As Paul becomes more frantic to debunk his sister's accusations, he becomes even more mired in his own issues—and a growing dependency on Ritalin and other substances isn't helping his increasingly manic nature. Then he realizes that the best offense against Edie's claims is to find the real Black Dahlia killer (despite the fact that the case has baffled Los Angeles detectives for more than 60 years). And he comes up with one doozy of a theory.

"It's just that the more I write, the more I realize there's more to write, since I know what I need to offer here is not simply a dry wrangling of facts: I am also a character witness, after all, someone who can attest to the honorable character of George McWeeney and the mendacious, attention-seeking character of Edie McWeeney."

Paul is a pseudo-intellectual who believes he's far more erudite and knowledgeable than anyone else around him. His letter (all 250+ pages of it) grows more and more rambling, panicky, paranoid, and difficult to follow, as he finds himself unsure whether the memories he's citing are his own, Edie's, or something he's written in his own fictionalized accounts of his life. Some of this is tremendously amusing, but after a while, you begin to realize that Paul is, well, a bit of a bore. As Paul's grip on reality becomes more and more tenuous and his narrative grows more and more feverish, I started to lose interest and focused more on my wondering just how Kevin Allardice was going to tie up the plot rather than what Paul was saying.

Despite its challenges, this is a tremendously unique concept, and Allardice is an excellent writer, as Paul uses five words where one would do. His use of language is impressively creative, and I look forward to seeing where his career takes him.