Book Review: "Bad Words" by Ríoghnach Robinson

Y’all, I’m totally conflicted on this one. I definitely liked elements of the book, but I’m not as wild about it as others have been.

When Parker Navarro’s first novel was on the verge of being released, it was hailed as one of the up and coming books of the year. Then literary critic Selina Chan eviscerated the book in a review, and suddenly the predicted hit becomes a huge flop. Colossal.

Four years later, Parker has finally written his second novel, and he’s ready for it to be released. And then Selina drops another less-than-complimentary review, but rather than slink off in disgust, this time, Parker challenges Selina and what he sees as her superiority complex. Their argument gets recorded and goes viral, causing them both to double down on their opinions about one another.

As their feud becomes more and more public, they find themselves learning more about each other. They have a surprising number of things in common, and while there’s still anger between them, mutual respect—and even stronger feelings start to develop.

I really liked what the book had to say about critics and criticism. It’s one of the issues I’m frustrated about. But in the end, I realized that while I often don’t like enemies to lovers stories because I don’t feel like there’s enough actual animosity between the love interests, in this book, they’re downright mean for a long while. I didn’t see how they could like each other when they were so insulting. Maybe it was just me, but this was the slowest of slow burns.

Book Review: "Do You See What I See?" by Peter Swanson

Despite the title and the Christmasy cover, this isn’t really a Christmas story, although it does take place during the holiday. I’ve been a big fan of Peter Swanson since his first book, so I couldn’t resist this.

Nicholas Child is a writer. His first mystery didn’t make a huge splash in the publishing world, and his second book, a sequel, was lackluster at best. His publisher dropped him but he keeps hoping inspiration will strike and he’ll be able to create a real hit.

While he is worried his agent will drop him at any time, he’s surprised when she approaches him with a proposal instead. Another of her clients, Marco Tavares, is having trouble writing the follow-up to his huge bestseller. She asks Nicholas to help Marco determine whether anything he has written can be salvaged, and perhaps help him find his focus.

The plan is for Nicholas to spend the Christmas holidays at Marco’s Cape Cod mansion. Marco and his artist wife, Maeve, live there, along with Marco’s sister and grandmother. And then the house fills with other guests—Marco’s ex and her jealous husband, Marco’s childhood best friend Billy, and James Beers, who at one point accused Marco of stealing his story idea, which he then turned into his massive bestseller.

Marco isn’t a particularly likable person, and while he agreed to have Nicholas help him, he’s not all that eager to listen to him. Nicholas feels like the gathering is the setup to a murder mystery—everyone in the house, including Maeve, has a reason to want to kill Marco. The next morning, two bodies are found, but what happened the previous evening? And who is to blame?

This was pretty twisty and I had no idea what was fact and what was fiction. Little by little, Swanson reveals interesting details that aren’t mentioned earlier, and it ratchets up the suspense. I thought the story worked really well as a novella.

Book Review: "Salty, Not Sweet: A Life in the Food World" by Florence Fabricant

“Over those many decades of my career I have witnessed a revolution. And I have also participated in it, often not from the front lines but rather from a privileged perch overlooking the barricades, armed with pen and notebook. Governments haven’t fallen during this ongoing upheaval, but restaurant empires have, and just about every aspect of food, dining, and drinking across the globe has undergone enormous changes in my lifetime, much of which I am documenting in these pages.”

You know I can’t resist a book like this!

Florence Fabricant may not be a familiar name to you. But as a food writer for the New York Times for more than 50 years, she’s well known by chefs, restaurateurs, food purveyors, and foodies all over the world. While she’s written 13 cookbooks, she’s never been motivated to be the focus of her writing. But this is an extraordinarily fascinating look at a career spent studying and understanding food trends, chefs, restaurants, and how we eat.

Fabricant was raised by parents who liked to go out to eat (and a mother who loved to cook and entertain), so her palate was shaped at an early age. She and her husband Richard had two children, and she started looking for a job to occupy her time after the children started school. She became a writer for a local paper in the Hamptons, where she chronicled farms and other purveyors of food, along with recipes. This gig led to her getting hired by the New York Times.

When she started writing in the 1970s, the culinary world, particularly in New York, was vastly different. She traces the trends, the chefs, the travels, and the memorable meals she has experienced through the years. It’s a fascinating look at the food world and one I couldn’t get enough of.

Even though she’s lived a life that I honestly dream of, Fabricant’s writing is so accessible, informative, and even funny at times. She also shares a few recipes, a number of which I’ll be making! I really enjoyed this look at her incredible career.

Book Review: "ER: The Oral History" by Lynette Rice

I definitely don’t watch television as much as I used to. But back in the day, there were so many programs I watched religiously, on many nights of the week. I even had two VCRs for a while so I could record multiple programs.

One program I watched from the very start was ER. Even though I really can’t stand the sight of blood (real or fake) and I’m definitely a bit of a hypochondriac, I was hooked on this show. It’s crazy to think what a huge phenomenon it became, and that before the show, George Clooney was just a particularly handsome actor who showed up briefly on a bunch of other television shows.

Lynette Rice has written a comprehensive oral history of the show. She interviewed more than 60 people, including the showrunner, John Wells, many of the producers and directors, and the actors who played both major and recurring characters through the show’s 15-year run.

This book was a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at all aspects of the show. There were so many interesting facts I learned and reading this gave me a deeper appreciation of the passion that drove this show to success. It would, in its heyday, average 35 million viewers per season (in an era before streaming and DVRs), and was either the number one or number two most watched show on television for six years.

I think this would be a good read for both casual and serious fans of the show. As Rice says in the book, as popular as Grey’s Anatomy is now, there would be no Grey Sloan Memorial without County General.

Book Review: "Philippa Flynn's Year of Panic and Piracy" by Jacqueline Firkins

Philippa Flynn is a history professor. She doesn’t love her job, especially the college bureaucracy and the treatment she gets as the only woman in the department. But she’s content to keep plodding away—until she nearly gets swallowed up by a sinkhole on the way to work one morning.

She sees the sinkhole as a sign that things in her life have to change, because you never know how much time you have left. So she quits her job, breaks her apartment lease, dumps the guy she’s been sleeping with, and plans to move into the dilapidated house on the water in Maine, which she inherited from her grandmother.

Her grandmother was a prolific writer of swashbuckling pirate romances. When she got sick, she started working with Dylan, another writer, to help her as her strength started to wane. Dylan has been living in the house for the last several years, although he and Philippa haven’t met in person. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that Dylan has been the cover model for her grandmother’s books!

Philippa hopes to pull her life together and come up with a plan. When she and Dylan find her grandmother’s plans for her next five books, they decide to tackle them together. But of course, they’ll have to separate fictional romance from the one happening to them in real life…

I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s definitely a bit of a slow-burn romance, but I was fine with that. My main issue was how absolutely horrible her parents—particularly her mother—were to Philippa. It hit a little too hard and I just wanted her to stand up for herself. But I enjoyed the chemistry between her and Dylan.

Book Review: "Unsayable: A Life in Writing" by Michael Cunningham

“When you set out to be a writer you may or may not understand all that you’re agreeing to. You’re saying, by implication, that you’re qualified to write about the passions and sorrows and underlying motives of others. You live, with various degrees of comfort and discomfort, with the fact that even if your work is read by only a handful of people, you’ve claimed the right to set down the definitive version of relations that, in fact, have no definitive versions.”

Michael Cunningham is one of my all-time favorite writers. The Hours and The Home at the End of the World, in particular, are books that, more than 30 years after they were published, still profoundly affect me. So I couldn’t resist reading his new memoir, which talks about how he found his way to writing and how his love of language and storytelling shaped him.

Even as a young child, he was obsessed with language, and the specifics of it. There wasn’t just a tree in his yard, it was an oak tree, while there was a maple tree in his neighbor’s yard.

He started writing stories when he was young but he never had much confidence in them. So he turned to painting and drawing as a creative way of expressing himself. But he never stopped searching for the words to convey emotions or share accounts of his experiences—true or false.

Cunningham touches on specific moments in his life—being with his best friend in high school, who was his first love; spending time in Provincetown with an elderly gay couple who loved his stories about his adventures; working briefly as a hustler; and the first time he met the man who would become his husband.

This was a fascinating, at times emotional, book. I definitely thought it provided some insight into a writer’s mindset and it made me appreciate Cunningham’s writing even more.

Book Review: "The Au Pair" by Teddy Wayne

I’m never quite sure which I like more: a popcorn thriller I can read quickly, or a thriller with lots of twists, that makes you say or think, “Wow!” This book definitely fell into the first category, although I kept hoping for at least a bit of the second.

Steven’s first novel was a huge success. He hoped his second book would be received even better, but it took a critical drubbing and barely anyone read it. He’s hoping his third book will help rebound his career.

When he married Lucy, he was the breadwinner. But she co-founded a company and they live an extremely comfortable life, thanks to her money. Steven is a stay-at-home dad, and Lucy pays him a stipend each month, while he tries to find a way out of his writer’s block.

In order for Steven to truly concentrate on his writing, they decide to hire an au pair. Astrid is from Norway. The children become enamored of her quite quickly—and Steven can’t take his eyes off her. When he learns she loved one of his books, he’s utterly flattered, and he falls head over heels for her. He tries fighting his attraction as long as he can, but his resistance is futile.

When the family takes a vacation to a house in the Catskills, Lucy is on edge most of the time. Astrid is there to care for the children, but Lucy feels left out. And when scandal results into a high-profile trial, no one’s lives will ever be the same.

This book definitely kept my attention the whole time—I read the whole thing very quickly. I felt that I had seen the whole story before, and while I hoped for surprises, the book was fairly predictable.

Book Review: "The Shampoo Effect" by Jenny Jackson

“Back in high school, when they all started drinking and going out, they became obsessed with ‘the shampoo effect.’ When they had a big night of partying and followed it with a beer the next morning, they could get drunk again in an instant, the way a second squirt of shampoo in the shower produced outsized suds….Fran thought about the shampoo effect at moments like this, and the way it applied to so many interpersonal dynamics—the way that in these old relationships nobody was ever really working from a clean slate, new feelings were built on old feelings.”

Caroline leaves her publishing job and her life in New York City to move to the beach town of Greenhead, Massachusetts. She’s won a prestigious fellowship and plans to work on her first novel.

Not long after arriving in Greenhead, she falls for Van, an environmentalist who has definite border collie energy. Van grew up in Greenhead and still socializes with all of his childhood friends. Caroline is brought into the circle, but feels like an outcast, given everyone’s shared memories.

Shortly after they start dating seriously, Van tells Caroline that Bailey, a friend he has slept with on and off since high school, is pregnant. The baby is his, but neither has romantic feelings for one another. This becomes another hoop Caroline must jump through with Van’s friends, who would rather see him be with Bailey and raise their child together.

Despite all his assurances to the contrary, Van can’t get enough of fatherhood and wants to be a huge part of his son’s life. So he breaks up with Caroline and soon moves in with Bailey. Caroline is so hurt by this that she writes a short story about this group of friends, changing names but revealing secrets and quirks they all don’t know about each other. This rocks the group to their core.

I enjoyed this story but the pacing felt a bit slow. I could predict how the book would conclude but it felt like it took a long time to get there. I do like the way Jenny Jackson writes, though!

Book Review: "Fruit Fly" by Josh Silver

“…always remember: gay is in. Go gay. It’s cool now. It sells. However—here is the gold dust—the perfect blend is gay AND sad. You nail that, you’re minted.”

This was an intense read but an utterly addictive one as well. Thanks so much to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the advance copy!

Mallory wrote a bestseller 7 years ago and was lauded as an up-and-coming literary sensation. But after the buzz from her first book fades, she’s stuck with writer’s block and the very real fear that she’ll never be able to replicate or exceed her previous success.

When an internet search convinces her that one topic that guarantees literary success is a dark, gay story, she goes all in. She sets up an account on Grindr (using a picture of her husband) and immediately finds herself traveling down the rabbit hole of anonymous sexual conversations. She even gets invited to a party by a man she chats with.

Of course, she wonders if they’ll let her into the party, not being who she says she is. (Although she envisions becoming the center of attention, being called “Mother,” etc.) But as she arrives she witnesses a strange scene at the door: two men start roughing up a younger man who had brought them drugs. And then she watches another man beat him up. She can’t help but rescue him, and he lets her drop him off. When she gets home, her creativity flows in a way it hasn’t in some time.

Leo is the young man. He is caught in that vicious cycle of addiction and wanting to recover, and puts himself in danger as he tries to feed his addiction. Mallory wants to be involved in his story, because it’s fueling her book, but he doesn’t want her help. Who has the right to own and tell our stories? This book is dark at times but really fascinating.

It publishes 8/4/2026.

Book Review: "A Murder in Hollywood" by Michael Crichton (writing as John Lange)

I know, you’re probably thinking, “Didn’t Michael Crichton die a while back? What is this book?” So, Crichton did die in 2008, but apparently he started writing while he was in medical school, and was afraid he’d be perceived as not dedicated enough if his professors knew he was writing. So he wrote under two different pseudonyms, including John Lange. This book was written in 1973 but never published.

Harvey is a publicist for Bloodrock, a movie being filmed that is highly anticipated. He’s on location with the cast and crew in Tucson, and he’s expected to keep a lid on any problems or delays in filming. Everybody always blames the publicist when things go awry.

But Harvey is not expecting that Arthur McDougall, the screenwriter, will be found dead in his hotel room bathtub. McDougall was an alcoholic, irascible letch whom no one seemed to like. While his death could’ve been an accident, the fact that he had a fight with the film’s leading man the night before has the police thinking murder.

While Harvey tries to keep a lid on the news and make sure that the actors don’t talk to the press, he’s also responsible for dealing with the egos of everyone on the set. And then the studio head sends Harlow Perkins, the dogged insurance investigator, to look into what happened.

Harvey is amazed how quickly Perkins can break down the case with just a few questions. And while Perkins expects Harvey to do his bidding yet doesn’t disclose any of his thoughts, Harvey tries to do a little detective work on his own. But Perkins is always one step ahead. Was McDougall’s death murder? Will the movie go on filming?

I was a huge fan of Crichton’s books. While this doesn’t feel as polished as his later books, this is a twisty mystery which kept me guessing. I loved the 1970s nostalgia, and the fact that as much as things have changed through the years, things really have stayed the same. Blackstone has released a bunch of these never-before-published books of Crichton’s and I’ll definitely check them out!!

Book Review: "A Novel Crime" by Deborah Levison

This book was wild! I found myself laughing and rolling my eyes (in a good way) at these characters and the trouble they found themselves in. Be careful what you wish for: you might just get it!

Marcy has dreamed of being a writer for years. She’s been trying for so long to finish her damsel-in-distress historical romance so she can become the bestselling, prize-winning, universally adored author she knows she’s meant to be. And she finally wants her daughter to be proud of her.

She and the other aspiring authors in her writing group lament over their lack of progress or success. Going to a book signing for famed novelist Francesca Barber makes Marcy even hungrier to achieve her dreams and more desperate to get her shot. When she discovers Francesca in a compromising position, Marcy may have just found her opportunity.

Desperate to keep her secret hidden, Francesca lets Marcy (who has adopted a pen name, Summer Branigan) bully her into finishing her novel. But Francesca keeps trying to wiggle out of the deal, no matter how much leverage Marcy may have over her.

It’s at this point that the book goes spectacularly off the rails. But while lies are spun, kidnappings are faked, and you have no idea whom to trust, the book adds a layer of social commentary about just how difficult the publishing world can be, and how nice women get taken advantage of far too often in life. If you don’t fight for yourself, who will?

There’s not a likable character in the book, but that didn’t bother me at all. If you’re in the mood for some laughs along with your twists, give this one a try!

Book Review: "Transcription" by Ben Lerner

Even though more experimental fiction doesn’t usually work for me, I wanted to read Transcription. The concept sounded unique and I am always interested in social commentary about our relationship with technology.

Anyway, Ben Lerner’s new book did have some beautiful moments. It’s essentially a novel divided into thirds. In the first, “Hotel Providence,” the narrator travels to Rhode Island to conduct an interview with his 90-year-old mentor and former professor, Thomas. This will be Thomas’ last interview, and given what he has meant to the narrator, the pressure is on.

At his hotel before heading to Thomas’ house, the narrator drops his phone into a sink full of water. He now has no way of recording the interview, but he can’t seem to be honest with Thomas about it.

In “Hotel Villa Real,” set after Thomas’ death, the narrator is part of a symposium, where he finally reveals he wrote most of the interview from memory because of his phone mishap. The final third, “Hotel Arbez,” is a dialogue between the narrator and Thomas’ son Max, who has been the narrator’s friend since college.

Each section of the book revisits many of the same themes—the fickleness of memory, how we rely on and—sometimes shun—technology to help our memory, and how technology both brings us together and creates gaps between us. At the same time, there are discussions about parenthood, children, and relationships. There are moments of real emotion, as the book touches on the isolation of the early days of COVID, and what it’s like to raise a child with an eating disorder.

This is a short book but it does pack a punch. The narrative gets a bit wordy and esoteric on occasion, but there’s no doubt Lerner is a talented storyteller who has given us much to think about.

Book Review: "The Book Witch" by Meg Shaffer

“All stories are love stories if you love stories.”

Even before I descended into a constant pit of despair about what’s going on in our country, I always loved when books I read had elements of magical realism. Some of my favorite authors create these storylines so masterfully, including Meg Shaffer. Her newest book was one I eagerly anticipated given how much I enjoyed her two previous books.

Rainy March is a Book Witch, like her mother and grandfather before her. Book Witches are responsible for protecting books and their characters from those who wish to do them harm. She jumps in and out of books, saving them from book burners, rogue villains, and the occasional character who goes on the lam.

Book Witches follow a strict code of rules. Real people belong in the real world, fictional characters belong in works of fiction. They’re never supposed to tell the characters that they’re not real people. The biggest no-no? Falling in love with a fictional character.

Rainy has some trouble with the last rule. She is in love with the Duke of Chicago, a handsome British detective who is the lead character in her favorite mystery series. She keeps getting reprimanded from pulling Duke into reality, but when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, Rainy needs Duke to help her solve the mystery. But the lines between reality and fiction are blurrier than she realizes.

The concept of this book really made me smile. Who wouldn’t want to help their favorite literary characters and protect the books they love? At times things got a little confusing for me, but in the end, the story warmed my heart.

Book Review: "Love by the Book" by Jessica George

Remy’s debut novel was a huge hit and became a bestseller. It was a fictionalized account of the relationship with her three best friends, and particularly, the fierce bond among them. The pressure is on for Remy to write her second book, but she can’t seem to find any inspiration.

As if writer’s block wasn’t bad enough, her friends have finally decided to follow their own paths. One is moving to a house an hour outside of London and having a baby, one is moving to New York for a new job, and one has reunited with her horrible boyfriend. Remy is devastated, lonely, and adrift. Even trying a dating app disappoints her.

One day, Remy (literally) runs into Simone, who remembers Remy from secondary school. Simone is now a teacher, and she is tremendously devoted to her students. She also has a second job to help make ends meet. But when her family finds out about her side hustle, they cut her off.

Remy wants to become friends with Simone, as they both seem to see each other clearly. But Simone isn’t used to sharing herself with anyone, and she rebuffs Remy’s attempts at friendship. Little by little, however, they start to realize how important they are to one another, a valuable discovery as each comes to a crossroads in their life.

“The way you love has always been an inspiration to me, I guess, and something I’ve maybe never told you is that being loved by you is one of the greatest things in the world…and one of the easiest to take for granted. I know I have, just because I’m so used to it, you know?”

This is a platonic love story, and a beautiful one. It would be interesting to read this and then Andrew McCarthy’s new book on male friendships. Jessica George’s debut novel, Maame, was fantastic, and it’s great to see how her talent has gotten even stronger.

Book Review: "Leave It Up to Love" by Kristy Woodson Harvey

There’s something about the books that Kristy Woodson Harvey writes. Maybe it’s because they’re always set in sunny, idyllic locations, but they always seem to brighten up the day. I’m thankful to Amazon FirstReads for early access to this sweet and fun story.

All Lila has dreamed of is being a bestselling author. While sales of her first novel didn’t quite make a huge impact, she’s determined that one of her two new ideas may be her ticket to quitting her barista job and writing full-time.

She can’t believe that her book is published by the same company as her favorite author of all time, Elizabeth Lancaster. The “Queen of Regency Romance” is her idol, and even though she orders a coffee from Lila nearly every day, Lila has never let on that she knows who she is.

Ever since her husband died a few years ago, Elizabeth has had writer’s block. She cannot write a word. But her publisher’s patience is running out, so they’ve suggested she use a ghostwriter: Lila, whose style is very similar to hers. Elizabeth doesn’t want to depend on her barista, but it doesn’t seem she has a choice. (She doesn’t.)

This is a story about recovery, finding your confidence again, and taking a different path. At the same time, it’s a sweet love story and a story about finding every way possible to achieve your dreams. This was a nice appetizer to hold me over until Kristy’s next book comes out in May!!

The story will officially publish 3/1.

Book Review: "Woman Down" by Colleen Hoover

Petra Rose is a bestselling author with legions of fans, some of whom have even tattooed her words on their bodies. But when one of her books is significantly changed when it is adapted for film—and she appears to have endorsed the change—the internet turns on her. She is savagely criticized by fans and even those who can’t resist kicking a person when they’re down.

All the stress has given Petra a horrible case of writer’s block. She hates everything she tries to write and is so afraid of making another blunder, that she’s fallen way behind with her next novel. But she’s running out of money, so she has to pull herself together.

She rents a lakeside cabin as she usually does when writing. But the peace she hopes will lead to a burst of creativity doesn’t materialize. Then early one morning she wakes to see police cars outside her cabin and there’s a policeman at her door.

This policeman, Detective Nathaniel Saint, has a magnetism Petra is drawn to. He’s exactly the inspiration she needs for one of her main characters. When he leaves, the words seem to pour out of her, and she feels inspired and hopeful for the first time in a while. Under the guise of research for her novel, Petra invites Saint back to her cabin the next day.

But as their “research” gets more and more intense, the lines between reality and fiction start to blur. Is Saint the inspiration for Petra’s character, or is the character somehow shaping the way she sees and feels about Saint? She needs to set her boundaries before it might be too late.

I’m a huge CoHo fan. I was really excited to see her back for the first time in several years. This book is definitely spicy and twisty, but I thought it moved at a very slow pace for like 60 percent of the book. I hope this book signals a permanent return for Hoover, perhaps back to some of the romances I’ve loved the most.

Book Review: "Discipline" by Larissa Pham

“When I was a student, I had thought I could manipulate that gaze to a certain extent, that I had agency. That being desired gave me power. But what I learned then, and what I understood now, was that though one might thrust an oar into the river and think herself steering her own way, the current pushes on, uncaring.“

Christine has recently written her first novel and has embarked on a cross-country book tour. Her novel is a fictionalized account of a relationship she had with an art professor in graduate school. The end of the relationship affected her mental wellbeing so much that she dropped out of grad school and has never painted again.

As she travels from city to city, she reflects on the 10 years that have passed since leaving school. She reconnects with ex-boyfriends and former friends. She engages in conversations about what inspires her to create, and avoids questions about whether the novel is her story.

And then she starts getting emails from her former professor. At first he tells her that the book sharply differs from reality; in some cases, that is true. But as they communicate back and forth, the initial trepidations she had fade away. He invites her to go visit him at his home on a remote island in Maine.

The 10 years have aged the professor significantly. And while there are definitely moments where Christine’s anger resurfaces, they have some brief discussions about what happened between them, the consequences, etc. Can she forgive him and move on with her life?

This is Larissa Pham’s first novel and it is beautifully written and insightful. I wasn’t quite sure how the story would unfold and I was surprised by the powerful emotions I felt. This is definitely a character-driven novel so it may not be for everyone. I look forward to what’s next in Pham’s career!

Book Review: "The Odds of You" by Kate Dramis

Sage had always dreamed of being a writer. Her first book made it on the New York Times bestseller list, which is a rarity for a debut author. Of course, now the pressure is on for her to deliver her second book, pressure she’s not handling very well.

On a cross-country flight to Comic Con she strikes up a conversation with a man whom the flight attendant is quite enamored of. When they arrive at the airport, the paparazzi circle because the passenger is Theo Sharpe, an actor who’s just about to become a huge star. And the paparazzi think Sage is his mystery girlfriend, which quickly turns into a PR nightmare for her, as Theo’s fans accuse her of being opportunistic.

No matter how hard Sage’s camp denies there’s any connection between her and Theo, the press keeps fueling the fire. And while there is certainly chemistry between the two, they can’t act on it. All of this is taking its toll on Sage’s confidence and it’s manifesting itself in continued writer’s block.

To escape the pressure and the constant judgment of her parents, who want her to pursue a more stable career path, Sage goes to Scotland to clear her head. The last thing she’s expecting is to see Theo at a pub, but his family has a home there. Slowly, they start to let each other in and both leave themselves tremendously vulnerable. But they understand each other’s struggles, which makes it even harder when secrets are revealed and the world re-enters.

“What do you do when your greatest might never live up, not because it can’t, but because people’s imaginations are boundless, and so the comparison is impossible?”

Third-act breakup notwithstanding, I found this book to be very moving and I was fully immersed in their struggles. While Kate Dramis has written romantasy before, this is her first contemporary romance, and she did a great job. Can’t wait to see what’s next!

Book Review: "The Storm" by Rachel Hawkins

Batten down the hatches and hold on tight, because this book will blow you away! I’ve been patiently waiting for its release date and everyone’s been loving this, so I’m quite glad it met my expectations.

Geneva is the current owner of the Rosalie Inn in St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama. The inn is actually the only structure to withstand the three hurricanes that struck the town over the decades. It’s been a part of her family for generations, but the costs of keeping it running are starting to wear on her.

When an investigative journalist reserves a room for an undetermined amount of time so he can write a book, Gen is excited about how much this stay will help the inn’s finances. It turns out he’s writing a book about a scandalous murder that happened in town in 1984, when Hurricane Marie washed ashore. The son of Alabama’s governor was found dead and the accused was Gloria “Lo” Bailey, his teenaged mistress.

The biggest surprise for Gen is that Lo comes to the inn with the author, as they’re collaborating on telling her story. Lo says she’s returned to St. Medard’s Bay so she can finally prove her innocence, but is that the truth? As long-hidden secrets start to reveal themselves, Lo’s motivations are definitely questionable.

But there’s another hurricane headed for town, and this one could be the biggest one of all. Can Gen figure out what happened all those years ago—and who was responsible—before she winds up in harm’s way, one way or another?

Rachel Hawkins’ books don’t disappoint, and this one definitely got my pulse racing! The narrative shifts between the present and the past, when each of the other hurricanes hit town. There are secrets nested within secrets, and I couldn’t wait to see how it all ended up.

Book Review: "If You Love It, Let It Kill You" by Hannah Pittard

I really had high hopes for this one, but what can you do?

A novelist and writing professor has her life turned a bit topsy-turvy when she learns that her ex-husband has created an unflattering version of her in his upcoming book. Although not many people will know it’s her—and he’s the one who ruined their marriage in the first place—she has trouble focusing.

Currently living in Kentucky with her boyfriend (and occasionally his stepdaughter), the news about her ex throws her into an emotional tailspin. Should she tell her boyfriend, knowing he might get angry with her ex? And worse, what if he doesn’t?

Meanwhile, she’s trying to deal with the foibles of her aging parents—her mother who wants to date again and her father who very well might be losing his mind. Can she just run away?

I’ve been a fan of some of Hannah Pittard’s books but this one never quite drew me into the story. It felt like there were lots of separate elements of the story that never quite came together, and the story moved very slowly.