Book Review: "You Had Me at Hola" by Alexis Daria

You Had Me at Hola is a fun, steamy, and sweet rom-com taking place on the set of a television show.

Jasmine Lin Rodriguez is a popular soap opera actress whose last relationship provided tremendous tabloid fodder. She’s about to star in a bilingual rom-com series, and she wants the public to pay attention to her performance, not her love life.

She and her cousins have put together a “Leading Lady Plan” for her to live by, which includes knowing she doesn’t need a man to make her happy and vowing not to mess around with her costars.

That last rule becomes more difficult to observe when a last-minute casting change puts hunky telenovela actor Ashton Suarez in the role of her leading man. But Ashton, who has secrets of his own, is also determined not to let anyone get close to him, especially his beautiful costar.

When their lack of connection off the set leads to a lack of connection on set (despite their obvious attraction to one another), Jasmine suggests that they start rehearsing together. But as they start letting their guard down, will their vulnerability be a good thing or a bad one? Will Jasmine be able to adhere to her Leading Lady Plan?

Well, you know what’s going to happen if you’ve read a rom-com or two, but You Had Me at Hola is really enjoyable. It was refreshing to read a book with Latinx characters, and a soap opera-esque show is the perfect setting for a story like this. It was also great to have the female protagonist really have the control in the story.

There is LOTS of steam in this one, so if that makes you uncomfortable you’ll need to do some serious page-flipping. But if you’re a rom-com fan, this is a fun one not to miss!

Book Review: "The Last Flight" by Julie Clark

Hollywood, here’s the basis of your next thriller: Julie Clark's The Last Flight!!

Claire thought she’d found the perfect man when she met her husband. The son of a powerful politician, he is handsome and ambitious, and he swept her off her feet. But through the years, as his ambition has grown, so has his need to control her every move—and his temper has grown more violent.

She can't stay in this marriage. She has been plotting her escape for months. She knows she has one chance.

In an airport waiting for her flight to a fundraiser in Puerto Rico, she meets a woman who is equally desperate for a new life. In a split-second decision, the two women swap tickets—Claire will go to Oakland and Eva will go to Puerto Rico.

But when the flight to Puerto Rico crashes, while it gives Claire even more of an escape route, she must assume Eva’s identity—but she has no idea why Eva was so desperate to leave her life in the first place.

I thought this was a great book. I have been so disappointed in general with thrillers lately, with a few exceptions, but this one kept me hooked from start to finish. So many times I figured it would veer into expected territory, and it surprised me.

The book shifts back and forth from past to present a lot, so you need to pay attention at times. But Julie Clark did an excellent job telling this story and weaving a great web of suspense. It was just so good!

Book Review: "The Friendship List" by Susan Mallery

When best friends realize they’re both in a rut, what will it take to shake up their lives? Susan Mallery's The Friendship List has some ideas.

Ellen is happy. She likes her teaching job, she has a great relationship with her teenage son, Cooper, and she loves spending time with her best friend, Unity. She’s a little nervous about being able to afford Cooper’s college tuition on her salary, but they’ll figure it out. Not bad for someone who got pregnant at 17, right?

Unity has a successful handyman business and she feels a part of Ellen and Cooper’s family. She mostly spends time at the retirement community where she works, and she's made many friends among the residents, even though she’s only in her 30s. Since her husband died three years ago, she doesn’t feel comfortable moving on.

When Ellen overhears Cooper saying he can’t go away to college because she’d be lost without him, and Unity gets some tough-love from friends, both realize they’ve let their lives stagnate—and they need to fix that.

The two put together lists to challenge each other. Ellen vows to wear clothes that fit, to shake her life up a bit, and to finally have sex with a man, something she hasn’t done since she was 17. Unity has some similar things on her list as well, including finding an age-appropriate man to date (since all of her male friends are beyond retirement age) and maybe even wearing some makeup.

While they start to pursue activities on the list, what they don’t realize is how much more complicated it is to really move beyond what you’re used to emotionally, and what to expect. How do you know when you’re ready to change? How much is enough, or too much? Are you changing for change's sake, or because you really want and need to?

This was a sweet, steamy, emotional book. The characters—particularly Unity—were more complex than I expected so it took longer for them to progress, or want to, than I would have hoped. But still, this was a fun book, a quick read, and a good story about friendship.

I was pleased to be part of the blog tour for this one. Harlequin Books provided an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making that possible!!

Book Review: "With or Without You" by Caroline Leavitt

Caroline Leavitt's new novel, With or Without You, is gorgeous, emotional, and thought-provoking.

“Any moment, something amazing can happen.”

Stella and Simon have been together for years. Stella, a nurse, is the responsible one, while Simon, a musician, keeps dreaming of a future that will probably never happen.

Now in their early 40s, Stella wants to settle down—maybe buy their apartment, have a baby. The evening before Simon is scheduled to leave for a two-day gig that he and his fellow band members hope might finally break things open for them, he and Stella argue about their future. Then, after they both take a pill, Stella has an adverse reaction that causes her to fall into a coma.

Simon sacrifices his dreams to care for Stella, and remains vigilant throughout her two-month coma. He finds himself drawing closer to Libby, one of Stella’s doctors and best friends. Yet when Stella wakes things are so different—suddenly she has an immense talent to draw people’s portraits and see their innermost feelings.

Stella’s awakening also exposes old and new feelings for each of them, forcing them to examine their pasts and their futures.

I absolutely love the way Caroline Leavitt writes, but this book is fantastic. There’s such a poignancy to this story but it really makes you think, too, about how you might react if you were in the situations in which the characters find themselves. But beyond that, Leavitt makes insightful commentary on what love makes us do.

I’m grateful to be part of the blog tour for this book. NetGalley and Algonquin Books provided an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "Musical Chairs" by Amy Poeppel

There's a moment in every Amy Poeppel novel where everything starts to go off the rails. Secrets are revealed, things which have remained unsaid for years are finally said, and confrontation and breakdown are brewing.

In lesser hands, this situation can become farcical, melodramatic, almost ridiculous. But in Poeppel's hands there's a balance of pathos and clarity, hysteria and humor, and you realize why her books are so great (but I don't know why she's not famous).

Bridget and Will have been friends since college. They're so perfectly attuned to each other in so many ways, everyone always assumes they're a couple, but they've never had any more than a platonic, brother-sister relationship. And that's fine with both of them.

The two are two-thirds of the Forsyth Trio, a classical musical chamber group of mild renown, which they formed during college at Juilliard. Their original third member, Gavin, who was the most talented of the three (and boy, did he know it), has gained some fame in the classical music world, but Bridget and Will have had group members come and go over the years, garnering modest recognition and playing small venues. It's not ideal, but it's always been just enough for the two of them.

This summer Bridget is looking forward to spending time at her country home in Connecticut with her novelist boyfriend, Sterling. But Sterling's ex-wife has other ideas, and suddenly Bridget is facing a summer alone, as her house becomes increasingly shabbier. And then her grown twin children both show up from different places in the world. Both of their lives are in flux, so they seek the comfort of their family home to help ride the storm out.

But by no means is this going to be a peaceful, relaxing summer. In addition to dealing with her children, Bridget and Will are in the midst of delicate negotiations with another musician to join the trio. At the same time, her famous father, now in his 90s, is getting married again, something she and her sister are utterly unprepared for. Throw in the reemergence of an old acquaintance and a whole lot of uncertainty about the future, and it's enough to make anyone crazy.

I love tales of family dysfunction, and Musical Chairs has that in spades. But it also is an examination of the boundaries of friendship and how easy it is to intertwine your life with someone even if you have no interest in them romantically. It's also the story of how easy it is for secrets and things which remain unsaid to get in the way of relationships, and hamper you from moving forward with the rest of your life. And above it all, it's the story of the integral role music plays in the life of one extended family.

As I mentioned at the outset of this review, I love the way Poeppel tells a story, the way she breathes life and heart into flawed characters you root for and empathize with even as you want to shake them for not telling the truth or telling someone how they really feel. There are things in the book which border on silly but somehow they work in Poeppel's hands. I really just enjoyed this story so much, even though there is a lot going on.

I'd also encourage you to read Poeppel's earlier books, Small Admissions and Limelight. You'll see that her mixture of humor and heart isn't something she just stumbled into in this book.

Book Review: "Someone's Listening" by Seraphina Nova Glass

When you’ve been dedicated to helping people, what happens when you need help? Check out Seraphina Nova Glass' new thriller, Someone's Listening, for perspectives on that question.

Faith Finley is a psychologist who has helped many patients, and now she’s translated that success into books and a popular radio show, “Someone’s Listening.” She’s happily married to Liam, a renowned food writer and restaurant critic, and life is good.

And then one night, everything falls apart. (Doesn't it always?) Suddenly Liam is missing and the police are convinced that Faith knows something, despite all she says. Would he just walk away from their lives, or did someone hurt him? Faith is determined to find the truth even if no one believes her innocence.

Yet as she tries to figure things out, she starts suspecting everyone, and wonders if Liam was hiding something from her. And when someone starts anonymously sending Faith excerpts from her book—pages talking about how to escape your abuser—she realizes that every step she takes toward the truth puts her in more danger. And whom should she trust?

This was a quick read, full of action and drama, and it definitely kept me wondering what was going to happen. I suspect everyone in thrillers so I ultimately wasn’t surprised by the way things tied up, but I wasn’t disappointed. (Literally, a character appears in the book and I'm thinking, "Okay, did you do it?") There definitely were some twists, though!

I’m grateful to be part of the blog tour for this book. NetGalley and Graydon House provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "The Mall" by Megan McCafferty

Nothing like a nostalgic trip back to the mall, with Megan McCafferty's new novel, The Mall!!

How’s this for an opening line? “Less than five minutes into my triumphant return to the mall, I was targeted for assassination by a rabid spritzer from Bath & Body Works.” (How many times have you unwittingly gotten sprayed by a perfume- or cologne-wielding ninja?)

It’s 1991. Cassie has her summer planned: she and her boyfriend are going to work at America’s Best Cookie, and then they’re going to head to NYC to attend college—she at Barnard, he at Columbia.

Yet within an hour, she discovers that the best-laid plans never quite work out the way you hope. She must scramble for a new job, and as other surprises and disappointments come her way, she realizes that sometimes the only person you can depend on is yourself.

As the summer flies by, she makes new friends, finds the self-confidence and self-belief she’s been lacking, and also realizes that her attitude could use a little adjustment, too. All of this is set against the backdrop of an early 1990s New Jersey mall.

This book was a fun, nostalgic romp. I actually worked in a mall in 1991 (at Suncoast Motion Picture Company and The Gamekeeper), and I remember the days of Sam Goody stores all too well. (Mall music stores were always so expensive!) Megan McCafferty captured the time period (especially the New Jersey elements), as well as the mall experience, quite well.

Grab your scrunchies and your distressed denim, and pick up The Mall!

I’m grateful to be part of the blog tour for this book. Wednesday Books provided an advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!