Book Review: "Mona at Sea" by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

Mona at Sea is a funny and sometimes poignant story about a young woman who needs to find a new direction in life.

“I’m unemployed, I’ve never had a boyfriend, I live with my parents in the most boring town on the planet, and I hate myself. I sing myself to sleep with these facts every night.”

Mona worked hard in college. She was valedictorian, she made all the right choices and connections, and landed her dream job at a prestigious bank. But in the financial crisis of 2008, nothing works out as planned, and her job is over before it begins when the bank has to be bailed out.

Left with no other choice, she goes home to live with her parents and lick her wounds. It isn’t easy—she’s realizing her parents don’t like each other much (if at all), and she has to deal with finding a job, any job, just to get by.

How do you reconcile things when life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would? How do you consider a relationship if you’re dissatisfied with yourself and your life?

I definitely identified with some of this book because when I graduated from college there was another financial crisis (not the Great Depression, thank you) and jobs weren’t around either. Recalibration was definitely necessary.

I thought Mona at Sea was a funny and thought-provoking book. I wasn’t immediately wild about Mona but I liked the arc her character took.

Thanks to BookSparks and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review, as part of #SRC2021!

Book Review: "Ghosts" by Dolly Alderton

Dolly Alderton's debut novel is a funny, poignant story about relationships, family, and finding your way.

Nina is 32. She’s a successful food writer whose second book is about to be published. She’s fine being single, but as all of her friends increasingly are getting married and having children, she starts to wonder if she should care more about it.

She downloads a dating app, and after conversations with men that go nowhere (and take days to unfold), she meets Max. He’s handsome, smart, stable, and they find themselves falling for each other. And then, without warning, he ghosts her.

Without Max to spend time with, Nina suddenly has to confront the other problems in her life—she’s being constantly treated poorly by people because she’s not married with children, she’s feuding with her neighbor, her best friend has become utterly unreasonable, and her father’s Alzheimer’s is getting worse, and her mother doesn’t seem to be handling it well.

As she tries to make sense of her life and finding peace among the chaos, she starts to wonder about what her life holds. Ghosts is a sometimes funny, sometimes emotional, and quite relatable story about the messiness of life and how not to lose your way in the middle of it all.

I really enjoyed this book, which I’ve been meaning to read for a while and then my friend Lindsay jostled my memory! Nina is far from perfect but she’s a terrific character to root for and wonder along with her about the crazy people who surround her, and what her future might look like.

Knopf provided me a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "In My Dreams I Hold a Knife" by Ashley Winstead

Newsflash: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is one of the best, most addicting thrillers I’ve read all year!!

I’ve been so excited about this book for weeks now—next to For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing (another absolute must-read) it might have been my most anticipated thriller of the year. Did it live up to my expectations? Yes, yes, hell yes!

They were called the “East House 7”—a group of popular best friends at Duquette University. They were always in the public eye, and they had inseparable bonds. But near the end of senior year one of them was murdered and another was accused, and things were never quite the same between them.

Now, five of them are returning to Duquette for their 10-year reunion. But as much as they’d like to put the past behind them and show off their current selves—no one more than Jessica, who felt she didn't ever get all she deserved—someone is determined to unmask the real killer from among the remaining friends and won’t stop until they do.

As the story—which alternates between past and present and is narrated at one point by many of the friends—unfolds, secrets will be revealed, grudges will be unearthed, and old scars will be reopened. Those carefree days of college, where they felt on top of the world, were also some of the worst days for some of them.

This book was amazing from start to finish. I sat down to read, took a dinner break, and then read the rest of it. I love stories about old friends coming together when there are secrets to deal with, and I thought the characters were so well-drawn. You know how critical I am with thrillers, but this was FANTASTIC.

Book Review: "Nobody, Somebody, Anybody" by Kelly McClorey

Kelly McClorey's debut novel is a quirky, heartfelt story about a socially awkward, lonely young woman.

At the end of August, Amy is scheduled to take the exam to become an EMT. She’s hoping the third time taking the exam will prove successful so she can essentially start a new phase of her life. In the meantime, she works as a chambermaid at a yacht club. It’s a demeaning job, but she doesn’t mind—she sees it as a noble service she provides the guests.

Apart from Roula, the exacting head housekeeper, and her flaky boss, Amy essentially talks to no one. She has her study guide and her Florence Nightingale book for company. But when Gary, her landlord, asks if she would sample his cooking skills before his Ukrainian fiancée comes to America, she jumps at the chance for companionship.

As the summer progresses, Amy becomes increasingly nervous about the exam, so she creates a program to trick her into thinking she already passed, which blurs the lines of her reality a bit. And as she spends more time with Gary, she increasingly begins thinking in ways she shouldn’t, even though she knows everything will change when his fiancée arrives.

Have you ever read a book with a character whose behavior is so awkward it makes you cringe, and almost feel bad for them? Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is that kind of book. Amy is lonely but Amy is odd, and it’s a chicken-egg thing that made me think. I found myself reading like I was watching a horror movie, just waiting for something awful to happen.

This was a well-written book but Amy’s behavior both made her sympathetic and kept her at arm’s length. Definitely one that would be good for a book group, because you'll want to talk about it with someone!!

Book Review: "Happy Endings" by Thien-Kim Lam

Happy Endings, the debut novel from Thien-Kim Lam, is a second-chance romance that will leave you hungry. (For what, I won’t say.)

It’s amazing, this is the second rom-com I’ve read in the last few months which has selling sex toys as part of the plot. And the steam in this one? Woo, boy. 🔥

Trixie Nguyen is determined to prove to her parents and herself that she can make it in the sex toy business, not quite the traditional career path for a Vietnamese woman. She’s ready for a fresh start in Washington, DC—and then she encounters her ex, Andre Walker, who dumped her when they lived in New Orleans. With a Post-it.

The last thing Andre is expecting is to see Trixie again. He’s trying to save his family’s soul food restaurant, but he can’t stop thinking about her. Both are in desperate need of a win, so they put the past behind them and team up, creating a pop-up sex toy shop in the restaurant. And business umm, grows, for both.

But when Trixie gets a great opportunity, what will taking it mean for her relationship with Andre? Do they even have a relationship or do they want one? Will they be able to be honest with one another and rid themselves of their past baggage once and for all?

This was a steamy and fun rom-com. I enjoy second-chance love stories and love non-traditional couples. Thanks to Avon Books for the complimentary copy of Happy Endings in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Book Review: "Grenade Bouquets" by Lee Matthew Goldberg

A teenage girl learns that chasing after your dreams can have a downside in Grenade Bouquets, the second book in Lee Matthew Goldberg's Runaway Train series.

Having read Goldberg’s earlier book, Runaway Train, I was excited to read the sequel. But perhaps what excited me even more was to discover that the book’s epigraph was the first stanzas of a poem (Arthur O'Shaughnessy's Ode) which contains one of my favorite lines of all time, “We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.” So cool!!

It’s 1995 and Nico has finally pulled herself together a bit after spiraling out of control following the sudden death of her sister. She’s convinced her parents to let her spend the summer touring the country as a backup singer for her boyfriend Evan’s band, Grenade Bouquets.

The thrill of performing onstage is like a dream for Nico, and her presence and her one solo start to get the band increased attention. Before they know it, doors are open to the band that previously were closed, but it’s Nico that is becoming the focus, which doesn’t sit well with the other members, especially Clarissa, the lead singer and Evan’s ex.

Nico starts to discover the downside of being a musician, too. Not only is the band a hotbed of tension which she tries to avoid by drinking excessively, but the stress is also affecting her relationship with Evan. She’s also still grieving her sister and having issues with her best friend back at home. It’s a lot for anyone to take, much less a teenager.

I’ve really enjoyed these books. Goldberg so effectively captures the 1995 setting (all of the chapter titles are song titles from that period) and he does a great job conveying the feelings and actions of a teenage girl. Nico isn’t the easiest character to love, however, and she and her friends make some really impulsive decisions, so it’s essentially like hanging out with teenagers at times, lol.

Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours, Lee Matthew Goldberg, and Wise Wolf Books for inviting me on the tour and providing a complimentary advance copy of Grenade Bouquets in exchange for an unbiased review!

Book Review: "Sail Away" by Ashley Farley

Ashley Farley's latest women's fiction novel, Sail Away, is a powerful, beautiful novel about friendship and chosen family set with a gorgeous setting.

Through my good fortune of partnering with Kate Rock Book Tours I’ve been introduced to some fantastic authors. But my favorite among them has been Ashley Farley. She tells great stories with characters you’d want to be friends with, set in places you wish you were. This was the ninth book of hers I’ve read and she keeps getting better.

In this third full novel of Farley’s Palmetto Island series, a few of the characters from the previous books find themselves at a crossroads. One is dealing with the combination of joy and stress involved with planning her wedding, one is trying to recover from PTSD after escaping an abusive marriage, and one is trying to achieve career success while figuring out what’s next for her life.

When a new woman comes to the island with her daughter in tow, she’s in need of more help than she’s willing to admit. But how can she find the support and love she needs before it’s too late?

Sail Away is a great book, full of strong women who ultimately realize that they can’t solve their problems alone. These aren’t damsels in distress but they’re willing to come to each other’s rescue and even ask for help when they need it the most.

Farley is a born storyteller, and she can create images in your head that will leave you longing to pack your suitcase and head to these fictional places. I can’t wait to see what she does next!

Thanks to Kate Rock Book Tours for inviting me on the tour and providing me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!