Book Review: "We Three Kings" by Kristen Bailey

Oh, my heart. I loved this book so much. This is my first book by Kristen Bailey and it definitely will not be my last!

Maggie is the head of the IT department for a financial services company. She loves her job, but what she loves the most is her three coworkers, Frank, Jasper, and Leo. They make every day fun, even when they have to deal with the idiocy of their colleagues and their IT challenges.

When they learn that Maggie is going to be alone over the Christmas holidays, each of them invites her to join them for a part. And just before she is set to go to Frank’s sister’s wedding, she is told by her company’s HR department that she has to lay one of her coworkers off. How can she make a decision like that and break up her team?

As she spends time with each of them, she learns more about what makes them tick. At the wedding of Frank’s sister, she realizes how his job and his colleagues are a respite from the constant disapproval of his mother and sisters. Spending time with Jasper’s family, she realizes the source of his sarcasm—and his happiness. And Leo—why is she just realizing how handsome and, well, desirable he is?

Maggie wrestles with the decision as sparks grow between her and Leo. But despite her anxiety, she and her friends make some wonderful memories—from being mistaken for a bridesmaid to cavorting with baby foxes and a donkey.

I loved the relationship between all of the coworkers, and the sparks between Maggie and Leo. I also enjoyed some of the supporting characters. It just was such a sweet, fun, romantic book.

Book Review: "Jump to Recipe" by Jena Wade

I love finding recipes online and am always in awe of the work people put into their food blogs. I will admit, though, that when I’m in a rush I love the “Jump to Recipe” link, which is why the title of this book caught my eye.

Sam is an amazing baker. His bakery and his blog, both called “Whisk Me Away,” are tremendously popular. In addition to sharing his recipes, he shares a bit of himself and life in the town he grew up in.

One secret that Sam hasn’t shared with his customers or followers is that he’s in love with Graham, his brother’s best friend and business partner. Well, he hasn’t shared it until now, as his confessing his love for Graham amidst a recipe—inspired by too much wine—has just been published. And now the secret is out.

Graham is a travel writer whose blog is also quite popular. In fact, he and Sam often fight to be the first person to comment on each other’s posts. He loves Sam’s baking, and he loves how Sam always has cookies waiting for him when he comes home from a trip. But even with all that, Graham is surprised—and very pleased—to read Sam’s confession.

The whole town is abuzz with gossip and they all are rooting for Sam and Graham to end up together. Sam is embarrassed and worries that Graham isn’t interested in him. He quickly finds that’s not an issue!

This was all kinds of fun and adorable, and sweeter than a bakery confection. I hope Jena Wade will give us more of these characters and this town!!

Book Review: "Unromance" by Erin Connor

This was excellent!! I love how authors can take familiar elements and weave them together into something that feels new and fresh. Erin Connor definitely did that with her debut rom-com, Unromance.

Sawyer is a bestselling romance author who has been dealing with writer’s block since her girlfriend left her. Ironically, she’s also sworn off love, as it only seems to bring complications and pain.

One snowy night, she has a meet-cute with a handsome man in an elevator. Unbeknownst to her, the man is Mason West, a soap opera actor known for his love life as much as his talent. They flirt up a storm and Sawyer decides to go home with him. A one-night stand should do the trick, or it would if they could stop running into each other!

For Mason, running into Sawyer repeatedly is a sign, a sign that they can help each other. He can help Sawyer find inspiration that will lead to her next book, and she can help hopeless romantic Mason become desensitized and stop falling in love with the slightest romantic gesture. And all they have to do is follow two rules: they can’t fall in love with one another, and they can’t have sex. Super easy, no?

Of course, the decision to avoid having sex and/or falling in love never quite goes according to plan. They might not be able to outrun their feelings, and do they really want to?

The chemistry between Sawyer and Mason is off the charts, and so is the steam! I loved the way he treated her in particular, and Sawyer’s take-no- no prisoners attitude was awesome.

Thanks so much to Forever and NetGalley for the advance copy. The book will publish 1/14/2025.

Book Review: "The Recruiter" by Gregg Podolski

This was a great thriller! I can’t believe this was Gregg Podolski’s debut, but it certainly seems like the stage is set for this to become a series. And I’m all in.

“People who aren’t prone to making bad decisions often fail to foresee just how life-altering a truly bad one can be.”

Rick Carter is a recruiter. However, he’s not the guy you’d call to find a new marketing person or CTO. Rick recruits assassins, hackers, smugglers, and any other kind of skilled criminal his clients might need. He doesn’t share secrets and the cops never get involved—and he gets lots of referrals from clients.

But he has a bad feeling about the latest client to hire him, or force him to work for them. You see, while Rick isn’t the most upstanding of citizens, he never wants to be party to harming the good guys. And this client is more than a little, ummm, persuasive, in making him see things their way.

When Rick learns that the family he left behind 10 years ago is somehow in danger related to this new client, he has to come out of hiding to try and fix things. It won’t be easy, however, because not only does he not know whom to trust, but his family definitely doesn’t trust him. Can he convince them he’s capable of saving them, and, more importantly, can he save them?

The pacing of this book was great. The action kept coming but there were pauses, so it never was too much. Rick is so sarcastic, and that’s very close to how I am, so I enjoyed him and the ragtag band of “candidates” he worked with. This reads like a movie and it really entertained me.

Book Review: "The Nightmare Before Kissmas" by Sara Raasch

Nicholas “Coal” Claus is the heir to Christmas, as his father is the reigning Santa. But while Nicholas loves the joy the holiday brings, he really dislikes that his father has turned Christmas into more of a PR effort, especially for his family and those who work in the kingdom. He resists his obligations in every way possible, causing scandals along the way. Not a good look for a prince…

One night, after something he did with the best of intentions went incredibly awry, Coal is summoned home by his father. But before that he winds up making out with a super-sexy guy behind the bar, who quickly disappears. Could he have imagined it?

Coal is commanded by his father to do what’s best for the kingdom, which apparently means marrying his best friend, Iris, the Easter princess. Neither of them want that, of course (nor does his brother, Kris, who has always had a crush on Iris), but it’s best for both holidays to ally together.

And then a new rival for Iris’ hand in marriage emerges: Hex, the prince of Halloween. Hex is also the guy Coal made out with that night behind the bar. But while they’re both supposed to be competing to win Iris, they actually can’t keep their eyes or, eventually, their hands, off one another.

When Coal finds out about his father’s nefarious behavior to ensure Christmas’ power over other holidays, he’s determined to harness the true joy of Christmas. So he sets out a plan of his own that could change everything—or backfire, and hurt those he cares about.

This was such a great read. It was immensely creative. Sara Raasch did some great world-building in a small number of pages. It was really steamy in a few places, but just lovely in others, as the characters played so well off each other. I’m excited that Raasch has a second book in this series coming out in 2025!

Book Review: "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" by Sophie Cousens

Those of you obsessed with 80s music like me might know what song I’ve had running through my head since I first saw this book!

I absolutely loved this book. It was funny, emotional, sweet, and steamy, and there were just so many moments that melted my heart. I’ve been a fan of Sophie Cousens for a while, but this may be my favorite book of hers.

Anna is a magazine columnist and a recently divorced mother of two. She likes her job and loves her children, and has no desire to date anyone. But when the magazine’s new owner feels her columns are lacking and her rival is trying to take her column away, she comes up with an idea: she’ll allow her children to pick the men she should date, and then she’ll write about them.

As she starts out on what she knows will be a misadventure, her rival, Will, proposes writing a complementary column where he goes on dates similar to those Anna goes on. His manipulation gets under her skin, but then she starts to enjoy their collaboration—perhaps a little too much?

Anna’s dates range from her grumpy next door neighbor to a much-younger waiter, her postman to her celebrity crush. The more she dates, the more she realizes where her true feelings lie. Will she be able to find the courage to take a second chance on love, no matter the risks?

“I know there are plenty of women on Instagram who got divorced and took up running or weight lifting or started their own aromatherapy candle business. They look and feel better than ever, phoenixes risen from the ashes, embracing their ‘new chapter.’ I am not a phoenix. I am a dazed pigeon, looking for crumbs. But I am fine with that; being a phoenix looks exhausting.”

Book Review: "The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern" by Lynda Cohen Loigman

What a fantastic book. Lynda Cohen Loigman has done it again!!

Forced into retirement just before her 80th birthday, Augusta doesn’t know what to do with all of her free time. She moves to Rallentando Springs, a retirement community in Florida. Much to her surprise, the first person she runs into is Irving, who worked as a delivery boy at her father’s pharmacy 60 years ago. He was her first love and her first heartbreak.

Augusta grew up in Brooklyn in the 1920s. She admired her pharmacist father more than anyone, and although it was almost unheard of at that time, she wanted to follow in his footsteps. But when her great-aunt Esther moves in with their family, Augusta’s perspectives change. Esther is a healer, and Augusta sees that there are ailments that traditional medicines can’t help.

Meanwhile, she and Irving draw closer together, and she dreams of marrying him and working with him when they take over her father’s pharmacy. But one night, everything changes and her dreams of a future with Irving are shattered. It’s a blow from which Augusta has never quite recovered, even 60 years later.

Augusta seems to constantly run into Irving in her new Florida community. Yet he seems oblivious to the hurt and anger she still carries. And when another old friend from their Brooklyn days appears, the tension between him and Irving confuses Augusta and makes her wonder what she missed all those years ago.

The book is told in dual timelines, in the 1920s and the late 1980s. It’s a story of love, family, tradition, and maybe a little bit of magic, and I was hooked from the very first page. I loved this so much.