I sit here stunned. Yes, I have written this review twice. The first version was too overwrought because I was entirely overcome by this book. This is such a bracing, visceral story of deep thoughts and even deeper emotions that it left me wrung out. Before I go any further, I need to beg you to absolutely delete this book’s cover from your mind. It is horribly misleading. Our hero is not a smug git. … Continue reading My Season for Scandal by Julie Anne Long →
I read romance novels for a lot of different reasons. To feel less alone, to feel that surging bubble of joy in my chest, to feel connected to new and exciting lives. This book ticked all those boxes and more for me. I fell asleep reading it. Woke up, and carried on reading. I write reviews for lots of different reasons, too. In this particular case, I’m writing this review because I want to keep … Continue reading Funny Story by Emily Henry →
When I Think of You is a second chance romance that, while enjoyable, would have benefited from a 3rd person vs 1st person POV. I enjoyed the inside look into the film industry it provided, but found the storyline of the vengeful ex a little tiring and overdone. Kaliya Wilson has always dreamed of being a movie producer, but is stuck working the front desk at a studio, finding it difficult to get her foot … Continue reading When I Think of You by Myah Ariel →
Christa Liddle has led an interesting life. When the book opens, she is studying sea snails on a fictional island in the Indian Ocean. Her mom calls her frantically because her father who ‘died’ in a plane crash 25 years prior has come back to life. A complicating factor is that Christa’s dad is a Steve Irwin-type character – a famous TV conservationist. He also started a toy company called Liddle’s Liddles – a Beanie … Continue reading Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman →
I enjoyed this book. I read it cover-to-cover in almost one sitting, but as I sit here to write this review, I’m left with distinctly meh feelings about it. Is this because I had a disappointing breakfast and that’s colouring my perspective? Or was the book meh? Let’s find out together. This story is set in the Jewish community of London in the 1830s and is essentially a gender-reversed Snow White retelling. Solomon Weiss is … Continue reading Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman →
How can I review a book that has a plot twist in the last chapter that changes the entire book? Lore of the Wilds is a fantasy that is enjoyable but…odd. The heroine is twenty-one but the book reads as very YA despite one graphic sex scene. There’s a love triangle, but it’s difficult to write about it without revealing a spoiler that comes out of nowhere at the very end of the book. There … Continue reading Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana →
Sarah: This book is extraordinary in that the cover copy, the plot, and the characters all hinted at many potential delights, and delivered on none of them. When Lara messaged me about the book since I’d mentioned it in a recent Hide Your Wallet, we decided to review the book together. The cover copy mentions that this is a “new high concept series, The Scandalous Ladies of London, which chronicles the lives of a group of … Continue reading The Duchess by Sophie Jordan →
This book gave my emotions a workout in the best way. Aside from a slightly disappointing ending, it was a delight! Lucy Peterson is an apothecary in London in 1843. She inherited the shop from her father when her parents died in a cholera outbreak. Lucy has two siblings, Juliet and David. Juliet is an apothecary at a women’s clinic in the East End while David seems to flit from investment to investment losing money. … Continue reading The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett →
The short version of this review is, if you like this series (as I do – I like it a LOT) you’ll really enjoy this latest installment. The mystery is sharp and poignant, there are myriad historical details folded in, the relationships between the characters continue to grow and mature, and Veronica is as sarcastic as ever. Longer (slightly) version: I was extremely happy that I received an advanced audio copy of this book, because … Continue reading A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn →
Do not be fooled by this cover. The cover says, ‘Look at me and my whimsy! My light frolic through life!’ No, dear reader, this is not light. This is a book about persevering through tough times. The title should have been a clue for me. A phoenix doesn’t arise from a bouquet of flowers, after all. The book is set in 1666. Plague had ravaged London the previous year and reading the characters’ reflections … Continue reading The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel →
This is my first Olivia Dade novel and it certainly won’t be my last. It was emotional, grown-up and absolutely compulsive reading. Athena has no direction in life. When the book opens, she’s working as a teacher an hour and a half away from Harlot’s Bay, the setting of the novel. She’s burnt out and really not sure what to do next careerwise. Her distress is particularly acute because at the age of 37, she … Continue reading At First Spite by Olivia Dade →
