REVIEW: Hook, Line and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
Contemporary Romance published by Avon 1 Mar 22
She did it again, Tessa wrote another man I irrevocably fell for. Fox was just as perfect as Brendan in It Happened One Summer, maybe even more so. I wanted to hug this man and tell him how wonderful he was throughout the whole book. And Hannah was great. Her character was so strong and tenacious. Big fan.
REVIEW: Grace Under Fire by Julie Garwood
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 19 Jul 22
I don’t know if this is true for others, but, as I get older, I don’t retain and remember the stories that came before in a series. Though I did do this backward, I read this one and then went back and reread the series, because I only had vague memories of how some of the characters from the past met their HEAs.
The best part of the reread was meeting Isabel when she was a naive, idealistic young woman heading off for college. I loved how she viewed every man she met as either a potential match for one of her sisters or was sighing in lust over them.
REVIEW: Rules for Engaging the Earl by Janna MacGregor
Historical Romance published by St. Martin’s Paperbacks 26 Apr 22
Constance and Jonathon were neighbors and the best of friends. Just when they were on the brink of exploring potential romantic feelings, Jonathon was sent on an assignment with the British army in France. Before he left, Jonathon gave Constance her first kiss and a set of rules for choosing a husband and, lastly, a promise to marry her in ten years, if she was unmarried.  read more…
REVIEW: It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Contemporary Romance published by Avon 13 Jul 21
Ugh, this book is great. Someone explain to me why I’m obsessed with a big, softy fisherman. I don’t understand. Brendan, you stole my heart and I’m confused. Never in a million years would I have thought a PSW deadliest catch-esque man would have done it for me.
REVIEW: Bayou Sweetheart by Lexi Blake
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 26 Jul 22
This series is an absolute delight. Smal- town romance at its best, and if you’re looking for that extra edge, there’s a gator named Otis who adds a nice crazy twist to the character mix.
Major Blanchard – and that’s his first name, not his rank in the military – goes for a walk with his dog, gets stuck in the swamp, and ends up a star on national TV in his tighty-whities. All that happens in the first chapter, so you know you’re in for a treat when the story continues.
REVIEW: Finlay Donovan Knocks’em Dead by Elle Cosimano
Mystery published by Minotaur Books 1 Feb 22
There were many times I could not take this book seriously. I legit closed the book and laughed out loud at how foolish some of the moments were. Then I promptly picked the book back up and kept reading, because I was completely and wholeheartedly invested. No matter how silly it seemed, it still worked.
REVIEW: Shadowlands: A Journey Through Lost Britain by Matthew Green
Stevie‘s review of Shadowlands: A Journey Through Lost Britain by Matthew Green
British and Irish Historical Non-fiction published by W. W. Norton & Company 19 Jul 22
I have a fascination with abandoned and ruined places, particularly those that once housed large numbers of people – either domestically or for employment – which may well be a result of growing up close to Ladybower Reservoir and its twin drowned villages of Derwent and Ashopton. So this book very much appealed to me, with its stories of how different British villages, towns, and even cities, developed, thrived, and then ceased to exist. The author has visited each of the places he writes about, and this allows the reader to follow in his footsteps, even to those places not usually accessible to the general public.
REVIEW: The One You Want by Jennifer Ryan
Contemporary Romance published by Avon 05 Jul 22
This story is definitely a tangled web with musical beds. Rose is meeting her best friend Maggie’s fiancé for the first time a week before the wedding. As it turns out, she’s met him before at a bar followed by a wild one-night stand. It’s clear he wants to pretend they’re strangers, so she plays along for now. This is just one of the curve balls they’re going to have to dodge in the leadup to the wedding.
REVIEW: Beyond the Moonlit Sea by Julianne MacLean
Contemporary Romance published by Lake Union Publishing 14 Jun 22
It’s been quite a long time since I’ve read Julianne MacLean. No particular reason other than the usual too many books, too little time. So with this new release, I decided it was time to see what she’s been up to. All I can say is wow, it won’t be nearly as long as before when I next pick up another of her books. This one is an absolute winner.
REVIEW: Curfew by Jayne Cowie
Stevie‘s review of Curfew by Jayne Cowie
Dystopian Fiction published by Berkley 22 Mar 22
I approached this book with more than a little trepidation; while I have some sympathy for the idea that – in specific circumstances, such as during the search for a serial killer – it may be preferable to restrict the movements of those fitting the suspect’s demographic group than to place restrictions on those fitting that of the victims, there is no biological attribute that can be used to divide people along strict binary criteria, and so any such move would be imperfect and thus unsustainable. So on the one hand, I was hoping that this book about a curfew for men would examine those grey areas, and on the other hand I was terrified that the story would completely ignore trans and non-binary people like me, not to mention intersex individuals and gender nonconforming people.
