Tag: book review

This Chick’s Audio Review: Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

Writer Chani Horowitz is tired of writing puff pieces when her friends are getting book deals. She is offered the chance to interview the hot, high profile action star Gabe Parker, who just got cast as the first American James Bond. Hoping she can get info from this very private actor that will help catapult her career, she arrives at his home and is struck dumb. By his good looks, but also because he sticks to the answers about his life that everyone already knows. She is ready for failure when he invites her to accompany him to a movie opening that night that then stretches to spending the weekend together.

Ten years later, she is offered the chance to interview Gabe Parker again. This time she is a well known writer and has something different to prove, but also, does he ever think of that weekend they spent together?

I saw this novel on a “best of 2022” romance novel list and had added it to my audiobook TBR. Narrated by the very talented Kristen Sieh whom I have enjoyed listening to before, I was quickly dropped into Chani’s story, liking her character right from the start. Her inner narrative on meeting a very attractive movie star funny and very real. I mean, who wouldn’t stumble their sentences? Gabe, too, was really easy to relate to and his secretive moments made me more curious about what he was hiding. As the story moves forward and you can see their personalities click you want to jump to those moments in the future and find out why they ended up married and divorced to other people. Elissa Sussman did a great job of casting that lure because I was caught and was looking for more info on my new favorite characters.

I don’t want to give away any of this plot because it was written so well, dropping moments on the reader that all added up to a wonderful conclusion, but I will say that the story is told with flashbacks to what happened in the past and when they meet up again in the future. I usually hate flashback stories but there was something about this narrative that really captured my interest. More than likely it was the fantasy that all women have about meeting their favorite movie star and catching their eye. This story goes a step further and gives us amazing dialog that is both funny and heartbreaking, and a cast of characters who support our main protagonists with humor and love.

The problem with listening to a great book is that you never want to take out those earbuds and get back to your real life (hello job!). This novel was so good that I found myself plugging myself back into it at every free moment, waiting for that slow burn romance to reach its conclusion so that these two characters I’ve grown to love finally (finally!) have their satisfying happily ever after. Guys, if you haven’t read/listened to this book yet, you need to give it a go. It is wonderful!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Funny You Should Ask

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chicks Audio Review: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Mika Moon meets with other witches only once every few months because of the rule that when too many witches gather together there can be a magical backlash that might out their society to regular folks, and as history has shown, people are not kind to witches. As witches are always orphans, her life has been very lonely. She keeps herself from getting attached to people by moving locations every few months. When she is contacted to tutor three young witches at Nowhere House she is extremely surprised. Three young witches are not supposed to be living together, so she goes to the home to check them out. What she finds is a group of people who have formed a family, one that they will allow her entry into if she will help them keep their secret.

Narrated by Samara MacLaren in a lovely accent, this novel immediately swept me into the story of this young lonely witch who dreams of belonging to a family. When she arrives at the isolated Scottish estate, she meets the motley crew who are watching over the young ladies, including the handsome and surly librarian, Jamie. Mika signs on to help the young girls for a few months and see’s how wonderful they have it, safe behind some magical wards, being raised by a group of people who care for them, something she and other witches have not had. Wanting to preserve their upbringing she does everything she can to teach them about their magic and hold reality at bay.

This was such a wonderful story. I loved Mika and how finding these people, and Jamie, made her dream of a life where she could be safe and have the family that she’s always wanted. She does, of course, have some obstructions in her way, one of which is her love interest, Jamie. His over-protective nature gives way a little to a gentleness with Mika that created all of the romantic vibes. The other adults at Nowhere House were lively, fun, and if not completely believable, at least they added to the family atmosphere this author was trying to create. I would call them quirky and eccentric for sure. Everything wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine as Mika soon discovers and she has to choose whether to support their decisions or go on with her life as it was before landing at Nowhere House and meeting Jamie.

This novel was on the best of 2022 lists on both Goodreads and Amazon and after listening to this story, I would have to agree that it was certainly enjoyable! If you have the time to listen to it, the Scottish accents were dreamy and totally understandable. LOL.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chicks Sunday Commentary: My Top 5 Most Anticipated Book Release- June’23

This is a special Memorial Day edition of my Top 5. Thursday is June 01 and I haven’t even looked at the book release lists until now aaahhhhh! Ok, OK, I got this! Accepting the challenge of culling through all of the many books because of course, June is a HUGE summer book release month, I’ve narrowed it down to my top 5. Here goes!

#5 BOOK RELEASE

A Jill Shalvis romance is like mac and cheese, fried chicken, or ice cream. The ultimate comfort book reading I reach for her novels knowing that I will love the friendships and ship the romance. This novel is in a series I’ve come to love and I can’t wait to fall in love with these characters!

Synopsis:

What makes life sweet?

  • Freshly baked bread
  • A cool lake on a hot summer day
  • The comfort of a cozy bookstore
  • Second chances and new beginnings

When Harper Shaw’s life falls apart, she knows it’s time for a change. She removes everything that doesn’t spark joy—from her soul-sucking job to eating kale to making lists—and sets off for the last place she was happy, Lake Tahoe (who wouldn’t feel good there, right?) to fulfill her dream of opening her own bakery.

With her Sugar Pine Bakery in between a tavern, owned by sexy, grumpy Bodie Campbell, and a bookstore, run by her new BFF, she feels a peace she’s never experienced since…well, forever.. Then she meets Ivy, a teenage runaway, who barrels into her heart. She sees a lot of herself in Ivy and takes her under her wing, but the teenager has secrets…

When those secrets explode, it changes Harper’s new world, and she’ll learn, it’s never too late to start over, it’s never too late to figure out your life, and best of all, it’s never too late to let yourself believe in love.

Click this link to purchase!* The Sweetheart List

#4 BOOK RELEASE

If you know me at all you know that any book by Ilona Andrews falls in my top 5. This one is out on June 13th and I can’t wait to carry on with my favorite fantasy characters.

Synopsis:

Kate and Curran have just settled into their new home and their ‘low profile,’ when a local businessman approaches them with an offer they can’t refuse. A mysterious evil has spawned in the nearby forest and is holding a defenseless town hostage. The ‘due date’ is rapidly approaching.

It’s exactly the kind of fight the Lennarts can’t resist, not for the prize the town offers, but for the people who will surely die if they ignore it. If they succeed, they’ll be rescuing an entire community and can build a strong new base for their family and the Wilmington Pack. If they fail…well, fail is a four-letter word.

Nothing comes without a price. Now Kate must decide if she has what it takes to pay it.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Magic Claims

#3 BOOK RELEASE

I loved Uzma Jalaluddin’s debut novel Ayesha at Last and know that Much Ado About Nada is going to give me a love story unlike any other, culturally rich with a multi-faceted story and great characterizations. This author is a go-to read.

Synopsis: A sparkling second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion…
 
Nada Syed is stuck. On the cusp of thirty, she’s still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood of Toronto, resolutely ignoring her mother’s unsubtle pleas to get married already. While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it’s a far cry from realizing her start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of a double-crossing business partner. Nothing in her life has turned out the way it was supposed to, and Nada feels like a failure. Something needs to change, but the past is holding on too tightly to let her move forward.

Nada’s best friend Haleema is determined to pry her from her shell…and what better place than at the giant annual Muslim conference held downtown, where Nada can finally meet Haleema’s fiancé, Zayn. And did Haleema mention Zayn’s brother Baz will be there?
 
What Haleema doesn’t know is that Nada and Baz have a past—some of it good, some of it bad and all of it secret.  At the conference, that past all comes hurtling at Nada, bringing new complications and a moment of reckoning. Can Nada truly say goodbye to once was or should she hold tight to her dreams and find their new beginnings?

Click this link to purchase!* Much Ado About Nada

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase a book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

#2 BOOK RELEASE

I love STEM romances. I like the smart dialog and interesting characters and in this case (I’ve read this one already) I love the flawed but totally likable characters! A fun enemies to lovers romance this is a sure fit for your own TBR.

MOST ANTICIPATED JUNE BOOK RELEASE

There is magic in every one of Ashley Poston’s adult romance novels. I loved The Dead Romantics and am saving the ARC I received for my vacation this week. I can’t wait to dive into this book!

What books are sitting in your own top 5? Can’t wait to hear about them.

Happy Reading!

Deb

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This Chick Read: Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler

Milli promised her elderly best friend on her deathbed that she’d reunite her ashes with the woman she fell in love with many years ago. When flights are cancelled across the country she accepts a ride to Florida with a friend of her ex’s. Novelist, Hollis Hollenbeck is on his way to Florida for a hookup that will help him shake his writer’s block. What he gets is a comedy of errors in Milli Watts-Cohen, a beautiful woman who intrigues him with her naiveté, and annoys him with her can-do attitude. This road trip novel proves that opposites attract and that the story of your own life might be worth more than the story you put down on paper.

This novel was an unexpected pleasure. The synopsis drew me in with the elderly woman having had an affair with a woman back in WWII (well told in flashbacks throughout the novel), and that Milli and Hollis would be taking a roadtrip, but I didn’t know what else I was going to get. The story was unique, charming, and although I didn’t get Milli at all, nor have ever really meet anyone like her, she was really likable and well, I loved Hollis and his gruff exterior. They were an imperfectly perfect fit.

Milli is an ex child actor who is approached by people for autographs, personal stories, etc. alot, like a LOT alot. She had gone through a bad breakup with Hollis’s friend who is more of an acquaintance, but she thinks they’re friends- so she doesn’t really want much to do with him. Milli is a bit of a mess, but she also has a kind heart. Hollis interprets that kind heartedness as being an easy target for others to take advantage of her. Begrudgingly he offers her the ride to Florida and over those next few days she talks at him and he takes it all in. There is of course, great conversations, dialog, bonding, etc, but the kind of people they are, she talks and he listens. BUT, every single tweak of his lip that indicates a smile is meaningful and the subtle shading of their conversations shapes their advancing relationship. I loved how I started out the book thinking one way about these characters but had done a 180 by the time I finished. Subtle yes, but really, really good.

If you like quirky small town romances, you will love Mrs. Nash’s Ashes. It had moments that were so tender and sweet, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters and their story.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* Mrs. Nash’s Ashes

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate – if you choose to purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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Can’t Wait Wednesday!

Thanks Tressa for letting me be a part of this fun conversation because I am always looking ahead to see what books are coming out next month. After viewing the Goodreads list, I can’t wait to read this book!

I read this author’s previous novel The Dead Romantics, not too long ago and LOVED it! The Seven Year Slip also seems to have a mystical feel to the plot. Love it or hate it, but I’m reading it soon!

Synopsis: An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

Click this link to purchase this book: The Seven Year Slip

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This Chick Read: Identity by Nora Roberts

Morgan Albright is finally putting down roots. She’s working two jobs, has purchased her own small house, and lives with her friend Nina. She’s right on track to start that new business she’s been hoping to start up. When she meets IT Specialist, Luke, at the bar where she’s working on a rare night off she cooks him dinner at her home with her roommate and her boyfriend. Soon after, her house is broken into, Nina is murdered, and her carefully planned life is gone. All her money and identity stolen. Devastated and broke, Morgan returns home to live with her mother and grandmother in Vermont and slowly starts picking up the pieces of her life. Until the con-man who took away her comfortable life decides to fixate on the woman who got away and her new life is threatened.

Nora Roberts writes a great romantic thriller. I was immediately wrapped up in the safe world of Morgan Albright and was devastated right along with her when her life was stolen and her friend murdered. Rooting for her world to get better, when Morgan meets Miles, while working in his families resort the author gives the reader something solid to hold onto while diverting our attention with brief chapters from the murderers perspective. The back and forth from happiness to uncertainty keeps the reader on the edge of their seat waiting for Morgan’s life to get ripped out from underneath her again. That’s Nora Roberts at her best.

Another thing I love about her novels is that she writes great friendships and families. Morgan’s mom and grandmother are both strong, vibrant women, and models of strength for Morgan to tie herself to. I loved reading their scenes and getting to know these characters that were so loving and loved. Miles too had a great family and their dinners showed Miles off as warmer than his taciturn nature in public represented. Thank goodness. Otherwise I’d have wondered about Morgan’s attraction. He wasn’t surly or anything, he was just a quiet, strong hero. A little harder to like than Morgan, but as a duo they were a good fit.

If you’re like me and you look forward to Nora Roberts romantic suspense novels, I think you’ll enjoy this one. It definitely hits the right notes- danger, heartbreak, and love. You can’t ask for much more than that! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Identity

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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It’s Monday, what are you reading? (5/22/23)

I’ve been on a bit of a fantasy kick over the last week so I was both reading and listening to fantasy novels. It’s funny how reading moods change on a whim. Or at least mine do. Here’s what I was up to this last week.

JUST FINISHED

I’ve read this book before but because the book is coming out in a month or so I decided to listen to the audiobook. I liked the narrators but I think I preferred the pace of reading this novel instead of listening to it. You know that does happen sometimes! LOL

JUST STARTED

Did I say I was going to start this book last week? I know it’s on my list to read and I want to get started on it. I just need to not get distracted by a different title in the meantime.

Happy Monday and happy reading!

Deb

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This Chick Read: The Garden of Lost Secrets by Kelly Bowen

Stasia finds a haven in France when she visits her grandparents every summer outside the small town of Rouen. She meets a young man, Nicolas, and as they get older they look forward to spending their summers together. When the war breaks out she is back home in Holland, her father is killed and she barely survives the bombing of her hometown. Stranded, she joins a resistance to help steal paperwork for Jewish families who need to leave the area. She soon becomes one of the most hunted resistance fighters in Holland.

In current time, sisters Isabelle and Emilie purchase the Chateau de Montissaire near their home town of Rouen. They find demolished WWII communications devices and some paperwork of names of German military men along with the name “Briar Rose”. While hunting down this heroine’s story they come upon a drawing that looks remarkably similar to one that was drawn by their own grandmother. Could they be the same person?

This historical drama is two stories, one told through flashbacks, and the other in current time. The story of Stasia and Nicolas during WWII was the more striking and dramatic. From the moment they met to their separation by the war, to their reunion after both of their lives had changed so dramatically it was more historical than romance, but I was still drawn to the outcome of their story and invested in seeing it through to the end. I liked how Kelly Bowen wove Isabelle and Emilie’s journey into Stasia’s. There weren’t any surprises from the reveals but I did think it was deftly told and I liked the characters emotional travails. This was a well written story that entertained on every page.

I like the new direction Kelly Bowen has taken with her novels. The Paris Apartment, her last novel, was similar in style and content and The Garden of Lost Secrets delivered in creating an entertaining story for the readers. If you like historical novels you may want to pick this one up! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Garden of Lost Secrets

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Famous For a Living by Melissa Ferguson

When social influencer Cat Cranwell’s life implodes in a business scandal, she escapes to her favorite uncle in Kannery National Park, Montana. Her world shifting from Louboutins to snowshoes, Cat is a fish out of water, but willing to help her uncle out in revamping their social media and earning them some followers. Sharing a run-down cabin with an eager 19 year old roommate, Cat’s life couldn’t be more different. As she gets to know her new co-workers, including the handsome and rugged Zaiah, Cat is determined to use her followers to help build Kannery National Park’s numbers and help save her uncle’s job.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book by Melissa Ferguson, and I was pleased that I really liked how she built this story! We’re introduced to Cat in her old life, which serves as a great contrast to her new life in the rugged mountains working for the park service. Time is spent showing that she is out of her element but Ferguson spends a lot of the novel showing the reader, through Cat’s eyes, the wonders of this area. I think we all feel the need to reach for our phones and check email and social media, so it was easy to relate to Cat and her addiction to the adrenaline she received with each like and comment. I thought her recovery and setting rules for that side of her life was so interesting! We all read about the dangers of social media and how it affects children, and in this novel the impression was made that it affects more than just kids and adults need to make changes too. I loved that.

What can I say about Zaiah. He was the bearded mountain warrior who won over Cat with his quiet persistence and won over this readers heart too. He was definitely a part of this story and he was a big reason for the changes Cat made in her life, but he was also not a character that drew attention. He was quiet, calm, and kind of subtle in his affection for Cat. I liked how his past was a big part of the story, but it was her need to make a change that overcame any conflict in the story. This romance really made me think and then it made me feel. Which is the reverse of how I usually feel when reading a romance.

If you like to laugh, smile, and get an adrenaline rush over silly mountain activities, this is the novel for you! If you like a quiet hero and charming heroine, than again, this is the novel for you! I turned the last page while smiling and that’s the best feeling when you’ve finished a book. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* Famous for a Living

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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It’s Monday, what are you reading? (5/15/23)

I got truly hooked into the audiobook for Abby Jimenez’s new novel Yours Truly and unfortunately ignored my husband for about a day and a half. LOL. I laughed out loud quite a few times, but this novel also really made me think about living a life without a lot of the anxiety’s that some people have and how fortunate I am to be able to do that. My Sunday was spent with family. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are celebrating this past weekend. I hope your day was filled with love and family.

JUST FINISHED

I listened to the audiobook of this novel narrated by Kyla Garcia and Zachary Webber. I love how this novel used the narrators to tell each character’s point of view. This was both a funny and poignant novel. Did I say I liked these characters? Briana and Jacob were messy, fastidious, funny, and emotional wrecks. I, too was all of these things listening to this book. So good!

JUST STARTED

I feel like I literally just finished this author’s last novel The Dead Romantics. I got an advanced reader copy of The Seven Year Slip which comes out in June and I can’t wait to read it!! I’m trying to decide if I want to wait until I go on vacation in a couple of weeks to read it. I’m not sure I can wait though!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and happy reading!

Deb

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