Tag: book review

It’s Monday, what are you reading? (5/8/23)

When I need my brain to relax and destress I tend to go back and read books that I’ve enjoyed in the past. I know what I’m going to get and there’s a sense of relief knowing that I won’t have to struggle to get into a book or finish something I just feel so-so about. I did that with an audio book by a favorite author this last weekend. I just needed to unwind and not worry about liking or not liking what I was reading.

JUST FINISHED

The audiobook came out a few months ago in the most recent installment of the Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews. I hadn’t yet listened to it, but enjoyed reading the novel when it came out. The story revolved around an interplanetary dating game and was just as engaging to listen to as it was to read. I totally recommend this one!

JUST STARTED

I enjoyed this author’s break out novel ‘Ayesha At Last’ and am looking forward to another classic story rewrite.

Have a great Monday and happy reading!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Meet Me At the Lake by Carley Fortune

Fern’s life is not what or where she thought it would be, back where she grew up, running her mother’s lakefront resort. Her dreams of opening up her own coffee shop left behind in Toronto, along with her memories of a 24 hours she spent with Will Baxter. A 24 hours that had changed her life. Both of them young, and the timing wrong, they spend a day exploring Toronto together and agree to meet one year later at her mother’s resort. A meeting that does not end up happening until 9 years later. Will shows up at her door offering her the help she desperately needs, to fix this failing resort that her mother had loved so much.

After having read her debut novel, Every Summer After, I knew that if Carley Fortune kept writing I would keep reading her books. Her style of writing is deep, emotional, yet also has a lightness that reflects the settings that she keeps choosing- the lake. In this novel, Fern’s life has imploded with her mother’s death and her being left the resort to run. A resort that is failing and needs a new life, one that Fern isn’t sure she has to give. Until Will shows up. This 9 years older Will is much different than the artist that she fell in love with long ago. He now wears suits and runs a company, and seems to have given up his own dreams. Despite these differences their feelings for each other still lie beneath the surface waiting to be explored.

Meet Me At the Lake is one of those sneaky novels that has layers of emotions that are revealed slowly one chapter at a time. Sometimes I feel impatient when reading a slow moving novel but Carley Fortune sets a smooth pace that feels exactly right, each emotion and particular about a character revealed when it should for the utmost impact. Fern and Will’s reconnection built slowly towards that moment when they gave in to these feelings, but giving in didn’t solve all of their problems and the story didn’t end. I loved that! There were more reveals awaiting the reader and more emotions to be explored.

I’m reading this book in March but it definitely has that vacation beach vibe feel. It is the perfect novel to read when you can occasionally glance up to check the view of the ocean (or lake!) in front of you and then delve back into these fantastic characters who were meant to be together. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I was given 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!* Meet Me At the Lake

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The Daydreams by Laura Hankin

Four ex child stars are brought back together for a reunion show. The last time they had seen each other was at their second season Live finale where all hell broke loose, ending their very popular primetime show. The Daydreams brings back the sweetheart couple Summer and Noah, the mean girl, Kat, and the single diverse character, Liana. Noah has gone on to superstardom, Kat is now a lawyer, Liana married a uber popular MLB player, and Summer has gone through rehab several times and never gotten her life back on track. Each of them returns to the reunion for their own reasons and as they get together again, they re-live those golden years and face the truth about what went wrong.

For those of you who lived through the days of Beverly Hills 90210 or get caught up in the current Real Housewives franchises you know that a reunion show can be dramatic and fun to watch. The Daydreams mixes fiction with reality by using the real names of the actors for their characters, so the lines are blurred and the public believes the stories they are watching and reading in the gossip magazines. Summer is pure, Kat is a b!t@h, Ariana is the sidekick and Noah is the hearthrob and Summer’s main squeeze. The novel does a great job of juxtaposing their on air personas with who they are in real life. I thought the author did a good job of mixing gossip and reality while at the same time giving the reader flashbacks to what life was like on the show 13 years ago.

I’ll admit to being a little bored at times with the back and forth between the flashbacks and the real time scenes, those are not my favorite plot structures to read. So, I skimmed through some of the less interesting to me sections to get to the more juicy bits and to speed up to the big reveal. What happened to break up the show, and how would that act get repeated or redeemed in the reunion show. There weren’t a ton of surprises, but I did like how some of the characters started off as more jaded, but as the book moved forward they lost that edge and became true to the innocent’s they were back in the day. Despite the good character development I did have a little trouble liking some of these characters which affected my feelings and therefore my rating of this book. Not bad, but not great either. Somewhere in the middle.

❤️❤️❤️❣️

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

Click the link to purchase this book!* The Daydreams

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Deep Tide (Texas Murder Files #4) by Laura Griffin

Leyla’s two brothers are on the police force of their small town, Lost Beach, so she is not ignorant that crime is on the rise. She doesn’t expect to find her murdered employee in the alley behind her café. When a friend of her brother’s, law officer Sean Moran, starts asking questions Leyla realizes that this death may be linked to more trouble close to home. She uses her business connections to ask a few questions and finds herself at the center of the case. A case that soon consumes both she and Sean’s lives and creates a connection that binds them together.

Leyla’s café has been a meeting place in previous novels and Leyla herself an acquaintance of other characters stories, so I was excited to see that she is getting her own book. Leyla is an interesting character in that she’s a business owner and sister to a couple of officers on the police force. She’s not a stranger to murder since both her brothers are on the force, but she is normally a supporting character. During the opening chapter when she meets Sean Moran at her brothers wedding there was an immediate connection that I found interesting despite a lack of a mystery at that point in the novel. As soon as the murder lands on her back door? This story twisted into a romantic thriller, and one that I was thrilled to be reading.

Laura Griffin has a great style of writing that makes her stories very easy to read and immerse myself in. At the same time her characters are relatable and the reader can easily like them. Leyla has always been a likable character and because I already knew her I was two steps ahead emotionally by the end of the first page. What was going to happen to Leyla? Was I going to like Sean for Leyla? What kind of danger would Leyla involve herself in? So many questions! Laura Griffin quickly moved the story forward and those questions eventually were answered in a way that helped me connect and like her even more. Sean was a little harder to figure out because he was a new character, but I liked his immediate connection and the mystery that revolved around why he was in town.

Each of the books in the Texas Murder Files series can be read alone, although you’ll see characters from previous novels pop up. They don’t really have anything to do with the current mystery and I feel like their presence doesn’t detract or confuse the reader, so feel free to pick up this book, even though it’s numbered four in the series. I really enjoyed Leyla’s spirit and Sean’s efforts in taming it. It was a good mystery too!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

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!* Deep Tide

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Two Wrongs Make A Right- by Chloe Liese

Bea and Jamie have a disastrous first meeting, with Bea dumping not one, but two drinks on Jamie and he grumpily staring and declaring his disinterest. However, their friends are in love and they keep pushing them together thinking they are the perfect match. When they find themselves on a blind date with each other they agree to pretend that they are in love in order to get their friends off their back. As they spend time with each other they quickly find their friends just might have been right.

I found this novel on an Amazon Best Romances of 2022 list and I am not going to disagree. Two Wrongs Make a Right has a premise that has been done a thousand times before but in this instance it’s with two characters who are so unique and original that the kind of tired trope becomes something new and refreshing. Artistic, tattooed Bea, lives with her sister who has recently fallen in love with conservative, glasses and sweater wearing pediatrician Jamie. So at first sight, they seem to be complete opposites, but Bea falls on the autistic spectrum and is recovering from a bad breakup. Jamie is a successful pediatrician but he has horrible anxiety and doesn’t do well in crowds- he also has a difficult family whose expectations are hard to live up to. They both are a bit of a mess, but find in each other the support that they need. It’s a wonderful love story that moves slowly but there are so many emotional reveals that impact the story that it gives the reader a feeling of moving much more rapidly than it actually does.

Once Bea and Jamie get past the awkwardness of seeing through their bad first-meet, they quickly come to realize that they have a friendship that can be concrete. They go from avoiding each other to seeking each other out, and that story is emotion filled and wonderful. I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed getting to know these characters and reading their story. Don’t let the cover fool you, this novel has depth that rises above the fluff of the artwork and delivers an impact that will leave the reader surprised and completely satisfied.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Two Wrongs Make A Right

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chicks Audio Review: I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

Bodie Kane, a successful film professor and podcaster, has overcome her difficult childhood, including her four years spent at an exclusive boarding school in Vermont, where her roommate was murdered in her senior year. When she gets invited back to the Granby School to teach a course on podcasting, she is overwhelmed by memories and is drawn to the case of her murdered roommate, Thalia Keith. Was this case mishandled? Did the correct person go to jail for her murder? Did her school and that small town botch the investigation? Bodie can’t help but pursue these questions to a brand new conclusion.

I loved this story! It brought back all of the feelings I had when I was listening to the podcast Serial about Adnan Syed’s case and whether he murdered his girlfriend 20 years ago. The fact that he was let out of jail not too long ago for being falsely accused helped build my interest in this fictional tale. I also love the narrator, Julie Whelan, who is super talented and whose voice always draws me in to the story she is narrating. I should also give credit to JD Jackson, who narrates Omar’s character over a phone from jail. It was so realistic and added to the very real vibe set by the story. Last, I give full credit to the author, Rebecca Makkai for creating a story and characters who drew me in and held me captive through 12 hours of an audio book. It’s a good thing I listened to this book over a weekend because I didn’t do anything else besides work puzzles on my Ipad while listening to this awesome story.

I mentioned above how listening to this book drew me back to my enjoyment of the podcast, Serial, but in this instance, because it was a fictional story, the reader got a point of view from someone who lived at that time, with the person who was murdered. As Bodie narrates her story from both current time and flashbacks, we learn who she is as a character, messed up and flawed as she was, but also as an adult who can look back and see through those flaws and it’s riveting to be along for the ride as she pieces things together. Bodie’s is not the only character in the story however, this is a fully fleshed out novel with schoolmates, best friends, and disappointed teenage angst. All of it very well written with a depth that captivated my interest. This novel deserves all the accolades and is on my “Best of” list for books I’ve read so far this year. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* I Have Some Questions For You

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Throwback by Maurene Goo

High schooler Samantha Kang is coasting through life. Her high school is culturally diverse and she enjoys the anonymity of her high school scene, although being the girlfriend of a popular guy does put her a little more in the limelight than she’d like. Her mother wants her to care more about her prospects for college and thinks her boyfriend is holding her back, so needless to say their relationship is strife with conflict. A pattern that she see’s repeated between her mom and her grandmother. When Sam and her mom have a big blow-up, leaving Same stranded at the mall she calls for a rideshare service to get her to school in time for her first class. What she doesn’t expect is to be dumped back to the 90’s where she comes face to face with an whited out version of her mother whom she befriends. Her mom, Priscilla, has just been nominated for homecoming queen, something that Sam knows she didn’t win. She thinks that by helping her mother win, she will find her way back to the future.

Whereas Sam and her mom Priscilla don’t swap places, I did get a Freaky Friday vibe from Throwback. What sets this novel apart from those other time travel novels is that Sam’s time is spent working towards the goals of someone else instead of securing her own future. Although working for Priscilla will ultimately get her back to her own time so it’s a twofer. Another thing that sets her apart is that there is someone else in this time who is from the future, someone who helps her see her own life back in 2015 clearly, and when she goes back she knows the person she wants to be.

I really enjoyed all of the 90’s references since I was in school during that time and Maurene Goo was spot on with how life was as a teen during that era. Totally clueless when it came to cultural diversity, women’s rights, Black Lives Matter, etc. Life was lived with blinders on regarding impropriety and Sam’s reactions were both funny and poignant. She was a cultural sounding board but no one was listening.

Throwback was a fun read that hid the seriousness of relationship struggles with her mom through humor and some emotional scenes. I really enjoyed her characters emotional growth and especially loved the ending of the book. This novel gets a solid 4.0 rating from me!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase this book!* Throwback

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton

Mystery, danger, and love collide in this historical novel set in 1934 on a cruise ship sailing from New York to Havana Cuba. Recently engaged heiress Catherine Dohan is traveling with her fiancé and young daughter when someone tries to kill her by pushing her over the railing of the ship. Elena Palacio is traveling in disguise back to her homeland after surviving an attempt on her own life back in New York. Wanting revenge on the man responsible these two women join forces in order to change both of their destinies.

The Cuban Heiress was an enjoyable thriller set in the 1930’s when men had all of the power and women were commodities used for their looks and/or their wealth. The author didn’t take long to enmesh the reader in the stories of these two women whom at first didn’t seem to have that much in common but as the book moved forward we saw that their circumstances forged that connection. The setting of the cruise ship, as well as the destination of Havana certainly added to the Noir-esque vibe of the story and the opening chapter started quickly and the story never lost its pace.

Each woman’s story arc gave the reader more reasons to root for them and the feeling of danger escalated so that I was turning the pages rapidly wanting to reach that final outcome with no delay. This historical thriller was a fun, glamorous excursion into the dark waters of the Atlantic. I wasn’t sure how it would end, but wasn’t disappointed in the least. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Cuban Heiress

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: It Starts With Us (It Ends With Us #2) by Colleen Hoover

Co-parenting with her ex Ryle is finally moving along smoothly and although he still holds out hope for getting back together Lily is ready to move forward in her life. When she accidentally bumps into Atlas on the street it seems like fate is pushing them together. It’s something she wants but introducing him back into her life will make waves with her volatile ex and she has her little girl’s future to take into account.

It Ends With Us is the conclusion to the best-selling It Starts With Us and I’ll admit I was eager to give Lily her happily ever after, so why do I feel a little let down? Atlas was everything he needed to be. He had her back, was emotionally available, stable, and an all around likable character. Lily and her baby certainly needed that after her rocky first marriage. Colleen Hoover even gave Atlas a sweet story arc that gave her readers a reason to care for him besides his love for Lily. I did really like him, but didn’t love this story. It felt a little bland after the volatility and emotional impact in the first novel.

What did I like about this book? I really liked how Lily had such a great support group, including Ryle’s own family who took her side against his actions. They were there for her and continued to be there for her and truthfully if this were a real life situation, they were the only reason why Ryle didn’t continue with his horrible behavior. They stood by her and made him face the consequences for his actions. I loved that!

If there was a reason to write this novel it was to give fans of It Starts With Us the happy ending that they felt like Lily and Atlas deserved. This novel does that for these characters. It’s well written, but a little safe and steady. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if it was a stand alone novel where I needed only the words on these pages to identify with these characters I wouldn’t be giving this as good a rating as I did.

❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase this book!* It Starts With Us

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls (TNO), a comedy show that airs every Saturday night. With several broken relationships behind her Sally has given up on love, which is reflected in the scenes she writes. When her average looking male co-worker at TNO falls for a famous actress guest and asks her to marry him, Sally writes a sketch called the Danny Horst Rule about how beautiful accomplished women will date/marry average men but gorgeous accomplished men don’t date/marry average women. That weeks host and musical artist is musician, Noah Brewster. Sally and Noah work on several sketch’s together and it feels like they have a connection, but do they really?

This novel was brilliantly written. The backstage relationships of the cast and crew of TNO were interwoven with a sense of realism that I wondered if Curtis Sittenfeld hadn’t wandered backstage at SNL. It certainly seemed like a few of the characters in this novel were based on some of those famous faces we’ve seen on TV. So that immediately grabbed my interest. The way the week progressed on the show gave the story a sense of urgency that progressed to that climactic Saturday night show. I loved, loved, loved this portion of the novel.

When Sally and Noah first interact, in her office when he asks for her help in writing a sketch that he’s written you feel that immediate connection between the two of them. What I loved about it was that it was their intellect that connected. Yes, Noah was a hot musical artist, but what they had in common was how writing a sketch and writing a song were kind of similar and his appreciation for her art form was genuine. As the week goes on her curiosity over this amazing looking man and whether he could have any interest in her hooked me right in. But this was just the beginning of the book and there was more to their story, right? You bet!

I’ve read a number of novels who have tried to write the pandemic into the story and sometimes they hit the right note and other times they miss the mark entirely. Romantic Comedy was in the former category and used the pandemic to move the plot forward. It also introduced us to examples of Sally’s amazing wit and writing style, and gave Noah a chance to show his own skills in interacting with kind of awkward individuals. Sally was a two steps forward one step back kind of woman. I LOVED this section of the novel.

Needless to say, this was a romance novel, so the ending wasn’t a huge surprise but how this author took the readers on a journey through the landmines of Sally and Noah’s budding relationship was extraordinary. A truly funny, emotional, and wonderful story to read. I enjoyed this one tremendously. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase this book!* Romantic Comedy

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads