Book Review: Taken

📚 Book Review: Taken

Danielle Ramsay

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

🗓️ Publication Date: November 25, 2024

📚 My Review: I was intrigued by the premise of this book with Alice being desperate to prove her innocence and reclaim her child before it was too late. However, I found the first half a bit slow-paced, which made it challenging to fully connect with the characters. That said, the twist toward the end was worth the wait, with the story picking up nicely in the second half. I'm glad I stuck with it, as the last chapters made for a satisfying conclusion!

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: I am accused of the worst of crimes – murdering my baby – and I have hours before this passenger ferry docks in Spain to find him, alive.

Someone knows about my difficult past and darkest secrets, and now I think they’ve taken my baby. But who would do this to me and why? I know the answer. Or at least I think I do…

The police want to know why I have fled my home and husband. How do I tell them that I had a breakdown after my first baby died? That today is the anniversary of his death? That my husband is planning on having me sectioned?

Despite what my husband says, I’m not ill. Am I? For I have discovered he has an agenda…

So how could I have been so wrong about him?

And how do I convince the police I’m innocent, when everyone believes I’m guilty, and get my baby back before he disappears forever?

Book Review: The Summer Before

📚 Book Review: The Summer Before

Dianne C. Braley 

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🗓️ Publication Date: October 15, 2024 - Out Now!

📚 My Review: This novel deals with trauma, betrayal, and healing. Madeline and Summer’s bond as young girls makes the revelation of Summer’s hidden abuse all the more devastating. The author did a great job exploring the complex feelings of guilt and anger that must arise when a loved one is both victim and perpetrator. Though heavy at times, this was a compelling read, and I was rooting for Maddie to find the ability to rebuild her life.

Thank you to Netgalley and Koehler Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: If someone you love was assaulted, abused, or was a victim of a crime --- you are a secondary victim. If the perpetrator is also someone you love, there are no words.

Madeline and Summer are more than best friends. They might as well be sisters; they've claimed the title, anyway—and sisters tell each other everything. But Summer has a secret she's been hiding for years. Someone's been hurting her, someone close, and when it comes out, it destroys everything around her with the force of dying stars.

Six years after the trial, Madeline is a haunted young woman trying to build a new life in Boston, but the guilt of her betrayal when her friend needed her most—brings her to the brink of suicide. Madeline embarks on a journey to heal from the damage caused by Summer's secret and both her and her mother's terrible response. To let go of the past, Madeline must confront her father, mother, and all those involved with the trial that split her family apart—or continue her descent into dust, finishing what she started to escape it.

Book Review: We Three Kings

📚 Book Review: We Three Kings 

Kristen Bailey

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🗓️Publication Date:  Out Now!

📚 My Review: This was a sweet holiday rom-com that was equal parts hilarious and heartwarming.. oh my heart! I loved all the boys and their friendship, and how they wanted to look after Maggie over Christmas🥹. Each family visit had fun interactions while she learned more about each of them outside of work. And then there's sweet Leo.. I was rooting for them!! I adore how Kristen Bailey's writing style and how she brings all of her characters to life! 👑🦊🥂❤️

If you love workplace romance and holiday cheer, then this is your book! Lots of laugh-out-loud moments and swoony scenes, it’s a cozy read that will definitely leave you feeling warm and festive!

Thank you to Netgally and Storm Publishing for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: Maggie Field was looking forward to a solo Christmas in her cosy London flat – before her three workmates decided to liven things up for her.

Maggie loves her job as head of IT at a financial firm, and her three geeky but lovable work buddies. And when they invite her to stay with each of them for the holidays, she can’t resist the chance to get to know them better.

But then her boss tells her she has to make one of her beloved team redundant, and Maggie is distraught. Frank’s work is his world, Jasper’s sarcastic humour is everything, and Leo…well, he’s talented, professional, confusingly attractive, dependable, and funny… Maggie definitely doesn’t want to lose him.

With her career and her heart on the line, Maggie sets off on the Christmas adventure of a lifetime, from playing fake girlfriend at a lavish wedding, to rescuing baby foxes on a posh country estate, to chasing a very confused donkey on Christmas Day in the Lake District. She can’t ignore the sparks between her and Leo – but she also can’t avoid her dilemma.

Can she find a way to keep her work family together, and maybe even find true love under the mistletoe?

Book Review: Make Me a Mixtape

 

📚 Book Review: Make Me a Mixtape

Jennifer Whiteford

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🗓️ Publication Date: October 8, 2024 - Out Now!

📚 My Review: I loved the premise of this book before I started reading and it didn't disappoint! a fun café setting, ‘80s vibes, and the perfect mix of love and self-discovery, it was impossible not to root for Allie’s second chance at both music and romance. I grew up recording songs off the radio and making mixtapes so this was right up my alley! 

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: A guarded punk-rocker-turned-barista meets a big-hearted sound tech who charms his way into her life and helps her revisit her musical past in this truly charming, cozy fall romance.

Allie Andrews gave up on the music world ten years ago. No wild tours, no late nights, no career-ending inter-band blowouts. Just day after comfortable day of working in her aunt's café in Brooklyn and recording '80s cover songs in her tiny apartment. The last thing she wants, or expects, is to be recognized as former punk rocker Allie Jetski. But a last-minute coffee delivery lands her face to face with the big, charming, handsome (and quite possibly number one fan of the Jetskis) Ryan Abernathy.

Ryan isn't about to forget meeting the lead singer of one of his favorite bands. Undeterred by her prickly demeanor, he sets his mind to helping Allie find her way back to the Jetskis—so she can come to terms with what happened all those years ago. Allie finds Ryan hard to resist, and her quiet life is turned upside down as she is swept up in a whirlwind hunt for her old bandmates.

But when Aunt Mindy announces that she's decided to sell the café, Allie is faced with a life-altering choice: play it safe and take over the business, or risk opening herself up to a future in music . . . and maybe even love.

Book Review: The Burnout

📚 Book Review: The Burnout

Sophie Kinsella 

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫

📚 My Review: This was a sweet story about love and rediscovery. At times I found the pace a little slow but I enjoyed the writing style and the idea of finding yourself—and maybe finding love—amid exhaustion was heartfelt and charming.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis:  Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.

Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout ( manifesting, wild swimming; drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).

When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk—about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them—flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion—signify?

Book Review: What Does it Feel Like?

📚 Book Review: What does it feel like

Sophie Kinsella

➡️ For Goodreads synopsis

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🗓️ Publication Date: October 8, 2024

📚 My Review: What a moving and unforgettable story. It’s beautifully written and filled with heart, following Eve’s journey of healing and rediscovery after a life-changing diagnosis. The book is both heartbreaking and uplifting, reminding us of the importance of love, family, and finding joy in life’s simple moments. It will touch your heart and stay with you long after you turn the last page. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group, the Dial Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: “What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story.”—Sophie Kinsella

Eve is a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumor growing in her brain.

As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again—and as she wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children—she begins to recall what’s most important to her: long walks with her husband’s hand clasped firmly around her own, family game nights, and always buying that dress when she sees it.

Recounted in brief anecdotes, each one is an attempt to answer the type of impossible questions recognizable to anyone navigating the labyrinth of grief. This short, extraordinary novel is a celebration of life, shot through with warmth and humor—it will both break your heart and put it back together again.

“Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”—Sophie Kinsella

Book Review: The Merry Matchmaker

📚 Book Review: The Merry Matchmaker

Sheila Roberts

🗓️ Publication Date: October 1, 2024 - Out Now!

📚 My Review: Cute, cute cute and full of all the holiday charm you could ask for! Frankie is such a lovable character, even when her well-meaning efforts turn everything upside down. I loved how each character’s journey intertwined, and the holiday setting added the perfect festive touch. The story definitely gave me all the cozy Christmas feels.. Add this to your holiday reads!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: Frankie Lane knows what’s best for just about everyone but herself. Her divorced sister, Stef, who is too young to give up on love; her shy employee, Elinor; and her daughter, Natalie, who works in Frankie’s shop, Holiday Happiness, and really needs to start her own business selling the delectable chocolates she makes at home; even her best friend, Viola, who is trying to renovate her old Victorian. Frankie knows she could help all of them, if they’d just let her—and if all of her help didn’t end in utter disaster. 

Then there’s Mitch Howard, the owner of the local hardware store. They’ve been friends ever since Frankie opened her store, nine years earlier. He got her through the nightmare when she lost her husband in a freak accident, and he’s her favorite shoulder to cry on. He’s been divorced for years, and it’s such a waste of man! Mitch is the fittest, finest man Frankie knows. He’s easygoing, wise and kindhearted. Mitch needs someone. And she’s determined to help him find that someone—whether he likes it or not.