November 2023 – Stephanie Caffrey, Author

So, 2023 has been a bizarre and complicated year for my aspirations to become a published author. You may remember last year when I announced my book, Mistaken Identity, being acquired by Kindred Ink. Well, right before I left for Ireland, that deal fell through, and the rights to my book were reverted back to me.

My agent, Dawn Dowdle, and I made the decision to try again! This time as a series since I had since completed book two, Be My Little Baby. So, in July, we sent the series off to the handful of publishers we hadn’t tried and crossed our fingers.

Waiting is hard.

This last week was even harder. On November 12, my beloved agent, my rock, the biggest believer in me and my writing, my friend, passed away.

Then, amid my grief, I was contacted by one of the publishers who Dawn sent my book out to, and they made an offer on both books in my series.

So, I’m pleased to announce that Rowan Prose Publishing has acquired both Mistaken Identity and Be My Little Baby to be published as The London Detective Agency series. I am beyond excited, and I’m hoping to have so much book news to share with you in the New Year!

In the meantime, subscribe to my blog here in order to be alerted to news as it posts! You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. All news will be posted in these four places first!

I have read Elizabeth Acevedo before, but it was a book in verse. This was my first novel of hers, and I’m so glad it was recommended to me in a Facebook group I’m in. The story was very beautifully written. I enjoyed the characters so much, they were so rich and developed. I especially liked that the author read her own audiobook. I was pleasantly surprised by the hopeful ending of the book, which I was honestly not expecting. Highly recommend.

It’s crunch time for yearly reading challenges, and I needed a quick read for the prompt, “book published the year you were born,” so I chose Sarah, Plain and Tall. I had read it a few years ago, but couldn’t quite remember it. I’m so glad I read it again. The story is so sweet, and I love the bonding between the kids, their dad and Sarah. It does sort of romanticize the idea of mail order brides, but I could let that go. After reading the book, I learned there are four more books in the series, and now I have plans to read them.

My book club pick for October, Horrorstor was exactly what I expected. I enjoyed this book a little more than his other book I’ve read, but I think it’s because it was shorter and didn’t allow for very much time to ramble. The parody was great and balanced well with the horror. I loved the format, and the illustrations really added to the story. My only complaint is I wish he had either kept the characters together or told the story through multiple POVs since the characters didn’t feel well developed.

The fifth book in the Gunnie Rose series, this one felt like it was more of a filler book than anything. I really liked the sisters together, though, and I loved that they were able to bond and get closer, however, it would have been better to have a little more plot in the book. I also didn’t like keeping Lizbeth and Eli apart. And I’m taking away a star for the [spoiler] Harris added in the end.

Another book I read in order to fill in a prompt, and if it weren’t for it counting toward the prompt, “author with a same name as me,” I would have quit the book. But it’s too late in the year to DNF books for reading challenges, so I carried on. And, oof. This was bad, y’all. Fatphobia, questionable consent, terrible characters, I am almost sad I have another one of her books on my Kindle, because I don’t know if I want to read this author again after this book. I don’t recommend this book, unless you’re wanting to read and cringe.

This book was an unexpected highlight for me this month. This YA romance was amazing. Every single character was so well developed I wanted to them to be real. I didn’t want the story to end. The music aspect was so original. I have read a lot of star-crossed lover tales, but the whole reincarnation idea felt new and original, and it made my heart melt. I loved it.

Another prompt filling book, and this time I sort of stretched the prompt a little to make this fit. I had never heard of this book until I was scrolling Audible for books that were included in my subscription by CS Lewis, and I’m glad I chose it. This was a great satire. It was interesting and compelling and I flew through it.

I really love Christina Lauren, and I fly through their romances, but this book was definitely not my favorite of theirs. I liked the beginning part, but when the characters reunited after fourteen years, I felt the FMC was a bit too forgiving of the MMC for his actions earlier in the story. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t think I would have been able to forgive and forget, but the whole thing felt off, and I didn’t buy into it.

While the time-travel aspect of this book was a bit confusing, the pay off was totally worth it. This is one of those books where I’m going to need to read it again in order to catch things I didn’t catch before. Once the story got going, it was impossible to put down, and I was right there with June trying to figure WTF was going on. Adrienne Young is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me.

Wow. I’ve been meaning to read this book for years, and finally got around to it so I can watch the movie adaptation. As a history major, I know our history is white-washed, and I’ve been trying to read books to educate me on what high school history books tend to leave out, but this book really upset me. The systematic murder of a people because of who they are and what they have is horrific. This book was told very well, and it read more like a novel at times. This is an important read for everyone.

Month: November 2023

Book Acquisition News

October 2023 Reads