#books – Page 2 – Stephanie Caffrey, Author

August 2024 Reads

September 2, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, A Novel Love Story, Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Kurt Vonnegut, Reading, Romance, The Frozen River, The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, The Truth According to EmberLeave a comment

I read this book as an ARC and gave a full review here.

This was a pretty fun book. Of course it took me until about three quarters of the way through to realize it was a riff on Thelma and Louise… I thought the premise was original, and I found it plausible enough to enjoy. The twist at the end made the book for me.

It was like this book was written specifically for me. There was nothing I didn’t love about it. The premise of the town from a beloved series being real was like a dream come true. How many of us wish we could go into the setting of our favorite book and meet all the characters?! And the love story was…*chef’s kiss*. I loved this book so much, and I can’t wait to read more of this author’s books.

Easily one of my favorite books of the year, The Frozen River read almost more like a crime thriller than historical fiction. The frustration I felt throughout the book, the anxiety about figuring out whodunit, the end…I actually cheered out loud in my car at the events leading to the end of the book.

Read to complete a prompt for a summer reading challenge, this was not my favorite read. I had a lot of high expectations going into it after I read Slaughterhouse Five last year. While the book had an interesting commentary, it was very slow moving and felt very meh.

Pull out the tissues, you’re going to need them for this one. While the book felt a little slow in the beginning, as soon as Lenni and Margot met, the book really picked up. I loved the characters and their stories. I loved the concept, and I didn’t even mind all the crying I did along the way.

Check out my books, Mistaken Identity and Be My Little Baby both available now!

July 2024 Reads

July 31, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Book Recommendations, Book Review, book-reviews, Books, fiction, Katherine Center, Reading, Romance, TJ Klune1 Comment

My best friend chose the movie “Home” for one of our family movie nights. When the movie was over, the credits stated that it was based on a book. So I had to read the book. And let me tell you, they use the phrase “based on the novel” very loosely. While the same concepts are here, the execution is vastly different. The book was a fun read, and I enjoyed it. It was excellent entertainment while I painted cabinet doors for the kitchen. It made me laugh out loud several times.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I picked this book as my January Book of the Month pick, but a book that was written so cinematically wasn’t it. It is a magical realism book, so keep that in mind, and be prepared to suspend your disbelief. However, the language and descriptions in this book were gorgeous. There is one scene near the end of the book where I could picture it clearly and I immediately decided I needed an adaptation of the book.

Meh. I think I wanted a little more out of this book. I felt some of the characters were underdeveloped and some of the storyline just felt rushed. The book definitely had potential, it just needed to go a little further.

I was able to get the last five Katherine Center books I hadn’t read from the library, so I binged them. Starting with this one. I really liked it. My favorite thing about Center books are the characters and how real they feel. And I felt that the problems these characters experienced were not as extreme as the ones her characters experience in her newer books, and that’s okay. The impact was still the same. I, of course, cried.

I really enjoyed this one, and I think this is definitely up in the top half of her books for me. Even though the romance was not front and center, I really loved how the heroine was the focus. About her overcoming her own internal obstacles through external obstacles was the focus instead. It felt really empowering. I even used some of the hiking knowledge from this book on a recent camping trip with my family.

This book was very cute, and a very good debut novel. I could see Center’s formula coming into play. But, these early books were very light on the romance. But I still liked them. This one was great, and I loved the LI. This book made my heart full.

I loved this book because it was different than other romances I’ve read. I LOVED that it was about a married couple falling back in love. I L O V E D that it showed the reality of parenting small children. And I LOVED that the mom was trying to find something for herself outside of motherhood. This book was so relatable and I ugly cried through out it.

This was by far the weakest of Center’s books, and I am so glad that I read it last. I didn’t quite like or buy the concept and I felt that the strains between the different relationships felt forced and contrived, and the romance felt sort of tacked on. Definitely ranked number 11 out of 11 in my ranking of Center’s books.

Why did I wait so long to read this book?! Reading this book, especially with having just lost my grandma, and the anticipatory grief of the inevitable loss of my young nephew, was cathartic. The way Klune talks about death and the afterlife, I don’t know. It really was beautifully written and really fililed me with a sense of hope. Klune has done it again. Even with a book that he merely described as a love story with a ghost.

This book circulates around my school, and my oldest has read it, and I figured why not give it a try for a reading challenge I’m doing. Friends. This book. The audiobook is only four hours, and in that four hours Brown told a beautiful story about friendship, motherhood, and found family. I asked my son if the book had a happy ending and he told me no. But, I would argue that while not the ending you would hope for, it wasn’t necessarily sad. It definitely leaves room for hope, too.

This is a book I had hoped would be better. I don’t know what I didn’t like about it. The plot was okay, the characters were okay, but something just didn’t resonate with me. Maybe after bingeing all of Center’s books the stakes just felt too low? I don’t know. The book was okay.

I read this for the ISDAR book club, and wow. This was very fascinating. I learned a lot about life as a woman in the 18th and 19th Centuries. I also learned a lot about the diseases that ran rampant. Thank goodness for vaccines! I cried a couple times. Eliza had a really hard life, but she persevered. And I learned that LMM took some liberties with the story when he wrote Hamilton. I guess insider trading and stock market speculation don’t make interesting plot points.

Okay. This book. I wanted to like it, but the plot just felt all over the place. Like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to do. I think if it cut a couple plot points out, focused in a little more on character development, and developed the relationship a little more, I would have liked the book a lot better. As it was, there were about five different conflicts and some resolved within two pages, and then whole thing felt disjointed and rushed.

June 2024 Reads

July 1, 2024July 1, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Book Recommendations, Book Review, book-tag, book-tags, Books, Bruce Campbell, Guncle Abroad, JR Ward, Just For the Summer, Katherine Center, One-Star Romance, Reading, Romance, Vincent PriceLeave a comment

The Guncle was one of my favorite reads from a couple years ago, and so I was really excited to learn there was going to be a sequel. The sequel wasn’t as good as the first, but I still enjoyed reading it. I felt this book was missing some of what made the first book amazing, but it also had the stuff I liked. The relationship between him and the kids – top notch. It is definitely worth a read, but don’t expect it to be as magical as the first.

Welcome to the first of FIVE Katherine Center books I read in June. I had read The Bodyguard probably two years ago, and then I just bought five more of her books, but never got around to reading them. So, I decided to try another of her books. Y’all. Y’all. Katherine Center is amazing. Each of her heroines have an obstacle to overcome, and they fall in love with men who don’t care about her obstacle. In Fire, we have a female firefighter who is trying to prove that she is as good as the men. This book has so much heart. And it made me cry, and swoon and root for the heroine!

I LOVE Bruce Campbell. So I bought this on release day. Finally getting around to it, and I was underwhelmed. The book was ridiculous, which I know is the point, but I guess I was hoping for something that was a little more ridiculous, or a little more serious. This was too much in between. I wanted a better parody.

The final book in the Wolfen Trilogy. I was so worried this one wouldn’t give the couple a happy ending, but I should never doubt The Warden. Not only did they get a happy ending, she set up some characters for future books. Or at least I hope. Because one person didn’t get their happy ending, and I know that he’s being saved for someone in one of the next books.

Y’all. Y’ALL. When I first read the summary for this book, I rolled my eyes. A man is turning into a shark? This is going to be ridiculous! WRONG. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This books was BEAUTIFUL. The love story was compelling, the mutations were believable, the characters were so well written. And I loved everything about this book. I devoured it. I can’t recommend this book enough. This is definitely at the top of my books I’ve read this year.

Perfect Summer Read. This book was so cute. The premise was adorable, and I loved the characters. I enjoyed reading this book, and it put a smile on my face. I found myself rooting for everyone, and it made me cry at times. Of course, this is the third book in a loosely connected series, so now I’ll have to go back and read the other two books. That’s for July!

My bookclub decided to do Cookbook Club this month. We all picked a Cookbook, read it, picked a recipe and then had a big party. I decided to pick a weird book, and made a few recipes from it. Is it dated? Yes. Was it still fun? Also yes.

My younger sister recommended this book to me, and so I found it on the library no holds shelf. This book was so good. It had just the right amount of suspense, and I honestly didn’t see a lot of it coming. Having an unreliable narrator really added to everything. It made me worried about what was true and what wasn’t, and I even finished the book still wondering what was true or not.

Thus begins a streak of Katherine Center books. Hello Stranger is about a woman who gets face blindness. And this was probably one of my favorites of hers that I read this month. I loved her character, and I loved how fun and silly she was. And I loved Joe, the love interest. And it made me cry. So many tears.

This one was my favorite Center book of the month. Following a rom-com writer and someone who doesn’t believe in love, the chemistry between the two was amazing. The characters were well-written and rich. There wasn’t anything about this book I didn’t like. And of course it made me cry. Of course.

I’ve had this book for almost four years. I think this is the first Center book I owned, but never got around to reading it. This one made me want to punch one of the characters. Again, well-written characters with great chemistry that I have come to love in Center’s books. Also, again, lots of tears.

My final Center book for the month. Also one I’ve had for a while. I really enjoyed this one, too! Her heroines are so funny. I love it. And she really has a handle on creating the tension and chemistry between the two love interests. And also, it made me cry.

FYI, I have the last five of her books sitting in my library cart right now. So July will also be Center heavy…

I’ve been working my way through my book of the month pile, and this was one of my books for June. And it was cute. Was it perfect? No. Have I read books who have done this premise (following a couple through the years as they fall in love slowly) better? Yes. Did that stop me from enjoying this book? No. Nat could be grating at times, but that didn’t stop me from rooting for her. It also made me cry. This was a big month of books making me cry. Pretty sure Citizen Alex was the only one that didn’t make me cry this month.

My daughter is having a squirrel girl party for her birthday, so I decided to read some comics about it. This was fun.

May 2024 Reads

June 1, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Book Recommendations, Book Review, book-reviews, Books, Christina Lauren, Dark Corners, Delirium, Frankenstein, Heart of Frankenstein, horror, How to End a Love Story, Ministry of Time, Reading, RomanceLeave a comment

This debut romance novel was really cute. I loved the original premise of the book. They knew of each other in high school, but were never part of the same social circle, but forever connected through a tragic accident involving her sister. Now, they’re forced to work together. I loved how Kuang talked about their shared trauma and how they each dealt with it. And I loved the gradual way they fell in love. It felt very natural and realistic. I’m very excited to see how Kuang adapts Emily Henry’s books for the screen.

I saw this book at the library and thought it would be a more updated version of the story, or a new take on it, or something. Nope. It’s just the text of Frankenstein as a graphic novel. And I have to say, re-reading Frankenstein, even as a graphic novel, was not on my list of books I ever wanted to read again. Turns out, my dislike for the story had nothing to do with being a teenager, and everything to do with the story. Not my favorite classic by any means.

I love Megan Goldin. She has a way of telling thrilling stories. Plus, I’m a huge sucker for True Crime based novels. This book kept me hooked from the beginning and I had to keep reading to find out what happened next. I honestly didn’t see some of the twists coming, which was refreshing since the last True Crime based book was such a let down. I can’t wait for Goldin to release another book.

If I’m going to be reading my four-year-old chapter books at bedtime, I’m going to count them toward my reading goal for the year. Especially Dav Pilkey books. If you know me, you know I love puns, and Dav Pilkey books are FULL of puns. I read all of Captain Underpants to my son when he was this age, and now I’m reading the Cat Kid Comic Club and Dog Man to my daughter. These books are fun, and hilarious, and not just for kids.

Last year, I read the book Pride and Prometheus thinking it would be a love story mashup between Frankenstein and Pride and Prejudice. It was not, and I was so let down. Since I got sort of tricked into re-reading Frankenstein this month, I went in search of books where Frankenstein’s Monster finds love. I know, it sounds weird, but I found it! This is about Frankenstein’s monster in modern times, falling in love. And I was here for the story for about ninety percent of the book, and then it lost me. However, I still really enjoyed it, and it was exactly what I wanted after slogging through Frankenstein a second time.

What can I say about this book? It was billed as a romance/sci-fi hybrid, which is what appealed to me. However, I would not call this book a romance by any means. Definitely Sci-Fi, but not romance. I spent most of the book trying to figure out what bothered me, and I think I didn’t really enjoy the way it was written. It felt very passive. If I didn’t want to count it toward a reading challenge, I probably would have DNF’d the book. However, about 75% through, things took a turn and suddenly the book became more interesting. And now, if Bradley were to write a sequel to this book, I would probably read it.

I spent Memorial Day weekend bingeing the two Christina Lauren books I haven’t read yet. This one was so cute. I loved the premise, and I LOVED the characters. I’m such a sucker for a good dad. I read this very quickly and loved every second of it.

The newest release from Christina Lauren, I loved this one too. I read this one in a day. I loved the characters, the premise and the ending. The book made me laugh and cry, and I’m sad that I’m going to have to wait for them to write another book for me to read.

My book club book for the month,it took me the entire month to finish this book. Written in the height of the YA Dystopian craze, this book read like it was trying to be the next Hunger Games or Divergent. All the tropes were there, and it was incredibly predictable. I hated Lena, and even though the book ended on a cliffhanger, I have no desire to read the rest of the trilogy.

April 2024 Reads

May 4, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Borrow My Heart, charles-dickens, David Copperfield, Emily Henry, fiction, Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice, Funny Story, JR Ward, Matilda, Ncuti Gatwa, Reading, Romance, The Beloved, The Wishing GameLeave a comment

Willy Wonka for adults. This is what this book reminded me of. It was such a touching book, and I devoured it. I loved all the characters, and they were all so real. The experience was amazing, and it made me cry, a lot. I picked this from Book of the Month as my free Book of the Year finalist. I definitely see why so many people voted for it to be Book of the Year!

One of my favorite series, I’m so happy I put myself on hold right away because I was able to get the book on release day! This book didn’t disappoint. It had the same humor and mishaps as the other three books. I loved that we wrapped up some mysteries, and we added new ones. I hope when the series is over, our girl Finlay comes out on top.

Yes, I read David Copperfield last year, but when I discovered there was this brand new dramatized version with Ncuti Gatwa as Copperfield, I couldn’t resist. If you have ever wanted to read Copperfield but you were intimidated by the length, this is for you. Condensed down to eight hours, most of the book is intact, and this production is beautifully acted. I highly recommend!

April is the month of reading new entries of my beloved series. The Beloved was probably one of my most highly anticipated releases this year. The follow up after the major cliffhanger in last year’s Lassiter, The Beloved is set in the future, and follows Zsadist and his daughter, and it was beautiful. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. And Ward has perfectly set up the next several books in the series. She never lets me down.

I saw this book at my kids’ book fair and fell in love with the cover, so I nabbed it. It was a cute YA Rom Com. I liked the premise and felt the characters were well rounded, plus there were lots of adorable animals. It was a nice quick read.

My book club celebrates Agatha April every year, and this was our first Miss Marple mystery, and I have to say, I was a little let down. Miss Marple was barely in it, and the mystery itself was kind of meh. Definitely not our favorite of the Christie novels we have read since starting Agatha April a few years ago.

For one of my yearly reading challenges I needed to read a book that has been turned into a musical, so I chose Matilda! I loved the book. It was magical and funny, and I will say, the musical adaptation was very faithful to the book. I found myself singing the songs as I was reading the book. I think this is my favorite Dahl book I’ve read so far.

Another highly anticipated release, I ignored my husband so I could spend all night reading this book. I immediately fell in love with Miles. He’s probably my favorite of Henry’s heroes so far. I’m pretty sure this is my favorite Henry book. Don’t be surprised if later this year you see this book pop back up on a monthly recap of my reads.

March 2024 Reads

April 6, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Book Recommendations, Book Review, book-reviews, Books, Edgar Allan Poe, Jen DeLuca, Katharine Ryan, Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers, Reading, Ready or Not, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Romance, This Spells LoveLeave a comment

I have been reading a lot of books like this: wishing for something and having it granted only to realize you miss what you have. I really liked this one. It was a little different, which I liked. The romance was really good. And I think this is the first one where the wisher truly didn’t want to go back to her life before. This was a Book of the Month pick, and I’m so glad I picked it!

Another Book of the Month pick, I truly enjoyed this friends to lovers romance. It was a slow burn, and it hit me in all the right places. It made me laugh, it made me cry (a lot), but in the end I loved how the story progressed and how it ended. The characters were rich and three-dimensional, and the plot was realistic. No unnecessary drama, which was the best.

This book was sold as being for someone who loved Daisy Jones and the Six, and the description of the book led me to believe the same. However, this book was not what I expected. And I think my expectations not being met really colored my opinion of this book. If you are looking for a book about a band in the 1970s and all their drama, this is not the book for you. If you’re looking for a book about a ghost writer who tries to solve a quasi mystery about a band in the 1970s, this is for you. Since this book wasn’t what I was expecting, it really affected how I read the book, and I ended it with a meh feeling.

Finally got around to reading Mitch and April’s book, and I can’t believe I waited so long! I loved them so much. Mitch is such a great character and April is the perfect juxtaposition for him. Throw in fake dating and the Ren Faire, and this was an amazing book. I love this series so much.

Figured since I finally read the third book of the series, I might as well finish it out! I loved Lulu. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel moving out of the OG Ren Faire, but I loved it! I really enjoyed seeing the different Faires and meeting new people! I’m so glad DeLuca expanded the universe so to speak. I will say the romance in this one felt a little weak and rushed, but that didn’t stop me from completely loving the book.

My book club was supposed to read The Snow Child, but it had all the trigger warnings for most of us, so we ended up switching to “The Cask of the Amontillado.” I couldn’t remember if I had ever read this one yet, but then halfway through the light bulb went on and I realized I had. My ten-year-old has even read this one! Poe is always a win.

This book was okay. It had some funny bits but nothing really wowed me. I liked how she told her story, but it was just merely okay. It was a good short read.

As of right now, this is my favorite book of the year. This book was amazing. The characters were so good. I loved every single one of them, even Cameron grew on me. There was so much growth within them, and the “mystery” kept me on the edge of my seat. The relationships between the characters were top-notch. Seeing them grow as people, and grow together, was so heartwarming. The true star of the book was Marcellus. Never thought I would read a book and fall in love with an octopus, but here I am. I listened to the audiobook, and Michael Urie reads Marcellus, and I have to say AMAZING choice. Highly Recommend this book.

Book Review: Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

February 25, 2024May 15, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, ARC, Book Recommendations, Book Review, book-reviews, Books, Happily Never After, Lyn Painter, Reading, Romance1 Comment

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER by LYNN PAINTER

RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2024

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter is a rom-com about two people who have the side gig of breaking up weddings for people who otherwise can’t cancel the wedding themselves. They are The Objectors. And they are freakin’ adorable.

Max and Sophie meet when her best friend hires him to object to her wedding after she finds out her fiance had been cheating on her. Sparks fly, in a platonic way, and they soon become a team of objectors. They both have kind hearts and want to help people, and it’s so very wholesome. Soon, they use their friendship in an almost fake-dating sort of way (I’m such a sucker for this trope) to help themselves in their professional lives. And of course, we romance readers know what happens next….

Sophie and Max’s relationship is probably one of my favorite I’ve read in a long time in a rom-com. Their chemistry feels so natural, and fun. I genuinely had a smile on my face through their interactions. I fell in love with them as they fell in love with each other.

If you enjoy witty banter, fake-dating, and well-rounded characters, this book is definitely for you!

Book Review: Heartsong by TJ Klune

January 9, 2024May 15, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, ARC, Book Recommendations, Book Review, book-reviews, Books, fantasy, Heartsong, Netgalley, Reading, TJ Klune1 Comment

Heartsong by TJ Klune

Release Date: January 30, 2024

Thank you Tor books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The third book in the Green Creek series, and the third time I’ve gotten to read and review and ARC of it, Heartsong is just as good as the first two books in the series.

Following Robbie Fontaine and Kelly Bennett, at first, the book did not win me over. The book starts off a little confusing. I thought I was reading a flashback. However, after a couple of chapters, I caught on with what Klune was doing, and I was hooked. How else could I finish a nearly five hundred page book in a day? Well, a snow day helps, but also the compelling plot, the rooting for the success of the Bennett Pack.

As always, Klune’s language is beautiful, and like the previous books, this is full of angst. However, it is a romance, so you can expect a happily ever after in the end. You’ll simply have to ride the waves and shed some tears along the way.

The last chapter of the book sets up the final book in the series beautifully, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

While you may be tempted to read this book based on this glowing review, it is book three in a series, and you will not really understand what exactly is happening if you jump in right here. I suggest you start with the first book, Wolfsong, and go from there. But do read these books. They’re wonderful.

December 2023 Reads

January 4, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Blood Sisters, Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Britney Spears, Dash and Lily, fantasy, Ghostbusters, John Stamos, Kiss Her Once For Me, Ms. Marvel, Murderbot, Reading, review, Scorched Grace, Twelfth NightLeave a comment

I love celebrity memoirs, especially when read by the author. This one was a great one. I really enjoyed learning about John Stamos, since I didn’t know much about him outside his acting career. As far as stakes go, his have been pretty low, but it didn’t diminish anything about his life. I definitely recommend this one.

An ARC I received for being part of the Berkley Besties, Blood Sisters isn’t a book I would have normally picked up on my own, however, it was one I couldn’t put down once I started reading it. The book was phenomenal. A thriller written by an Indigenous author, the story focuses on the stories often passed up by the media and law enforcement: missing Indigenous women and girls. The book is horrific, and eye opening, and I couldn’t stop reading. One of the best books I had read all year.

A highly anticipated read, Britney Spears’ memoir did not disappoint. In fact, it went beyond what I thought it would be. Sickening at times, her story made me hate all the men in her life. She has spent most of her life exploited and locked up. A victim. And I’m so glad she can finally be free and is able to tell her story. There are all the trigger warnings for this story, and you will cry, multiple times.

This was an ARC I read and reviewed. You can find my detailed review here.

For a reading challenge I participated in, I needed to read a novelization of a movie. I chose Ghostbusters because it was included in my Audible subscription. I found the book interesting to read because they added in so much back story to the characters that isn’t in the movie. A lot of it felt unnecessary, but it did add some extra flavor to the book otherwise it was just word for word the movie.

A cute short Christmas romance, it was a quick read and made me happy. I liked the letter exchange element. I thought both characters were cute. I kinda wish it wasn’t a short story because I would have read a full novel with this premise.

I had watched the Netflix series and loved it, so when my book club picked this book for our December read, I already knew I was going to enjoy it. I thought it was a very cute book. I liked both Dash and Lily, and I liked a lot of the antics they got into a lot more than the ones they put in the show.

Fake dating is a favorite trope for me. So is marriage of convenience. When Alison Cochrun said in her Author’s Note that this was inspired by While You Were Sleeping, I instantly knew why I loved it. I loved the characters, especially the side characters. Nothing seemed super outrageous, but I loved that Cochrun shoved in all the tropes. It was lovely. It was fun, and lovely, and everything I want from a holiday romance.

Picked for my book club, this book was amazing. I was a little unsure at first, but I wanted to only listen to it and nothing else. The mystery was good. The characters were amazing. And I’m excited to read the next book in the series, which I received as an ARC, so stay tuned for my review of that book coming soon!

Several people in my Sci-Fi/Fantasy book club have recommended this series, and now that it will be an Apple+ series, I decided to read the first book. I loved it. It’s short and sweet, and I love the robot. I really enjoyed the diary aspect, the voice of the robot was unique and fun. I read this book pretty quickly, and immediately added book 2 to my library. The humor was probably my favorite part of the book.

Probably my favorite Shakespeare play. My book club went and saw it for Shakespeare on the lawn this summer. This play has everything: humor, disguises, practical jokes, misunderstandings. If you’ve not read Shakespeare, it’s a good introductory play. It’s easy to follow.

New iteration of Ms. Marvel, this volume was a little clunky. I liked it well enough, but not as much as I loved the original run. The characters are all there, but the story felt a little weak in this volume.

One of the frames of this volume is the new background on my Kindle. I loved this volume. It felt more like the original run. The characters felt right. The relationships were better. The story was stronger. I loved it.

Holy abrupt ending, Batman. There was definitely some volumes left out of this collection, but they give a summary of what wasn’t in here. I liked this one as well, but I don’t like some of the developments. The will they/won’t they, purposely breaking up couples is not my cup of tea. I hope there will be more in this run, because I want to see what happens next with the characters.

November 2023 Reads

December 1, 2023Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Guy's Girl, Henry Winkler, Iron Flame, monthly-wrap-up, Murder and Mamon, Reading, Tristram Shandy, Wings Once Cursed and BoundLeave a comment

This was a good slow-burn romance. I found myself rooting for the characters and wanting them to get their act together and fall in love. I loved the portrayal of an eating disorder, it was nice to see the reality of the disease on the page, and not some romanticized version of it. The book can be tough to read at times, but totally worth it.

Sometimes when I read a celebrity memoir, I worry it’ll make me like the celebrity less (I’m looking at you Will Smith), but Henry Winkler’s made me love him even more. He seems like such a genuine guy, and he was so honest about admitting his faults. I especially enjoyed that he had his wife write/read parts of the book. It made me smile, laugh and cry. Highly recommend.

Worth. The. Wait. This behemoth, and NaNoWriMo, are what slowed my reading down this month, but this was 100% worth it. Still the characters I love, there was more world building, and so many revelations, I didn’t want to put it down. That ending though…It’s going to be a long wait until book 3!

The fourth book in the series, I wasn’t very wowed by this one. The millennial speak has grown a little tired, and the whole case felt a bit weak and far-fetched. I still love all the characters and the world, and I will continue the series, I just hope the next one is a bit stronger.

The selection for my DAR book club, I ended up listening to a BBC Radio production of it, and came away from it not feeling very wowed. I felt it was dry and confusing…it was written in the 1750s after all! However, I then went to the book club meeting, and after the gal who chose it led a discussion about it, I’m now interested in giving it a second chance. So, three stars for now, but stay tuned, I may have it on here again with a different opinion.

This book should have been five stars for me. It had the recipe to be a favorite book of mine. And the first couple chapters really set it up for me to love it! New mythology, yes! Cursed shoes, yes! Sexy vampire, yes, yes, yes! However, it all started to fall apart from there. The timeline felt rushed. They really yadda yadda’d over a lot of details I felt should have not been glossed over. And there was a point I’m pretty sure the cursed shoes were forgotten. So, safe to say, I probably won’t be reading the rest of this series.