Book Review Archives - Page 15 of 26

Book Review:: When Alec Met Evie | Jenny Proctor

If you’re looking for an utterly romantic story about a single mom and a protective hockey player best-friends-older-brother story to escape into, man, you can’t do better than this one. If I had to guess, I’d say Ms. Jenny Proctor is doing very well for herself because she knows how to write a compelling, romantic-as-hell story that just hits the spot.

When Alec Met Evie by Jenny Proctor Book Cover

Evie is moving to the Appie’s hometown to pursue her dream of becoming a luthier, and her best friend volunteers her older brother Alec to help her move. When the place turns out to be flooded, Alec offers his place for her to stay so she and her 4-month old daughter aren’t stranded at an expensive hotel. It doesn’t take long for them to reconnect, and now that they’re older, they’re seeing each other in entirely new ways.

This book is highly romantic. Highly romantic. From the beginning Alec takes over the role of protector for Evie and her brand new daughter while they get their feet under them. Evie always had a crush on Alec, but now she’s got an ex-husband and her daughter to think of and romance is the last thing on her mind. What she needs is friendship, reliability, stability, and what do you know, those are Alec’s specialties.

He’s going through something of a crisis in his career as the minor-league hockey team the Appies captain. He’s getting older and his body isn’t performing at the level it once was. For a man who has lived, dreamed, and breathed nothing but hockey his whole life, he’s not sure he’s ready to let it go.

These two characters support and lift each other up in every way, and along the way, realize that their feelings aren’t just friendly.

I was lucky enough to receive an arc copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher and I’m telling you, you’re not going to want to miss it!

Details

Title:: When Alex Met Evie (Appies #6)
Author:: Jenny Proctor
Genre:: Sports Romance
Publisher:: Jenny Proctor Creative
Length:: 331 pages
Published:: January 23rd, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Graham Effect | Elle Kennedy
Play Along | Liz Tomforde

Book Review:: The House in the Pines | Ana Reyes

One summer can alter the course of everything. One new friend. One lost story. One betrayal. One house in the pines.

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes Book Cover

Maya is convinced the strange boy keeping her company over her last summer before college killed her best friend Aubrey during a disagreement. The only problem is, he never touched her. Maya knows this because she watched it happen. He and Aubrey were talking, then she fell over. Dead.

Seven years later, she sees a viral video online of the same boy in the very same scenario. Another girl, dead. Not a finger laid upon her.

It can’t be a coincidence.

But ever since that summer, with her insistent conviction of his guilt, she’s been repeatedly told she is mentally ill. Delusional. Crazy. She’s even been medicated. And now, having quit her medication cold turkey, she travels back to find out the truth and get justice for Aubrey and all the other women he might have hurt.

I was surprised to see the Goodreads rating so low on this book. At the time, it was 3.10, which is one of the lowest I’ve seen on a book I’ve actually read. There were no major dealbreaker type flaws in my view. In fact, I was quite captivated.

This checked all the boxes of a psychological thriller. The possibly untrustworthy narrator, a strange and compelling mystery to solve, a setting that toes the incredibly thin line of being either idyllic or incredibly creepy, a suspect that could as easily be a murderer or completely innocent and misunderstood…

The narrative is sprinkled with flashbacks from that pivotal past summer where everything ended up so wrong. I thought the flashbacks were handled very well and felt as compelling as the current events. It is in the past that we get to know our suspect, after all.

It all just felt very well crafted to me. The details kept me doubting my own theories, and while there were plenty of clues to the truth that was ultimately revealed, I was never sure until quite late into the story.

I wasn’t as interested in the part of the story that didn’t have to do with the mystery – her current boyfriend and the conflict she felt with spending time with his parents – but it didn’t take up much time and ultimately didn’t bother me.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. If you’re looking for a compelling psychological thriller to add an extra chill to your dark winter evenings, consider this one!

Details

Title:: The House in the Pines
Author:: Ana Reyes
Genre:: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: Dutton
Length:: 321 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 34m
Audiobook Narrator:: Marisol Ramirez
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: January 3rd, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Reappearance of Rachel Price | Holly Jackson
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline
The Haunting of Maddy Clare | Simone St. James

Book Review:: Finlay Donovan is Killing It | Elle Cosimano

What a treat this book is. Perhaps this specific flavor of mystery genre already existed before Finaly Donovan, but I’m having a hard time imagining a better execution than Finlay Donovan is Killing It. Snappy, smart, often unfortunate, but laugh out loud, gripping, and ridiculously layered, this book is a marvel of the contemporary murder mystery genre.

Things aren’t going well. Finlay is under a book deadline for a crappy contract that doesn’t even pay the bills anyway, and can’t summon the muse between dirty diapers, loose scissors (and unexpected haircuts), ailing minivan, and constantly struggling against her douchebag ex-husband who treats her like a sad woman who will be reliant on him forever. Did we mention he’s getting married again? And it’s only been a year.

Anyway, it’s a miracle she makes it to an important meeting with her agent on time, and while discussing some details about a potential murder mystery plot, a nearby voyeur mistakes her for a real life hit-woman and commissions her for a job. Despite trying to explain the misunderstanding, the woman on the other end of the phone calls doesn’t take no for an answer, and $50,000 could really turn things around for Finlay. She isn’t going to actually do anything, but she decides to hit the bar where she knows the target will be, just to see. She needs a night out, anyway. She deserves that much, at least.

From there it’s all a series of implausible but all-too-possible events that lead to a dead body in her garage, a nanny-accomplice, being a person of interest to a mob boss, and two kind-of boyfriends, both of which have the power to ruin everything. Did I mention the crochety old neighbor window-spy who misses nothing?

It’s like a game of cat and mouse except there are cats in every direction and it’s not a mouse, it’s a gerbil that was mistaken for a mouse and now has to pretend to be a mouse because she’s accidentally done a mouse-like thing and also wants to earn the money of a mouse to keep her scumbag ex-husband off her back and she just may be in mortal danger if she doesn’t keep up the mouse ruse at least a little while longer.

In short, it’s a delight, and I think you should read it. Once you start turning pages, I dare you to stop. And the best part? There’s more where that came from. This is just the start of Finlay’s adventures.

Details

Title:: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan #1)
Author:: Elle Cosimano
Genre:: Contemporary Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: Minotaur Books
Length:: 355 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 59m
Audiobook Narrator:: Angela Dawe
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: February 2nd, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

How to Solve Your Own Murder | Kristen Perrin
I Did Something Bad | Pyae Moe Thet War

The Books That Built Me | Twig, Elizabeth Orton Jones

Welcome to a new series on the blog I’m calling The Books that Built Me. I will be featuring books I’ve found formative in my life as a reader. Each post will explore one book that changed my life. I’ll share my personal history with each book and why I chose it for this series.

It’s actually a really nice exercise to think back to all the books you’ve loved before (heh, that’s not a hint, I’ve never read that series). What are the books that stand out? Which books really had a profound influence on your thinking, for however long it might have been? What was the very first book you remember loving? For me it was Twig, by Elizabeth Orton Jones.

My First Children’s Chapter Book: Twig

Twig by Elizabeth Orton Jones Book Cover

The first thing I loved about this book was the cover. Our original copy of Twig, which I still have somewhere, has a brown packaging tape spine, and a binding tape corner. It might even be from the original printing. It’s a rusty red color, and has a small illustration of the protagonist. I can see it so clearly in my mind’s eye, and it brings me such a warm feeling to recall it.

I remember laying in bed with my mom, turning to the table of contents, and seeing all the chapter names. Because all we’d read before this were story books, I erroneously thought I could pick any chapter to start with. It blew my little child’s mind that we’d have to read them in order! What if we don’t want to read some of them? What if they sound boring!

It’s a chapter book, as I mentioned, but it is also illustrated, and with the cutest little drawings! The story is about a little girl living in an apartment building. They didn’t have much, so her whole little world was her family, their neighbors, and their little yard. It was written in 1942 so there is an ice-wagon horse in the alley behind the house, and an old cat who sits on the trash can, and a family of sparrows who’ve made the apartment building their home too.

Illustration of the apartment building setting

One day, Twig finds a brightly printed empty tomato can in the yard, and she decides to build a house out of it to attract a fairy next to a robust little dandelion in the yard! She finds other things, too. A thimble, a soda bottle cap, a gum wrapper. These things turn into the furnishings. And it works! Soon a fairy comes along who is learning magic! And it grants her wish to become a fairy, too!

The illustrations are just magic. The story was so clear and bright in my mind’s eye. Twig and her fairy friend became friends with Mrs. Sparrow and even helped to hatch her eggs while she went out searching for that naughty Mr. Sparrow.

Twig sitting beside the fairy house she built, and the tiny fairy who showed up to live there!

I’ll never forget that book. I bought a second hand copy in a panic when I couldn’t find the original (they also have an ebook version you can get here), and I read it to my own children last summer. They loved it too. It’s just a perfect example to me of how books can just be magic. Sometimes they find us at the right time and implant themselves into the fabric of who we’re becoming. Twig was that for me. If it weren’t for her, who knows where I’d be?

What is the very first book you can still remember?
Share with us in the comments…

Stick around…

Here are some of my favorite books from 2024::

Book Review:: I’ll Come To You | Rebecca Kauffman

This book is my cup of tea. Like drinking a strong cup of tea at the exact right temperature, really. It warmed me up from the inside and put a contented smile on my face while I sat back in pure comfort to read. Bliss.

I'll Come to You by Rebecca Kauffman Book Cover

I’ll Come to You is a true family saga, though perhaps a little short for such a label. This novel encapsulates the space of a year for one extended family, beginning with the news of a new baby near Christmas in the mid-nineties. We hear from the mother, the father, grandparents, and siblings as they come at the recent events through their own lenses. Each of them has a history and their own troubles.

The vignettes that make up the book were each a captivating and intriguing piece of the story. Most are only a snapshot in time, perhaps lasting a few hours, but with thoughts and implications that are outside of time, existing mostly within the character’s personal history and reflections upon their own wisdom.

It is one deeply human moment after another, and I’m sad it wasn’t longer. I hope you’ll read it. I know this won’t be the last time I do.

Note:: I received an audiobook copy of this book through the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Details

Title:: I’ll Come to You
Author:: Rebecca Kauffman
Genre:: Literary Fiction
Publisher:: Counterpoint LLC
Length:: 224 pages
Audio Length:: 6h 12m
Audiobook Narrator:: Elisabeth Rodgers
Audiobook Publisher:: Recorded Books
Published:: January 7th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo
Whale Fall | Elizabeth O’Connor

Book Review:: Only in Your Dreams | Ellie K. Wilde

As you may know, timing is everything from love to war, and Melody and Zac never had theirs right.

Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde Book Cover

They met in high school, growing close as Zac and Melody’s twin brother Parker were on the same football team. They both held secret crushes on one another, but in one night all hope of potential between the two of them was dashed. Now years later Melody is back in town after a breakup she’s only now realizing was a terrible and manipulative relationship in the first place, and she and Zac face each other for the first time since that night.

He never forgot about her.

This book is what I like to call candy. It’s not hyper realistic, but it is full bodied and compelling. There’s just this layer of escapism required to really sink into. It’s like some kind of bubble gum alter reality that encapsulates the story. That’s not to say there is lots of drama, just that it’s hallmark drama. If there’s an issue, it’s a big ass issue, and he’s not just longing for her, he’s framed his whole life around her. Everything is bigger, so you can’t mistake the message.

Poor Melody was in a relationship with a real douchbag. He slowly but surely tricked her into getting the ‘right’ kind of job and having only the ‘right’ type of friends, dressing in the ‘right’ kind of clothes and eating the ‘right’ kind of foods. And then he dropped her like a hot potato when he wanted to sleep with other ladies on a boys trip.

This is what lands her back in her hometown. Her brother thinks it’s a good idea to throw her directly to the wolves when he sends her on a camping trip with a handful of friends, one of them being Zac, who she hasn’t spoken to since his broken promise all those years ago.

She’s struggling to figure out what she wants to do with her life, and Zac has been pushed into a job he wasn’t ready for as a head coach for a flailing football team. She was always his good luck charm in high school, and now she’s back.

What she finds in Oakwood is a support network surrounding her, helping her to heal from the shitty things she put up with for too long from the ex-boyfriend Cooper. Only then is she able to picture her future.

I really enjoyed this book. It pulls on the romance heartstrings we love. The boys are really protective, the feelings stretch back for years, and the reconnection is fire. It wasn’t perfect for me though. The camping trip rubbed me a bit of the wrong way and it turns out it was the basis for most of the plot in the first half of the book. I couldn’t quite give it five stars for that.

Also, this book is very spicy. Not erotica territory, but I thought I’d mention it. If you’re sensitive to spice, I’d pass on this one.

Note: I received an audiobook copy of this book from the publisher though netgalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

Details

Title:: Only in Your Dreams (Oakwood Bay #1)
Author:: Ellie K. Wilde
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Atria Books
Length:: 432 pages
Audio Length:: 14h
Audiobook Narrator:: Teddy Hamilton & Carly Robins
Audiobook Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published:: January 21st, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Rating:: 4.5

If you liked this book, check out…

The Graham Effect | Elle Kennedy
Play Along | Liz Tomforde
Business Casual | BK Borison

Book Review:: Still Beating | Jennifer Hartmann

This is the kind of book trigger warnings are meant for. This one has some brutal stuff in it, and if you can get through the first 40-ish %, you’ll find a love story that sinks into your soul. This is dark romance. Real dark. Kidnapped, locked in a basement and perpetually violated dark. Please know what you’re getting into if you decide to read it.

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann Book Cover

Cora couldn’t stand Dean, her sister’s fiancé, who grew up with them. Constant badgering, teasing – a decade of resentment. But he still came to pick her up when she drank too much and lost her wallet. And when they were both abducted together by a psychotic madman, none of it mattered anymore. They were all each other had.

Common trauma forges strong bonds. Bonds that are sometimes hard for other people to comprehend. Bonds that cannot be erased. It changes you, fundamentally, forever.

Surviving a trauma like that derails everything – even the things you thought were the most unchangeable. Having someone who was there, who understands everything you’re processing because they are too is (maybe the worst kind of) luxury. But simply understanding isn’t enough. Healing isn’t something someone can do for you. It’s hard, it takes a long time, and no, nothing will ever be the same again, but that doesn’t mean we don’t keep on living.

This is a hard book to read. It’s horrifying, repulsive, and grotesque, at times. But it’s also a story I’ll probably never forget. The impression it leaves is a deep one, and it didn’t leave me feeling discouraged or morose, but hopeful. It’s a story of human resilience and courage. About lifting yourself up when all you feel like doing is drowning in your own grief and sorrow. It feels important. Beautiful, in its way, and I’m glad I read it.

Details

Title:: Still Beating
Author:: Jennifer Hartmann
Genre:: Dark Romance
Publisher:: Bloom Books
Length:: 448 pages
Audio Length:: 12h 7m
Audiobook Narrator:: Laurie West & Christina Black
Audiobook Publisher:: Tantor Audio
Published:: December 30th, 2020
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars
Spice Rating:: 3

If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
I Think I Was Murdered | Coleen Coble & Rick Acker
Butcher and Blackbird | Brynne Weaver

Book Review:: Where the Black Line Ends | Meagan Williamson

Where do I start with this one? I went through most of this book expecting it to fall firmly into three-star territory. But then I finished it. The last 15% had me debating five. So let’s begin with basics: is this an indie romance worth your time? Absolutely.

Where the Black Line Ends by Meagan Williamson Book Cover

Reed and Hailey are two people with complicated relationships with their parents. They meet on a plane and don’t realize they’re both going to the same place – literally. They’re both starting new jobs on the Iron Summit Fire crew, Reed as a fireman, Hailey as an EMT. It’s where her father works, and by a strange twist of fate, he’s a man Reed knows from a formative childhood camping trip. Some might say fate has brought them together 🙂

The strength of this book is in the complex character relationships. First, great characters: Reed is a golden retriever puppy, the kind who is always looking for the next exciting thing and shies away from getting scolded. He always means well, but he’s gotten very good at running away when things get hard. Hailey’s past is full of grief and rejection. She’s coming back home as a last-ditch effort to connect to the father who never knew how when she was a kid after her mother died when she was born. It’s a big web of intersecting lives weaving in and amongst one another in a very organic and skillful way. Everyone, by the end, is meaningfully connected on par with one of my favorite romances of all time, The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker. The emotional impact is undeniable.

The biggest issue for me in this book was the pacing. The beginning felt like it was stretched out far too long and further in the book there are weeks upon weeks that are glossed over. I wanted to sit in more of the conflict, I wanted longer intimate (not spicy, but intimate) scenes between characters. Without giving spoilers, I wanted to see the most emotional scenes, not just the aftermath of them. I wanted to see all the down and dirty details so I could feel it the same way as the characters. I wanted the hurts to hurt more at the time, not sinking in slowly afterwards. Skipping around like that can take a reader out of the story as they try to piece together what they missed, and that was the case for me multiple times with this book. I literally flipped back a few times to see if I missed a chapter.

Despite those flaws, it still made me cry. There were two moments that really got me, and one of them had real tears streaming down my face. The resolution really felt well executed (apart from the time jumping). The characters got the well-justified resolutions they deserved, so much so that in my heart I feel like it should be a five-star book. I just can’t go all the way there with the pacing being such a flaw for me.

Note…

Reading this book in the midst of the L.A. fires (2025) gave the story extra weight. I live in a state that struggles with wildfires anyway, but literally seeing the flames in the news every day as I read enhanced the impact of those scenes in the book. These firefighters are superheroes, and that’s not an exaggeration. They are doing God’s work.

Thank you to all who put their lives on the line every time they go out there to fight such a dangerous element so others of us can stay safe. You are loved and appreciated. Thank you, thank you.

Details

Title:: Where the Black Line Ends (Remember Me)
Author:: Meagan Williamson
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Indie
Length:: 332 pages
Published:: October 29th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Rating:: 2

If you liked this book, check out…

The Simple Wild | K.A. Tucker (Review Forthcoming)
Before We Were Us | Denise Hunter
Haunted Ever After | Jen DeLuca

Book Review:: Whale Fall | Elizabeth O’Connor

In the years between the Great Wars, two unexpected things happen on a remote Welsh island: a whale washes ashore, and two English stenographers arrive. For a young girl who knows nothing outside of her island, it seems like the chance of a lifetime.

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor Book Cover

Manod is an island native, along with her sister and her father. Life on the island is hard, but the people there are not afraid of hard work and difficult conditions. This is what the visiting ethnographers seem to be most interested in, and Manod agrees to help them understand her island and her people.

This is a beautiful, concise novel about the converging of cultures, exploitation, and the possibility of The Unknown.

I thought it was a very powerful story about a young woman coming into herself and deciding what it is she wants from life, sometimes trusting where she naught ought, and helping others where she’s able.

Elizabeth O’Connor comes from a background in short stories, and I feel like it shows, in the best way. It is written in a way that is clear and detailed, while also using symbolism and allusion to keep some things open to interpretation. This is her debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

Details

Title:: Whale Fall
Author:: Elizabeth O’Connor
Genre:: Historical Literary Fiction
Publisher:: Pantheon
Length:: 224 pages
Audio Length:: 3h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Dyfrig Morris, Gabrielle Glaister, Gwyneth Keyworth, Jot Davies, & Nick Griffiths
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: May 7th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Cheesemaker’s Daughter | Kristen Vukovic
Daughter of Ruins | Yvette Manessis Corporon
What the River Knows | Isabel Ibanez
The Familiar | Leigh Bardugo

Book Review:: Babylonia | Costanza Casati

Ancient history fascinates me. Getting to read such vibrant and extensively-researched fictional interpretations like this one is such a treat.

Babylonia by Costanza Casati Hardcover Book Cover

Babylonia is the story of a girl who came from nothing. Less than nothing, some might argue. Semiramus was born into shame, but by mercy of the gods, she survived. She became a young woman beaten down by hardship with only her own wits to rely upon. They serve her well as she navigates her fate in the ancient Assyrian Empire.

Because of her hard upbringing, Semiramus never takes anything for granted. She knows what it is to suffer and to live in squalor, so when she comes to the greatest city in the Empire and gets to live in a palace, she doesn’t get complacent. She also has no fear. She befriends slaves and wild leopards. She does not let the King’s mother or the court’s spy master intimidate her. She trains with weapons like a soldier with her husband, and then by herself.

Babylonia by Costanza Casati Paperback Book Cover

When the army comes home from their siege at Balkh begging for more troops, Semiramus volunteers to come as one of the climbers. She does not take no for an answer, her husband and her King need help, and she is not one to sit idly by. Then, when there, she sees an opportunity the King’s advisors did not, and it leads them to great success. This clever act of bravery is yet another turn in her story that leads her down a more complicated and treacherous path she could never have anticipated.

This novel is beautifully immersive and speckled with immaculate detail. The names, the rituals, the exhibitions, battles, the dramas…I loved every minute of it. She is an example of making lemonade out of a few raggedy lemons and the importance of taking control of your own destiny. She is a strong woman in a time of strong women, and an absolute pleasure to read about.

I am so grateful to the publisher and netgalley for granting me an early review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Details

Title:: Babylonia: A Novel
Author:: Costanza Casati
Genre:: Mythological Fiction
Publisher:: Sourcebooks Landmark
Length:: 448 pages
Audio Length:: 16h 21m
Audiobook Narrator:: Ayesha Antoine
Audiobook Publisher:: Recorded Books
Published:: January 14th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars