Tag: 4-Star

Book Review:: Haunted Ever After | Jen DeLuca

Summer is the season for beach read romances. Fall is the season for darker stories of mystery and delicious twists. Haunted Ever After fills the gap between the two like it was conceived to bridge it. A ghost story romance set in a small-town in Florida is the perfect read for the end of summer as the days grow shorter, and the supernatural veil begins to thin.

Haunted Ever After Jen DeLuca Book Cover

Cassie Rutherford is looking for something to call her own. In a crazy real estate market, she ends up buying a flipped home in the tiny coastal town of Boneyard Key which boasts of being the most haunted town in Florida. Tourist towns all have a bogus kitsch to bring in money, but when strange things start happening around her historical home, and the locals claim authenticity, she realizes she may have been a little hasty in her move away from Orlando. But the sunsets from her backyard beach can’t be beat, and Nick Royer, the hunk who runs the cafe, might just be exactly what she’s been looking for.

Boneyard Key is the quirky, lovable setting we love in a small-town romance. The punny shop names, the locals-only hidden gems, the colorful cast of characters, and, of course, the gossip no one can ever escape.

Nick is a BK native with an abandonment complex that leaves him resentful toward outsiders and defensive about the town he grew up in. When Cassie has to use his shop to plug in her laptop so she doesn’t miss an important work meeting, he mistakes her for a workaholic tourist in a yummy, conflict-ridden meet cute I ate up like candy. Our lead characters both know who they are and are okay on their own, which makes their slow-fall romance all the more delicious.

The main conflict of the story is the mysterious haunting of the house Cassie bought. Abandoned for decades, she is the first person to reside in the house since the original owners in the early twentieth century. With the help of local historians, Buster the handyman, a bona-fide medium, and our hunky hero, they inch ever closer to the root of the issue.

I really appreciated that despite the twisty mystery, the tone remained in romantic comedy territory. This is a fun, light-hearted read that won’t scare you away with any dark twists. It has themes of female empowerment, strong community, and giving yourself permission to grow, change, and move on. This isn’t a psychological thriller, I had the twist figured out about a hundred pages before Cassie did, but it’s an interesting conflict that entangles and complicates the rising action of the romance.

I’m so glad I was fortunate enough to be chosen as an ARC reader for this book. I had a smile on my face through the whole thing. It was a joy to read, and I recommend it for any fan of romantic comedies!

Also, I now have an undeniable craving for a buffalo tender sub sandwich from Publix and a sunset walk on the beach. Unfortunately, I live in Colorado, so neither is in my immediate future – ha!

Details

Title:: Haunted Ever After (Boneyard Key #1)
Author:: Jen DeLuca
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 51m
Audiobook Narrator:: Jeannie Sheneman
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: August 13th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Level:: 1

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If you liked this book, check out…

Savor It | Tarah Dewitt
Thank You for Listening | Julia Whelan

Book Review:: We’ll Prescribe You A Cat | Syou Ishida

Cats are the heroes of the internet. They bring smiles to even the grouchiest faces. But what happens when you go to someone for psychiatric help, and they send you home with one as treatment?!

We'll Prescribe You A Cat Syou Ishida Book Cover

Shuta is a timid corporate drone in Kyoto with low mental health. Nothing has seemed to work for him, and when he hears of a unique clinic through the grapevine, he decides to give it one last chance. He is miserable at his job, and after a desperate plea to be seen right away, the doctor prescribes him a cat to look after. Shuta is stunned, and takes the carrier filled with a cat named Bee and a large bag of supplies home with him in a stupor of shock, wondering how in the world he ended up here.

This is the first of four parables in this book about the mysterious Nakagyo Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. Those in need of healing find themselves drawn in by the clinic by word of mouth and leave with a new feline companion. In each case, the cat draws attention to a true cause of turbulence in their life (whether they realized what it was beforehand or not), harking to a whole-istic type of medicine. Heal the soul, the rest will follow.

As the book progresses, an element of magical realism begins to seep through until it culminates in a resolution in the last chapter. I was happy to learn more about the elusive clinic-it is the string that runs through what would otherwise simply be a book of short stories.

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat has been translated by E. Madison Shimoda from the original Japanese. Something about the style makes everything feel a little bit exaggerated. The situations, the internal monologue of the characters, and even the dialogue. It feels like a cultural difference compared to more western-style novels, and it was refreshing to read, in a way. While there were plenty of details, it felt more descriptive than immersive for me.

This book is a charming reminder that humans need connection. Opening the door to new experiences will usually lead to new opportunities that would have otherwise passed you by. Sometimes the simple act of caring for another living creature is enough to bring us out of our own issues enough to make a meaningful difference. If nothing else, the cats in this book will make you smile.

Thank you to NetGalley & Berkley for sending me an ARC copy of this novel for free in exchange for an honest review.

Details

Title:: We’ll Prescribe You A Cat
Author:: Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda
Genre:: Literary Fiction
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 304 pages
Audio Length:: 7h 8m
Audiobook Narrator:: Naruto Komatsu & Natsumi Kuroda
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: September 3rd, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

My (Not So) Perfect Life | Sophie Kinsella
Amazing Grace Adams | Fran Littlewood

Book Review:: The Last Love Note | Emma Grey

What comes after losing the ones we love? We hold the ones we have left more dearly & live the rest of our days the best we can. The Last Love Note is a beautiful story about love, grief, healing, and a strong woman forging a new path forward with the pieces left after life shatters around her.

The Last Love Note Emma Grey Book Cover

Kate and Cam fell madly in love in college and never looked back. They married and started a beautiful family. Life wasn’t a cakewalk — they had the usual problems of early marriage: jobs to navigate, whether to expand their family & when… Then things begin to fall apart with an unexpected diagnosis.

This is a story told in two timelines. One is the past, as Kate and Cam navigate the trials and tribulations of Cam’s diagnosis, the other is the present, with Kate on a work trip with her boss, Hugh, who has become a close family friend. Kate is still processing her grief, but it’s been a few years, and her friends are encouraging her to open herself back up to possibility. And Hugh, Hugh is there to help her find her way.

I imagine this book captures the complicated feelings of widowhood quite beautifully. The guilt, the betrayal, the responsibility, and the sheer surprise of any sort of feelings stirring up again. It is both utterly romantic, and heartbreaking. It is a beautiful story, and it was beautifully written.

On the side of flaws, I would say the pacing is overall quite slow. In contrast, the opening sequence was funny and punchy, but I didn’t feel it quite matched with the rest of the story, which was much more retrospective, and, well, gloomy. It also left me a little muddled as to what I should be paying attention to, if I’m honest. I go into books blind (no blurbs), and the false romantic interest threw me off until probably 25% into the book and I realized who we were really there to watch. In retrospect, I can appreciate the details, but it takes a minute to get into. However, if you stick with it, ye shall be rewarded.

This is the kind of book that lingers. I find myself thinking of it every once in awhile, even weeks later, and when I do, I get this big warm fuzzy feeling in my chest that makes me want to read it again. If you are a sucker for true romance, and don’t mind a little bit of real life heartbreak, you’re going to love it.

Details

Title:: The Last Love Note
Author:: Emma Grey
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Zibby Books
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 32m
Audiobook Narrator:: Leeanna Walsman
Audiobook Publisher:: Zibby Books
Published:: November 28th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

This Summer Will Be Different | Carley Fortune
In The Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Amazing Grace Adams | Fran Littlewood

Book Review:: The Graham Effect | Elle Kennedy

What is it about sports romance? As someone with no interest in athletics whatsoever, I never thought I’d enjoy reading them, but I got curious and picked one off of KU (Kindle Unlimited – no risk!) and just see. Well. Ahem. Since then, I’ve read my fair share, and – no one is more surprised to hear what I’m about to say than I am – they’re awesome.

The Graham Effect Elle Kennedy Book Cover

Gigi Graham, daughter of legendary hockey phenom Garrett Graham, has her heart set on the Olympics. She’s played hockey her whole life and loves the sport. Trouble is, the national team is dragging their toes in finalizing their roster, and has hinted at her weaknesses behind the goal. Luke Ryder is the new co-captain of the men’s team, which recently merged with another (rival) college that went under. He’s had to work hard for everything his whole life, and is just hoping to not screw anything up for himself this last year of college. His reputation is hanging by a thread after an incident the year before. Garrett Graham is looking for a coach for a training camp he runs for youngsters, and Ryder wants the spot – badly enough to offer to help the renowned coach’s daughter to work on her hockey weaknesses in exchange for a good word with her dad. Sparks fly and secrets begin to pile up as Gigi and Ryder pursue the futures they’ve always dreamed of.

At almost 500 pages, you really get to sit in this story for awhile. For some, that might be a turnoff, but I almost always welcome large page counts, if the story supports them. Could it have been shorter? Of course. But with all the subplots introduced, the author really gives each their time in the sun and weaves through all the subtleties, creating a story just as complex as real life can be. And each thread was tied up nicely with a bow by the end. I was personally glad to have so much time with the characters.

This is the first book I’ve ever read of Elle Kennedy, but I’ve read this is the first book in a spinoff second-generation series. I like that idea. I’m assuming that Garret Graham was a hero of one of the first-generation books. He seems like he’d have been a great leading man back in the day *eyebrow wiggle*. I feel like there is enough of him in this book to satisfy fans of the previous series too. It’s always fun to see old characters make new story cameos, right?

I docked a star because the secrecy stretches on a little long for me. It kept coming up and I felt like I was reading the same we’re not ready to reveal ourselves yet over and over (maybe if it wasn’t spelled out so frequently it wouldn’t have bothered me as much). While I found this book compelling and entertaining and sweet, it was missing some deeper X-Factor for me I can’t quite put my finger on. All the elements were there, but it didn’t quite reach 5-star status for me (I don’t hand ’em out easy!).

I’d recommend this book for those who are big fans of sports romance, or are just looking for a good college romance to sink their teeth into for the summer. The great news is, if you like it, there are a lot more to keep you busy reading for some time to come!

Details

Title:: The Graham Effect (Campus Diaries #1)
Author:: Elle Kennedy
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: EKI
Length:: 498 pages
Audio Length:: 14h 3m
Audiobook Narrator:: CJ Bloom & Teddy Hamilton
Audiobook Publisher:: Tantor Audio
Published:: October 31, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Rating:: 4

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If you liked this book, check out…

Play Along | Liz Tomforde
King of Wrath | Ana Huang

Book Review:: The Unhoneymooners | Christina Lauren

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren is a fun and hilarious quick summer read that will have you turning page after page to find out what happens next. From the get go, this book grabs hold of your attention and doesn’t let go until the third act, where I personally felt it had some problems. Not enough to ruin the entire effect though, and of course, we get our happy ending.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Book Cover

Olive is the unlucky twin. Cursed, really. Ami is the one who seems to get any and everything she wants. So when Olive is (almost) the only one who doesn’t get sudden and graphic food poisoning the night of Ami’s wedding, and is the only one who can redeem the honeymoon to Hawaii Ami won, it seems too good to be true. And it is. The only other person at the wedding who didn’t eat the tainted dinner, is the groom’s brother, Ethan — the one Olive has never gotten along with — and he’s taking his brother’s spot on the honeymoon trip. They’re reluctant to go together, but figure they can avoid each other and enjoy the tropics individually…that is, until they have a few run-ins with people they know and need to team up to navigate the complications.

This thing is built on tropes, folks. Enemies to lovers, misunderstandings, forced proximity, fake dating, one bed (it is the honeymoon suite after all) — I may even be missing a few. For me, sometimes the fake dating trope can be done real badly, but I think in this book the logic tracks, despite the extremely high likelihood they wouldn’t run into anyone they know there, let alone two such someones…in the same day. It may require a bit of suspension of disbelief, but if you can get there, the antics are pretty sweet.

It all works so well — until it doesn’t. When Ethan and Olive get back to real life and the unhoneymoon is over, things, of course, start to fall apart. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the third act conflict rubbed me the wrong way in this one. The trust between the two characters was broken (no cheating – can’t leave you guys hanging like that), and for me that’s hard to recover from. However, it was one of the more fun, funny, and entertaining books I’ve read this summer. Compelling, too. If you’re anything like me, you’ll fly through it. If you’re a fan of romantic comedy or just looking for a fun vacation read, this one is a great option!

Details

Title:: The Unhoneymooners
Author:: Christina Lauren
Genre:: Romantic Comedy
Publisher:: Gallery Books
Length:: 432 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 14m
Audiobook Narrator:: Cynthia Farrell & Deacon Lee
Audiobook Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published:: May 14th, 2019
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Rating:: 3

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If you liked this book, check out…

DNAduo Duology | Christina Lauren (The Soulmate Equation & The True Love Experiment)
Funny Story | Emily Henry
PS I Hate You | Lauren Connolly

Book Review:: Savor It | Tarah Dewitt

Brace yourselves for another lovely summer romance novel. Savor It, by Tarah Dewitt is a new release for summer 2024 and I think it’s a crowd pleaser. If you love cozy small town achingly sweet romances, look no further.

Savor It Tarah Dewitt Book Cover

Finch is a gourmet chef in New York City who’s lost his edge. After an incident in the city, his former boss whisks him off to a small-time project she’s fielding on the Oregon coast while he gets his poop in a group and is ready to come back to the big time. Bringing with him the angsty niece he’s the guardian for, he’s looking to recover his mojo and get the heck out of dodge. He’s from a small town, and another one is the last place he wants to be. But then his cute hobby-farm tending new neighbor shows up in a moment of need in a…unique cow print robe looking for her three-legged cat (Legoless) and plenty of sage advice, and suddenly his summer might not be the absolute misery he expected.

Sage (the homegirl neighbor) is still trying to find herself after a very public breakup with her high school sweetheart (everything is very public in a town as small as Spunes Oregan). Competing and winning the local summer competition will be the way she can prove to herself (and everyone else) that she is capable of anything. She just needs to find a partner for the rowing competition. When the new renters show up next door, everything clicks into place, and she might get more out of this than just a rowing partner. The thing is…he’s not sticking around. What if the feelings threatening to spark start to get out of hand? This small town is everything to Sage. She has roots here that run deep. So a future together is impossible — right?

This book felt like it could be the beginning of a successful standalone romance series (but I don’t think it is?). Sage has three older brothers, and the little town of Spunes is full of quirky characters that bring vibrant color to the world. I loved Sage’s dynamic with her brothers, and honestly, I hope she writes stories for them, too. I want to know more about the relationship of Sage’s oldest brother and his ex-wife. So much to work with there! Tarah, are you listening? 🙂

If you enjoy small town vibes, this book has them in spades. Sage’s hobby farm makes you want to shluff off onto your own acerage and adpot a giant dog, several geese, and a clydesdale. As a gardener, Sage’s garden sounds like a dream. The setting wraps around you like a hug.

Sage and Finch are good together. She’s a teacher and an aunt and she’s used to dealing with kids Finch’s niece’s age. He loves to use her ingredients as inspiration for new recipes. They have a deeper connection than just the attraction. Sometimes romance novels don’t have a hell of a lot of actual romance, but that’s not the case here. These characters fit into each other’s lives, and I loved watching them fall. It’s the kind of book that leaves you with a sweet aftertaste, you know?

I loved that the ending wasn’t the typical cliche, but to avoid spoilers, that’s all I’ll say. Yes, don’t worry, they get their HEA 😉

Spice Level: Tasteful.

Details

Title:: Savor It
Author:: Tarah Dewitt
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Griffin
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 5m
Audiobook Narrator:: Karissa Vacker & Zachary Webber
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: May 21st, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

Linky Links!!

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

If you liked this book, check out…

Thank You for Listening | Julia Whelan
Haunted Ever After | Jen DeLuca
The Tourist Attraction | Sarah Morgenthaler

Book Review:: This Summer Will Be Different | Carley Fortune

I sank into this book like a hot knife through butter. I savored the rich descriptions and sentences dripping with longing and heat. This is Carley Fortune’s third book and she’s made it abundantly clear she is a great writer. She knows how to set a tone. Her stories have this dark cloud over them, looming as a melancholic backdrop, not so subtly shouting how miserable the characters have made themselves with past choices. In theory, I love that. But for some reason with her books, it ends up leaving a sour taste in my mouth (though this one is not nearly as sour as Every Summer After, I must say. Girly MC really blew it in that one). But man, the writing. It’s undeniable. Take the first line for example::

I cupped my hands over my eyes so I could gulp down the view.

This Summer Will Be Different Carley Fortune Book Cover

Lucy and Bridget are the best of friends. They met as adults in Toronto, and quickly grew to be inseparable. On their first planned girls trip to Prince Edward Island, where Bridget is from and where her family still lives, Bridget is unexpectedly delayed, leaving Lucy alone for her first night on the island. She meets someone shucking oysters at dinner she has an instant firecracker connection with, and they share a night of passion together most only dream of.

In the morning, Lucy realizes…he’s Bridget’s brother — the one she made Lucy promise to stay away from after his heart was recently put through the grinder by a local.

Let the lies begin.

Instead of fessing up to what had happened on accident (I don’t think I can say innocently after a night like that!), both Felix and Lucy lie their faces off to both Bridget and themselves. There is a connection there that’s undeniable, and trying to pretend there isn’t never seems to work.

Flash forward several years, and we are days away from Bridget’s wedding when she calls Lucy, desperate to get her to drop everything and spend a few days on PEI. She won’t say what’s wrong, but it is out of character for her friend to make an ask like this. So she goes, despite her epic current workload, and the fact that Felix will be there too.

He held my gaze for less than a second. I saw him, and he saw me, and in that blink of time, something passed between us.

The prologue of this book is delicious: rich, satisfying, steamy, and leaves you craving more. Then the story begins, and falls a little flat for me. The longing continues to be just as magnetic and scorching, but…I mean…there’s just a lot of it. Most of the first half of the book feels quite repetitive to be honest. Lucy wants Felix but refuses to give in (again) to the temptation, and Bridget constantly refuses to bring up why she drug Lucy out to PEI, at, like, the worst possible time. Like, girl, just spill the deets, quit being so unreasonable here! It feels like scene after scene of Lucy and Felix trying to tip toe around Bridget, setting up about a billion little moments of L&F being alone together…which, come on. I get that making the same mistakes over and over is kind of the theme of this book (hello title), I just feel like it could have been a little cleaner.

After all that, when things finally start to progress, it does pick up. Turns out Bridget has a good reason to have this emergency pal pow-wow, and Lucy finally starts to make some progress in righting the things that aren’t working in her life. In the end, I did enjoy the book, it just seemed to take far too long to get to the point, you know?

For me, the part that shined was the physical tug between Lucy & Felix. Every sentence was dripping with magnetism. Very visceral, almost abstract descriptions. You could feel the tension. I think Fortune probably knew that, which is why there’s so much. But when you convey things that well, you don’t need as many words. Turns out too much of a good thing is still too much.

My favorite detail in the book were the seed packet/book exchanges between Lucy & Felix. What a simple and ‘innocent’ little routine that was just drenched in their true feelings. Loved it. And my least favorite thing? Can I say Lucy’s personality? Lol. She was so stubborn about things that felt inevitable. Open your eyes, girl, or stop being so miserable with your choices! Luckily she stopped getting in her own way…eventually.

I wasn’t lying when I said I savored this book. Even the paperback edition I pre-ordered is lovely. Lovely cover and smooth beautiful pages. I found myself flipping through it again and again just for the page feel. Where my other book nerds at? You know what I mean!

It wasn’t my favorite read of the summer, but it is certainly worth picking up! Carley Fortune is an auto-buy author for me. You can trust that the prose will wax poetic, even if the greater story might be a little flawed. Obviously I have mixed feelings, but I can’t bring myself to dole out less than four stars.

If you’ve read it, let’s talk in the comments. I want to know all your pros/cons on this one!

Details

Title:: This Summer Will Be Different
Author:: Carley Fortune
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 31m
Audiobook Narrator:: AJ Bridel & Carley Fortune
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: May 7th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

Linky Links!!

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

If you liked this book, check out…

Funny Story | Emily Henry
The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo
PS I Hate You | Lauren Connolly