Bestseller Archives - The Litertarian

Book Review:: The Heiress | Rachel Hawkins

Rachel Hawkins is a master of subtle psychological thrillers. Her books have a flair for being compelling contemporary reads with a dark twist. I’ve read them all, and they’re all worth your time. While The Wife Upstairs is my favorite (I mean, it’s an echo of my favorite book of all time, Jane Eyre – hard to beat that), The Heiress comes in a close second.

Everyone has secrets. Cam and Jules are an ordinary couple working meager jobs to afford their Colorado rental. The secret is that they don’t have to. Cameron is the heir of Ruby McTavish, an Appalachian princess married and widowed four times before her death ten years before. He’s a multi-millionaire, but he doesn’t want anything to do with the money, or Ashby House, the mansion he inherited, and the few remaining family members who remain inside it. But after a couple of cryptic emails, he knows he can no longer put off the inevitable. He has to go back. The past has a way with catching up to you.

Cam’s family is deplorable. They resented his mother, and they resent him even more for the decisions she made. He was always an outsider, and they weren’t afraid to let him know it. It was an unhappy childhood he ran from as soon as he got the chance, but even putting an entire country between himself and his past isn’t enough to save him from it.

Ashby house is the perfect gothic setting. A mansion full of old portraits and antiques in every room, a sprawling property in a dangerous wooded area, all fallen into grotesque disrepair-Bronte couldn’t have written it better herself.

A big chunk of this novel was comprised of letters written by the heiress, Ruby, in what turned out to be her last weeks. Her life was plagued by rumor, and she decides to finally set the record straight, if only in private correspondence. Though she is long dead in the narrative, the letters bring her to life in such a vibrant way, and the contents of the letters are…captivating.

The theme seems to ask an age-old question: are people who do bad things, bad people? Is it our surroundings who make us who we are, or is our nature buried someplace deep inside us, impregnable to corruption? It certainly doesn’t answer the question, but it begs the question with every carefully crafted character, and a plot that often swerves in unexpected directions.

I was gripped by this story early on, and ate up every twist and turn. Fans of Colleen Hoover’s Verity, or the author Lucy Foley (The Midnight Feast, The Paris Apartment) will enjoy the suspense and intrigue of this book. While there is some darkness in these pages, it wasn’t scary, so I feel like it’s a good choice for people who enjoy thrillers, but are a little wimpy, like me!

Details

Title:: The Heiress
Author:: Rachel Hawkins
Genre:: Gothic Mystery
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Press
Length:: 294 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 20m
Audiobook Narrator:: Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, & Patti Murin
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: January 9th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

Book Review:: The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Socttoline

A dead body. Brotherly love. This book starts out with a bang.

The Truth About the Devlins Lisa Scottoline Book Cover

John Devlin, the golden boy of the family, comes to his brother with a terrified confession: he’s just killed someone. TJ is the ‘messed up’ one of the family, so of course John chose him for his absolution. TJ is an alcoholic. He’s served jail time. But he’s been sober two years now and is on the straight and narrow – making something of himself. TJ also works as an investigator for their family’s law firm, and he loves his brother, so he agrees to help…but when they get back to the quarry, the body is gone. They don’t know if the guy was still alive, or if he had some conspirators cleaning up what happened, either way, John is fucked, and TJ is determined to help him. But the guy has disappeared, and weird shit starts happening-then John changed his story, throwing TJ under the bus. Now TJ isn’t just fighting to keep his brother safe, but himself, his reputation, and the lives of those around him.

Gah, I loved this book. I’ve already ordered several more titles from Lisa Scottoline and can’t wait to read more from this incredible author. But let’s talk about this one first!

So if you can’t tell by my summary, TJ is an underdog, and damn if we don’t love an underdog story. He isn’t a loud person – he plays his cards close to his chest – and he’s one to show them through actions, not words. Sometimes people are slow to see that, and when there are other people telling lies about you, and you’ve already done the worst possible thing a scumbag can do (in the past), you don’t feel like you can defend yourself. But TJ is a changed man. He’s doing his best, one day at a time. He’s a hero I love to root for. A character like this carries the whole book on his back like it’s nothing. Excellent character.

The rest of the characters were also pretty great. The father seemed a little wishy washy with how strong his convictions were, then turning on a dime at one point, but that’s a father for you (lol), and my only complaint.

The plot is complex and layered and so frigging juicy. There is a lot going on and it’s all a mystery to unravel, but it doesn’t tug apart too easy.

Basically, it’s a banger, and I cannot recommend it more highly. If you’re in the mood for a thriller…”pick me, choose me, love me!”

Details

Title:: The Truth About the Devlins
Author:: Lisa Scottoline
Genre:: Thriller/Suspense
Publisher:: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 40m
Audiobook Narrator:: Edoardo Ballerini, Lisa Scottoline
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: March 26th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

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Author Website
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[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whelan
The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister

Book Review:: The Reappearance of Rachel Price | Holly Jackson

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson is a nonstop whirlwind of twists and clues and intrigue I couldn’t put down. It’s about a young girl’s search for the truth, but more than that, it’s about the stories we tell ourselves. To make sense of the world. To cope. To survive.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price Holly Jackson Book Cover

Bell and her family are in the middle of filming interviews for a new true-crime documentary coming out about the disappearance of her mother sixteen years ago, when she was presumably taken from their car with Bell still in the back seat. Bell was so young she doesn’t remember the woman, but considering her body was never found, she always suspected her mother left her voluntarily. Now, Rachel Price walks back into town, ragged and ruined, claiming she’d been locked in someone’s basement all this time. Bells’s world is turned upside down with her mother invading every space that used to be just her and her father. And she’s also noticed a few inconsistencies in Rachel’s story. She tries to be accepting, tries to ignore the oddities prickling the back of her mind, but then she notices another, and another, and can’t let it go. With the help of one of the members of the documentary crew, and her cousin Carter, Bell continues to search for the answers to unlock the past of her family.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. The YA/Not YA distinction is blurry at best these days, and I was thinking this was going to be a kind of ‘soft’ mystery either way, but oh boy, this thing gets dark. Think Veronica Mars. Young girl investigator (18), real, horrible crimes.

The length is perfect, the pacing is excellent, the tension and mystery propelled me forward irresistibly. The investigation was just so compelling! We didn’t know if Rachel really was lying, hiding something, or she was just traumatized and that explained away the inconsistencies. I was on board with Bell all the way through, and man, it really had me going. This is the kind of book where you dream of getting that first read back.

Tis the season for dark suspense novels, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend this one with enthusiasm. The Reappearance of Rachel Price is an excellent novel, and I can’t wait to read more from Holly Jackson!

Details

Title:: The Reappearance of Rachel Price
Author:: Holly Jackson
Genre:: Suspense/Thriller
Publisher:: Delacorte Press
Length:: 448 pages
Audio Length:: 16h 34m
Audiobook Narrator:: Sophie Amoss
Audiobook Publisher:: Listening Library
Published:: April 2nd, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Book Review:: Ruthless Vows | Rebecca Ross

Letters of Enchantment Book #2 (conclusion)

[Book One is Divine Rivals – skip this review if you haven’t read it yet! There will be rampant book one spoilers!]

The last pages of Divine Rivals left me SO nervous. I was terrified it was going to be similar to a Hunger-Games-Peeta situation, but it was clear pretty early that was not going to be the case. Maybe that’s a spoiler, but it held me back from picking this book up for a few weeks, because my heart couldn’t take that! So for anyone else in the same boat, know it’s okay. This book isn’t going to run your heart through a shredder in that same agonizing, irreparable way.

The war between gods continues with fervor. Dacre moves relentlessly toward the city of Oath and his estranged god-wife Enva. Corruption in the city has left it unprepared for the invasion Dacre is planning. Iris is back in town, working at the newspaper with Attie and they’re striving, as ever, for the truth. Meanwhile, Roman wakes up among Dacre’s ranks with no memory of who he is, or how he came to be there. He is tasked with writing articles for Dacre, from his side of the war, in direct opposition of Iris and friends. But he’s still using the Aluette typewriter, and Iris is determined to save him.

This is a book about war. War is violent and messy and maims or destroys everything it touches. Rebecca Ross did a great job keeping that front of mind. There was no character unscathed by their experiences in this story, but in the end, there was hope. There was always hope, and that’s the key to a story with so much darkness.

If you loved the romance of Divine Rivals, rejoice! This book is still very romantic. Iris and Roman’s romance is plagued by distance and danger, but there are other sparks kindling, too. I loved the subtlety of Attie’s love story told in lingering looks, concern, and quiet conversation. I loved that Forest was able to find someone to share himself with, too. Within the darkness, there is always light.

The focus, of course, is not the romance, but the whole saving-the-world-as-we-know-it thing. Rest assured, there is plenty of action in the relentlessly paced plot. So much is at stake, and success isn’t guaranteed. The tension is strung tight, but there are little moments of respite sprinkled in too that offer great balance.

This book had to accomplish so much. It is the conclusion of the series, and from where Divine Rivals ended, there was a lot of ground left to cover. This book was far more heavy on the magic and fantasy, but since book one eased us in, I still think it’s a great entry-level fantasy book those unused to the subject could easily devour.

There is nothing in this duology I would change. It’s wonderful. No notes! If it were up to me, it would be required reading! I know I will personally be rereading these beautiful books many many times, and the hardcovers look gorgeous on their well-earned place on my bookshelf.

Details

Title:: Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)
Author:: Rebecca Ross
Genre:: Historical Fantasy
Publisher:: Wednesday Books
Length:: 432 pages
Audio Length:: 14h 6m
Audiobook Narrator:: Alex Wingfield & Rebecca Norfolk
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: December 26th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Divine Rivals | Rebecca Ross

Book Review:: Divine Rivals | Rebecca Ross

Letters of Enchantment Book #1

Holy hell, I was not prepared for this book. I like to go into new stories blind, especially the hyped ones, and this one has earned its reputation. In fact, I’m not sure it’s popular enough! Y’all have to read this.

Iris E. Winnow has taken a job as an obituary writer at a local newspaper after her brother went off to war, fighting for a god, leaving her alone with her alcoholic mother to care for. She is in direct competition with fellow newspaper cleric Roman C. Kit for a columnist job. For Roman, it’s supposed to be the start of a respectable career, pressured heavily by his father – for Iris, it could change her and her mother’s entire lives. In the evenings, Iris types out long letters to her brother, but each and every one of them are unanswered. He’s disappeared. Then one day, a reply shows up…in her wardrobe. She and the mystery correspondent who wrote to her strike up an unlikely friendship through the pair of magically connected typewriters, and she resolves, eventually, to do anything she can to find her brother and bring him back home.

That’s all I’ll say without revealing too much. But Magical typewriters? Rivals to…more? FMC with a hero complex (in a good way)? Genuine friendships with good people? What is there not to love?

When I was young, I read a WWI YA romance – a random choice at the library (all the best ones are – aren’t they?). I can’t remember what it was for the life of me, but this book has me back in those same feels. It harks of a time where words wooed, expectations of ‘the right path’ were high, and love was quick and all-consuming in a different sort of way. When you find something you love in a war-torn world – you hold on tight and make each moment count, because anything might happen next.

Iris is not only pulling herself up by her bootstraps and earning every inch of what she has, she is constantly in search of more she can do, ways she can be of service. Listening to the accounts of soldiers in the divine wars, helping with evacuations…Iris is a symbol of many real-life heroes that existed in a war-torn Britian once upon a time.

It’s not often you read a book with a perfect title. The kind that actually reflects the content, not only on one level, but several. The kind where you reach for your book as you’re nearing the end, catch the title out of the corner of your eye, and realize what it means. Deeper than the surface level. On all the levels. Both Divine Rivals & Ruthless Vows (the sequel) have this epic energy.

Readers of historical fiction, especially of the early twentieth century/WWI&II era, will eat this up. It’s nostalgic of wartime British Isles, with a fantastical twist. It’s perfect for those looking to dip their toes into fantasy. The fantasy elements are certainly present, but they’re not overwhelming or difficult to understand. It’s really a scintillating wartime love story all readers can enjoy. Consider Divine Rivals a gateway drug, and prepare yourself to crave more!

Details

Title:: Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1)
Author:: Rebecca Ross
Genre:: Historical Fantasy
Publisher:: Wednesday Books
Length:: 357 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Alex Wingfield & Rebecca Norfolk
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: April 4th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

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

If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Ruthless Vows | Rebecca Ross

Book Review:: Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder | Asako Yuzuki (Translated by Polly Barton)

Butter is a Japanese literary fiction novel hinged upon the premise of a journalist investigating the story of a renowned serial killer – a woman accused of murdering a string of lovers by preparing them tainted food. As the investigation unfolds, the journalist, Rika, begins to notice and analyze the world around her with apt attention and nuance and discovers as much about herself in the process as she does about the woman she’s investigating.

Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder Asako Yuzuki Book Cover

In the beginning, Rika is having trouble getting Kajii, the accused, to grant her an interview. A friend suggests asking Kajii for a recipe, knowing women tend to share more than necessary when such a question is asked. It works, and Rika finds herself sitting with Kajii discussing her favorite recipes – how to prepare them, and how to enjoy them. Since Kajii is unable to enjoy whatever food she likes in her detainment, she lives vicariously through Rika’s experiences of her favorite dishes. One recipe at a time, Rika carefully pieces together Kajii’s story in hopes of writing an exclusive story that will propel her career to new heights.

That’s what happens, but that’s not what this book is about. This book is an exploration of societal expectations, especially on women, and how those expectations inform the thinking and actions of those women, and in turn, everyone around them – and society itself.

Japanese women are required to be self-denying, hard-working and ascetic, and in the same breath to be feminine, soft and caring towards men.

It’s about judgment and comparison in all the major categories – weight & body, gender roles in relationships & the home, careers or the sacrifice of career in favor of family – and little ones too. Food is used as metaphor again and again as Rika explores new dishes and makes observations of herself and those around her. Simple ingredients, tedious preparations, presentation. Enjoying food in the first place as opposed to simply consuming it as a means to an end.

Speaking of the food: I have never read descriptions of food and eating it as I have in this book. I mean, pornographic levels of description. It’s incredible. I feel like I’ve been eating wrong my whole life after reading about how these characters care about food. I think that alone is enough to recommend this book. It is poetry, truly.

“I feel like I understand better now that I’ve started cooking myself. Cleaning and cooking are much more rock and roll than I thought. What you need above all is strength. A fighting spirit that can withstand the tedium of everyday life without being blunted by it.”

This novel is carefully crafted to take Rika on a journey of self-actualization, learning lessons that are important for us all through her strange relationship with a disturbed woman. What is real? What are her biases? Can she be trusted?

I really enjoyed the experience of reading this novel. With translated works it can be difficult to tell if the cadence comes from the author, the one translating, or both, but whatever the case, Butter is as decadent in its style as it is in its descriptions of food. It flows well and doesn’t feel detached or stilted the way some translated works can. It was a pleasure to read, and easy to get lost in.

I found myself craving a stronger sense of suspense and tension as I read. With a serial killer premise, I did hope for some kind of thriller vibe, but if it was there, it was quite subtle. However, I cannot fault the tagline either. This novel is about food and murder.

I would recommend this book for feminists and foodies alike. Also, this is apparently based on the true story of “The Konkatsu Killer”. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I think I’m going to have to do some googling…

Details

Title:: Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder
Author:: Asako Yuzuki
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Ecco
Length:: 464 pages
Audio Length:: 17h 12m
Audiobook Narrator:: Hanako Footman
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: April 16, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

Linky Links!!

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Author Website
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[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley
The Last Love Note | Emma Grey

Book Review:: Malibu Rising | Taylor Jenkins Reid

Family is the most complex thing there is. The history. The responsibility. The everyday choices and the ones that come once in a lifetime. The mirrored features and gestures. The shared experience, or absence from them. All of these things cumulate into how we experience family. What are the expectations of being a parent, or a sibling, and what happens when those expectations aren’t met? Are blood ties enough to support relationships, no matter what? And what of marriage vows? Trust, betrayal, forgiveness? What do we owe those we’ve made promises to, and who created us?

I’m probably taking things too far here for an introduction, but Malibu Rising is a phenomenal work of literary fiction that had these very questions running through my head. It is an exploration of family in many forms, and an intriguing family saga that hooked me from page one and still hasn’t let go.

Malibu Rising Taylor Jenkins Reid Book Cover

The Riva family has been through a lot. Four siblings, bonded by love through hardship, are now on their way into adulthood. They have two things in common – their famous deadbeat father, and their deep love of surfing. Jay is a professional surfer, Hudson is the photographer who captures all his best shots, Nina is the older sister who got famous modeling on her surfboard, and Kit, the baby, might just be better than any of them at the sport. Every year they throw a party to close out the summer. Anyone who finds out about it can come. Celebrities of all shapes and flavors don’t dare miss it. It’s the talk of the town. But this year the party will leave the siblings changed forever.

Life is messy. In great novels, the mess happens all at the same time in a slow but relentless crescendo that keeps us riveted until the cacophonous finale. Each of the Riva siblings is at a crisis point in their lives, and we’re taken through their family origin story to help us understand how they got to this moment, and why they might be making the choices they make. One sibling is deeply in love with someone he’s not supposed to be, one is falling out of love, one thinks he’s found the one after a single night, and one is having doubts she has the capacity for romantic love at all. Their parents, Mick and June, had an explosive type of love that led to heartbreak when they were both unable to break the patterns of the families before them, leaving wounds and wreckage in a blazing trail behind them.

Taylor Jenkins Reid continues to astound me with her capacity for storytelling. I mean, the details she includes are just incredible. Her omniscient tendency allows her to showcase happenstance from all the interesting angles and explore human nature in all its nonsensical and sometimes beautiful inevitabilities.

I think I loved every single aspect of this story. The experience of reading was a pleasure in itself. Every sentence was interesting. Every facet of each character the author chose to showcase…so interesting. As in, it literally captured my interest. It kind of reminds me of the character of Vida Winter in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, the disillusioned storyteller who isn’t interested in anything that doesn’t serve a story. Like the storyteller in Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. Crafting story is simple. Just make it interesting. This is how I imagine Taylor Jenkins Reid as she’s sifting through ideas for her stories. She’s on a higher plane of storytelling. She’s a weaver. She’s a curator. She’s a master.

This is the kind of story that begs to be appreciated. It’s not one thing that makes it stand out. It’s all of it together as one thing. One awesome, specific, thing. I hope you read it. But if you don’t like it, don’t tell me. I don’t think I could take it.

Details

Title:: Malibu Rising
Author:: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Ballantine Books
Length:: 369 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 5m
Audiobook Narrator:: Julia Whelan
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: June 1st, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

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Author Website
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[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo
Summertime Punchline | Betty Corrello

Book Review:: Hello Stranger | Katherine Center

Another beautiful romance by Katherine Center, this one with a high concept and a Cinderella twist that is sure to move you.

Hello Stranger Katherine Center Book Cover

Sadie Montgomery is a finalist in the same prestigious portrait contest that her mother once participated in, before her untimely death. It could be the big break she needs as a struggling portrait artist to prove to her father and to herself that she won’t wind up in a pauper’s grave. However, a medical scare leaves her with symptoms that throw her entire world on its head when post-surgical swelling leaves her unable to recognize human faces – even her own.

There are two men in Sadie’s post-surgical life. The veterinarian who helped save her beloved dog’s life, sparking with potential, and a bowling-jacket wearing Lothario who lives next-door who made a terrible first impression with an overheard phone conversation but seems to always show up in the right place at the right time.

Sadie and Cinderella have a few things in common. A mother who has passed and a father who married right away. An ‘evil’ step-mother and step-sister who take pains to misunderstand her and even torture her a little bit. Being so poor she has to live essentially in squalor (crashing in her art studio because she can’t afford an apartment). The ‘unable to recognize someone in different contexts’ element is switched, because The Prince knows it’s her all along, it’s Sadie who can’t recognize him.

There are a lot of valuable takeaways from this book. Seeing beyond someone’s physical appearance. We take so much for granted every single day – things as simple as recognizing someone when they’re right in front of you. It’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes. Nothing is ever all bad or all good, even if you don’t see it right away. Sadie is holding onto a lot of heavy stuff from her past, and though she hardly realizes it herself, she’s letting it guide who she’s become as an adult. Through this difficult time, she learns that maybe it’s okay to be a little more herself.

What does it say about me that I identified with Sadie through much of the early story? She holds herself to perfect standards and has to be okay, always. Fierce independence, I call it in myself. Difficult to ask for help. Difficult to even acknowledge it’s needed in the first place. I saw her so completely in that feeling. It was nice to see that reflected in a character so exactly. I clearly have some work to do on myself, too – ha.

I am once again so impressed with Katherine Center’s skillful storytelling. There are lots of clues throughout the novel for what the romantic climax will look like. No one thing is blaringly obvious, but the volume is such that I feel confident saying everyone knows where the story is going except Sadie herself. Still, the layering of clues really puts us in Sadie’s head, so we understand the story through her currently distorted perspective.

Some of the drama might have gone a little over the top (the evil-stepsister element, especially) but I can’t deny this little gem is absolutely a five-star read! I loved it!

Details

Title:: Hello Stranger
Author:: Katherine Center
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Press
Length:: 323 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 39m
Audiobook Narrator:: Patti Murin
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: July 11th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

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Author Website
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[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Rom-Commers | Katherine Center
Savor It | Tarah Dewitt
Business Casual | BK Borison

Book Review:: King of Wrath | Ana Huang

King of Wrath by Ana Huang is a possessive, spicy, filthy rich, romance with a tint of darkness that keeps tension wound tight all the way through. I’m not sure if this qualifies as a dark romance, but it feels like it should.

One night at family dinner, Vivian Lau’s parents surprise her with an arranged marriage. While she’d known since she was a teenager to expect it, she was taken by surprise. Not only the deal itself, but the identity of her husband-to-be: Dante Russo, the most eligible billionaire bachelor in New York. Dante was forced into the match, but as soon as he is able to, he plans to end the engagement and go on his merry way, married to his job, exactly the way he likes it. Vivan thinks he’s an ass, but is willing to give him a chance – she is determined to marry him no matter what to please her family. Dante closes himself off emotionally because he knows it’s not forever and doesn’t want to be cruel. But while they keep up the appearance of a happy engagement for high-class society, lines begin to blur.

The romance between Vivian and Dante is hot and cold. Vulnerability is not a language either of them speak. It creates a lot of tension and causes the moments they do fall together all the more intense for it. Vivian is a very strong woman who relies on no one. Though she’s an heiress, she works as an event planner and takes her work very seriously. I enjoyed her personality, but more importantly, I think she is a good match for a man like Dante, who never hears the word no from anyone else.

Dante is slow to let go of his original goals and assumptions. He is a very driven man -incredibly focused – and executes on his objectives to accomplish his goals. When he makes a decision, it’s because he’s considered all the facts and he doesn’t go back to wonder if it was the right one. His engagement with Vivian seems to be the first time he has to reevaluate his original stance, and he struggles with it for a long time.

I picked this book up for the cover. I was expecting it to be some kind of romantasy (right? Look at it!). And, I guess if you consider the billionaire nature of the characters and the high-class world they live in, you might as well consider that shit fantasy. LOL. But it’s not, really. My expectations were subverted a little bit there, however, I’m glad I read it. It’s about as far on the dark romance scale as I think I’m comfortable going, but I was impressed with how well the characters were matched up, and I was really sucked into a lot of the drama. Once I started reading, I thought it might be far sexier than it ended up being. There’s about as much sex as any other spicy book out there anymore.

If you’re looking to spice up your romance reading away from bubble-gum romantic comedies to something more serious and dramatic, this might be a good tangent to explore. It’s also the start of a series, which is a plus in our binge culture (though I’m not sure yet if I’ll personally be continuing the series). If you like a possessive, decisive, rich, all around alpha male lead, you’ll want to pick this one up for sure.

Details

Title:: King of Wrath (Kings of Sin #1)
Author:: Ana Huang
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Bloom Books
Length:: 407 pages
Audio Length:: 12h 5m
Audiobook Narrator:: Jacob Morgan & Emily Woo Zeller
Audiobook Publisher:: Boba Press
Published:: October 18th, 2022
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Level:: 4 (open door, explicit language)

Linky Links!!

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Ana Huang Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [e B ook] [Audible]

If you liked this, check out…

Play Along | Liz Tomforde
Burn for Me | Ilona Andrews

Book Review:: Amazing Grace Adams | Fran Littlewood

Have you ever had a bad day? Bad week really. Months, even. Or a decade, if we’re being honest. Grace has. And she’s kept it together, mostly, through most of it. But you can only hold together for so long once your vessel is cracked and leaking and you refuse to acknowledge it.

Amazing Grace Adams, Fran Littlewood, Book Cover, Book Review

Grace Adams is a mess. A perimenopausal, hot-flashy mess, stuck in a traffic jam that is preventing her from reaching her estranged daughter’s birthday party. Everything has gone wrong lately. Everything. And just maybe if Grace can deliver the custom inside-joke birthday cake she had made to the party she was never invited to, her daughter would forgive her. Her ex-husband might forgive her. Everything might take a step back in the right direction. But she can’t get there if she’s stuck in the misery of traffic until it’s over. So, as a hail-Mary last-ditch effort, she opens the door of her car and walks away from it. Right there, in the middle of traffic, and foots it the rest of the way to the bakery. This is only the first of many questionable decisions Grace makes that day.

The genius of this story is in the revelations. While the present Grace is on a frantic quest to fix everything she thinks she’s broken in one desperate grand gesture, we’re traced back through the steps that led her to such a desperate moment. The magical meeting of her eventual husband at a linguistics conference, their unconventional courtship and marriage, the family dramas they’re forced to navigate, the trials of new parentship, partnership, and beyond. Each petal is pulled back and back and back until we get to the real hurts that Grace and her family are struggling with. And they’re big ones. Heart shattering. I sobbed for…a long time…as I read through the last chapters. Right there on the couch, while my family watched TV. This book is devastating and beautiful and the writing is so lovely and clever. Here are some of the quotes I underlined:

A message that has made him fizz inside with what? Laughter?

She has doughy skin that makes her look like one of the pastries she’s selling.

Amazing Grace Adams Uncensored Book Cover, Fran Littlewood, Book Review — The uncensored cover.

They stand without speaking until the woman has moved past. As if in tacit agreement that their conversation is private, a secret between them.

If she could, she would walk out of any room that she was in.

Grace is hugging her knees to her chest and listening to the hypnotic suck and pull of the filter system.

This is a great book, and it was a pleasure to read. Fran Littlewood has delivered a story that is witty, passionate, and a little bit manic. It explores depths of love and forgiveness and grief that won’t soon be forgotten. I love all of it. The title, the cover, and the gift that is the prose.

I would recommend this book to women around Grace’s age. A woman who’s seen it all. Marriage, children, the chaos of it all, and the monotony of it too. The routine. The staleness. That, I think, is the audience who will get the most out of it. Who will understand her. But of course any fan of literary fiction might enjoy it. It’ll probably make you cry, so try not to go into it with a fragile heart.

Details

Title:: Amazing Grace Adams
Author:: Fran Littlewood
Genre:: Literary Fiction
Publisher:: Henry Holt & Co.
Length:: 272 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 51m
Audiobook Narrator:: Claire Skinner
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: September 5th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars
Spice Rating:: 1 (brief, not explicit)