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.
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
Oh, this is a good one. You want a yummy, rivals-to-lovers modern romance that’ll take your breath away? Grab Not in My Book, a phenomenal debut by Katie Holt, and thank me later.
Rosie and Aiden have been in the same NYU writing workshop for the past two years. He writes lit fic, she writes romance. And they got off on the wrong foot. They both take enormous pleasure in critiquing each other’s work to within an inch of its life, until it comes to a breaking point and they’re forced to write something together or get kicked out of the class.
They’re marketing this book with a comp for Beach Read, my favorite Emily Henry book, and I have to say…I see that. It’s Gus and January: the college years. The romance, once it gets popping, is electric, and it gets spicy as hell. It isn’t a fast thing though. I wouldn’t exactly call it a slow burn, but she makes us wait for the good stuff, and I loved every minute of it!
This book has a story within a story, with excerpts of the book the two characters are tasked with writing between all the chapters. At first I didn’t think it added much to the experience, but by the middle I was eating those up too.
Both Rosie and Aiden are great characters. They have depth and history and goals and desires…I really found myself caring about them early on, and I love how their story ended *swoon*. Rosie had quite a big group of friends, and I wonder if this will turn into a stand-alone style series.
I am so thankful to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to review this one. It was a pleasure!
Details
Title:: Not in My Book Author:: Katie Holt Genre:: Contemporary Romance Publisher:: Alcove Press Length::320 pages Audio Length::11h 30m Audiobook Narrator:: Frankie Corzo Audiobook Publisher:: Recorded Books Published:: December 10th, 2024 The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars Spice Rating:: 4
A gaggle of (mostly) old ladies traveling around all the hot tourist spots in the UK with a hunky Scottish tour guide: comedy gold with the promise of many shenanigans, or the perfect place for a young American woman to come heal her heart? Turns out, both! Work in Progress is a debut romance by Kat Mackenzie, and it lived up to all my expectations.
Alice Cooper is in a bit of a rut. She’s lost the job that gave her purpose and her boyfriend is suddenly engaged to someone else. After six months of wallowing, she gets fed up and books a spunky looking women’s tour in Scotland, refusing to put her dreams on hold any longer. Unfortunately the trip is a disaster from the get. Her bag is lost (and completely destroyed by the time she gets it back), she’s nearly so late she misses the bus, and the tour guide turns out to be the man she just cussed out at the airport for not waiting his turn. And did I mention the old ladies? Here Alice was expecting to bond with a bunch of twenty-somethings on the top of scenic mountain vistas and wind-blown moors, and instead there are a bunch of arthritic mother hens ready to talk your ear off. This was not the rejuvenating getaway she’d imagined.
But it turns out it was the one she needed. Funny how that works.
The banter in this book is top tier, and it starts immediately. No time is wasted as we’re thrust into this book of constant misfortunes and comedic relief. Alice and Robbie are both little sparklers and they love poking dangerously at one another, seeing just how far they can push it. But it turns out Alice is really good at getting herself into unfortunate situations, and Robbie not only has a hero’s heart, he’s also legally responsible for her as the tour guide, so that makes for some fun moments 🙂
It’s a romantic comedy, but this book is mostly about self-discovery and healing the soul. Why is it so easy for us to be blinded by the relationships right in front of us? When they’re gone they leave us with gaping holes that we humbly must realize we’ve created ourselves. Alice went to Scottland to heal hers, and though it is a bumpy road to get there, it works.
I loved this book. It’s everything you want in a romantic comedy, and as a UK vacation novel, it has a really interesting backdrop (…if you don’t already live there?). Though there are some steamy scenes, it never gets full explicit open-door. Full of heart and banter and swoon-worthy romance, this early 2025 release should not be missed!
Details
Title:: Work in Progress Author:: Kat Mackenzie Genre:: Romantic Comedy Publisher:: Avon Length::384 pages Audio Length::9h 15m Audiobook Narrator:: Angela Dawe Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio Published:: January 14th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars Spice Rating:: 2
Hate Follow by Erin Quinn-Kong aspires to be the My Sister’s Keeper of this decade. Not many people will have children who need life-saving medical care and second children that are a perfect biological match. Everyone is on social media, and this book draws attention to the moral and ethical implications with posting content of those who have not (and cannot) give consent. And while this novel raises so many poignant aspects of the online culture, the plot sort of fizzles out by the end.
Mia’s mom Whitney is a momfluencer. She makes incredible money by posting about her life as a widowed mother of four in Austin TX. As Mia is getting older, she doesn’t want to be a part of the photo shoots anymore. When she finds out exactly how much her mom has been sharing about her online without her permission, her little teen-y world implodes and she takes things into her own hands.
Such commentary!
When I met Whitney, I knew her. We’ve all seen them: the picture-perfect IG influencers whose entire identity becomes ‘be the ideal version of the modern woman who has it all‘. They’re real people out there, though it’s hard to imagine. They just tend to get carried away. The pressure increases, and their lives become all about numbers. But there’s still the facade that they’re doing good in the world, by sharing all this perfect sh*t, they’re helping people.
Then add in the layer of momfluencers. The ones who post about their kids online. Include their photos, tell stories from their lives: exploit them, in some sense. There is a lot of conversation about this already, but this book lights it up with the bat signal from hell.
I felt for the strained relationship of Whitney and her teen daughter. Those teen years are tough for everyone to navigate and add the hurt and immense grief of losing the husband/father they loved so dearly…all the ingredients of a city-block razing explosion are there. Though Whitney, as an influencer, is kind of despicable…the author humanizes her by having her shoulder so much responsibility. It is not just her own future in jeopardy if she can’t continue making a good living, it is her children, and her siblings, and her mother.
The heart of this story isn’t actually about the violations Whitney is subjecting her children to, it’s about simply getting out of your own way to listen.
For me personally, I was let down by a plot that promised a lot of juicy drama but ended up resolving a little too easily for my taste. It felt like a lot of build up for something so ultimately bland. I was getting so nervous when I saw the numbers closing in on my ereader (75%-80%-85%) and the big finale hadn’t started yet. Turns out it just wasn’t there. It’s a quiet ending to a problem that had so much potential.
I still think it’s worth reading, of course. The points discussed in this book are incredibly relevant for everyone on social media and I think it does a good job showcasing both the good and bad aspects if ‘influencing’. There is so much more I could say about the topic, but this is about the book, so I’ll leave it at that!
I was given the opportunity to read this book for free by netgalley and the publisher. All opinions are honest, and my own.
Details
Title:: Hate Follow Author:: Erin Quinn-Kong Genre:: Contemporary Fiction Publisher:: William Morrow Length::352 pages Audio Length::9h 48m Audiobook Narrator:: Carolyn Jania Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio Published:: October 8th, 2024 The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars
So you like to read romance…lucky for you, I’ve found your next favorite romance author. Do you enjoy authors like Tarah Dewitt, Katherine Center, Sarah Adams, and Abby Jimenez? Go ahead and add Sarah Chamberlain to the list, because you’ve stumbled onto the review one of my favorite romance reads of 2024. I can save you a few minutes of reading by telling you to just buy it. This is one you’re going to want to chronicle on your bookshelves at home. It’s so good. But if you still want the deetz, I got you.
Ellie is a cookbook ghostwriter living in the cottage house of her dead husband’s parents. He died three years ago, leaving her a widow in her late twenties. Since then, she’s thrown herself into her work, saving money to eventually buy her own place and get back on her feet. Unfortunately, the client of her latest project is less than genial. In fact, he’s all but openly hostile. She’s got the writing & cooking skills she needs to do a great job, but she can’t write a bookin this guy’s voice unless she knows…literally anything…about him. Kieran recently won a prestigious televised cooking contest and his agent is looking to capitalize on the flash of fame. Putting out a cookbook is the obvious step forward, except it feels like schoolwork, and Kieran has never been good at that. In fact, he’s been exceptionally bad at it, and this project is stirring up a lot of old insecurities.
Oh, but this book is delicious. There is something in reading about food, even if it’s food you’d never want to eat yourself. Happy croissants? I can get behind that. A blood orange and duck confit salad? Yeah, that’s not going into my mouth. But reading about it? I mean, it’s sexy. It’s sexy when someone takes such care in choosing and preparing ingredients to assemble a bite that will do pleasant things in your mouth. Food is romance (or at least it can be, and in this book, trust me, it is).
But I haven’t even gotten to the swoony bits yet! Let’s take the title, The Slowest Burn. I mean, with a title and a cover like that (LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS), you just know you’re in for a treat, and Chamberlain did not disappoint.
What is it we love about a slow burn romance? The longing. The intimacy of getting to know someone so completely before jumping in the sack, right? The deep and honest friendship with possibility that simmers and fizzles just underneath every interaction. Check. Check. Check.
Ellie and Kieran are both misunderstood. They each have trauma from their formidable years that shaped them into what they currently are: functioning adults with relationship issues (aren’t we all). Through the forced proximity of the cookbook project, which they both need to do well, their layers of armor weaken around each other as they connect over the food they’re creating together. A true bond forms between them that emulsifies into something simply irresistible.
Both main characters have depth and realistic internal conflict they need to work through. Ellie needs to work on enforcing boundaries, and Kieran has always been too much for most people to handle and is a little too eager to employ his coping mechanisms.
But it’s not all about the romance! There are many other types of relationships explored in these pages: professional, familial (siblings, parents, in-laws), and friendships. Themes of grief are discussed as well as learning disabilities. The FMC is plus sized, the MMC isn’t super tall, both are simply integrated into the characterization and not flouted around just to be ‘Inclusive’. So much good stuff to chew on in this book!
I read this book as an advanced listening copy from the publisher & netgalley. I devour audiobooks like Ellie devours frites, and this one was no exception. Both narrators did a great job. Occasionally I could hear a few mouth sounds from Hunter Johns, but to be honest, I actually liked that. *blushes*
So in conclusion, this book is amazing, and you all should read it. Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
Details
Title:: The Slowest Burn Author:: Sarah Chamberlain Genre:: Contemporary Romance Publisher:: Griffin Length::336 pages Audio Length::11h 12m Audiobook Narrator:: Hunter Johns & Kate Handford Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio Published:: September 24th, 2024 The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars Spice Rating:: 3
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.
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.
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.
The grass is always greener on the other side, but when you take the time to look around, you just might realize the blessings that surround you right where you are.
Naomi recently struck out on her own as a brand consultant and is struggling to make ends meet. She is out of money and needs to win a redesign contract for a local Indian-Canadian bazaar or she might have to reevaluate everything. She has Indian heritage, but has never been engrossed in the Bengali culture, and it makes her self-conscious in a place that is so culturally vibrant. Meanwhile, Dev, the middle son of the bazaar owner, is dodging prospective wives sent by the matchmaker his mother hired. He has no interest in marriage, based on the experience he’s observed from the men in his own family. Soon, it becomes clear that he and Naomi could help each other. She could pretend to be a match for him, chasing away any others, and he could help her with decisions that would make the redesign feel authentic.
Dev feels suffocated by the Bengali culture his family celebrates. Large dinners and festivals that Naomi finds fascinating are standard fare for Dev, and he is critical of the way his father and brother have treated the women in their family. If that is his only option for marriage, he would rather never marry. But try telling that to his mother. He feels rebellious toward the pressure and control he’s feeling from his family – he just wants to be left alone.
Naomi’s mother left her culture behind once Naomi was born. She felt her family trying to control her and her decisions and cut herself and her daughter off from them by moving to a small rural town and marrying a white man. Naomi didn’t go to school with people who looked like her, and she didn’t eat Indian food at home growing up. As an adult she finds herself craving some of that culture, and soaks up every bit of it she gets to experience with Dev.
I enjoyed this story quite a lot. It was well plotted, giving the book constant forward momentum, and the characters were interesting. I don’t know much about Indian culture, and it was really interesting to read about it in the context of this book. Dev’s weekly big family dinners seem amazing. Like Naomi, I’d love to experience that sometime!
It is the personal dilemmas that drive the book, but the romance was nice too. Even though it is called Sunshine and Spice, I wasn’t really expecting it to be spicy. I guess the matchmaker/arranged marriage element made me think maybe it would be more modest, but there is definitely some spice later in the book.
This is a story about finding your roots and embracing your blessings. It’s about finding out who you want to be, even if it’s almost exactly the opposite of what you always thought it was. It’s about following your heart and deep connection. It’s about hard work and paving your own way. It is a rich tapestry of themes, layered with flavor and spice, just like almost any meal in traditional Indian cooking.
Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for providing an arc copy in exchange for an honest review. I’m so glad I got to read this one!
Details
Title::Sunshine and Spice Author::Aurora Palit Genre::Contemporary Fiction Publisher::Berkley Length::2336 pages Audio Length::9h Audiobook Narrator::Soneela Nankani & Imran Sheikh Audiobook Publisher::Penguin Audio Published::September 10th, 2024 The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars Spice Rating::4 (not erotica, but open door and explicit language)
This isn’t a book you read for entertainment. This is the type of book you read to remind yourself what it is to be human. To connect on another level to humanity itself. To recognize little pieces of yourself in the stories of others: the bright pieces, and the dark ones too. It teaches you things you don’t even realize you’re learning. It’s not a surface level book – it reaches deep parts of you that are often forgotten or neglected. It’s a revelation.
The tangled web of emotional turmoil within the Sorenson family is taut with tension. The steadfast love between Marilyn and David produced four beautiful daughters who are grown now and living their own lives. Wendy, the girl who was always too much as a child grew into a woman all too acquainted with grief. Violet, the good girl, has a picture-perfect life complete with two point five kids and a loving husband. Liza, the third child often forgotten in the chaos of her two older sisters, is still struggling to find purpose. And Grace, the baby, is being crushed by great expectations pressured by the weight of the family who all came before her. But when a fifteen-year-old secret walks back into their lives, the effects ripple through them all, bringing many old hurts and hidden feelings to a much-needed reckoning.
Lives are shaped by the butterfly effect. One little moment leads to the next, leads to the next. On and on we go. An overheard and misunderstood conversation can plant the seed that sets roots of anxiety and doubt deep in the psyche of a young girl. An avoided occasion can set long-burning embers of animosity to light that sizzle and pop for decades. Actions have consequences, and they won’t always be the ones you expect to confront.
The narrative is presented in a constant flow of the now and the before, exploring family experiences from multiple sides, because when things happen in a family, it isn’t only about one person. Everything affects everyone, to different degrees. Not only did I find it engaging all the way through, by the time we arrived at certain landmarks in the family history, I found myself simultaneously surprised and satisfied. We’re given so much context to understand the complex feelings between the family members. It feels real. It feels like the Sorenson’s are out there somewhere, having lived these lives we get to read about.
I don’t even know how you write a book this bold and beautiful. The complexity that is the Sorenson family is at once romantic and heartbreaking and tender and sometimes so cliche in a way that is simply human nature. Children are born with personalities, and they will cause tension and conflict and love and joy too. This family isn’t broken, but it isn’t perfect either. They are bound by love, in both the best and worst ways, and Lombardo highlights them both with skilled artistry.
I loved this book in the most surprising way, and I will cherish this experience of reading it for the first time as long as I can, because I know it won’t be the last.
Details
Title::The Most Fun We Ever Had Author::Claire Lombardo Genre::Literary Fiction Publisher::Doubleday Length::532 pages Audio Length::20h 33m Audiobook Narrator::Emily Rankin Audiobook Publisher::Random House Audio Published::June 25th, 2019 The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars
Many romance novels are almost sickly-sweet, like candy. Bubbly and sunshine-y. You know the ones. Summertime Punchline by Betty Corrello is different. Its humor is drier, its romance less sure-footed than most. The characters may or may not be fated (I could argue both ways), but in the end, their love is chosen, not inevitable, and it gives the story a different flavor. Like a chocolate covered pretzel, maybe. A little salty. A little zing. A little something special.
Delfina Silva-Miller is a stand-up comic on the edge of getting everything she’s worked toward for the past decade. Right on the edge – then she topples off, landing in the last place she ever wanted to be. In one fell swoop she finds herself jobless, single, and homeless (just a typical run-of-the-mill boyfriend-banged-her-roommate-the-day-she-quit-her-job situation). She still has a spot booked on an epic comedy festival in a few months, but suddenly, she can’t use any of the material she has about the asshat boyfriend, and nowhere to stay in the meantime. So, with her tail tucked between her legs, she makes her way down the Jersey shore, to the town of Evergreen, where she grew up. Trouble is, she ran away from that town kicking and screaming immediately after graduation with no plans to ever return. There was nothing for her there except her kind little Italian grandmother who raised her. Her mother died before she could remember, her father was a druggie drunk failure typa guy, and the boy she was in a near constant love-hate relationship with growing up never chose her when it counted. She returns to find Evergreen different from the decade before, but some things never change. Eddie is still around, her father got sober, her grandmother does weekly aquarobics, and incredibly, there’s an open mic night in a bar downtown that’s perfect for her to work on her new material (just guess who owns the place). She has to get a new set written – a great one – but being back in her hometown stirs up a lot of old hurts, and grown-up Del finds herself needing to heal old wounds before the jokes will flow.
Y’all know by now I’m a sucker for good writing, and damn girl – this one slaps. A few examples of lines I absolutely lust after:
My last shot to repot my lifelong dream like a grocery store houseplant and make it bloom.
The next morning, I left town before Evergreen had rubbed the sleep from its eyes…
It wasn’t like Eddie and I avoided the deep end; we’d met each other in the deep end.
Eddie trailed behind me, laughter winking in his eyes alongside the flickering multicolor lights that surrounded us.
[regarding families] It was arguing without any ill will; it was lunging like a python without dispensing any venom; it was lancing close to the jugular and pulling back at the last nanosecond, kissing your victim on the forehead as you slipped away.
The banter in this book is frankly unparalleled. I laughed out loud – often pausing to appreciate the genius & sometimes the sheer surprise of whatever retort came next. I can’t remember the last time I was so delighted by back-and-forth between characters. And not just once. Like, a dozen times. For that alone, I will treasure this book. For me, that goes a long way.
Now, the romance. Del and Eddie don’t have a linear insta-lovefest. They met at an age where being cool was more important than being genuine, and though they found authenticity and truth in each other occasionally back then, ultimately cool won out and they never could connect. Now as adults, their feelings are complex, and the details of their lives even moreso. The ties of their past are still there, maybe even stronger than ever, but is letting it draw them close again the right thing? Or will it end up pushing them further apart than ever before?
I appreciated the hesitancy in both characters to not only admit their feelings to themselves (let alone each other), or to give into temptations, and I think that’s a testament to how real these characters and their world felt. Some of the early flashback scenes annoyed me a little bit because it was interrupting a story I was quickly falling into, but ultimately, they helped to color the nuance of Del & Eddie’s relationship, which is far from typical. Their relationship is layered and complicated, and I really loved that it was their ‘complicated’ home lives that set them apart in their friend group and drew them together. Not unlike my husband and I.
The nuance was so vibrant that it was sometimes hard to grasp onto. Sometimes the characters would do or say something that didn’t exactly fit the puzzle of them I’d built in my brain up to that point. Maybe something about the timeline of when things were presented just had me tripping up a little bit sometimes.
I also wish some of the details were explored a little bit more somehow. Alfonso the little man who lives in their building. A good scene with Valerie and Del interacting (more than the little we were offered). More comedy? I was left feeling like there were maybe more loose ends that could have been tied up, at least a little more neatly in some cases.
Overall, I loved the book, and it will live proudly upon my shelf for a long time to come. It’s smart, surprising, complicated, and ultimately hopeful. A summertime romance with some punch – and punchlines. Pick this one up if you’re in the mood for a snarky, complex romance with some painfully realistic throwbacks to high school side-character energy.
Buckle up for this sweet and hilarious romance that tastes like pure candy! I bought this one on an absolute whim and it paid off big time! I enjoyed every page of this book. It was so endearing and I found myself rooting so hard for the characters. In a world of the same ol’ tropes over and over, this story was so refreshing! Ten out of ten, would recommend!
Naomi Light, Miami’s weathergirl, receives an unsigned death threat in the mail one day…and laughs. It’s not a real death threat, it’s just a note from the pen pal she’s had since fifth grade and has been estranged from for the past two years. It started with a project organized by the schools, but nothing about their relationship followed the rules. First, they kept writing long after the other students had forgotten about the project all-together — and they never said anything nice to one another. Every letter was an attempt to craft a better insult than the last. Even still, through the years, Naomi and Luca got to know one another, and they were a constant in one another’s lives. Luca wouldn’t know, but it was he who first suggested Naomi pursue a career in meteorology, and Naomi never knew that Luca kept track of her through social media through high school and beyond. They lose contact in a point of change in both their lives after high school, each of them with new addresses and no way to contact the other.
Until now.
Luca doesn’t leave a return address for Naomi on his sinister note, so, with the help of her friend, she plays along with his little game to see if she can find him anyway. She traces the steps of his life through his old addresses on the weekends, and meanwhile, a handsome hunk in Naomi’s building asks her out. They have a real connection, but what about Luca? He once wanted to meet in person, and she suspects that’s where his little game will end. Can she commit to the man in front of her with the idea of Luca lingering behind the postbox? Or does she need to track him down, meet him face to face, and finally see what lies behind the letters? The story unfolds one letter at a time in a playful and honest narrative that had me hooked from the get.
This book was the perfect balance of humor and lightness with a deeper authentic heart underneath. Did I mention there are skateboarding kittens? This one will definitely be in my reread rotation when I need a quick pick me up. What are you waiting for? If you’re a romance reader, this is an absolute must read!
Details
Title::Hate Mail Author:: Donna Marchetti Genre:: Romance Publisher::One More Chapter Length::355 pages Audio Length::9h 27m Audiobook Narrator::Norma Butikofer Audiobook Publisher::One More Chapter Published:: March 14th, 2024 The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars
