Tag: amreadingromance

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#BookReview: As The Sun Rises by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Emotional And Visceral Series Conclusion. This is one of those books where you *feel* everything our main character feels. From the utter despair at the situation she finds herself in to the crash and crush of the white water rapids she thrusts herself into to try to escape the emotional turmoil… while telling herself that she’s just doing her job.

While this is *technically* a romance, the romance is absolutely more of a side story here to the family and friend relationships of our primary character – so those that want a more romance-centric tale may not like this one quite as much, but those who enjoy a solid women’s fiction with a touch of romance – still in the Hallmarkie type style, but with more focus on the friends than the boy, necessarily – you’re going to enjoy this book quite a bit.

I personally came into this book having not read any of the prior three… which is probably not the best for a series concluding book, but even there, it worked well with fully fleshed out characters and a story that was easy to follow even coming in so late. Still, I absolutely recommend starting with Book 1 for anyone not reading an Advance Review Copy, as I did.

Overall a solid and emotional tale that will pull your heartstrings and have your pulse pounding with adrenaline in alternating measures.

Very much recommended.

This review of As The Sun Rises by Kellie Coates Gilbert was originally written on December 12, 2024.

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#BookReview: Pity Present by Whitney Dineen

Solid “Secret Identity” Romance Where Side Character Nearly Steals Show. This is one of those romances where there are a lot of instances of “oh, you happen to be here and look who else happens to be here” bits, particularly in the setup. Which leads to a lot of miscommunications and assumptions, and you know what they say about “assume”. Still, it totally works in the usual Hallmarkie and zany way, and if you’re down for that kind of story, you’re going to enjoy this one. If the secret identity/ happenstance/ assumption setup isn’t your bag… eh, you probably won’t enjoy this one as much.

And then… one particular side character. Not going into this character at all other than to note that this character does in fact nearly steal the entire damn book, and indeed, it almost feels like there are more “real” emotions as our main characters interact with this character than with each other. Which is probably not the best thing in a romance book, but hey, at least there are “real” and touching moments *somewhere*, right?

As to spice level… this one is far closer to a warm glass of milk than a Carolina Reaper. So there again, know that up front and read (or not) according to your own tastes there. For those that *must* have sex of some form (open door/ closed door) in their romance books… eh, I think that speaks more to you than the author, but just know that this is NOT present in this book.

Overall I think the book worked well as a continuation of its series, including having a few characters from earlier books come back and play pivotal roles (and, for those that despise spoilers of any form, absolutely read the earlier books in the series before getting to this one).

Very much recommended.

This review of Pity Present by Whitney Dineen was originally written on December 5, 2024.

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#BookReview: A Wood-Fired Christmas by Maddie Evans

Heart Filled Novella Packs A Compelling Story In Short Form. This is one of those novellas that by the time you’re finished, you’re going to *think* there *had* to be at least twice as many pages given just how much story Evans manages to pack in here. And yet because it *is* barely 100 pages, its *actual* brevity makes it a great holiday read while you’re waiting for things to cook or you’re waiting the 5 minutes of commercials between every possession in a football game or you’re needing five minutes of peace from the chaos of so many family and friends around or… you get the idea. Quick books make great books to read in limited time slices, and this is absolutely that type of tale. Also great for those looking to add a quick easy read (with a lot of heart) to help with those annual reading goals.

Oh, and Evans shows a love of pizza here I honestly didn’t know she had. This entire novella is almost as much a love story for the hole in the wall pizzeria our couple winds up working together at as it is a romance between the couple themselves. Both play off each other well in all the best ways, and along the way everyone from foodies to Hallmarkie types will be quite pleased with the results.

Very much recommended.

This review of A Wood-Fired Christmas by Maddie Evans was originally written on December 4, 2024.

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#BlogTour: The Greatest Lie Of All by Jillian Cantor

For this blog tour, we’re looking at . For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Greatest Lie Of All by Jillian Cantor.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (Hardcover.app / BookHype.com / BookBub.com / TheStoryGraph.com / Goodreads.com):

Never Meet Your Heroes – You Might Find Out More Than You Wanted To. Seriously, this book takes that age old saying to heart in its basic premise… and then spins it on its head in the actual execution of the tale at hand and in showing all that has transpired in these characters’ lives.

This is one of those inventive enough tales that it seems almost completely implausible… and yet real enough that it feels all too real at the same damn time. Surely, *nothing* could be *this* convoluted, right? (Says the guy whose mother in law is best friends with her husband’s ex-wife and whose grandparents lived together on the same property – at times even in the same house – even after they divorced and remarried.) In other words… yes, life can get quite messy at times, and this book does a tremendous job of showing this to great dramatic effect.

This is one of those women’s fiction/ romance genre benders that actually has the *cajones* to walk right up to the RWA/ RNA gatekeepers and say “Really? You’re going to try to tell me that *this* isn’t a romance for the ages?”. There is even at least one element of this book that will certainly, if the book reaches enough people, prove quite controversial indeed, and while I know *exactly* what those arguments will be and who (in general) will be making them, revealing even the specific nature of that particular debate pretty well spoils what this element is, so this is about as close as I can get to noting its presence without spoiling it.

Releasing late in the year when Yankees are seemingly already snowed under and largely inside their might-as-well-be Igloos for the winter and thus needing much reading material (at least that is how this Southern boy who has never lived any further north than the Atlanta exurbs tends to look at these things), this is going to be one of those great ones to read while huddled up trying to stay warm. Yes, even for us Floridians in our heaviest Arctic gear getting ready for temperatures that begin with “5” for a few days.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Greatest Lie Of All by Jillian Cantor”

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#BookReview: How To Get A Life In Ten Dates by Jenny L. Howe

Bi Romance For The Younger Millennial / Zoomer Set. If you have an ounce of work ethic in your pinky finger, you’ve got more than our female lead and narrator of this tale. Which means you’re likely going to find her quite annoying, at the very least. If you’re not a fan of bisexual women or the term “cishet” (to be clear, the second thing there is only used a time or two that I noticed), maybe skip this book. If you need the spice of a Carolina Reaper or at least a Scotch Bonnet… eh, you’re not going to like this one much either. If you’re not a fan of romance novels that could have been a five minute mature conversation a decade ago… you’re probably not going to like this book. If you’re not a fan of trigger warnings at the front of books… well, this one has a couple of pages of them.

With all of *that* dispensed with, welcome. If you’re still here and still interested in this book, know that for what it is, it is reasonably solid. Maybe a touch squishy in some areas and maybe rolling a bit after the rest of it has stopped moving a time or two, but good enough to be enjoyable for those that can suspend their disbelief for a few hours and just go with the story as presented.

And the story as presented *is* a fat bi chick version of a fairly standard plot device in romance books – multiple dates with different people set up by some friend/ family group, except the best friend winds up inserting himself into them and… well, like I said, its been done more than enough for you to know exactly how this goes. While there is more spice than the “clean” / “sweet” crowd will likely prefer, there also isn’t really enough to “give them the vapors” either, so on that point it is somewhere in between. The romance itself, as a form of second chance / these kids should have had a mature conversation a decade ago and could have been together this entire time, still works for what it is.

Really the areas that this book – and all of Howe’s books – break a bit of ground is their acceptance of “larger bodies”, but Howe openly notes in that same trigger warning at the front of the book that in order to make this particular story work, she had to trim down the more typical nearly screaming from the rooftops level of “fat pride” / “fat acceptance”/ however you want to phrase that… and yes, to an extent, it shows in the way the story is told and ultimately in how the story flows.

And yet, with all of this noted, there really were no technical errors noted here, and thus this book could work well for someone looking for something atypical during the Holiday season that isn’t a “holiday book”.

Very much recommended.

This review of How To Get A Life In Ten Dates by Jenny L. Howe was originally written on November 19, 2024.

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#BookReview: Falling Into Forever by Denise Keiser

Short. Clean. Innocent Fun. This is one of those romances that is *so* innocent and playful that you almost begin to question just how old these characters are. And to be clear, they are very clearly adult characters… but the fun and pranks here are so innocent as to be juvenile, making you think that these characters had been playing these same games for many, many years… despite having just met.

The epilogue(s) here – one official and yet the chapter *before* it taking place a year after the main events of the book, usually denoting a form of epilogue even if it isn’t labeled that – feel perhaps a touch tacked on, particularly given some of the revelations therein as they relate to the overall main story, but that is one where your mileage may absolutely vary.

Overall this was a fun, quick read (a couple of hours or so for me), great for those times in the holiday season when maybe you only have a few minutes between doing things to get any reading in, but perhaps are actively looking for a shorter-ish book that won’t make you think too hard about things.

Very much recommended.

This review of Falling Into Forever by Denise Keiser was originally written on November 18, 2024.

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#BookReview: Christmas In Chestnut Ridge by Nancy Naigle

Slow Burn Hallmarkie Christmas Romance. If you like Hallmark Christmas movies and maybe the CBS show Fire Country (vs NBC’s Chicago Fire, featuring a fire dept, yes, but in a big city rather than a small town ala Fire Country), you’re likely going to enjoy this book. If neither one of those are your thing… you’ll probably enjoy it less.

This is one where the romance itself almost takes a back seat at times, it is *so* slow burn. But if you enjoy crafting, particularly Christmas related crafting, there’s quite a bit for you here. There’s also a strong tale of neighbors helping neighbors – which may be a good thing to remember in the aftermath of the Helene and Milton hurricanes and as we wind up the 2024 election and begin to get ready for the holiday season. But again, the romance itself… can seem secondary (or even tertiary) at times. So for those looking for a more hot and heavy, romance centered tale… this aint that. Instead, this is once again on the “cleaner” / “sweeter” side – which is perfectly within Naigle’s normal approach.

Ultimately a fun and solid tale of its type, and clearly a type that has a lot of fans to boot.

Very much recommended.

This review of Christmas In Chestnut Ridge by Nancy Naigle was originally written on November 1, 2024.

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#BookReview: We Three Kings by Kristen Bailey

If Charles Dickens Wrote A Hallmarkie Christmas RomCom. Seriously, this is one of those Christmas Hallmarkie type tales that in its basic set up brings to mind almost a modern version of A Christmas Carol… but as a romcom rather than a “glimpse” based drama. Here, Bailey works her usual comedic genius in the various situations Maggie finds herself in, even if the ultimate outcome (not just the romantic one, but the specific plot one) was rather obvious almost from the moment the “problem” is introduced in the tale. But there again: Hallmarkie. As in, such obvious outcomes are damn near a reason to read the book to begin with – there won’t be much unexpected here, and what does show up unexpectedly will be used for either comedy or light drama that won’t really go much of anywhere other than to add a few dozen more pages to the tale.

I will note that as someone in tech who actually experienced an unexpected “reduction” earlier this year, this one hit a touch harder than many for me personally – and given the blood bath that tech has been experiencing these last few years, this will likely be the case for many readers. One of the better things here though is that Bailey captures our world so well that one begins to suspect she may have been one of us before beginning her writing career.

Ultimately a feel good Christmas romcom, this is going to be exactly what some people want… and exactly what at least a few others want to avoid. Know thyself and which camp you’re in and read (or not) accordingly. 😀

Very much recommended.

This review of We Three Kings by Kristen Bailey was originally written on November 1, 2024.

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#BookReview: Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn

If Toby Keith Joined The American Pie Crew And Had Lunch With Nicholas Sparks, You’d Get Something Close To This Book. Seriously. One, no matter what the RWA/ RNA types claim, Sparks writes romance novels. Tragedy is a perfectly valid end to a romance, and sometimes the romance is ever more powerful/ memorable *because* it ended in tragedy. And now that we’ve inserted a “controversy creates cash” flashpoint into this review… 😉

Seriously, the Keith and Sparks connections here are primarily due to the background of our male lead, a former soldier now returning home to take over his parents’ business as they attempt to retire. It is this part of the tale that adds some extra emotional heft that Sparks and Keith were so excellent with, particularly as it relates to soldiers, in their stories. Indeed, there are absolutely times where Keith’s “American Soldier” begins to sound almost audibly in at least this reader’s head while reading this book.

Outside of our male lead though, this book is one that highlights that northern Michigan/ upper Wisconsin lake resort vibe that American Pie used so well in a couple of their movies to great extent, though mostly showing it from a more local perspective than the summer party crowd. We get some meta commentary on the perils of online “fame”, and we get a LOT of laughs – which is where the American Pie connection really comes to bear. Not in the titular joke from that series, but there are absolutely some comedic bits that will take readers “of a certain age” (re: those who were older teens/ younger 20s when the first couple of American Pie movies came out) back to that era.

Overall a largely fun romcom with some truly serious elements, though seemingly lighter in tone than many “Hallmarkie” movies despite having elements that are more serious than are generally found in that set. So an interesting combination, and one that Hahn works to great effect here.

Very much recommended.

This review of Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn was originally written on November 1, 2024.

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#BookReview: Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner

RomCom In A Nightmare Setting. Seriously, the title of the review here is pretty much exactly what you’re getting. I don’t know how common it is, but I know I’ve had the nightmare that is a version of the basic premise of this book – that you suddenly find out all of your “government” “approved” “identification” is suddenly found to be fraudulent and/ or non-existent… anywhere. How would you survive in modern America? Particularly if you were just starting a new job? And now you have the basic narrative here.

The romance/ romcom aspects of this tale take a bit of the realism of the premise out of the picture, but then, if we wanted a gritty real world version of the premise above, we wouldn’t be looking for it in a romcom, now would we? Instead, both sides of romance and comedy work well, so long as you don’t mind absurdist/ “What the FUCK?” comedy. (And seriously, if you can’t enjoy that type of comedy at least from time to time, that absolutely says more about you than about Wiesner’s writing here.)

Ultimately, this *is* a romcom – even with the initial premise – so yes, things get tied up in nice little maybe more Lifetime Movie than Hallmarkie bows, but said bows are absolutely the pink and frilly kind. In other words, don’t let the premise get you too anxious here, just sit back and enjoy the ride – if maybe a touch more pulse pounding than many romcoms.

Very much recommended.

This review of Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner was originally written on November 1, 2024.