Tag: Hallmarkie

Posted on

#BookReview: Unleashed Melody by Julie Carobini

Most Hallmarkie Book In Series. In a series built basically specifically for dog lovers who also enjoy women’s fiction/ romance type tales, this is perhaps the single most “Hallmark Movie” like book in the entire series – and it actually sticks out from the series because of it. More self contained than many of the other books in the series, it really works quite well as a corporate/ office type romance that happens to involve owning and running a boutique hotel in a small beach town. But it also has some of the “problems” (according to some) of many Hallmark movies – including the seeming inevitable third act drama. Still, the tale really is quite solid in itself, and as one of the shorter books in the series it *really* packs quite a bit of story into the few (sub 150) pages it has.

Very much recommended.

This review of Unleashed Melody by Julie Carobini was originally written on January 1, 2024.

Posted on

#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.

Posted on

#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.

Posted on

#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.

Posted on

#BookReview: The (Not So) Perfect Second Chance by Maggie Dallen

Short. Quick. Hallmarkie. Perfect For Holiday Season Or Any Time You Need A Quick Break From Reality. Let’s face it, particularly barely two weeks out from polls beginning to close in the 2024 Presidential Election, we could *all* use a break from reality… but we don’t all have hours to spend in some 300+ page book, much less a 700+ page fantasy tome. Enter this short story originally written as part of an anthology, but now available independently. I read it in I want to say 2.5 hrs or so, it really is that quick. And can be mostly read in shorter chunks still, if that is all the time you have. It works *best* as a finale to the Falling In Friar Hollow series, as it was written as, but in all honesty, if you don’t mind knowing that the couples featured in a *romance book* wound up together… this could also work as an introduction of sorts to the series. Similarly, if you’ve never read Dallen and/ or her contemporary books, this is a solid introduction to her general style for that type of tale. Very much recommended.

This review of The (Not So) Perfect Second Chance by Maggie Dallen was originally written on October 22, 2024.

Posted on

#BookReview: The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy

Solid Hallmarkie Christmas Romance That “Officially” Has The Weirdest Personal Story Ever For Me. This is one of those damn near prototypical Hallmark Christmas movie type romances, and that alone will tell most people whether they’re going to like this or not. Obviously, with how much success Hallmark has with these types of movies every year (and with so many of the romance authors I’ve worked with over the years now getting chances to write some of these actual movies), there is quite a considerable market for exactly this type of story, so kudos to Cassidy (and the actual person behind her) for branching out into this realm. Here, Cassidy even manages to introduce a few wrinkles not *always* seen… but this also ties into the personal story I have to tell.

For those who don’t care about my very weird personal history with this book, what I said above is everything you need to know. It was really good for its type and had some interesting wrinkles, and is absolutely worthy of your time if you like these types of tales. Very much recommended.

Now, for the weird personal tale:

As I was reading this book in the week before release in October 2024, I *absolutely knew* I had read this tale before. To the level that it was an exact duplicate of the tale I knew I had already read, which I recognized 100% from one particular scene, among others. As I’ve known the actual person behind the Cassidy pseudonym online for many years now and have read and reviewed many of her books under her real name, I knew such blatant plagiarism simply *was not* possible. Not the author I’ve known for so long. And yet… I *knew* I had read this story weeks earlier, back when I last reviewed this author’s 2024 release under her real name.

And yet… I had *ZERO* record that I had already read this book. Which is statistically damn near as close to zero as you can get, as I have *extensive* record keeping about literally every book I read in *numerous* different places.

I have an Excel file where I have three different sheets containing different data about every book, and I mark each sheet as I complete a given book. I download the cover to my phone and then create two separate images – one with my Hardcover.app profile on the side and one without – with my rating of the book on both. I then post the one without in a Facebook group on my personal profile where we keep track of all the books the group reads. I then Facebook Messenger my reader profile both images. I then save both images in a particular folder on my computer. Then I begin to actually write the review in Hardcover.app. I then copy the text of the review into Goodreads, BookHype.com, BookBub.com (if the book is there), TheStoryGraph.com, NetGalley.com (if the book came from there, as both the earlier book under this author’s real name and this book did), my blog, and at least two separate Facebook reader groups, and I’m trying to get better about making it at least three. (My own group there, Reader Garage, as well as at least Readers Coffeehouse and I’m trying to get better about My Book Friends). I then finish out my review on my blog with imagery and some links, then post the links from my blog to the Hardcover.app review and to the NetGalley review. I then copy all of the other review site review links into the NetGalley review and submit that. Finally, I place the link to my blog review in my LinkTree and get the Hardcover version of the cover image out on my Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook Blog Page. I then share the Facebook Blog Page post publicly on my reader profile there.

So there are a LOT of places that *some* record of me reading this book back then *should* have existed in some form. 25 by my count, 26 counting the My Book Friends group.

And YET, I found record that I had read this book in just *ONE* of them – It had been removed from the Excel tab where I remove books as I complete them. Even this isn’t conclusive, however, as I’ve been known to make mistakes and cut the wrong book from time to time over the years.

But y’all, I *KNOW* I read this book, and I even remember having the plan back in July, when I read the other book under this author’s real name, that I would read this book immediately after – along with then doing the same thing with another author who had two books releasing around the same time as both of this author’s books. (IIRC, the other author’s first book released a week or so after “Cassidy”‘s first book, and the other author’s October book released last week, a week before this book.)

So what I *suspect* and *believe* happened – yet have almost exactly zero evidence of – is that I did in fact read this book back then. It is the only thing that makes sense with everything that I know to be true about everything surrounding this very weird experience. I then noticed that I simply had too many books releasing in August to follow through with my plans for working the other author in a similar manner, and clearly I somehow forgot to go through my review process for this book back then. I honestly have no idea what caused such a lapse, but such a lapse happening is the *only* thing that actually makes sense with everything else I know.

So there you have it. Even the “machines” of the book review space, as some authors have called me over the years, have our breaking points. It seems that August 2024 – whose books I did not fully clear until September 30, with my review of James Rollins’ Arkangel – may have been too close to my own for comfort. But at least I’m on the back side of that, and some new opportunities are arising as I begin to slow down the ARC work that has kept me so busy for so many years now.

Hopefully y’all will continue to follow me on these new adventures… and hopefully you’ll continue to follow Ms. Cassidy under both this identity and her real one. 🙂

This review of The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy was originally written on October 22, 2024.

Posted on

#BookReview: A Wish In The Wind by Kay Bratt

Reading The Last Book First? WHAT???? Ok, real confession time: I’ve bought every single book in this series – and this is the *only* one I’ve read, specifically because I also received it as an Advance Review Copy. So why did I buy the other 16 books? I’m familiar with the work, and in many cases the person, of the authors in question, and I trust them to give me solid stories.

This one is yet another such solid story, perhaps of a bit of a Hallmark Movie type vibe – but that is really the intent of this entire series, so it works. Bratt in particular is truly capable of so much more emotional depth (check out her By The Seas series or my own first encounter with her work, Dancing With The Sun) and even outright action/ drama (check out her Hart’s Ridge series), but she shows here that she can contain those other impulses and write on theme and on brand for a collaborative effort – and that too shows great strength and talent as a storyteller (or any group participant), to be able to blend just so well.

So, there it is, really – if you like the Hallmark Movie vibe (and clearly *many* do), you’re going to enjoy both this book and this entire series. If that isn’t really your think, this likely won’t be either.

Oh, and one other strength to both the book and the series: They’re all super short. I read this (120 age ish) book in about 2.5 hrs or so this afternoon. In other words, great for those busy with other things that are looking for quick breaks to enjoy something well written and quite enjoyable that won’t really offend most anyone not actively looking for something to be offended by.

Very much recommended.

This review of A Wish In The Wind by Kay Bratt was originally written on October 15, 2024.

Posted on

#BookReview: The Christmas Inn by Pamela Kelley

If Bobby Flay and Candace Cameron Bure Had A Baby. Particularly a “baby” in the business sense (aka, a company 😉 ), this is probably what it would look like. Fans of both the Hallmark Channel and the Food Network are going to love this, as the plot itself *is* very stereotypically Hallmarkie (and, given that their Christmas movies in particular seem to be looked forward to all year by *millions*… perhaps this isn’t a bad thing) and yet the level of detail Kelley goes into when describing the food… well, I daresay Gordon Ramsey himself would have a challenge trying to make words on paper sound so utterly delectable.

Now, if this isn’t your scene… eh, maybe you like the women’s fiction and/ or romance elements here and don’t care so much about the foodie side or the Hallmarkie side. In which case, you’re still going to enjoy this book. But if you’re looking for Michael Bay action where there are explosions just because the “camera” turned… yeah, this isn’t that. If you’re looking for a Jeremy Robinson style balls to the wall scifi action… yeah, this isn’t that either. But for what it *is*, it is done quite well – well enough that if Kelley can get this into enough hands, she’s going to have quite the success on her hands.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Christmas Inn by Pamela Kelley was originally written on October 1, 2024.

Posted on

#BookReview: The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery

Perfectly Within Expectations. Susan Mallery has a type of tale, at least over these last few years at minimum. It isn’t quite “Hallmarkie” in that it generally features a group of female leads that share the spotlight, but those who enjoy the Hallmarkie type will likely also enjoy this type of book – particularly the women it is clearly catered for. Yes, the male characters can be a bit wooden and one dimensional, but again, Mallery knows her target audience well, is clearly very popular within it, and clearly these benign affronts work within this space for this author – and aren’t ever really “offensive” to anyone. They’re simply too cardboard to have any real agency or motivations of their own, and mostly exist to affirm whatever the women in their lives are doing in the moment / serve whatever emotional or physical needs the woman they are paired with may have. Again, perfectly in line with what Mallery’s audience clearly expects, and a perfectly fine tale within these confines. If this type of casual, non-preachy, female friendship type of tale is what you’re after, you’ve found a great book within that space. If you’re looking for something *more*, no matter how you define “more”… you need to look somewhere else. This is one of those books that isn’t really going to challenge anyone or anything, it is more of a comfort read. I won’t necessarily say “vacation” read and I despise the term “beach read” because not everyone reads any given type of book at the beach and whatever book you may be reading at the beach is by definition a “beach read”, and at 400+ pages it would need to be a decently long vacation for anyone to read this book while on vacation. Still, it is that same kind of relaxing type of read that many ascribe to those scenarios, so perhaps for some it will truly be a “beach read”. Very much recommended.

This review of The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery was originally written on February 23, 2024.

Posted on

#BookReview: Pity Pact by Whitney Dineen

Solid Romantic Comedy Builds On Characters From Prior Book. This was a solid romantic comedy – yes, in the Hallmarkie type vein – where two people in Small Town USA suddenly find themselves on the same reality dating show that is being shot not only in their small town, but actually in the country club one of them owns. Both of the main characters here played fairly heavily into the prior book, Pity Party, and it was nice to see some strong character growth from the male lead in particular between the two books. Otherwise, there are yet again some fairly hefty subjects broached here, including high school bullying. There are a few laugh out loud moments – always great in something billed as a comedy 😉 – and I enjoyed that this book was much more directly about our lead couple and the people surrounding them. Yes, including the couple from the prior book. One scene in particular may give the clean/ sweet romance crowd a case of “the vapors”, but to be clear even that scene isn’t actually a sex scene. Overall a fun romance that at least somewhat sets up the next book as well, which I’m very much looking forward to reading. Very much recommended.

This review of Pity Pact by Whitney Dineen was originally written on February 7, 2024.