Tag: hotel

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#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.

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#BookReview: One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

Lots Of Moving Pieces, Yet Feels Slow Somehow. I think a growing peeve of mine- maybe not yet a pet peeve, but certainly a major annoyance – is using a “hurricane” bearing down on a location and yet using it poorly… which is what happens here. Why a hurricane when a normal storm system would have worked just as well for plot purposes??? Hell, here in *Florida* (much less Maine, where this is set and where they get far fewer hurricanes), our daily thunderstorms (particularly in the summer) are generally worse than many of the hurricanes I’ve lived through here in North Florida (including Irma, just a few weeks after I moved here).

Beyond my irritation with the misuse of the hurricane though, which is admittedly a personal thing, the story works reasonably well, if seeming a bit slow and perhaps a touch unrealistic/ idiotic with some of the moves some of the characters make. But hey, we’re all idiots at some point, right? It just seems like our supposed “heroes” in this particular tale are particularly stupid at times… which grates some people more than others. (Indeed, reading over the other reviews, it seems like many have a hangup on this similar to my hurricane one above.) And yet the stupidity ultimately works to make this novel work, and perhaps that is the reason it is here – this near 400 page book may have been reduced by at least a third and perhaps as much as a half had one or two characters made even a single better decision, perhaps a couple of better decisions. And maybe Day had a word or page count to meet.

Still, there’s nothing objectively wrong about this book, and it *is* an enjoyable read that is *certainly* better than other books and is a solid way to lose a day or a few afternoons in a fictional world… which is becoming so much more important as election season ramps up in the US again. So forget the politics for a bit and pick up this book. You may be disappointed a bit in it, but it will still be better than spending that time watching the news. 🙂

Recommended.

This review of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day was originally written on August 1, 2024.

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#BookReview: Emerald Heart by Grace Greene

Sometimes Life Just Breaks You. If you find yourself in this place, this is the kind of book you *need* to read. It will hurt. You will cry. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a modicum of catharsis here too.

If you haven’t found yourself in this place – yet – read this too. Maybe get a better understanding of the “bitter old woman recluse” in your life. Because let’s face it – we *all* either have one of these or had one of these or very likely will have one of these in our lives at some point. And to be clear, it isn’t just women, as men could very easily be shown to be dealing with identical things as are shown in this book. But this particular tale happens to be a women’s fiction tale focused on a woman and her relationships, and thus the description above.

Told with Greene’s usual great care to characterization and description, you’re both going to feel like you’re there on Emerald Isle with these characters *and* you’re going to feel their issues as though there were your own. Because, again, Greene shows us that no matter where we are in life, at some point nearly all of us will see ourselves in at least one of these characters and what they are going through in theirs.

And there, there is where Greene truly shows Grace ( 😉 ) and hope.

Very much recommended.

This review of Emerald Heart by Grace Greene was originally written on December 4, 2023.

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#BookReview: The Suite Spot by Trish Doller

Short Fun Atypical Romance. This is one of those romance novels that is almost more women’s fiction than romance. Yes, ultimately it satisfies every “romance book” check box I am aware of, even the most stringent ones… but it really does read as more of a women’s fiction “find yourself” type tale. Hell, we don’t even meet the male lead of the book until a fairly decent way into the overall text. Quite a few wokeisms tossed in as well, but those are more irritants than true detractions from the tale, and at least a couple of them are actually fleshed out into realistic characters. Overall a solid and fun tale, and *as a story*, very much recommended.

All of this noted, I would be doing readers a disservice to fail to note that after I picked up this book to review last fall, I became aware that the author had signed a petition in favor of banning books because she didn’t like them. And this reader does not abide those who ban books, no matter the reason. So this author is now on my “never read again until she recants from book banning” list, though certainly you as a reader of this review and potential reader of this book are more than welcome to do with the information I’ve provided here both on the book and the author as you will, and I wish you well either way. 🙂

This review of The Suite Spot by Trish Doller was originally written on February 28, 2022.

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Snowbound With Her Mountain Cowboy by Patricia Johns

This week we’re looking at a nearly 400 page romance with lots of secondary love stories embedded within it that reads much faster than its page count suggests. This week we’re looking at Snowbound With Her Mountain Cowboy by Patricia Johns.

Slow Burn Clean Second Chance Romance – With A Disaster. This is exactly what I noted in the title – a slow burn romance where the couple never really gets together until the very end, clean in that there is barely any kissing and certainly nothing beyond that (sorry, fans of near-erotica level steam), and featuring a couple that has been divorced far longer than they were ever married… but who neither ever quite got over the other. This one also has a few other love story tales embedded naturally within the story, all of which contribute nicely to the primary romance of the story here. Not short at nearly 400 pages, but does actually read a bit faster than other books of its length I’ve encountered. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” including book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “Featured New Release Of The Week: Snowbound With Her Mountain Cowboy by Patricia Johns”

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#BookReview: Alaska Reunion by Jennifer Snow

Unanswered Prayers. This is another solid continuation of this loosely-coupled series where the couples in each book may show up in the others, but the focus of each story is its leading couple. Here, we get a great and fun forced proximity / fake relationship romance… that of course (because it *is* a romance novel) becomes a real one. Solid fun in the Alaskan setting, including getting out on the multitudinous waterways of the region and even some climbing and other more adventuresome activities. For the clean/ sweet crowd… ummm… maybe sit this one out. 😉 For those that like intense sex scenes (nothing particularly kinky, just enough steam to drive a dang electric generator), I think you’ll like this one. 🙂 Snow knows her genre very well, and this is a perfect example of that. Very much recommended.

This review of Alaska Reunion by Jennifer Snow was originally written on August 1, 2021.

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#BookReview: Margaritas At The Beach House Hotel

Entertaining. This is a book that is somewhat deep in a series – Book 5 – and never once shies away from that fact. It has a wide range of established characters and storylines, but Keim does a remarkable job of making sure the reader understands the relevant histories, no matter if they’ve been a long time fan or if this is your entry point to this series or even this author – as it was both for me. Indeed, it is arguable that perhaps Keim does *too much* rehashing of prior stories- more in repeating a few sentences (with variation, not copy/ paste, at least not obviously) about whatever relevant fact such as how characters met or why another character is so problematic, etc.

And yet, despite and perhaps because of all of this, this book absolutely works as a continuation of its world and as a showcase for the author’s style and tone. Those that enjoy ensemble casts with a lot of characters and a lot going on will thoroughly enjoy this book, those who prefer fewer characters… probably won’t like it as much. But the storylines all interweave remarkably well, particularly with the narration being solely driven by one character’s perspective and the primary focus being that character and her business partner and friend – who enjoy catching up in stolen moments via the titular event.

Ultimately a strong book about friendship and defending the hurting, this tale is very much recommended.

This review of Margaritas At The Beach House Hotel by Judith Keim was originally written on June 8, 2021.