#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.

#BookReview: Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams

Story Tries Hard But *Just* Misses + Story/ Cover Mismatch. This is one of those reviews where the review and rating may not seem to align, because for the vast majority of this book, I thought it was pretty damn good. It does a LOT – even more than similar Soraya M. Lane books usually do – and *for the most part*, it does those things quite well. We’ve got a romance tale in the 2000s era New England that alternates between 2022 (current) and 2008 (the halcyon summer where the couple first fell in love). We’ve got a historical fiction tale that alternates between the 1952 Great Cairo Fire/ Black Saturday period and early WWII period. Either one of those tales could be an entire book in and of itself, and yet we’ve also got a 23 And Me type DNA mystery that links the two (and which admittedly is a spoiler mentioning, sorry). I’ve read many entire books that would use any one of those three elements to tell an entire tale, and yet we get all three tales in one book here. And *for the most part*, it all works.

Where it fails, and the cause of the first star deduction, is that the climax of the Cairo tale is rushed and its fallout effectively buried in service of the New England romance and 23 And Me mystery. This book could have been *so much more* with maybe as little as 10 extra pages flushing out the Cairo tale in 1952 rather than the 2022 manner in which we get that information, and I think this is a close enough to objective opinion to merit a star deduction here.

The other star deduction is one I don’t encounter often, but *have* done a time or two before, and is warranted here for the same reasons I’ve used it before – the stories told here and the cover as it exists at publication (June 25, 2024) do not match. At all. The 1952 tale in Cairo -the era this cover screams to me – doesn’t really have even a pool scene at all, much less one involving a diving board. Even the 2000s era tales don’t actually involve any real pool activity, again particularly with a diving board. There are some ocean/ beach scenes that play key roles, but that isn’t what this cover evokes. Even in tone, this cover leads the reader to believe that this will be some 1950s era glam tale of some form… and it isn’t, not really. Yes, the Cairo tale is played as “exotic”… but that isn’t the tone I get from this cover.

So a lot of words, maybe too many words, to say that you really do need – as one 2* reviewer also noted – to read the description of the book to really know what you’re getting into here, and judging this book by its (admittedly great looking, in and of itself) cover may get you into a bit of a letdown situation with this particular book.

Overall, I actually really, really enjoyed this book. I thought it did a lot, and for the most part did well on damn near all of it. It simply lacked execution in a final detail and needed a cover that ties to the story more than the current one does.

Very much recommended.

This review of Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams was originally written on June 28, 2024.

#BookReview: Pity Party by Whitney Dineen

Strong Hallmarkie Romance, Kid Nearly Steals Show. This is a sunshine/ grumpy romance that also features a single parent, and this is one where the child very nearly steals the book with the focus on her and her antics. Which is normally not my thing, but it works in this particular case. There’s also a “friends with benefits” / “situationship” thing going on, but all “action” is behind closed doors – so be warned, whichever direction you may fall on those issues. Overall this is another small town, hallmarkie style romance, and it absolutely works within that mold. Very much recommended.

This review of Pity Party by Whitney Dineen was originally written on February 6, 2024.

Featured New Release Of The Week: This Place Of Wonder by Barbara O’Neal

For the fifth straight year, Barbara O’Neal‘s annual release is the Featured New Release on this blog. This tradition began in 2018 with The Art Of Inheriting Secrets, which was the very *first* FNR post, and continues this week with This Place Of Wonder.

Here’s what I had to say on Goodreads:

O’Neal Delivers Yet Another Solid Family Drama. O’Neal’s solid 2018 book The Art of Inheriting Secrets was the very first Featured New Release on my blog, and I have kept up that tradition every year since – and 2022 is no exception there. Her 2019 book When We Believed In Mermaids continues to be one of my most “liked” reviews on Goodreads to this day, and continues to garner attention seemingly every few days.

All that to note that I have a rich if recent history with O’Neal’s work, and this is yet another truly solid and sensual tale of family secrets and drama. In this particular work, we get four women struggling with the sudden death of one man that all were connected to – his ex-wife and mom of his step-daughter and step-mother to his daughter, his most recent girlfriend, and both of the daughters in question, though we only “hear” from the two elder ladies + his biological daughter.

While this tale “hits” a few solid blows emotionally, it doesn’t really land the haymakers that Mermaids did – this is more in line with most of her other books, including Secrets, on that level. This noted, it is ultimately a very satisfying tale that has several great moments not always seen in novels, including the daughter’s actions in the prologue and the elder ladies’ blend of pragmatism and romanticism. Several issues from alcoholism to rape to child abuse are touched on, so be prepared for that if one needs to be. Overall truly an excellent tale, and yet another wonderful read from O’Neal. Very much recommended.