White Lie Christmas by Karla Doyle

Title: White Lie Christmas (Colorado Christmas #2; Hope Harbor)

Author: Karla Doyle

Publisher: Karla Doyle 2022

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 74

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 5

When her friends choose skiing in Colorado for their annual girls’ holiday trip, Krista has to think on her feet to avoid setting foot on the mountaintop. What can a girl who’s afraid of heights do to ensure she stays put in the lodge? Fake a broken leg, of course. There’s plenty to do inside—such as making some very merry memories with the hot guy at the bar. When one night stretches into every night, their fling feels like it could be the start of something bigger than the Rocky Mountains, except Hayden is a ski instructor, and Krista has been telling a white lie this Christmas…

This read a bit more like a Penthouse letter than a romantic holiday story. The problem is that the timeline is so short that we rush into sex and ultimately an engagement!?!?!?!?! all in the space of three days. We don’t get to learn enough about the main characters. Oh well, it was a decently fun story.

Colorado Christmas

#1 Roman Holiday by Kylie Marcus
#2 White Lie Christmas by Karla Doyle
#3 Mountain Lane by Andie Fenichal
#4 Gingerbread House of Lies by Shyla Colt
#5 Snow Candy Christmas by Silke Campion
#6 Humbug Hang Up by Layne Daniels

Next up on the TBR pile:

Gray Hair Don't Care by Karen Booth

Title: Gray Hair Don’t Care (Never Too Late #1)

Author: Karen Booth

Publisher: Karen Booth 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 276

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Rating: 5

Everything went wrong. And then she went gray.

At 47, newly divorced makeup artist Lela Bennett is dreading her next steps. Dating. Meeting people. Not letting herself go. But then she runs into Donovan James and tries something different—sleeping with her sexy crush from college. Unfortunately, in a post-orgasm stupor, Lela confesses she was in love with Donovan all those years ago. He responds by leaving while she sleeps. The next morning, her gray hairs are practically taunting her. She knows she has to get it together. Forget men. Embrace her age. Own her gray.

Donovan James is a marketing genius, but his ex-wives will tell you—nothing freaks him out like feelings. Three years after his one-night stand with Lela, he’s focused on his daughter’s lifestyle company, but unprepared to meet the face of their new beauty brand. It’s Lela. With stunning silver locks and new confidence, she’s no longer swayed by his charms. When business starts booming, the universe seems intent on throwing them together time and again. And suddenly, two people convinced that romance was behind them are wondering if love could be what’s next.

I picked this one up as a possibility for Dirty Book Month. And while this book is not going to work for that theme, I still really enjoyed this one featuring an older protagonist and a great relationship. Lela is a great FMC who has dealt with a lot of shit in her life and finds her way. Donovan is a great match for Lela in her new life. I especially loved seeing Lela interact with all her friends and Donovan’s daughter. My biggest complaint was that there weren’t enough steamy scenes. I wanted to see more of Lela and Donovan together. Still, this was a good older protagonist romance.

Never Too Late

#1 Gray Hair Don’t Care
#2 Brooklyn Monroe Wants It All
#3 It’s a Widow Thing

Next up on the TBR pile:

Love in a Blizzard by Britney M. Mills

Title: Love in a Blizzard (Christmas at Goldwater Creek #1)

Author: Britney M. Mills

Publisher: Crystal Canyon Press

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 168

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 2

His heart is closed off, her life is mapped out, and the snowstorm that forces them off course.

Jobless and heartbroken, Lauren Burke returns home to Coldwater Creek hoping to find comfort. On her way home, a blizzard hits, sending her car into a fence and her into the arms of her longtime teenage crush, Walker McBride.

After being dumped, ex-bull rider Walker McBride throws himself into restoring an old lodge in his small hometown of Coldwater Creek. With the grand opening only weeks away, he has no time to rescue damsels in distress, or for that matter, love. But when Lauren shows up, the loneliness he’s been ignoring quickly bubbles to the surface.

Now snowed in, they’re forced to confront their past.

Two hearts.

One snowstorm.

And the chance to find love.

Overall, a cute little Christmas romance novella. So-and-so’s little sister/brother trope is not a favorite of mine, but this one didn’t seem too forced or cutesy. I really hate it when all parties make a huge deal out of the circumstances. This story mostly focused on their current situation and looking to the future. My biggest complaint was the odd references to Christianity throughout the novella. It felt weirdly out of place and forced. And clearly, a spice rating of 2 is not going to be an absolute favorite of mine.

Christmas at Coldwater Creek

#1 Love in a Blizzard
#2 Love in the Lights
#3 Love in a Snapshot
#4 Love in the Details
#5 Love a Contract

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Christmas Fix by Lucy Score

Title: The Christmas Fix (Fixer #2)

Author: Lucy Score

Publisher: Bloom Books 2017

Genre: Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Rating: 5

She'll save Christmas just to spite him…

There's only one thing standing in the way of Cat King saving Merry, Connecticut's Christmas festival: Grumpy town manager Noah Yates.

Single dad Noah takes his responsibilities seriously. When a late season hurricane turns his town into a disaster, he's left scrambling to pick up the pieces of the town he loves.

At least, until home renovation expert and reality TV star Catalina King arrives with a camera crew and a budget big enough to put the town back together again. But Noah doesn't want a celebrity diva capitalizing on their tragedy or filling his young daughter's head with visions of glitz and glam.

Blonde bombshell Cat is used to being underestimated, but Noah has an uncanny knack for getting under her skin. They can't be in a room together without rubbing each other the wrong way…except that time in the dark alley where the rubbing was just right. Can these enemies work together to pull off a Christmas miracle or will their fighting leave them both on the naughty list?

What do we get if we mix a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, HGTV, and a lot of steamy scenes? A rocking good time! I really really loved this one for my holiday reading. Cat is a take-no-nonsense driven career woman who butts up against a stick-in-the-mud small town leader. I loved seeing Noah and Cat go from hating each other’s guts to making out everywhere in the small town of Merry. A great romance full of amazing banter with a heartwarming story running underneath. I might just have to go and read the first one in this duology. Love the fun writing and steamy scenes!

Fixer

#1 Mr. Fixer Upper
#2 The Christmas Fix

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bad Bachelor by Stefanie London

Title: Bad Bachelor (Bad Bachelors #1)

Author: Stefanie London

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter : 5

He says…

If one more person mentions Bad Bachelors to me, someone's gonna get hurt. Who thought this app would be a good idea? Like dating isn't hard enough without being critiqued for every little misstep. My name is Reed McMahon and I'm supposedly a PR whiz and "image fixer," but now I need some help cleaning up my own image.

She says…

When Reed strolls into my workplace offering to help save the struggling library, I'm not buying his story. I'm Darcy Greer, a no-nonsense Brooklynite who knows Reed is exactly the kind of guy to be avoided. I've seen the app, and Bad Bachelor #1 has no place in my life. However, the library doesneed his help, and this guy needs to make some serious amends, so who am I to stop him? If only he didn't work so hard to find redemption…

A probably ultimately forgetful romance, but I definitely enjoyed reading it. Enemies to lovers is my top favorite romance trope and this book really leaned into that. We also get a bit of opposites attract and forced proximity throughout the book. Darcy and Reed are a fun couple to watch argue and make up. The sexy scenes are appropriately steamy while seeming very natural to their relationship. This one was a good read for the week, but sadly, not a good choice for February’s Dirty Book Club Month selection.

Bad Bachelors

#1 Bad Bachelor
#2 Bad Reputation
#3 Bad Influence

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews

Title: A Holiday by Gaslight

Author: Mimi Matthews

Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press 2018

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 175

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 1

A Courtship of Convenience

Sophie Appersett is quite willing to marry outside of her class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome Mr. Edward Sharpe is no run-of-the-mill London merchant. He's grim and silent. A man of little emotion--or perhaps no emotion at all. After two months of courtship, she's ready to put an end to things.

A Last Chance for Love

But severing ties with her taciturn suitor isn't as straightforward as Sophie envisioned. Her parents are outraged. And then there's Charles Darwin, Prince Albert, and that dratted gaslight. What's a girl to do except invite Mr. Sharpe to Appersett House for Christmas and give him one last chance to win her? Only this time there'll be no false formality. This time they'll get to know each other for who they really are.

Cute little Christmas romance story. I enjoyed the setting and a slightly different time than the usual Regency romances I read. But mostly, I really enjoyed the communication between Ned and Sophie. It’s refreshing to see two main characters talk to each other instead of relying on miscommunication.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Title: Whalefall

Author: Daniel Kraus

Publisher: MTV Books 2023

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 327

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.

Another mediocre read for me this week. I picked this up on th suggestion of a couple of lists with new horror style books for 2023. Ultimately, I wasn’t a huge fan. This read more like a thriller with long chapters of flashbacks and introspection. We didn’t get a sense of building dread that I really love in my horror novels. Instead, the whale swallows Jay pretty quickly and then we slowly have to follow his stream of consciousness and struggle to survive. There are a few parts that turned extremely gory, like even I was a bit grossed out. Overall, I just don’t think I really connected to this story and ended up with a “Meh” reaction at the end.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

Title: Counting the Cost

Author: Jill Duggar

Publisher: Gallery Books 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 288

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines. She didn’t protest the strict model of patriarchy that her family followed, which declares that men are superior, that women are expected to be wives and mothers and are discouraged from attaining a higher education, and that parental authority over their children continues well into adulthood, even once they are married.

But as Jill got older, married Derick, and they embarked on their own lives, the red flags became too obvious to ignore.

For as long as they could, Jill and Derick tried to be obedient family members—they weren’t willing to rock the boat. But now they’re raising a family of their own, and they’re done with the secrets. Thanks to time, tears, therapy, and blessings from God, they have the strength to share their journey. Theirs is a remarkable story of the power of the truth and is a moving example of how to find healing through honesty.

I succumbed to publishing peer pressure and grabbed this one from the library shelves. I ended up pretty disappointed in this read, but wasn’t sure exactly why. Of course, I don’t believe in an higher power, but I don’t think that was my problem. The more I examined my thoughts, I can down to a few aspects that I did not like. The biggest of these is that it feels like Jill has not done enough reflection to see her upbringing clearly. She maintains that her childhood was overall very good. It’s only in the last sections of the book that she questions the authority model for her entire family. But the examination is cursory. I’m not asking her to turn her back on her entire family or faith, but clearly there were a lot of concerning situations and models that she just glosses over. I don’t need details of the abuse she suffered, but she seems to dismiss it throughout most of the book and only brings it up when discussing the financial compensation. Perhaps this book would have more reflection and nuance if it had been written five years in the future. It seems that she is too close to the situation to see clearly right now.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Snowed In for Christmas by Jaqueline Snowe

Title: Snowed in for Christmas

Author: Jaqueline Snowe

Publisher: Forever 2023

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 336

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - The Gym (cheating a bit as I don’t have long romance books, but the MMC is a football coach, so I’m counting it)

Spice Rating: 5

Sorority mom Becca Fairfield is used to guys not taking her seriously. She’s too blond, too quirky, or Just. Too. Much.So she’s ditched dating to focus on her job and a house filled with drama and plenty of tea. Now with the holidays and a major blizzard on her doorstep, Becca has everything she needs to survive the next two weeks on her own. Hot cocoa, plenty of books . . . and the memory of a steamy kiss with a certain sexy, grumposaurus next-door neighbor to keep her warm.

Only Becca’s seriously underestimated this Snowpocalypse. So when the power goes out and Harrison Cooper—football coach, master crank, and the guy who acted mega-awkward after said steamy kiss—offers her shelter, it only makes sense to accept. They’ll just be Blizzard Buddies. Hang out, stay safe, and maybe indulge in a little R-rated cuddling. Becca knows that Harrison isn’t the dating kind, and what happens during the storm lasts only as long as the storm. But are they keeping warm . . . or playing with fire?

Very sweet and a little spicy Christmas romance. I usually hate the miscommunication trope, but this one did not bother me as much. It wasn’t so much miscommunication as no communication. But the main characters fairly quickly sort that out. Plus we get forced proximity and one bed! I do enjoy those tropes a lot. Overall this was a breezy and fun Christmas themed romance for my week.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

Title: Role Playing

Author: Cathy Yardley

Publisher: Montlake 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 333

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Autumn

Spice Rating: 5

Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit. But when her college-aged son makes her a deal—he’ll be more social if she does the same—she can’t refuse. She joins a new online gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. So that nobody gets the wrong idea, she calls herself Bogwitch.

Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée.

Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is a college student. Otter assumes Bogwitch is an octogenarian.

When they finally meet face to face—after a rocky, shocking start—the unlikely pair of sunshine and stormy personalities grow tentatively closer. But Maggie’s previous relationships have left her bitter, and Aiden’s got a complicated past of his own.

Everything’s easier online. Can they make it work in real life?

Another contender for Dirty Book Month. While I really enjoyed a story featuring older protagonists, I really really wanted a few more spicy scenes. Those few don’t come until about 70% of the way through the book. If I put that complaint to the side, I really loved following Maggie and Aiden as they navigate life online and in person. We get to see two people who are ostracized from being their shelves by those around them. I rooted for them to to at least be comfortable in themselves by the end of the story. The scenes with Maggie’s ex-hsuband really made me so angry. I was so glad to see Maggie continue to be her honest self. Overall, a really good contemporary romance.

star-rating-remains-the-most-important-part-of-a-review-cad0047.cad0047.png

Next up on the TBR pile:

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Title: Starter Villain

Author: John Scalzi

Publisher: Tor Book 2023

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 264

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.

Another utterly delightfully entertaining science fiction romp by John Scalzi. I really enjoy his light and fluffy adventure stories every once in awhile between more serious scifi picks. This one drops you, and Charlie, into an unknown world. We have to slowly navigate our way through the villains, supervillains, and common assholes. My favorite parts involved Hera and the dolphins. Seriously, they stole the entire show when they appeared on the pages. There’s not a ton of substance to this book, but it’s one hell of an entertaining ride.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Randomize by Andy Weir

Title: Randomize (Forward #6)

Author: Andy Weir

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 28

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

In the near future, if Vegas games are ingeniously scam-proof, then the heists have to be too, in this imaginative and whip-smart story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Martian.

An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house—unless human ingenuity isn’t entirelya thing of the past.

Decent story that hinges on gambling and quantum computing. Thank goodness I watched a long video explaining quantum computers a few months back. That really helped me understand where Weir was going with this story. The actual plot is pretty predictable, but I enjoyed where we went in just a few pages.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay

Title: The Last Conversation (Forward #5)

Author: Paul Tremblay

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 56

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

What’s more frightening: Not knowing who you are? Or finding out? A Bram Stoker Award–winning author explores the answer in a chilling story about identity and human consciousness.

Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?

Surprisingly, this was my other favorite out of the collection. I have not been a huge fan of Tremblay’s writing, but this story was spot on. We get a bit of horror-tinged science fiction in this short, fairly ambiguous story. I loved how details are slowly revealed through the pages until we get to quite a gasp-inducing ending. So good.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles

Title: You Have Arrived at Your Destination (Forward #4)

Author: Amor Towles

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 54

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Nature or nurture? Neither. Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.

When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.

I absolutely adored A Gentleman in Moscow, but this story just didn’t quite intrigue me enough. There is a beginning of a larger story in here along with some interesting background world building. The problem is that it just doesn’t go anywhere for me. Oh well.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin

Title: Emergency Skin (Forward #3)

Author: NK Jemisin

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 38

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy.

An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out ages ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.

My favorite story from this collection! Jemisin is a master at dropping the reader into new worlds but not overwhelming you with confusion. We learn about the world as we need to, adding layer and layer to the story being told. In this case, when the characters name the resource the traveler needs to retrieve, I gasped out loud. Jemisin manages to connect this fantastical story directly to our current world with a commentary on social justice and environmental responsibility. She packs a punch in this very short story.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

Title: Summer Frost (Forward #2)

Author: Black Crouch

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 75

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR; COYER

A video game developer becomes obsessed with a willful character in her new project, in a mind-bending exploration of what it means to be human by the New York Times bestselling author of Recursion.

Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision—veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?

While the story is fine, it’s one that I have read many times from previous authors. I guessed the ending about one page into the story. From there, it was just pretty boring for me. If I try to step outside of my own experience, the story is good. The progression is nicely paced and the questions raised are interesting. I just have read it before.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

Ark by Veronica Roth

Title: Ark (Forward #1)

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 45

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR; COYER

On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.

It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond. Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.

As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.

An introspective little story with a science fiction backdrop. This one was less about technology and more about people. While I don’t think it quite fit with most of the other stories in this collection, I enjoyed the quiet story about plants and beauty. This is super quick, but a good story.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Wake-up Call by Beth O'Leary

Title: The Wake-up Call

Author: Beth O’Leary

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 356

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Rating: 3

It’s the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel’s front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.

The hotel won't stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest’s lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost & found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel—and their jobs.

As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact?

I have enjoyed Beth O’Leary’s previous romance books for their realistic characters with a focus on communication. I definitely had to grab this one as soon as it was released. This one is much more rom-com than romance with lots of romance tropes thrown in. We get the quintessential miscommunication trope, the forced proximity trope, and the potential new relationship threatening the inevitable romance trope. They are all mashed up in there in not an annoying way but probably an ultimately forgettable way. I just don’t think that this book will be on my end-of-year’s best list. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the journey of Lucas and Izzy.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters

Title: Underground Airlines

Author: Ben H. Winters

Publisher: Mulholland Books 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; 52 Book Club

A young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service in exchange for his freedom. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right -- with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself.

As he works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines, tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child -- who may be Victor's salvation.

Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost.

I was intrigued by this alternative history, but ended up really disappointed in the execution. The main issue is that I am uncertain as to the point of this book. Are we supposed to understand that everyone is terrible? Are we supposed to root for any of the characters? Because I truly don’t. It’s a cluster of unlikeable characters, confusing sequences, and an unsatisfying ending. As an extra note, the narration alternates between straight forward descriptions to a strange bit of stream of consciousness. I did not enjoy the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Delicate Deception by Cat Sebastian

Title: A Delicate Deception (Regency Imposters #3)

Author: Cat Sebastian

Publisher: Avon 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 275

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

When Amelia Allenby escaped a stifling London ballroom for the quiet solitude of the Derbyshire countryside, the very last thing she wanted was an extremely large, if—she grudgingly admits—passably attractive man disturbing her daily walks. Lecturing the surveyor about property rights doesn’t work and, somehow, he has soon charmed his way into lemon cakes, long walks, and dangerously heady kisses.

The very last place Sydney wished to be was in the shadow of the ruins of Pelham Hall, the inherited property that stole everything from him. But as he awaits his old friend, the Duke of Hereford, he finds himself increasingly captivated by the maddeningly lovely and exceptionally odd Amelia. He quickly finds that keeping his ownership of Pelham Hall a secret is as impossible as keeping himself from falling in love with her.

But when the Duke of Hereford arrives, Sydney’s ruse is revealed and what started out as a delicate deception has become a love too powerful to ignore. Will they let a lifetime of hurt come between them or can these two lost souls find love and peace in each other?

I finally picked up the final volume in the Regency Imposters series. And while I enjoyed Amelia and her the duke, this wasn’t my favorite. I found the story a little too slow to get moving. Couple that with a decided lack of an ending and I a pretty underwhelmed by this one. I did enjoy the idea of these adults finding a family situation that works for them and pursuing their happiness. I wanted Amelia to keep true to her own boundaries and was very excited to see that she did. But Sydney just didn’t captivate me as a FMC. I much preferred Lex and wanted the story to focus more on him. So decent read, but not one that going to go on my forever shelf.

Regency Imposters

Next up on the TBR pile: