Teach Me by Olivia Dade

Title: Teach Me (There’s Something About Marysburg #1)

Author: Olivia Dade

Publisher: Olivia Dade 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 261

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; She Reads Romance - Nerd with Glasses

Their lesson plans didn’t include love. But that’s about to change…

When Martin Krause arrives at Rose Owens’s high school, she’s determined to remain chilly with her new colleague. Unfriendly? Maybe. Understandable? Yes, since a loathsome administrator gave Rose’s beloved world history classes to Martin, knowing it would hurt her.

But keeping her distance from a man as warm and kind as Martin will prove challenging, even for a stubborn, guarded ice queen. Especially when she begins to see him for what he truly is: a man who’s never been taught his own value. Martin could use a good teacher—and luckily, Rose is the best.

Rose has her own lessons—about trust, about vulnerability, about her past—to learn. And over the course of a single school year, the two of them will find out just how hot it can get when an ice queen melts.

Overall, I really enjoyed Dade’s other series Spoiler Alert. This book didn’t quite do it for me. I wanted to like it so much especially as it featured teachers. But… I think the book spent a lot of time discussing teaching and how Rose had to present herself on the job. Too much time. I just lost interested at multiple parts of the book. And ultimately, I wasn’t super excited for the main couple like I should have been. I would have liked more scenes of them together after their first night together. Instead, we flash through time to get to the big confrontation at the end. I just wasn’t totally into it by then. I did look at the summaries for the other two books in the series and I might just try those.

There’s Something About Marysburg

• #1 Teach Me

• #2 40-Love

• #3 Sweetest in the Gale

Next up on the TBR pile:

Damaged Goods by Talia Hibbert

Title: Damaged Goods (Ravenswood #1.5)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 181

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Spice Meter: 5

Second chances shouldn’t feel so sinful.

Laura Burne‘s husband is a monster, her diamond ring is a trap, and her pregnancy is the push she needs to finally escape. She runs away seeking safety… and finds Samir Bianchi, her long-lost teenage sweetheart.

With his kind eyes and dirty smile, Samir’s still hot as hell—and he still treats Laura like a goddess, baby bump and all. The wild boy she spent one magical summer with is every inch a man, and he’s more than ready to care for her tiny family.

But Laura’s been keeping a secret Samir might never forgive. When she finally confesses, will he remain by her side? Or is this fairytale ending too good to be true?

CW: Domestic Violence (in past, but discussed on the page)

And here we get Laura’s story as touched on very briefly in the previous book. I really wanted to love this story of empowerment and opening up to love, but ultimate, I didn’t love it. Laura is a prickly character that I really wished had sought out therapy instead of solitude. And I must say that pregnancy storylines are really not my favorite. They’re fine, but I have lots of mixed feelings about them. Samir is great and I really fell for him over the course of the novella. But their pairing just didn’t work for me. Oh well. They can’t all be winners.

Ravenswood

• #1 A Girl Like Her

• #1.5 Damaged Goods

• #2 Untouchable

• #3 That Kind of Guy

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Title: A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; She Reads Romance - Reverse Grumpy Sunshine

Spice Meter: 5

Ruth Kabbah is okay with being an outcast.

Between her autism, her comic book nerdery, and the whiff of scandal her small town can’t forget, Ruth will always be Ravenswood’s black sheep. Since she prefers silence and solitude to gossip and pub crawls, that suits her just fine—until Evan Miller comes to town.

Ex-military man Evan is gorgeous, confident… and he’s Ruth’s new neighbour. Unlike everyone else, he doesn’t seem to mind her crotchety ways or her cooking disasters. In fact, if Ruth didn’t know any better, she might think Evan likes her.

But Ruth’s been burned before, and some lessons are hard to forget.

She can’t let her guard down—no matter how many home-cooked meals Evan brings over. Because affection is temporary, trust is made to be broken, and the heat of desire is a dangerous thing to play with.

So why does this man feel so safe?

CW: Domestic Violence (in past, but discussed)

After reading the third book in this series and picking it for my book club selection, I decided to circle back around and read from the beginning. This one did not disappoint. We get a reverse grumpy sunshine trope with two seemingly different people. In fact, these two people are perfect for each other, challenging and complementing each other. Ruth is not an easy person to be with and Evan may be too easy to be with. But together, we get to see them fit together to form a great partnership. The sections detailing the domestic violence in Ruth’s past were difficult, but Hibbert always the space I needed to process it and continue to read. It helps that those conversations are not in the same chapters as the spicy scenes. I like a bit of separation. (As opposed to how my previously read book, Under Her Skin, approached the conversations.) I got to the end and had that warm and fuzzy feeling to their relationship. That’s what I want in my romance.

Ravenswood

• #1 A Girl Like Her

• #1.5 Damaged Goods

• #2 Untouchable

• #3 That Kind of Guy

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Magician by Rebecca Serle

Title: The Magician

Author: Rebecca Serle

Publisher: Amazon 2023

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 25

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club.- Magical Realism

A mother-to-be is awed by her own mother’s chaotic and unknowable approach to life and its natural mysteries in a smart, witty, and whimsical story by the New York Times bestselling author of One Italian Summer.

Growing up with an eccentric but loving mother who levitates for a living, Charlie always wondered, How does she do it? Defying gravity is no easy trick. Neither is motherhood. Now that her mother is leaving New York for bigger skies in New Mexico, it’s a new stage in life for both of them in an ever-evolving relationship that reveals the true magic of being a mother.

I was not a fan of the previous Serle book that I had read, but was intrigued by the summary of this one. Should have listened to my gut reaction and left this one unborrowed. Despite the magical realism, this is really a story of a mother and daughter going their separate ways. I didn’t love the ending and the (in my opinion) shoe-horned in magic. It just didn’t do it for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Signal Moon by Kate Quinn

Title: Signal Moon

Author: Kate Quinn

Publisher: Amazon 2022

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 57

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Yorkshire, 1943. Lily Baines, a bright young debutante increasingly ground down by an endless war, has traded in her white gloves for a set of headphones. It’s her job to intercept enemy naval communications and send them to Bletchley Park for decryption.

One night, she picks up a transmission that isn’t code at all—it’s a cry for help.

An American ship is taking heavy fire in the North Atlantic—but no one else has reported an attack, and the information relayed by the young US officer, Matt Jackson, seems all wrong. The contact that Lily has made on the other end of the radio channel says it’s…2023.

Across an eighty-year gap, Lily and Matt must find a way to help each other: Matt to convince her that the war she’s fighting can still be won, and Lily to help him stave off the war to come. As their connection grows stronger, they both know there’s no telling when time will run out on their inexplicable link.

Do not let the short length fool you. Kate Quinn packs this short story with so much plot and characterization that you would swear that it had to be longer. But at the same time, the prose does not lag. I zipped through this story and then wished that I could turn around and read it again for the first time. With a very quick but concise setup, we are thrown into the mystery of the transmission as Lily tries to understand what she just heard. From there, we switch to Matt and piece the two storylines together. I was absolutely tearing up by end of the story. There’s a reason that Quinn is one my favorite writers.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders

Title: Under Her Skin

Author: Adriana Anders

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 2017

Genre: Romance

Pages: 344

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Small Town Romance; Library Love

Spice Meter: 5

His scarred hands are the gentlest I've ever known. If only life were a fairy tale where Beauty got to keep her Beast…

Every morning I wake up and remind myself I am not my past, but beneath my drab clothing hides a secret—proof of the abuse I suffered at the hands of my possessive ex, tattooed on my skin in a lurid reminder of everything I've survived. I'm alone and in hiding, trying to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. I didn't expect healing to come in the form of a rough ex-con whose rage drives him in ways I'll never understand.

Ivan's scars are on the inside—a wounded soul like me. But day by day, this gentle giant proves to me that there are second chances in life, and he deserves them as much as I do. And maybe finding each other will finally allow us to pick up our broken pieces and make something beautiful and new…

CW: Sexual and Domestic Violence (before the book begins, but discussed in detail)

This was one of the books that was on a list of older protagonists. I wanted to find an older protagonist for my book club pick. This one shuffled down the pile and I’m glad it didn’t. I ended up not loving this book very much. Sure we get an older protagonist, but it’s one that’s been on the receiving amount of a shocking amount of domestic and sexual violence. I really had to take some breaks in reading this book and even skimmed a few pages that detailed the violence. It’s a okay story with okay characters, but ultimately, I came to the end of the book hoping that Uma went to therapy instead of jumping into bed with Ivan. Seriously, consensual sex does not “fix” past trauma. I was very conflicted by the ending HEA and really wished that this had taken a much more empowering turn than it did. And the revelations from the neighbor really threw me. I do like black humor, but this seemed to be more a case of people not taking situations seriously.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

Title: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 364

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

"The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin."

The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.

Carl still has no pants.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game..

I think that I am officially obsessed with this series now. I can’t wait until I can sneak in another hour or two of listening to the adventures of Carl and Donut. The audio is fantastic, full of energy and personality. For this book, the game really begins with the Third Floor. We get to meet some new characters, perhaps new allies, and new enemies. The circus portions were delightfully creepy. I loved the Lovecraftian take on the horrors of the Over City. The reveal of the titular Doomsday Scenario was a great addition to leave you wondering about the next adventure. I cannot wait to see what happens on the Fourth Floor!

Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #1 Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario

• #3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks

• #4 The Gate of the Feral Gods

• #5 The Butcher’s Masquerade

• #6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

Title: The Fortune Hunter

Author: Daisy Goodwin

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2013

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 473

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; In Case You Missed It - 2013

Empress Elizabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, is the Princess Diana of nineteenth-century Europe. Famously beautiful, as captured in a portrait with diamond stars in her hair, she is unfulfilled in her marriage to the older Emperor Franz Joseph. Sisi has spent years evading the stifling formality of royal life on her private train or yacht or, whenever she can, on the back of a horse.

Captain Bay Middleton is dashing, young, and the finest horseman in England. He is also impoverished, with no hope of buying the horse needed to win the Grand National—until he meets Charlotte Baird. A clever, plainspoken heiress whose money gives her a choice among suitors, Charlotte falls in love with Bay, the first man to really notice her, for his vulnerability as well as his glamour. When Sisi joins the legendary hunt organized by Earl Spencer in England, Bay is asked to guide her on the treacherous course. Their shared passion for riding leads to an infatuation that jeopardizes the growing bond between Bay and Charlotte, and threatens all of their futures.

Another absolutely disappointing book! I was hoping that we would get a glittering portrayal of the Empress of Austria complete with expansive descriptions of time and place. I wanted a more glamorous version of Downtown Abbey. Instead, we focus more on Charlotte and Bay than Sisi and plod through their ridiculous “relationship.” I was thoroughly disgusted with Bay’s treatment of both Charlotte and Sisi and could not imagine what either woman saw in him. He’s nothing special at all. He spends all his lamenting his station in life and expressing love for his horse. Why would an heiress and the Empress of Austria covet a man like that? And there’s the fact that we get little to no information about Sisi throughout the book. She has a tiny waist, likes to hunt, and has ridiculously long hair. None of those things are personality traits and definitely none of those things make her an interesting figure. I really should have just off loaded this book, but you never know until to read it. At least it’s off my shelves.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Title: Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation

Author: Brad Ricca

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2017

Genre: Nonfiction - True Crime

Pages: 448

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader; Library Love

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes tells the true story of Mrs. Grace Humiston, the detective and lawyer who turned her back on New York society life to become one of the nation's greatest crime fighters during an era when women weren't even allowed to vote. After graduating from N.Y.U. law school, Grace opened a legal clinic in the city for low-income immigrant clients, and quickly established a reputation as a fierce, but fair lawyer who was always on the side of the disenfranchised.
 
Grace's motto "Justice for those of limited means" led her to strange cases all over the city, and eventually the world. From defending an innocent giant on death row to investigating an island in Arkansas with a terrible secret about slavery; from the warring halls of Congress to a crumbling medieval tower in Italy, Grace solved crimes in-between shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and being marked for death by the sinister Black Hand. She defended women clients who had killed their attackers and fought the framing of a Baltimore black man at the mercy of a corrupt police department. Known for dressing only in black, Grace was appointed the first woman U.S. district attorney in history. And when a pretty 18-year-old girl named Ruth Cruger went missing on Valentine's Day in New York, Grace took the case after  the police gave up. Grace and her partner, the hard-boiled Hungarian detective Julius J. Kron, navigated a dangerous mystery of secret boyfriends, two-faced cops, underground tunnels, rumors of white slavery, and a mysterious pale man -- in a desperate race against time to save Ruth. When she solved the crime, she was made the first female consulting detective to the NYPD.

But despite her many successes in social and criminal justice, Grace began to see chilling connections in the cases she had solved, leading to a final showdown with her most fearsome adversary of all and one of the most powerful men of the twentieth century.
 
This is the first-ever literary biography of the singular woman the press nicknamed after fiction's greatest detective. In the narrative tradition of In Cold Blood and The Devil in the White City, her poignant story unmasks unmistakable connections between missing girls, the role of the media, and the real truth of crime stories. The great mystery of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes -- and its haunting twist ending -- is how one woman dedicated to finding the missing herself become so lost to history?

This was one giant dud of a book! I was hoping for an examination of how one of the first women detectives in the United States proved her qualifications and solved crimes. Instead, I got a jumble of book more intent on telling all the tiny irrelevant details of one particular case while alluding to others but not exploring them. We get a ton of inside information about the thoughts and feelings of a variety of people related to the missing woman’s case, but nothing from Grace. We meander around the case while dropping weird hints and observations. But we don’t really get to the point. We don’t get to place Grace in the time and geographic location. This is certainly no Erik Larson style book that connects the dots so that the audience can understanding why the story is truly groundbreaking. I wonder if this was an article and the author was pressured into padding it out to a full length book? That might explain the complete necessary information and side tangents that take up a majority of the pages.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Title: The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: Del Rey 2017

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 319

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; In Case You Missed It - 2017

Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.

But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

Plodding. That’s the one word that comes to mind in attempting a review of this book. I just couldn’t seem to stay engaged in the story or the characters. Most of the characters are highly unlikeable. It doesn’t help that we really don’t get to see much of them except of glimpses through Vasya. The main character isn’t even that interesting. Most of the story is things happening to her, not her doing things. And for that, I was just not that interested in the story at all. I do like a good Russian folk tale redone, but this one was too slow and not engaging enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.

Winternight

• #1 The Bear and the Nightingale

• #2 The Girl in the Tower

• #3 The Winter of the Witch

Next up on the TBR pile:

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

Title: Do Your Worst

Author: Rosie Danan

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 317

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - January (You Didn’t Get to in 2023); Library Love

Spice Meter: 5

Riley Rhodes finally has the chance to turn her family’s knack for the supernatural into a legitimate business when she’s hired to break the curse on an infamous Scottish castle. Used to working alone in her alienating occupation, she's pleasantly surprised to meet a handsome stranger upon arrival—until he tries to get her fired.

Fresh off a professional scandal, Clark Edgeware can’t allow a self-proclaimed “curse breaker” to threaten his last chance for redemption. After he fails to get Riley kicked off his survey site, he vows to avoid her. Unfortunately for him, she vows to get even.

Riley expects the curse to do her dirty work by driving Clark away, but instead, they keep finding themselves in close proximity. Too close. Turns out, the only thing they do better than fight is fool around. If they’re not careful, by the end of all this, more than the castle will end up in ruins.

Overall a cute supernaturally tinged romance featuring two opposite people. I really do love a good enemies to lovers trope and this one definitely fit the bill. Riley can be a be secretive and naive at times, but she’s a good character to root for. The scenes without Clark in them were just not as good as the ones with him in it. We needed the banter and the barbs for this story to really work and keep me engaged. There are some very spicy scenes in this one including a scene in a library. I would never desecrate a library like they do, but hey, it’s a book. The appearance of Clark’s father was very cringe-worthy, but added that extra obstacle that the story needed. Definitely a fun romp.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Share Your Stuff, I'll Go First by Laura Tremaine

Title: Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First: 10 Questions to Take Your Friendships to the Next Level

Author: Laura Tremaine

Publisher: Zondervan 2021

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 224

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

In spite of the hyper-connected culture we live in today, women still feel shamed for oversharing and being publicly vulnerable. And no matter how many friends we seem to have, many of us are still desperately lonely.

Laura Tremaine, blogger and podcaster behind 10 Things To Tell You, says it's time for something better. Openness and vulnerability are the foundation for human growth and healthy relationships, and it all starts when we share our stuff, the nitty-gritty daily details about ourselves with others. Laura has led the way in her personal life with her popular blog and podcast, and now with lighthearted self-awareness, a sensitivity to the important things in life, and compelling storytelling, Laura gives you the tools to build and deepen the conversations happening in your life.

Laura's stories about her childhood, her complicated shifts in faith and friendships, and her marriage to a Hollywood movie director will prompt you to identify the beautiful narrative and pivotal milestones of your own life. Each chapter offers intriguing and reflective questions that will reveal unique details and stories you've never thought to tell and will guide you into cultivating the authentic connection with others that only comes from sharing yourself.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years now after reading rave reviews from my podcast community. I finally dove into this one and just felt very meh about it throughout. There’s some good questions and advice in here, but like in most self-help books, the text goes on and on. I kept getting bogged down in the repetitions and multiple scenarios detailed. I just couldn’t find myself caring much at all. Oh well. One less book on my Unread Shelf.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Title: Timekeeper

Author: Tara Sim

Publisher: Sky Pony Press 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 414

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Lifetime - Teenage Characters

“I was in an accident. I got out. I'm safe now.” An alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, where a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

A prodigy mechanic who can repair not only clockwork, but time itself, determined to rescue his father from a Stopped town.

A series of mysterious bombings that could jeopardize all of England.

A boy who would give anything to relive his past, and one who would give anything to live at all.

A romance that will shake the very foundations of time.

The first book in a dazzling new steampunk-fantasy trilogy, Timekeeper introduces a magical world of mythology and innovation that readers will never want to leave.

My mom has been wanting me to read this book for almost a year. I finally put it on my short list TBR and enjoyed it. This has a very melancholy feel to it mixed in with the fantasy and steampunk elements. I wouldn’t say that the melancholy lessened my enjoyment, but I was expecting something a bit more upbeat and glittering. Once I settled into the story, I really fell for Danny and his attempt at finding a better life for himself. Once we realize exactly who Colton is, the story kicks in and I was very interested to see where the story went. This was an intriguing story about time and love.

Timekeeper

• #1 Timekeeper

• #2 Chainbreaker

• #3 Firestarter

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Title: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 446

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - More Than 40 Chapters

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. 

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style. 

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

J has been trying to get me to start reading this series for a few months now. I just wasn’t really in the mood for an RPG style narration until now. Once I started, I really couldn’t put this one down. Carl and Princess Doughnut are great protagonists that you can’t help but root for. As they stumble their way through Levels 1 and 2 of the dungeon causing chaos in their wake, I was on pins and needles desperate to see what was around the next corner. I really felt like we were in a video game encountering obstacles and bosses, figuring out puzzles, and attempting to survive just one more hour. Meeting other crawlers added the human element in a decidedly non-human environment. I can’t wait to read (or listen, the audio performance is great) the next book in the series.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #1 Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario

• #3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks

• #4 The Gate of the Feral Gods

• #5 The Butcher’s Masquerade

• #6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

Falling for the Rockstar at Christmas by Lyndsey Gallagher

Title: Falling for the Rockstar at Christmas (Sexton Sisters #1)

Author: Lyndsey Gallagher

Publisher: 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 356

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Spice Meter: 5

Ten years ago, I inherited our family castle and sole care of my youngest sister. More Cinderella, than Sleeping Beauty, at the mere age of twenty-eight I have a teenager to raise and a hotel to run. If the hotel is to survive past Christmas, I need a lottery win, a miracle, or Prince Charming himself to sweep in with a humongous… wad of cash.

When my super successful middle sister announces she’s coming home for the holiday season, I’m determined to put my problems aside and make this the most fabulous Christmas ever. Especially as it might just be the last one in our family home.

I didn’t factor in the return of my first love, Ryan Cooper. Back then he was the boy next door. Now, he’s a world famous singer/song writer. We were supposed to go the States together. He left without me. Now he’s back. Rumour is he has writers block. Apparently this is a last-ditch attempt to find inspiration before his record label pulls the plug permanently.

And guess where he wants to stay? You have it in one- the most inspiring castle hotel in Dublin’s fair city.

Every woman in the city wants to pull this Hollywood Christmas cracker. Except me.I’m going to avoid him at all costs.

Easier said than done when he’s parading around under my roof, with enough heat exuding from his molten eyes to melt every square inch of snow from the peaks of the Dublin mountains...

A breezy decent Christmas romance to end my year’s reading. This is another one of those random free Kindle reads that I grabbed. At first, I was very concerned that our main characters were going to be 18 year olds. Thankfully, only the first chapter is set at that time and then we jump ahead ten years. Much better… From there, we have two characters rediscovering love and lots of added obstacles (of course). Overall, this was fine and breezy. Nothing too ground breaking. And I’m sure that I will forget about this book in a month, but sometimes that’s okay.

Sexton Sisters

• #1 Falling for the Rockstar at Christmas

• #2 Falling for my Forbidden Fling

• #3 Falling for My Bodyguard

Next up on the TBR pile:

Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker

Title: Under the Smokestrewn Sky (The Up and Under #4)

Author: A. Deborah Baker

Publisher: Tordotcom 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 195

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Since stumbling from their world into the Up and Under, Avery and Zib have walked the improbable road across forests, seas and skies, finding friends in the unlikeliest of places and enemies great in number, as they make their way toward the Impossible City in the hope of finding their way home.

But the final part of their journey is filled with danger and demise. Not everyone will make it through unscathed. Not everyone will make it through alive.

We finally come to the end of Avery and Zib’s adventures in The Up and Under. Overall, I really enjoyed this series so much. There’s a bit of Alice in Wonderland in there, a bit of The Wizard of Oz, and so much wit and introspection from Seanan McGuire. Adding Jack to the mix in the last book really completed the group for the last adventure. The reveal involving the Crow Girl was just about the most perfect way to continue the story and bring the threads together. I appreciate the fact that we get a definite end to the storyline. Seeing the characters find their places was the perfect way to conclude. I’ll be excited to see what McGuire writes next.

The Up and Under

• #1 Over the Woodward Wall

• #2 Along the Saltwise Sea

• #3 Into the Windwracked Wilds

• #4 Under the Smokestrewn Sky

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Stopover by TL Swan

Title: The Stopover (Miles High Club #1)

Author: TL Swan

Publisher: Montlake Romance 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 481

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

I was upgraded to first class on a flight from London to New York. The food, champagne, and service were impeccable. The blue-eyed man sitting next to me, even better. He was suave and intelligent. We talked and laughed, and something clicked. Fate took over and the plane was grounded, and we had an unexpected stopover for the night. With no plans, we made our own. We danced and laughed our way around Boston and had a night of crazy passion that no woman would ever forget. That was twelve months ago, and I haven’t heard from him—until today. I started a new job and met the CEO. You can imagine my surprise to see those naughty blue eyes dance with delight when he saw me across the mahogany desk. But I’m not that carefree girl anymore. My life has changed, I have responsibilities. I just got an email. He wants to see me in his office for a private meeting at 8:00 a.m. Naughty blue eyes have no place in the workplace. What kind of private meeting does he have in mind?

I picked this one up as a contender for Dirty Book Month, but I realized that I just couldn’t handle the drama within the storyline. Jameson was much too much an arrogant alpha male for me to root for him. I couldn’t believe some of the things that he did to and around Emily. She was way too immature most of the story. I was very annoyed by her constant whining and need to argue with Jameson. In the end, I didn’t feel like the characters actually resolved any of their fundamental differences. Their big problems were just swept under the rug. I was much too stressed out after reading this story. Not my cup of tea at all.

Miles High Club

• #1 The Stopover

• #2 The Takeover

• #3 The Casanova

• #4 The Do-Over

Next up on the TBR pile:

Blue Sky Cowboy Christmas by Joanne Kennedy

Title: Blue Sky Cowboy Christmas (Blue Sky #2)

Author: Joanne Kennedy

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Soldier Street

Spice Meter: 4

Book 2 in award-winning author Joanne Kennedy's new Blue Sky Cowboys series, Blue Sky Cowboy Christmas is an emotional, compelling story from a master of the genre. Joanne Kennedy's sexy cowboy romances feature the rugged and lonely Wyoming range, where the nearest neighbors are miles away and the climate is brutal for man and beast. This beautiful and sensuous tale takes place at the holidays, when a lonely cowboy is more desperate than ever to connect with the woman of his dreams.

Nope nope nope. I kept reading this thinking that I was going to enjoy a fun cowboy Christmas romance. Instead, I just kept getting more and more frustrated over the characters inability to talk to each other. Miscommunication is not one of my preferred tropes and it just kept going on and on. I couldn’t handle the constant circular arguments and conversations. This book could have been a third of the length and retained the important bits. I just wasn’t interested in the couple or the story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn

Title: A Not So Meet Cute (Cane Brothers #1)

Author: Meghan Quinn

Publisher: 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 404

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter:  5

How did you two meet? The quintessential question asked to every couple. And the answer is usually some bubbly, lovey dovey tale of being struck in the bum by Cupid’s arrow.
My meet cute (well not so meet cute) is slightly different. I was trolling a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills, searching for someone to take me as their bride, you know, to make my arch nemesis jealous who consequently just fired me.
He was stomping around the block like some sort of gorgeous ogre, mumbling about a business deal gone wrong and attempting to finagle his way out of it.
And that's when we bumped into each other.
There were no sparks.
Not even a hint of blossoming love.
But next thing I knew, I was scarfing down free chips and guac, listening to this man lay out all of his problems which led to his big ask . . . he wanted me to be his Vivian Ward, you know, from Pretty Woman--minus the frisky behavior.
We're talking about living in a mansion, intimate double dates, and pretending we were head over heels in love . . . and engaged. Can you imagine?
The absolute audacity.
But people do crazy things when they’re desperate. And I reeked of desperation. So, I struck up a deal.
My one big mistake, though . . . big . . . HUGE? I accidentally fell for the incomparable Huxley Cane.

Another story of a rich bachelor hiring a girlfriend and then falling for her. It may be a common trope in romance, but I also really enjoy it. Hux and Lottie were such a fun couple. Their banter is spot on and so is the ridiculous situations they find themselves in. It is utter fiction and yet it was such a great ride. The scenes with Dave and Ellie were so cringe-worthy, but played perfectly. I couldn’t wait to see what silly situation Hux and Lottie would get themselves into next. Honestly, I sped through this book enjoying every page. This isn’t life-changing romance, but it sure is fun.,

Cane Brothers

• #1 A Not So Meet Cute

• #2 So Not Meant to Be

• #3 A Long Time Coming

Next up on the TBR pile:

Miss Kane's Christmas by Caroline Mickelson

Title: Miss Kane’s Christmas (Christmas Central #1)

Author: Caroline Mickelson

Publisher: Bon Accord Press 2012

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 154

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Spice Meter: 1

With Christmas only three days away, Carol Claus agrees to her father’s request that she leave the North Pole on a mission to help save Christmas. Joining single father Ben Hanson and his children for the holidays seems an easy enough task until Santa informs her that Ben is the man behind the disturbing new book ‘Beyond Bah Humbug: Why Lying to Your Children about Santa Claus is a Bad Idea’. Posing as Miss Kane, the children’s new nanny, Carol pulls out all the stops to show Ben how fun Christmas can be, all the while struggling to understand how one man could hate the holidays so much. How could she, Santa’s only daughter, be so attracted to a man who refuses to believe her father exists? **Please note - this book was formerly titled 'Carol's Christmas'.

Cute little Christmas romance, but I must say that this one was just a little too cutesy for my tastes. We didn’t get enough setup and exploration of the characters for me to really love this one. Carol is fine, but she was much too much of a 2D character. Fine for an afternoon’s reading, but that’s it.

Christmas Central

• #1 Miss Kane’s Christmas

• #2 Mrs. Saint Nick

• #3 The Return of Kris Kringle

• #4 The North Pole Prize

• #5 The Christmas Makeover

• #6 Eve’s Christmas Wedding

• #7 A Very Marisol Christmas

Next up on the TBR pile: