Category: Uncategorized

Harper
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: May 5, 2020
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

Lizzie never wanted to work at an elite law firm, but after her husband incurs steep legal fees, she’s forced to leave her job as a federal prosecutor to do just that. When she hears from an old college friend, Zach, who is in jail for the presumed murder of his wife, she’s confused as to why he would think of her, but reluctantly takes on the case.

Scandal and drama abound in the wealthy New York City community that Zach and his wife Amanda are part of. Their son’s elementary school is embroiled in a hacking scandal, with families being blackmailed for incriminating information on their computers, and everyone is gearing up for an annual party that’s known for its promiscuity. These events unfold interspersed with chapters in the future, while Lizzie tries to uncover what really happened to Amanda, who died on the night of the infamous party.

Amanda, who came from a difficult upbringing, offers a very different narrative voice than Lizzie, and it’s hard to know if her perspective can be fully trusted. I enjoyed slowly seeing everyone’s motivations come out in this book and appreciated that there were two very different stories going on— that of Lizzie, and that of Amanda. Both of their lives were layered and detailed, which made them realistic and distinct. This overlapping made for an always interesting and eventful story.

I love stories about wealthy, glamorous New Yorkers with secrets (if there’s not a genre name for that, there should be), so A Good Marriage was right up my alley.

A Good Marriage on Goodreads
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St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Romance
Release Date: June 1, 2021 (Thanks to Libro.fm for my copy!)
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

I went into One Last Stop totally blind and boy was I surprised. It starts off with a meet-cute on the subway between August and charismatic and beautiful Jane. Things start getting weird when August runs into her every single time she gets on the train. The more time they spend together, the more August realizes there’s something different about Jane — she can’t seem to get off the train. When August spots a photo from the 1970s with Jane lurking in the back, she realizes there’s even more to Jane’s story.

The setting of this book was so vibrant. McQuiston crafts a crew of wonderfully eccentric friends for August and a close-knit community at the pancake diner where she works. I loved the way they all came together to support August and Jane’s relationship, from bringing parties down to the subway so Jane could join to brainstorming possibilities for how to free Jane. New York City comes to life through McQuiston’s descriptions and details and I felt fully immersed in August’s world.

Jane’s historical perspective offered another really unique layer to the story. She speaks about the animosity and challenges she faced being queer in New York City in the 1970’s. This added a lot of depth to an already complex story. I loved getting to spend time with August and her friends and was sad to leave them behind.

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One Last Stop on Goodreads

Flatiron Books
Genre: YA Romance
Release Date: May 18, 2021
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

Tokyo Ever After has a very nostalgic Princess Diaries feel to it. It’s always just been Izumi and her mom, and they’ve both been perfectly fine with that. When Izumi discovers an old letter from her dad to her mom, one of her friends takes to the internet and discovers that Izumi’s dad is none other than the Crown Prince of Japan.

So begins a whirlwind as Izumi is whisked off to Japan to spend time with her dad and learn what’s expected of her as a princess. She finds time and time again that her actions are misconstrued and that her American upbringing leaves her largely at odds with Japanese customs. Izumi’s struggle over her heritage and not feeling like she quite fit in anywhere is a really important conversation to put in YA literature and was done really thoughtfully.

In addition to her daily struggles to fit into her new role in Japan, Izumi finds herself irresistibly attracted to her appointed bodyguard, one of the few people she feels she can truly confide in in Japan.

I thought this story was cute and I appreciated the narrative about Izumi’s struggles to fit in both in America and Japan, but I struggled somewhat with the writing being so obviously geared towards a younger audience. I think if I’d been in the target age for this book I would’ve loved it.

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Berkley
Genre: Romance
Release Date: May 25, 2021 (Thanks to NetGalley for my copy!)
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

The setting of The Invisible Husband of Frick Island hooked me from the beginning. Setting can make such a big difference for me!! The residents of Frick Island form a small, tight knit community very set in their old-fashioned ways. Anders Caldwell, an aspiring journalist, is assigned to cover the annual Frick Island Cake Walk. Anders is shocked by the small-town ways of life the residence subscribe to — the fact that it’s a dry island, the lack of wifi, and the limited options for food and lodging. He’s struck, however, by the alluring Piper Parrish.

Piper’s husband disappeared at sea during a storm but in order to cope, she continues to act like he’s there, and furthermore, the entire town has adopted the pretense. As Anders begins to catch on to what’s going on, he realizes there might be more of a story on Frick Island than just a Cake Walk.

The character’s Oakley created on the island were so vivid and developed into such a lovely, quirky community. Their wary, often disgruntled reactions to Anders were entertaining and interesting and I loved watching him try to gain their trust.

The juxtaposition between life on charming Frick Island and Anders’s career aspirations and growing podcast subscribers made for a really interesting narrative. Although there wasn’t a lot of action, I never wanted to put this book down. I felt so fully immersed in the community of Frick Island and I loved the depth of Piper and Anders’s motivations and personalities. It’s clear that Oakley gave a good deal of thought to developing realistic characters. This was a delightful story unlike anything I’ve ever read, and is a perfect summer read.

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The Invisible Husband of Frick Island on Goodreads

Random House
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: April 21, 2020
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

I have no idea how to classify this book, but I loved it. Pretty Things is split between the narrative of Vanessa and Nina. Nina’s childhood was spent being dragged around the country by her mom, a con artist, as she scammed people to make money. Nina wanted nothing to do with her mother’s lifestyle, until her mom gets sick and has no way to pay her medical bills. Nina is in a dead end job without many ties, and decides to try following in her mom’s footsteps. She targets Vanessa, an heiress and instagram influencer who Nina knew briefly as a kid.

Nina, along with her (kind of) fake boyfriend, shows up at Vanessa’s guest house with a fake persona and the two of them begin the process of infiltrating Vanessa’s life.

There was so much going on in this story. The insight into Vanessa’s struggles and the difficulty her family faced with mental health and trying to maintain appearances was heartbreaking. I really loved how the author would show the same scenes from both Nina and Vanessa’s points of view, and you could see how differently they interpreted and reacted to things, and how they misinterpreted each other’s motivations.

I was constantly guessing who was really conning who, up until the very end. Although I would classify it as a thriller, the characters had a lot more backstory than is typical of the genre and it made for a rich and well rounded narrative.

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Avon
Genre: Romance
Release Date: March 9, 2021
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

Eve’s life seems to be spiraling out of control and her parents decide they’ve had enough and it’s time for her to go out on her own and figure things out for herself. Eve goes on a drive to assess her options, and happens to see a help wanted sign at a B&B looking for a chef. The B&B is operated by Jacob Wayne whose life is very much the opposite of Eve’s, and who values being in control. Inexperienced Eve is not someone he wants to take a chance on for his business.

Things get worse when Eve accidentally hits Jacob with her car, leaving him with a broken arm. She takes it upon herself to step in and help at the B&B despite Jacob’s reluctance to employ her.

This book was super steamy and I loved the growing romance between Jacob and Eve and the thoughtful conversation about autism. The setting of the bed and breakfast was picturesque and I could perfectly envision where the story was unfolding.

I found it pretty unrealistic that Eve could just jump in and start cooking at a chef’s level without any training, and the ending, when her family suddenly tries to intervene in her life didn’t feel like it fit into the rest of the story. Overall, I enjoyed this one, but found it pretty predictable.

Thank you to Libro.fm for my copy!

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Washington Square Press
Genre: Romance
Release Date: July 1, 2014
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

After I Do opens by detailing the love story of Lauren and Ryan. Taylor Jenkins Reid does a wonderful job of crafting a cute, believable romance between them and then carries us through time as we watch it slowly derail. The couple ultimately decides to take a year-long break from each other with the hope that it will help them realize the value in their relationship.

I loved the initial love story in this book and watching Lauren’s character development as she learns to be on her own, strengthens her relationships with her friends, and realizes what she took for granted in her partner. Her friendships were really beautifully written and I loved the way her friends supported her.

I sped through this book in about a day, but nothing super noteworthy really happened. I absolutely love TJR, but this is the first book of hers that hasn’t absolutely swept me away. My big problem was with the ending. I felt like it didn’t do Lauren justice after the development and growth her character went through and left me ultimately dissatisfied.

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After I Do on Goodreads

Ballantine Books
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: May 25, 2021
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

I was beyond thrilled for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new book and went into it with very, very high expectations. Malibu Rising occurs largely over one night, during the annual party put on by Nina Riva, with flashbacks to her and her siblings’s childhood throughout. I tend to struggle with books set over one day because I like a lot of plot and action. I found the party scenes a little slow, but I appreciated the rich and in depth development of the main characters’ mother through the flashbacks.

The setting of Malibu, and Nina’s mansion in particular really comes alive through Reid’s writing. She adds a lot of historical context about the area, and I could perfectly picture the beaches and the kind of place the Riva’s grew up in. I loved that Malibu was almost like its own character throughout the story.

Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit, are successful models, surfers, or photographers living in Malibu, and the offspring of a famous singer, Mick Riva. Despite their relative wealth and success, they all have secrets and sorrows that threaten to spill out over the course of the party. Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel for any of the main characters. Reid did a really wonderful job crafting their mother as someone layered and realistic, but none of the siblings really had my sympathy. Although the writing was fantastic, as always, the characters didn’t capture my heart, and since this was a character-driven story, I felt a bit let down.

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