Book Review, Fiction, Romance, Uncategorized

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee ~ Book Review

Morgan

St. Martin’s Griffin
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

I literally could not put this book down. It felt like reading a gossipy tabloid, but in the best of ways. Solène Marchand takes her teenage daughter to see superstar boy band August Moon. She finds herself amused and flattered when one of the twenty-year old members, Hayes Campbell, hits on her, but the last thing she expects is for him to actually contact her. Despite her better judgment, Solène meets up with Hayes, ‘just for lunch,’ and a whirlwind romance ensues.

Okay first of all, the steam. If you don’t like reading sex scenes, this book is not for you. There are a lottt of them and they are detailed. That being said, the chemistry is insane. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I could so strongly feel the connection between the two main characters. Despite the age difference, Lee did an incredible job of showing the reader why Solène found Hayes so charming.

One aspect of this book that made it especially standout for me, was the way the couple had to navigate Hayes’s fame and decide when to tell people about them. This untraditional aspect of their relationship added a layer of depth and complexity that was especially interesting.

I will say that Solène seemed a bit selfish at times, especially regarding her friendships and coworkers.

The ending of this book absolutely broke me. I have never felt a book hangover more acutely than I am currently feeling. If you read this one, brace yourself.

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Book Review, Fiction, mystery, thriller

The Hunting Wives by May Cobb ~ Book Review

Morgan

Berkley
Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

There was a lot going on in The Hunting Wives. Sophie and her husband and son have recently moved to a small town in Texas from Chicago. Sophie quickly becomes bored with her everyday routine at home and catches sight of a group of glamorous and mysterious moms who she decides to attempt to befriend. Chief among them is Margot Banks, who Sophie is enamored by.

The closer Sophie becomes to the group of women, the more secrets she unearths about the group. First of all, they love shooting guns together, often accompanied by excessive drinking. From there, the secrets just get darker and more twisted.

I had no idea what to expect from these women from page to page and I was just as intrigued as Sophie. That being said, some of the women’s actions are pretty disturbing (think sleeping with each other’s sons) and the ending didn’t give me the shocking twist I always hope for from a thriller. That being said, I always love the glamor + scandalous secrets trope and this book did not disappoint in that sense.

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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune ~ Book Review

Morgan

Berkley
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

It lives up to the hype! Every Summer After was exactly the summer read I was looking for. I grew up going to lakes during the summer and Carley Fortune perfectly captures the essence of hot days by the water, told through Persephone’s view. Persephone (Percy) is returning to the lake where she spent her summers growing up, after over a decade away. Going back means seeing Sam again, her former best friend and first love.

I was obsessed with Sam and Percy’s friendship. The timeline is split between past and present and seeing them bond as kids, share in each others hobbies and passions, and be their authentic selves was so heartwarming. They came across as completely realistic and quirky and I was holding my breath waiting for their friendship to become more.

The chemistry between the two in the present was palpable and I couldn’t get enough of their adult interactions. Throughout the book, the reader is left in the dark about what happened to pull the two apart, and the mystery combined with the breathtaking setting and the romance was the combination I didn’t know I needed.

Prepare for your heart to hurt with this one and for yourself to suddenly long for sunscreen-coated summer days by the water.

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Every Summer After on Goodreads
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Book Review, Fiction, Historical Fiction

Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand ~ Book Review

Morgan

Little, Brown and Company
Historical Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪.5

Summer of ‘69 follows the four Levin siblings through a summer of upheaval and growth. Four doesn’t necessarily sound like a lot of main characters to follow, but it felt to me like there were too many storylines going on, and I was unable to really get to know the siblings in a way that made me care about them.

As always, Hilderbrand does a wonderful job of bringing summer in New England to life, but the accompanying narratives felt too jumbled for me to be fully immersed. It seemed like historical pieces, like the moon landing and Ted Kennedy, were randomly thrown in to try to remind the reader of the time period. I wish these had felt more organic. There were also some heavy themes like abuse and antisemitism that were brought up again and again, but never really addressed with any depth.

Although I appreciated the summery beach vibes that were threaded throughout  this story, there was too much that wasn’t working for me to really enjoy the book.

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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews ~ Book Review

Morgan

St. Martin’s Press
Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

Hattie flips home in historic Savannah for a living. When one of the homes she bets on doesn’t pan out, Hattie finds herself scrambling to find a way to fix things. She’s suddenly faced with the prospect of starring on a reality show, an idea that she hates, but the thought of fixing her company’s financial situation is too much to pass up.

I was obsessed with the descriptions of the houses in this book. I felt like I was watching an HGTV show on the pages because of the intricacy of the details.

Hattie’s backstory was really interesting and I loved the way the parents of her late-husband had continued to fully embrace her, even years after their son’s death. These relationships were really well written and powerful.

The romance, though. The romance in this book was so incredibly unrealistic and unbelievable. There was no chemistry and no build up. The characters spoke like three times and then suddenly were making out? It made no sense to me, and it was the same case with multiple sets of characters. There needed to be a lot more of a heated build up so I could get some tension. As written, I didn’t believe any of it, and it took away from the book a lot for me.

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The Homewreckers on Goodreads
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren ~ Book Review

Morgan

Gallery Books
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

I was so wonderfully surprised by Something Wilder. Although this is definitely romance, there’s also a ton of adventure and even some mystery. The storyline felt very fresh to me. Lily Wilder leads ‘treasure hunts’ through the canyons of Utah for a living, using maps left behind by her dad, Duke, a notorious treasure hunter. The premise felt incredibly Indiana Jones-esque to me, and I loved it.

When Leo’s friends plan a group trip to Utah, the last thing expected was to suddenly find himself face to face with his first love. Leo and Lily don’t immediately rekindle things, and I liked the slow burn and buildup wondering if they would ever truly reconnect.

The setting really made this book stand out to me. I could picture the canyons so wonderfully through Lauren’s descriptions and it made the sense of adventure palpable. The hardships thrown in the way of the group on their journey were unexpected, but for the most part seemed believable and kept me eager to see what would happen next.

This was such a refreshing and interesting mashup of genres and all the pieces were done well.

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Something Wilder on Goodreads
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Book Review, Nonfiction

We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates ~ Book Review

Morgan

One World
Nonfiction: Essays
Release Date: October 3, 2017

We Were Eight Years in Power is a collection of essays first published in The Atlantic, along with original introductions to each one. The book speaks broadly about the presidency of Barack Obama, and how Coates’s views and expectations of him changed over the course of his eight years as the president. It also speaks powerfully about pervasive racism in America and different programs and policies that kept and keep it in place.

Coates’s insights and research painted a stark and powerful image of the country and tied America’s history to both Barack Obama’s ascendance to the White House, and Donald Trump’s.

I found the essays incredibly compelling and thought provoking, although their introductions were a bit less so for me. His views of America, and the research and data he used to backup his perspectives, were valuable and continue to resonate with me.

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Book Review, thriller

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier ~ Book Review

Morgan

Minotaur Books
Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

This book!! I could not stop reading. Jennifer Hillier knows how to suck a reader in. Things We Do in the Dark starts off with Paris Peralta, who finds herself arrested for the murder of her much older celebrity husband. As her arrest begins to blow up online, she becomes increasingly concerned that the unwanted publicity will unearth a past life she has worked for years to bury.

I was surprised when a second point of view was introduced, that of true-crime podcast host Drew Malcolm. Drew has decided to dedicate an episode to the Ice Queen, who was convicted of murder when he was a teenager. She also happened to be the mother of the one who got away for Drew, Joey Reyes, who has since died.

At first, I found the jump disruptive, but I soon got sucked into Drew’s life too and I was intrigued to see how his story and his singular focus on the Ice Queen would eventually tie into Paris’s life.

Paris’s life was constructed incredibly richly. She had detailed interests, backstory, and friendships and I felt like her character came to life so much. This kind of character development felt rare coming from a thriller, and it made me especially invested in the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC!

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Book Review, Romance

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover ~ Book Review

Morgan

Atria Books
Romance
Release Date: July 17, 2018
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

All Your Perfects alternates between then and now, telling the love story of Quinn and Graham. Their meeting and whirlwind romance was so wonderful – the chemistry palpable and the details thoughtful and sweet. Watching them fall in love through the pages made it incredibly sad to read the present, as the two drift apart largely due to their struggles with Quinn’s infertility.

This book was a slow and steady heartbreak. There was not a lot of action, but deep introspection particularly into Quinn and her experiences and yearning for a child. Hoover knows how to create a deep and powerful love story, and the build up of this relationship was just that.

This was such a slow burn that I felt like the ending did not do the rest of the story justice. It felt as if sooo much hurt and heartbreak were wrapped up so quickly and conveniently and I think Quinn in particular deserved a little more.

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Book Review, Fiction

Cover Story by Susan Rigetti ~ Book Review

Morgan

William Morrow
Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

Cover Story follows Lora Ricci as she embarks on a summer internship with ELLE magazine. It’s your classic naïve-girl-in-the-big-city storyline, which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the premise, it just wasn’t terribly original. The narrative was broken up by emails and diary entries which was a fun format that made the story fly by.

Lora is taken under the wing of Cat Wolff, a contribution editor who lives at the Plaza Hotel. I’m a sucker for a story set in NYC, and I enjoyed reading about the opulence of Cat’s life, especially through the eyes of Lora. Lora agrees to act as Cat’s ghostwriter, anticipating that this might be her big break.

What bumped this story up to three stars for me was the plot twist at the very end, which had me rethinking the entire book. I love it when stories do that, and certainly wasn’t expecting it from this kind of narrative. That being said, the rest of it felt a little too much like a wannabe knockoff of Anna Delvey.

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