Tag: baking

Book Review, Romance

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪
Genre: Romance 

I am truly baffled by all the glowing reviews for this book. If you’re just looking for some smut without a strong narrative tying it together, knock yourself out, but I was hoping for a solid storyline I didn’t get.

Anastasia is a competitive figure skater heading toward an important competition when her team suddenly finds themselves forced to share their rink with the hockey team. Nate, the team captain, is immediately intrigued by Anastasia’s intensity and lack of interest in him and wants nothing more than to make her warm up to him.

From the fun, cute premise, this quickly devolved into a bunch of sex scenes and a random plotline of people getting punched and blaming random other people for it and Nate suddenly becoming a stand-in for Anastasia’s figure skating partner because of course there would be no other actual skater who could do that.

Anyway, big pass for me.

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Buy Icebreaker at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Science Fiction

The Measure by Nikki Erlick ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Sci-fi
Similar to: Our Missing Hearts

Not me sobbing in my bed when I finished this book!! The Measure is set in the real world, however, one day everyone over 22 wakes up to see that they have received a string that shows the remaining length of their life. So begins an exploration of how the world reacts, from different countries’ governments, to support groups, to the polarization that begins between ‘long stringers’ and ‘short stringers.’

The book follows a number of characters with different length strings (or who don’t look at their string at all) and shows how they each respond and how the arrival of the strings irrevocably change the course of their lives. I was concerned I would get confused between all the characters, but their stories and choices were distinct enough that it wasn’t a problem. The way that their stories merged and intertwined was beautiful and breathtaking and heartbreaking.

Both concept and execution of this story were impeccably done.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Measure at an indie bookstore near you
The Measure on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Romance
Similar to: Meet Me at the Lake

What a wonderful summer read. Same Time Next Summer introduces Sam as she heads back to her parents house on the beach to tour a wedding venue with her fiancé. Her dry stable job is up in the air and when she finds out that Wyatt, who broke her heart when they were teenagers, is in town, things suddenly seem even more off-kilter.

There was a lot of intrigue swirling around in this story, from what happened to Sam and Wyatt when they were young to why Sam was worried about being fired. These details kept me really invested in the plot. I loved the juxtaposition between Sam’s parent’s home – artsy, non-confirmative, and whimsical, with her life in the city – straight-laced, serious, beige. Through alternating timelines, we see how Sam’s life has transitioned from one to the other. I loved the character arc as the two timelines hurtled toward each other.

The supporting characters in this story were quirky and wonderful and helped provide a roundedness to Sam and Wyatt’s characters. The one thing that bothered me in this story was the way that Sam’s fiancé was portrayed, it seemed like there was a sudden dramatic shift to force the reader’s perspective of him. All in all though, this one gets my stamp of approval for sure.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Same Time Next Summer at an indie bookstore near you
Same Time Next Summer on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune ~ Book Review

Morgan

Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

I COULD NOT WAIT to read Meet Me at the Lake but unfortunately, I found it underwhelming. Fern and Will met once for an unforgettable 24 hours in their early twenties and planned to meet up again one year later at Fern’s mom’s lakeside resort. Will never showed up, and Fern has wondered why for ten years. When he appears back in her life, seemingly completely different than before, there’s a lot to answer for.

The book jumps back and forth between the present day at the resort and the past, focusing on Will and Fern’s day together in the city. I enjoyed the setting of the resort, it brought back some of the magic of Every Summer After through the beautiful descriptions. Fern is reeling from the loss of her mom, and there’s a sadness that permeates her entire present-day narrative.

The sections in the past were not so compelling to me. I didn’t really get the whole instant incredible connection between Will and Fern that was supposed to drive the entire story. It made it hard for me to really feel invested in their relationship.

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Buy Meet Me at the Lake at an indie bookstore near you
Meet Me at the Lake on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center ~ Book Review

Morgan

Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

After a horrible accident leaves her paralyzed, Margaret is forced to reconsider what she truly values in life and how she can move forward. She is on the brink of starting her career, with a prestigious job already secured, and recently engaged. The curated future she imagined for herself is not only suddenly much less attainable, but she’s also not so sure it’s what she wants.

The relationships in this book made it a standout for me. Margaret’s family dynamics are by no means perfect, but the way that her family steps up to support her and do everything they can in the face of tragedy was so heartwarming. Each character was believably flawed, but wonderfully vivid. I loved seeing the ways that they were brought together and each of their approaches to Margaret’s situation.

The romance was a slowww burn but I truly savored every minute of it. I knew what was coming and I didn’t mind the wait to get there. I was shocked that a story that took place primarily in a hospital somehow flew by.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy How to Walk Away at an indie bookstore near you
How to Walk Away on Goodreads

Book Review, mystery, thriller

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham ~ Book Review

Morgan

Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

After Isabelle’s son, Mason, disappeared from his room in the middle of the night, she stopped sleeping. A year later, Isabelle, who has separated from her husband, speaks at true crime conventions, desperate for any leads on the case.

The present narrative is interspersed with flashbacks to Isabelle’s childhood growing up with her sister Margaret. It becomes clear that there is something dark in Isabelle’s past, but it took a long time for any connection between past and present to become clear and I found the sections in Isabelle’s childhood to be slow.

I was not satisfied with how this one ended. There were a lot of red herrings along the way and I didn’t think there was enough in place to make the ultimate culprit seem believable. I was definitely surprised a number of times along the way, and intrigued to see how things would unfold, but it wasn’t particularly shocking in a way that made me look back on the book in a different light, which is how I measure a really good thriller.

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Buy All the Dangerous Things at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Yerba Buena by Nina Lacour ~ Book Review

Morgan

Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

Yerba Buena tells the haunting stories of Sara and Emilie. I was so impressed by how rich each of their characters and backstories were. They have very different backgrounds and lives, and each was so detailed and unique that it felt like they were real people I was getting to know. In each section, I would get so engrossed in one of their lives that I would honestly forget this was a split narrative and we would be jumping back to someone else eventually. It was far heavier and more real than I anticipated going into it.

The side-by-side stories were captivating without being action-packed. Much of this book revolves around the everyday occurrences that Sara and Emilie experience separately as they wind their way through their lives and try to figure out their passions and places. This book let me grow and grow up with both characters and although ultimately I knew that they would find their way to one another, I cared about them more as individuals than as a couple.

This would have been a five star read for me if it weren’t for the ending. It felt to me like the book just kind of ended, and Sara and Emilie deserved something more after such an epic exploration of their lives.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Yerba Buena at an indie bookstore near you
Yerba Buena on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Science Fiction

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers ~ Book Review

Morgan

Science Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

What a comforting, thought-provoking story wrapped up in the tale of a tea monk and a robot. The world-building in A Psalm for the Wild-Built is subtle enough that I didn’t get overwhelmed by it, but integrated so that I understood the context of the book’s world. The premise centers around a time in the past when robots gained self awareness and then disappeared into the wild.

Dex feels unfulfilled in their life and longs for purpose. They take themselves off the beaten path, away from the tea monk life they have been living, and stumble across a robot, Splendid Speckled Mosscap. The robot is on its own journey, to understand humans. Together, the two of them engage in deep conversations about life that left me feeling optimistic and not alone.

Although this is a fairly short book, it feels rejuvenating in a way I haven’t experienced before from a book. I’ve never dabbled with the ‘cozy’ sub-genre, but I want to curl up in the story of Dex and Splendid Speckled Mosscap, so I would classify at as giving definite cozy vibes.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy A Psalm for the Wild-Built at an indie bookstore near you
A Psalm for the Wild-Built on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore ~ Book Review

Morgan

Mystery
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

What a wacky enjoyable read this was – especially over audio. A decade after the disappearance of acclaimed magician Violet Volk, podcast host Cameron is desperate to secure an interview with Violet’s sister, Sasha. Sasha was left to pick up the pieces after her sister vanished, and has done her best to distance herself from Violet in the ensuing years. This feat is made all the more difficult by Sasha’s daughter Quinn who is very much still enamored by the aunt who vanished.

The book focuses mainly on the ten-year anniversary and the news articles, events, and of course, podcasts that discuss Violet. The audiobook included a number of different narrators, one for each medium, which made this so much fun to listen to. It really was like listening to an elongated podcast most of the time.

Although the mystery of what happened to Violet is central to the story, this was much more a character study of her and Sasha. It included flashbacks showing how Violet’s rise to fame impacted them both and showed the dark sides to Violet that were hidden to her adoring fans.

The story definitely requires you to suspend reality throughout, but especially at the end. I’ll admit, the ending didn’t do the rest of the story justice for me, but the book had Montimore’s signature quirk and was truly fun to listen to.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Acts of Violet on Goodreads
Buy Acts of Violet at an indie bookstore near you

Book Review, mystery

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw ~ Book Review

Morgan

Mystery
My Rating: 🍪🍪.5

A History of Wild Places starts by introducing the disappearance of Maggie St. James and Travis Wren, a detective who went looking for her. It picks up years later in a culty commune called Pastoral when one of the members discovers Travis’s abandoned truck just outside the community’s boundaries – where no one is supposed to venture to avoid bringing in disease. Thus begins the slow questioning of the community and what its members have been told to believe about the world beyond.

I found this book to be pretty slow for a mystery. It mainly followed the daily lives of several members of Pastoral. There was a decent amount of ‘world-building’ to acclimatize the reader to the culture of Pastoral, which felt overdone to me. It felt like the way the inhabitants were being controlled was repeated over and over and it was unclear why none of them seemed to notice or care.

Although I finished the book and was interested in hearing the ultimate truth about Maggie and Travis, it kind of just ended up where I would have expected it to, which fell flat.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy A History of Wild Places at an indie bookstore near you
A History of Wild Places on Goodreads