Tag: baking

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan ~ Book Review

Morgan

Avon Books
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

Thank You for Listening is book about an audiobook narrator, written by an audiobook narrator. It felt only fitting that I listen to it. Sewanee Chester was an actress before an accident caused her to turn to narration. Although she believes romance novels are unrealistic, when she finds out that a late beloved romance author requested that Sewanee co-narrate her last book, Sewanee considers it an investment toward getting her grandmother the care she needs.

There were so many layers to this book. From Sewanee’s grandmother’s dementia to the tragic end of Sewanee’s acting career, to her fraught relationship with her father, the story went much deeper than just romance.

That being said, the romance was sooo well done. The flirty banter was, either via texting or conversations, so fun and sexy. And it was funny! Both Sewanees and her co-narrator, Brock, were so amusing, and I’m so impressed with Whelan’s creation of their humor.

To top it all off, the ending totally shook me. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a ‘twist,’ but it added an extra wrinkle to the entire plot that completely melted my heart.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Thank You for Listening at an indie bookstore near you
Thank You for Listening on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis ~ Book Review

Morgan

Emily Bestler Books (Thank you to the publisher for my copy!)
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

I can always count on Lia Louis to make me feel things. In The Key to My Heart, Natalie is living as a shell of herself 2.5 years after the sudden death of her husband. She begrudgingly tags along on nights out with her well-meaning friends and can only bring herself indulge in her musical passion by playing at a public piano at a train station.

Natalie’s struggle trying to honor her late husband while also give herself the grace to move forward with her life was so heart wrenching. The way that her grief impacts her relationships with those around her and the unwitting pain she herself causes added such emotion and intricacy to her story.

I was obsessed with all the secondary characters in this book. Natalie has a rich community around her, from an older woman she befriends at her regular coffee shop to a handsome stranger at a bar who she uses to get her friends off her back about getting back in the dating scene. Everyone had such a detailed backstory and distinct characteristics that they came to life and created such a well rounded support system for Natalie.

The flirty banter in this book was next level. It was sexy and funny and creative and it was impossible not to root for the romance to work out.

This was a 5-star read until the ending, which left me wanting. There was a mystery throughout the book and the conclusion of it felt anticlimactic. I still highly recommend this book, but I wanted just a little more to wrap it up.

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

Book Review, Fiction, thriller

The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane ~ Book Review

Morgan

William Morrow
Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪.5

Elisa is convinced that her brother-in-law, Josh, is a murderer. Why? Because his fiancée has suddenly disappeared and his first wife died mysteriously. It’s almost too obvious. But no one believes her. When Josh brings over his new girlfriend, alarm bells start going off for Elisa and she becomes set on figuring out the truth behind Josh.

This really just felt like a scramble of thriller tropes and stereotypes mashed into one. Unreliable female narrator with past trauma that makes her question herself? Check. Possibly murderous relatives? Check. Did I want to know what happened? Yes. But did I enjoy getting there? Not particularly.

This wasn’t an especially shocking thriller and I had trouble getting invested in Elisa’s concerns because she was annoying. That being said, it’s decent if you’re looking for something to scratch a thriller itch.

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

Book Review, Fantasy, Romance

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper ~ Book Review

Morgan

Berkley
Romance/Fantasy
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

The main premise of Payback’s a Witch felt pretty overdone, with Emmy returning to her magical town of Thistle Grove after years of self-imposed exile to serve her family’s role as arbiter for a spellcasting tournament. That being said, I got major tri-wizard tournament vibes, which was really fun and unexpected.

Emmy joins forces with a couple acquaintances, Linden and Talia, who have all been hurt by Gareth Blackmoore, expected tournament champion. While working to exact revenge on her ex though, Emmy finds that she can’t keep her mind off Talia. The romance was fun and sexy and I loveddd Talia’s badass nature and the way she bantered with Emmy.

I think the general revenge plot needed a little more background in order for me to understand why these ladies would go to suchhh great measures to get back at Gareth. It seemed excessive to get the entire town involved on such a large scale. I also wished there had been a little more world-building. Some of the witchy/paranormal elements seemed to come out of nowhere which was a little jarring.

Overall a cute witchy fall read with a great romance, but not super compelling otherwise.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Payback’s a Witch at an indie bookstore near you
Payback’s a Witch on Goodreads

Book Review, Fantasy, Romance

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna ~ Book Review

Morgan

Berkley Books
Fantasy/Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

What a warm hug of a book. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is part found-family, part romance, part witchy fantasy and completely heartwarming. Mika Moon exists in a world where witches are taught not to spend time together for fear of causing unanticipated harm. Her magic has been used by those around her all her life and has a result of these two circumstances, she lives in solidarity, never staying in one place for long. When she is brought into Nowhere House to care for three mentor-less witches, Mika realizes that love might not be as far out of reach as she expected.

I got majorrr The House in the Cerulean Sea vibes from this book. The three young witches are quirky and there comments are so funny and on the nose. The rest of the cast of characters is just as unique and lovable and the way they welcomed Mika in was beautiful. Mandanna created details about each character that made them so interesting. The relationships, both romantic and platonic, were multifaceted and made for such a unique way of telling Mika’s story.

I was such a huge fan of the writing style. It’s witty and funny and doesn’t shy away from profanity, but in a way that’s amusing and adds to characters’ personalities. There were so many layers to this story and so much eccentricity, but it all worked together to form a vivid plot with some of my favorite characters I’ve crossed paths with in a long time. 

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches on Goodreads
Buy The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches at an indie bookstore near you

Book Review, Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling ~ Book Review

Morgan

Avon Books
Romance/Fantasy
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

I liked The Kiss Curse much more than the first book in the series. Sterling brought back the impeccably atmospheric spooky small town of Graves Glen while upgrading the plot and introducing two sassy new characters.

Gwyn (Vivi’s cousin, if you’ve read book 1) runs a witchcraft shop in town that finds itself with a new competitor when Wells Penhallow returns to his family home and opens his own store. Obviously, it’s not long before sparks fly between grumpy Wells and fiery Gwyn. Their enemies to lovers relationship is electric and steamy and I enjoyed seeing them slowly grow into a team. Both characters were witty and had well-crafted personalities that made me love getting to know them.

There is such a jumble of genres in this book, and I was intrigued by the mystery element and invested in figuring out what was happening in the town. The plot was primarily romance-focused, but I enjoyed the other pieces as well.

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

Book Review, Fiction, mystery, thriller

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham ~ Book Review

Morgan

Minotaur Books
Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

I’m not sure why this book didn’t quite click for me. It has all the makings of a great thriller, with Chloe grappling with the impending 20th anniversary of when her father was convicted of a series of murders and sent to jail. When teenage girls begin to go missing again, Chloe has to face the fact that there may be a copycat killer on the loose.

From the beginning, Chloe voices how difficult romantic relationships have been for her given her family history. The framing is meant to make the reader automatically question her fiancé Daniel, and I felt like this was being forced too much throughout the book. There were twists that intrigued and surprised me, but the red herrings were frustrating.

The writing style was a little flowery for me and it seemed at odds with the tense content of the story. I would have preferred if it was more cut and dry so the action could unfold faster.

Overall, this was a fine thriller, but nothing earth-shattering.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy A Flicker in the Dark at an indie bookstore near you
A Flicker in the Dark on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Historical Fiction

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee ~ Book Review

Morgan

Grand Central Publishing
Historical Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

I’m not a big historical fiction reader, so I don’t know if this is uncommon for this kind of book, but I was blown away by the sheer breadth that Pachinko covered. It starts with young Sunja follows her and her family for generations. It did a fantastic job of showing how her choices and the choices of those around her informed the generations that came after her.

This story focuses heavily on tensions between Korea and Japan and how Sunja’s Korean family is treated in Japan. There is an incredible amount of history and historical commentary, but it is woven seamlessly into the characters’ lives.

This is a long sprawling book, and I do feel that I got to know the characters in the beginning much better than those later on. The ending felt a bit rushed in comparison, and I wished these had been a bit more balanced. I got a little confused about who was who toward the end.

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

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks ~ Book Review

Morgan

Grand Central Publishing
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

I saw The Last Song movie years ago and remembered it fondly so I was excited to go into this one. It was a perfect read for the end of summer (yes, this review is very delayed). Ronnie and her brother are dropped off to spend the summer with their dad in his beach town. The characters in this story were flawed and complex in a realistic way, and it played on complicated family dynamics (especially with a moody teenager) that tugged at my heart.

The setting was described in a way that made the town and its inhabitants come to life. I loved the way that sea turtles brought people together, and the passion around saving their eggs was a catalyst for much of the relationship building in the story.

This was an odd book for me because I loved the story itself, but the writing style really bothered me. The descriptions, particularly of the teenagers, made me really aware that a man was writing, and with a female teenage protagonist, there was some disconnect that was noticeable enough that it kept drawing me out of the story.

I also felt like the antagonist was kind of introduced for no reason, and I think the story would have been just as powerful if he was removed. He seemed like a random character and his motivations for pursuing Ronnie so rampantly were not fleshed out beyond him constantly objectifying her.

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

Book Review, Fiction, Romance, YA

It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han ~ Book Review

Morgan

Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
YA Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

The beginning of this book was heavy and I was curious to see how it would recapture the (mostly) lighthearted magic of the first one in the series. Once Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah found themselves back at Cousins though, the teenage drama ramped right back up.

There was more depth to the story than in The Summer I Turned Pretty, which made this feel more well-rounded and I actually enjoyed it more. Belly continues to be immature in the way she treats people, but I think it’s realistic given her age and is central to who she is. This was a super fast read and Han’s writing continues to be fantastic.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy It’s Not Summer Without You at an indie bookstore near you
It’s Not Summer Without You on Goodreads