Tag: cake

Book Review, Fiction, Romance, Uncategorized

The Sight of You by Holly Miller ~ Book Review

Morgan

The Sight of You and Cake

G.P. Putnam’s Sons (thank you to the publisher for a review copy!)
Genre: Romance
Release Date: June 9, 2020
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

The Sight of You sets up an emotional and beautiful love story with an unexpected premise unlike anything I’ve read before. One of the two main characters, Joel, has a peculiar ailment: he dreams about the futures of the people he loves. Although these are often wonderful and positive dreams, the ones that are sinister haunt him at all times of day. Plagued by the knowledge of what will happen to the people he is closest to, Joel tries to sleep as little as possible, and distances himself from close relationships. The emotional weight of this book reminded me of Me Before You. When Callie meets Joel, she is instantly attracted to him. I really appreciated seeing her side of the narrative as she struggles to understand Joel’s actions and reactions.

The narrative is split between the two of them in a heartbreaking depiction of two people who want, above all else, to be together, but who struggle to justify the pain and weight that their relationship carries. The way that their relationship affects each of them is really wonderfully portrayed. The novel shows how being together helps each of them become better versions of themselves: pursuing passions, travels, and experiences spurred by conversations they shared. The positive impacts they have on each other makes the arc of the story especially heart-wrenching.

The chapters are also interspersed with letters from Callie in the future, giving the reader some insight as to how her life has unfolded. These made me whip through the book, trying to understand the actions that led to her writing each letter. This book definitely sits heavy on the heart, but the beauty of Miller’s writing and uniquely descriptive prose makes it a truly enjoyable read.

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Buy The Sight of You at an indie bookstore near you
The Sight of You on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance, Uncategorized

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon ~ Book Review

Morgan

IMG_5379
Forever
Genre: Romance
Release Date: June 9, 2020
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

Thank you to Libro.fm for an audiobook of The Boyfriend Project. I absolutely loved the premise of this book. It begins with three women who discover, thanks to Twitter, that they’ve all been catfished by the same man. As they bond over their shared strife, they commiserate about how much time they’ve spent swiping through dating apps and going on wasted dates. Together, they decide to devote the next six months to their own passion projects and hobbies in an endeavor they title: The Boyfriend Project. Obviously, this is a romance, so this plan isn’t strictly upheld, but I loved the feeling of empowerment behind their decision and the way that it sets the stage for the three women’s friendship. I also really appreciate their frank conversations about the difficulties of finding strong friendships as an adult.

Samiah Brooks is our main character and largely leads the story. She works in the tech industry, and discusses the racism and sexism she’s experienced as a Black woman throughout her career. The weight of her struggle and her need to strive for nothing less than perfection is such an important addition to this story. The layers of this novel really impressed me. When Samiah meets a new hire at work, Daniel, their attraction is immediate. I was expecting her main qualm with pursuing a relationship with him to be The Boyfriend Project, but his storyline was much more complex than that (think a little bit of a double life). This was such a unique, intricate, and ~steamy~ romance and Je Nie Fleming’s narration truly brought Farrah Rochon’s work to life. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Buy The Boyfriend Project at an indie bookstore near you
Buy the audiobook on Libro.fm
The Boyfriend Project on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Uncategorized

Beach Read by Emily Henry ~ Book Review

Morgan

 

Beach Read with cake

Berkley
Genre: Romance
Release Date: May 19, 2020
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

Beach Read was so much deeper than I anticipated. Based on the title and synopsis, I was expecting, well, a beach read, but this story touches on a series of heavier topics and realistic character hardships. In addition to that, the main characters, January and Augustus, have the cutest dang romance, complete with writing notes to each other from their windows à la Taylor Swift.

The two are authors, both suffering with writer’s block, who challenge themselves to swap genres for their next books to get their creative juices flowing. To help do so, they organize weekend research outings to teach each other about their writing processes. I love that this book explores each author’s relationship to their respective genre, and how they ended up writing what they do. January’s transformation from believing wholeheartedly in her parents’ love story to discovering secret infidelities shakes her hugely and rattles her ability to move forward with her romance novel. In the wake of her father’s sudden death, she grapples to wrap her head around the man she thought she knew and the unburied secrets he kept from her. Augustus is stubbornly disillusioned with love and, rather than being a stereotypical playboy, or curmudgeon, we slowly find out the depth of hurt that has made him that way. Both character’s backstories are raw, deep, and believable, and made this story so much more than a fluffy romance.

The small-town setting of this story is perfect. It’s wonderfully constructed with quirky, believable shops and townspeople, and it frames January and Augustus’s story very well. Isolated from distraction in such a quiet town, they have little to focus on but one another.

This book definitely made me feel things: anticipation over an impending romance, sorrow and grief, and happy butterflies for the two main characters. Although not strictly a ‘beach read,’ Beach Read is a touching contemporary romance with depth and narratives that stretch far beyond what I expected.

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Buy Beach Read at an indie bookstore near you
Beach Read on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, thriller, Uncategorized

The Two Lila Bennets by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke ~ Book Review

Morgan

The Two Lila Bennetts with cake

Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: July 23, 2019
My Rating: 🍪🍪.5

I strongly disliked the main character of this book. I do believe that you can have an unlikable main character and still have a great story, but unfortunately my annoyance with her kept getting in the way of my enjoyment of the plot. 

The book is split into parallel storylines, in two different “what-if” scenarios. We don’t know which one is “real,” and in fact, I am doubtful that the authors did either. I find it interesting that a book with two plots was written by two authors. It makes me wonder if one was ‘steering’ for each of the different narratives. I generally enjoy books written in this structure (think, Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid), but I had trouble with the way it was carried out here. Different pieces of the narratives kept popping up in one another. One version of Lila cuts her hand and the other one, in the totally separate, not concurrent storyline suddenly has pain in her hand. It made the story feel jumbled for me as a reader.

The general gist of the narrative was different than other thrillers I have read, which can tend to blur together. That was a welcome relief. Lila is a defense attorney and, as such, has made a lot of enemies as she fights to defend clients who are often guilty. And she does it well. It is understandable that she has made enemies, and I liked trying to figure out who, in particular might be after her. 

Lila’s job alone did not make her unlikeable, but her character was selfish and disloyal, and I did not care what happened to her. Essentially what I got from the end of this book is that bad people cannot change their ways. Although I was sucked into the storyline and finished the book, I closed it feeling pretty disheartened.

My Rating: 🍪🍪.5
Buy The Two Lila Bennets at an Indie Bookstore near you
Buy The Two Lila Bennets on Amazon
The Two Lila Bennets on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, thriller, Uncategorized

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica ~ Book Review

Morgan

IMG_3115Park Row
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: February 18, 2020
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

When Will Foust’s sister passes way, she leaves her home, and custody of her daughter Imogen, to him. He and his wife Sadie uproot their own two children, and move to her remote home on an island in Maine. Teenage Imogen is moody and sullen, dressing in black and frequently skipping school. Sadie is so uncomfortable with her that she’s actually afraid. As she notices things amiss about the house, she fears what Imogen might do to her family, and how she responded to her mother’s death.

The setup is well constructed for a murder. Not only are the Fousts in a creepy, unfamiliar home that has recently seen death, they are also on an island. If, let’s just say, there were to be a storm preventing ferries from running, no one would be able to get in or out. When one of the Foust’s neighbors turns up murdered, Sadie is distinctly aware that the murderer remains on the island with her and her family.

The story is split between several different perspectives. Sadie seems to be the leader, as she adjusts to her creepy new island house, but we also get excerpts from Camille, who appears to be obsessed with Will Foust, and Mouse, a timid child in an abusive home. I somewhat guessed the relationship between these narrators fairly early on, but that did not take away from my enjoyment of the story and my impatience to understand how everything else fit together.

This was a fairly long book, and I was initially concerned as to how the story would be able to support itself for so long, but I was not disappointed. Mary Kubica knows how to layer on suspense, and surprise a reader with shocking character insights that are unexpected, but, in retrospect, believable.

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Buy The Other Mrs. on Amazon
The Other Mrs. on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Uncategorized

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler ~ Book Review

Morgan

A Good Neighborhood with Cake

St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: February 4, 2020
Genre: Literary Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

This book is real to the extreme. Fowler creates an artful and interesting depiction of race relations and class distinctions in America. The characters in A Good Neighborhood truly come to life. This isn’t to say they are all likeable, but they are all believable. Valerie Alston-Holt lives in ‘a good neighborhood,’ with her biracial son Xavier. Her husband, who was white, is no longer alive, and she is fiercely protective of her son. Xavier is a strong student and has recently received a scholarship to go to college for classical guitar, his true passion.

When the Whitman family moves in next door, life is turned upside-down for the Alston-Holts. It starts with a girl: Juniper Whitman. Xavier is immediately taken by her, despite his fierce internal stubborn conviction that it is a bad idea to get involved with someone right before he leaves for college. The Whitmans are nothing like him and his mom. Brad, the patriarch, is somewhat of a local celebrity, and initially assumes, as he lounges pale-skinned by his pool, that Xavier is hired help around the neighborhood.

Xavier and Juniper’s tumultuous relationship highlights the prevalent racism that can still be found in America– and the devastating consequences. Fowler depicts, in a straightforward manner, the way that religion, history, class, and wealth all work together to tilt the justice system. It’s heartbreaking, and very real.

Juniper and Xavier’s tale is a simple one: two teenagers fall in love and want to plan a future together. In another circumstance, that could have been, should have been, the whole story. Around them, their homes and families roil with their own problems. Valerie watches as her beloved oak tree begins to die following the construction the Whitman’s implemented to build their home. As a fierce environmentalist, she wants justice. Brad struggles with a lack of interest in his wife, Julia, and a less than appropriate interest elsewhere. Julia tries to adjust to her class-jump following her marriage to Brad. As chaos rains down on them, emotions run high, and Juniper and Xavier’s relationship becomes the eye of an ever-growing hurricane.

This is a love story gone wrong, a love story that highlights the darkest side of America. It hurts to read, but it also brings awareness that is sorely needed. 

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Buy A Good Neighborhood on Amazon
A Good Neighborhood on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, thriller

Layover by David Bell ~ Book Review

Morgan

IMG_2017

Berkley Books
Release Date: July 2, 2019
Genre: Mystery
My Rating: 🍪🍪.5

This book made very little impact on me. I found the premise generally unbelievable: our protagonist, Joshua, sees an attractive woman at the airport and decides to drop everything to hop on her flight and follow her. The narrative is split between Joshua’s perspective and Detective Givens’s. I was confused about why the Detective’s side of the story was necessary, although I am generally not a fan of ‘detective stories,’ so that may be my own bias coming into play.

Joshua comes to realize that Morgan, the woman he is pursuing, is currently listed as a missing person. Despite knowing nothing about her or her situation, he continues to pursue her, and tries to understand what she is running from. She actively voices her displeasure at him following her around. Despite being made out as a ho-hum everyday guy, Joshua seems to me like another man who can’t accept that a woman doesn’t want to be with him. 

The narrative touches on gender inequality in the tech industry, which isn’t something I would expect from a mystery/thriller. Morgan voices her frustration at not being paid in accordance to her male colleagues. I found this addition very interesting, and would have loved for it to be opened up and explored more.

There were segments of Joshua’s life, too, that could have been explored more. We learn that he works for his dad’s company, but is deeply dissatisfied there. If I’d had some backstory as to how he felt pressured into joining the business, and how that was influencing his current actions, it could have made for a very interesting character, and a greater understanding of his motivations.

Overall, I was interested enough to finish the story, but ultimately found the ending inconclusive.

My Rating: 🍪🍪.5
Buy Layover on Amazon
Layover on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, thriller

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager ~ Book Review

Morgan

Lock Every Door with plant and cake

Dutton
Release Date: July 2, 2019
Genre: Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

I’m not sure how I’ve gone this long as a thriller-lover without reading a Riley Sager book. Lock Every Door was, to use one of my favorite book review words, unputdownable. Jules is desperate for money. After she loses her job and her boyfriend on the same day, life quickly begins to feel hopeless. She comes across a discrete advertisement for an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, a decadent Manhattan building teeming with the rich and famous.

Jules gets a tour of the apartment and can’t believe her luck: it’s gorgeous and over-the-top in every way, and the pay being offered is incredible. During her very brief interview, she is mainly asked about her family (of which she has none), and her friends. Then comes a list of rules of employment: no guests, no nights away from the apartment, no posting anything about where you are staying on social media. Blinded by the luxury and the promise of quick cash, Jules shrugs off any inhibitions the rules may cause, and accepts the position. 

As Jules meets the other apartment sitters, and learns their stories, sinister similarities begin to come to light. That combined with the Bartholomew’s history of tragedy sets Jules on edge. Sager cleverly constructs the storyline so the reader is heavily influenced by what Jules thinks is going on. As she pieces things together, we believe she must be correct. The ultimate conclusion, however, is far darker than that. I was pleased with this twist. Jules’s hunches seemed farfetched and I was glad that Sager took things in a different, and very shocking direction.

The story unfolds slowly until the end, at which point I could barely keep up with what was happening. The interconnectedness of many of the characters in the story was wonderfully constructed, and kept me guessing every step of the way. I thought it was a little unbelievable that the plot took place over the course of only a few days, but I’ll let it slide because of the quality of the rest of the story and writing.

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Buy Lock Every Door on Amazon
Lock Every Door on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Uncategorized

Montauk by Nicola Harrison ~ Book Review

Morgan

Montauk and Coffee Cake

St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Historical Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

Montauk was kind of a flat, steady read for me. I was not immediately drawn into it, and once it did capture my attention, it didn’t really build to any excitement. Set in the 1930s, it follows Beatrice Bordeaux, as she summers in the seaside village of Montauk, specifically, the Manor inhabited by wealthy patrons from Manhattan. Her husband, Harry, spends each week working in the city, taking the train back on weekends during which he drags Beatrice along to a series of social engagements and shows her little real interest.

Beatrice and Harry married young, and Beatrice’s social status and wealth skyrocketed as a result of the union. Their social status also means that it is unthought of in Harry’s family to consider divorce, despite the couple’s rapidly declining interest in one another, and their inability to have a baby. Beatrice is largely disinterested in the various committees chaired by the other society women, and quickly befriends Elizabeth, who tends to the laundry of the Manor visitors. Although hesitant at first, Elizabeth warms up to Beatrice and welcomes her as a friend, introducing Beatrice to her family, as well as to Thomas, who tends the local lighthouse. 

Beatrice feels an immediate spark with Thomas and is inexplicably drawn to him. When he suffers a fall which results in injuries bad enough to prevent him from working, she takes it upon herself to tend to him and help ensure he can do his job. Their romance blooms from there, especially once Beatrice discovers that Harry has been having affairs of his own. Beatrice’s unconventional friend Dolly, encourages her infidelity, but the extent of Beatrice’s feelings for Thomas remains a secret.

Harrison did a remarkable job of creating realistic and vastly varied characters. From Dolly, who steps outside the role of what’s expected of a woman at the time, running her own business and encouraging sexual promiscuity, to the stuck-up, gossipy society women, everyone was distinct and interesting. The actual plot wasn’t really riveting for me. It was pleasant and easy to read, but the various twists seemed unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the story. The continued discussion of the death of Beatrice’s brother at a young age seemed like an unnecessary attempt to add dimension to her character. It was woven throughout the whole story, but even after having finished the story, I can’t understand why it was made into such a big part of the narrative.

The ending of this book left me baffled. After such a (relatively) calm read, I have no idea why a sudden catastrophic and destructive storm was needed to wrap it up. It seemed like a sort of clichéd way to take care of all the loose ends without actually addressing underlying issues. 

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Buy Montauk on Amazon
Montauk on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Uncategorized

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib ~ Book Review

Morgan

https://cookiesandcups.com/insane-peanut-butter-cup-cake/

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib
St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: February 5, 2019
Genre: Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

This book was written in a style that I’ve never come across before. The thoughts of the main character, Anna, flowed almost seamlessly through the narrative, allowing the reader to see the paradox between her internal monologue and her external emotions, a poignant and powerful way to illustrate her struggle with anorexia. The subject of the book’s title, a big pink house at 17 Swann Street, is a residential treatment center that Anna is checked into by her husband, Matthias. Anna is introduced to the other girls there, each battling with her own demons, and the rules they have in place to survive as comfortably as they can: they rejoice in their daily walks and the days they get animal crackers, and they share all mail as a group. Anna exchanges notes with the other girls and falls into a quiet camaraderie. Matthias visits her every night, the two of them making light of the juvenile nature of the arrangement, as they ask permission for him to go up to her room. As the two of them recap their days, we see the pain of Anna’s struggle as she depicts each meal she had to eat, and the parallel fight that Matthias battles as he tries to understand why she would not try to eat while she was home, despite his best effort. The disconnect between this couple that was still so in love, but unable to understand each other’s pain, was heartbreaking, and a symptom of eating disorders that is rarely discussed. Amidst the present day narrative, we additionally learn the story of the couple’s past. We see them sharing ice cream cones and wandering the streets of Paris as they get to know each other, we see the little things that come to define their relationship, like Anna always finishing Matthias’s pizza crusts, and we see the two of them moving to America. The juxtaposition of the way they were able to interact in the past, with the trepidation they face in the present was incredibly well illustrated.

The evolution of Anna’s eating disorder is also explored. In her youth, she was a dancer, involved in an emotionally abusive relationship during which she was convinced that she was not thin enough for her profession. After an injury, she was forced to take time off, and once she and her husband move to America, she is unable to find work. As she stays home alone, day in and day out with no one there to monitor her, she stops eating.

Flatlay of cake with book

The way that each of these pieces of Anna’s tale are woven together made for an incredibly compelling read. The story of Anna, her relationships, both with food and with her family, and the cycle of commitment to recovery and subsequent relapse made my heart ache, and my hands keep flipping pages. The level of emotion Zgheib was able to withdraw through her succinct style of writing was impressive and powerful. This is definitely a worthy read, the topic is heavy, but I think that this type of depiction of anorexia is so important for people to understand. It contrasts completely with the enormity of this homemade Funfetti Layer Cake, packed full of rainbow sprinkles, and covered with a rich chocolate frosting (stolen from a separate cake recipe).

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Buy The Girls at 17 Swann Street on Amazon
The Girls at 17 Swann Street on Goodreads