Book Review: The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Paradise Problem
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication date: May 14. 2023
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction/romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Christina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

It’s no surprise that a new Christina Lauren book is fun, fast-paced, steamy, and full of delicious plot twists… right? I’m happy to share that The Paradise Problem continues this author duo’s winning streak — CL fans will be over the moon.

In The Paradise Problem, Anna Green is having a Very Bad Day. She’s been fired from her terrible convenience store job by its terrible 18-year-old manager. Her decrepit car has been sideswiped and damaged. Worst of all, her crappy job was her one means of attempting to pay off the mounds of medical debt related to her father’s chemo treatments. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that her artwork has failed to sell, and she hasn’t heard from her agent in a year.

So Anna is not in a great place when “West” Weston (aka Liam) knocks on her door needing her help. Five years earlier, she married Liam (on paper) so they’d qualify for campus housing… but when he moved out, she signed divorce papers, or so she believed. It turns out that the papers stipulated a divorce further in the future (along with a nice buyout) — and while Anna thinks it’s weird that they’re still technically married, she doesn’t see the problem. The time is almost up, after all.

The catch is, Liam’s sister’s wedding is coming up, and his family is demanding that he attend with his wife. Yes, his fake wife (that would be Anna), who he’s also told them is a busy medical student (okay, well, she was pre-med back when they shared an apartment.) Liam desperately needs Anna to come to the wedding, play the part of loving wife, and get him through the big family event. Once they make it to their five-year anniversary, Liam’s inheritance will be secure, and they can safely divorce. As incentive, he’s offering Anna a huge payment in exchange for her play-acting, which will more than cover the medical bills, and even give her enough breathing room to focus on her art. How could she say no?

Once they zip off to the private island (via Singapore) where the wedding will be held, it’s like something out of Crazy Rich Asians (if it had a baby with Succession). These people are so elitist and over the top that it’s impossible not to just laugh at how ridiculous they are. The money is insane… and Liam’s family is just awful. His father is a controlling pig, and his mother exudes wealthy passive-aggressiveness with every breath she takes.

And yet… Anna actually starts to enjoy some parts of this little escapade, especially sharing the over-water bungalow with Liam and getting to appreciate the hotness she never fully noticed back when they lived together.

I won’t go too far into the details — but use your imagination, and picture two hot, interesting, awesome people forced into constant close proximity on a gorgeous tropical island. To say sparks fly is putting it mildly. But on top of all this romantic chemistry, there’s a non-romantic plot too! Liam’s family is messy (and not in a good way). With Anna’s support, he has to navigate the awful family dynamics and try to come out of it unscathed, and no, it’s not just about the money. There’s more at stake than initially meets the eye, and getting to the bottom of it all is a big piece of the fun of this book.

My quibbles are truly very minor. Within the big lie about being happily married, why maintain the lie about Anna being a medical student, with stories about fake med school attendance and projects overseas? This seems like a detail that Liam could have explained away — the family has never met Anna and Liam has kept his distance from them, so surely he could have said she changed careers at some point? As is, this is the piece of the lie easiest to trip Anna up with, and it seems like it needlessly complicates an already complicated situation.

Another minor issue for me — Liam’s name! He’s introduced as West, his family calls him Liam, his name is actually William… Even writing this review, I wasn’t sure which name to use!

For those who like to know the steam levels in advance: Some scenes are more explicit than suits my taste, but fans of the open door approach will love it. I tend to enjoy the “implied” rather than “shown” approach to these scenes, and in The Paradise Problem, we see all! This didn’t stop me from enjoying the book in the slightest… I just sort of wanted to look away from time to time.

Overall, this book was a terrific read, and I finished it in one day. Seriously, I just couldn’t stop!

The Paradise Problem revolves around an intriguing set-up, opposites-attract characters in a fake (but getting more real by the second) marriage, an ultra-luxury setting, and crazy family politics. It’s a blast, plain and simple.

Christina Lauren fans will be delighted… and for anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure yet of experiencing one of their novels, The Paradise Problem is a great place to dive in. Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys contemporary romance with more than a pinch of humor and outstanding chemistry between lead characters.

8May2024

Book Review: Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time, #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Disturbing the Dead
Series: A Rip Through Time, #3
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: May 7, 2024
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley
Rating:

Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1890s and the other in the present day. The A Rip Through Time crime novels are a genre-blending, atmospheric romp from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends―and feelings―in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn’t that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

Kelley Armstrong is rapidly becoming a must-read author for me. Disturbing the Dead is the 3rd book in her excellent A Rip Through Time series… and I’ve also been head-over-heels for the A Stitch in Time series (of which I’ve read half so far). While both series have a timeslip/time travel element, they are completely different in tone and focus… and I’m loving them both.

A Stitch in Time has a romantic focus, with a woman slipping through a “stitch” that allows her to travel back and forth between our world and the Victorian era. Each book in the series has a different woman as the main character, but in all cases, travel back and forth is possible, and the characters must learn to fit in and blend in where they land, while also sorting out the complications of love across time.

In the A Rip Through Time series, a different core concept comes into play. 21st century detective Mallory Atkinson accidentally gets pulled through a rip in time during a visit to Edinburgh. When she is attacked and strangled in a dark alley — and the same thing happens to a young housemaid in the exact same place but in the 19th century — Mallory’s consciousness ends up inhabiting the housemaid’s body.

(There’s a lot more to it, so check out my review of the first book for more details).

Fortunately for Mallory, Catriona is employed as a servant in the home of eccentrics, a brother and sister who are devoted to science and social reform. Dr. Duncan Grey is an undertaker and the unofficial coroner of the Edinburgh police force; his sister Isla is a widow known for her independent thinking and her skills in the chemistry lab. Over the course of the first two books, they come to understand that the person they knew as Catriona isn’t actually Catriona any longer. They befriend Mallory, and her knowledge of 21st century police work and forensics quickly makes her an integral part of the household.

Here in Disturbing the Dead, six months have passed since Mallory’s appearance in their midst. Mallory has been promoted and is now officially Duncan’s assistant. Besides Duncan and Isla, police detective (and close family friend) Hugh McCreadie is also in on Mallory’s secret. Together, this group uses Mallory’s advanced knowledge to carry out investigations and apply a more rigorous scientific approach to Victorian era police work.

The action kicks off with an invitation to a mummy unwrapping. Egyptian artifacts and archaeology are all the rage, and Sir Alistair Christie is hosting a party to share his latest find. When the mummy is unwrapped, however, a very fresh corpse is discovered inside, and Mallory and Duncan find themselves once more in the thick of a complicated murder investigation.

The mystery is the driving force of the novel, and it’s a good one, with plenty of subjects, clues, motives, and red herrings. There’s also a very entertaining side plot about a pulp writer who’s started publishing lurid accounts of Mallory and Duncan’s exploits, much to their embarrassment (and Mallory’s annoyance, as the writer portrays her as an empty-headed girl whose main function is to look impressed — and sexy — while Duncan makes all the discoveries).

One of the many delights of the series is seeing Mallory being herself in the 19th century. Unlike the situation facing the characters in the Stitch in Time series, Mallory doesn’t need to make an effort to conceal herself or blend while amongst her friends. Yes, she must adapt to the time by dressing in corsets and adopting the appropriate social customs, but at home, her speech and knowledge are full of 21st century expressions, swearing, and casual sharing of unknown facts.

“Like people in my world who still think you can catch the common cold — or catarrh — by going out in cold weather, despite the fact we’ve known for generations that it’s caused by a virus.”

“Catarrh is caused by… what?” Gray says.

“Whoops. Sorry. Spoilers. Moving right along…”

She’s just so much fun, and scenes of her with Isla and Duncan are always a delight.

He opens his hand to reveal a derringer pistol. I may let out the kind of noise others make on seeing a puppy.

There a shocking development in the latter half of the book that left me gasping and dismayed. I did not see that coming! The author does a fabulous job of making the situation (no spoilers!) vivid and real, and yet also manages to pull off a great resolution to this particular twist.

Overall, Disturbing the Dead is a fantastic addition to a great series, and I can’t wait for more! Highly recommended — but definitely start at the beginning of the series.

28Apr2024

Book Review: Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie
Author: Jackie Lau
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: May 7, 2024
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A charming rom-com about a young woman’s desperate attempts to fend off her meddling mother…only to find that maybe mother does know best.

Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.

Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. You’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he’s just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they’re forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious he thinks he’s too good for her.

But now that Emily is her family’s last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There’s only one solution, clearly : convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom’s meddling. He reluctantly agrees.

Unfortunately, lying isn’t enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates—including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class—so they’ll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark’s not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn’t so ugly after all…

In this cute fake-dating romance, Emily realizes that the best way to get her mother to stop pushing Mark Chan on her… is to pretend to date Mark Chan. Emily is the only unmarried daughter in her large family, and she knows that all her immigrant parents want is for her to have a steady, successful career, own a nice home, and marry an eligible man. That’s not asking too much, is it?

Unfortunately for her mother’s dreams, Emily, while a published author, still has to work as a barista to make rent on her shared apartment, and struggles to find time and energy to finish edits on her second novel and finally develop the great new idea she has for her next book. She’s well aware that she’s a disappointment, and it’s hard to take… and the fact that Mark Chan is the perfect guy that every Chinese parents dreams of is not helping matters. Finally pushed too far, Emily proposes a fake-dating scenario, and surprisingly, Mark agrees.

But just pretending to go on dates isn’t working, since Emily’s mom has eyes and ears everywhere, and soon the couple realizes that they’ll have to actually go on dates together in order to keep up the charade. As they spend time together, Emily starts to realize that there might be more to Mark than she assumed (the fact that he has an adorable cat named Ms. Margaret Muffins certainly helps), and… gasp… are they actually developing feelings? But that would mean that her mother (another gasp!) is right!

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie is a funny, engaging blast that’s easy to tear through in a day. Emily’s varied predicaments had me laughing out loud, and I really enjoyed seeing the world through her eyes. There’s a lot going on beneath the humor and silliness, including dealing with more serious issues around parental expectations, family pressure, and how easy it is to misinterpret other people’s actions, no matter how well meaning they are.

My only quibbles with this book are (a) I don’t necessarily felt like I got the best handle on Mark as a person — he’s a delicious fake (then real) boyfriend, but his personality remained a bit of a cipher, and (b) the big crisis that’s obligatory at the end of any contemporary romance here felt a bit uneventful. Thankfully, the crisis isn’t about a huge misunderstanding between Emily and Mark, but even so, it’s something that feels unimportant to me, and has a weirdly magnified effect.

Putting those two minor issues aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Having read the author’s two previous novels (Donut Fall in Love and The Stand-Up Groomsman), I wasn’t surprised by how much fun this book is. Jackie Lau is great at creating engaging, funny characters and putting them in relatable but over-the-top situations.

If you enjoy light-hearted romance with plenty of humor — plus great exploration of family dynamics and expectations — definitely check out Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie.

27Apr2024

Book Review: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Darling Girls
Author: Sally Hepworth
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: April 23, 2024
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley (also won a copy in a Goodreads giveaway)
Rating:

SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER… Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.

If you’ve read any books by Sally Hepworth, you know to expect twists, turns, and then even more twists. Darling Girls delivers them all, and packs in plenty of complex relationships and emotions as well.

In Darling Girls, we meet Jessica, Alicia, and Norah — a chosen family of sisters who came together through traumatic years as foster children. Despite the terrible experiences they endured as young teens, their relationship has been the bedrock of their years since then. Now adults, they’re all dysfunctional in different ways, but their sister bonds are the one constant that keeps them grounded.

When bones are found under the demolished home where they once lived, they’re summoned back to the town of Port Agatha to give statements to the police. What actually happened at Wild Meadows? Whose bones could they be? And are the sisters witnesses or suspects?

Through flashback chapters, we learn more about their childhood. Jessica was the first to be fostered with Miss Fairchild, a seemingly lovely woman whose farmhouse and grounds appear to be ideal for a small child. And at first, everything is perfect. Miss Fairchild dotes on Jessica, encourages her to call her “Mummy”, and never wants them to be apart. There are downsides, of course: When Jessica begins attending school and talking about new friends, she’s quickly shut down. No one is allowed to replace Mummy as the center of Jessica’s life.

Years later, when Miss Fairchild also takes in Norah and Alicia, Jessica’s world is abruptly changed yet again, as she’s reprimanded, punished, and pushed aside. But Miss Fairchild’s iron control is slipping — she hadn’t anticipated the girls’ bond or that they might start to question her rules and her methods.

It’s best not to know much more than that when reading Darling Girls. The characters are quite interesting — the sisters all have lasting scars from their years in the foster system, and their trauma manifests in different ways. The depiction feels realistic, and it’s sad and scary to read. At the same time, the chosen family is beautiful in its own way, and I loved seeing the unwavering support that Jessica, Norah, and Alicia provide to one another.

Being a Sally Hepworth book, I knew to expect to have my expectations up-ended, and that’s exactly what happened. I’m not a frequent thriller reader, but diving in every once in a while and going along for the roller coaster ride is quite fun.

As with all books by this author, Darling Girls is immersive and impossible to put down. It made me think, it gave me a few chills along the way, and it definitely kept me on my toes. Check it out!

24Apr2024

Book Review: The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The River We Remember
Author: William Kent Krueger
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: September 5, 2023
Length: 421 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

On Memorial Day in Jewel, Minnesota, the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. The investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.

Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

The River We Remember was my book group’s pick for April, and we were fortunate enough to have a zoom chat with the author. I myself was late in finishing, so I attended the chat having only read half the book… but that’s okay. He was gracious and engaging, the group avoided giving spoilers on the central mystery, and all in all, it was a wonderful event. And then I finished the book the next day!

OUR LIVES AND the lives of those we love merge to create a river whose current carries us forward from our beginning to our end. Because we are only one part of the whole, the river each of us remembers is different, and there are many versions of the stories we tell about the past. In all of them there is truth, and in all of them a good deal of innocent misremembering.

In The River We Remember, a Minnesota community is rocked by the violent death of one of its leading residents. Jimmy Quinn was not loved — not by a long shot — but as the biggest landowner in the area, he was powerful, connected, and in many cases, someone to fear. Lots of people would have had grudges, resentment, even hostility, but was his death murder, suicide, or just a gruesome accident?

The story unfolds through the eyes of multiple characters living in the small town of Jewel. Chief among these is Sheriff Brody Dern, a veteran of WWII with visible and invisible scars and a complicated personal life. At various points, though, we see through the eyes of many different people — there’s a sense of the community being the true main character. All the people we meet — deputies, a diner owner, teen boys, local farmers, a lawyer, a reporter — are connected and have histories that weave together, with their actions affecting one another in an intricate chain of events.

The mystery of Jimmy Quinn’s death is the central plot thread of the novel, but as this unfolds, we encounter themes around war and survival, guilt, growing up with violence, generational trauma, and the ripple effects of hate, bigotry, and racism. There’s also the concept of home — what makes a community, a piece of land, or even a specific person feel like home? Where do people find belonging?

I won’t go further into plot details, but will sum up by saying that while the mystery has a satisfying resolution, the true beauty of this book is the outstanding character depictions. Each of the people we meet are distinct and have complex inner lives that come into play as they interact. The whole is emotional and evocative, allowing the reader to experience the time and place of the story in a way that feels authentic and powerful.

Simply put, The River We Remember is a beautiful novel. This is my third book by this author (I also loved his two other stand-alones, This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace), and I look forward to starting his long-running Cork O’Connor series.

20Apr2024

Book Review: A Twist of Fate (A Stitch in Time, #2) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: A Twist of Fate
Series: A Stitch in Time, #2
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Publication date: October 5, 2021
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Time slip/ghost story
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Four years ago, Rosalind Courtenay stumbled from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first, where she has been trapped ever since, leaving her husband and infant son behind. Now she’s found her way back.

The problem, of course, is how to explain her absence to her husband. Does he think she abandoned him? Has he remarried? Is he happy in a new life? Rosalind decides to don a disguise in hopes of answering her questions before showing up on his doorstep. Instead, a twist of fate has her mistaken for her young son’s new governess.

Rosalind has every intention of revealing herself as soon as August returns home from business. Until then, she’ll get to know her son, a quiet child who has inexplicably been abandoned by an endless stream of governesses. That’s when the hauntings begin. Rosalind has finally come home and something—or someone—doesn’t just want her gone. They want her dead.

I adored A Stitch in Time, the story of a 21st century woman who passes through a time stitch and lands two centuries in the past, where she reunites with the man who was once her secret childhood companion. In A Stitch in Time, we learn that William’s best friend’s wife is believed dead, after she set out riding one night and never returned. Her horse was found dead in the sea below a cliff — clearly, Rosalind had a tragic accident and fell to her death. But August has never accepted this as fact; despite the years that have passed, he’s convinced that she left him and their infant son.

In A Twist of Fate, we get Rosalind’s story, and it’s immediately captivating. Yes, Rosalind went out riding in the middle of the night, to retrieve the wedding ring she’d accidentally left behind in the kitchen of Thorne Manor. But hearing a strange noise from an upstairs room, in what was supposedly an unoccupied house, Rosalind ventures up to investigate, and falls through the time slip. Shocked and scared once she figures out what’s happened, she tries desperately to get back, but the portal seems to have closed. Alone in a strange world, Rosalind has no choice but to figure out how to get by, but she returns month after month to Thorne Manor to see if the way back has finally opened for her.

After four years and a chance encounter with William and Bronwyn in the 21st century, Rosalind realizes that her opportunity may finally have come — and it has. She manages the time passage, and is determined to get to her husband and son as quickly as possible.

On reaching August’s family’s country home, Rosalind is mistaken for the expected new governess. Learning that her husband is away on business, she takes this opportunity to spend time with her son and discover what she can about their lives, intending to tell August the truth as soon as he arrives. But complications arise, and Rosalind’s opportunity to reveal herself is delayed over and over again. Meanwhile, she spends time with her beloved boy Edmund, treasuring every precious moment, but fearing that she may be sent away (or sent to an asylum) if she can’t convince people of her true identity.

At the same time, Courtenay House appears to be haunted, and although Rosalind believes there is a ghost present, she doesn’t believe that the malicious tricks and nighttime scares she experiences are supernatural in origin. There’s a dangerous presence in the house, and it’s very much human in nature.

A Twist of Fate is an utterly engaging and absorbing story. Rosalind’s experiences are quite different that Bronwyn’s — she’s trapped in a strange world, separated from her husband and child, and although she manages to create a sort-of life for herself in the 21st century, she never stops aching for home. A true Victorian woman, Rosalind is also an independent individual, and so it’s quite fun to see her return back to her own time with some new-fangled ideas about motherhood, marriage, raising children, and women’s roles.

She and August truly love one another, but theirs was a marriage plagued by his irrational jealousy before her disappearance. I love that the author doesn’t reunite the two and magically erase all the prior troubles. Yes, they ultimately get a wonderfully romantic second chance at love, but they also have some hard conversations about their shared past, what went wrong, and what needs to change.

The mystery at the heart of the story — who is the ghost? who is the real threat? — is very well done, and had me guessing throughout. The unraveling of secrets and the revelations related to the mystery plotline are surprising and twisty, but fit together perfectly.

I loved seeing Rosalind’s time with Edmund, finding a way to care for and love her son even before he knows who she really is. They have a beautiful relationship, and it was also heartwarming to see what a loving father August became in Rosalind’s absence, definitely breaking with the time period’s societal norms regarding a father’s involvement in his child’s life.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Twist of Fate, and strongly recommend the series as a whole! There are two more novels (which I will absolutely read as soon as I can), and some Christmas-themed novellas that fit in between the main novels.

In fact, immediately upon finishing A Twist of Fate, I started the August and Rosalind novella, Snowstorms and Sleighbells, and will look forward to carrying on with the series. If you enjoy timeslip stories, lovely love stories, and a good mystery, then you must check out the Stitch in Time books.

Next in the series:

16Apr2024

Book Review: The Evolution of Annabel Craig by Lisa Grunwald

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Evolution of Annabel Craig
Author: Lisa Grunwald
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: April 16, 2024
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A young Southern woman sets out on a journey of self-discovery as the infamous 1925 Scopes Trial tests her faith and her marriage in this moving novel from the author of Time After Time and The Irresistible Henry House.

“Lisa Grunwald is a national treasure. . . . An essential American story from a master craftsman.”—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

I had never questioned a miracle, witnessed a gunfight, or seen a dead body. . . . I had thought I knew exactly what I wanted and what I didn’t. Before the summer was over, all that and much more would change.

Annabel Hayes—born, baptized, and orphaned in the sleepy conservative town of Dayton, Tennessee—is thrilled to find herself falling quickly and deeply in love with George Craig, a sophisticated attorney newly arrived from Knoxville. But before the end of their first year of marriage, their lives are beset by losses. The strain on their relationship is only intensified when John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution at the local high school.

Foreshadowing today’s culture wars, the trial against Scopes is a spectacle unlike any the country has seen. William Jennings Bryan—a revered Southern politician—joins the prosecution, pitting himself and his faith against the renowned defense attorney Clarence Darrow. Journalists descend in a frenzy, thrusting the town and its citizens into the national spotlight. And when George joins the team defending Scopes, Annabel begins to question both her beliefs and her vows.

As the ongoing trial divides neighbor against neighbor, it also divides the Craigs in unexpected ways. But in the midst of these conflicts—one waged in an open courtroom, the other behind closed doors—Annabel will discover that the path to her own evolution begins with the courage to think for herself.

Happy Book Birthday to this wonderful historical novel! The Evolution of Annabel Craig is the story of one woman’s personal awakening (and yes, there are references to The Awakening by Kate Chopin), set in the midst of one of the pivotal societal earthquakes of the early 20th century.

Prior to reading The Evolution of Annabel Craig, I’d had a vague familiarity with the “Scopes Monkey Trial” — I knew it centered around a battle between evolutionists and creationists. Beyond that, though, I didn’t actually know much of anything — not even where the event took place or what the name “Scopes” represented.

In this fascinating novel, Annabel Craig is the readers’ eye and ears in the town of Dayton, Tennessee as their quiet little community gets turned upside down. In 1925, the State of Tennessee passed the Butler Act, making it a criminal offense to teach evolution in public schools. The leading citizens of Dayton realize they had a potential goldmine on their hands — why not challenge the law in their own town, and reap the reward of the inevitable news coverage that would bring them tourism and an economic boom? The town leaders recruit John Scopes, a high school football coach who’d subbed for a science teacher earlier in the year. Since the standard biology textbook included a few pages on Darwin and evolution, Scopes must have taught evolution in the school. The fact that Scopes doesn’t actually remember covering evolution didn’t matter — he agrees to be the town’s test subject, and to be arrested for violating the Butler Act.

Beyond the details of the Scopes trial itself, The Evolution of Annabel Craig is truly Annabel’s story. The daughter of strawberry farmers who were very much in love, Annabel finds herself orphaned as a teen, with only her faith and the kindness of her community to sustain her. A steady churchgoer, Annabel never questions the Bible or her religion, and her belief in God is central to who she is as a person.

When Annabel marries the handsome young lawyer who sweeps her off her feet, she finds partnership and love, even though George isn’t as committed to church attendance as Annabel is, and has even been seen to doze off a time or two. Their perfect marriage begins to show strain after a disastrous court case leaves George distraught, and cracks between the couple start to grow larger.

The tensions are only exacerbated when George is offered a place on the Scopes defense team, where he’ll work alongside the illustrious Clarence Darrow, a well-known agnostic. Annabel can’t understand how George can stand against faith like this, but she also finds herself swept up in the town’s excitement, especially once a journalist — a woman! — is housed with Annabel and George, and once Annabel’s photography hobby shows promise of becoming a profession.

The trial itself is fascinating. I loved the chapters showing the developing split in Dayton, as the devout Christians and the followers of science square off and stake their claims. The arrival of expert witnesses adds another layer of interest, and I particularly enjoyed a brief scene showing Annabel in conversation with a visiting rabbi.

Beyond the historical context and the details of the trial, Annabel’s journey is wonderful, heartbreaking, and empowering. She’s devastated by the breakdown of her marriage, left at sea once she’s forced to question the absolutes she’s been raised to believe, crushed to have close friends turn on her for being on what they see as the wrong side. Through it all, Annabel starts to question her place in the world and to ponder what she truly wants, while also refusing to be cowed into abandoning the faith that’s sustained her.

Author Lisa Grunwald crafts a story that weaves together the personal and political, as we see the unfolding courtroom drama while getting to know a seemingly ordinary woman whose life is much richer and deeper than others might assume. Annabel is a wonderful character, sympathetic and strong, but also very much a flesh-and-blood, flawed person who tries to find the right way forward.

I highly recommend The Evolution of Annabel Craig. The historical details are fascinating, and so are the people — especially Annabel — at the heart of the story. Don’t miss it.

Note: Lisa Grunwald’s previous novel, Time After Time was one of my favorite books of 2020. If you haven’t read it, drop everything and grab a copy! Now I need to explore even more of her books…

14Apr2024

Audiobook Review: Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Just for the Summer
Author: Abby Jimenez
Narrators: Christine Lakin & Zachary Webber
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: April 2, 2024
Print length: 452 pages
Audio length: 11 hours 43 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.

Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?

Interesting marketing — based on its Goodreads listing and the synopsis, I had no idea that Just for the Summer is not, in fact a stand-alone, but is the 3rd book in an interconnected world that includes Part of Your World and Yours Truly. Both of which I adored, by the way (you can see my reviews here and here). That said, Just for the Summer can absolutely be read on its own, but you’ll miss some of the meaning of the names, places, and relationships that factor into this compelling story.

Based on the synopsis, I was not quite prepared for how deeply serious and emotional many parts of this story are. At the outset, the tone is upbeat and humorous: Emma reads a Reddit AITA thread that is both hilarious and strikes a chord: The writer, Justin, realizes that every woman he dates goes on to find her soulmate right after they break up… and Emma has the exact same experience! She contacts Justin, and they exchange funny texts comparing their situations — and from the start, they just click.

Before long, they’re in regular contact, and have progressed to video chats and phone calls. Justin has a brilliant idea: What if they date, and cancel out each other’s curses? They’ll be guaranteed to find “the one” just as soon as they finish with one another. They even figure out the general parameters: Based on past experiences, they’ll need to go on at least four dates, text or talk every day, and kiss (more than a peck) at least once. Easy!

The complication is, Emma is a traveling nurse, and she and best friend Maddie never stay in one place for more than a few months. They take turns picking the destination for each new contract, and next up is Maddie’s pick — a summer in Hawaii. Justin is in Minnesota, and due to some family complications (more on that later), he can’t travel to date Emma. Their master plan seems like a no-go, until Emma convinces Maddie to swap Hawaii for six weeks in Minneapolis. Maddie’s more than a bit reluctant, but when Emma shows her the adorable cottage on an island in a lake — with its own boat! — where they’ll be living, she agrees, and the dating plot can move forward.

There’s much more to the story than initially meets the eye. Justin is about to assume guardianship of his three younger siblings and is soon to become a full-time parent. Emma is dealing with a lifetime of trauma due to severe neglect and abandonment by her narcissistic mother. Emma bounced in and out of foster care throughout her youth (meeting Maddie when Maddie’s parents provided Emma with the most stable and loving home she’d ever had). Emma’s trauma response has been to wall herself off and get “small”, isolating herself, refusing connection, never putting down roots, and never letting herself truly get involved emotionally with anyone but Maddie.

As Justin and Emma spend time together, their chemistry is powerful, but Emma’s unresolved trauma doesn’t allow herself to fully connect — and the fact that he has children in his life raises the stakes even higher. When Emma’s mother intrudes on her summer and her life, a series of clashes and crises ensues, and Emma’s well-being is severely challenged. Her flight instincts are never deeply buried, and this experience with her mother threatens to cause her run once again.

Just for the Summer is an absorbing, engaging read (and listen — the audiobook narrators are terrific). I was completely caught up in Emma and Justin’s stories. We get chapters narrated by each of them, often offering competing perspectives on the same events, allowing us to see the characters’ hopes, fears, joys… and understand why what they’re experiencing might not be the same for both of them.

I don’t think I was prepared for how painful Emma’s experiences would become over the course of the book. Based on the cover and synopsis, a reader could reasonably expect a romantic comedy (also, kicking through the waves at the beach, which is not a thing that ever happens). Still, expectations aside, I was thoroughly drawn into this novel and the characters’ lives, and got to the point where I almost couldn’t stand to read about one more obstacle to their happiness.

I loved the connection to the earlier books. As I mentioned, Just for the Summer could work fine as a stand-alone, but I strongly recommend reading the previous two books, which will make this one a much richer reading experience.

I did feel that the ending (happy, of course) came a little too quickly and easily, based on what we’d learned about what each character was dealing with. For Emma especially, I don’t know that I feel the timeline provided would truly allow a person in real life to progress as far as she does. Still, given the conventions of the genre, these two absolutely do need to get together, and it’s lovely when it all finally works out.

These three interconnected books all feature characters dealing with the fallout of mental health challenges, past traumas, and emotional scars. Listening to them all in such a short time period (for me, almost back to back) can be a lot. I think I might have appreciated Just for the Summer a little more if I’d had more of a break from the other books.

Still, Just for the Summer is powerful, and manages to infuse quite a lot of humorous moments into the much heavier content. I really enjoyed it, and highly recommend reading all three of these terrific books.

12Apr2024

Book Review: The Hob’s Bargain by Patricia Briggs

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Hob’s Bargain
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
Publication date: 2001
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Beauty and The Beast

Hated and feared, magic was banished from the land. But now, freed from the spells of the wicked bloodmages, magic—both good and evil—returns. And Aren of Fallbrook feels her own power of sight strengthen and grow…

Overcome by visions of mayhem and murder, Aren vows to save her village from the ruthless raiders who have descended upon it—and killed her family. With the return of wildlings to the hills and forests, she strikes a bargain with the Hob, a magical, human-like creature imbued with the power of the mountains. But the Hob is the last of his kind. And he will exact a heavy price to defend the village—a price Aren herself must pay…

I adore the Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs — intricately plotted urban fantasy with stand-out characters, relationships, and group dynamics, high stakes, and even plenty of humor. Each new release is an event to celebrate!

I’ve always been curious about the author’s earlier works. Prior to Mercy, she’d published a few different fantasy books — a couple of duologies and a four-book series — and one stand-alone, The Hob’s Bargain. And while I’ve had The Hob’s Bargain on my shelf for years now, this week was the week when I finally decided to read it.

The book starts with a bang: Aren wakes up the morning after her wedding night feeling happy and hopeful, only to be struck by a vision. Aren has the sight, something she’s kept hidden all her life, since mages are hunted down and forced to either join the evil Bloodmages who support the land’s rulers through death magic or be executed. Aren’s vision is too late to prevent what she sees: A horde of raiders descends upon her peaceful village, and kills everyone who opposes them. Within a few short hours, Aren loses her parents, her pregnant sister, and her husband.

From here, conditions in Fallbrook get even worse. A binding that has kept the land’s natural magic under tight control is removed, and the resulting earthquake causes mountains to fall, shutting off all passages in and out of the village. The wildlings — magical creatures of the earth, forests, rivers, and mountains — begin to stir, and they’re not happy with the humans. Fallbrook is threatened by both the wildlings and the continued presence of the raiders. Once Aren reveals her sight and her access to magical gifts, she finds herself despised by many of the villagers — but also in a position where she may be the only one who can save them.

The Hob’s Bargain is an entertaining read, although the plot and characters feel a tad underbaked and rushed. At various points, I found myself confused by new developments or statements, not entirely clear how we got from point A to point B.

Still, it’s quite fun to read this early book and see seeds of themes and patterns that feature in the Mercy-verse — different types of magic and magical beings, the way humans and non-humans interact, and the dynamics between humans with powers and those without.

Overall, I’m glad to have read The Hob’s Bargain — but for those looking to experience the joys of a Patricia Briggs book, I strongly urge you to jump straight to Moon Called, the very first Mercy book. I can pretty much guarantee that once you read one, you won’t want to stop.

For a complete reference guide to all Patricia Briggs book, see here.

And enjoy these other covers for The Hob’s Bargain:

7Apr2024

Book Review: The Garden by Clare Beams

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Garden
Author: Claire Beams
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Publication date: April 9, 2024
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

The discovery of a secret garden with unknown powers fuels this page-turning and psychologically thrilling tale of women desperate to become mothers and the ways the female body has always been policed and manipulated, from the award-winning author of The Illness Lesson (“A masterpiece” – Elizabeth Gilbert)

In 1948, Irene Willard, who’s had five previous miscarriages in a quest to give her beloved husband the child he desperately desires and is now pregnant again, comes to an isolated house-cum-hospital in the Berkshires, run by a husband-and-wife team of doctors who are pioneering a cure for her condition. Warily, she enlists herself in the efforts of the Doctors Hall to “rectify the maternal environment,” both physical and psychological. In the meantime, she also discovers a long-forgotten walled garden on the spacious grounds, a place imbued with its own powers and pulls. As the doctors’ plans begin to crumble, Irene and her fellow patients make a desperate bid to harness the power of the garden for themselves—and must face the incalculable risks associated with such incalculable rewards.

With shades of Shirley Jackson and Rosemary’s Baby, The Garden delves into the territory of motherhood, childbirth, the mysteries of the female body, and the ways it has always been controlled and corralled.

The pressure to produce a baby and the risks women accept in order to fulfill what they’re told is their true purpose are at the heart of this dark novel. I’m not sure that I’d call it a thriller, but I can’t really come up with another category that fits.

In a nutshell, Irene is one of many women who’ve suffered multiple miscarriages and have given up hope of becoming a mother. But when a married pair of doctors offers a supposedly new and innovative approach to increase the odds of a successful pregnancy, Irene and her husband jump at the chance to participate in their program. Newly pregnant again, Irene checks into the country home turned hospital where she’ll live for the rest of her pregnancy, following a strict regimen of rest, carefully monitored food, daily exams, psychoanalysis, and hormonal injections.

From the start, Irene doesn’t seem like a particularly good fit for the program. She’s prickly and rebellious, and immediately acts up and speaks out against the strictness of the protocols. Still, when another woman heads home after successfully delivering a healthy baby, Irene sees that there may be a reason to go along with all the rules and requirements.

But in exploring the grounds, she discovers an overgrown walled garden that seems to have some unusual properties. Before long, she and two other women begin to experiment with the power of the garden. Could this be the secret to the doctors’ success? And if not, could this offer them a last-ditch resource in case the worst happens?

Oh, where to even begin with a review of this book? I didn’t get along particularly well with it from the start, but there were enough glimmers of possibly intriguing developments yet to come that I hung in there to see it through.

First and foremost, I didn’t care for the writing style. The prose, and especially the descriptions, are overwrought and overstuffed.

She held up a second finger and turned her eyes, blue like a wrong note, on Irene alone.

Blue like a wrong note? I have no idea what that means.

What did it matter if her inner self was like these other women’s somehow — the corridors or caverns all their babies occupied, or even their minds? No one could make her own that self, whose contours were only visible in what it had killed, as her true one.

Parsing some of these sentences can be exhausting.

Beyond the writing style, the plotline about the garden, as well as visions of the house’s past inhabitants and what they show Irene, goes nowhere — or at least, not in a truly coherent way. There could be truly eerie things happening… or the women could be experiencing some sort of mass delusion. I wanted something more definite out of all of this, but didn’t get it.

Most interesting to me was the author’s afterword, in which she talks about the popular use of DES in the 1940s as a treatment for infertility and miscarriage, and how that was a piece of what inspired this book. The pressure to bear children, the emptiness of considering oneself a failure after miscarrying, the desperation to have a baby at any cost — these are all themes that resonate and are well conveyed through the characters’ thoughts and actions. The garden and its supernatural essence are superfluous — I would perhaps have been more interested in a story about the women and their medical treatments without the eerie elements.

Overall, the various plot threads and themes never quite add up to a riveting story. I was disengaged throughout, and although I was determined to see the book through to the end, I never found myself caught up in the story or dying to see what happens next. Unfortunately, my thought at the end of the book was that I probably could have done without this particular reading experience.

One quick final note: I do love the cover! Look closely at those flowers, and see the shape they form…