Book Review: The Shippers by Katherine Center

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Shippers
Author: Katherine Center
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: May 19, 2026
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

One of the hottest, fastest-rising rom-com stars delivers her latest swoon-worthy novel about a destination wedding on a cruise ship.

After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. With the help of a little pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest ), and she decides to woo him during the cruise for some long-delayed closure. Only problem is, her sister’s a little busy being a bride at the moment—so JoJo ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, to be her wing man. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but then showed up, anyway. Cooper: who left town without a word four years earlier and moved to London. Cooper: who was, if she’s honest, the worst heartbreak of JoJo’s life. It’s bliss for her to see him again, and it’s agony, too—and the more they team up for Project Conquest, the more she obsesses over questions she can’t bring herself to ask.

Shipboard antics ensue in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance—as JoJo and Cooper fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, treat sunburns, get jealous, rescue each other over and over, and finally, at last, figure it all out in the most blissful, swoony, romantic way.

No one does summer romance quite like Katherine Center. THE SHIPPERS will take readers on the cruise of a lifetime in a story awash with romantic longing, top-notch banter, long-held secrets . . . and true love rediscovered.

I usually love Katherine Center books, but The Shippers is a bit too slight and focused on silliness to entirely work for me.

In The Shippers, we open with main character Jojo’s wedding. She’s wearing her soon-to-be mother-in-law’s itchy, awful wedding gown — quite a clear sign that nothing about this wedding truly fits Jojo. She has a history of dumping guys as soon as they fall for her, and her fiancé’s distance and disinterest have kept her in the relationship far longer than made sense. As she’s about to walk down the aisle, her childhood best friend Cooper walks in. Cooper essentially ghosted her four years ago without explanation, but his sudden appearance (and suggestion to fake a faint at the altar) help Jojo realize how little she wants to get married. Fake fainting turns out to be her key to escape.

Six weeks later, Jojo is forced to endure endless gossip and family and neighborhood togetherness for her sister Ashley’s cruise-based wedding. But thanks to Ashley’s interest in psychology, the sisters seem to have figured out Jojo’s problem: They conclude that she’s fixated on her first kiss (at age 10), while carrying some serious abandonment issues courtesy of their distant dad, and will never be able to have a successful, healthy relationship until she resolves the feelings associated with that kiss. Fortunately, the kisser will be on the cruise too, and Jojo will have a week to get him to fall in love with her.

When Cooper unexpectedly shows up for the cruise as well, Jojo loops him into her plan — and when the obnoxious cousin Jojo is rooming with makes it clear that their cabin will be otherwise occupied most nights, Jojo ends up bunking with Cooper. With all that togetherness, it’s only a matter of time before Jojo and Cooper confront their pasts… but her fixation on the kiss may drive them apart for good this time, despite the fact that Jojo seems to be finally waking up to how awesome (and attractive) Cooper is.

“How did you turn into a Disney prince?”

“You think I look like a Disney prince?”

“I really do.”

“You think I look like a cartoon?”

“Not a cartoon like SpongeBob. A sexy cartoon.”

The vibe of The Shippers is mostly goofy. It’s hard to take Jojo’s emotional baggage seriously when it’s addressed in between comical scenes of her wearing inappropriate clothing, falling off her high heels, getting badly sunburned (I mean, that’s not actually funny, but it’s presented as yet another ridiculous thing that Jojo gets herself into), and entering a slow-dance contest with guy who’s clearly wrong for her. We’re obviously meant to be rooting for Jojo to wake up to the fact that Cooper has been her person — and love of her life — all along, but the frantic focus on Jojo making odd choices and getting into crazy situations makes it all seem rather frivolous and shallow.

To be clear, The Shippers is entertaining and zips along with never a dull moment. For me, it was just all so intentionally silly that I couldn’t take any of it particularly seriously, even when the characters attempt to address past hurts and issues in a more thoughtful way.

Still, fans of the author will find plenty to enjoy, and The Shippers would make a good choice for a sunny summer beach read.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

Interested in this author? Check out my reviews of other Katherine Center books:
The Bright Side of Disaster
Get Lucky
Happiness for Beginners
Hello Stranger
How to Walk Away
The Rom-Commers
Things You Save in a Fire
What You Wish For
The Love Haters

16May2026

Audiobook Review: Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Our Perfect Storm
Author: Carley Fortune
Narrators: AJ Bridel and Jack Copland
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: May 5, 2026
Print length: 420 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 51 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Frankie and George have been best friends since they were eight years old. Both passionate, impulsive, and headstrong—they’ve always clashed . . . and come back together. Until now. It’s the eve of Frankie’s wedding weekend, and she doesn’t know where they stand or even if George will show up as her best man.

Then, at the start of the festivities, in walks George. For one glorious evening, surrounded by her loved ones, Frankie’s life is finally perfect. But it all comes crashing down when her fiancé dumps her the next morning, leaving only a note as an explanation.

Crushed and confused, Frankie returns to her family’s home to wallow. But George has a different idea and a plan for healing Frankie’s broken heart. He wants her to go on her honeymoon. With him. For one week, to the lush rainforests and misty beaches of Tofino.

Frankie agrees, seeing the trip for what it really is: one last chance to repair their friendship. Even if it means unearthing secrets and long buried feelings neither knows how to handle. Even if it means falling apart for good.

There’s nothing like a Carley Fortune book! Heartfelt storytelling, deep connections, and beautiful settings are the hallmark of her beach bag-ready novels. Her fifth novel, Our Perfect Storm, captures all the elements I love so much about her writing and delivers a friends-to-lovers story that, despite the trope, feels fresh and expansive.

Our Perfect Storm opens at the start of Frankie’s wedding weekend — a high-end affair at a luxury resort, no expense spared. But initially, it’s not perfect: Frankie is distracted throughout the opening dinner because her best friend (and best man) George hasn’t arrived. Her seemingly ideal fiancé Nate is sitting right next to her, but she can’t enjoy the food or the company… until George finally walks in. (It may not be obvious to Frankie, but we readers know deep, unacknowledged love when we see it!)

The perfect wedding is now back on track… until Frankie wakes up the next morning to a note from Nate, calling off the wedding with no explanation whatsoever. Devastated, Frankie moves back home with her parents and spends the next couple of months trying to get her life back on track.

George hasn’t been seen since the wedding, so Frankie is shocked when he shows up one day, and has a plan. Nate has already told Frankie that she should go to the resort he’d booked for their honeymoon, since it was already paid for. Frankie had no intention of going, but George insists that it’ll be just what she needs — and that he’s going with her. Frankie needs an escape from the world so she can heal, George has been researching recovery after a breakup, and he’s going to guide her through the process.

So off they go to Tofino, a beautiful location on Vancouver Island, where they’ll be staying in a luxury villa at a fancy resort, with nothing to do but enjoy the scenery, explore, eat good food, and let Frankie find fresh inspiration and let go of the past. Of course, the past is not so simple. While Frankie had only known Nate for a total of one year prior to their almost-wedding, she’s known George since childhood. They’ve been there for one another through family sorrows, personal challenges, growing up, and turning into adults. From next-door neighbors to best friends to college roommates, they were inseparable for most of their lives, until George pulled away in recent years, leaving Frankie to miss him and wonder what happened to their friendship.

As they week in Tofino unfolds, George and Frankie reconnect, falling back into their easy dynamic, sharing truths and secrets, but also noting new elements to their chemisty… like a intense attraction that Frankie was never willing to fully acknowledge in the past. It becomes clear that there’s way more between them than friendship, but they’ll need to get past old hurts and traumas before they can fully trust that what they feel might just be love… and that they might have a very different future ahead of them than either could have imagined.

I just loved Frankie and George! They’re both fully developed characters. We can care about them because we get to know them so well. Flashback chapters take us back to their childhood and adolescence, and of course it’s clear to a reader that these two are way beyond “best friends”. The way they trust one another is lovely, as is the way they’re so easily able to fall back into spending constant time together, even after being apart for years.

In addition to her cancelled wedding, Frankie has a lifetime of unresolved issues to finally come to terms with, particularly in regard to her complicated relationship with her mother. I appreciated seeing the thoughtfulness with which the characters deal with this, and how past trauma gets addressed and acknowledged.

Of course, the heart and soul of the story is the connection between Frankie and George. The plot points I’ve mentioned so far may not sound action-packed, but that’s not what this book is. There’s plenty of humor, serious talks and situations too, but overall, the pacing is leisurely and gives time for the relationships and character growth to unfold.

The armchair travel elements can’t be ignored. Carley Fortune’s books always have the most lovely settings, and I was practically dying over the descriptions of Tofino. (Sad but true: I took a fantastic road trip to Vancouver Island last summer, but didn’t have quite enough time to get to Tofino… clearly, I need to go back!)

As with the author’s other books, the audiobook is narrated by AJ Bridel, who does a wonderful job. This time, she’s joined by Jack Copland, who does the dialogue for the male characters. I loved listening — the voices, pacing, and delivery are all fantastic.

Obviously, I’m a big fan, and Our Perfect Summer hit all the right notes for me. I’ll eagerly await whatever Carley Fortune writes next. Meanwhile, I highly recommend Our Perfect Summer, and all of her other books too!

For more by Carley Fortune:
Every Summer After
Meet Me at the Lake
This Summer Will Be Different
One Golden Summer

15May2026

Book Review: Dead Weight by Hildur Knútsdóttir

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Dead Weight
Author: Hildur Knútsdóttir
Translated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Publication date: May 26, 2026
Length: 160 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

An Icelandic night may hide secrets and affairs – or even bodies – in this gruesomely cathartic horror thriller from the author of The Night Guest.

Unnur was living a normal, if lonely, life until a black cat showed up at her door.

When she tracks down the cat’s wayward owner, she finds a young woman just as lost and in need of help. Like a gust of cold air in a Reykjavík night, Ásta and her pet slip into Unnur’s life.

It’s unexpected, but welcome. Unnur likes the company, and she begins to rely on Ásta in turn. But like a black cat, trouble has been tailing her new friend, and Unnur is the only one there for Ásta when things take a violent turn.

The two women quickly learn: nothing tests a friendship like blood on your hands.

This new Icelandic thriller opens with a bang, as I shared in a recent First Lines Friday post:

I have thought long and hard about how I would dispose of a dead body. I have carefully weighed options such as digging, sinking, burning, hiding. It’s something I do when I can’t sleep. I used to think that everyone did this, that each person I met had a plan of their own. But the day I casually mentioned mine during lunch at work, a weird and uncomfortable silence settled over the table. So it turns out that most people listen to audio books when they can’t sleep. It’s only me who hides bodies. I find it relaxing.

With an opening like that, it’s clear that at some point in this tense novella, there WILL be a body to deal with. The questions are — whose, and why, and how?

I’ll pause here for a second — I don’t typically share content warnings, but when it comes to abuse, I feel it’s necessary.

Content warning: Domestic/relationship violence, physical and emotional abuse.
Content reassurance: Cats are an important part of the plot… and they are fine! No animal deaths or injury (although they are threatened).

The story is told by Unnar, who is somewhat of an odd duck, and does not necessarily appear to be a reliable narrator. She’s a successful businesswoman who has learned to feign reactions to get what she wants.

I practice the look I’m going to use. Raise my eyes up and to the right. Because I’ve read that people look there when they’re doing creative thinking, but to the left when doing recall.

Meanwhile, she lives alone and conducts a passionate relationship with a married man, whose influencer wife she stalks on Instagram, convinced that he’s being honest when he says that theirs is a loveless marriage and he’s only staying for the sake of the children. Hmm, no married man has ever claimed that before, have they?

Unnar’s predictable life is interrupted when a cat shows up on her doorstep. The cat seems to find a way inside, even when the apartment doors are closed. After a couple of days of visits, Unnar searches Facebook for posts about missing cats, and tracks down the owner, a young woman named Ásta. Ásta is thrilled to be reunited with Io, but has an odd request: Can Unnar keep her for a while? Ásta’s boyfriend really doesn’t like cats, and she doesn’t want to rock the boat. When Unnar comes home again to find that Io has had a kitten, she agrees with Ásta’s proposal that mom and baby kitty will stay until the kitten is old enough to be moved, and they set up a schedule for Ásta to come and visit.

But with each visit, Unnar becomes more and more concerned about Ásta’s well-being. She shows up with bruises, and is clearly scared to upset her boyfriend. When he tracks her to Unnar’s home, violence ensues, and the growing friendship between the two women leads to startling results.

I’d love to be able to say which book (from almost 30 years ago) that this reminded me of… but even to name the book would be to reveal more than I should about the plot! Suffice it to say that things take a turn for the grisly, and Unnar’s detachment and level-headedness become a necessary counterweight to Ásta’s emotions and fragility.

I have mixed feeling about Dead Weight. On the one hand, it’s a highly readable, fast-paced, absorbing story — and given that it’s novella-length, it’s a very quick read. On the other hand… I’m not sure what to make of certain plot elements and characterizations.

Unnar is both incredibly competent and seemingly emotionally stunted. She hints at incidents from her family history, but we never entirely get the full picture. Her romantic relationship shows both her ability to feel and her ability to compartmentalize and shut down the emotions that don’t serve her own narrative; there are clear signs of denial and possibly even more serious mental health concerns that become apparent as she interacts with Ásta.

On a more practical note, Unnar’s narration makes very clear all the ways in which society doesn’t value women’s strength, expects certain types of performance and demeanor, and doesn’t recognize or have sufficient resources when a woman experiences abuse and needs an escape plan. Unnar seems to lack a moral compass, yet even thought she’s practically a stranger to Ásta, she’se the only person in Ásta’s corner when she’s in danger.

I found the ending ambiguous. I’m not sure how to interpret the very final scene. (There are two options — I don’t know which answer I like better, and I’m not sure whether we’re supposed to know or guess).

This book is definitely not a good choice for the squeamish — only read if you can tolerate blood and gore!

Overall, while I still prefer the author’s previous book, The Night Guest, I found Dead Weight an intriguing, all-in-one-sitting read. Check it out for the Icelandic vibe, and if you enjoy ambiguity and unreliable narrators.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

14May2026

Book Review: An Ordinary Sort of Evil (A Rip Through Time, #5) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: An Ordinary Sort of Evil
Series: A Rip Through Time, #5
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: May 19, 2026
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley
Rating:

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong returns to Victorian Scotland in the latest in the genre-blending Rip Through Time series.

Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Mitchell has grown accustomed to life in Victorian Scotland after travelling 150 years into the past into the body of a housemaid. She’s built a new life for herself. Even though she works as an assistant to forensic-science pioneer Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie, she considers them true friends. And with Gray in particular, perhaps, someday, something more.

Late one night, Gray and Mallory are summoned urgently to the home of Lady Adler, a patron of Gray’s undertaking business, and they assume there’s been a death in the household. But instead, they arrive in the midst of a seance with a ghost demanding Gray’s presence. The ghost is Lady Adler’s former maid, who had gone missing but now requests that Gray investigate her murder. Although Gray and Mallory are skeptical, they agree to look into the matter, whether she’s dead or alive. But unsure if there’s been a murder or not, unable to call out the medium as a fraud, and concerned for the fate of the young maid, Gray and Mallory are once again drawn into a mystery much more puzzling–and more dangerous–than it first seems.

An Ordinary Sort of Evil, book #5 in the excellent A Rip Through Time series, delivers the twisty mystery and terrific character moments that we’ve come to expect over the course of these books.

A quick explanation of the story so far: Mallory Mitchell, a Canadian homicide detective from the 21st century, stumbles through a time anomaly while visiting family in Edinburgh and finds her consciousness now inhabiting the body of a 20-year-old housemaid in Victorian Scotland. This housemaid words for Dr. Duncan Gray, an undertaker and scientist who assists the Edinburgh police with unusual cases, which is probably the best of all possible situations for Mallory to have landed in.

As the series progresses, Mallory adapts to her new life, and after sharing the truth about herself with Duncan and a few other close connections, she’s able to apply her detective skills in this new, strange world. Five books into the series, Mallory is established as Duncan’s assistant, although with her modern-day detective and forensic skills, she takes the lead for their investigations. Meanwhile, Mallory and Duncan’s professional closeness and personal friendship seems to be developing into something more, and yet Victorian standards related to class, race, and gender threaten to put an end to any deeper relationship before it can even start.

As An Ordinary Sort of Evil opens, Mallory and Duncan are summoned to a wealthy patron’s home in the middle of the night — not to investigate a murder, but because a ghost summoned during a seance has asked for Duncan by name. Or so the medium says: She claims that a maid working in the patron’s household has contacted her, and wants Duncan to investigate her murder. The problem is, the maid was last seen alive and well, and was believed to have left for new opportunities. Mallory and Duncan scoff at the spiritualism fad, but when a body turns up, they’re immersed once more in an investigation, trying to determine if this is in fact the missing maid, what happened to her, and how someone at the seance could have known of her death.

It’s an ordinary sort of evil. The kind people do every day, and never think twice. It’s just how you get ahead in life.

Once again, Kelley Armstrong skillfully blends an intriguing, unpredictable murder mystery with Mallory’s fish-out-of-water existence in a time not her own, while also keeping the character development moving forward and building upon everything that’s happened so far in the series. That’s a tough order to fill, but this author makes it work, and then some.

One of the delights of these books is seeing Mallory’s adjustment to life in Victorian times. For propriety’s sake, she must pose as Duncan’s subordinate and defer to him — publicly, at least — on matters in which she’s the expert. Behind closed doors, however, she lets loose and allows her outspoken nature to break free, which makes for all sorts of entertainment as we readers get to enjoy her anachronistic sass and snark.

I raise a slow middle finger.

“Too bad I do not know what that means,” he says. “I am certain, though, that it expresses your agreement with my point.”

The mystery in An Ordinary Sort of Evil is highly entertaining and not at all straightforward. I often thought I had a sense of how things might unfold; each time, I was wrong. Following Mallory and Duncan’s investigation is pure delight — I loved seeing how the clues and false leads and various suspects and their actions all come together by the end.

As for the characters and their relationships, things do progress in ways that will make readers of this series very happy, but there’s plenty of room for even more developments… and that’s all I’ll say about that!

A Rip Through Time continues to entertain and offer thrills and mysteries to puzzle through, and I can’t wait for more. Highly recommended — but do start at the beginning of the series! You won’t want to miss a thing.

Next up: A newly announced novella, to be release later this year. I absolutely plan to read it — I’ll need a Mallory fix while waiting for the next book in the series.

Brawlers & Burglars
Release date: December 1, 2026

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

For more in this series:
A Rip Through Time
The Poisoner’s Ring
Disturbing the Dead
Schemes & Scandals (novella)
Death at a Highland Wedding
Kirkyards & Kindness (novella)

26Apr2026

Book Review: We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: We Burned So Bright
Author: TJ Klune
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: April 28, 2026
Length: 171 pages
Genre: Contemporary/science fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A heart-wrenching standalone novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, We Burned So Bright follows an elder gay couple on an end-of-the-world road-trip.

The road stretched out before them. No other cars, just the headlights on the blacktop. Above, the cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky….

Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.

Now, the world is ending for real. A rogue black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.

Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.

On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how—impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, and new friends.

And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.

Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?

Why do we find books about the end of the world so compelling? There’s something inherently heartbreaking about humanity as a whole knowing specifically how and when the world will end, and something fascinating in seeing how people choose to act in the limited time left.

TJ Klune’s new release, We Burned So Bright, has a sci-fi premise — a black hole will destroy Earth within a month — but the point and heart of the story is not science fiction, but what this premise shows about the very human hearts involved.

For perhaps the first time in human history, we’re all experiencing the same thing. It doesn’t matter what color you are. Your background. Your beliefs. Your heritage. Who you love. Everyone, right now, is all the same. There’s something beautiful about that.

I’ll quickly note that in looking back at all the other books I’ve read by TJ Klune, I see that We Burned So Bright is the first of these that doesn’t include a supernatural/magical/fantasy element. It doesn’t need it — this a deeply human story about two regular people facing unprecedented times together.

Don and Rodney, now in their 70s, have been together since they met as young men, through the ups and downs of discrimination, abuse, homophobia, the AIDS crisis, “don’t ask, don’t tell” — basically, they’ve weathered the storm of gay history through the power of their love and commitment. It hasn’t always been easy, and they’ve suffered tremendous hardships, but they’ve survived, and so has their love.

As the world faces its last month of life, Don and Rodney have a promise to keep before the end. While society shuts down around them, with rioting and craziness abounding, they pack up their old RV for one last road trip — destination: Washington State.

The reason for their trip will be revealed by the end. Meanwhile, their journey is one of discovery, connection, sorrow, and beauty. As they travel, they encounter others on the road, all dealing with the end in different ways — violence, despair, denial… but also, love and grabbing moments of joy in every remaining second of life.

“You ever think we’d end up in a field in Ohio with hippies?”

“I’m surprised it hadn’t happened to us before, to be quite honest.”

“Sass,” Rodney said fondly. “Always with the sass.”

Slowly, we learn more about Rodney and Don’s past and why their road leads where it does. Their story is heartbreaking, yet makes the reader love them even more. They’re big-hearted, devoted, flawed, kind people who’ve spent their lives loving one another and doing the best they could. Seeing the end of the world through these two lovely people brings it all home better than a focus on explosions and science and governmental scrambles for survival possibly could.

At heart, We Burned So Bright is a personal, emotional story — showing truly how each individual is an entire universe. Rodney and Don are layered, wonderful characters. They’re ordinary people in an extraordinary time, and even as the world collapses around them, they see beauty wherever they go.

A meditation on what it means to share a life, to grow old with the person you love, to experience joy even after facing tragedy, We Burned So Bright is a lovely, powerful story. Don’t miss it.

25Apr2026

Book Review: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Yesteryear
Author: Caro Claire Burke
Publisher: Knopf
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

The premise sounds like a perfect reality TV show, in a way: Take a tradwife influencer and make her actually live on a homestead. No running water, no appliances, no fresh veggies except what she can grow herself. Make bread for the family every day… without an electric stove or perfect kitchen tools or curated ingredients. And do it all again, day in, day out. How many would last more than a day? A week?

In Yesteryear, this is exactly the set-up… sort of. Natalie is a perfect wife and perfect mother, raising her adorable brood of adorable children with good old-fashioned family values, with a devoted husband to protect them all and care for the farm while she prepares wholesome food and homeschools her little ones. She’s devout, she’s pretty, she’s hard-working… and she’s an influencer with millions of followers. So yes, she makes a small fortune from the products her fans buy, and she’s adored and hated probably in equal measure — but loved or hated, that’s attention, and that means money and fame.

Until it doesn’t. Because one day, Natalie wakes up cold, under a rough quilt rather than the high quality linens she’s used to, and the children in her kitchen aren’t really her children. Instead of a rustic-looking but actually highly polished home, her house is truly rustic, with gaps in the boards, heat from a wood-burning hearth, and no modern conveniences whatsoever. Is this a trick? Is she being secretly filmed? Has she teleported back in time? All Natalie knows is that something is very, very wrong, and she’s powerless to change it or to escape.

As Yesteryear moves forward, we follow several timelines. We seeing Natalie’s history from childhood to college, where she disdained her classmates and dropped out to marry a seemingly perfect man, to their complicated early years of marriage, and finally, to their life at Yesteryear Ranch and her growing internet fame. We also see Natalie’s panic when, pregnant with her sixth child and experiencing huge success, her carefully constructed world starts to crumble around her. And mixed in with all this, we see Natalie’s awakening in the ranch of 1855, experiencing displacement, confusion, and sheer panic as she tries to figure out what’s been done to her and how she can get back to her real life.

Lest you have the impression that Natalie is a hero or a good person, let me assure you: She is not. In every age and stage, Natalie — who professes to be a good, Christian, God-fearing woman — is full of spite, scorn, and even hatred for the people around her. She judges everyone and finds them lacking, and sees herself as the epitome of everything a woman should be.

And who was I? A flawless Christian woman. The manic pixie American dream girl of this nation’s deepest, darkest fantasies. The mother every woman wanted to be, and the wife every man wanted to come home to. Like a nun in a porno, it didn’t make sense, but also, by God: it worked. My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

As Natalie’s world unravels, readers may struggle to feel any sympathy for her at all. The world she’s built is so blatantly false, existing only while the cameras roll. Modern conveniences, nannies, farmhands — all are hidden behind false fronts, so that her perfect prairie life appears on screens as a shining example of virtuous, healthy, wholesome family living. It’s all a bit sickening… but even Natalie is aware that she exists as both Online Natalie and Offline Natalie, and it’s only when the two converge that things really go south.

Yesteryear is a strange book in so many ways. It’s truly dismal for much of it. I have no idea why the synopsis calls this book darkly funny; I couldn’t find anything to laugh at. Well, okay, that’s not entirely true: Natalie’s self-serving statements and prayers really did make me stifle a snort at times:

Thank you for watching over the farm animals, Lord, and thank you for helping us pass five million on Instagram this week.

And yet, Natalie is just so awful that there isn’t truly much in the way of enjoyment in reading about her rise and fall and the startling transposition to a 19th century farmhouse. She’s certainly not sympathetic in any way. There’s a weird fascination to it all, as readers are forced to piece together the truth of what’s going on from hints and clues. It takes a very long time for any of it to make sense. I will say that the author manages to pull it all together in an ending that answers all the questions posed along the way, although I didn’t necessarily think the actual events and explanations were believable.

I picked up Yesteryear after seeing the book start gaining buzz once it was selected as the April pick for Good Morning America’s book club, and after winning two hardcover copies for my Little Free Library (which got snapped up in the blink of an eye). Luckily, I was able to get a copy from the library to read myself without too long a wait.

I’m not sorry that I read Yesteryear — but I also didn’t find it as compelling or deep as the buzz might have us believe. Until close to the end, I probably would have given this book less than a 3-star rating… but I did admire the author’s sleight of hand in coming up with an ending that (more or less) works, so long as you can apply a hefty dose of suspending disbelief.

I’d be curious to hear other people’s thoughts on Yesteryear: Timely story about today’s society, influencer culture, the rot beneath the family values/tradwife hype, a rant against anti-feminism? Or a muddled book that seems to want to be saying more than it actually is?

22Apr2026

Book Review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Mad Mabel
Author: Sally Hepworth
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: April 21, 2026
Length: 348 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley (also won a copy in a Goodreads giveaway)
Rating:

From New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth comes a twisty tale of justice, redemption, and one irrepressible woman who’s not done breaking the rules just yet.

Meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick: eighty-one years old, gloriously grumpy, fiercely independent, and never without a hot cup of tea—or a cutting remark. She minds her own business in her quiet Melbourne suburb, until a neighbor turns up dead and the whispers start flying.

Because Elsie hasn’t always been Elsie. Once upon a headline, she was Mad Mabel Waller—Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. But was she really mad, or just misunderstood? Either way, she’s kept her secret buried for decades.

Enter seven-year-old Persephone, a relentless little chatterbox who has just moved in across the road (armed with stickers, questions, and no sense of personal boundaries); Joan, who appears to have it in for Elsie; and a healthy dose of public interest—the cops are sniffing around, and the media is circling like seagulls at a picnic.

So Mabel does what she’s always done best—she takes matters into her own hands.

Is she a cantankerous old lady with a shady past? A cold-blooded killer with arthritis? Or just someone who’s finally ready to tell her side of the story?

Sharp, surprising, and wickedly funny, this is the unforgettable story of a woman who’s spent a lifetime being underestimated—and is about to prove everyone wrong. Again.

What a dark, twisted delight it is to have a new book by Sally Hepworth to read! To read? Maybe I should say to devour. I could not put this book down once I started.

As Mad Mabel opens, we meet grouchy 81-year-old Elsie, who lives on Kenny Lane, a quiet Melbourne street close enough to a seedier part of town to have to deal with the occasional miscreants who stumble through. Still, it’s mostly a predictable life, as Elsie spends time with her best friend Daphne, feuds with her neighbor over his yappy dog, and exchanges nasty little notes with the nosy woman across the street. When 7-year-old Persephone decides that Elsie is her new best friend, despite Elsie’s clear resistance, the door is opened to chaos.

First, the dog-owner next door dies and Elsie finds the body. Next, the nosy neighbor lets it be known that she knows the truth about Elsie’s past. Soon, the police want to talk to Elsie about the body, and packs of reporters are staking out her house. Elsie, it turns out, is Mad Mabel, the youngest convicted murderer in Australian history. Has Mad Mabel struck again?

When a pair of persistent podcasters show up on her doorstep, Elsie decides to finally tell her story. After all, she’s 81 years old! What does she have to lose?

The story Elsie tells is dark and tragic, as the truth about her family and her alleged crimes is revealed. The stories of the murders she was rumored to be responsible for as well as the murder for which she was convicted are shared over the course of her interviews with the podcasters, which we see doled out in small doses in “then” chapters interspersed throughout the book. The story of Mabel’s childhood and early teens is shocking and heartbreaking, and we’re fully on Mabel’s side long before the more sordid events come to pass.

The flashback chapters are fascinating; it was jarring to be forced to return to the “now” chapters. And yet, Elsie’s “now” story is also terrific, with much more humor as well as some rising tension. I couldn’t help but laugh at Persephone’s persistence and Elsie’s utter inability to drive her away. Elsie reveals a tender, nurturing heart underneath the cranky exterior as it becomes clear that she does, in fact, care about her neighbors, that they care about her, and that’s she’s more than willing to take action to protect those who need it.

Elsie is a fabulous character, and her story held me tight from start to finish. The balance of now and then is masterfully managed, with just enough revealed chapter by chapter to keep readers on the edge of their seats. I had plenty of guesses about where the story was going — and while some may have been in the general ballpark, I was delighted by just how many twists and surprises the book had in store for me.

Mad Mabel ranks right up at the top of my list of favorite Sally Hepworth books, along with The Good Sister and The Things We Keep — although you really can’t go wrong with any of her books. I have just one of her books yet to read, The Secrets of Midwives (2015), and I’m going to make it a priority to finally pick it up this year.

Mad Mabel is a compelling story that will keep you hooked. Highly recommended — don’t miss it!

*Australia edition – which cover do you prefer?*

Interested in this author? Check out my reviews:
The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth
The Mother’s Promise by Sally Hepworth
The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

19Apr2026

Audiobook Review: The Name Game by Beth O’Leary

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Name Game
Author: Beth O’Leary
Narrator: Harriet Cains and Arty Froushan
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Print length: 379 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 55 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Audible (eARC via NetGalley)
Rating:

A man and a woman with the same name are looking for a fresh start only to discover they have landed the same job in this charming new romance by bestselling author Beth O’Leary.

Charlie couldn’t be happier to take the job of farm-shop manager on the remote, wild Isle of Ormer. She’s grieving, a little lost, and in desperate need of a fresh start.

Jones has come out of a difficult breakup and is looking forward to some peace away from the noise of his city life. Moving to Ormer couldn’t have come at a better time.

But when Charlie Jones and, ahem, Charlie Jones both turn up at Ormer’s one and only farm shop, claiming to have been offered the role of manager, everyone is baffled. How could this have happened? And just who is the real Charlie Jones?

In The Name Game, a seemingly simple mix-up leads to a wild mix of truths, deceptions, accidental discoveries, and found community, all set on a small island in the English Channel that’s known for its farms, wild donkeys, natural beauty, and isolation.

When Charlie Jones and Charlie Jones both turn up for the job of shop manager at Bramblebay Farm on the Isle of Ormer, the farm owners, married couple Rosie and Marley, are perplexed. Yes, they sent a job offer to Charlie Jones — but having conducted the entire process via letters, they have no idea which is the intended Charlie. She (Charlie) is a bubbly woman who seems unprepared for island life; he (Charlie, but prefers to be called Jones) is a bit more taciturn but seems solid enough. There’s only one job, and only one accommodation available. The obvious solution? They’ll need to share — the job and the lodgings — until they can figure out which one is actually right for the job and for the island.

As Charlie and Jones settle in, the mystery of which one the job offer was intended for remains murky, but as both prove they’re capable, a solution of sorts is offered: If they can get the shop to be profitable enough to support co-managers by the time the fall harvest festival rolls around, they can both stay.

At first rivals, Charlie and Jones eventually warm up enough to get past resentment and hostility and achieve the start of a friendship. Forced proximity, grumpy-sunshine tropes anyone? The islanders are a mixed group, with everything run by committee, and the most resistant of all is a super ornery store employee and long-time Ormer resident who seems determined to undermine everything Charlie and Jones set out to do.

As the story progresses, we get flashback chapters showing earlier moments in Charlie and Jones’s lives, explaining the pain and secrets each has brought with them to Ormer and shedding a bit of light on why and how they’ve both arrived at this moment.

I must be honest and say that until somewhere a bit past the midpoint of this book, I would have given The Name Game a 3-star rating at best. Nothing much happens. There are the expected fish-out-of-water moments — such as dealing with an errant pig and getting stuck on a hike after a change in tides — showing how little these people (especially Charlie) are suited for the life they seem to be pursuing. But of course, they settle in, begin to make connections with the islanders, and make a positive difference in the life of the community.

Just when my impatience was really reaching a boiling point, things turn around. Without entering spoiler territory, I can’t say why… but the last third or so of the book kept me pretty enthralled and made the reading experience — even the less interesting parts — worth it in the end.

One aspect I found myself more than a little annoyed by is the characters’ approach to wellness and mental health. While on Ormer, and with prodding from Jones, Charlie acknowledges to herself that she has anxiety. Although she asks the local doctor a question about it, she never seeks treatment, and instead finds ways to self-heal and get to a place where she can manage the anxiety when it spikes. Jones, meanwhile, is an alcoholic whose arrival on Ormer marks day one of sobriety. Like Charlie, he seeks no professional help and does not participate in meetings or counseling, choosing to manage his addiction through his own powers of self-healing and control. Both of these situations disturbed me. It’s nice to think that people could address issues of anxiety or addiction on their own, but a healthier version might have shown them seeking actual help.

I listened to the audiobook of The Name Game, and enjoyed the dual narrators, who alternate as the POV changes between Charlie and Jones. I will say, though, that the story complications late in the book can be a bit challenging to follow via audio — listeners may want to keep a print edition handy as backup!

I’ve loved some of Beth O’Leary’s books more than others, and have found my opinions of some changing once I have more time to think and digest. For example, I was surprised to look back and discover that I gave her previous book, Swept Away, four stars! In retrospect, I have a LOT of issues with the plot, but I suppose in the moment, I was caught up in the story enough to go high on the rating. Regardless, I had to chuckle while listening to The Name Game and coming across this line, which just has to be a wink at the previous book:

“Being stranded together in the sea sounds romantic but is actually just quite inconvenient, surely?”

Overall, my early frustration with the story was redeemed by the fun of the confusion and resolution closer to the end. I wouldn’t say this is the best of Beth O’Leary’s books, but it’s a good one! Be patient with it, and you’ll get to a good payoff. Silliness mixed with more serious emotional moments and a highly unusual and quirky setup make The Name Game an entertaining read/listen.

For more by Beth O’Leary:
The Road Trip
The Flatshare
The Switch
The No-Show
The Wake-Up Call
Swept Away

18Apr2026

Book Review: Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Cherry Baby
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: April 14, 2026
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction / romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Everybody knows that Cherry’s husband, Tom, is in Hollywood making a movie . . .

Almost nobody knows that he isn’t coming home.

Tom is the creator of Thursday—a semi-autobiographical webcomic that’s become an international phenomenon.

Semi-autobiographical. That means there’s a character in this movie based on Cherry . . . “Baby.”

Wide-hipped, heavy-chested, double-chinned Baby.

Cherry never wanted this. No fat girl wants to see herself caricatured on the page—let alone on the big screen. But there’s no getting away from it. Baby looks so much like Cherry that strangers recognize her at the grocery store.

While her soon-to-be ex-husband is in Los Angeles getting rich and famous and being the internet’s latest boyfriend, Cherry is stuck in Omaha taking care of the dog he always wanted and the house they were going to raise a family in . . . and wondering who she’s supposed to be without him.

Cherry had promised to love Tom through thick and thin.

She’d meant it.

One night, Cherry decides to leave all her problems, including Tom’s overgrown puppy, at home. She ventures out to see her favorite band play her favorite album . . . and someone recognizes her from across the room.

Russ Sutton knew Cherry when she was a young art student with a fondness for pin-up dresses and patent leather heels. Before Tom.

Russ knows Cherry. He likes Cherry.

And best of all . . . he’s never heard of Thursday.

Tender, funny, and utterly human, Cherry Baby is Rainbow Rowell’s richest, most surprising—sexiest—novel yet.

Cherry Baby is a beautiful depiction of the stages of love — beginnings and endings, and all the messy stuff in between. Main character Cherry is a delight — the middle of five sisters from a devout yet raucous family, Cherry knows she’s gorgeous, accepts that she’ll always be fat, and knows she deserves to be happy… although getting there seems almost impossible.

As Cherry Baby opens, Cherry lives alone in the Omaha home she once shared with her husband Tom. Well, alone except for their outrageously large dog Stevie (as in Stevie Nicks), who really was Tom’s dog before he headed to LA and left Cherry to deal with the aftermath. Cherry and Tom met as art students, and while she went on to have a successful career in marketing, he unexpectedly found fame and fortune when Thursday, the webcomic he’d created as his own little creative outlet, suddenly became a huge sensation.

And now, Cherry is alone, because Tom left for Hollywood to work on the movie version of Thursday and never came back. Making matters worse all these months later is that the trailer for Thursday has dropped, and once again, Tom’s version of Cherry, via the character Baby, is everywhere. Cherry can’t avoid the exaggeratedly fat depiction of herself that apparently shows how Tom truly sees her.

When Cherry decides to treat herself to a night out listening to a favorite nostalgia band, she runs into someone she once had a crush on during college, and learns that he had a crush on her as well. As they begin to date, Cherry wonders if she has a new chance at happiness. But then Tom comes back to Omaha to pack up his belongings, and the more time he spends at their house, working with Cherry to dismantle the physical remnants of their lives together, the more their unfinished business looms over them both.

There’s a beauty in seeing the past and present unfold through the chapters of this book. We’re firmly rooted in Cherry’s present, as she deals with the men in her life and struggles to hold onto her sense of self — yet we also see flashbacks to the start of Tom and Cherry’s love story, from their first meeting through their early relationship and into the years of their marriage. It’s not sugar-coated, and yet it’s incredibly touching. Rainbow Rowell’s depiction of marriage is gritty and real. Love is wonderful, but it doesn’t fix everything, and we see time and again all the ways in which Tom and Cherry get derailed from the life they thought they were working toward.

Cherry Baby surprised me in all sorts of ways. Based on the synopsis, I expected a certain basic story arc, but in fact, that’s not what the book ended up being at all… and honestly, I loved it. I think Cherry Baby is best experienced without a lot of foreknowledge — not because there are dramatic reveals or shocking plot twists, but because its focus on people figuring things out is just such a powerful journey.

Cherry is a fantastic, funny, complex character, and I loved seeing all the ways in which she believes in herself, and all the ways in which doubt and pain creep in. She’s realistic and strong and vulnerable, and an utter delight.

A minor quibble for me is the overly graphic sex scenes — which, on the one hand, show the intricate levels of intimacy involved and also illustrate Cherry’s ease/discomfort dynamic with her own body… yet on the other hand, I think the point could have been made even without the close-up-and-personal details. Then again, I recognize that each reader has their own preferences when it comes to spicy scenes — your mileage may vary.

I can’t say I’ve ever been disappointed by a Rainbow Rowell book, and Cherry Baby is no exception. The banter between Cherry and her sisters is absolutely delicious, and even the more serious scenes include clever quips and dialogue. At the same time, this book is a heartfelt look at love and trust and commitment, and includes a powerful mix of heartbreak and joy. Highly recommended.

15Apr2026

Book Review: The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Book Witch
Author: Meg Shaffer
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

She can hop into any novel, she just can’t stay there. Come along with the book witch in this magical and inspiring love letter to reading from the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game.

Rainy March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew.

Book Witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.

Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.

We all know that books are magic, right? In the world of The Book Witch, it’s the job of the local coven to make sure that fictional characters stay where they’re supposed to and to fight the malicious intentions of Burners, the book witches’ arch-enemies who seek to destroy stories from within. What’s at stake? Why, only the very existence of books that we know and love. A real-world book burner might burn copies of a book, but the book itself still exists. When a Burner destroys a book from the inside, it’s as if it’s wiped from existence: all copies, everywhere, are erased, and all memory or knowledge of the book is gone too.

Shudder.

That may make The Book Witch sound like a grim tale, and it’s anything but. In this quirky, whimsical novel, Rainy March is a lovely, bubbly book witch who has swooped to the rescue over and over again, landing inside a story thanks to her magical umbrella, accompanied by her cat familiar Koshka, and making sure the story and characters remain true to themselves.

All stories are love stories if you love stories. And I do love stories. As a Book Witch, you kind of have to love them. It’s on our recruitment posters, after all.

Rainy knows the rules — the eight Black and Whites — as well as anyone… but when she enters the noir fiction world of the Duke of Chicago in order to save him and his book series, she can’t help wobbling from the straight and narrow. Duke is a dashing, suave, sexy detective who always solves his cases, and Rainy has had a crush on him since she read the very first book in his series. When she meets him inside his story, things go a bit sideways, and before she can prevent it, he’s became self- aware — meaning, he knows he’s fictional — and they’ve fallen into a secret relationship that isn’t allowed to have a happily ever after.

Duke said that once he learned he was a fictional character, he became subtly aware of his readers. He felt their watchful eyes and sensed their quiet, gentle presence. He knew his stories were being read when the light had a certain warmer quality to it. And when the lights dimmed, he longed to be read again.

When Rainy’s prize edition of a special book — all she has left of her late mother — goes missing, she’s faced with a confusing array of clues. Who better to assist than her favorite fictional detective? Once on the trail, Rainy and Duke jump in and out of various storylands, desperately seeking elusive answers that seem always just out of reach.

There’s so much to love about The Book Witch. First and foremost, this is a book for booklovers. It speaks to the heart of anyone who’s fallen in love with fictional characters, anyone whose life has been changed because of the right book at the right time, anyone who’s ever found themselves inspired or empowered by a book, or even just gotten a reason to smile during dark times thanks to stories on a page.

An unread book is a caged animal, trapped between paper walls. They want reading, need it. To open a book is to set a story free.

The writing here is clever and funny, with banter that fits the various fictional characters who cross Rainy’s path — and yet, it’s not a silly book. Rainy’s feelings are deep and genuine, and the connections she forges are quite special. I won’t give anything away, but there’s a section toward the end that had me wiping away a few awkward tears. The Book Witch beautifully shows the delicate threads binding readers, writers, books, and characters.

I’ve been a fan of Meg Shaffer’s since picking up The Lost Story on a whim (and then immediately feeling the need to dive into her previous novel, The Wishing Game). Her stories are full of heart, and explore all the various and intricate ways that fiction changes lives.

The Book Witch is another stellar example of Meg Shaffer’s creativity. While the plot gets so meta by the end that it made my head spin, I love it in all its (occasionally) baffling glory. Rainy is a fabulous character, and The Book Witch made me really wish that the two key book series so central to the plot were in fact real books I could pick up and read. Even without being able to read those, I loved how The Book Witch shows how real lives are changed by books. Just lovely.

For more by this author:
The Wishing Game
The Lost Story