Book Review: The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Mystery Writer
Author: Sulari Gentill
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication date: March 1, 2024
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Library
Rating:

A literary thriller about an aspiring writer who meets and falls in love with her literary idol—only to find him murdered the day after she gave him her manuscript to read.

There’s nothing easier to dismiss than a conspiracy theory—until it turns out to be true

When Theodosia Benton abandons her career path as an attorney and shows up on her brother’s doorstep with two suitcases and an unfinished novel, she expects to face a few challenges. Will her brother support her ambition or send her back to finish her degree? What will her parents say when they learn of her decision? Does she even have what it takes to be a successful writer?

What Theo never expects is to be drawn into a hidden literary world in which identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of an audience. When her mentor, a highly successful author, is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. Then the police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect, and Theo does the unthinkable in order to protect him. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. Gus finds that thread and follows it, and in his attempt to save his sister he inadvertently threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. To protect the carefully constructed narrative, Theo Benton, and everyone looking for her, will have to die.

The Mystery Writer was my book group’s pick for July, and as with many of our group reads, it’s unlikely that I would have picked this one up on my own. Unfortunately, while many of our book group books end up being surprise hits for me, this one just didn’t quite work, despite some clever hooks and unusual story beats.

Theo Benton, approximately 20 year old, drops out of law school in Australia to show up at her older brother Gus’s home in Kansas. Gus and Theo were both left trust funds by their American grandfather, requiring them to become lawyers in order to inherit. Gus did, and is a partner in a local practice. Theo, however, has realized that she doe not want to become a lawyer; instead, she wants to write. Gus agrees that she can stay with him while she pursues her writing goals.

As she starts writing at the cafe where she’ll soon become a regular, she encounters another writer — an older man whom Theo eventually identifies as successful author Dan Murdoch. Theo and Dan form a friendship, and he takes an interest in her writing, offering her tips and encouragement. Finally, when Theo finishes her manuscript, she gives it to Dan to read. He’s enthusiastic, but declines her request to send it to his high-powered literary agent. And the very next day, Theo discovers that Dan has been murdered.

Theo and Gus become entangled in the unfolding mystery as more murders occur — and the two of them appear to be the connection between all the dead bodies. With the police focusing on them and their lives in danger, Theo takes a drastic step to keep them safe.

That’s about enough plot summary to get the general gist without getting into spoiler territory. The plot revolves around convoluted conspiracy theories, and hinges on Theo making some truly ridiculous decisions. So many elements require a complete suspension of disbelief that it becomes harder and harder as the book progresses to take it seriously in the slightest.

Survivalists and preppers, Australian hippies (“ferals”), crazed fans, sinister secrets of the publishing world… there’s a lot going on, and yet, not much of it makes any sense. Theo’s ability to sit down and pound out a potential bestseller over the course of a few months doesn’t feel credible, and neither is her connection to the writer whom she just happened to stumble across. Her gullibility in dealing with the agency felt like a breaking point for me (as was her brainless decision to give someone the address of the secure location where she was hiding out). If not for the book group commitment, I likely would have quit somewhere in the middle.

Still, I finished the book. The story itself moves quickly and it’s a fast read, so I was able to get through it without too much effort. At some point, I felt invested enough to want to see it through and see how it all wrapped up.

I can’t say that I actually recommend The Mystery Writer. There are some interesting facets to the story, but overall, it’s simply not believable and strains much too hard to make it at all convincing. I just didn’t buy it.

PS — Why did the publisher stick this cover on the book? There are no typewriters involved in this story! Feels like a lazy way to say “hey, this book is about a writer!”

Given my lukewarm to not-so-great reaction to this book, it may seem like a contradiction to say that I’d still like to read more by this author! Having read some interviews and other materials on the writing process for this book, I get what she was trying to do, even if I didn’t especially love it. I’d be willing to try again with another of her books, possibly her upcoming new release, to see if a change of topic works better for me.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
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31Jul2025

Book Review: Sisters of Fortune by Esther Chehebar

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Sisters of Fortune
Author: Esther Chehebar
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: July 22, 2025
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

In this hilarious, heart-warming debut novel, three Syrian Jewish sisters chase love and grapple with the growing pains of young womanhood as they seek their place within and beyond their Brooklyn community.

The Cohen sisters are at a crossroads. And not just because the middle sister, Fortune, is starting to question her decision to get married in just a few months. Nina, the eldest sister, is single at 26 (and growing cobwebs by her community’s standards) when she runs into an old childhood friend who offers her the chance to leave behind the pressure to follow in her younger sister’s footsteps. Meanwhile, Lucy, the youngest, a senior at her yeshiva high school, has recently started sneaking around with a mysterious older bachelor that has everybody asking themselves, ‘Fortune, who?‘

As Fortune inches ever closer to the chuppah, the three sisters find themselves in a tug of war between tradition and modernity, reckoning with what their community wants and with what they want for themselves—and all while learning how to roll the perfect grape leaf under the tutelage of their charismatic grandmother, Sitto, who fled Syria in 1992, and of their mother Sally, whose anxieties are tangled up in her daughters’ futures.

Sisters of Fortune is a sister story about dating, ambition, and coming-of-age under the scope of an immigrant community whose coded language is endearing, maddening, and never boring. The book reckons with what we dream for ourselves, our daughters, and granddaughters. It is concerned as much with where we come from as where we are going—and, above all, with what we are eating for dinner. (And who is making it).

This book about three Syrian Jewish sisters navigating community expectations and the pull of modern life seemed promising, but doesn’t wholly deliver. The three Cohen sisters — Lucy, Fortune, and Nina — deal with parental and community pressure to conform, marry well, and live up to expectations as exemplary wives and mothers. But with one sister’s wedding looming, an older sister remaining unwed and reluctant to play along, and the youngest sister seeming on the verge of a very successful match, the sisters’ lives are suddenly changing in unexpected ways.

Sisters of Fortune includes POV chapters for each sister, but oddly, there’s very little that shows the relationships between the sisters. Instead, each sister seems focused mainly on marriage prospects and dealing with their parents. Their lives are a mix of tradition — cooking, cleaning, preparing Shabbat meals and creating a nice home for their husbands — and modernity — taking the subway to work or school, wearing jeans, getting manicures. Material from so-called bride classes seems a bit out of place — there isn’t a strong sense that the family values quite the level of religious adherence that this material implies.

Between a somewhat messy writing style, too much emphasis on brand names and material wealth, a tendency to include kind of gross moments in random scenes (bits of food flying from someone’s mouth as they talk, engaging in a make-out scene literally minutes after throwing up) and a plot that just sort of peters out toward the end rather than reaching a strong conclusion, I was left mainly unsatisfied by this book.

I did enjoy the scenes with the grandmother and the descriptions of food (although even this felt like too much after a while). There’s a glossary at the end, which will be essential for readers unfamiliar with this culture and its language. I wish there had been a bit more about the family’s backstory; the bits we get are interesting and add depth, but that’s a small part of the story.

This is a fast read, but by the end, I was frustrated by the pacing and the lack of convincing growth for the main characters.

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30Jul2025

Audiobook Review: Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Totally and Completely Fine
Author: Elissa Sussman
Narrator: Patti Murin
Publisher: Dell
Publication date: July 8, 2025
Print length: 448 pages
Audio length: 11 hours 14 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

From the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask comes an inspiring romance novel about honoring the past, living in the present, and loving for the future.

In her small Montana hometown, Lauren Parker has assumed a few different roles: teenage hellraiser; sister of superstar Gabe Parker; and most recently, tragically widowed single mother. She’s never cared much about labels or what people thought about her, but dealing with her grief has slowly revealed that she’s become adrift in her own life.

Then she meets the devilishly handsome actor Ben Walsh on the set of her brother’s new movie. They have instant chemistry, and Lauren realizes that it has been far too long since someone has really and truly seen her. Her rebellious spirit spurs her to dive headfirst into her desire, but when a sexy encounter becomes something more, Lauren finds herself balancing old roles and new possibilities.

There’s still plenty to contend with: small-town rumors, the complications of Ben’s fame, and her daughter’s unpredictable moods. An unexpected fling seemed simple at the time—so when did everything with Ben get so complicated? And is there enough room in her life for the woman Lauren wants to be? Alternating between Lauren’s past with Spencer and her present with Ben, Totally and Completely Fine illuminates what it means to find a life-changing love and be true to oneself in the process.

Lauren Parker is not, actually, Totally and Completely Fine… although she’d very much like it if everyone would act like she is. Three years after her husband’s tragic death, she and her 13-year-old daughter Lena are muddling along, coping with daily life mainly by not talking about the big, gaping hole in their world, and just kind of pretending that everything is okay.

When Lauren’s movie star brother Gabe — a former James Bond! — invites them to spend a week visiting the set of his new movie, it seems like a good chance to get away and take a break from their small town in Montana… where everyone knows everything about everyone else, all the time. Lena seems happy enough to hang out with her uncle and witness the movie magic, and meanwhile, Lauren seems to find an instant spark with actor Ben Walsh, a Hollywood rising star and total hottie (and sweetheart), who just happens to be at least ten years younger than Lauren. But what difference does age make if it’s just a vacation fling?

In this layered look at love, grief, and second chances, Lauren’s connection to Ben is obviously not just a fling… but it takes her a while to figure that out. Meanwhile, she’s starting to realize that as much as she loves her late husband Spencer and misses him every single day, she’s actually lonely. Could she… should she… consider opening herself up to love (or at least, dating)? And if she did, what would that mean for Lena, whose rocky relationship with Lauren can’t take one more blow?

As the story unfolds, the narrative alternates between now — Lauren’s potential romance with Ben, her efforts to support and reach Lena, and her challenges living in the town where she’s grown up — and then — Lena’s history with Spencer, from childhood friendship through her rebellious teens and all the way to the marriage and early parenting years. The two halves of the story weave together effectively, with the past informing Lauren’s approach to motherhood and the possibility of getting involved with someone new.

If you’ve read Elissa Sussman’s previous books, the character names and even some scenes may ring a bell. Gabe Parker was one of the lead characters in Funny You Should Ask, the author’s 2022 novel about Hollywood, scandal, and unlikely love. I loved that book, so it wasn’t a surprise to find myself immediately caught up in Totally and Completely Fine, immersed in the characters’ lives and relationships, and delighted to see Gabe, Lauren, and others once again.

Ben is a complex, interesting love interest, and I enjoyed seeing his sensitivity and intelligence as he navigates spending time with Lauren and dealing with the ups and downs of her family and community. I really appreciated the depth of Lauren’s character development, as we come to understand the beauty of her marriage to Spencer, the pain of her loss and the unending sense of grief, the sparks of hope when it comes to finding moments of unexpected joy, and the challenges she faces in dealing with small-town gossip, preconceived ideas about who she is, and finding a way to parent a grieving child.

I really have only two small quibbles with this book. The first has to do with the sex scenes, which, to my taste, are unnecessarily graphic. Granted, this is strictly a matter of reader preference, but I didn’t need quite that many details in order to understand that there’s excellent chemistry going on here.

My second quibble is not with the plot or writing, but with the audiobook narration. Narrator Patti Murin does a fine job with most of the story, with Lauren and Lena, and — oddly — with the adult male characters with non-American accents. However, her delivery for Gabe does not work, at least not for me. Gabe is a former Bond! (Yes, he used a British accent for the role, but in his real life, he speaks like the native Montanan that he is). Gabe should sound like a leading man… but here, he comes across as kind of nasal and whiny — he’s believable as an annoying younger brother, but not as the awesome, flawed, grown-up Hollywood star that he is.

Those complaints aside, I enjoyed Totally and Completely Fine very much, and once I started, I just didn’t want to stop. I was immersed enough in these characters’ lives that I was left wanting more — and while the story wraps up quite well and has a satisfyingly definitive ending, I’d love a follow-up!

I’m now three for three with Elissa Sussman’s books! If you haven’t read anything by her yet, you really could pick any of the bunch and have a great time. Her books are funny, layered, emotional, and highly entertaining. I can’t wait for whatever she writes next!

Interested in this author? Check out my reviews of her other books:
Funny You Should Ask
Once More With Feeling

Purchase links: Amazon – 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.

28Jun2025

Audiobook Review: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Great Big Beautiful Life
Author: Emily Henry
Narrator: Julia Whelan
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: April 22, 2025
Print length: 432 pages
Audio length: 12 hours, 2 minutes
Genre: Romance
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years–or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.

Emily Henry’s books are quintessential summer reads, and her newest, Great Big Beautiful Life, is no exception. In fact, this book features an historical element that her books typically do not, and at least for this reader, the result is a richer, deeper experience than I’d originally anticipated.

Margaret Ives, the descendant of the powerful, legendary House of Ives, is the last remaining heir to the Ives media empire, which grew from the success of Margaret’s great-grandfather in exploration and mining. By the time Margaret was born, her family controlled the media, had influence everywhere, and was known for its scandals as much as for their wealth and power. But as we’re told, Margaret disappeared from the public view decades earlier, and no one has heard from her since. Still, the public fascination with the Ives family has never truly faded, and speculation continues to bubble up over what really happened to Margaret and her late husband, the wildly popular singer Cosmo Sinclair (dubbed the “Poor Man’s Elvis”).

When writer Alice Scott follows an anonymous tip and locates Margaret, now in her 80s and living alone on a small island off the coast of Georgia, she submits a book proposal and Margaret agrees to hear her out. But when she arrives at Margaret’s door, she finds another author has been invited as well — Hayden Anderson, whose previous book just won a Pulitzer. Alice is dismayed, but Margaret is quick to inform them that they’re both in the running: She’ll meet with each of them, separately and for equal amounts of time, over the next 30 days, after which they’ll each get a chance to make their pitch, and she’ll choose one of them to write her story. Alice isn’t happy with the set-up, but this could be the opportunity of a lifetime, much too good to walk away from. After signing detailed NDAs, Alice and Hayden are in, and they begin their interviews with Margaret.

As the novel progresses, we get chapters focused on Margaret’s story, where we learn her family’s twisty, hidden past — where they started, how their fortune grew, and the fights, scandals, affairs, and mysteries that plagued them ever since.

Meanwhile, Alice and Hayden go from competitors to something like colleagues — unable to share the details of their interviews (those NDAs!!), but still giving one another encouragement and support through their mutual, bizarre process. As they spend time together, their professional respect turns into friendship and attraction, and while they initially resist, their feelings grow in a way that can’t be ignored.

The structure of Great Big Beautiful Life is a lovely balancing act, bringing interest and forward momentum to both Margaret’s story and the contemporary romance between Alice and Hayden. I must admit, however, that the further I got in the book, the more I wanted to stick with Margaret! She’s a fascinating character with a deeply engrossing family story — if only the book about her life were real, I’d absolutely want to read it!

The romance elements are nicely done, although at some point I lost a bit of patience for the will-they-won’t-they dynamic, as well as the somewhat odd insistence that they not sleep together until after the book proposals are done and Margaret makes her choice… because what this actually means is that they become very heavily sexually involved, but refrain from intercourse. Ummm… from my point of view, this is a very silly distinction. But okay…

Alice’s family life and her challenging relationship with her mother comes into play, as does Hayden’s own family background. They have hurdles to overcome if they want a future together, and meanwhile, while they can’t share the details of what Margaret has revealed to them, each has the feeling that she’s not being entirely honest with them. But why agree to a biography and then lie about key elements?

I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by the amazing Julia Whelan — and through her storytelling, the characters and events absolutely shine. She’s an incredibly gifted narrator, and has an uncanny knack for convincing me that I’m listening to individual people, not one person voicing multiple characters. Her depiction of Margaret is especially lovely and powerful.

I really enjoyed Great Big Beautiful Life, and highly recommend it. As I mentioned, I wasn’t quite as invested in Alice and Hayden’s contemporary storyline — it’s a good enough romance, and I enjoyed it, but some of the tension between them felt unnecessary. (However, I did appreciate that the obligatory 3rd act breakup actually made sense and felt like it was based on a realistic, unsolvable problem). For me, Margaret’s story is the true heart and soul of this book, and it’s wonderful. I would happily spend much more time exploring her secrets, her triumphs, and her heartbreaks.

To sum it all up… Great Big Beautiful Life is a wonderful reading and listening experience! Don’t miss it.

Read-alikes:

Great Big Beautiful Life has themes and story arcs that reminded me of a few other terrific books I’ve read — so if this book appeals to you, consider one of these as well:

If you like the poor-little-rich-girl aspect of the story, try… The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister: Historical fiction about an heiress with an incredible life full of scandals and excitement.
If you like the idea of an elderly woman with a secretive past getting two people to vie to discover the truth, try… Drop Dead by Lily Chu: Lighthearted romance featuring writers competing to discover a famously reclusive woman’s secrets, following clues scattered throughout her outrageously lavish estate.
If you like a story about celebrities living in the public eye but hiding secrets, try… The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: The secret stories behind a Hollywood star’s many marriages, finally revealed in the star’s late-in-life interview with a journalist.

Purchase links: Amazon – 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.

22Jun2025

Book Review: The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Poppy Fields
Author: Nikki Erlick
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: June 17, 2025
Length: 324 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit The Measure—a runaway bestseller and a Read with Jenna TODAY Show pick—comes a stunning speculative story of healing, self-discovery, forgiveness, and found friendship.

What if there were a cure for the broken-hearted?

Welcome to the Poppy Fields, where there’s hope for even the most battered hearts to heal.

Here, in a remote stretch of the California desert, lies an experimental and controversial treatment center that allows those suffering from the heartache of loss to sleep through their pain…and keep on sleeping. After patients awaken from this prolonged state of slumber, they will finally be healed. But only if they’re willing to accept the potential shadowy side effects.

On a journey to this mystical destination are four very different strangers and one little dog: Ava, a book illustrator; Ray, a fireman; Sasha, an occupational therapist; Sky, a free spirit; and a friendly pup named PJ. As they attempt to make their way from the Midwest all the way to the Poppy Fields—where they hope to find Ellis, its brilliant, enigmatic founder—each of their past secrets and mysterious motivations threaten to derail their voyage.

A high-concept speculative novel about heartache, hope, and human resilience, The Poppy Fields explores the path of grief and healing, a journey at once profoundly universal and unique to every person, posing the questions: How do we heal in the wake of great loss? And how far are we willing to go in order to be healed?

If you could sleep away your grief… would you?

In this contemplative novel by Nikki Erlick, author of The Measure (which was fascinating!), scientist Ellis Jones has developed a popular but controversial treatment for grief: After a careful screening process, patients are put into a chemically induced sleep for one to two months, during which they are closely monitored and treated with a blend of hormones and medications to aid the healing process. When they awaken, they find themselves at peace with their loss, having bypassed the agonizing early stages of grief and slept their way through to acceptance.

This sleep comes with a price for about 25% of the patients: Not only do they wake free of the sharp pain of their loss, they also experience “emotional moderation” — they no longer feel any sort of emotional attachment to the person they’ve been mourning. They retain their memories of their lost loved one, but have no feelings for them, one way or another. This may sound terrible, and the odds aren’t especially great, but for the patients who feel that they can’t take one more moment of their suffering, it’s a price they’re willing to pay.

The plot of The Poppy Fields focuses on a group of travelers to Ellis’s institution (which is named — you guessed it! — the Poppy Fields). Stranded in the midwest by flight delays, they decide to drive the remaining distance together. Over the course of their journey, they shared their stories — why they feel the need to go to the Poppy Fields, what the idea of it means to them, what losses they’ve suffered, and what they’re hoping to achieve by sleeping.

Meanwhile, there are hints of trouble: Protesters are starting to appear outside the offices of the foundation that sponsors Poppy Fields, demanding that people “Stop the Sleep”. And within Poppy Fields itself, there’s division, as key staff members push for a for-profit model and facility expansion, while Ellis is committed to keeping their services free and to understanding how to stop the sleep’s side effects.

I think I went into this book with incorrect expectations. Based on the general description, I expected a darker story, with corporate twistiness, evil scientists, and some sort of dramatic revelation about the side effect. Instead, I found a very people-centered story about love, connection, grief and mourning, and how to move on after terrible loss.

Perhaps my early assumptions have a lot to do with my reaction, but I couldn’t help but feel that The Poppy Fields is a bit inconsequential. I believe it’s trying to say something deep about our memories and how we keep pieces of those we lose — but the overall story seems to veer between a road-trip-with-buddies plotline and serious introspection, and it just doesn’t gel well.

The main characters each have interesting backstories, and I enjoyed seeing them form bonds over the course of their days together in the car, although I wasn’t entirely convinced by each of their decisions by the end of the book. A random teen who tags along for part of the journey is rather pointless, and the various stops along the way provide some diverting interludes, but also mainly seem to serve to stretch the story.

As for the science and protest and corporate maneuvering, there’s not much there there. The setup seems to suggest that something dire is afoot, but that’s not actually the case. It all just kind of wraps up without a ton of fanfare.

Overall, there are some interesting ideas in The Poppy Fields, but I found it unconvincing. I think I really would have preferred the version I expected — give me evil scientists carrying out mad experiments in an isolated desert facility any day!

I loved how much there was to think about while reading The Measure, and my sense is that the author was going for something similar in this new book. However, the concept and the controversies didn’t strike me as all that exceptional. The Poppy Fields held my attention and had some solid points and good storytelling behind it, but failed to really grab my imagination. A decent piece of summer entertainment, but not much more than that.

Purchase links: Amazon – 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.

21Jun2025

Audiobook Review: The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Narrator: Dakota Fanning
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: April 8, 2025
Print length: 384 pages
Audio length: 15 hours, 32 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Sisters Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were born just a year apart but could not have been more different. Zoe, blessed with charm and beauty, yearned for fame from the moment she could sing into a hairbrush. Cassie was a musical prodigy who never felt at home in her own skin and preferred the safety of the shadows.

On the brink of adulthood in the early 2000s, destiny intervened, catapulting the sisters into the spotlight as the pop sensation the Griffin Sisters, hitting all the touchstones of early aughts fame—SNL, MTV, Rolling Stone magazine—along the way.

But after a whirlwind year in the public eye, the band abruptly broke up.

Two decades later, Zoe’s a housewife; Cassie’s off the grid. The sisters aren’t speaking, and the real reason for the Griffin Sisters’ breakup is still a mystery. Zoe’s teenage daughter, Cherry, who’s determined to be a star in spite of Zoe’s warnings, is on a quest to learn the truth about what happened to the band all those years ago.

As secrets emerge, all three women must face the consequences of their choices: the ones they made and the ones the music industry made for them. Can they forgive each other—and themselves? And will the Griffin Sisters ever make music again?

Jennifer Weiner’s books can be counted on for memorable characters, intricate relationships, and terrific story arcs. The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits delivers all of these.

In this 2025 novel, we’re transported back to the music scene of the early aughts and the rise of the Griffin Sisters, a band whose one album changed lives. Even twenty years after their sudden breakup, devoted fans still love them, and the use of their music in a popular new Netflix series has brought them back into the spotlight once more.

But who are the Griffin Sisters, and where did they go?

As we learn, Cassie and Zoe Griffin were born Cassie and Zoe Grossberg, the daughters of a young, working class Philadelphia couple. Zoe — full of beauty and sparkle — is a delight from birth, but the surprise pregnancy that brings Cassie along less than a year later is not a welcome development for their parents. Their mother struggles to love Cassie the way she loves Zoe, and Cassie’s differences confuse and frustrate her parents.

Everything changes when a preschool teacher notes Cassie’s uncanny musical ability. Although still basically a toddler, Cassie can play the piano by ear, and has a remarkable singing voice as well — although she’s so silent and withdrawn that she’ll only sing with Zoe. And so it goes: Zoe is pretty and popular, and protects Cassie (when she can) from the crueler comments directed at her by other children. Cassie is large, awkward, unsocial, and doesn’t care about clothes, entertainment, or making friends. Music is her only passion, and eventually, she enrolls in a music school in order to pursue a career as a classical pianist.

But Zoe craves the spotlight and stardom. Her perkiness puts her at center stage, even though her singing voice is passable at best. Her knowledge of music is limited to Britney and Cristina and the Spice Girls. She yearns to be a pop princess — and when her bandmates kick her out right before a Battle of the Bands competition, she begs Cassie to perform with her instead. Cassie has no interest, hates being seen, and just wants to be left alone… but she can’t let her sister down. In their performance, Cassie’s gift shines — her voice is transcendent, and while Zoe is the visual appeal, it’s Cassie’s singing and playing that makes their time on stage magical.

So magical, in fact, that a talent agent rushes to their house the next day and whisks them off to a recording label’s headquarters in New York. In the blink of an eye, the teen sisters are signed to a contract and are being prepped for a cross-country tour of radio stations and small venues. To turn the Griffin Sisters in a hit-machine, they need a songwriter, and Russell D’Angelo enters their lives. In his mid-twenties, Russell has a former band, is a talented guitar player, and a genius for writing songs. He and Cassie immediately click and begin creating together, but Zoe is interested in Russell for entirely different reasons. Once he joins the band, it’s only a matter of time before things get complicated.

We know from the opening pages of The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits — the one chapter told from Russell’s point of view — that something terrible happens to tear the band apart at the height of their success. As the book progresses, chapters focused on the band’s rise are interspersed with chapters set in 2024, through which we see just how differently Zoe and Cassie live twenty years later.

In 2024, two decades past their peak stardom, Zoe is a suburban housewife and mother. Yes, she still gets recognized as Zoe Griffin, but those days are long behind her. Zoe’s 18-year-old daughter Cherry has a musical gift of her own and yearns to pursue her own musical career, but Zoe blocks her at every turn, cautioning her about the cruelty of the music industry toward young women.

Meanwhile, Cassie has fled just about as far as she can go — no one has seen her in these past twenty years. She lives alone in Alaska on private acreage, hiding from the world, venturing out as little as possible, and denying herself anything that would give her pleasure, including music.

It takes a good 75% of the book to unravel the mystery of what happened to the Griffin Sisters and explain how Zoe and Cassie ended up with the lives they have now. Thanks to the author’s skillful development of the characters and their complex relationships, there’s never a dull moment as she weaves together the past and present timelines. By the time we get to the answers, we understand deeply both what happened and why, how each character perceived or misunderstood the key events, and how this affected their lives from that point forward.

I’m sure people will compare this lovely novel to Daisy Jones and The Six (a book that I love) — and yes, there are some similarities: A wildly popular band falling apart after only one album together, with plenty of “where are they now?” speculation. But, while the music industry pressures and excesses may feel familiar at times, the stories are quite different. Here, the beating heart of the story is the relationship between Cassie and Zoe, as well as the shifting, new dynamic that occurs once Zoe’s daughter Cherry makes it her mission to reunite the sisters (and the Sisters).

Cassie and Zoe are both flawed but fascinating characters. I’ll admit that it’s very hard to like Zoe, and she behaves terribly in many, many situations, often causing horrible damage. Still, the author is careful to make sure that readers understand Zoe — and while we may hate much of what she does, we also understand the fears and insecurities that drive her actions.

The audiobook, narrated by Dakota Fanning, is a joy to listen to. While on the lengthy side, it’s so well told that I never felt impatient or frustrated. The narration captures the characters’ personalities very well — they feel distinct and recognizable throughout.

I had only two minor quibbles by the end of the book. First, there a moment — very late in the story — where Zoe raises the issue of whether Cassie might be on the neurodivergent spectrum — and honestly, that felt a bit out of the blue. Yes, Cassie has a great deal of difficulty in social and public settings, but I never had a sense that she might be considered neurodivergent. I felt that if that was the case the author wished to make, there needed to be a lot more breadcrumbs throughout the book to support this.

My other quibble has to do with a plot thread left dangling at the conclusion:

Highlight the black area to reveal text — ONLY if you don’t mind a spoiler: Who is Cherry’s father? Zoe admits that she’s not sure — it could be Russell, but it could also be Tommy, the band’s drummer. As the story wraps up, I expected some sort of resolution, or maybe even just a hint that Zoe and Cherry might reach out to Tommy… but the matter just isn’t addressed again.

This issue is not critical to the overall story, which — big picture — is about Zoe and Cassie and whether they can find their way back to one another — but it still annoyed me at the end not to get an answer to this particular question.

Those small issues aside, I truly enjoyed The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits. I loved the band’s backstory, the dynamics between Cassie and Zoe, each of their personal journeys, and even the “now” parts focused on Cherry’s attempts to break out as a musician.

Jennifer Weiner’s books are always a treat, and The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits is no exception. Highly recommended.

Oh… but one last complaint.

I don’t just want to READ about the Griffin Sisters’ songs. I want to hear them!!

Purchase links: Amazon – 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.

19Jun2025

Book Review: Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Never Been Shipped
Author: Alicia Thompson
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: June 10, 2025
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A band reunion may be enough to change two musicians’ tune on love in this electric romance from USA Today bestselling author Alicia Thompson.

Micah’s relationship to music is complicated. As teenagers, her band took off after being featured on a popular TV show, but the group barely released their sophomore album before breaking up. Now, over a decade later, the band is reuniting for one more performance on a themed cruise, and Micah is determined to learn from her past mistakes — no losing herself in the music, and no losing her heart along the way.

John misses playing in a band, and mostly he misses Micah, who’d been his best friend until the music stopped. Back then, he didn’t take the lead, either in his guitar parts or while he sat back and watched her date another bandmate. John’s never been one to rock the boat, but he’s faced with another chance now that this cruise has brought music — and Micah — back in his life.

Onboard, Micah can’t help but see John with brand new eyes, and John’s feelings only intensify as the discordant band’s tension grows to a breaking point. With five days at sea, there’s a ticking clock on anything that might develop between them, and they’ll have to decide if their relationship is destined to be more than a one-hit wonder.

I’m going to keep this review short, simply because I’m not sure I have all that much to say. This story of second-chance love, set on a cruise ship, skims the surface of former teen bandmates and best friends reuniting after more than a decade without contact, reigniting all the unspoken, unacknowledged feelings from all those years ago.

While I really enjoyed this author’s three previous books (ratings of 4 – 4.5 stars), something about this one just never took off for me. Maybe it was the description of the band’s rise to stardom while the the characters were all teens. Maybe it was the awkward interactions between main characters Micah and John. Maybe it was simply feeling that I didn’t actually get these characters in some fundamental way. In any case, the story simply didn’t ring true for me, and I never got more than a surface sense of involvement.

That said, there are some cute set-pieces, including a shuffleboard tournament on board the cruise ship and the fact that the entire cruise is a fan experience for a once-popular teen show about shapeshifters (which felt very much like a Buffy reference in certain ways). But with the core plotline not truly grabbing me, the book simply didn’t rise above a solid 3-star, “it was okay” rating.

I’ll also note that the sex scenes in this book are very up-close and graphic, and there are a lot of them. Definitely not my preference when I read romance, but your mileage may vary. (This bothered me less in the author’s previous books, where I was more caught up in the plot and characters. Here, it was just one more thing to annoy me.)

Will I read more books by this author? Most likely, yes. Her previous books all had quirky, clever setups that engaged me right from the start. So, I’ll think of Never Been Shipped as a one-off letdown, and will still want to at least consider whatever she writes next.

Purchase links: Amazon – 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.

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11Jun2025

Book Review: The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Other Side of Now
Author: Paige Harbison
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: June 3, 2025
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A hilarious and heartfelt novel about how loves and lives are never truly lost, for fans of Rebecca Serle and Taylor Jenkins Reid.

With a leading role on a hit TV show and a relationship with Hollywood’s latest heartthrob, Meg Bryan appears to have everything she ever wanted. But underneath the layers of makeup and hairspray, her happiness is as fake as her stage name, Lana Lord. Following a small breakdown at her thirtieth birthday party, she books an impromptu trip where she knows the grass is greener: Ireland. Specifically, the quaint little village where she and her best friend Aimee always dreamt of moving—a dream that fell apart when an accident claimed Aimee’s life a decade ago.

When Meg arrives, the people in town are so nice, treating her not as a stranger, but a friend. Except for the (extremely hot) bartender giving her the cold shoulder. Meg writes it all off as jetlag until she looks in the mirror. Her hair is no longer bleached within an inch of its life, her skin has a few natural fine lines, and her nose looks like… well, her old nose. Her real nose.

Her phone reveals hundreds of pictures of her life in this little town: with an adorable dog she doesn’t know; with the bartender who might be her (ex?) boyfriend; and at a retail job unrelated to acting. Eventually, she comes to accept that she somehow made a quantum slide into an alternate version of her life. But the most shocking realization of all? In this life, her best friend Aimee is alive and well…but wants nothing to do with Meg.

Despite her bewilderment, Meg is clear-eyed about one thing: this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reconnect with her friend and repair what she broke. She finagles an opportunity to act in the play Aimee is writing and directing and as the project unfolds, Meg realizes that events as she remembers them may not be the only truth, and that an impossible choice looms before her.

What a great surprise! Something about the title and cover of this book caught my eye, and I requested an ARC on a whim, knowing nothing about it. The Other Side of Now turned out to be an engaging, sweet, funny look at friendship and second chances. Sure, there’s some hand-wavey alternate reality business going on, but so long as you’re not looking for concrete explanations, it’s an enjoyable journey into a woman’s incredible chance to fix some of the mistakes she’s made.

Meg Bryan (don’t laugh! She’s had to suffer enough Meg Ryan jokes throughout her life!) is the 30-year-old star (known as Lana Lord) of TV’s smash hit Brilliance (which, frankly, sounds pretty awful). She has stardom, success, and a live-in relationship with the latest Marvel star (and his abs)… and she never has a day where she feels like she can be true to herself. Or eat bread.

At the end of her rope after a miserable birthday party, Meg impetuously books a flight to Ireland, to spend a week in the small town of Avalon — home to the performing arts college she’d once hoped to attend. Way back when, she and her best friend Aimee dreamed of attending Avalon together, but when Aimee didn’t get in, Meg stayed home to attend college in Florida with her. After Aimee’s tragic death a few years later, Meg ran off to LA to forget her past and start over, and never looked back.

But now, arriving in Avalon, Meg suspects something strange is going on. The sweet little rental cottage she’s booked for the week is filled with familiar items, there’s a dog who seems to know her, and when she catches a glimpse of her own reflection, she sees her pre-Hollywood face — pre-cosmetic surgery, pre-hair coloring, pre-severe dieting. It’s who she still thinks of as her true self.

I feel a real sense of fondness for the girl in the mirror. She didn’t deserve to be changed. She didn’t deserve to be whittled into something more palatable for social media. She’s a good person who deserves carbs and sugar and whatever else makes her happy.

Even more disconcerting, when she ventures out to the local pub, a perky woman acts like they’re besties, and the very attractive bartender seems to both care for her and be mad at her. Everyone in the town knows her — but she doesn’t know them.

Eventually, Meg admits to herself that she seems to have landed in an alternate version of her own life, where she did actually attend college in Avalon and then stayed to create a life there. Even more incredible, Aimee is there too, alive and well, married and a mother — but apparently, Meg and Aimee haven’t spoken in years. Something happened, and Megan has no idea what, but she’s desperate to reconnect and try for a second chance with the friend she’s been too devastated to even mourn properly.

The set-up here is quite delicious. Meg remembers her Hollywood life, but when she tries to prove to her Avalon friend Kiera that she’s not who everyone thinks she is, she can’t. Lana Lord doesn’t exist. There’s a show called Brilliance, but someone else is the star. Aimee has lived in Avalon all along, and so has Meg. Meg has a job, a home, and an on-again/off-again love life, and it’s all wonderful… but Meg also knows that she’s somehow been dropped into a life that isn’t really her own. The more attached she becomes to this other version of her reality, the more she wants to stay forever… but she has a sneaking suspicion that it won’t last, and that she’d better make the most of this strange opportunity to be with Aimee once again.

The Other Side of Now has some very funny moments, but it has depth too. Meg seemingly had everything she’d wanted — success and fame — but clearly was terribly unhappy beneath it all. Unresolved and suppressed grief has kept Meg from truly feeling. By landing in this alternate reality, Meg finally has the chance to face her emotions, feel the pain of her loss, and come to terms with how very far she is from feeling happiness or satisfaction in her “real” life.

I enjoyed Meg as a character, and Kiera is a total hoot. Seeing Meg and Aimee work through conflict that neither of them fully understands is quite powerful, and I also loved seeing Meg struggling to figure out life in a town that she’s supposedly lived in for a long time. There are plenty of silly moments, but also quite lovely instances of connection and simple joys.

As I mentioned, this isn’t a sci-fi book, and there’s no firm answer as to the why and how of it all. To enjoy this book, we have to accept the premise and let it flow. I found it really moving, and also very entertaining — and really like Meg’s thoughts on the snippets of memories of a different life that pop up for her unexpectedly:

What if her soul knows? What if all our souls know things? What if that’s what instinct is? What if that really is the explanation for gut feelings, intuition, déjà vu, kismet, and everything else? What if it’s our souls, remembering or knowing the truths of all our other lives?

The Other Side of Now does have romance in it as well, but it’s a subplot that’s more background than foreground. The friendship with Aimee, and the loss and grief from Meg’s real life, are what truly define her experiences and fill the story with depth and emotional impact.

If you’re looking for a fast-moving summer read that’s full of whimsy and friendship, but has a serious side too, definitely consider The Other Side of Now!

Purchase links: Amazon – 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.

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25May2025

Audiobook Review: One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: One Golden Summer
Author: Carley Fortune
Narrators: AJ Bridel
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: May 6, 2025
Print length: 400 pages
Audio length: 11 hours 49 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley (ebook); purchased audiobook
Rating:

A radiant, new escape to the lake from #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune

I never anticipated Charlie Florek.

Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s grandmother says, and it’s true. Alice spent just one summer at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen—it’s where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life.

Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she’s most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she’s been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry’s Bay. But as soon as they settle in, their peace is disrupted by the roar of a familiar yellow boat, and the man driving it.

Charlie Florek was nineteen when Alice took his photo from afar. Now he’s all grown up—a shameless flirt, who manages to make Nan laugh and Alice long to be seventeen again, when life was simpler, when taking pictures was just for fun. Sun-slanted days and warm nights out on the lake with Charlie are a balm for Alice’s soul, but when she looks up and sees his piercing green gaze directly on her, she begins to worry for her heart.

Because Alice sees people—that’s why she is so good at what she does—but she’s never met someone who looks and sees her right back.

Good things happen at the lake.

And in the case of One Golden Summer, beautiful books happen at the lake too.

It’s no surprise that I give this book 5 whole-hearted stars. If you saw my post about can’t-miss summer reads last week, you’ll know that Carley Fortune is an author whose books I encountered for the first time just six months ago. Now, having finished One Golden Summer, I’ve read all four of her novels, and I’ll be waiting on pins and needles for another new book!

In One Golden Summer, we get a sequel, of sorts, to the author’s first novel, Every Summer After, which I absolutely adored. That book was a decades-spanning love story about Percy and Sam, teen loves who spend their adult years apart until a family tragedy brings them back together and they get a second chance to find the happiness they deserve.

Sam’s older brother Charlie is an important secondary character in that book. He’s full of himself, always up for a good time, someone who stirs things up… but who can be counted on when it matters.

In One Golden Summer, main character Alice brings her grandmother Nan to spend the summer at a cabin at Barry’s Bay, and almost immediately encounters Charlie Florek, who’s looking after the cabin for the property owner. Alice quickly realizes that he’s one of the boys she noticed fifteen years earlier while spending the summer at the lake as a teen. As a 35-year-old adult, Charlie is still gorgeous — so stunning that Alice actually says “whoa” the first time she sees him up close. But more than his looks, he’s funny and devilish — yet also kind and thoughtful.

Their tense, combative run-ins quickly morph into friendship, not just between Alice and Charlie, but also between Charlie and Nan. There’s a sweetness to their time together. Alice is determined to embrace the joy and freedom she wasn’t quite brave enough to pursue as a teen, and Charlie is eager to help, teaching her to jet ski, encouraging her to jump from a high rock into the water, applauding when she puts on a slinky dress that’s way outside her comfort zone, and setting up a perfect place for her to sleep under the stars.

There’s a strong attraction between the two, but both are clear that they only want friendship… maybe with some benefits thrown in. But what they say they want and what they actually want end up looking like two very different things.

Without delving too far into plot, I’ll just say that the romance elements are beautifully portrayed, but even more so, it’s the careful building of trust, the deep sense of caring and understanding, and the little joys in daily encounters that make this book sing. There are obstacles, of course, and there’s one of those pesky 3rd act breakups/breakdowns… but there’s a good reason for it, and it feels organic to the story, not something forced into the narrative to create a standard story arc.

One of the delights of Carley Fortune’s books is the evocation of summer. Reading this book made me absolutely ache for a lakeside cabin, boat rides, swimming, and all the joys of a quiet, lazy, summertime escape.

Charlie and Alice are wonderful characters, with depth and edges and complexities, who bring out the best in one another and are also just plain fun. As an added bonus, Sam and Percy show up on and off throughout the story, and it’s lovely to see them again and to see how their lives are turning out.

Once again, the audiobook narrator is AJ Bridel, and she’s amazing at bringing the characters to life, from Alice to Charlie to Nan, and giving them all distinct voices and letting their personalities shine. If you’re an audiobook enthusiast, these audiobooks should not be missed!

My only complaint about One Golden Summer is that I couldn’t stop listening, and finished it in practically record time (or so it felt)! I don’t want to be done with these characters or with the beautiful world of the lake at Barry’s Bay.

If you’re new to Carley Fortune’s books, definitely start with Every Summer After, and just keep in mind that you’ll have a terrific second book about the Florek family to look forward to! You really can’t go wrong with any of this author’s books.

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

18May2025

Book Review: It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: It’s a Love Story
Author: Annabel Monaghan
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: May 27, 2025
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth.

Jane Jackson spent her adolescence as “Poor Janey Jakes,” the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punch line on America’s fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s trying to be taken seriously as a Hollywood studio executive by embracing a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she claimed that she could get mega popstar Jack Quinlan to write a song for the movie. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan as she faces down her past is Jane’s idea of hell, but he just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?

By this point, I’m not at all surprised by the fact that I LOVED Annabel Monaghan’s newest book. I’m four for four! Her romances deliver beachy, summer-filled love stories firmly rooted in real life. There are swoony moments… but also the stresses and secrets and unrealistic expectations that come with being an adult.

In It’s a Love Story, main character Jane is a Hollywood studio executive who hopes that she’s finally found the perfect script, the one that will give her the all-important producer title and prove that she’s got what it takes to make it in the industry. What’s more, it’s not just any script: True Story speaks to Jane in a way she hasn’t experienced before. It makes her feel.

But when she walks into the meeting that will determine whether the film gets greenlit, her hopes are almost instantly dashed. Standing between Jane and success is Dan Finnegan, a cinematographer who’s already sunk a previous movie for Jane, and is now sitting in the studio head’s office proclaiming that Jane’s script isn’t commercial. The studio wants flash and noise, and this is not it. Before True Story gets tossed on the trash pile, Jane panics and blurts out a whopper: She know pop star Jack Quinlan, and what’s more, Jack is interested in writing and singing an original song for the movie. The studio head is immediately interested… but now Jane has to deliver something that she has no idea how to get.

The truth is, Jane knew Jack for only a couple of days, way back when she was fourteen years old. Jane played Janey Jakes, the sidekick/comedic relief on a TV sitcom about a group of kids forming a band. Janey was known for pratfalls and unfortunate mishaps (like sitting on nachos) — she was funny, but definitely not leading lady material. And she knows that Jack’s memories of her — if he remembers her at all — are achingly embarrassing.

Jane is furious at Dan for torpedoing her shot at getting her film made, but it turns out he might be able to provide access to Jack — he’ll be playing at a music festival in Dan’s hometown, and Dan’s brother is working on tech for the show. If Jane goes to Long Island with Dan, they may be able to get to Jack, and maybe, just maybe, she can convince him to do the song after all.

There’s so much more going on than simply chasing down a celebrity: Jane’s fake-it-till-you-make-it approach to life is based on deep hurt and shame stemming back to her teen years. She’s convinced that her real self isn’t actually lovable, and has constructed elaborate steps and rules for dating, covering everything from how to dress per date to how much to laugh and how much to talk about her career.

But being around Dan opens something up in Jane. He’s very real — part of a big, boisterous family that loves him, but he’s never quite fit the mold of the Finnegan brothers, and has always gone his own way in search of his own truth. He sees Jane in a way no one else has, and as they spend time together, Jane starts to unwind some of the tight cords she’s wound around herself to rein in her true personality and be what she thinks the world wants of her.

Jane is a polished professional who hides under her desk to corral her pre-meeting fears and eats candy in her closet when she’s stressed. After the traumas of her teens, she doesn’t trust her own emotions.

My heart is treacherous and historically wrong about everything, it is the weakest muscle in my body, but Dan and his family and our script are conspiring to whisper it back to life like it’s an ember worth restoking.

It’s beautiful to see her transformation. It’s not a love-fixes-everything situation — instead, it’s Jane finding acceptance and seeing different ways of appreciating people and letting them appreciate her. It’s putting on a silly swimsuit and not caring, because no one is mocking her or judging her; instead she gets to enjoy a sunny day and play at the beach. It’s coming to understand what Dan’s mother, celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary, means when she says “love happens over breakfast”. At dinner, there are candles and wine and fancy clothes…

But at breakfast everything’s just as it is, in the light of day. No one wears lipstick to breakfast. And this is where you talk about your day and the part of the roof that might leak this fall. You bring your real self to breakfast.

Jane and Dan end up in a gorgeous romance, but it’s only possible when Jane starts to welcome her real self. She has plenty to unravel and hard truths and secrets from her childhood to confront — and as she does so, she finally has to admit that she might be someone who can be loved after all.

I don’t think I’m actually capturing the magic of It’s a Love Story — so I’ll just say that this book really has it all. The characters are well-developed and feel like real people. They speak and act like adults, and deal with actual, complex histories and families and relationships. The Hollywood career element is fun, but the book doesn’t focus on celebrities — it’s about creativity and joy and finding truth amidst all the bang and flash of an industry focused on blockbusters.

On top of all this, the writing and dialogue and pacing of It’s a Love Story is spot-on. I simply couldn’t put it down, and read it all within a span of 24 hours.

It’s a Love Story is a wonderful, 5-star read. It’s full of heart — and while, yes, there are some romance tropes at play (enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, forced to share a room, grand gesture), they’re so well done that they feel like natural parts of the story. A perfect book to slip into your beach bag this summer. Don’t miss it!

Purchase links: Amazon – 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 more books by Annabel Monaghan? Check out my reviews:
Nora Goes Off Script
Same Time Next Summer.
Summer Romance

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