Book Review: My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: My Vampire Plus-One
Author: Jenna Levine
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: September 17, 2024
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance/fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Nothing sucks more than fake dating a vampire in this paranormal romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of My Roommate Is a Vampire.

Amelia Collins is by definition successful. She would even go so far as to say successfully single. But not according to her family, and she’s tired of the constant questions about her nonexistent dating life. When an invitation to yet another family wedding arrives, she decides to get everyone off her back once and for all by finding someone–anyone–to pose as her date.

After a chance encounter with Reginald Cleaves, Amelia decides he’s perfect for her purposes. He’s a bit strange, but that’s fine; it’ll discourage tough questions from her family. (And it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s very handsome.) For centuries-old vampire Reggie, posing as her plus-one sounds like the ultimate fun. And if it helps his ruse of pretending to be human, so much the better.

As Amelia and Reggie practice their fauxmance, it becomes clear that Reggie is as loyal to her as the day is long, and that Amelia’s first impressions could not have been more wrong. Suddenly, being in a real relationship with Reggie sounds pretty fang-tastic.

My Vampire Plus-One is the follow-up to last year’s My Roommate Is A Vampire — and if anything, it’s even cuter and sillier than the first book.

In My Vampire Plus-One, Amelia is a successful, hardworking accountant, whose large family seems to constantly have weddings — at which Amelia is on the nonstop receiving end of questions about why she’s single. She’d love to ditch the next wedding, but her parents would be so disappointed!

When Amelia has an unexpected, literal run-in with a good-looking but decidedly weird guy (he runs right into her as she’s leaving her office one day), he definitely leaves an impression, and when she sees him again at a coffee shop, they strike up a conversation. Reginald is a guy who is always up for a good practical joke, and he thinks the idea of posing as Amelia’s special someone at family events sounds hilarious. Also, he finds accountants incredibly hot (or maybe just a certain accountant named Amelia…), so that’s added incentive.

Amelia doesn’t know that Reggie (she refuses to call him Reginald) is a vampire, although she does clue in to the fact that he’s odd right from the start — both because of his interesting approach to style and the fact that he has absolutely no internet presence. But when he tells her straight-up that he’s a vampire during a middle-of-the-night phone call, she assumes it’s yet another of his jokes. A running stream of misunderstandings ensues, as he’s sure she knows something that she doesn’t actually know. You can imagine.

The fake dating trope works in romance because it inevitably leads to real dating, real feelings, real attraction… and yes, it all unfolds that way for Amelia and Reggie. Getting snowed in at an isolated cabin helps move things along — and Reggie listens to and seems to appreciate Amelia, accounting expertise and all, in a way no one else ever has.

“You have an exceptional flair for the dramatic for an accountant.”

“I have a completely average flair for the dramatic for an accountant,” I said, feeling a little unhinged. Talking to this man felt like trying to walk in a straight line on a listing ship. “Which is to say, I don’t have one.”

My Vampire Plus-One is utterly goofy, and that’s really its charm. You cannot for a second take this story seriously, and that’s okay. There’s a storyline that runs throughout about a group of disgruntled (and incompetent) vampires who are out to get Reggie due to a centuries-old grudge, leading to him constantly being on the run — but that’s just all part of the fun. This piece of the story ultimately connects back to Amelia’s work, and there’s an amusing showdown — there’s no real sense of threat or danger, and it’s resolved pretty quickly, but it’s entertaining to see how it all shakes out.

“Do you swear?”

“I swear it on the vows I took when I became a CPA.” There were, of course, no vows you had to take when you became a CPA. But he didn’t need to know that.

The only truly discordant note, from my perspective, is one explicit sex scene that’s way more graphic than it needs to be, and that seems out of place in a novel that’s otherwise full of silly banter and cutesy flirtation. Going a little more closed-door with this scene would have fit the overall tone of the book much better.

That aside, My Vampire Plus-One is goofy and funny, and is a great light read for when you’re in the mood for something fluffy. Reggie first appears in My Roommate is a Vampire as the main love interest’s annoying friend, so it’s fun to see him in a central role here… and having an accountant depicted as the ultimate sexy smart girlfriend is a total win.

13Aug2024

Book Review: Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Haunted Ever After
Series: Boneyard Key, #1
Author: Jen DeLuca
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: August 13, 2024
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

It’s love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.

Small Florida coastal towns often find themselves scrambling for the tourism dollars that the Orlando theme parks leave behind. And within the town limits of Boneyard Key, the residents decided long ago to lean into its ghostliness. Nick Royer, owner of the Hallowed Grounds coffee shop, embraces the ghost tourism that keeps the local economy afloat, as well as his spectral roommate. At least he doesn’t have to run air-conditioning.

Cassie Rutherford possibly overreacted to all her friends getting married and having kids by leaving Orlando and buying a flipped historic cottage in Boneyard Key. Though there’s something unusual with her new home (her laptop won’t charge in any outlets, and the poetry magnets on her fridge definitely didn’t read “WRONG” and “MY HOUSE” when she put them up), she’s charmed by the colorful history surrounding her. And she’s catching a certain vibe from the grumpy coffee shop owner whenever he slips her a free slice of banana bread along with her coffee order.

As Nick takes her on a ghost tour, sharing town gossip that tourists don’t get to hear, and they spend nights side-by-side looking into the former owners of her haunted cottage, their connection solidifies into something very real and enticing. But Cassie’s worried she’s in too deep with this whole (haunted) home ownership thing… and Nick’s afraid to get too close in case Cassie gets scared away for good.

“The Most Haunted Small Town in Florida” — Boneyard Key — is the setting of Jen DeLuca’s first book in a new romance series, where the locals and their residents ghosts seem to live in a friendly sort of coexistence.

When Cassie relocates to Boneyard Key from the Orlando area, it’s for purely practical reasons — rents are out of control and her social group is no longer a fun place for a single, childless woman… so maybe buying an affordable home in a new town (with ocean views!) is just what she needs to reinvigorate herself. The renovated little cottage is adorable, although the electricity is a bit wonky. Luckily, there’s a cute coffee shop with reliable wifi nearby. Added bonus: The owner is hot and makes a mean banana bread.

At first, Cassie is skeptical about the town’s claim to fame and assumes the ghost fixation is all for the sake of tourism, but after some weird experiences in her new house, she’s willing to admit there may be more to it than she realized. And as Cassie learns more about the town history and her house’s former occupants, she comes to understand that she may need to find a way to connect with — and make peace with — the ghost she shares a home with.

Meanwhile, after a bumpy start with Nick, the cafe owner, a very nice little romance seems to be brewing (!) … until his behavior becomes concerning when he visits her house. Is he secretly a sexist ass… or is something else going on?

I love a good ghost story, but I’m not sure that Haunted Ever After really delivers one. Most of the ghosts we meet are perfectly nice, and their presence is more or less on the amusing side. There’s one nasty ghost — the rest are all lovely, and even offer dating advice and company for binge-watching trashy reality shows. As for the nasty ghost, it represents a key plot point that is really obvious to the reader, if not to the characters involved, and gets resolved by the end of the book.

Haunted Ever After is lots of fun, and makes an entertaining bit of fluffy summer diversion. I’m a big fan of the author’s Ren Faire series (Well Met plus three more books), so I had high expectations going into this book. Haunted Ever After is cute, but doesn’t quite live up to the richness of the other series — the characters aren’t as engaging, and the premise itself takes a bit more of a “just roll with it” attitude.

Haunted Ever After is cute, and the romance is sweet. As I mentioned, it’s pretty fluffy — but it’s enjoyable fluff, and made for a nice bit of reading over a few days when I needed something on the light side. It’ll be interested to see where the author goes next with Boneyard Key — I’d imagine that future books will focus on some of the side characters we meet in Haunted Ever After — and while they didn’t especially stand out for me, I’m guessing they’ll be much more interesting once they get leading roles of their own.

Overall, Haunted Ever After is a good choice for a late summer read… or save it and read in October, if you’re in the mood for a non-scary haunted house book!

3Aug2024

Book Review: Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Slow Dance
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: July 30, 2024
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction / romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley + purchased hardcover
Rating:

Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.

They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh’s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha—Shiloh would go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.

Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed.

Now Shiloh’s thirty-three, and it’s been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She’s been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she’s back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned.

When she’s invited to an old friend’s wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there—and whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything?

The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.

Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost.

It’s the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.

Slow Dance is a sweet, unusual story of best friends who’ve always loved each other, but who’ve taken years and years to realize it.

“What do you want?” he whispered.

She shook her head. “A time machine.”

“I can’t give you the past,” Cary said. He squeezed her hands. “But we could have a future.”

Shiloh and Cary were inseparable in high school, along with their other best friend Mikey. But Shiloh and Cary’s connection was different. They shared every interest (except Cary’s ROTC commitment, which Shiloh hated), spent every free moment together, and even lived in the same run-down North Omaha neighborhood with less than ideal home lives. Nothing should have been able to tear them apart — but as we learn, they’ve spent most of their adult lives not talking to each other, and eventually, we discover why.

When they meet again at Mikey’s wedding, their lives have changed. Cary is a naval officer, with a career that’s taken him around the world. Shiloh lives in the same house she grew up in, with her two kids and her mother (but not her ex-husband). Their initial meeting is tense for both of them… but when Shiloh finally agrees to a dance with Cary, all the old connections between them bubble back to the surface.

Shiloh felt like she was combing his face and body for changes, like her eyes were hands. Or maybe she wasn’t looking for changes — maybe she was trying to find all the ways that he was the same. All the ways she recognized him. The ways he was still Cary.

Slow Dance is a tale of miscommunication and love and second chances, as well as the blunt reality of becoming an adult and having to deal with the messiness of life. Cary and Shiloh seem to have spent their entire relationship making assumptions and not being honest with themselves or each other about their feelings or wants or expectations. As adults, they finally recognize the barriers they’ve allowed to get in their way — but is it too late to try again?

It’s always a pleasure to read a Rainbow Rowell book. Slow Dance is no exception: The writing is sweet, funny, and page-turningly delightful. Cary and Shiloh are good people with hang-ups and issues and complicated lives. We spend the whole book rooting for them, and it can be frustrating to see the missed opportunities from the past, even while we clearly see all the various ways in which things went wrong.

Shiloh had wanted Cary before she’d even known how to recognize want. Before she had words for it. Before she had some sense of these things and their dimensions.

I had a bit of an issue with Shiloh as a character. I’m not sure that I fully understood her — she’s clever and opinionated, socially adept in some ways yet clearly an introvert when it comes to parties and groups of people. She has a hard time with closeness and intimacy, and seems to never fully have allowed herself to experience adult relationships or romance. I couldn’t quite pin down the explanation for some of her behaviors, both in high school and as an adult. Cary is much steadier — not to say that he’s not interesting, but his conflicts and dilemmas seem clearer and more straightforward.

Slow Dance may be a book that’s better the second time around. I tore through it in one huge reading binge, and at the midpoint, realized I might have been better off slowing down (I mean, the title should have made me realize that this is a journey to be savored, not gulped in one sitting). By the halfway mark, I felt that I finally got what these characters’ arcs were really about, and was able to connect the dots between their pasts and present.

I think I’ll be back for a reread. Now that I know where the story ends up going, I think I’ll better able to appreciate how it starts.

Slow Dance is a lovely, quirky book, and I highly recommend it.

25Jul2024

Book Review: Until Next Summer by Ali Brady

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Until Next Summer
Author: Ali Brady
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: July 9, 2024
Length: 447 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction / romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Two former best friends each find love at an adults-only summer camp in this romantic and nostalgic novel that proves “once a camp person, always a camp person.”

Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director.

When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.

The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?

There are two kinds of people in the world: Camp people… and everyone else.

Guess which kind I am? Hint: I still know how to weave lanyards, make sand candles, and play capture the flag, and think singing around a bonfire while eating toasted marshmallows is just about heaven on earth.

So… if you enjoy stories about childhood friends reuniting, taking on a mission, finding love, and engaging in all sorts of silliness, Until Next Summer might be a great read for you — and if you think sleeping in bunkbeds in old wooden cabins, going to free swim in a lake, and doing three-legged races are key components of perfect summers, then reading Until Next Summer is a must!

In this sweet novel, Jessie and Hillary are former BFFCs (Best Friends From Camp — and yes, I just made that up). Year after year, from eight-years-old onward, they spent two glorious month together each summer at their beloved Camp Chickawah, and planned to keep coming back as counselors too. But after Hillary abruptly backed out of their counselor summer to pursue an internship instead, the friendship was over. Ten years later, the hurt feelings remain.

Jessie has never left Camp Chickawah behind. In fact, she loved camp so much that she stayed, joining the year-round staff and eventually working her way up to Camp Director following the camp owners’ retirement. Jessie gets a terrible shock when the children of the former owners inform her that next summer will be the end: After their parents’ death, they have no interest in continuing to run the camp, and instead have decided to sell off the property to developers.

Jessie is devastated, and comes up with a plan for one final summer: In an attempt to show the owners’ heirs how much the camp means to its community and hopefully persuade them to keep it going, Jessie invites camp alumni of all ages to come enjoy a summer dedicated to adult camp. And — perhaps surprisingly — the response is huge: Every session of the summer fills up, and the adult campers cannot wait to come.

Joining the staff for the final summer is Jessie’s old friend Hillary. On the verge of accepting yet another high-octane corporate job, and possibly marrying her attorney boyfriend (who comes complete with her dad’s stamp of approval), Hillary decides instead that a return to her true happy spot might be just what she needs… and maybe she and Jessie can even make amends, after all these year.

Until Next Summer is a joyful celebration of friendship and, especially, of the unique, special, lifelong friendships that are the essence of the summer camp experience. Reading about adults returning to relive their happiest moments and recreate the camp vibe is a total hoot — nostalgic and silly and totally entertaining.

… [B]ut that’s how time works at camp: a day feels like a week, a week feels like a month.

Seeing camp through Jessie and Hillary’s eyes, it’s easy to remember how a summer at camp becomes the center of everything: Summer seems like it expands to fill your entire life, and the rest of the year is just filler until you can get back to the real thing.

I loved how perfectly the authors capture Jessie and Hillary’s connection. Sure, the end of their friendship seems way too harsh and sudden (if they’d had a single conversation, things might have gone differently) — but once they do reconnect, we readers really feel how deep the camp bond goes.

“People always talk about soulmates as being romantic,” I say, leaning my head against her shoulder. “But is it weird that you’re the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to that?”

“Not weird at all,” she says, and rests her head on mine.

Speaking of romance… I was less captivated by the romantic elements of the novel. Jessie and Hillary both get love stories, and they’re fine. I was less convinced by Jessie’s romance — her love interest transformed from grumpy to sunshine in the blink of an eye, and I didn’t truly feel their chemistry. Hillary’s love story was a bit more fun, and the I got a huge kick out of the pair sneaking off into the woods for make-out sessions. Now that’s summer camp!

The fundraising and save-the-camp campaign are perhaps too good to be true — I don’t think events would have gone so well in a real-life situation. Still, in the context of the novel, it’s a fun bit of wish fulfillment, and we’re really never left in any doubt that the good guys will come out on top.

Overall, Until Next Summer is an upbeat, sweet, engaging read. I loved the focus on friendship and the lasting impact of summer camp; the romances made less of an impression, but still provide some great moments.

Even if you’re not actually a camp person, Until Next Summer may make you feel like you could have been. This book is a terrific choice for summer reading… preferably on a beach blanket on the shores of a gorgeous lake.

About the authors: Ali Brady is the pen name of writing BFFs Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey. This is their third book together, and I’m looking forward to exploring their other two!

11Jul2024

Book Review: The Partner Plot (The Greene Sisters, #2) by Kristina Forest

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Partner Plot
Series: The Greene Sisters, #2
Author: Kristina Forest
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: February 27, 2024
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

Two former high school sweethearts get a second chance in this marriage of convenience romance by Kristina Forest, author of The Neighbor Favor.

To Violet Greene, fashion is everything. As a successful celebrity stylist, she travels all over the world, living out her dreams. Professionally, she’s thriving, but her personal life is in shambles. After surviving a very public breakup with her ex-fiancé six months ago, Violet is now determined to focus on her career. But life hands her something—or rather, someone—that might derail everything…

Xavier Wright did not expect to run into his high school girlfriend Violet—the girl he once thought he’d marry—on a birthday trip to Vegas. As a high school teacher and basketball coach, he rarely leaves his New Jersey hometown, so what were the chances? But when the initial shock wears off, they decide to celebrate together. They feel young and reckless as they party the night away—and reckless they clearly were when the following morning, they wake up beside each other with rings on their fingers.

Their impulsive nuptials might be a blessing in disguise, though, when they realize that both of their careers could benefit from the marriage. So they play the part of a blissfully wedded couple. Yet when their passion comes hurling back, they realize their feelings are just as real as they were back when they were teens. But are their lives too different to stick it through or will they finally get a happy ending?

The Partner Plot is the 2nd book in author Kristina Forest’s Greene Sisters trilogy, which began with the 2023 novel The Neighbor Favor. The first book focuses on Lily, the youngest of three sisters (all with flower names), a booklover who falls for the author of her favorite fantasy series, not realizing that he’s also the attractive man who lives down the hall from her.

In Lily’s story, we meet middle sister Violet, a fashion stylist who moves in a high-octane world of celebrities and nonstop parties. Here in The Partner Plot, Violet takes center stage.

When we last saw Violet, her wedding had imploded rather spectacularly after her fiancé cheated on her with one of her clients just a few short weeks before the big day. Now single again, Violet doubts she’ll ever trust enough to invest in a new relationship, and has to deal with seeing her ex and her ex-client constantly making the tabloids. It’s embarrassing, to say the least.

While away with her best friend (and biggest client) in Las Vegas, she runs into Xavier Wright, her first love, who broke Violet’s heart at age 19. Neither has truly recovered from their breakup, even though it’s been 10 years. After a night of drinking and dancing, Violet and Xavier wake up in bed together with rings on their fingers… and after a few moments of panic, find a receipt from a chapel that specializes in fake weddings. It was a great night, but they’re relieved that they didn’t do anything truly stupid, and prepare to go their separate ways again.

Except… as Violet is being interviewed for a fashion magazine profile that could catapult her career to the next level, she’s asked about her ex-fiancé yet again… and desperate to redirect, she mentions that she’s over him completely — in fact she just married her high school sweetheart, who now teaches and coaches basketball at the high school where they met. Meanwhile, Xavier is applying for what he thinks could be his dream job, an assistant coach position at a nearby college, but the (jerkish) head coach doesn’t think a single guy would be as reliable as he needs. Fortunately, Xavier just got married to his high school sweetheart…

Cue the fake marriage trope! In this case, Xavier and Violet end up thrust back into each others’ lives (because reasons), start spending serious amounts of time together, and realize that the sparks — and the love — never truly went away. But their lifestyles are so different — is there any way they could make a real relationship work?

The Partner Plot has cute moments and likable characters, but the plot itself is a tad rote. We know exactly where it’s going, and even the predictable last-minute crisis that threatens to derail the relationship isn’t really much of a crisis after all. Violet and Xavier will of course end up together, will of course achieve the career success they’re looking for, and will of course find a way to have it all. Sure, there are bumps along the way, but the outcome is never in doubt.

I enjoyed The Partner Plot, and it’s fun to see the Greene family back in action, but overall, it felt like it was missing something, especially in comparison to The Neighbor Favor, which focused on two very bookish main characters: We see them in bookstores, discussing books, sharing books, absolutely fangirling/fanboying out over their favorite authors and series… and that made The Neighbor Favor delightful, even when the romance tropes of the novel started to feel a bit by the numbers. Without that fun piece to pull me in, The Partner Plot was just… fine. The worlds of fashion and celebrity gossip really don’t interest me, so while I liked Violet, her career path and its challenges just didn’t hold much appeal.

And then there’s the central issue of the fake marriage. Violet and Xavier are both initially motivated to keep the fake marriage going because it’s good for their careers — and this just feels preposterous. Violet could surely have found another way to redirect the interview back to her achievements and away from gossip (this is supposed to be a prestigious magazine, after all, not a gossip rag). For Xavier, the coach who doesn’t want to hire a “bachelor” because he won’t be as committed to the job as a married man is clearly an awful person, and he should have run screaming in the other direction after one phone call. The idea that claiming to be married is beneficial to their careers feels like an unhelpful throwback to the 1950s (okay, maybe 1980s or 1990s) — such an awkward reason to get this plot point off the ground.

Still, The Partner Plot is a quick read, and some scenes and situations are quite clever, with humor and emotion mixed in. The challenge of seeing whether the teen love of your life can translate into an actual relationship partner as an adult is portrayed sensitively, and I appreciate how this series emphasizes the importance of family and community.

Next up in the series: The Love Lyric, focusing on oldest sister Iris. I really like her as a character… so yes, I’ll be looking for this one when it’s released in 2025~

3Jul2024

Book Review: Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Finding Mr. Write
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: June 25, 2024
Print length: 368 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Purchased

A fun romantic comedy about a woman writing under a male pseudonym and the man she hires to play the role in public.

Daphne McFadden is tired of rejection. After submitting her manuscript to dozens of agents, she’s gotten rejection after rejection, and now it’s time for something drastic. And so, Daphne submits her manuscript again… under a man’s name.

Imagine her surprise when it sells for big money at an auction and soon becomes a publicity darling. Only she needs a man to play her super macho alter ego Zane Remington. Enter Chris Stanton, who absolutely looks the part of a survivalist and has a talent for pressing her piss‑me‑off‑I‑dare‑you buttons while somehow being endearing at the same time. But Chris has a few secrets of his own, including the fact that he’s really an accountant who has no idea how to chop wood or paddle a canoe. When Daphne’s book becomes a bestselling sensation and they’re forced to go on tour together, Daphne finds herself wondering if this city‑boy geek is exactly what she needs to push her to claim her dreams.

Author Kelley Armstrong writes books I’ve recently become practically obsessed with, including two amazing timeslip series: A Stitch in Time (romantic timeslip with supernatural elements) and A Rip Through Time (timeslip focused on Victorian police procedurals — with a smidge of romance too). Finding Mr. Write is quite a departure — this is the author’s first rom-com… but have no fear! In the hands of this talented author, it’s fun and sassy and just a wee bit outside the norm for the genre.

In Finding Mr. Write, Daphne is a trained architect with the heart of a novelist. She’s been writing stories all her life, but is beyond frustrated. Her novel gets rejection after rejection, leading her to declare to her best friend, in one of the more memorable opening lines of the year:

After reading about a woman author who got five times the response when she submitted her manuscript with a man’s name, Daphne tweaks her book synopsis (“more survivalism, more zombies, less romance”), sticks on a fake man’s name (Zane Remington… hilarious), and sends it off. Lo and behold, she (Zane) gets a book deal, and a big one at that.

The problem is, the publisher wants an author bio and photo. Daphne enlists her best friend Nia (conveniently, a lawyer) to help her find an actor to play Zane, and to ensure that the legal documents are on the up-and-up in terms of her pseudonym. Nia finds a seemingly perfect guy for the role of the swaggering, outdoorsy author — Chris is gorgeous, hard-bodied, and has plenty of game and attitude.

He’s also a fake. Yes, he did a bit of acting way back when, but he’s actually an accountant who’s a client of Nia’s, and nothing warms his heart more than a well-structured spreadsheet. He sprouted from nerdy mathlete to hottie over the years thanks to determination and gym hours, but in his heart of hearts, he’s no more a Zane than Daphne herself is.

All goes well, until Daphne’s book is released (complete with sexy Zane photo on the back cover). When it becomes an instant bestseller, the publisher insists on TV interviews and a full tour schedule, not something Daphne and Chris planned for. A camera crew is scheduled to profile Zane at his Yukon home (i.e., Daphne’s Yukon home), and the unlikely duo have to do a crash-course on learning about each other… and teaching Chris some basics like paddling a canoe, splitting firewood (just don’t!), and what to do when confronted by a grizzly.

Daphne and Chris start with playful banter via text and email. At first, he fully embraces the Zane persona (no, he hasn’t read her book and no, he doesn’t actually read books), but bit by bit, he lets the real Chris come out (who does, in fact, read — and loved her book). They develop a lovely chemistry, but Chris is clear that a fling isn’t what he’s looking for, and Daphne is wary of relationships. Not to mention, he lives and works in Vancouver and she’s loving her solitary life in the Yukon — any sort of lasting connection seems highly unlikely.

Without going much further into the plot, it’s clear that there are two central conflicts looming: First, can Daphne and Chris work through their differences and allow themselves to explore their feelings and mutual attraction? And second, what will happen when, inevitably, the truth about Zane/Chris/Daphne and the authorship of Daphne’s book gets exposed?

Both elements are handled extraordinarily well. We get plenty of goofy scenes of Chris learning to get along in Daphne’s world, and get to see both of them learn that their first impressions and surface-level expectations aren’t the true picture of who they each are underneath. Their time together is flirty, sexy, steamy (some explicit scenes await), and sensitive.

The publishing drama feels realistic, although I had a bit of a hard time buying into the initial setup. Daphne’s book is about a teen girl surviving in the wilderness after a zombie apocalypse. She knows in her heart that it’s YA, and she thinks lovingly of all the YA books she read growing up that inspired her to become a writer. Yet with Zane’s name on the cover, it’s branded as a survival/zombie/action story and placed on the general fiction shelves — but no one seems to question too deeply how this “man’s man” author managed to create such a compelling teen girl protagonist. I’d think someone would have twigged to this anomaly along the way.

In any case, Daphne and Chris have woven a complicated web that starts to unravel once fans start trying to track down Zane’s true identity, and then the race is on: Can Daphne reveal the truth before she’s outed, and how can she step forward without destroying her own reputation and losing all credibility?

One thing I really loved is that the point of view bounces back and forth throughout, with “Chris” and “Daphne” sections alternating frequently, even within the same chapter. When Chris jumps in to try to fix things for Daphne, we understand why he does what he does, and pretty much immediately also get Daphne’s take, letting us know just how badly he’s misinterpreted what she needs. It’s fun and smart — and very clear that despite her public shyness, Daphne is capable of making her own decisions and speaking up when it’s right for her, without needing to be pushed or rescued.

Finding Mr. Write is a total treat. The writing is spirited and clever, the romance zings, but there’s real content here too about women’s treatment in the publishing industry and beyond. Daphne and Chris are both great characters, and I loved seeing how they challenge and complement one another.

Also, kudos to Finding Mr. Write for a totally awesome use of a PowerPoint presentation — something I never expected to mention in a review of a rom-com!

PS – Can someone please explain to me what’s going on with the name Daphne? This is the 3rd book I’ve read within the space of a month — no exaggeration!! — with a Daphne as the lead character. Is Daphne the new Jennifer/Brittany/Emily/insert-whichever-decade’s-hottest-name-here?

26Jun2024

Book Review: The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Art of Catching Feelings
Author: Alicia Thompson
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: June 18, 2024
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for.

Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.

Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.

Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?

Let me get this out of the way to start with: I am not a baseball fan. I’ve watched my share of games, but I don’t seek them out, and if pushed, would probably agree with Daphne’s opinion (America’s Snoozefest). So I certainly started this baseball-themed romance with, oh, just a smidge of hesitation… but I needn’t have worried. Alicia Thompson hits it out of the park with The Art of Catching Feelings! (Sorry, I’ll try to avoid indulging in baseball puns from here on out…)

You’re the book I want to reread. For the rest of my life.

Have more romantic words ever been spoken?

In The Art of Catching Feelings, newly divorced Daphne — who couldn’t care less about baseball — attends a home team game courtesy of her brother, who works for the team. And because the seats are so good, when Daphne (very drunk) decides to get into the spirit of things by heckling a player, her words hit her target very directly. Not only does the heckled player not laugh it off, he seems to be injured by her words to the point of tears. The moment goes viral, of course, and while he is subjected to an awful lot of public criticism (mainly by trolls), she’s also considered a villain. Who does that to a player on their own home team?

Once Daphne sobers up, she’s horrified by what she’s done, and impulsively DMs the player, Chris Kepler. Chris is usually a great hitter and rock solid at third base, but he’s not having a great season. Daphne works on her apology draft, but somehow in copying and pasting it into the DM, the piece where she identifies herself as the heckler gets deleted. What Chris actually receives is a very nice message from a person known as Duckie, who’s sorry for what he experienced and offers care and concern. He responds back, and soon, the two are exchanging messages that grown deeper and more personal.

Unfortunately for Daphne, her professional life is about to intersect with Chris’s, as she’s asked to step in as a sideline reporter to temporarily replace her sister-in-law who has to take an earlier-than-expected pregnancy leave. At first, having Chris’s heckler step in as a reporter seems like a publicity gimmick, but she’s actually good at this, and soon she and Chris develop a tentative friendship… all the while, continuing her DM relationship with him under her online ID.

The closer she and Chris get in real life, the deeper the hole she’s dug for herself becomes. She knows she needs to be honest with Chris, but can’t see any way to do so without losing him forever. And as their feelings deepen beyond friendship, she really can’t stand the idea of losing him.

The Art of Catching Feelings conveys this dilemma with sensitivity and emotion, while also showing the chemistry and connection between Daphne and Chris. It’s clear from the start that she needs to come clean and set the record straight — but we spend enough time in her head to understand all of her fears and what’s at stake. We may not approve of her decision-making, but we can at least sympathize.

Chris is a lovely character, laser-focused on baseball but dealing with a terribly painful loss that he’s kept hidden from his team until now. He thinks if he pushes past it, he’ll make it through the season, but he’s fraying at the edges and his emotions are raw. Getting to know Duckie is a huge step forward for him in terms of opening up, but the hurt he feels when she ends their connection sets him back quite a ways… until he starts getting closer to Daphne. Confusing, right? He doesn’t know that he’s ended up falling twice for the same person.

This book is such a joy to read, even when things are difficult. The connection between Daphne and Chris is apparent right from their start, and their communication is full of both silly banter and meaningful sharing. Of course we readers know that Daphne is making a huge mistake by not owning up to her true identity, but as she wonders each time she thinks about their situation, if she’d done things differently, would they have ended up connecting the way they did?

Chris’s loss is handled sensitively, as is Daphne’s divorce and the pain associated with her unsuccessful marriage. The author provides content warnings at the start of the book, so the information is easily available for those who prefer to know in advance.

In terms of Chris and Daphne’s chemistry, the sex scenes in The Art of Catching Feelings are explicit (open door). There’s nothing left to the imagination. Personally, I’m tend to prefer these scenes more on the implied side — door slightly ajar or a nice gauzy curtain in between in the action and the reader — but given how much I liked these two characters, it didn’t end up bothering me.

Sure, a couple of elements feel less than completely believable — especially Daphne getting drafted for the reporter role based on her family connection and the fact that she’d been a communications major in college. She ends up growing into it, but it’s a very silly plot contrivance that we just have to accept and roll with.

On the plus side, I love how much of a reader Daphne is, and over the course of their relationship, she and Chris discuss some of their more foundational books, including The Phantom Tollbooth, Catch-22, and Mandy (the lovely children’s book by Julie Andrews). Maybe that’s a piece of why I liked the characters so much — their book talk absolutely made my heart sing.

I’ll be honest — if I’d come across a book with this cover by an author I didn’t know, I’d probably skip right by it. However, I read and loved Alicia Thompson’s two previous novels (Love in the Time of Serial Killers and With Love, from Cold World), so I knew I’d be in for a treat… despite the focus on baseball.

The Art of Catching Feelings is engaging, emotional, and funny, and its main characters are two good-hearted people stumbling their way toward one another. This is a feel-good, absorbing read — a perfect choice for when you want to curl up and get lost in a good book.

22Jun2024

Book Review: Funny Story by Emily Henry

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Funny Story
Author: Emily Henry
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: April 23, 2024
Print length: 387 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

I’m going to keep this review short (which can be hard for me!): Funny Story is entertaining, heart-warming, funny, and relatable — in other words, a great summer read, and highly recommended.

Daphne and Miles have exactly one thing in common as the story opens: Daphne’s fiance and Miles’s girlfriend, life-long best friends, have realized they’re actually in love in the lead-up to Daphne and Peter’s wedding. Suddenly dumped, Daphne not only loses Peter, but also her home (which is actually his) and her local friends (which are also actually his). With no place else to go, she moves into Miles’s spare room, and two partake in lots of wallowing and pity parties, alone but at least under the same roof.

Daphne had uprooted her whole life for Peter, moving to his small town and into his social circle — and newly single, she faces the harsh fact that she hasn’t built a life for herself apart from him. Yes, she loves her job as a children’s librarian, but she really has nothing else. With a major fundraiser coming later in the summer that she’s responsible for, she can’t leave Waning Bay just yet… but with every chapter in the book, we get a countdown of just how long is left before she can get away.

And yet… Miles (who we first meet as a big, stoned, crying mess) is a sweet guy with a heart of gold who has the rare skill of making everyone he meets feel special. He knows just about everyone in Waning Bay, and the people he doesn’t know are just one conversation away from being his devoted friends too. Miles and Daphne first start hanging out from a sense of mutual sadness and loneliness, but they soon find that they connect as more than just the people who got dumped together. A sweet friendship grows, and each is able to offer the other a shoulder to cry on, a distraction, a companion, and eventually, a deeper connection of support, caring, and affection.

Without going into a ton of detail, I’ll just say that I loved seeing Miles and Daphne’s relationship develop, and one of the really delightful aspects is noticing, without being hit over the head with it, how Petra and Peter kind of fade out of the storyline as they become less and less important to Miles and Daphne.

Beyond the growing friendship/chemistry/attraction between Miles and Daphne, Daphne’s efforts to find more for herself in Waning Bay are also integral to the story. I love that a book about romance gives plenty of space to women’s friendships. Daphne has to force herself to connect and interact, but once she does, she finds a true friend. Sure, there are complications and ups-and-downs, but it’s so important for Daphne’s sense of purpose that she learns how to be present for someone else, and how to open her heart to a whole community of people.

OK, I said I’d keep it brief, so let me wrap up by saying that Funny Story is signature Emily Henry, meaning that the smart, sensitive plot has just enough silliness and humor to keep it bubbling along, without losing sight of the characters’ inner lives and their emotional growth. The love story is delicious, but so is the story of a woman finding herself a place to belong.

As with previous Emily Henry books, I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan, who is just as fabulous as she always is. The narration and the character voices are all spot on, and listening to this book is a total treat.

Print or audio, Funny Story is sweet, emotional, and oodles of fun. Don’t miss it.

21Jun2024

Book Review: One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: One-Star Romance
Author: Laura Hankin
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: June 18, 2024
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A struggling writer is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating in this fresh romantic comedy from Laura Hankin.

Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man.

Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel, which has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it.

When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match.

After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.

With a title like One-Star Romance, the review practically writes itself. Here goes:

One-Star Romance is strictly a three-star reading experience.

While One-Star Romance has some fun, engaging elements, there are far too many points in this book that left me shaking my head, and it doesn’t help that the only reason we know that the main characters have chemistry is that we’re told that they do.

Okay, let’s dive in. Natalie and Gabby have been best friends since their freshman year of college. Even after college, they share a teeny little apartment and love each other more than anything… except Gabby’s boyfriend Angus is around a LOT and annoys the heck out of Natalie. And when Angus and Gabby get engaged, Natalie has to face the harsh fact that she’ll never be Gabby’s #1 again.

Fast-forward a year and a half to Gabby and Angus’s wedding. Natalie is maid of honor, and is doing an amazing job at it, even though she still feels that Angus isn’t good enough for her best friend and that this entire marriage is happening too quickly. On the bright side, Natalie’s first novel has just been published, and she’s feeling pretty good about the positive reviews on Goodreads — until her great rating score suddenly dips thanks to a one-star review. Natalie is absolutely spun out over this, and ultimately figures out that the one-star review was posted by Angus’s best friend/best man Rob, a Ph.D. candidate who comes off as a bit uptight and judgmental (although, as expected, he’s hot). Any potential sizzle between Natalie and Rob is immediately dowsed by the blow-up that ensues.

As the book progresses, we follow milestones in Gabby and Angus’s lives — from wedding to new job celebration to christening to housewarming — each event requiring now-sworn-enemies Natalie and Rob to once again be in close proximity for the sake of their friends. And at each event, they learn more about each other and start to break down walls, only for new offenses to crop up again.

On the one hand, One-Star Romance is fine — the structure of the book is built around the different milestone events, and the chapters for each move quickly and keep the momentum high. The book has a slightly higher page count than we typically see in a contemporary romance, but it’s fast-paced enough that it doesn’t bog down at all. As a whole, the story is entertaining and engaging.

Yet on the other hand… there is just so much in this book that felt false to me, as well as places where Natalie is insufferable, and the lead characters simply lack any sort of tangible spark.

Natalie blames her first novel’s lack of success on that one-star review, and honestly, one one-star review is not going to tank an otherwise great book! The fact that she constantly checks the Goodreads page for updates and obsesses over who this particular user might have been who gave her the one-star review… well, as is discussed again and again and again in the book blogosphere and beyond, this is very bad author behavior! Don’t read the reviews! And if you must, don’t focus on the individual reviewers! We’ve all heard too many stories about authors destroying their own reputations by coming after people who’ve written negative reviews. It’s impossible to feel any sympathy for Natalie here, and that’s even more true after we learn why Rob did what he did. Sorry, Natalie — Rob has a point, besides which, he’s entitled to leave whatever review he wants.

Natalie really doesn’t improve in terms of likability as the book progresses. She’s unrealistic and selfish when it comes to Gabby, always resenting that Gabby has a husband and later a child to get in the way of their friendship. It’s really off-putting.

It felt like eons since Natalie and Gabby had been able to have an uninterrupted conversation, since they’d truly been able to pay attention to each other.

That, in case you’re wondering, is Natalie whining to herself about Gabby being distracted — while Gabby is trying to get her newborn baby to latch on and breastfeed. How dare Gabby not pay more attention to Natalie!

The author doesn’t seem to have a positive view of stable relationships, either. At one point in the book, Rob is in a committed, loving relationship that’s working for him and his partner, and yet here’s how it’s described:

It was all too easy when he and Zuri were together to sink into quiet contentment, sitting side by side as they did their research or a crossword. Arms linked, the two of them had fast-forwarded straight into a comfortable middle age, despite only being thirty.

All of this doesn’t even scratch the surface of how many ridiculous set pieces there are — most egregious of which is Gabby and Angus’s wedding. (Note: I’m about to spoil a scene from the book, so look away if you don’t want to know!) For… reasons… Angus decides to zipline to the altar, and (of course) the zipline gets jammed and he falls off (because of course he’s not wearing a harness) into an algae-filled pond. The groomsmen rush in to retrieve him, so he and they are all soaked and algae covered as Gabby starts down the aisle. Natalie expects Gabby to freak out and maybe make a run for it (which Natalie would totally approve of) — but instead, Gabby sees her dripping, slimy groom… and jumps in the lake herself. Just… no. What bride on earth would do this? It isn’t cute, it isn’t funny, and it just doesn’t work.

Later in the book, One-Star Romance seems about to turn into the movie Beaches (if you’ve seen it, you know what I mean). Fortunately, there’s still a happy ending, but this section of the plot feels manipulative, not touching.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, there’s just no chemistry between Natalie and Rob, except that this is an enemies-to-lovers story, so of course they have to secretly be in love with one another despite seeming like they hate each other. I didn’t buy it. Other than some physical attraction, there’s nothing between them, and they never become more believable as a couple. In real life, maybe they would have flirted a bit at the wedding before their big fight, and never would have given each other another thought — and when forced together by Gabby and Angus’s events, would have kept miles of distance between them. The core concept of the novel may sound cute, but it just doesn’t work.

Okay, it clearly sounds like I didn’t like this book very much. I didn’t hate it… but I didn’t love it. I got a decent amount of entertainment while reading One-Star Romance, and I was never bored. It’s not a bad way to pass the time, but three-stars is as high as I’ll go… and even that feels a tad generous.

16Jun2024

Book Review: Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Summer Romance
Author: Annabel Monaghan
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: June 4, 2024
Length: 321 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Benefits of a summer romance: it’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.

There aren’t enough labeled glass containers to contain the mess that is Ali Morris’s life. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember. She’s a professional organizer whose pantry is a disgrace.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her in the same way he claimed his favorite of her three children: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little Summer Romance. Is there?

Summer Romance delivers on the promise of its title, but with so much more. And it’s really no surprise — this 3rd book** by author Annabel Monaghan is just as delightful as the previous two, Nora Goes Off Script and Same Time Next Summer.

**3rd adult novel — she has earlier YA and non-fiction books, according to her Goodreads profile.

In Summer Romance, the main character is Ali, whose life is incredibly messy despite her professional role as a home organizer. It’s been two years since her mother’s death and one year since her husband Pete decided he wanted out. Ali’s pantry is overflowing with unneeded items (who needs four boxes of corn starch?), her sweatpants have seen much better days, and her counters have piles of paper everywhere. Just keeping her three children going takes all her effort — and yes, she’s a terrific mom, but her emotions are a mess and she’s just so, so worn out.

When Ali’s best friend Frannie pushes her to make a change and at least put on a pair of “hard pants” (i.e., any that don’t feature an elastic waist), Ali thinks Frannie’s probably expecting too much, but a trip to the dog park leads her to a very attractive man with a cute dog and a sense of humor. He’s new to their small town — Ali would definitely know if he were a local — and he seems to like what he sees when he looks at Ali. For the first time in years, Ali feels a bit of joy. Maybe a summer romance with a visitor to town will snap her out of her funk.

Of course, the mystery man — Ethan — has more to him than meets the eye, but Ali is drawn to him, and their chemistry is terrific. Plus, he’s kind and considerate and funny, not to mention hot, and with very specifically appealing features, such as his “shouldery shoulders” and:

His hands are the hands of a man who works construction all day and then races home to perform a piano concerto.

As they spend time together, Ali starts to get a new sense of energy for the rest of her life too, and starts to realize that the line from her high school graduation speech (which gets quoted back to her at a key moment) about being “the architect of your own experience” might be more relevant to her today than it was all those years ago.

Without going too far into the plot, I’ll just talk about some of the elements you might not get based just on the synopsis. The central theme in Summer Romance is not just the love story, but Ali rediscovering herself and finding a way to live through and past her grief. Her mother was her touchstone, the one constant in her life, the person who was there for her even when her marriage wasn’t going great and she started feeling like she’d lost her way. When we first meet Ali, she talks to her mother in her car whenever she’s alone, and hears her mother’s responses — not in a “oh my god, she’s hallucinating” sort of way, but more like she’s soothing herself by imagining how her mother might talk her through any of her fresh challenges.

And it’s in this moment that I understand my mother’s love for me. I can still feel the intensity of that love and the way she walked into my home, bright as the sun, and blinded me to all the shadows.

The depiction of Ali’s life as a single mother feels realistic. She loves her kids and is wonderful with them, but she’s also tired. Her ex can’t be counted on — he’s the type of clueless ex-husband who still just walks into the house when he arrives, and changes plans on a dime when he’s supposed to have the kids because something else has come up. Ali is the anchor, the one who can be counted on, and it’s clearly exhausting to have to be the one responsible person in all of their lives.

I really appreciated how well the author shows Ali’s return to hope and joy over the course of the summer. It’s not just about having a new man in her life — it’s about recognizing her own worth, finding purpose, and recommitting to all the messiness that emotional involvement can bring, even knowing that sometimes there will be loss down the road, but getting involved anyway.

As with her previous books, the author excels at writing clever or funny lines that capture something true beneath the wittiness:

When I stopped working, I started making the coffee to suit Pete. He liked me to add cinnamon to the grounds, which I think completely ruins the taste of the coffee, but I made it that way because he was the one going to work. It seemed like his coffee moment mattered more than mine.

One of Ali’s big epiphanies over the course of her summer romance is that love and beauty and joy need to be embraced, even if there’s sorrow inevitably coming later. Whether it’s befriending the old woman next door despite knowing her time is limited, or getting a dog who in the natural course of things she’ll eventually see die, Ali learns that her life is richer when she accepts the joy in the moment — even if, like a summer romance, it has a predetermined end date.

Summer Romance is a wonderful read — the romantic elements are absolutely great, but the family dynamics, the memories of Ali’s mother and how Ali processes her grief, the appreciation of the connections of life in a small town, the depiction of how sexy kindness can be — all of these really make this book something special. Don’t miss it.

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