Audiobook Review: Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Funny You Should Ask
Author: Elissa Sussman
Narrator: Kristen Sieh
Publisher: Dell
Publication date: April 12, 2022
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 7 hours 52 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

Then. Twentysomething writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing book deals, she’s in the trenches writing puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker. The Gabe Parker–her forever celebrity crush, the object of her fantasies, the background photo on her phone–who’s also just been cast as the new James Bond. It’s terrifying and thrilling all at once… yet if she can keep her cool and nail the piece, it could be a huge win. Gabe will get good press, and her career will skyrocket. But what comes next proves to be life-changing in ways Chani never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing.

Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a heavy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles, laser-focused on one thing: her work. But she’s still spent the better part of the last decade getting asked about her deeply personal Gabe Parker profile at every turn. No matter what new essay collection or viral editorial she’s promoting, it always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together, years ago. But the truth is that those seventy-two hours are still crystal clear, etched in her memory. And so… she says yes.

Chani knows that facing Gabe again also means facing feelings she’s tried so hard to push away. Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob–and, ten years later, it’s clear that their time together meant more than meets the eye in this sexy, engrossing adult debut novel.

I’ve never considered myself a fan of the celebrity romance trope… but here I am, absolutely devouring my second book by Elissa Sussman, and I gotta say — it’s working for me.

In Funny You Should Ask, author Chani Horowitz gets her big break at age 26 when she’s assigned an interview with movie star Gabe Parker. He’s just been named the next James Bond, kicking off a media frenzy of negativity, and his publicists are hoping that a positive profile will turn things around. Chani has been writing about the film industry, but hasn’t really hit her stride yet, so this is an unprecedented opportunity for her. One interview turns into a weekend of movie premieres and parties, and the article she writes catapults her into the spotlight and does wonders for Gabe’s career. Yet after the two part, real-life scandals crop up, and they go their separate ways.

Ten years later, despite her success as a published non-fiction writer, Chani has never quite shaken the gossip that’s surrounded her ever since the Gabe article. And for Gabe, the ten years have brought success as Bond, a viral public downfall, rehab, and now sobriety. As his first new movie in years is about to be released, his team asks Chani to do another interview — a chance to put Gabe back in the spotlight and give him an opportunity to show who he’s become. Chani agrees, with trepidation, but is not prepared for the deluge of feelings and memories that being with Gabe again sparks.

This book has so much to love! The “then” and “now” plotlines are interwoven skillfully, so that we only see the past events in little bits and pieces, leaving the big questions about what exactly happened and what might have gone wrong unresolved until close to the end of the book. What’s clear is that Chani and Gabe connect with one another right from the start, and while she is plagued by doubts about whether he sees her as just another fawning fan, it’s obvious to readers how much more is going on between them.

Gabe is portrayed with sensitivity. He’s a gorgeous Hollywood star, but we’re shown his vulnerable side, as well as his alcoholism and the downward spiral he falls into. Chani is flawed as well — funny and talented, but quick to jump to conclusions or read a situation incorrectly. It’s lovely to see them connect, and heartbreaking to see them misread one another, time and time again.

I really enjoyed the writing, and especially the dialogue. I mean, how can you not love a book that includes lines like this:

“I thought we’d established that I’ve read everything you’ve written.”

It’s one of the hottest things anyone has ever said to me.

The romance is, of course, central to the plot, but It’s Funny You Should Ask is also both moving and keenly interesting when focusing on Chani’s writing career, the obstacles she encounters, the negativity she encounters from people who should be her biggest supporters, and the self-doubt that plagues her no matter how well her essays and books are received.

The “then” and “now” narrative is also sprinkled throughout with excerpts from Chani’s articles and blog posts, movie reviews, gossip columns, and inside-Hollywood thought pieces. These help ground the story and show how public perceptions feed into Gabe and Chani’s personal situations.

The audiobook, narrated by Kristen Sieh, is bright and engaging. It’s a fun, upbeat listen, and the narrator’s expressiveness captures the characters’ dynamics and their inner lives very well.

I picked up It’s Funny You Should Ask after listening to the author’s more recent book, Once More With Feeling, just a few months ago. It’s safe to say that I’ll be back for whatever Elissa Sussman writes next.

22Dec2023

Book Review: My Roommate Is A Vampire by Jenna Levine

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: My Roommate Is A Vampire
Author: Jenna Levine
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: August 29, 2023
Length: 341 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean…

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.

In My Roommate Is A Vampire, Cassie’s life is a mess — working low-paying part-time jobs instead of putting her MFA to use as an artist, and living in a terrible apartment that she can’t afford (and is about to get kicked out of). No wonder she’s desperate enough to answer a Craigslist ad that seems sketchy. How can someone possibly be offering a roommate situation in an upscale Chicago neighborhood for only $200 per month?

Despite serious misgivings, she decides to check it out, and discovers a huge luxury apartment with gorgeous views of the lake. Sure, the roommate seems odd, dressed in three-piece suit, referring to her as “Miss Greenberg”, and behaving stiffly formal at all times — but he’s also incredibly attractive, very polite, and very willing to accommodate Cassie’s every need. With nowhere else to live and no obvious reason to say no, Cassie moves in.

Frederick’s weirdness is oddly charming, as he interacts with Cassie mainly through handwritten notes (with gorgeous penmanship, fancy paper, and even wax seals). Still, Cassie just knows there’s something going on with Frederick that’s not normal, starting with when she goes to make herself food and finds that the beautiful kitchen has not a single cooking implement or utensil in it. When she asks Frederick about it, he buys out an entire store’s worth of Le Creuset on her behalf… but still. How was he eating, before Cassie arrived?

As the title of the book makes clear, Frederick is a vampire — hence the empty kitchen, odd behavior, and old-fashioned manners. After a 100-year sleep, Frederick has to learn to cope in the 21st century, and he’s hoping that Cassie will guide him through modern customs, clothing, and daily life. Plus email, internet, and Instagram.

After her initial horror at learning the truth, Cassie ultimately agrees with Frederick’s plan, and soon guides him through buying jeans and henleys (making him look even hotter), ordering complex coffee at pretentious coffee shops, and making small talk at parties. He even watches Buffy the Vampire Slayer with her (which is hilarious, even though he’s shocked by her statement that Giles is the hottest man on the show).

Obviously, there’s a romance brewing, complicated by some silly drama with Frederick’s family and a century-old betrothal. Clearly, from the tone of the book and the cover, this is a happy, upbeat story, so we know that all will end well (and it does).

I liked My Roommate Is A Vampire well enough, although there are some flaws that made me roll my eyes a little too often to consider this a great read. Among my quibbles:

There’s a lot of time spent explaining Cassie’s art, and it sounds awful. (OK, I’m no art expert, so maybe that’s just me…).
Certain plot points never get explained or followed up, especially some elements of Frederick’s history, and also Cassie’s career path.
The sex scenes are unnecessarily explicit. (Again, this maybe has more to do with my reading preferences, but then again, the details seem jarring against the overall light and fluffy tone of the book).
The whole dramatic climax of the book, involving a threat and danger and a big rescue, is utterly bland. Nothing actually happens, and it’s resolved way too easily.
Vampire books need rules! While Frederick explains a few facts of his life to Cassie, pointing out what Buffy gets right, there’s still a lot left unexplained. How does he have sex? Does he breathe or not? Why is he described as having stubble in one scene? Inquiring minds want to know.
Vampires in this book apparently have random magical abilities, and Frederick’s is… well, I’m not going to say, but it’s so oddly random and weird. Maybe it was intended to be funny (and okay, it kind of is), but it’s also something that the story doesn’t need at all, and could have been left out entirely.

I know I’m being picky (perhaps overly picky) about a book that clearly is not intended to be taken seriously in any way. But still, I need my fiction — even my light-hearted, fluffy fiction — to be a little more tied up and have stakes (ha!) that make more sense.

Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had within the pages of My Roommate Is A Vampire. Frederick’s letter, texts, and emails are very funny, and seeing him get past his ideas of propriety and social norms in the 21st century can be a total hoot.

As a silly snack in between some heavier reads, My Roommate Is A Vampire was a fun choice this week.

17Dec2023

Book Review: Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Three Holidays and a Wedding
Author: Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley
Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: September 23, 2023
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.

As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.

An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.

Three Holidays and a Wedding is a light, upbeat holiday read that weaves Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan celebrations together into a sweet romance-filled story.

Anna is headed to Toronto to meet her boyfriend’s ultra-wealthy family for the first time, but with some nervousness. Everything has to be perfect, everything is planned to the last detail… but after only six months of a relationship, Anna isn’t ready for the engagement ring she finds in his suitcase, especially since she’s been careful to hide all the non-perfect pieces of herself away from him.

Maryam is shepherding her needy family to Toronto for her younger sister Saima’s last-minute wedding, which fell to responsible Maryam to plan. After an earlier heartbreak, Maryam has resigned herself to the box her family has put her in, always being the dutiful daughter, but she has regrets and frustrations none the less.

Seated together, Anna and Maryam initially just annoy each other on the plane, but when they hit terrifying turbulence during a blizzard, they support one another and share their deepest fears, hopes, and secrets. But Maryam’s secret crush Saif is seated just behind them and hears it all, and once they discover that the plane has been diverted to the tiny town of Snow Falls, they realize that they’ll all be stuck together for at least several days.

With Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan all overlapping within the coming days, as well as wedding plans that look likely to be cancelled and pressure from Anna’s boyfriend (who seems to blame her for not making it to Toronto as planned), this could be an awful, stressful experience. And yet, once the stranded passengers settle into the local inn and start seeing what Snow Falls has to offer, this nightmarish travel interruption soon turns into a lovely retreat from the rest of the world.

Snow Falls is an idyllic small town that welcomes strangers and offers cultural and religious diversity, with everything anyone could need to celebrate the holiday of their choice, from a mosque to halal food to rugelach and a Christmas pageant. The townspeople open their doors and their hearts to the new arrivals, and everyone gets caught up in the town’s holiday preparations while waiting for the blizzard to end.

Three Holidays and a Wedding is really quite sweet, and much of the plot is driven by the friendship between Anna and Maryam. The two women are from completely different backgrounds, but are able to connect as they share their hopes and dreams, as well as their sadness and past disappointments. They each get a love story, and each love story is nice (the men are quite dreamy and special), but I found the friendship and family angles of the story to be the most engaging and moving.

I enjoyed the way the authors incorporate the traditions of different religions into the story. It never feels like the reader is being talked down to or that the authors are deliberately trying to educate — instead, we simply see how the various characters go about observing their rituals and practices in their daily lives. I learned about Ramadan experiences that I wasn’t familiar with, and appreciated seeing the Hanukkah and Christmas traditions so well represented too.

Of course, the town of Snow Falls seems much too good to be true. I mean, it’s practically perfect in every way. The townspeople are welcoming, they shower the passengers with attention and give them gifts, they welcome them into their town celebrations and even put them in charge of the holiday pageant. It’s all lovely… but definitely feels like the sort of wish fulfillment that only exists in Hallmark movies.

But — we don’t read contemporary romance for gritty reality, do we? Three Holidays and a Wedding is full of good cheer, friendship, and family, as well as two wholesome, healthy love stories. I appreciated the emphasis on Anna and Maryam’s friendship, and how they support one another in facing their own feelings and making changes in how they view their lives.

Overall, this is a warm-hearted book that’s a great fit for this time of year. It’s a fast read, and I had a lot of fun with it. Grab a cozy blanket and fluffy socks, add in a mug of hot cocoa, and enjoy!

29Oct2023

Audiobook Review: Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Once More With Feeling
Author: Elissa Sussman
Narrator: Jaime Lamchick
Publisher: Dell
Publication date: May 30, 2023
Print length: 416 pages
Audio length: 9 hours 12 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

Then. Katee Rose is living the dream as America’s number one pop star, caught in a whirlwind of sold-out concerts, screaming fans, and constant tabloid coverage. Everyone wants to know everything about her and her boyfriend, Ryan LaNeve, the hottest member of adored boy band CrushZone. Katee loves to perform but hates the impossible demands of stardom. Maybe that’s why she finds herself in the arms of another CrushZone member, Cal Kirby. Quiet, serious Cal, who’s always been a good friend to Katee, is suddenly Cal with the smoldering eyes and very good hands. One unforgettable night is all it takes to blow up Katee’s relationship with Ryan, her career, her whole life…

Now. Kathleen Rosenberg is okay with her ordinary existence, and leaving her pop star image in the past. That is, until Cal Kirby shows up with the opportunity of her dreams–a starring role in the Broadway show he’s directing and a chance to perform the way she’s always wanted. The two haven’t spoken since the joint destruction of their careers, and each of them blames the other, making their reunion a tense battle of wits and egos. Katee reluctantly agrees to the musical, as long as she keeps her guard up around Cal. But rehearsals are long, those eyes still smolder, and those hands are still very good. Despite everything, Katee can’t deny the chemistry between them. Is it ever a good idea to reignite old flames? Especially if you’ve been burned in the past?

A former pop star finds herself back in the spotlight–along with an old flame from her past–in this “friends to lovers” meets “enemies to lovers” romance from the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask, the sensational Tik Tok romance!

Kathleen Rosenberg has spent a decade living in the shadow of regret. Once the biggest pop star in the world — Katee Rose — her career and popularity were burned to the ground after a cheating scandal, when seemingly overnight she went from hugely loved to terribly despised. Her contracts were cancelled, her reputation was destroyed, and since then, she’s lived off her royalties and stayed out of the spotlight, with only her best friend Harriet and her cat Fish for company.

When Harriet’s newly written musical seems destined for Broadway — a huge breakthrough for her own career — Kathleen seems about to achieve her long-awaited moment to shine. The lead role was written for her, after all. But the show’s director and choreographer is Cal Kirby, her summer camp crush and a contributing factor in her career implosion all those years ago. To live out her dream and finally get a shot at Broadway, Kathleen will have to find a way to work with Cal, even as old resentments (and much warmer feelings) start to bubble to the surface.

Once More With Feeling is told through a dual timeline, with a primary focus in the “now” sections, as the Broadway show is developed, rehearsed, and prepared for its premiere. There are also “then” chapters woven throughout, which follows Kathleen, Harriet, and Cal’s first meeting at a summer camp for theater kids, to Katee Rose’s stardom, the rise of boy band CrushZone (which includes both Cal and Katee’s boyfriend Ryan), and then the scandal that ruined it all. We don’t truly find out what happened “then” until close to the end of the book, but there are plenty of clues, and having seen the aftermath through “now” Kathleen’s experiences, it’s clear there’s a trainwreck coming from early on.

The storytelling and dialogue is snappy and propulsive. Even when Kathleen is wallowing with edibles and ice cream, she’s interesting to be around, and I enjoyed both the “then” and “now” sequences. As a Broadway fan myself, I really got caught up in the show prep and all its tensions (and seriously, I wish that Riveted was a real show — I’d love to at least hear the soundtrack!)

Adult Kathleen still has Katee’s propensity for terrible decision-making when it comes to her personal life, and some poor choices threaten to torpedo both her life-long friendship with Harriet and her chemistry with Cal, not to mention sinking her best (and perhaps only) chance at a new stage in her failed career.

Although I enjoyed the book, I had some quibbles with the plotting as a whole. My main complaint is that the timeline takes quite a bit of effort to figure out (which perhaps is made worse by listening to the audio version — it takes much longer for things to unfold that way). It really isn’t clear early on what happened when. How long after summer camp did Katee become a pop star? How long did that last? How long ago was the scandal? When did Katee’s career fall apart? How many years has it been since? Eventually, I pieced enough together — my assumption is that after camp (age 14), Katee got a break and was cast in a teen variety show, then from there launched her solo career and became a breakout star; then at about age 25, things fell apart, and ten years later, Kathleen gets her shot at Broadway. But I wish the book had just told us this, rather than making readers guess.

A few other minor complaints: Kathleen’s camp nemesis shows up at a few key points in the Broadway casting and rehearsal process, and I expected there to be some major confrontation or crisis involving this person — but no, that element just fades away. Also, as mentioned, Kathleen really makes some poor decisions, and we can see the fall-out coming from miles away. As the ultra-processed/managed/autotuned popstar, it’s maybe understandable that she’s not able to control her own relationships and actions, but as a 30-something adult, there’s much less of a rationale for why she makes certain choices.

If you’re reading all this and thinking Britney and Justin… well, yes, I can only assume that the comparison is entirely intentional. Not everything in Katee/Kathleen’s story directly mirrors the early years of Britney Spears, but it’s clear that Katee is meant to be that level of pop star. It’s both entertaining and sad to see a young woman getting — theoretically — what she’s always wanted, and yet end up a prisoner of her own success.

The romance in Once More With Feeling is an important plot element, but not the only one. I appreciated the balance between the romantic storyline and the plot threads focusing on Kathleen as a person with frustrated dreams and deep, unresolved hurt stemming from public humiliation and abandonment.

The audiobook, narrated by Jaime Lamchick, is quite fun, with the narrator providing great personas for the characters. Her voice changes for teen Katee vs adult Kathleen, and I think it’s a sign of the narrator’s talent that we can identify that this is the same person, just at different stages of her life.

Overall, I enjoyed Once More With Feeling, and recommend it for theater kids, fans of popstars and boy bands, and anyone who appreciates a good comeback story!

25Oct2023

Book Review: 10 Things That Never Happened (Material World, #1) by Alexis Hall

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: 10 Things That Never Happened
Series: Material World, #2
Author: Alexis Hall
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: October 17, 2023
Length: 432 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Fake amnesia. Real feelings? Real problems.

Sam Becker loves―or, okay, likes―his job. Sure, managing a bed and bath retailer isn’t exactly glamorous, but it’s good work and he gets on well with the band of misfits who keep the store running. He could see himself being content here for the long haul. Too bad, then, that the owner is an infuriating git.

Jonathan Forest should never have hired Sam. It was a sentimental decision, and Jonathan didn’t get where he is by following his heart. Determined to set things right, Jonathan orders Sam down to London for a difficult talk…only for a panicking Sam to trip, bump his head, and maybe accidentally imply he doesn’t remember anything?

Faking amnesia seemed like a good idea when Sam was afraid he was getting sacked, but now he has to deal with the reality of Jonathan’s guilt―as well as the unsettling fact that his surly boss might have a softer side to him. There’s an unexpected freedom in getting a second shot at a first impression…but as Sam and Jonathan grow closer, can Sam really bring himself to tell the truth, or will their future be built entirely on one impulsive lie?

Alexis Hall excels at FUNNY, and 10 Things proves it! I really enjoyed Boyfriend Material and Husband Material, and at the top of the reasons why is the quirky, hilarious voice the author gives the POV characters. 10 Things is not a direct sequel, but it inhabits an adjacent world (the Jonathan character here appears briefly as a wedding guest in one of the other books). No prior familiarity is needed — 10 Things is a quick, light read that’s very easy to get into.

Sam manages a branch of Splashes & Snuggles (and is the first to tell you what a horrible name that is) — a successful big-box retailer of bathroom and bedroom furnishings and supplies. One running gag is that Sam never fails to mention the full name of any product he refers to — a blanket is never just a blanket, but a Brentfords Super Ultra Soft Flannel Fleece. It’s kind of annoying and also totally hilarious when repeated enough times.

Sam’s management style leaves something to be desired, frankly. He’s exceptionally nice, which means he lets his employees take lots of time off, keeps on staff a walking disaster who regularly spills coffee on the most expensive display items, and (horrors!) routinely fails to upsell protection plans. When boss Jonathan (nicknamed by the staff His Royal Dickishness) summons him to the head office to discuss sales numbers and receive a sales coaching session, it’s a sign of impending doom.

After some awkward and unpleasant interactions, Jonathan fires Sam and makes it clear he intends to fire all of Sam’s team as well… but Sam, feeling intimidated, backs into a Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Enclosure (i.e., a shower) and ends up with a concussion. The concussion is accompanied by some initial confusion, so when Jonathan assumes it’s amnesia, Sam (making a really bad choice) decides to go along with it.

Granted, Sam has good intentions. By faking amnesia, he can pretend that he doesn’t remember being fired, and what kind of person would fire someone who just sustained a head injury in his own store? Sam has no one to take care of him, so naturally, Jonathan takes him back to his own home — a huge but sterile place — to give Sam time to recover. And as you’d expect, Sam gets to work on slowly but surely breaking through Jonathan’s icy demeanor.

To be clear, 10 Things is the grumpiest/sunshine-iest of grumpy/sunshine romances. Jonathan is presented as cold, mean, and uncaring (he didn’t get that nickname for no reason), and Sam really is a ball of sunshine. Sam is warm, funny, guided much more by kindness than by sense, and sets out to improve the lives of everyone around him, including (somewhat accidentally) inserting himself into Jonathan’s strained family relationships and forcing some Christmas cheer into Jonathan’s world.

The writing is super fun, including just wonderfully odd phrasing that made me laugh every time.

“Actually” — Anjad could hear a factual inaccuracy at eight hundred paces in a high wind — “that’s a misconception.”

“Is not.” Tiff is still pretty young, and she still goes to the is not/is too school of debate.

“Now how’d things go with Forest?”

“Badly.”

“Thanks. Very clarificationy.”

And if I was less pissed off at him than I am then I’d spend more time than I do reflecting on how much it must have sucked for him to live like that for, well, pretty much his whole life as far as I can tell. But I’m not less pissed off than I am, I’m exactly as pissed off as I am, so I mostly just feel sorry for myself.

“Besides, did you really think I go to sleep in a suit, so my pillows know who’s in charge?”

Right now, Bruno Mars is singing about how I’m amazing just the way I am, which is very sweet of him.

The plot itself is a little lightweight. I’m not sure I really understood the Sam/Jonathan relationship at its core — we’re shown how the two connect and how Sam gets past Jonathan’s iron exterior, but I’m not convinced that I believe it. It’s still very entertaining, but I never quite felt like I was reading about anything remotely real.

There’s backstory to both of their lives and current situations, and while we learn more about Jonathan’s upbringing early on, the reasons for Sam’s work and living arrangements aren’t explained until the very end of the book (95% according to my Kindle). That felt frustrating — it would have been helpful to understand Sam’s life from the start, rather than only knowing him through his actions as the story unfolds.

Still, despite the plot straining at times to make the case for why this couple should get together, it’s still a cute and very fun read. Did I buy Sam and Jonathan as a romantic pairing? Not really… but the overall story is so silly and the push/pull between the characters so entertaining that I had a really good time just going with the flow.

11Oct2023

Book Review: Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop
Author: Jenny Colgan
Publisher: Avon
Publication date: October 10, 2023
Print length: 320 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Your most delightful holiday read: the sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller The Christmas Bookshop, from beloved Scottish author Jenny Colgan.

Christmas comes early–far too early–to McCredie’s little Old Town bookshop in Edinburgh. It’s summer, but an American production company has decided that McCredie’s is the perfect location to film a very cheesy Christmas movie. After all, who can resist the charmingly narrow historic street with its Victorian grey stone buildings and warmly lit shop windows?

Carmen Hogan, the bookshop’s manager, is amused and a bit horrified by the goings-on, but the money the studio is paying is too good to pass up. She uses the little windfall from filming to create new displays and fend off a buyout offer from an obnoxious millionaire who wants to turn McCredie’s into a souvenir shop selling kilts made in China and plastic Nessies. Still reeling slightly from a breakup, Carmen’s not particularly looking forward to the holidays. But just as snow begins to fall and the lights of Christmas blink on, all sorts of lovely new possibilities present themselves…for McCredie’s bookstore, and for Carmen herself.

Jenny Colgan’s books are always a ray of sunshine, and this new book is no exception. While Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop is a follow-up to the 2021 novel The Christmas Bookshop, it can definitely be read on its own and enjoyed fully.

Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and centers around a musty old bookshop and its one and only staffperson, Carmen Hogan. Carmen ostensibly works for Mr. McCredie, the shop’s long-time owner, but he’d rather hide out way back in the stacks and read one of the thousands of rare and unusual books he has stashed away back there. Meanwhile, the shop’s finances are precarious, and a local businessman who specialized in tacky souvenirs is hoping to take over. Carmen has to find a way to keep out the Nessie keychains, save the shop, and convince Mr. McCredie to part with his favorite old books.

On top of the bookshop business, Carmen is also dealing with the bossy older sister she’s been crashing with for the past year (and who’d like her house back, thank you very much), as well as the heartbreak of having her boyfriend apparently not want to sleep with her and then depart for a science expedition on the other side of the globe. Between her housing woes, sisterly spats, and romance sorrows, Carmen needs at least her work to go well, but it’s not looking too promising.

Obviously, even from just looking at the cover, it’s clear that this book is going to have a happy ending. What kind of Christmas book would it be otherwise? Still, it’s the fun of getting there that makes this a Jenny Colgan book. There’s quirky dialogue, precocious children, unusual local folks, a terrific setting, and all the Christmas cheer you could possibly hope for.

As I mentioned, this book works perfectly well as a stand-alone. Yes, if you’d read The Christmas Bookshop, you’d already be familiar with Carmen, her family, her boyfriend, and the basic situation… but honestly, you can also just dive right in to this new book without feeling lost.

Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop is sweet, funny, and warm-hearted. It makes for a nice reading break in the midst of more serious or darker reads… and definitely makes me yearn for a visit to Edinburgh, which the author describes in loving detail.

6Oct2023

Audiobook Review: The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Wake-Up Call
Author: Beth O’Leary
Narrators: Jessie Cave, Lino Facioli
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: September 26, 2022
Print length: 368 pages
Audio length: 10 hours, 17 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley (eARC); audiobook purchased via Audible
Rating:

Two hotel receptionists–and arch-rivals–find a collection of old wedding rings and compete to return them to their owners, discovering their own love story along the way.

It’s the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel’s front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.

The hotel won’t stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest’s lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost & found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel–and their jobs.

As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there’s more at stake here than the hotel’s future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact?

Beth O’Leary books have become must-reads for me over the past few years, and after last year’s The No-Show — an absolute 5-star read — I couldn’t wait to try her newest. The Wake-Up Call doesn’t quite hit the emotional highs (and depths) of the previous book, but it’s still a sweet, funny, enjoyable love story.

Izzy and Lucas have spent a year hating each other, which is inconvenient, seeing as they’re coworkers. They work together at the charming, iconic Forest Manor Hotel, a lovely place that’s seen better days. A ceiling collapse right before the holiday season leaves the hotel gasping its last breaths, and its well-meaning owners have little hope of saving the place once the new year rolls around.

Meanwhile, Izzy and Lucas spend their time bickering, shooting eye daggers at each other, and being as irritating as they possibly can. Once the hotel’s dire straits become clear, they’re forced to work together to try to find a miracle… and little by little, they’re also forced to admit that maybe all that burning hatred is really more like smoldering attraction and feelings of insecurity.

The plot is a little on the thin side — I mean, it’s quite obvious that Izzy and Lucas will get together. It’s also obvious that the root cause of their hatred — a disastrous fight at the previous year’s Christmas party — was caused by a major misunderstanding. It takes them pretty much the whole book to figure this out, and meanwhile, they squabble, flirt, sabotage, and second-guess one another… and stay busy reprimanding themselves for catching feelings for the enemy.

The Wake-Up Call is lots of fun, despite the predictability of the overarching plot. The secret sauce here is how great Izzy and Lucas each are, how well their characters are shown over the course of the book, and how cute/funny/silly some of their escapades are.

In terms of the audiobook, however, it was a struggle for me at first. I just did not get on with the narrators right away. Particularly for Lucas’s chapters, I had a hard time understanding just what he was saying (the character is Brazilian, and the accent as Lucas made some of his dialogue and inner thoughts really challenging). I almost gave up on the audio, in fact, but ultimately ended up glad I stuck with it — after a while, I got used to the narrators’ voices and intonations, and managed to get into the rhythm and feel by the end.

Beth O’Leary’s books are always full of quirky, offbeat characters and situations, and The Wake-Up Call is another treat. While there are some more serious plot elements about family loss, grief, and mourning, the overall tone is cute and full of humor, and the chemistry between Izzy and Lucas simply sparkles.

The Wake-Up Call is a great pick for when you’re looking for something light and cheerful, and would also make a terrific choice when the winter holidays roll around.

Smiles guaranteed! Don’t miss it.

2Sep2023

Book Review: Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Love, Theoretically
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: June 13, 2023
Length: 389 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.

Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job.

Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

Love, Theoretically is author Ali Hazelwood’s third novel… and I think I’ve reached the point of diminishing returns. This book on its own may be fine — but after reading the previous two, I can’t help but feel that Love, Theoretically is just more of the same.

Main character Elsie Hannaway is desperate for a good job in academia — one that allows her to focus on research, earn a steady paycheck, and have the health benefits she so desperately needs she she can afford her insulin supply. Her job as an adjunct professor keeps her finances unstable and her nerves fried, not to mention her reserve of patience absolutely tapped out dealing with the neverending flimsy excuses of slacker undergrads.

Being one of two finalists for a prestigious post at MIT is a dream come true, except one of the members of the selection committee is Jack Smith, the brother of a man she’s been fake-dating as well as someone who’s been ruthless in his criticism of her branch of physics. It seems likely that he’ll torpedo her candidacy, but despite his clear mistrust, he ends up showing her unexpected kindness.

Inevitably, these two supposed enemies are forced to acknowledge their mutual attraction and actual feelings, although there are plenty of barriers to break through before they get there. Elsie has spent her life trying to please everyone, pushing her own needs to the back of the priority line in order to give others what they want from her. She’s never her authentic self (doesn’t even admit to her best friend that she actually hates the art films they watch together), until Jack calls her on her lack of honesty and forces her to be true to herself while she’s around him.

Elsie and Jack have immediate chemistry… and, well, it’s clear from the start where this is going. As in the author’s previous books, the love story is well-established-professional-who’s-maybe-evil vs rising-star-needing-a-break-and-to-break-free-of-internalized-obstacles. (OK, from what I’ve read online, Ali Hazelwood started out writing ReyLo fanfic, and it shows… although I have only the barest of familiarities with that particular ship).

Perhaps I might have appreciated this book more if I hadn’t read the others, but I struggled with a been-there, done-that feeling throughout this particular reading experience. Yes, the particulars of the plot are different, but the overall dynamics are very much aligned.

It didn’t help for me that Jack, while ostensibly empowering Elsie to recognize and express her own desires rather than fit herself to everyone else’s, comes off as domineering and controlling. Further mucking things up for me is that Elsie’s character never actual seemed to make sense — I understood what I was told about her people-pleasing nature, but just didn’t buy it.

Love, Theoretically isn’t a bad read. It goes by quickly and kept my interest. It just didn’t seem to offer much new — so yes, it was fine, but perhaps I’ve just read enough by this author at this point. I don’t think I’ll need to read more of her books, unless she does something completely different and moves away from the love-amongst-scientists theme.

20Aug2023

Book Review: What Would Jane Austen Do? by Linda Corbett

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: What Would Jane Austen Do?
Author: Linda Corbett
Publisher: One More Chapter
Publication date: June 16, 2023
Length: 385 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

It’s a truth often acknowledged that when a journalist and Jane Austen fan girl ends up living next door to a cynical but handsome crime writer, romantic sparks will fly!

When Maddy Shaw is told her Dear Jane column has been cancelled she has no choice but to look outside of London’s rental market. That is until she’s left an idyllic country home by the black sheep of the family, long-not-so-lost Cousin Nigel.

But of course there’s a stipulation… and not only is Maddy made chair of the committee for the annual village literary festival, she also has to put up with bestselling crime author –and romance sceptic – Cameron Massey as her new neighbour.

When Maddy challenges Cameron to write romantic fiction, which he claims is so easy to do, sparks fly both on and off the page…

What Would Jane Austen Do? was a spur-of-the-moment read for me, after seeing positive comments about it by another blogger (and once again, I failed to make a note of where I found the recommendation… sorry). (The $2.99 price tag on the Kindle edition didn’t hurt either…)

This contemporary romance has a sweet, upbeat air as it follows a few well-trodden but well-loved tropes: We have a city girl relocating to a small town, quirky neighbors, and grumpy-sunshine dynamics, to name but a few. Add to that a lovable dog, a ramshackle large house in need of repair, a literary festival to organize, and lots of Jane Austen references, and it’s got all the ingredients needed for this particular type of book.

Main character Maddy is successful in her writing career, writing a “Dear Jane” column for a popular magazine in which she provides “agony aunt” advice by channeling Jane Austen — until she’s let go for suspect reasons and has to figure out next steps. Conveniently, she receives word that the black sheep of the family, cousin Nigel (whom no one has heard from in decades) has passed away and left her his house in the countryside, with the stipulation that she must live in it for at least one year, or forfeit rights to it entirely.

With nothing else pending workwise, Maddy figures she’ll move in, clean the please up, then sell in a year and move back to London. She doesn’t count on the beauty of the old house or the community she’s soon pulled into, nor does she expect to learn that Nigel was totally beloved in this small town where he’d resided (unbeknownst to the family) for over twenty years.

At the same time, Maddy discovers that bestselling crime author Cameron Massey (whose real name is Luke) also lives in the same town, which doesn’t exactly thrill her: They’d had a recent on-air spat when they were guests on a radio show focusing on the romance and crime genres, during which Cameron was gruff and condescending. But Maddy starts to see another side of him when he’s foisted upon her as a lodger while his own home is being renovated. Soon, the two bond over his dog Buster as well as the rest of the shenanigans in their small town.

As if Maddy doesn’t have enough on her plate, she also learns that Nigel had been the chair of a local (unsuccessful) literary festival and she’s expected to step into his shoes, and also stumbles across a decades-old mystery about Nigel’s past and how the family misfit ended up so well-off and well-loved.

What Would Jane Austen Do? is a pleasant, engaging read. There are no major surprises here, but it’s still a fun bit of entertainment. Does Maddy chairing the festival make sense? No. Does the mystery about Nigel — with a connection to a formerly famous rock band as well as one of Luke’s bestsellers — really matter or get resolved in a big, “aha!” sort of way? Nope. Does the Big Misunderstanding of Luke and Maddy’s developing romance feel significant or get explained satisfactorily? No again. But all this is okay — the ups and downs are part of the whole, and overall, Maddy’s experiences adapting to small town life and finding a place to belong are sweet and enjoyable enough to make this a nice escapist read.

A final note: The Jane Austen bits don’t actually make all that much of a difference to the story. There are quotes from Austen’s novels at the start of each chapter (which is really fun), and every once in a while Maddy compares her own experiences to those of Austen characters, but the theme is a bit underplayed and ultimately not very central to the plotlines.

Overall, What Would Jane Austen Do? is a fluffy, light book that I read in a day — a great choice for a lazy summer day when you just want to relax and enjoy a comfort read.

13Aug2023

Book Review: Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Happiness for Beginners
Author: Katherine Center
Publisher: Griffin
Publication date: March 24, 2015
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It’s supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother’s even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can’t imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen’s well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.

Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen’s own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

Katherine Center has become a go-to author for me, but I hadn’t gone back and read any of her earlier books. My introduction to this author was the 2018 novel How to Walk Away, and I’ve read all her books published since then. Fortunately, I stumbled across Happiness for Beginners, and I’m so glad that I finally gave it a try.

As the story opens, Helen is a 32-year-old teacher whose life for the past few years has, frankly, sucked. She’s divorced from her alcoholic husband and has been stuck in her own sadness for quite a while now, desperately in need of a change. Despite her rocky relationship with her younger brother Duncan, whom she barely tolerates, she grabs onto his suggestion of a wilderness backpacking course as a way to shake up her life, but then is dismayed to learn that Duncan’s best friend Jake will be participating as well — and what’s more, that Duncan has promised Jake that Helen will drive him to Wyoming for the start of the course.

The wilderness course is a 3-week backcountry hiking adventure that has a reputation for being incredibly difficult and dangerous. Helen could have gone to Paris, but she feels like this is how she’ll find a new outlook on life. She does not need Jake tagging along, although she’s surprised to learn just what a great companion he can be during their road trip. Still, an ill-advised kiss later, she decides that any closeness with Jake is a mistake, and informs him that once the backpacking trip starts, they’re to act like strangers.

As the group sets off into the wilderness, Helen finds herself both the oldest in the group and a total outsider. The others are mostly college-aged jocks and sorority sisters, many participating for the sake of college credits, and most are in much better shape than she is. Helen finds herself stumbling along at the back of the pack, picked on by the trip leader, and excluded from the easy companionship she sees developing between the rest of the group.

Her situation improves over time as she proves herself through determination and picking up wilderness skills (she’s an awesome map-reader!), and she becomes friends with a younger woman on the trip whose academic focus is the study of happiness. With Windy’s coaching, Helen begins to learn to center herself with appreciation and being present in the good moments, and the trip eventually brings the personal transformation she’d so hoped for… although she has to deal with heartache along the way too.

At first, I was annoyed by the plot of Happiness for Beginners. I think I may have been ruined for this sort of fiction by Cheryl Strayed’s Wild (which bugged the hell out of me). Call me old-fashioned, but I have little patience for characters who set off on adventures that they’re totally unprepared for and shrug off warnings about the risks — and even less patience for stories where these unprepared characters end up totally fine and triumphant, making it seem like anyone could… I don’t know… hike the entire Appalachian Trail on a whim.

Putting that aside, though, Helen really grew on me as a character, particularly as we learn more about her childhood and difficult family situation. Having her brother’s best friend as her companion and love interest is an unusual set-up. Beyond their great chemistry, one of the elements I appreciated about Helen and Jake as a couple is how her developing appreciation for Jake helped her begin to see Duncan in a new and better light.

The adventure elements are great, and I really enjoyed vicariously hiking up and down trails, camping under the stars, and seeing the glorious sites. (I was happy it was only a vicarious experience, though, given the descriptions of how gross and smelly they all were by the end of the three weeks). In fact, I got a little miffed that we didn’t get even more of the hike — the narrative skips ahead days at a time in some points, and I get it — seeing them hike trails for twenty-one straight days could get repetitive — but at the same time, I wanted just a few more days of hiking.

The characters are terrific, the love story elements are believable and nicely built, and I loved the setting and the overall premise. For fans who’ve discovered Katherine Center through her more recent novels, I definitely recommend checking out Happiness for Beginners too.

Netflix released a movie version of Happiness for Beginners last month, and even though at first glance the casting and tone seem different from what I’d expect after reading the book, I’m up for giving it a shot sometime soon. Here’s the trailer: