I鈥檓 feeling generous with the five stars here, as it might be 4.5, but this is one of those multigenerational family stories with tons of characters, I鈥檓 feeling generous with the five stars here, as it might be 4.5, but this is one of those multigenerational family stories with tons of characters, lots of plot, really fine detail, and all the literary greatness you want out of the last book you read in a year.
I had a concern that there were too many expository paragraphs giving backstory in dialogue and then I realized that was the point for some of the characters. By the end of the novel, I didn鈥檛 even notice it anymore.
Each character is her own person (and note that while there are men, some of whom even get lots of shading and character, we really are focused on the women here). Each story is interesting in its own right.
Very much a book for fans of Pineapple Street, Lessons in Chemistry, or any Ann Patchett. Also, I immediately went to the library to get Rieger鈥檚 backlist title that I slept on years ago even though I gave it a few pages - she鈥檚 hooked me. ...more
It is so bad and has every single one of the Tessa Bailey tics that make you cringe in a full novel but in this one at least you get the joy of it beiIt is so bad and has every single one of the Tessa Bailey tics that make you cringe in a full novel but in this one at least you get the joy of it being condensed into fifty really cringey uncomfortable pages. ...more
These novellas are usually fun, and this one is pretty entertaining, but I鈥檓 always skeeved out by stories where people fall in love with someone theyThese novellas are usually fun, and this one is pretty entertaining, but I鈥檓 always skeeved out by stories where people fall in love with someone they met in a nursery (also, Jamie being that articulate at age 2 about the infant she was meeting doesn鈥檛 track, even for a Hazelwood protagonist). Otherwise, cute froth. ...more
I really liked this a ton. I remember watching these early seasons of ANTM (I believe season 9 was the last one I watched, actually) so reading about I really liked this a ton. I remember watching these early seasons of ANTM (I believe season 9 was the last one I watched, actually) so reading about the horrible conditions the young women were put under and the ways that the reality TV complex chewed up and spat out so many people in the early 2000s was fascinating (especially after reading Emily Nussbaum's terrific CUE THE SUN).
What's really great, though, is that it's not all terrible all the time - I mean, it's pretty terrible, but Hartshorne is able to show how exciting it all was too. It also helps that she's a genuinely good writer and is smart about what she's saying. Highly recommend....more
This slots firmly into third place on my favorite Annabel Monaghan books, and yet third place for Annabel Monaghan is still high up there indeed. I liThis slots firmly into third place on my favorite Annabel Monaghan books, and yet third place for Annabel Monaghan is still high up there indeed. I like the hook of the story and I know that she's building off Jennette McCurdy's memoir by having this child star try to make it in the world as an adult with all the trauma that the childhood fame brought her, the components of the book in LA just didn't sing for me as much.
But when we were on Long Island? YES PLEASE. You gotta love how Monaghan builds these families and these towns, and that was some lovely, lovely, LOVELY romantic tension build.
I will absolutely have no trouble with recommending this wholeheartedly, but it wasn't as quick to grab me....more
I love May Archer generally but I'll never rate second chance romance much higher than three stars.I love May Archer generally but I'll never rate second chance romance much higher than three stars....more
Marriage isn't easy and it isn't pretty, but Jane and Abe's marriage is extraordinary at its simple core. This story of a love that spans decades is tMarriage isn't easy and it isn't pretty, but Jane and Abe's marriage is extraordinary at its simple core. This story of a love that spans decades is told in fragments that build to a beautiful whole. This book left me gutted and heartbroken while so very very happy to have met these characters and the people around聽them.
I do worry that the book will be dealt a disservice by the title - because it sounds like a romance and people looking for that are going to be greatly disappointed but I fear people looking for a strong, character driven literary novel are not going to pick it up....more
I did not like this, folks. Come at me. The characters were very stock, even the protagonists, and I hate to admit that I found it a little difficult I did not like this, folks. Come at me. The characters were very stock, even the protagonists, and I hate to admit that I found it a little difficult to figure out who I was supposed to be rooting for (we're supposed to be AGAINST the environmentalists trying to bring back the nature by removing a pickleball court?). The best thing about this was the groan-worthy puns on the jacket copy.
So much angst. I had to find this one after reading the Hudson Burrow books and I'm glad I did but yeesh, that's a lot of angst.So much angst. I had to find this one after reading the Hudson Burrow books and I'm glad I did but yeesh, that's a lot of angst....more
When I stop and think about just how many books there are in this larger universe my head starts to go "whut." I'll always read another Eden Finley spWhen I stop and think about just how many books there are in this larger universe my head starts to go "whut." I'll always read another Eden Finley sports romance but here's a real honest to god thing: I have read SO MANY hockey romances and barely batted an eye at the actual, you know, hockey of it all. Now you give me a baseball romance and all I could do is yell at the inaccuracies around the actual logical baseball. (I know we're not supposed to question the real sports shit, but when some of it is glaringly bad - no major league pitcher stays in until the ninth as a matter of "doing his job," for one - it makes me get a little eye twitchy.) I guess I should stick to hockey. ;0)...more
Liked, didn't love... and it was another one of those books where I saw every beat coming from a mile away. I didn't dislike it by any stretch of the Liked, didn't love... and it was another one of those books where I saw every beat coming from a mile away. I didn't dislike it by any stretch of the imagination but I felt like all of the moments were telegraphed if you've read a book before, and this might be a little obnoxious of me but the NAMES on these characters... I just can't get invested with these character names....more
I LOVE Katherine Center, and when this showed up on Edelweiss I was like, "Well, there goes my Tuesday," because I knew I was going to put everything I LOVE Katherine Center, and when this showed up on Edelweiss I was like, "Well, there goes my Tuesday," because I knew I was going to put everything down and jump on it. Sure enough, I finished it within four hours.
This is peak Center, with realistic chemistry and sparkling side characters, and DUDE is Hutch hot. Absolutely delightful.
Do the 11th hour lies introduced by Hutch's brother feel over the top in a way that made me sigh, though. I mean, that's a romance novel construction that has never happened in real life. It drops the book in my ranking of Katherine Center books... which is to say, still up above a ton of other author's books but on the lower end for Katherine Center.
(Also. The... let's call it the 11:30 hour stuff that goes on. I know it has to happen. I understand this is a book about the Coast Guard. I get that it's been foreshadowed and the bricks for the plot have been laid. But that is ONE HELL OF A BIT OF PLOT.)
Actually, I think this is practically perfect for the first 200 pages and then the last third is... a lot. So yeah, 4 stars. A solid addition to Katherine Center's canon. Not at the top of my list, but certainly one that I'll happily recommend....more
I really, truly laughed at this. Small town theater kid fails in the big city, goes back home, is roped into restaging his failed musical for the commI really, truly laughed at this. Small town theater kid fails in the big city, goes back home, is roped into restaging his failed musical for the community theater group, falls for the boy who used to bully him back in the day... I mean, it's not a new plot but this one shines. Beguelin definitely knows his references and knows how to make you laugh. Super fun and what I needed this week....more
There's a lot going on with this book, some of which works and some of which doesn't... and some of which doesn't really make sense...
I mean, if you'vThere's a lot going on with this book, some of which works and some of which doesn't... and some of which doesn't really make sense...
I mean, if you've ever read a book in your life you know that the bad guy is really the good guy and vice versa, and our protagonist is supposed to have been in a PhD program at Columbia and doesn't realize that the vampires she was part of the fandom of (who turn out to be real) are not what they seem. Come on, girl.
Tess has clearly gone through some trauma and we know it (because we've read books) but it's parsed out very slowly, but when she reveals everything to Callum she's suddenly just... cool? Like, I was sexually assaulted before but now I'm good because I told you.
Also, there were so many ways Stayman-London could have pulled some of the human characters in to the supernatural world - at one point I legitimately put in my phone, "Is ____ really this character? Is this going to turn out to be ____?" because she, for better or worse, laid out a few coincidental place markers and then doesn't play them out. If I, as a reader, am coming up with ways that you could be more clever with the plot on your behalf then you're kind of failing maybe.
And then much like the MY ROOMMATE IS A VAMPIRE books the climax turns into a nothing burger, but while it's FUNNY in those books I was like, "Wait. That's how we're resolving it?" in this book.
Sounds like I disliked it more than I did, but I guess I'm just saying whew this is a lot of words about vampires for a book that doesn't really know how to figure out what it wants to do....more
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