en-US Mon, 07 Apr 2025 14:17:58 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7046575455 Mon, 07 Apr 2025 14:17:58 -0700 /review/show/7046575455 Jaime gave 4 stars to Blue Sisters (Kindle Edition) by Coco Mellors
bookshelves: bbbc-challenge-2025, contemporary-fiction, general-fiction, grief, lgbtq, read-2025, siblings, sisters
This is the story of sisters, 3 alive and one dead. It's been a year since third-born sister Nicky died, and the other sisters have dealt with their grief in their own ways. Oldest Avery puts on a brave face for her wife but is sneaking cigarettes in the back yard and stealing wallets from department stores. Bonnie abandoned her boxing career to be a bouncer on the other side of the country. And youngest sister Lucky has continued down of spiral of reckless behavior with alcohol and drugs that may not only cost her her career but her life. The one thing they have not done is lean on each other as sisters.

They learn that their parents are planning on selling the apartment Nicky lived in, and want someone to go through Nicky's things before they do. They each eventually end up in New York, having to reckon with both themselves and their sisters.

I enjoyed this, though it's not a particularly happy story. It does end on a hopeful note. ]]> Review7026168253 Fri, 04 Apr 2025 14:01:10 -0700 /review/show/7026168253 Jaime gave 4 stars to Moon of the Crusted Snow (Moon, #1) by Waubgeshig Rice
bookshelves: 52-book-club-2025, around-the-year-2025, canada, characters-of-color, general-fiction, indigenous-author, indigenous-people, read-2025, scifi-postapocolyptic-dystopian
An already isolated community on an Anishinaabe reservation in Canada becomes even more isolated when they suddenly lose their internet, phone service, and finally, electricity. Winter has begun, making the roads south unpassable except by snow machine, and with no other way to find out what's going on, all they can do is sit tight. Thankfully, they are prepared with a good amount of food and resources for the whole community, until strangers from the South start trickling in.

I enjoyed this a lot, but it's not without its flaws. I did wonder why they didn't just send one person South to see what was happening, and a lot of the side characters blended together. But I thought it was an interesting story with a bit of a hopeful ending. ]]> Review6968799194 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 13:27:17 -0700 /review/show/6968799194 Jaime gave 3 stars to White Line Fever (Paperback) by K.C. Jones
bookshelves: horror, read-2025, paranormal, popsugar-2025, around-the-year-2025
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. The characters are mostly okay, though Livia's lack of a spine was a problem and Ash was just mean for no reason. As far as the story goes, it got pretty repetitive until basically the 75% mark. I did think that it pulled together well in the end, and the climax was satisfying enough. I probably would find it scarier if I found myself driving through the woods a lot, but from the safety of my home, not so much. ]]> Review7051683659 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 13:21:07 -0700 /review/show/7051683659 Jaime gave 2 stars to They All Fall Down (Hardcover) by Rachel Howzell Hall
bookshelves: mexico, popsugar-2025, read-2025, thriller-suspense, unreliable-narrator, audiobook
This book was a mess. The narrator was very annoying, and while I could keep track of the women, I kept getting the men confused. The premise is weird. There's a scary "drug lord" thrown in for no good reason. There's flashbacks with no warning. My expectations were low, but not low enough. ]]> Review7191659868 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 13:08:25 -0700 /review/show/7191659868 Jaime gave 5 stars to Promise Me Sunshine (Paperback) by Cara Bastone
bookshelves: around-the-year-2025, friends-to-lovers, grief, read-2025, romanceopoly-2025, romance-contemporary, slow-burn
This was a gorgeous book about finding hope at the other end of loss and grief.

Six months ago, Lenny lost her lifelong best friend Lou, her constant companion, and she is still deep in grief. She can hardly stand to stay in their shared apartment, and to keep busy and try to pay her rent she is picking up short-term nannying jobs here and there. Her latest job takes her to single mom Reese and her daughter Ainsley. The job looks to be easy enough, except Ainsley's uncle Miles insists on sticking around and observing. What a creep, right?

After an accidental backpack spill, Miles discovers that Lenny's carrying around a book about grief and shares that he's read it too. He then offers to help Lenny through her grief and complete the list of things she is supposed to do after Lou's death to help her live again, IF Lenny stays on and works for Reese long term and helps Miles learn how to connect with Ainsley. Reluctantly, Lenny agrees, and a friendship begins to form.

Lenny and Miles's friendship felt very real to me, and though Miles is awkward and sometimes jumps to wrong conclusions, he's also gentle and perceptive to what Lenny needs. I loved the slow buildup to the relationship, and the ways their friendship also influenced the complicated relationship between Miles, Ainsley, and Reese. There was just so much in this book and it was all good.

This is the first Cara Bastone book I've read and you'd better believe I'm adding anything else she's written to my list. ]]> Review6219754336 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 12:54:03 -0700 /review/show/6219754336 Jaime gave 3 stars to The Fury (Kindle Edition) by Alex Michaelides
bookshelves: thriller-suspense, greece, locked-room, 52-book-club-2025, read-2025, audiobook
If you liked The Silent Patient, this was nothing like it. The voice is odd, and the story meanders much more than I would expect for a thriller. No one is particularly likeable, but also, no one is particularly interesting, even Lana. None of the twists surprised me. It tried to pick things up at the end, but by then I was already unimpressed and was just glad the increased pace meant it would soon be over. ]]> Review7423899431 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 12:40:11 -0700 /review/show/7423899431 Jaime gave 5 stars to Bull (Hardcover) by David Elliott
bookshelves: mythology, novel-in-verse, novella, read-2025, retelling
This was very accessible, and had a fun voice. Each character is written with a different style of verse, which helps it to not read a monotone. ]]> Review7001737540 Fri, 21 Mar 2025 13:13:16 -0700 /review/show/7001737540 Jaime gave 3 stars to My Big Fat Fake Marriage (Paperback) by Charlotte Stein
bookshelves: around-the-year-2025, fake-relationship, forced-proximity, plus-size-rep, popsugar-2025, read-2025, romance-contemporary
This book had some fun moments, but ultimately it felt a little empty to me. I like a cinnamon roll man, but this one was so sweet he'd make your teeth fall out. And I never really understood Connie/Hazel. I'm not sure what the point of the fake name was, because as soon as she tells Beck her real name you never hear it again, in any context. I think this author may not be for me, as this is the second book of hers I've 3-starred. ]]> Review7342572213 Thu, 20 Mar 2025 13:53:52 -0700 /review/show/7342572213 Jaime gave 4 stars to Nine Month Contract (Mountain Men Matchmaker, #1) by Amy Daws
bookshelves: 52-book-club-2025, around-the-year-2025, forced-proximity, plus-size-rep, read-2025, romance-contemporary, small-town, grump-meets-sunshine, romanceopoly-2025
This was a fun read, as long as you don't have strong feelings about surrogacy. If you do, this is not the book for you, in any way. If you don't like books with pregnancies, this is not the book for you in any way. But if you can put that aside, I liked the romance here.

Wyatt wants nothing more than to be a dad, but he's been burned hard by a woman and has no interest in having an actual relationship. He just wants the baby, no mom needed. Unfortunately, his search has so far been fruitless and the agency he's working with has written him off as impossible to please.

Trista, on the other hand, has no interest in children of her own but she really needs some money. She wants to open an animal rescue, and isn't above using her body to get the funds she needs. Just not in *that* way. When she literally runs into Wyatt's niece after getting turned down at the same surrogacy agency, she gets talked into at least meeting with him to see if it works out.

What follows is a somewhat standard grumpy/sunshine, close-proximity romance with a dash of pregnancy, nosy family, and several non-standard pets. Sometimes I'm not sure which of them is the grumpy one, as Trista has a stubborn streak that she uses to keep herself away from Wyatt. I've read and enjoyed Daws before, and I would definitely read books about the other brothers. ]]> Review6951919616 Thu, 20 Mar 2025 13:38:37 -0700 /review/show/6951919616 Jaime gave 3 stars to My Best Friend's Honeymoon (Paperback) by Meryl Wilsner
bookshelves: bbbc-challenge-2025, friends-to-lovers, lgbtq, plus-size-rep, popsugar-2025, read-2025, romance-lgbtq, romance-contemporary, spicy, romanceopoly-2025
This story is a friends to lovers between Ginny and their best friend Elsie, who just left her fiancé when he tried to surprise her with a wedding in a week. They end up going on the honeymoon trip together so it doesn't get wasted, and what better place to recover from a breakup than in a bungalow on the ocean?

Turns out, Ginny has always loved Elsie, and Elsie has always loved Ginny, but they've both been too scared to say anything about it until Elsie forces the issue. And then it's full steam ahead in their little ocean hideaway. They'll worry about what happens when they get home later.

This is my second Meryl Wilsner book and I was pretty lukewarm on the first one (Mistakes Were Made) too. The spice is great, but I felt like there was emotion missing. We barely get a chance to see Ginny and Elsie interact and build any tension before they have their tongues all over each other. Unfortunately I think this author just isn't for me. ]]>