Review: Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I will enjoy a book *that* much more when there’s a nod to Jane Austen (it’s also a truth that I will absolutely always overuse that opening). I hadn’t realized there was a hint of Pride and Prejudice in Jackie Lau’s latest novel before I started it but, not surprisingly, I was totally into it. Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie is by no means a P&P adaptation but it does take some of the best parts of Austen’s most well-known novel and uses them to make a modern rom com that was an absolute joy to read.

Here’s the book’s description:
Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.

Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. You’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he’s just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they’re forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious he thinks he’s too good for her.
But now that Emily is her family’s last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There’s only one solution, clearly : convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom’s meddling. He reluctantly agrees.
Unfortunately, lying isn’t enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates—including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class—so they’ll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark’s not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn’t so ugly after all…

You may not have read Pride and Prejudice but I think there’s a better chance you’ve probably watched Bridget Jones’ Diary (bonus points if you’ve read both novels and watched the movies). Bridget is also a nod to P&P and is one of the most fun adaptations of Austen’s work. Lau’s felt like that too - right down to the main male character being named Mark and having a penchant for sweaters - and it was much fun.

Like Elizabeth and Darcy, Emily and Mark got off on the wrong foot. Way wrong. Luckily, they eventually realized how boneheaded they had been (Emily especially) and actually communicated with each other. About fake dating and lying to their families, but communicating nonetheless! It was really enjoyable to watch them put their guards down and start to become friends - and something more.

I always, always struggle when a main character’s family and/or friends tries to force them into being in a relationship. That there’s no way they could be happy without someone special in their life. I can handle some of it because the family really does mean well and it really is coming from a place of love. But when the family refuses to take no for an answer? And won’t listen to the main character, who they claim to love so much that they want them to be happy? That’s when I get frustrated. And I know it wouldn’t be a romance book without conflict and a couple getting together but…it can be really hard for me to read a MC being ignored by those who claim to love them that they’re forced to lie or do other ridiculous things just to please their family. As an aside to the whole family thing - I did NOT buy the excuse for Emily’s eldest sister’s behaviour. I was so irritated at her and the reasoning behind it was not good enough and there were no consequences for how she was behaving towards Emily.

The first third or so of the novel was told from Emily’s perspective but then it starts to switch back and forth between Mark and Emily. I do like when romances have dual perspectives but it had been solely Emily’s POV for so long that it was kind of jarring to finally get Mark’s thoughts - as appreciated as they were to get a better sense of him and how he was feeling about the whole fake dating thing.

I really liked that Emily was an author and Lau showcased how tough it can be to become (and stay) published. It shouldn’t be a surprise that I liked the bookish element of this novel but I find that Lau was a lot more honest and realistic than other rom com authors are when their main characters are writers. As much as I hated that Emily had to keep justifying her job and how she spends her time to her friends and family, it seemed more honest that way. But the way Mark was so supportive of her writing and was protective of her time? Swoon.

Oh, and bonus! The novel is set in Toronto. Three cheers for romances taking place in Canada!

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie was so much fun to read. I was entertained by Jackie Lau’s novel from start to finish. I wouldn’t call this a super memorable novel or the best rom com I’ve ever read but it was fun and I enjoyed it - and that’s all that matters when it comes to reading!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster, via Edelweiss in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Lighting Strikes the Silence

Gather around, my friends. It's the time of year when I write, in length, about how amazing the Lane Winslow mystery series is. Iona Whishaw has created a heroine and a series I absolutely cannot get enough of. Lightning Strikes the Silence is the latest installment (the eleventh!) and it was everything I needed it to be!

Here’s the book’s description:

A warm June afternoon in King’s Cove is interrupted by an explosion. Following the sound, Lane goes to investigate. Up a steep path she discovers a secluded cabin and, hiding nearby, a young Japanese girl injured and mute, but very much alive.
At the Nelson Police Station, Inspector Darling and Sergeant Ames, following up on a report of a nighttime heist at the local jeweller’s, discover the jeweller himself dead in his office, apparently bludgeoned, and a live wire hanging off the back of the building.
As Lane attempts to speed the search for the girl’s family with her own lines of inquiry, Darling and his team dig deeper into a local connection between the jeweller and a fellow businessman that leads across the pond to Cornwall and north to a mining interest on the McKenzie River.
Offices are being ransacked and someone is following Lane. Through the alleyways of Nelson onto the country roads and woods trails of King’s Cove, the latest Winslow mystery is a study in bygone promises and lingering prejudice.

I love Whishaw’s novels for a number of reasons so I’ll go through them all and how I felt about them while reading this latest book. The first is the mystery element. I’m almost always surprised with how things turn out but not in a jaw-dropping, I-never-saw-this-coming kind of way. Part of the surprise, for me, could be because there are usually two cases happening simultaneously, sometimes connected, sometimes not. There’s always something Lane finds herself caught up in (much to Darling’s dismay!) as well as a case the police in Nelson are working on solving. I find the two mysteries allow me to just go along for the ride, trusting that all will be revealed at the right moment. In this book, I had a feeling I knew who the murderer was a little earlier than usual but the reasoning and how it all unfolded was still enough of a surprise to satisfy me.

Speaking of the mystery, I was lucky enough to see Whishaw at an event the week before publication day. She was interesting, delightful, and so much fun. I’m really glad I made the trek to the event! Given the multiple mysteries in her books, I was surprised to learn that Whishaw is an absolute pantser. She doesn’t plot out her stories and sometimes doesn’t even know who the murderer may be. She also said (and I love this) that when a dead body comes along as she’s writing, she has a personal rule that the body must stay and she just has to figure out what to do about it. Fascinating!

I also adore the historical aspect of these novels. I’m always learning a little nugget (or two…or three…) when I read Whishaw’s books, which I love. Recorded Canadian history may be a little more recent than history from other countries, but it is vast and so much is unknown or not talked about nearly enough. In this novel, Whishaw shines a light on the expulsion and internment of Japanese folks during World War II. This was yet another moment in history when white settlers thought they knew best and banished a group from a particular area. And for those who say that at least Canada wasn’t as bad as the US? Not in this case. It took far longer for Japanese individuals to be allowed to move back to the coastal areas of British Columbia than it did their counterparts in the United States. It took until 1949 until those of Japanese descent (even those born in Canada) were allowed to move freely throughout the country.

Finally, I love the characters Whishaw has created. Lane is based on her mother (she said during the event that people always ask why she “had” to make Lane so beautiful. She says it’s because Lane is based on her mom and her mom was beautiful, therefore Lane must be beautiful, too!) but even with Whishaw’s mom as the inspiration, Lane is very much her own woman and I love her so very much. There are many, many characters in King’s Cove (based on the real town of Queen’s Bay, as I learned) and Nelson but every single one of them has a purpose and a history. The novels just wouldn’t be the same without the extremely strong cast of secondary characters. I particularly liked getting to see another side of one King’s Cove character in this story!

Lighting Strikes the Silence was an absolute joy to read. Iona Whishaw has written another winner in her Lane Winslow mystery series and I cannot wait for everyone to read it. And if you haven’t started the series yet, well, what are you waiting for? Get reading!

*An egalley was provided by the publisher, Touchwood Editions, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Bury the Lead

I’ve been on a real mystery kick the last few years so was thrilled when two Canadian authors I love teamed up to write Bury the Lead, the start of a mystery series that features a small-town journalist. This novel, written by Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti, was one of my most anticipated of the year and I’m so thrilled to say it absolutely lived up to my expectations.

Here’s the book’s description:

A big-city journalist joins the staff of a small-town paper in cottage country and finds a community full of secrets … and murder. Cat Conway has recently returned to Port Ellis to work as a reporter at the Quill & Packet . She’s fled the tattered remains of her high-profile career and bad divorce for the holiday town of her childhood, famous for its butter tarts, theatre, and a century-old feud. One of Cat’s first assignments is to interview legendary actor Eliot Fraser, the lead in the theatre’s season opener of Inherit the Wind. When Eliot ends up dead onstage on opening night, the curtain rises on the sleepy town’s secrets. The suspects include the actor whose career Eliot ruined, the ex-wife he betrayed, the women he abused, and even the baker he wronged. With the attention of the world on Port Ellis, this story could be Cat’s chance to restore her reputation. But the police think she’s a suspect, and the murderer wants to kill the story―and her too. Can Cat solve the mystery before she loses her job or becomes the next victim of a killer with a theatrical bent for vengeance?

I did not see the end of this mystery coming at all! Hilton and Renzetti left cookie crumbs which I, personally, only realized were there after the story was tied up. Which I loved! There are times when I’m thrilled to have figured out whodunit and there are times I’m thrilled to be completely in the dark and have the author(s) deliver the resolution in a tidy little package. I probably would have been happy with either in this case, honestly, because I loved the book and the writing so much, but I did like that it wasn’t easy to spot who the murderer was. I had fun tracking down the clues for the story with Cat and really enjoyed the resolution (as much as one can enjoy reading about murder and finding out someone in town is guilty of killing someone else…).

I’m not always a fan of the amateur sleuth so I wondered how I would feel about Cat, who is not a law professional, working to solve a mystery. Turns out, it was perfection. She didn’t get in the way of the investigation the cops were running. She just stayed in her own lane and chipped away at the many layers covering up the story she wanted to expose. It was well-balanced, not something every mystery writer can do, so I applaud Hilton and Renzetti for giving me a non-police officer mystery protagonist I can root for!

Which brings me to the journalism side of things. I adored it. I admit that might be because I’m a tad biased as my partner is a journalist. It was a weird thing to read about now, I will admit, because there were massive layoffs at the paper he worked for and it’s a strange and kind of scary time for community news. I don’t think people realize how much we need those journalists and newspapers and they just keep disappearing. That terrifying and sad feeling aside, the authors nailed what it’s like to work in news, especially in a small town. Which didn’t surprise me at all as Renzetti is a former (fantastic) journalist herself who still provides pieces to news outlets today. There was one line where Cat’s talking about waiting for the police press conference regarding the murder and she says it will be held sometime “between now and the end of time” and, oof, isn’t that the truth! But even though the journalist angle had a special place in my heart, I think it’s a fresh take on the mystery genre with the bonus of showcasing how community journalism works. Take notes, friends, and pay attention to what’s happening to the news outlets in your area.

I loved that this story also had some commentary on the world today. Eliot was an absolute garbage human being (not that he deserved to die) and his past (and present) brought up the #MeToo movement and how women have been treated for decades. The reason Cat got fired from her TV job is infuriating (and I definitely guessed it before it was revealed which is a bit sad as I hate that female reporters are still being targeted by idiot males). And having multiple generations commenting on what was happening in town (and had happened in the past) was genius. Things aren’t as black and white as we’d like but it should still be easy to determine what is good and bad behaviour.

Finally, I loved the small town setting. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating here: I’m a small town girl and I really love when stories are set outside cities and I love it even more when the author(s) really “get” what it’s like to live in a small town. I figure Port Ellis is supposed to be somewhere in Muskoka and I grew up just south of the traditional Muskoka area but still in an area where cottagers flocked to in the summer. And reading this book felt right and made me miss summers at my grandparents’ house on the shores of Georgian Bay.

Bury the Lead was an amazing novel and it’s definitely in the running to be a favourite read of 2024. Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti have written a thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery with a heroine who is as intriguing as she is intelligent and I cannot wait to read more in the Quill & Packet series. If you’re a mystery fan, you absolutely must pick up this novel.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, House of Anansi, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: A Real Somebody

To know me is to know I love historical fiction. I’m pretty basic in my usual historical fiction tastes, tending to read all the WWI and WWII fiction, so I like to branch out every once and awhile. And when I find a Canadian historical fiction author writing a book set in Canada? I’m even more interested. I was intrigued by Deryn Collier’s novel A Real Somebody because it was inspired by her aunt and took place in post-war Montreal. Unfortunately, the book did not thrill me and I eventually gave up reading it.

Here’s the book’s description:

Montreal, 1947. To support her once-prosperous family, June Grant joins a steno pool in a prestigious advertising firm. For June, it’s hard to imagine having the kind of life her parents want—the kind of life her sister Daisy has, with a well-off husband and two precocious kids.
But Daisy might not be a picture-perfect housewife after all. As June makes her own waves in the advertising world, she probes a hidden side of her sister’s life.
June’s discoveries upend everything she thought she knew about her sister while challenging her own inner conflict about pursuing her dreams versus living up to expectations. Being a dutiful housewife might mean something else entirely.
Based on the true story of the author’s aunt, A Real Somebody charts the journey of a talented young writer who dares to break the conventions of her time during one pivotal season of her life.

I was really intrigued by the look at advertising in Montreal in the late 40s (I work in comms, of course I’m going to geek out over a look at advertising!) but it was such a small part of the story that even that couldn’t convince me to finish reading the book.

I’m not sure if the reader was expected to know who June Grant was because I certainly didn’t. So, because I had no idea who she was, I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to care about June, the fictional character. And, let me tell you, it sucks to not care about a character’s life when you know they’re supposed to have been based on a real person - the author’s aunt, no less. I’m sure part of my frustration at June came from unintentionally putting my modern views on her life in the 40s. Times were different, I get it, but I was still annoyed at the treatment of women, among other things.

I knew I wasn’t going to finish reading it when I had no desire to get back to the story. I tried to skim and read the last couple of chapters but the story seemed to have veered off in such a bizarre way and, even allowing for the fact that I didn’t read the whole thing, it ended strangely and abruptly.

All that said, Collier’s writing wasn’t one of the reasons I stopped reading. I would be willing to give another of her novels a go if it seemed like a topic that would interest me.

A Real Somebody was, unfortunately, a real miss for me. I wanted to enjoy Deryn Collier’s novel because it sounded like something I could really have a good time reading but the story completely missed the mark for me.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributors, Firefly, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.* 

Review: Dream Chasers

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve learned in the last few years that I’m not into thrillers but I am into crime/detective mysteries. And, boy, does knowing your own reading tastes improve your reading life or what! After going down the Louise Penny rabbit hole with a friend, I’ve been on a hunt for another Canadian mystery writer to read while waiting for the next Gamache novel (which will be this fall! Yay!). When I saw that Dundurn Press was repackaging Barbara Fradkin’s Inspector Green series, I thought, why not give this a whirl? I enjoyed the writing in Dream Chasers, book six in the series, but struggled with the content of the mystery. I’m still intrigued enough to carry on with the series though.

Here’s the book’s description:

A seventeen-year-old sets out to meet her secret lover by Ottawa’s Hog’s Back Falls. Three days later, her body washes up in the shallows. The public fears a sexual predator is on the loose, but Inspector Green suspects a more personal connection.
His search for answers draws him into the world of elite young athletes, drugs, and teenage sexuality. Then a social worker who knows too much disappears, and blood is found in the house of a star with NHL prospects. Unless Green can unravel the truth, how many others will pay the ultimate price for a young man's dreams?

What drew me into this story was the fact that it was a Canadian writer, setting her crime fiction in Canada. I loved that aspect of it. My best friend used to live in Ottawa so I recognized a lot of the place names and actually think I’ve been near where the murder occurred. It’s just always nice to read books set in Canada and I appreciated it a lot.

Since I knew this was the sixth book in the series, I anticipated feeling a bit behind when it came to the characters - which was fine and didn’t bother me all that much. But, for some reason, my brain assumed some things might be updated with the republished version. This novel was originally published in 2007 and, news flash, that was a long time ago which becomes super apparent in genre fiction. I found it a bit jarring when I was reminded that this book took place so many years ago (asking if cell phones had video and photo capability, for example) and I couldn’t get my head around why a book was republished and not updated. (I am aware my head is the problem and my assumption that it should have been updated is probably wrong.)

What made me both sad and mad was that the whole “his future will be ruined” thing with hockey players (and all athletes). Yeah, it’s still very much a thing in 2024. And that makes me rage. We know that this kind of garbage takes place in the world of sports (I love sports but you can love a thing and still recognize how toxic it is.) but we’re still not doing enough about it. I don’t know what we can do but there’s gotta be something. And maybe that was part of my frustration with the story.

Setting aside the toxicity of the hockey world and how it hasn’t changed much, if at all, since 2007, there were a few other suuuper cringey moments in this book that I just could not let go of - whether that’s fair to the story or not. Green goes to visit the alternative high school his daughter attends to try to find her and encounters the guidance counselor. For some reason, Fradkin felt the need to focus on the fact that the woman was braless and it was very much implied that she was a hippie and therefore below Green’s police officer status. It was subtle, but it was there. Speaking of breasts, (yep, there’s more), back at the high school the murdered girl attended, the female guidance counselor there notices the D cups on one of the students, in part because that counselor is also well-endowed. Why. Why is the reader being told how large a teenager’s cup size is?

Now, even with all the above issues, I am still interested in reading more of Fradkin’s novels, including continuing with this series. I had a few of the same problems with Penny’s Gamache series when I read some of the earlier ones so I’m well aware this is just a product of its time and I’m willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt.

Even though the crime itself and how it was connected to hockey made me deeply uncomfortable, I was still invested in finding the murderer. Fradkin kept me guessing right up until the end and I appreciated that.

While Dream Chasers left a lot to be desired for me personally, I’m still interested enough in Barbara Fradkin’s Inspector Green series to keep checking out the next books. I liked how she wrote the mystery, if not the social commentary inherent in the story, so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in the series.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher, Dundurn Press, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: It Happened One Christmas

2023 gifted us with not one but two novels from Chantel Guertin, one of my favourite authors. Not only that, but I’m always happy when a favourite author writes a holiday novel! So, I was really looking forward to It Happened One Christmas, which was published in October. Life being Life, I just finally read it over the weekend and, while I wasn’t blown away, I was still infused with so much holiday cheer by the end of the story.

Here’s the book’s description:

Will magic happen under the mistletoe?
All year long, Zoey Andrews lives and breathes Christmas--not just because she loves everything about the festive season, but because, as the director of countless Christmas movies, she's perpetually (and happily) surrounded by 24/7 holiday cheer. And this year Christmas has come early: After years of making other people's movies, Zoey finally has the chance to make her own. There's just one thing standing in her way of that: Benoît Deschamps, the sexy, bearded, grouchy and utterly frustrating, plaid shacket-wearing tree-farm-owner-slash-mayor who refuses to grant Zoey the permit to film in Chelsea, the cozy and snowy Quebec hamlet at the center of her screenplay.
With just four days left before Christmas, Zoey must change Ben's mind, but not before an unscripted ice storm leaves them stranded in the middle of nowhere, with nothing--no food, no phone, no electricity--except . . . each other.
Will Ben's chilly resolve shatter Zoey's Christmas movie wish? Or will Zoey be able to melt through his stubbornness--and maybe even his heart?

Let’s start with what didn’t warm my holiday loving heart. I think I am completely over stories about out of town folks coming into a small town, wanting to change something or wanting to get something out of the town. Now, I know Zoey knew what she was doing when it comes to scouting and was a trustworthy person. I know she would fairly compensate the town. But I just think I’m tired of the same old story and it was hard to set that tired trope aside and focus on the uniqueness to Guertin’s story.

I mentioned above how Zoey was trustworthy so points to Guertin for creating a heroine that, while frustrating at times, was someone I was rooting for. I did like her. I questioned her choices in fashion and relationships and insistence on nostalgia from one single vacation when she was a kid, but I really did want a Happily Ever After for her.

Now, what about the swoons? I have complicated feelings about the romance even though I was wholeheartedly into Zoey and Ben getting together by the end of the novel. I loved their initial meet cute. Wasn’t so much a fan of their interactions about the film permit. But once they were thrown together during la tempête de verglas? Oh, yes. I mean, I wasn’t happy Zoey was out in the ice storm and was kinda sorta the reason she and Ben stayed on the road. But Guertin made it so clear that they were a team and they worked so well. There was sexual chemistry, sure, but they were building the framework for a good relationship. I dig it.

Did you catch the French up there? The novel is set in small town Quebec and I very much enjoyed reading about some of the Quebecois traditions and trying to figure out what Ben and the other townsfolk were saying en français before they translated for Zoey. I don’t live in Quebec but some of the things mentioned were very deeply Canadian, no matter what province you live in. I loved it.

It Happened One Christmas may not have been a huge winner for me but if you want a festive read, Chantel Guertin’s latest novel is one to check out. Despite the ice storm in the storyline, you’ll feel the warm, holiday spirit by the time you’re done.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Doubleday Canada (Penguin Random House Canada) in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Three Holidays and a Wedding

I’m calling it: Three Holidays and a Wedding is my favourite holiday read of 2023. Now, I haven’t read that many yet (and I’m woefully behind, as usual, on my holiday review books) but this one, co-written by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley, two of my favourite authors, was an absolute delight and I enjoyed every second reading it.

Here’s the book’s description:

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.

The premise of this one is perfectly bonkers which made it the best kind of holiday rom com. There are not one, not two, but three major holidays converging, a plane being rerouted and, oh, there’s a movie being filmed in town, too! Jalaluddin and Stapley work their magic, though, and make something that could be cheesy and over-the-top, completely wonderful. I was smiling constantly while reading this story and was completely invested in the characters’ lives.

The book takes place in December 2000 when Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Christmas all fell within a few days of each other. You may think that 2000 wasn’t that long ago and I mostly forgot that the book took place *gasp* 23 years ago. But there were the odd moments when I realized how much things had changed since then - which I loved! Anna only had a flip phone and her charger had been lost with her luggage so she couldn’t get in touch with her boyfriend in Toronto. That would never happen these days. Nor would someone pull out a bunch of CDs for a mehndi ceremony in 2023. I really liked the little mentions of days gone by!

I loved how the holidays came together and how Hanukkah and Ramadan took centre stage, with Christmas almost being an afterthought. It was refreshing. I celebrate Christmas but there’s no religious reason for that. I just enjoyed that a big guy in a red suit brought me and my sisters presents and we had an excuse to decorate the house and eat lots of treats. I enjoyed feeling part of both Anna and Maryam’s celebrations as they shared traditions and discovered just how important family and their holidays really were to them. (And that maybe family didn’t have to be related by blood.)

Maryam and Anna were such great characters to get to know. They were real (and therefore flawed) but such wonderful people. And their love interests probably didn’t deserve them because these ladies were so great. (But the boys were ok too - we can keep them!) The romantic relationships they embark on were secondary to the women figuring out what they wanted to be doing with their lives. Becoming snowbound in Snow Falls allowed them to really analyze their current circumstances and think about their futures. I was so proud of their growth and loved reading it.

If you buy just one holiday read this year, make it Three Holidays and a Wedding (and I highly recommend you buy yourself your very own copy). Uzma Jalauddin and Marissa Stapley have completely nailed it and I loved reading this holiday rom com. I hope these authors pair up again for another novel in the future.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: A New Season

If you’re a reader in need of a book that will make you laugh, think, feel, and laugh some more (all while being unapologetically Canadian), Terry Falls is your man. I have loved every book of his I’ve read and his latest, A New Season, was no exception. In fact, it may have just become my favourite of all his books. It was full of so much…*waves arms around*...life! It had humour, grief, and love of all kinds as well as some soul searching and travel thrown in for good measure. It was, if we want to get right down to basics, a damn good novel.

Here’s the book’s description:

Jack McMaster seemingly has it all. A beautiful house, a loving son of many talents (including cooking, which is great news for Jack, if not for his waistline), even a special bond with his buddies in his ball hockey league. But he's also learning to live with loss, leaving a gaping hole in his life--a life that will never be the same as before. Jack passes his days knowing he has the support of his family and his friends, but he can't shake the feeling that his life has gone gray, and that time is slipping by so quickly.
Then, a short and shocking video from an unexpected source gives him the gumption to make a change and maybe even haul himself out of his melancholia. Inspired by his lifelong fascination with 1920s Paris, Jack finally visits the City of Light, following in the footsteps of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and wandering the Left Bank. Slowly, the colour seeps back into his life, aided by a chance encounter in a café that leads Jack into the art world, and a Paris mystery nearly a century old.
Full of sincerity and warmth, A New Season shows us all that sometimes, making a change in your life can save your life.

For a book about a man dealing with overwhelming grief, it’s quite funny. Which isn’t a surprise for anyone who’s read Fallis’ books before. His humour isn’t for everyone but I adore it. It’s quick and dry and there were many literal lol moments as I was reading this one (always interesting when one is reading in a full staff room on one’s lunch break). I wish I could include some of the most excellent quotes to give you an idea of how witty the book is but 1. I read an egalley so it’s always possible some things may change and 2. We’d be here all day while I tried to choose some of the best quotes. This book isn’t humorous in an obvious way - it’s not like those blockbuster comedies many of us love to watch - but it’s quieter and Fallis uses his humour at just the right moments.

OK, so this bit is hard to write without giving anything away and I really like that the book’s description gives you enough information to know what you’re reading but is still vague enough to keep the book’s secrets, well, secret. First, the book is set in the summer of 2022 when the world is emerging from major pandemic restrictions and I want you to beware of that if you’re sensitive to these storylines and/or lost someone due to COVID-19. Second, and this is the doozy, I have been wrestling with the idea that if this novel had been written by a woman, it could be categorized as a romance. Not a typical romance where the love story is the only real objective of the narrative, but my favourite kind of romance where there’s a whole lot of life happening for the main character but, at the end of the day, there’s going to be a Happily Ever After. I love Fallis’ work, that’s not what’s up for debate here. What is, however, is how books are marketed and how publishers treat books written by men and women differently. I think if this book had been written by, say, Theresa Fallis, the illustrated cover would look a whole lot different and we’d be having a totally different conversation. I’m not sure if I have a real point here - it’s just something that’s stuck in my brain as I considered the book and how I’d write this review and recommend it to others.

But putting the notion of this being considered a romance or contemporary fiction aside, this book is a love story. Or, perhaps more accurately, a love song. Jack is an amateur songwriter and guitar player - he enjoys it but knows he’s not good enough to make it professionally so he’s just had fun creating and playing for the past few decades. So, music and songs are a big deal to Jack and that’s why this book kind of feels more like a love song. He’s even written a couple of love songs that are included in the novel (which, yes, were written by Fallis). This book isn’t just a love song about love. It’s also an ode to friendship, family, Paris, and, yes, even ball hockey and the good buddies one makes playing it.

I loved that this book was a bit of an ode to Paris and the writers of the Lost Generation (Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald being the most famous). Jack is unapologetic about his love and (mild) obsession with the time and the writers and it was so lovely to see him go after his dream of living in Paris and walking the same streets as those authors he’d long admired. The extra little twist added in was such a delight and really elevated the story (why, yes, that is purposely vague).

A New Season is an uplifting book, even amongst all the grief, that shows it’s ok to live life after a tragedy and perhaps, it’s even more important to do so now after what we’ve all lived through. Terry Fallis has written a novel that is funny and heartwarming and will keep you entertained (and feeling all the feels) from the first page to the last.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, McClelland & Stewart (an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada), via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Speak for the Dead

Amy Tector’s The Honeybee Emeralds was one of my favourite books of 2022 (review here). I was thrilled to start her new mystery series, The Dominion Archives, later in the year with The Foulest Things (review here) but it left me feeling…unsatisfied. Speak for the Dead is the next book in the mystery series and it jumps ahead in time to present day but…it still didn’t thrill me - which is such a disappointment.

Here’s the book’s description:

It's a steamy summer Ottawa day when Dr Cate Spencer is called out to the nitrate facility to investigate an apparent suicide. The eerie building is filled with deteriorating nitrate film that could literally spontaneously combust. When Cate's life is threatened by a stray spark, she suspects the suicide might be murder. Despite pressure from the police to pronounce a cause quickly, Cate is bloody-minded enough to keep investigating. Whether she's looking for answers because of her dedication to justice, or as a distraction from the grief she feels over her brother's recent death, her inquiries plunge her into a world of military secrets, contentious Indigenous protests and a seventy-year-old mystery with deadly implications.

Now, I’ll be honest, I read this book months ago (it was published in March and I read it right around pub day) but I’ve put off writing the review. I wanted to love the book, probably more than I want to love most, because I knew it had a lot of heavy lifting to do if it wanted to make me love the series. It had promise, you see, but ultimately, I couldn’t get into the story.

Part of the reason I wasn’t really invested was because I didn’t like the main character. I KNOW that I don’t have to like them. Trust me. But if I don’t like them, I need to at least be intrigued by them and with Cate? I didn’t care. I think I was mad at her for her drinking - which absolutely was not fair of me. Addictions can’t be helped and she wasn’t getting the medical help she needed. I was sad for her too. Her grief was so palpable, and hadn't been dealt with appropriately, and I desperately wanted her to be OK.

I was also initially thrown by the fact that this book took place so long after the first in the series and didn’t feature a museum worker but instead a coroner. I don’t know why that stuck out for me so much but here we are. I liked that Cate was a coroner (why, yes, I did  watch CSI back in the day) as it provided a different look at the mystery. But I think I missed the museum connection just a little bit.

Speak for the Dead should have been a book I liked. I know Amy Tector has talent but something about these mysteries that are a part of her Dominion Archives series has been leaving me feeling flat. I’m still hopeful her next book will wow me because I know she can and the idea behind this series does intrigue me.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Reasonable Adults

I had really, really high hopes for Robin Lefler’s debut novel, which was released this past December. Reasonable Adults seemed like such a good read and one that took place in Ontario, where I live? Bonus! Alas, it let me down in ways I can’t quite put my finger on but are reasons why I only just now, finally trying to put my thoughts into words.

Here’s the book’s description:

A swanky new gig at a luxury artists’ retreat in Muskoka, a delightful canine companion and a chance at a clean start. It should be smooth sailing from here . . .
Everything has fallen apart for Kate Rigsby: she is freshly single—separated from an ex she never really liked—and freshly fired—from a job she never really liked, either. Somehow, she’s reached the age of thirty-one and the only things she truly cares about are her goldendoodle, Eric, her two best friends, and proving to her parents (and, if she’s honest, to herself) that she made the right choice moving to the city. Except, instead of thriving, she finds that her life has taken a nose-dive. So when a job at Treetops Creative Retreat suddenly lands in her lap, she’s thrilled. Three months at a glorified arts and crafts workshop for grown-ups that boasts five-star cuisine and a helipad, and she’ll be well paid? The perfect escape. So what if her contract spans the depths of winter? Neat! A charming life experience! She can learn to snowshoe.
But when Kate arrives at the retreat, nothing is as she imagined. She didn’t read the fine print, her targets are impossible, her boss seems committed to seeing her fail and there happens to be an extremely off-limits fellow staffer who has no business being so gorgeous.
Part self-discovery, part rom-com and part comedy of errors, Reasonable Adults is a hilarious debut about finding yourself—and maybe love—along the way. A little summer-camp romance never hurt anyone, right?

I could see why a lot of people might like this book and really like Kate. I saw one review compare her to Lorelai Gilmore which, I can see. I’m a huge Gilmore Girls fan and have been from the very start but even I can acknowledge some of the problematic behaviours in that show. Kate was strong and smart but forget that often. She had a weird relationship with herself and while I wanted to root for her…I just couldn’t get totally behind her.

And the romance part of it? I didn’t get it. I thought maybe it might be between Kate and one character but then was like, no, that doesn’t make any sense. Then I thought it could be someone else. Nope, my first instinct was correct but so was my instinct that it didn’t make sense. I just couldn’t see the pair together. Or maybe I couldn’t see the issues that they were so clearly putting in their own way? Like just…figure it out?

Also…heads up for a sexual assault scene. And then a scene where the victim is blamed and while that character tries to say he understands why he was being a complete asshole immediately after judging her…I was lost. It was not cool and I did not like it one bit.

I did, however, adore the setting. I grew up in kinda-sorta cottage country in Ontario so I really identified with where the book took place. (Not that I’ve ever gone to a resort like Treetops!) Feeling like I was in Muskoka right alongside the characters was my favourite part of the book. Along with the dog. Who doesn’t love a doggo?

So…Reasonable Adults was very much not a win for me. I wanted to love Robin Lefler’s novel but I just couldn’t get into it as much as I should have. Will I read her next one? Perhaps. But it’ll be a library borrow if I do.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Not Your Valentine

I love a good holiday novella. Normally they take place around Christmas so when I find one featuring another holiday and written by a Canadian author I’ve been meaning to check out? Count me in! Not Your Valentine, a new Kobo Originals work from author Jackie Lau, was published on January 24 and was a short read that was perfect to get into the Love Day mood.

Here’s the book’s description:

Helen Tsang is tired of the pitying looks. From her parents, her friends, and even the bubble tea shop guy, who recognized her from the video. Almost one year ago, some loser couldn’t mind their own damn business and filmed an unsuspecting Helen's very public break-up during what was supposed to be a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. A video of her ex-boyfriend saying, "It's not me, it's you. You're holding me back" went viral.
Desperate to give everyone something else to talk about and with Valentine’s Day approaching once again, she asks her long-time friend Taylor Li to be her fake boyfriend, just to prove that she's moved on and hasn’t sworn off love. (Spoiler alert: She's totally sworn off love.) Taylor is the perfect option—single for once, and for some godforsaken reason, he loves Valentine’s Day.
But Helen didn't expect was how easy it would be to get Taylor on board, fitting right into the boyfriend-shaped hole in her life. All she wanted was a couple sickeningly sweet dates to fill her social feeds, not corny text messages of silly heart-shaped cakes, and bouquets of flowers that harbor hidden meanings. Wanting to be around his sunshine attitude and delicious forearms all the time? That definitely wasn't expected.
With February 14 quickly approaching, it's getting increasingly difficult to ignore her feelings, especially when she starts wishing it wasn’t all an act.
Oh God. What has she done?

I’ll be honest that it took a bit of time to understand Helen and get into the flow of how Lau wrote. And I’ve spent the last few weeks wondering how on earth I would try to describe what I meant by that. This was a short book - Goodreads puts it at 136 pages - so it’s tricky when some of those precious pages are spent trying to get the hang of a character and their story. I liked Helen a lot but I think I was being too Elder Millennial and forgot what it was like to be younger. And the lying to friends and family about dating someone? That was hard for me to get into. I also struggled with the assumption that everyone would still be thinking of Helen and the viral video a year later (before it was ultimately brought up by the “news” cycle again). It all seemed a bit too…like Helen was the centre of the universe, maybe?

Speaking of fake dating though… As much as I hated the reason why Helen got into it, I do enjoy a good fake dating trope. Lau made it work pretty well, though there seemed to be a lot of set up and explanation for why Helen and Taylor knew each other and why he’d be perfect for shenanigans. That said, I did really like them together and was rooting for them the whole time. I love when characters are so clearly a good match for each other!

Have you ever noticed that, for some reason, romance books need to tell you the first and last names of every single character the first time they’re introduced? It’s something I’ve noticed myself for years and I don’t get it. I don’t actually care what the character's last name is - unless it's somehow connected to the plot. And when you’re meeting four characters in a page and a half (of a short novella), it’s a bit much. I don’t necessarily blame Lau (though I do question why a romance novella needed to have the heroine, a group of four girlfriends plus mom, dad, sister, sister-in-law, plus a romantic interest…) for giving each character first and last names. I blame the genre and the expectations the publishers assume readers have. I do acknowledge that sometimes using last names is a quick way to get an idea of the background of the character. But I don’t really love the expectation that I’m supposed to assume something about someone based on their name. Am I reading too much into this? Anyone else have thoughts?

But back to the romance in this book. It is STEAMY. For a short book, it packs in a lot of sexy moments and I was here for it. It’s sex positive too which is always great to see in romance novels. The sex scenes weren’t too much for the novella, in my opinion, and they were honest and felt right for the story as a whole.

A final note: I don’t think you have to read this around Valentine’s Day but it is a perfect book to tuck into near the beginning of the year. I loved that it started on New Year’s Day and then had a few scenes centred on Lunar New Year. But since this novella is so short, you can get this baby finished in no time so you can buy it today and have it done by the end of Valentine’s Day!

All in all, Not Your Valentine was a ton of fun. It had me craving all sorts of food while reading it and I was fully invested in the Happily Ever After. I’m really looking forward to reading more from Jackie Lau!

*An egalley of this novella was provided by the publisher, Kobo Originals, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Last Encore

I get absolutely no pleasure in having to review books I don’t like. I actually kind of hate it. I don’t go into reading books expecting to dislike them. No, I am usually really good at knowing when I’m going to like something. I also like to give indie authors a shot, as I’ve been doing for over a decade even though I’ve slowed down a bit lately. So it was that reason that I requested to review The Last Encore by indie (and Canadian!) author Elodie Colliard. And. Um. I really didn’t like it.

Here’s the book’s description:

What if love is the key?
Avery Clark needs a break. Between her photography business not doing as well as she’d hoped and incessant family drama that does nothing to ease her spiking anxiety, she needs something to go her way.
And that was even before her ex-best friend, and talented pianist, Joshua Harding, ran into her during an event in Toronto, after he left her suddenly ten years ago, breaking the only promise he had swore he wouldn't.
When an opportunity to grow her business falls into her lap, Avery decides to put her doubts and resentment aside and agrees to photograph Josh’s sister’s upcoming wedding.
As they spend more and more time together, rediscovering each other and the people they turned into, Avery realizes that maybe, the spark she felt ten years ago wasn’t just a fleeting teenage phase.
But the past is never far away, and an unknown future is terrifying. Could Avery take that leap of faith?

First of all, I felt like this book was just too long. It’s listed at being 366 pages which shouldn’t have felt like an obscenely long novel but it was. Perhaps because it felt like nothing of substance was happening?

I wanted to love that the book was set in Canada. And I did, to an extent. I don’t live in Toronto but I’ve visited often enough so I kinda know a bit about the city and I always love when romances are set there. I do live in Niagara and the characters visit Niagara-on-the-Lake a couple of times throughout the book. Although I’m not entirely sure Colliard has been to NOTL herself. Some of the descriptions of getting to the town from Toronto didn’t make much sense and I wondered where, exactly, they were staying. I was weirdly annoyed that, in one scene, she mentioned that the sun was almost set at 4pm. Which, you know, does happen in Canada. But not in October. Also mentioned in October was a Toronto Blue Jays home game. Yes, the Jays could have had a game at home in October but…it would have been playoffs and kind of a big deal. And it was late October so these fictional Jays were killing it that season! These are all nitpicky things but they just ate away at me and once I got to a certain point (likely about 20% in) I just leaned into the things that annoyed me. Never a fun time.

As for the love story…I could almost buy it. What I couldn’t get behind was how the drama unfolded and how long it took to explain why Josh left and why that was a big deal to Avery. And even after all that, I couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal. He was an idiot and she had some things to work out, I get that, but it just didn’t make sense to me. I think this book was supposed to be kind of steamy but I admit I kind of skimmed over the sex scenes (OK, OK, I may have been skimming everything by that point). Talk of consent between the two of them was quite sexy and I give Colliard major props for making that a big part of the story

Writing this review did not bring me joy. But, I have to be honest about the books I read and, honestly, The Last Encore was not very good, plain and simple. It was a total miss for me and that made me sad. I wanted to enjoy Elodie Colliard’s debut novel and I think she could be a good writer with more practice and with a better editor. And maybe not trying to rush publication on a book. I likely won’t read her books again unless trusted friends can convince me she’s grown as a writer.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the author via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.* 

Review: The Foulest Things

Amy Tector’s The Honeybee Emeralds was one of my favourite books of 2022 (review here). So, it was with high expectations that I dove into The Foulest Things, the first book in a new series from Tector that featured a heroine working at the Dominion Archives. Mystery? Archives? I was super intrigued! Unfortunately, the book as a whole left me underwhelmed BUT I’m still really excited about book two, Speak for the Dead, which releases in March.

Here’s the book’s description:

Ottawa, January 2010. Canada’s historic Dominion Archives.
Junior archivist Jess Kendall is struggling to find her footing in her new role. Her colleagues undermine her, her boss hates her, and her only romantic prospect hides a whiskey bottle in his desk. Desperate to make a good impression, Jess’s prospects begin to change when she discovers a series of mysterious letters chronicling life in Paris at the start of the Great War. Thinking she has landed her ticket to career advancement, Jess dives into research in Dominion’s art vault, where she stumbles upon the body of one of her colleagues.
As if finding a corpse isn’t frightening enough, Jess soon notices she is being stalked by a menacing figure. It’s only when Jess makes the connection between the letters, the murder, and a priceless Rembrandt that she realizes just how high the stakes are. Can Jess salvage her career, unravel a World War I–era mystery, shake off her ominous stalker, solve a murder, and—oh yeah—save her own life before it’s too late?

One of my big issues was with Jess herself. I liked her, I really did. But I also thought she was an idiot. And idiots who go around trying to solve mysteries like Nancy Drew don’t sit well with me. She was young, I get that. But here’s the thing - I was close to, if not exactly, the same age she was in 2010 and some of her behaviour just didn’t make much sense. Your first grown up job out of university is a big deal. You don’t know how to act and you’re constantly trying to prove that you’re not a child and you do know your stuff. That, I understood. But some of the other things, which seem so small and minor that I can’t even remember specifics, left me wanting to shake Jess and tell her to use her big, beautiful brain because I knew she had one.

There were some storyline threads that only added to the clunky story (I glazed over any time the story mentioned her mom) and I really, really did not like the epilogue. I found myself getting confused sometimes - either by the storyline or the way the characters were acting. I could just see the glimmering nugget of the heart of the story, waiting to be let free, and I was sad it never really got to shine the way I thought it could.

The actual idea of this book? Oh, I was so in. I worked at a museum for a year and museums and archives have always been fascinating to me so I was really drawn to the fact that this book was set at the Dominion Archives in Ottawa. I liked that Jess was trying to track down items and find the truth of what really happened. I liked the history and mystery weaving together. That’s why I kept reading and why I’m still hopeful that book two will be better.

Clearly, The Foulest Things was not a winner from me. But I still plan to read Amy Tector’s next book in the Dominion Archives mystery series because I am still holding out hope that the brilliant idea she had will come through as an equally brilliant novel. Let’s keep those fingers crossed!

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Every Summer After

My word, THIS BOOK. It’s hard to believe that Every Summer After is Carley Fortune’s debut novel. I’m sure you’ve been seeing this one everywhere and let me tell you, my friends. The. Hype. Is. Real. If you read only one more book this summer, make it this one.

Here’s the book’s description:

Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of spending summers in cottage country, on the glittering lakeshore of her childhood, she stays in a stylish apartment in Toronto, keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.
Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.
For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant, Percy and Sam had been inseparable. And when Percy returns to the lake, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until she can confront the decisions she made, they’ll never know whether their love is bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.
Told over the course of six years in the past and one weekend in the present, Every Summer After is a gorgeously romantic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

It’s hard to say exactly what my favourite part of this book was. I just loved everything about it. The writing. The characters. The romance. The setting. The depth of emotions. Gah. SO GOOD.

So, let’s start with the setting. Barry’s Bay is a real place in Ontario, the province I live in. While I didn’t grow up in that exact area, my hometown is on a bay so I had no problem picturing the cottages and what life would have been like there. I loved how easy it was to place myself in Barry’s Bay and found myself kind of nostalgic for past summers, before adulting got in the way.

This novel is, essentially, a romance. But to call it such will signal, to some people, that it’s a simple tale. It is not. Percy and Sam’s story is far from simple, even though it starts out that way as they become friends, and then something more, after Percy’s parents buy the cottage next to the house where Sam, his older brother, and mom live. Something Major happened to cause the pair to break up and, while it’s hinted at throughout and I felt like I knew the reason, the actual revelation was a shock. The pair did not have an easy road to travel to get back to each other but reading as they figured it out was so satisfying.

There’s a lot of grief in this book. Sam’s dad had died a few years before he and Percy meet, and the reason Percy goes back to Barry’s Bay in the present is a tough one to handle. While I do think everyone and their cousin needs to read this book, if you’re going through a particularly rough patch, perhaps wait to read this one.

I really liked how the book was written and the story was told. It started in the present and then moved back in time. It all made sense, with each chapter clearly labeled so you know what timeline you’re in. The story moved forward with each past section providing more information and insight into the now chapters.

The Readers’ Guide in the back of the book was also a great read and shed a bit of light on the how and why of Fortune’s novel. Fortune and her family moved to Barry’s Bay when she was eight and, while her parents sold the house many years ago, she and her husband and children, rent a cottage nearby every summer. In the summer of 2020 (*shudders*), they were able to have an extended stay and she was hit with the need to write a book. Every Summer After is the result. I could feel the nostalgia when I was reading the book and learning more about Fortune’s background made it all make so much sense.

Every Summer After is a must read. I wanted to dive back into Carley Fortune’s debut novel the second I finished it and have plans to reread it next summer. Buy this book, read it, love it, tell everyone you know about it. You won’t be disappointed.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Framed in Fire

I was a latecomer to the Lane Winslow series having only started reading Iona Whishaw’s mysteries last year. It started with A Killer in King’s Cove, published in 2015, and Framed in Fire, the ninth book in the bestselling series, is about to be published. I absolutely devoured it over the Easter long weekend – both wanting to finish the story so I would know how it ended and wanting to savour every last page of this great installment.

Here’s the book’s description:

It’s early spring 1948 and Lane arrives in New Denver to find that her friend, Peter Barisoff, is not at home. Instead, in a nearby meadow, she encounters Tom, an Indigenous man in search of his ancestral lands. Lane is intrigued. Unfortunately, once Peter returns home, the day takes a gloomy turn when the trio uncovers human remains next to Peter’s garden, and Lane must tell her husband, Inspector Darling, that she’s inadvertently stumbled into his professional domain—again.
Back in Nelson, the Vitalis, Lane and Darling’s favourite restaurateurs, are victims of arson. Constable Terrell’s investigation suggests prejudice as a motive, and the case quickly escalates, as the Vitalis receive increasingly threatening notes of warning. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ames works a robbery while alienating Tina Van Eyck in his personal time, and a swirling rumour sets the entire station on edge and prompts an RCMP investigation into Darling’s integrity.
Amid the local bustle series readers have come to love, Framed in Fire is bound up in difficult questions of community and belonging, and the knowledge that trusted neighbours can sometimes be as sinister as a stranger in the dark.

There are a lot of things I love about this series. One of them is the historical facts Whishaw weaves into her mysteries. We had already met Barisoff and learned of the struggles his people, the Doukhobors, had endured when they fled Russia for Canada. In this book, Whishaw honours the First Nations people who would have lived in the area where Lane and her friends now reside. The Sinixt lived in what is now the West Kootenay region and, though there are still a few who reside in Canada (most are in Washington state), the Canadian government declared the Sinixt extinct in 1956 (not long after Lane’s story took place). Whishaw treated the Sinixt story with, what I believe is, respect and explains in her acknowledgements who she spoke to and the information she relied on from her sources to make sure she was respectful. She noted that she had had no idea about the Indigenous people who would have lived in her area and I’m glad she learned about them and could weave their story into Lane’s.

Another thing I love about these books is Lane herself. She is, as one of the characters in this book says, a warrior. She’s absolutely magnificent and I don’t blame her husband’s Sergeant, the affable Ames, for being so (platonically) infatuated with her. I am too! Given I love me some World War II historical fiction stories, I’d love to know exactly what Lane got up to during the war but then this series wouldn’t be what it is – a story of a woman who went through hell during a war and is trying (and succeeding) to rebuild her life in the peace and quiet of another country. Well, it would be peaceful if she didn’t go around finding dead bodies all the time! She’s incredibly intelligent (she’d have to be, given what she had to do during the war) and I love that the men in this series (including the aforementioned Ames as well as her husband, Inspector Darling) have nothing but the utmost respect for her. They don’t find her a nuisance when she has a thought about a case and they only get growly because they want her to be safe. What I wouldn’t give to pull up a chair on Lane’s back porch and settle in with a restorative drink to hear some of her stories.

Now, the actual mystery in this mystery novel involved, as per usual, a few different cases. I wasn’t sure if they would end up being related or not and I loved reading along and trying to connect the dots alongside Lane and Darling. I can’t say I saw the ending coming, which is always a delight when reading a mystery novel. Sure, I like feeling like I’m smart and could figure out the end but I kind of like having no idea right up until the final reveal.

I cannot recommend the Lane Winslow mystery series enough. Iona Whishaw is an immensely talented writer and she has created a heroine and a series that is so incredibly delightful to read. Framed in Fire was so, so very good and I highly encourage everyone to read it – and the rest of the books in the series!

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, TouchWood Editions, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Bluebird

It is no secret that I love everything Genevieve Graham writes. (And if you didn’t know that…where have you been?) I’ve been so very excited about Bluebird since Graham first hinted at the storyline so my hopes were high for another great read. Even with sky high expectations, Graham managed to smash them and delivered a stunning historical fiction novel that I was completely riveted by. I didn’t want it to end.

Here’s the book’s description:

Present day
Cassie Simmons, a museum curator, is enthusiastic about solving mysteries from the past, and she has a personal interest in the history of the rumrunners who ferried illegal booze across the Detroit River during Prohibition. So when a cache of whisky labeled Bailey Brothers’ Best is unearthed during a local home renovation, Cassie hopes to find the answers she’s been searching for about the legendary family of bootleggers...
1918
Corporal Jeremiah Bailey of the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company is tasked with planting mines in the tunnels beneath enemy trenches. After Jerry is badly wounded in an explosion, he finds himself in a Belgium field hospital under the care of Adele Savard, one of Canada’s nursing sisters, nicknamed “Bluebirds” for their blue gowns and white caps. As Jerry recovers, he forms a strong connection with Adele, who is from a place near his hometown of Windsor, along the Detroit River. In the midst of war, she’s a welcome reminder of home, and when Jerry is sent back to the front, he can only hope that he’ll see his bluebird again.
By war’s end, both Jerry and Adele return home to Windsor, scarred by the horrors of what they endured overseas. When they cross paths one day, they have a chance to start over. But the city is in the grip of Prohibition, which brings exciting opportunities as well as new dangerous conflicts that threaten to destroy everything they have fought for.

What I, and so many others, love about Graham’s novels is that they feature Canadian history – and often the parts of our history that are lesser-known. Yes, most people know that Canadians fought in World War I and anyone who lives near the US/Canadian border knows how important Prohibition was to the Canadian towns along the water. But the specifics about the Canadian Tunnelling Company and the nursing sisters, like Adele? I can’t say I knew anything about them. (And if tunnellers sound familiar, yes, Graham was inspired by Peaky Blinders.) 

Not only is the history presented in Graham’s novel our history but it’s so incredibly well researched. True, I don’t know what it was like to live in this time period so I can’t say for sure that Graham is 100% accurate. But, like many historical fiction authors, she outlines the research she did and mentions some of the sources she used to help craft her narrative. That, to me, shows the author put the work into determining what life was really like and was able to create a story that suited the time period. Another great thing about Graham’s work is that I never feel like a history textbook is being recited at me. The historical facts are woven into the fictional narrative so seamlessly that you can almost forget you’re reading a book set a hundred years ago.

Some people may think that the “present day” sections aren’t necessary but I’d argue that they are. There are only a few pieces of story told from Cassie’s point of view but they do help move the story along. And I think these types of stories – ones that feature characters who lived so very long ago – need something to ground the reader. The reader is in Cassie’s shoes and it helps them realize why this story, about people who died so long ago, matters now. And maybe I’m a bit precious about the present day sections because it was me and my colleagues who helped Graham determine she needed to connect with Cassie (who, yes, really exists) at the Maison François Baby House in Windsor.

It’s so hard to write a review for a book that I loved so, so, so much. Bluebird was one of those books. Genevieve Graham has written seven historical fiction novels now and this latest one? It just may have catapulted itself to the top of my favourites list. It was so well written, and full of fascinating facts and characters that feel like friends. I hope you buy a copy of this one soon and love it just as much as I did.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Kamila Knows Best

I only finally read my first Farah Heron book in 2021, even though I'd had a copy of The Chai Factor on my shelf since it had been published in 2019. Kamila Knows Best is Heron’s latest novel and the rom com based on Jane Austen’s Emma was such a delight to read.

Here’s the book’s description:

Kamila Hussain’s life might not be perfect, but, whew, it’s close. She lives a life of comfort, filled with her elaborate Bollywood movie parties, a dog with more Instagram followers than most reality stars, a job she loves, and an endless array of friends who clearly need her help finding love. In fact, Kamila is so busy with her friends’ love lives, she’s hardly given any thought to her own . . .
Fortunately, Kamila has Rohan Nasser. A longtime friend of the family, he’s hugely successful, with the deliciously lean, firm body of a rock climber. Only lately, Kamila’s “harmless flirting” with Rohan is making her insides do a little bhangra dance.
But between planning the local shelter’s puppy prom, throwing a huge work event, and proving to everyone that she’s got it all figured out, Kamila isn’t letting herself get distracted—until her secret nemesis returns to town with an eye for Rohan. Suddenly, it seems like the more Kamila tries to plan, the more things are starting to unravel—and her perfectly ordered life is about to be turned upside down.

You don’t have to have read Emma to enjoy this novel but I think Austen fans will appreciate it that much more. I was having serious Clueless vibes throughout which made sense when I read Heron’s note at the end where she says that’s her favourite adaptation. This is, clearly, not a faithful adaptation (can you imagine Austen watching Bollywood films? How amazing would that be?) but Heron captured the essence of Emma and put her own refreshing twist on the classic novel. I am glad I reread Emma back in 2020 as I enjoyed it a lot more than the last time I read it and, if I hadn’t, I don’t think I could have enjoyed Kamila Knows Best as I did.

I don’t know if it was just my mood but it took me until about halfway through the book before I was really feeling the story. It could have been partially because Kamila, like Emma, is pretty self-centred and it took awhile for me to really see Kamila’s big heart. There’s a scene in Emma where Emma is incredibly rude to one of the spinster women in her social circle and it’s always hard to read because it’s just so mean. Heron reimagines the scene with a different character and, honestly, I felt that Kamila was justified in her response. Jana was just as rude, if not more so, and I couldn’t blame Kamila for lashing out. Was it a bit immature? Maybe. But she was hurt. I always appreciated her self-confidence and realized I was totally Team Kamila as other characters kept constantly slamming her for enjoying fashion and couldn’t understand that she was an incredibly smart and competent woman. I was not having it and I was so proud of Kamila for standing up for herself.   

As always, I loved that Heron set this book in Toronto. Any time I find a romance set in Canada, I’m a happy camper (and I adore Forever for publishing so many of them and understanding that everyone enjoys Canadian set books). I also loved experiencing Kamila’s Indian lifestyle and her weekly Bollywood parties. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a Bollywood movie myself but Heron wrote Kamila’s parties so well that I was experiencing major FOMO while reading the book. And even though I don’t enjoy most Indian spices (I love spicy but not certain spices), I was so hungry as I was reading. 

Kamila Knows Best is another great rom com from Farah Heron. I had a lot of fun reading it and think other rom com lovers – especially Jane Austen fans – will enjoy it too.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Looking for Jane

There aren’t many things that feel better to an avid reader than being absolutely surprised and delighted by a book. I expected to enjoy Looking for Jane, Heather Marshall’s debut novel, of course. I didn’t, however, expect it to be my first five star read of the year. I loved every single thing about this book and will be recommending it to all historical fiction fans for the rest of the year. Probably longer.

Here’s the book’s description:

Tell them you’re looking for Jane.
2017
When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten mail, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane...
1971
As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had.
1980
After discovering a shocking secret about her family history, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.

Historical fiction is not created equally and Marshall has proven already that she is a strong addition to the genre. I never felt like I was reading a textbook but I definitely felt like I was completely immersed in the time(s) she was writing about. I hadn't thought too much about what the underground abortion network would have looked like in Canada. Or the US. Marshall states in her author’s note (does any other historical fiction fans love reading those notes just as much as the story?) that the Jane Network didn’t technically exist in Canada and she kind of combined networks and stories she learned while researching. There aren’t as many recorded stories as you may expect because so many records were destroyed after the abortion, if they were ever written down in the first place. And oral histories aren’t abundant either because some women don’t want to discuss their abortions, either because of trauma or shame. Even with those potential gaps in research, Marshall was still able to put together a smart, well researched novel.

Marshall had three different characters she was writing about and they were all so strong. Angela didn’t seem to be in the novel quite as much as Evelyn and Nancy but she plays an important part and her sections are impactful. I often find with multiple perspectives that I enjoy one character over the other(s). I didn’t have that feeling with this book. It could be that there was eventual overlap so I didn’t really feel like I was “missing” the other characters. But I think it has a lot to do with the way Marshall wrote the women and their stories. I cared about all of them and the story flowed really well.

If you know my reading tastes, you might be surprised that I loved a book with such strong themes of motherhood. I have absolutely no desire to be a mother and tend to shy away from books with those themes because I usually can't identify with them. I think what worked for me was that this was historical fiction and feminist. And, you know, I don’t hate mothers. I also felt like this was still really relevant in today's world. Canada legalized abortions well after the US but if you've paid attention to the news, even a little bit, you know there are still laws (and new ones being created) that limit a pregnant person's options. And these laws are being created, for the most part, by men. It's infuriating. 

I don’t often like to compare authors or books to others in a similar genre because there are so many nuances. That said, anyone who enjoys bestselling authors Genevieve Graham or Jennifer Robson will definitely enjoy Heather Marshall’s novel. She writes a quieter type of historical fiction and gives a story with heart and characters that will stick with you. I absolutely cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Looking for Jane was everything I wanted and more. I loved Heather Marshall’s debut (!?!) novel and cannot recommend it enough. It has a lot of tough storylines, so be kind to yourself, but it is most definitely worth a read.

Content warnings: abortion, adoption, infertility, death of a child, rape (off page)

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.* 

Review: Evening

I'm not much of a literary fiction reader but sometimes a title catches my eye and I want to give it a try. Evening by Nessa Rapoport was one of those novels and I ended up enjoying it. Released in fall 2020, the story follows a plot but also focuses on reflecting on choices made in life and what it means to mourn.

Here's the book's description:

In her thirties, Eve is summoned home by her distraught family to mourn the premature death of her sister, Tam, a return that becomes an unexpected encounter with the past. Eve bears the burden of a secret: Two weeks before Tam died, Eve and Tam argued so vehemently that they did not speak again. Her sister was famous, acclaimed for her career as a TV journalist and her devoted marriage. But Tam, too, had a secret, revealed the day after the funeral, one that inverts the story Eve has told herself since their childhood. In the aftermath, Eve is forced to revise her version of her fractured family, her sister’s accomplishments and vaunted marriage, and her own impeded ambition in work and love.
Day by day as the family sits shiva, the stories unfold, illuminating the past​ to shape the present. Evening explores the dissonant love between sisters, the body in longing, the pride we take in sustaining our illusions, and the redemption that is possible only when they are dispelled.

The novel is set in Toronto, a city not so far from my own, but not in the present day. I now can't recall if the exact year was ever divulged but I'd guess it was the late 80s or early 90s.While that doesn't seem like it was that long ago, a lot has changed since that time. By setting the novel in a time other than the present, it added an extra something. I liked that there were no cell phones or laptops or social media during the time the family was sitting shiva together which seemed to allow for a more isolated feeling to the mourning period. 

Normally I love my genre fiction that has a clear beginning, middle, and end (preferably with an expected romantic Happily Ever After) and characters I like (and like reading about) so reading more literary novels is an undertaking for me. I like to expand my reading bubble, though, and I'm glad I did with Rapoport's novel. 

I liked the way the novel was formatted with the book sectioned into days as the family sits shiva. This also helped me feel like the story had a defined structure. At first, I wanted to say that the story was mostly told in "present" day but, upon reflection, there were a number of scenes set in the past that helped illuminate the relationships Eve had with those around her - most importantly, her sister. Even though Tam has died, I was still able to feel like I knew her, through Eve's memories.

I'm not Jewish and am only somewhat familiar with the tradition of sitting shiva. I enjoyed learning a little bit more about it, even though I know the point of the novel isn't to overtly teach the reader.

Grief and relationships between sisters are so well explored in this novel and, even while deeply sad, was beautiful to read. Being one of a pair of sisters means having a unique bond, but one that is common between almost every other pair of sisters. It's hard to explain unless you're in it and I found Rapoport was able to explore that really well, even though the majority of the novel was told from present day when one of the sisters had died. Reading this story made me miss my own younger sister, who's an ocean away, and all I wanted to do is wrap her in a giant hug. 

Evening wasn't a novel I would typically pick up but I'm thankful I chose to read Nessa Rapoport's novel. During a time when the entire world is dealing with various levels of grief, it was interesting and enlightening to read a story where a family is grieving the untimely death of a young woman. I think the way the novel made me feel is going to stick with me for awhile.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Publishers Group Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*