Review: The Next Worst Thing

I used to read romances of all shapes and sizes all the time. I’ve been balancing my romance reads with more mysteries as well as my beloved historical fiction and, these days, I tend to read more rom coms than romances. And I think there’s a reason. I’m finding it harder to connect with the love interests in such sweet stories. The Next Worst Thing was one of those chaste romances and I just couldn’t get invested in Sara Jane Woodley’s latest novel. I wanted to enjoy it, obviously I really did. But it ultimately let me down and I’ll probably forget all about it as soon as I hit publish on this post. Was it the worst thing? No, not really. (Unlike that pun!) It just wasn’t a book for me.

Here’s the book’s description:

I’m just trying to get through this week alive.
I didn’t ask to organize this wedding. And I certainly didn’t ask for the world’s worst best man as an assistant.
But my brother is marrying the love of his life, and I’ll stop at nothing to give him a perfect wedding day–and get our family’s Inn some much-needed publicity in the process.
Which means playing nice with James Weston.
My brother’s best friend and I have been feuding for as long as I can remember. We don’t like each other, plain and simple.
Or is it?
Is it possible that James isn’t the monster I’ve always thought him to be? And why does he keep showing up to save me right when I need him? (Not that I’d EVER admit it).
Falling for James is not on my carefully color-coordinated agenda.
Too bad nothing seems to go according to plan when James Weston is around…

Audiobooks always take me a little bit longer to read, especially these days when I don’t have time for long walks or working on puzzles or crafts (even though I need to go for walks and have an abundance of puzzles and crafts to do!) and my commute is only about 20 minutes. Long enough to listen, for sure, but not quite long enough to get totally stuck into a story. But. I can make time to listen and when I don’t? I know that’s probably the book’s fault. It took me so long to get through The Next Worst Thing because I just wasn’t excited about getting back to it.

There was a lot about this book I should have liked. Brother’s best friend with a hint of teenage crush (even if they didn’t realize at the time that they were totally into each other)? Small town? Event planner heroine? Swoony, English-accented hero? All things I love. And yet…I struggled hard with this story. I don’t think I particularly loved Ivy – she seemed so self-deprecating for no reason and no one likes when a strong, independent lady doesn’t realize that she’s a bad ass. She had a loving family in her brother and grandparents and none of them thought she was less-than for being a woman (though it would have been great if her grandparents had listened to her or she had tried harder to tell them how she felt about the inn). She had a fabulous BFF in Daisy. So, what, she was clumsy? I’m clumsy. You know how many doors and walls I walk into? I don’t let that embarrass me. I laugh, confirm to colleagues that, yes, I DID just shoulder check a doorframe, and move on.

The other issue was all the “miscommunication” that ran rampant in the story. Yes. I used quotes. There wasn't any real miscommunication. If people had just freaking TALKED to each other there would have been zero drama. So, I couldn’t get behind any of the issues that popped up. It made the characters all seem so young and immature.

Speaking of young and immature. I have absolutely no idea how old the characters were supposed to be. There were mentions of ages and how long ago they had been in high school but none of it really added up. Should that have mattered? No. Was I already annoyed so any little thing bothered me? Um. Yes.

As I mentioned, I listened to this one on audiobook and I really liked that there were two narrators. It helped me get a bit more invested in the story than I think I would have otherwise. Justis Bolding and Oliver Hunt did a great job bringing Ivy and James to life (even if I found them two-dimensional). Hunt had a delightful accent which also helped! His female dialogue voice was…a tad irritating at times but I’ve for sure heard worse. And Bolding was able to pull off an English accent when she was voicing James. I’d be happy to listen to more audiobooks by either narrator.

Obviously, The Next Worst Thing was not a winner for me. The basic romance and the miscommunication between pretty much every single character was just too much for me to be able to fall in love with Sara Jane Woodley’s novel. It is the first in a series and I will say that I’m ever so slightly intrigued to find out what happens next with the characters in Mirror Valley so it wasn’t a total write off. Maybe I’d like the next romance more?

*An ALC was provided by the publisher, Dreamscape Media, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Messy Lives of Book People

Look at this cover! Is it any wonder I needed to read The Messy Lives of Book People? I hadn’t read any of Phaedra Patrick’s books before, but I was enchanted by the description, title, and, yes, the cover of her latest book. The story itself didn’t quite live up to my expectation but I enjoyed my time reading it.

Here’s the book’s description:

Have you ever wished you were someone else?
Mother of two Liv Green barely scrapes by as a maid to make ends meet, often finding escape in a good book while daydreaming of becoming a writer herself. So she can't believe her luck when she lands a job housekeeping for her personal hero, megabestselling author Essie Starling, a mysterious and intimidating recluse. The last thing Liv expected was to be the only person Essie talks to, which leads to a tenuous friendship.
But when Essie dies suddenly, a devastated Liv is astonished to learn of her last wish: for Liv to complete Essie's final novel. But to do so Liv will have to step into Essie's shoes, and as Liv begins to write, she uncovers secrets from the past that reveal a surprising connection between the two women--one that will change Liv's own story forever...

The older I get, the more I appreciate reading about characters who aren’t twentysomething women. I’m not a mother, of course, but I’m also not fresh out of school and making my way in the world on my own for the first time. So, I appreciated reading Liv’s story even more because it wasn’t her first rodeo either. She had lived but she still had so many life experiences and changes ahead of her.

The premise of this was really intriguing – a booklover working for her favourite author? Who then tasks her to finish her novel? I couldn’t help but wonder how I would have handled that. Probably not much better than Liv, to be honest. Still, I found myself wondering what the hell Liv was thinking with some of her decisions. There was maybe a little too much reliance on secrets and not fully communicating with other characters that made it hard for me to really get behind some of Liv’s actions. I couldn’t understand the reason for all the secrecy or why she was refusing to talk to those close to her – it’s was like in romances when SO MUCH could have been avoided if the love interests had just TALKED to each other. Conflict for the sake of conflict, you know?

One of the things that kept me reading was, in fact, those secrets. There were a few that were hidden to the reader and revealed at the end and holy man I didn’t see it coming. Was it a bit too convenient? Oh, maybe. But it worked with the rest of the story and how kind of sort of unbelievable it was.

The Messy Lives of Book People didn’t thrill me but I was delighted enough that I’ll be searching out Phaedra Patrick’s backlist and next novel.

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

Review: Dream On

I didn’t get a chance to read Angie Hockman’s novel Shipped when it was released but it sounded so great that I jumped at the chance to read her most recent book, Dream On. It was a really sweet and lovely romance that I had fun reading, even if I knew it wouldn’t be one that would stay with me for a long time.

Here’s the book’s description:

What would you do if your dream man turned out to be real?
When law student Cass Walker wakes up after surviving a car accident, she is flooded with memories of her boyfriend, Devin. The only problem? Devin doesn’t exist. But everything she remembers about him feels so real, like the precise shade of his coffee-brown eyes; the texture of his favorite hand-me-down scarf; even the slightly crooked angle of his pinkie, broken after falling off a trampoline in third grade. She knows he’s a figment of her imagination—friends, family, and doctors confirm it—but she still can’t seem to get him out of her head.
So when she runs into the real Devin a year later in a Cleveland flower shop, she’s completely shocked. Even more surprising is that Devin actually believes her story, and soon they embark on a real-life romance. With her dream man by her side and an upcoming summer job at a prestigious law firm, Cass’s future seems perfect. But fate might have other plans...

That description sounds completely bonkers, doesn’t it? The plot of this one was almost too bizarre to be believed but if you can just let the story happen, you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more. My attitude was sort of, “well, this is highly unbelievable but I’m just going to roll with it and see what happens” and what happened worked out alright!

That said…it was kind of hard to get behind Cass’s stubborn conviction that she was absolutely meant to be with Devin. It was like she couldn’t contemplate anything else and just had to believe in her false memories, even after she meets him and he has no idea who she is. Granted, she had a traumatic experience and was trying to cling to something that, to her, was familiar. But I definitely had a few moments of thinking, “Girl, what are you DOING?!? He’s the WRONG MAN.” She had to figure that out for herself, of course, but it took some time to get there.

I was very clearly rooting for a particular romantic Happily Ever After and, while I did get it, I kind of wanted MORE of their relationship. Maybe I’m just greedy!

And now for something that has absolutely no bearing on the story but I need to mention: I love that it was set in Cleveland. I’ve been there a couple of times and have thoroughly enjoyed each visit. I can’t wait to visit again!

Dream On was a sweet and fun romance. I enjoyed reading Angie Hockman’s latest novel and will definitely still be checking out Shipped and whatever she writes next!

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

Review: 50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover

I love finding new-to-me romance authors, especially when they’re Canadian. I hadn’t read Kelly Siskind’s novels before but I jumped at the chance to read 50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover – and not only because the title was so ridiculously intriguing! The novel was just as ridiculous but in the BEST possible way. I devoured this romance and had so much fun reading it.

Here’s the book’s description:

Growing up, I had it all—my art, close friends, a gorgeous girlfriend who owned my heart—but then my life exploded.
Turns out my father was laundering money, and my whole family got shoved into witness protection. No notice. No chance to explain. I was ripped away from beautiful, blue-eyed Delilah Moon, shattering both our worlds.
A decade later, fate has given us a second chance.
The cartel my father worked for has been wiped out. I’ve returned to my hometown, determined to win back the love of my life. But Delilah is engaged.
Or . . . is she?
I’m almost positive she’s lying about her fiancé to protect her heart. Which means I need to up my game.
I’ve made a list of fifty ways to prove we’re meant to be. Except Delilah’s barely looking at me, never mind swooning. I have a feeling my disappearance scarred her more than she’s admitting, and no one in town will tell me what happened . . .

One unexpected thing about this novel was that it was written entirely from E’s point of view. It’s not often you read romances written by women that are told solely from the male’s perspective. It totally worked though! At least, I thought so…I wonder what any straight males would think but, hey, this is a romance novel – not everything has to be realistic. Remember that: the leads in romance novels are not real life! I loved E so very much though and hearing the story from his POV made me love him even more.

Of course, E was a total bonehead sometimes. How he thought a ridiculous list of 50 things would help him win back Delilah, I don’t know. It was like he was trying to be all suave and pretending to be someone he wasn’t. No wonder it wasn’t working! Thankfully, he realizes the list is SO not going to work and he relies on what he remembers about Delilah and what he’s learning about her as he gets to know her again as adults.

There’s a lot of missing information in Delilah’s story and the suspense drawing it out was pretty well done. I do think it should have been revealed sooner because by the time I learned the full story, I was thinking, “OK, OK, just tell me what happened to her after E left already!” I had a lot of theories though I wasn’t quite expecting what ended up being the truth. I won’t give anything away but if you have issues with anything surrounding pregnancy or the inability to become pregnant, be prepared. And my DMs are open (kaleys23) if you want to know the full extent of the storyline.

I loved the small-town setting and the second chance romance trope. I’m getting a bit tired of the “we were SO IN LOVE when we were 18 and then we were torn apart and no one has managed to capture my heart since” because, who knows themselves at 18? And I say this having had the same partner since 18 – but we’ve grown and changed together, and I didn’t roll back into town expecting everything to be the same. I think I kind of gave E a pass on this one because the way he and Delilah were torn apart gave them zero closure so they really had to work that out before they could even begin to contemplate being together again as adults. It took time for them to realize that, of course, but the journey getting there was an angst-filled delight of a time.

If you’re a fan of dramatic and angsty romances, you really need to read 50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover. I thoroughly enjoyed Kelly Siskind’s novel, and I cannot wait for the second book in the Bower Boys series, which comes out in January. I’ll definitely be checking out her back list in the future as well!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Thomas Allen & Son, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Fiery Girls

I’ve been reading Heather Wardell’s novels for a long, long time. And even though I adore everything she writes, Fiery Girls still sat on my TBR for an embarrassingly long time. It was released in March 2021 and I only got around to reading it in June 2022 (and, you know, am reviewing it now because of schoolwork!). Oops! This was Wardell’s first historical fiction. It was a solid effort and was one I enjoyed reading.

Here's the book’s description:

Two young immigrant women. One historic strike. And the fire that changed America.
In 1909, shy sixteen-year-old Rosie Lehrer is sent to New York City to earn money for her family’s emigration from Russia. She will, but she also longs to make her mark on the world before her parents arrive and marry her to a suitable Jewish man. Could she somehow become one of the passionate and articulate “fiery girls” of her garment workers’ union?
Maria Cirrito, spoiled and confident at sixteen, lands at Ellis Island a few weeks later. She’s supposed to spend four years earning American wages then return home to Italy with her new-found wealth to make her family’s lives better. But the boy she loves has promised, with only a little coaxing, to follow her to America and marry her. So she plans to stay forever. With him.
Rosie and Maria meet and become friends during the “Uprising of the 20,000” garment workers’ strike, and they’re working together at the Triangle Waist Company on March 25, 1911 when a discarded cigarette sets the factory ablaze. 146 people die that day, and even those who survive will be changed forever.

While I did really enjoy this story, and had it read quickly because I was so invested, it had some flaws. I struggled with the dual narration and, to some extent, the characters themselves. Something about the two girls just never full clicked for me. Did I have issues with my own contemporary views being pushed onto historical characters? Maybe. Would it have been better if it was only told from one perspective? Perhaps. Having two different immigrant experiences was interesting from a historical point of view but for the storyline and plot? Not sure. (How many more questions can I ask and answer myself? Let's see!)

The historical event the novel explores is not a happy one. It was actually really tough to read the chapters on the fire, as well as the time immediately leading up to it and the aftermath. Wardell doesn’t pull any punches and it’s a gut wrenching, emotional experience reading as the factory caught fire. As hard as it was to read, I’m glad to have learned more about the fire and the circumstances leading up to it, like the unions and fight for rights.

From a historical fiction perspective (and you all know I love me some historical fiction), Fiery Girls is a major winner. It explores a main topic (the Triangle Waist Company fire) I didn’t know anything about as well as giving me more background on some side topics I was only somewhat familiar with (immigration, working conditions, women’s rights). Heather Wardell remains a favourite of mine and I’m looking forward to what she writes next.

*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: Small Town, Big Magic

It’s almost Spooky Season which, for me, means cursing the cooler weather (I’m sure I’m a Fall Girl at heart but I hate hate hate saying goodbye to warm weather and knowing snow is coming!), drinking pumpkin beer, and reading witchy books. I don’t particularly love Halloween (other than the tiny chocolate bars) and scary stuff is so not my jam. But novels featuring witches? Especially with a dash of romance? Oh yes. I’m into that. So, I was really interested in Hazel Beck’s novel Small Town, Big Magic which is the start of a new, contemporary magical series. It wasn't the best but it actually was fun to read!

Here's the book’s description:

Witches aren't real. Right?
No one has civic pride quite like Emerson Wilde. As a local indie bookstore owner and youngest-ever Chamber of Commerce president, she’d do anything for her hometown of St. Cyprian, Missouri. After all, Midwest is best! She may be descended from a witch who was hanged in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials, but there’s no sorcery in doing your best for the town you love.
Or is there?
As she preps Main Street for an annual festival, Emerson notices strange things happening around St. Cyprian. Strange things that culminate in a showdown with her lifelong arch-rival, Mayor Skip Simon. He seems to have sent impossible, paranormal creatures after her. Creatures that Emerson dispatches with ease, though she has no idea how she’s done it. Is Skip Simon…a witch? Is Emerson?
It turns out witches are real, and Emerson is one of them. She failed a coming-of-age test at age eighteen—the only test she’s ever failed!—and now, as an adult, her powers have come roaring back.
But she has little time to explore those powers, or her blossoming relationship with her childhood friend, cranky-yet-gorgeous local farmer Jacob North: an ancient evil has awakened in St. Cyprian, and it’s up to Emerson and her friends—maybe even Emerson herself—to save everything she loves.

Emerson was…interesting. Truthfully? She drove me bonkers. But…I still cared about what she was up to? I think I just struggle with people who think they know best and try to manage everyone in their circle. I think what helped me enjoy reading about Emerson was that she wasn’t doing anything because she was cruel. She just figured she knew what was best. And I can’t imagine it would have been easy to find out that everything you thought was true was…not.

I also wasn’t totally sold on the romance in this one. Friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes so you’d think I’d be All In when it came to Emerson and Jacob. But the fact that he was grumpy for no apparent reason (turns out there was a reason) and the whole magic amnesia thing…something didn’t quite work for me. Was I still rooting for them? Duh. I love me a Happily Ever After (or, in this case, a Happy For Now). But the tension just wasn’t quite…right.

I always enjoy seeing how different authors approach magic and what rules they put in place in their worlds. I also always appreciate a nod to the history of witches and Salem and so on. (Maybe that’s the historical fiction lover in me!) I liked that there were different types of witches in Beck’s world and they had different types of powers and they were stronger together with one of each type of witch.

In all honesty, looking back at Small Town, Big Magic has me wondering what, exactly, kept me turning the pages and why I’m looking forward to the second book. I think I enjoyed the broad strokes of the story – the why of the cursed town and what will happen – more than the narrow specifics – the personalities of the characters and so on. I will definitely read the next book in the series but it will be one I’ll borrow from my local library.

*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: The Winners

I was kind of late to the Beartown game. I knew about the book but wasn't entirely sure I'd enjoy it. My book club decided to read it in the summer of 2018 and then I finally understood what people were talking about. It was incredible and I immediately put the second book, Us Against You, on hold at the library (I loved it too). I was so grateful and excited to receive an ARC of book three, The Winners, (seriously - there was squealing when I opened the envelope). This book. Oh, my heart. It is everything.

Here's the book's description:

Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them?
As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink.
So what are the residents of Beartown willing to sacrifice for their home?
Everything.

This book is massive. It’s a chunky, hefty tome that clocks in at roughly 680 pages. On the one hand, I’m not sure why it had to be that long. On the other, well, I’m so so so very glad it was. I didn’t want the story to be over so I was thankful to have so many pages of this book to read. This is a story that you don’t want to see the end of.

I’ve only read this series from Backman so I don’t know how he writes his other books. This series though? I can’t properly explain how perfectly he’s written this story. It’s not written like most other books I’ve read. There’s a third person omniscient narrator who knows everything that’s happening or has happened in the story. They even know what will happen even if they don’t always tell us (that first chapter though…). It’s the perfect way to tell a story with a bajillion characters who all need to be featured. And if that sounds confusing, it’s totally not. This series works because it’s telling the story of a community, not just one or two characters (even if there are a few who shine brighter than others).

I’m a pretty emotional person who cries more at books than movies or TV but doesn’t always cry at scenes you’d expect. And sometimes it seems like I have an empty space in place of a heart when gut-punch scenes don’t affect me at all. *shrugs* I went in prepared to have All The Feels with this book thought and, friends, it got me. It did take longer than I expected for the tears to come but I had to fight not to sob when I was getting to the end (maybe don’t read this book in the lunchroom at work?) EVEN THOUGH I knew what was going to happen. Backman dropped hints throughout but, my god, it still hurt when you were actually reading it.

If you haven’t yet experienced the magic that is Beartown, you absolutely must read this series. The Winners is a perfect conclusion to a series I never wanted to see end. As much as it broke my heart, it couldn’t have ended any other way. Fredrik Backman is a writing wizard and I’m so very glad I’ve been able to get lost in this series.

*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.*