Review: To All the Dogs I've Loved Before

Recently I’ve found myself not being drawn to traditional romances. I love my rom coms and other stories (contemporary or otherwise) with heavy romance elements but something about the sweeter, Happily Ever After stories hasn’t been working for me lately. But To All the Dogs I’ve Loved Before? Oh. Oh, friends. I adored it. It’s the third book in Lizzie Shane’s Pine Hollow series and I have to say it’s my favourite.

Here’s the book’s description:

The last person librarian Elinor Rodriguez wants to spend time with is her first love, Levi Jackson, but it seems her mischievous rescue dog has other ideas. Without fail, Dory slips from the house whenever Elinor’s back is turned. And in Pine Hollow, calls about a dog herding cars on Main Street go straight to Levi. The quietly intense lawman broke Elinor’s heart once, and now she’s determined to move on, no matter how much she misses him.
As the kid who barely graduated—and still struggles to hide his dyslexia—Levi always believed that Elinor was way out of his league. Even though he ended their engagement all those years ago, Elinor still takes Levi’s breath away whenever he sees her. But with a little help from a four-legged friend, Levi and Elinor may just get the second chance they deserve.

I’ve been burned by second chance romances in the recent past so I admit I was a tad wary of this one and how the trope would play out. Happily, it totally worked for me. Elinor and Levi had had an on again-off again relationship for years and they had such a solid friendship foundation. Their romantic relationship ended only a few years ago so it wasn’t like they were wide-eyed high school kids when they broke up. They had some big issues to work through and I was almost worried that they wouldn’t be able to get past them. There wasn’t really miscommunication so much as no communication and Elinor didn’t really understand why Levi ended things. She was quite protective of her heart, and I couldn’t blame her, so I was firmly Team Elinor as Levi worked on his issues.

Speaking of Levi’s issues, it was sometimes difficult to get past his “woe is me, no one can love me because I’m not worth it” feelings. They’re totally valid feelings and I’m so SO glad that Shane had him work past his prejudices to therapy and realize how much it can help. It just seemed like that was the only thing holding him back from being with Elinor and he refused to discuss it. It got a bit repetitive by the time they figured everything out.

Some of the storyline was pretty heavy because Levi’s personal issues were tough for him and Elinor was still working through her grief after the death of her best friend. Shane made sure to have some light hearted moments throughout to keep this romance more sweet than sad. Dory’s antics provided some much needed levity and the couple-to-be’s friends were always welcome on page. It was nice to get caught up on what was happening with the crew from the previous books and planning for a wedding always makes for some good stories.

An aside: I loved that Elinor and her sisters were all named after Jane Austen characters. It was a delightful added bonus for this Austenite.

I just loved getting back to Pine Hollow and the world and characters Lizzie Shane created. I really, really enjoyed reading To All the Dogs I’ve Loved Before and was a bit sad when it was all over. I’m looking forward to book 4, about Elinor’s sister, but it will take some time before I can accept it’ll be a new story and won’t be focused on Elinor and Levi who I just adored.

Content warnings: grief (death of best friend and mother in the past and off-page), cancer (death by in the past and off-page and side character currently in remission), father-son strained relationship (some emotional abuse when growing up)

Read my review of The Twelve Dogs of Christmas
Read my review of Once Upon a Puppy

*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: Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words

There’s not much more that frustrates me as a reader and a reviewer as when I read a book that I’m expecting to enjoy but I don’t and I don’t know why. There was no reason that I could tell that I wouldn’t enjoy Annika Sharma’s novel Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words. Rom com with depth? I love those! But there was something that I struggled with and I haven’t been able to put my finger on it in the few months since I finished it.

Here’s the book’s description:

Kiran needs to fall in line. Instead, she falls in love.
Kiran was the good daughter. When her sister disobeyed her family’s plan and brought them shame, she was there to pick up the pieces. She vowed she wouldn’t make the same mistakes. She’d be twice the daughter her parents needed, to make up for the one they lost.
Nash never had a family. The parents who were supposed to raise him were completely absent. Now as a psychologist, he sees the same pattern happening to the kids he works with. So he turns away from love and family. After all, abandonment is in his genes, isn’t it?
If she follows the rules, Kiran will marry an Indian man. If he follows his fears, Nash will wind up alone. But what if they follow their hearts?

I am sure that part of my issues came from cultural differences. I’m white. Kiran is Indian. My family life is very, very different than hers. I am well aware that my experiences are not better than anyone else’s and welcome other viewpoints. But I think I really struggle when grown women aren’t able to live the lives they want because their elders wouldn’t allow it or if it could impact negatively on the family. I respect my elders, absolutely. I love my mom but if she tried to control my life by determining who I could or could not date (as in the case of this novel), I’d be furious. I tried really hard to put all that aside and tried to get into the mindset of Kiran, just like Nash tried to too. And it was hard. Nash struggled as well and I did appreciate how Sharma wrote some of the scenes where he blundered and had to unlearn and relearn what kind of cultural biases he had. Because I have to keep doing that same sort of work. Sharma is not writing this book to educate people like me but the beautiful thing about reading widely and diversely is that you end up learning things with every book, even novels.

I think I also just didn’t really like Kiran or Nash. I couldn’t fully understand either of their personalities nor how their relationship was really supposed to work. Not from a cultural standpoint but from a purely romantic standpoint. I saw some sparks but I was missing something. I usually want to be friends with the characters I read about and these two were ultimately forgettable. I’d enjoy chatting to them at a party (remember parties?) but I wouldn’t think about them again.

I might try reading the next books in the Chai Masala Club books because I’m interested to see if I connect more with those characters and if Sharma’s writing gets stronger.

Final random notes. If you describe the dude as being blond, PUT A BLOND DUDE ON THE COVER. And I know many Millennials, like myself, love Harry Potter but given all the shitstorm surrounding JKR, perhaps these references to the books need to...just not exist.

Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words wasn’t a winner for me and I definitely encourage you to read other reviews on Goodreads about Annika Sharma’s novel.

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

 

Review: The Last Dance of the Debutante

I first read Julia Kelly back in 2020 when I devoured her novel The Whispers of War. Her latest offering was The Last Dance of the Debutante which was released in Canada in November of last year. I didn’t have the chance to read it until earlier this year but it was a perfect book to read in a month that seemed like it lasted forever. It’s a slow paced historical fiction but it was a delight to read.

Here’s the book’s description:

When it’s announced that 1958 will be the last year debutantes are to be presented at court, thousands of eager mothers and hopeful daughters flood the palace with letters seeking the year’s most coveted invitation: a chance for their daughters to curtsy to the young Queen Elizabeth and officially come out into society.
In an effort to appease her traditional mother, aspiring university student Lily Nichols agrees to become a debutante and do the Season, a glittering and grueling string of countless balls and cocktail parties. In doing so, she befriends two very different women: the cool and aloof Leana Hartford whose apparent perfection hides a darker side and the ambitious Katherine Norman who dreams of a career once she helps her parents find their place among the elite. But the glorious effervescence of the Season evaporates once Lily learns a devastating secret that threatens to destroy her entire family.

I think this one will really appeal to fans of The Crown, especially the first couple of seasons. England has emerged from war and is rebuilding. Times are changing and the “way things have always been done” isn’t cutting it anymore. The way Lily and her friends view society is vastly different than how their parents look at the world and I enjoyed reading as the young women found each other and started to form (and vocalize) their own opinions.

I just know that some people will say that this book is boring and “nothing” happens. The story is a bit slower, to be sure, but this isn’t a historical fiction set in wartime. The tensions present in the plot are a bit different than fighting for your life. But that doesn’t make the story less important. Kelly provides an incredibly interesting and well researched look at what life was like at a very specific time and place in history.

The “devastating secret” that Lily learns was a bit…much, perhaps. I think this was Kelly trying to up the tension and I don’t know if it quite accomplished her goal. It allowed for Lily to get some answers which she desperately needed and there was a satisfying, “Oh!” moment as it all came together. It added to Lily’s growth, which I was really invested in. I loved her as a character and that really helped me enjoy the story overall.

If you want a historical fiction novel that offers a glimpse of a time in history that isn’t often explored, The Last Dance of the Debutante is for you. I enjoyed Julia Kelly’s novel and am so excited for what she writes next.

*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: The Book of Magic

It’s been a long time since I’ve read Alice Hoffman’s final book in the Practical Magic series. The Book of Magic was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and I read it in the fall (you know, ~*spooky szn*~) and adored it. I didn’t want the magical story to end.

Here’s the book’s description:

The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work.
A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother. As Kylie Owens uncovers the truth about who she is and what her own dark powers are, her aunt Franny comes to understand that she is ready to sacrifice everything for her family, and Sally Owens realizes that she is willing to give up everything for love.

This last book in the series is technically the second book but, after writing Practical Magic in 1995, Hoffman returned to the world of the Owens family in 2017 with The Rules of Magic, the first prequel novel. Then, in 2020, she released Magic Lessons which explained how the curse began. The Book of Magic brings all the (still alive) characters from the books and the most important locations together in a conclusion that was really satisfying (but of course left me wanting more). For those who may not have read this series yet, I would recommend reading in the story’s chronological order: Magic Lessons, The Rules of Magic, Practical Magic, and finally The Book of Magic.

A new generation is introduced in this book with Sally’s (Nicole Kidman in the movie Practical Magic) daughters playing an important role right alongside their mom, aunt, and great aunt. Each woman has secrets that are finally coming to light and it really seems like the curse could ruin the family for good in this book. There are elements to the curse that I couldn’t have predicted and I wondered how the family’s magic was going to survive.

The magic in this book is not over the top. There’s no wand waving. The most overt shows of magic by one character in particular eventually lead to his downfall. The magic is subtle and sometimes seems like it could absolutely exist in the real world. I like that Hoffman doesn’t have overt magic and also that she explores all types of magic. There are some who are gifted with herbs and others that are finders. It’s so interesting.

I also loved that Hoffman pays homage to books, reading, and libraries. It was quite fitting that I started reading this not long after starting school for my library technician’s diploma and a new job at a local public library. The novel started off in such a way that gave me goosebumps and I have to share the first line with you (courtesy of Goodreads):

Some stories begin at the beginning and others begin at the end, but all the best stories begin in a library.

Swoon.

I think The Book of Magic is best enjoyed by those who have loved the Owens family from the start. Read the rest of the books in the series before diving into Alice Hoffman’s latest. You’ll get so much more out of it and will be far more satisfied if you do.

*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: I Kissed a Girl

There’s no easy to way to say this: I didn’t enjoy I Kissed a Girl. I finished it but I think I had some sort of hope that maybe, just maybe, it would get better. Alas, I just wasn’t a fan of Jennet Alexander’s debut novel.

Here’s the book’s description:

Lilah Silver’s a young actress who dreams of climbing out of B-list stardom. She’s been cast as the lead in what could be her breakout performance…but if she wants to prove herself to everyone who ever doubted her, she’s going to need major help along the way.
Noa Birnbaum may be a brilliant makeup artist and special effects whiz-kid, but cracking into the union is more difficult than she imagined. Keeping everyone happy is a full-time job, and she’s already run ragged. And yet when the beautiful star she’s been secretly crushing on admits to fears of her own, Noa vows to do everything in her power to help Lilah shine like never before.
Long hours? Exhausting work? No problem. Together they can take the world by storm…but can the connection forged over long hours in the makeup chair ever hope to survive the glare of the spotlight?

Over the last couple of years I have gotten way better at not finishing books I’m not enjoying. Life’s too short and there are far too many books out there to keep reading books that you don't like. I had received an egalley of this one but I ended up listening to it and that’s probably the only reason I kept reading – I didn’t have another audiobook lined up. Plus, nothing was really, completely, totally wrong with the book. It just wasn’t…great.

The romance was super insta-love and I really couldn’t see what the women saw in each other. Well, that’s not strictly true. On their own, both Lilah and Noa were pretty OK. They just so completely did not suit each other, in my opinion (you know, from the peanut gallery). Even though Noa had a celebrity crush on Lilah, she was really judgemental of everything Lilah liked and did. How is that ok? And I never felt like we got a decent enough apology for how much of a dick Noa had been. There are other women out there, Lilah. Your first bisexual relationship doesn’t have to be with someone super attractive who’s treated you like you’re from Legally Blonde.

And the whole stalker thing? Which, by the way, was not mentioned at all in that description but was a massive plot point. It was…cringey. Lilah was being gaslit. The people (cough men cough) in charge were pretty dismissive of her worries. Jokes on them, the guy who was stalking her was completely unhinged and it was Noa who had to swoop in and save the day (sort of…I had really stopped caring by this point so the nuances of how Lilah was saved might have been a bit lost). Just not an enjoyable plot point for me.

This novel did have a lot of diverse rep which is always nice to see. Noa’s gay, Lilah’s bi (a massive part of the story was her coming to terms with that and her pretending to be someone she wasn’t because that’s what she thought gay girls needed to be like) and they’re both Jewish.

I’d suggest giving I Kissed a Girl a miss but some people might enjoy Jennet Alexander’s novel. I might check out what she writes next – we’ll have to see if the description catches my interest!

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

Review: The Deepest of Secrets

I was late to the Rockton series party but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time in the secret town Kelley Armstrong created. The Deepest of Secrets (out today) is the last in the series (or is it?) and I absolutely devoured it.

Here’s the book’s description:

It’s not always easy to live in the hidden town of Rockton, something Detective Casey Duncan knows firsthand. Tucked away in the Yukon wilderness, the community survives—and thrives—because the residents' many secrets stay just that—secret.
But what happens when these secrets start to come out? Overnight, no one is safe. It’s not a question of if your secret will come out—but when.
Casey and her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, need to find the culprit while protecting those who have been thrust into the spotlight. For a place built on privacy and new beginnings, Rockton isn’t handling these revelations very well. People are turning on one another, and when one of the loudest complainers turns up barely alive, it's clear that their trickster is actually a murderer.
The threat of exposure is reaching its breaking point, and no one knows what’s going to happen next.

Now, this is the last Rockton book. BUT Armstrong has teased on social media that this might not be the last book with these characters. I was excited before and am even more so after reading this one. I’m super attached to these characters and am definitely not ready to say goodbye so I’m really hoping she finds a way to bring them all back together.

Not only do I love the characters but I enjoy how Armstrong writes the mystery. It can get a tad annoying because the reader knows Casey knows something but not what and I for one can’t usually figure it out but it all comes together and it’s super satisfying and I forget that I was annoyed. The twists in this one were unexpected and I’m pretty sure I found myself saying “WHAT?!” at my ereader on more than one occasion. Is it the most ground-breaking crime thriller ever? No. But it’s hella entertaining and fast paced so I was all in from the start and couldn’t put it down. I actually read a good chunk of it while donating blood last week and I was able to totally tune out everything happening around me while reading it.

I mentioned this one was fast paced and I wonder if it was a bit too fast. Things were happening a mile a minute and I think I started to get whiplash. It wasn’t a negative, exactly, for my reading enjoyment. I really freaking liked this book. But it’s not necessarily a hallmark of a super well written and executed mystery. Does it matter in the long run? No. I’m still going to tell you to read this series. Just a consideration to keep in mind!

If the sound of this mystery series intrigues you, I definitely recommend starting back at the beginning with City of the Lost and reading all seven books. They’re quick and entertaining and I think you’ll get a lot more out of it if you know the entire history of Rockton as Casey experiences it.

I don’t want to say much more about The Deepest of Secrets because so much of what’s happened in the previous six books comes to a head in this one and it’s so much better if you go in without knowing too much of what’s going to happen. So I'll say again: this is a great series and you should read it. I’ve really enjoyed Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series and I can’t wait to find out if we get to see these characters again!

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

Review: The Matzah Ball

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than a long overdue review about a book set during Hanukkah! I read Jean Meltzer’s debut novel back in December and it was a really fun rom com that celebrated a holiday other than Christmas – something we don’t see a whole lot of. There are mixed reviews of The Matzah Ball but I fell into the “enjoyed it” camp.

Here’s the book’s description:

Oy! to the world
Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach.
But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not Christmas. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg.
Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.

What this book excels at is diverse representation. Not only are readers being treated to a Hanukkah story but Rachel also has a chronic illness. Both of these things come from Meltzer’s own life so Rachel’s character was really authentic and that came through in the story. When are we going to get to a point where I’m not noting how great it was to be reading about character who aren’t represented enough in books? I think we’re getting closer but there’s a hell of a lot more work to be done.

Now. The actual romance of this one was…not as well executed as it could have been. I love a good second chance romance but the initial romance between Rachel and Jacob was so long ago and they were so young that the insta-attraction was confusing. Jacob acted like a complete ass and Rachel was so desperate to get to his big party that she just allowed it to happen. How is this a good foundation for a romance?

Speaking of desperate to get to the party – Meltzer didn’t quite manage to convince me that Jacob’s Matzah Ball was the ONLY way Rachel would be able to be inspired to write a Hanukkah novel. There had to have been another way. Say, realizing how biased she was and how much her personal upbringing, the daughter of a rabbi, didn’t allow her to see how Hanukkah could be just as special as Christmas. I could sort of understand it but, in the end, it was hard to buy.

I did really enjoy the “com” of this rom com. Meltzer is funny and I found myself smiling throughout the novel. I think that was part of why I did end up enjoying this book as much as I did. It was fun and amusing and I liked spending time in the world Meltzer created.

And this cover! How freaking CUTE is it?

The Matzah Ball was entertaining and I had fun reading Jean Meltzer’s debut novel. She has another book coming out later this year that I think I’ll have to check out. Hopefully she’s grown as an author and this one is even better than her first.

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