Review: In a New York Minute

Estelle, publicist extraordinaire at Forever, has been gushing about Kate Spencer’s In a New York Minute for months. MONTHS. She has excellent taste so I had high hopes when I went into this new novel. And those hopes? Surpassed! I had so much fun reading this rom com and can’t recommend it enough.

Here’s the book’s description:

Franny Doyle is having the worst day. She’s been laid off from her (admittedly mediocre) job, the subway doors ripped her favorite silk dress to ruins, and now she’s flashed her unmentionables to half of lower Manhattan. On the plus side, a dashing stranger came to her rescue with his (Gucci!) suit jacket. On the not-so-plus side, he can’t get away from her fast enough.
Worse yet? Someone posted their (entirely not) meet-cute online. Suddenly Franny and her knight-in-couture, Hayes Montgomery III, are the newest social media sensation, and all of New York is shipping #SubwayQTs.
Only Franny and Hayes couldn’t be a more disastrous match. She’s fanciful, talkative, and creative. He’s serious, shy, and all about numbers. Luckily, in a city of eight million people, they never have to meet again. Yet somehow, Hayes and Franny keep running into each other—and much to their surprise, they enjoy each other’s company. A lot. But when Franny’s whole world is turned upside down (again!), can she find the courage to trust in herself and finally have the life—and love—she’s always wanted.

You have to love rom coms to really enjoy this book. It’s silly and outlandish but so, so well done. I liked that it kind of poked fun at rom coms and their tropes as Franny and her friends, as well as Hayes to an extent, fight against the HEA story people had written for Franny and Hayes after their initial meeting was captured on social media for all to comment on. Real life is not a movie and why are all these people pressuring Franny and Hayes to fall head over heels in love and live happily ever after? Of course, this is a rom com novel and that is what the reader is hoping for. A bit meta but it was great.

Even though Hayes rescues Franny on the subway, she’s not super enamoured with him and things only get worse when they’re thrown together again on a morning show. She bitches about him to her friends but she does eventually realize that her immediate impression couldn’t have been more wrong. I was kind of annoyed when one of her friends threw her words back at her and questioned why she was attracted to him when she had said she didn’t like him. She didn’t know the guy – and was very aware of that, which I did appreciate – and I didn’t like her friend’s implications. A small thing to not sit right with me but there we have it. But, like I said, she does get a better sense of Hayes the more she gets to know him and, being the kind, empathetic person she is, she “gets” him. She dismisses her earlier assumptions and that allows them to start over and begin to build an actual friendship (which of course you’re hoping turns into a romantic relationship!).

There’s a side story about Franny and her biological family that was interesting but didn’t always mesh with the rest of the story. I can totally understand family drama, trust me, and it added a deeper level to Franny and her story. But I don’t know if it always fit? It did allow for Franny to finally address some issues she’s had over the years about feeling like she didn’t fit in with her family (her mom and her step-dad) so to see her growth was really lovely. Family shit can hold you back and I was really glad she was able to make peace with those issues she had. And it was great to see Hayes immediately understand what she needed, even if he didn’t know how he understood and even though Franny didn’t know what she needed.

The secondary characters were wonderful without overtaking the story. Franny’s best friends, Cleo and Lola, were her ride or dies and their friendship was enviable. I adored reading their interactions with each other. And Hayes had Eleanor, his “work wife” and partner in business, and Perrine, his cousin, in his corner. And now that I’m writing this out I’m realizing there were not a whole lot of men in this story. Interesting.

This novel was also a love letter to New York City. I’ve only visited once, and very briefly, so I don’t really know the city. But that’s ok. Spencer does and the love she has for NYC shines through and I loved it.

All in all, In a New York Minute was too much fun. Rom com lovers simply must pick up Kate Spencer’s debut novel. I’m going to be recommending it to a lot of people for a long while to come! I can’t wait for her next book.

*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: The Honeybee Emeralds

I have to give a huge shoutout to my friend Heather from The Maritime Reader for putting The Honeybee Emeralds on my radar. I had been struggling with picking a new audiobook and she let me know that an advanced listening copy of Amy Tector’s novel was available to request on NetGalley. I am so, so, so glad she did because I loved this book. It had everything I like all rolled into one amazing package. Gah, so good!

Here’s the book’s description:

Alice Ahmadi has never been certain of where she belongs. When she discovers a famed emerald necklace while interning at a struggling Parisian magazine, she is plunged into a glittering world of diamonds and emeralds, courtesans and spies, and the long-buried secrets surrounding the necklace and its glamorous former owners.
When Alice realizes the mysterious Honeybee Emeralds could be her chance to save the magazine, she recruits her friends Lily and Daphne to form the “Fellowship of the Necklace.” Together, they set out to uncover the romantic history of the gems. Through diaries, letters, and investigations through the winding streets and iconic historic landmarks of Paris, the trio begins to unravel more than just the secrets of the necklace’s obsolete past. Along the way, Lily and Daphne’s relationships are challenged, tempered, and changed. Lily faces her long-standing attraction to a friend, who has achieved the writing success that eluded her. Daphne confronts her failing relationship with her husband, while also facing simmering problems in her friendship with Lily. And, at last, Alice finds her place in the world—although one mystery still remains: how did the Honeybee Emeralds go from the neck of American singer Josephine Baker during the Roaring Twenties to the basement of a Parisian magazine?

I mentioned at the top that this story had everything I like. There was a mystery, a historical element, and a hint of romance. And the fact that the mystery surrounded a piece of artwork (because, yes, the craftsmanship of the necklace made it a work of art)? Oh, yes. I was into it. And even with all of that going on, the story worked! I felt that Tector handled each thread masterfully and I never felt like there was too much stuffed into one story.

The story is told from multiple perspectives, which I loved. Alice, Lily, and Daphne all have chapters of their own. There are a few historical sections as well that help explain the necklace’s background without giving too much away too soon. And sometimes the reader gets in the head of the magazine’s long time office manager, too. (I can’t, for the life of me, remember her name and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to spell it properly anyway. *face palm*) Each woman is so very different but they manage to connect with each other and learn from one another.

The narrator, Lameece Issaq, was great. I was a bit put off by some of her accents but eventually I got over it (and it’s possible that some of the issues were because I was listening to this audiobook at 2x speed which can distort things a little). There was the odd time I felt like she hadn’t quite come out of one accent before going into another when characters were speaking to each other. But there were a lot of accents to master – Alice was from Yorkshire, Daphne, Lily, and Jacob were American (thankfully without strong accents), Luc and the office manager were French, and Alexander was Icelandic. But Issaq’s voice while reading the rest of the story, dialogue aside, was a delight and I probably could have listened to her all day.

Both Heather and I love reading Canadian authors so that’s part of what drew us to this book. The story may not be set in our fine country but I’m here for supporting Canadian authors, especially ones I may not have heard of before. And now that I have read Tector’s work? I cannot wait for her next book.

I wouldn’t really know where to begin if asked to describe The Honeybee Emeralds. But I would say that I highly recommend Amy Tector’s novel. I enjoyed every second of it and it is, so far, on my list of top three favourite books of 2022!

*An advanced audio listening copy was provided by the publisher, Dreamscape Media, 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: The Suite Spot

Trish Doller’s Float Plan was a one of my favourite books of 2021 (I had to triple check when I read it because what is time anymore?) so I was SO excited to read The Suite Spot this year, which features the sister of the main character from Float Plan. Rachel’s story has a different feel than Anna’s but was just as amazing. I read The Suite Spot in one sitting because I was so completely invested – but I didn’t want it to end!

Here’s the book’s description:

Rachel Beck has hit a brick wall. She’s a single mom, still living at home and trying to keep a dying relationship alive. Aside from her daughter, the one bright light in Rachel’s life is her job as the night reservations manager at a luxury hotel in Miami Beach—until the night she is fired for something she didn’t do.
On impulse, Rachel inquires about a management position at a brewery hotel on an island in Lake Erie called Kelleys Island. When she’s offered the job, Rachel packs up her daughter and makes the cross country move.
What she finds on Kelleys Island is Mason, a handsome, moody man who knows everything about brewing beer and nothing about running a hotel. Especially one that’s barely more than foundation and studs. It’s not the job Rachel was looking for, but Mason offers her a chance to help build a hotel—and rebuild her own life—from the ground up.

Rachel is a fantastic heroine. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel after reading Anna’s story and was a little wary that Rachel is a mom (I can’t always click with stories about moms – I know I don’t need to “relate to” everything and everyone but this can be a tough one) but I ended up absolutely loving her. She’s pretty accepting of her full bodied figure but struggles with her appearance a little bit, just like most people. It was yet another great reminder that beauty comes in every shape and size and I loved it. I always know I love a character when I wish I could be friends with them and I most definitely wanted to be friends with Rachel!

Mason is a total grump when we meet him but as we learn more about him – and as Rachel and her daughter slowly chip away at his defenses just by being their wonderful selves – the reader learns about his past and his grumpiness all makes sense. He’s not miraculously “cured” by Rachel and their feelings for each other but she helps him open up and gives him the time he needs to work through the issues he has. It was a really refreshing relationship and I was rooting for the pair of them the whole way through the novel.

I found myself really wishing this brewery hotel existed. I don’t live too far from where the book is set so if it was a real place, I could get there pretty easily. Alas, as far as I can tell, Kelleys Island does not boast a brewery hotel as created by Mason and Rachel. Visiting such a place has definitely moved up my travel bucket list and I thoroughly enjoyed the armchair travel part of this book – I appreciated that it was a totally different kind of wanderlust than inspired by Float Plan!

Reading Trish Doller’s The Suite Spot was like getting a warm hug from a book and was exactly what I needed at the time. The novel is well written and full of characters who will feel like friends. I highly recommend reading it!

My review of Float Plan

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

Review: Jameela Green Ruins Everything

Zarqa Nawaz’s debut novel was described to me as being a dark comedy. Between that and the cover, I thought, hey this could be a good read. And it was. Jameela Green Ruins Everything is completely bonkers in the best way but underneath the excellent writing and entertaining story, the novel also takes a look at the issues between the US and the Middle East. It’s heavy and light all at the same time and it’s a great read.

Here’s the book’s description:

Jameela Green only has one wish.
To see her memoir on the New York Times bestseller list. When her dream doesn’t come true, she seeks spiritual guidance at her local mosque. New imam and recent immigrant Ibrahim Sultan is appalled by Jameela’s shallowness, but agrees to assist her on one condition: that she perform a good deed.
Jameela reluctantly accepts his terms, kicking off a chain of absurd and unfortunate events. When the person the two do-gooders try to help is recruited by a terrorist group called D.I.C.K.—Dominion of the Islamic Caliphate and Kingdoms—the federal authorities become suspicious of Ibrahim, and soon after, the imam mysteriously disappears. 
Certain that the CIA have captured Ibrahim for interrogation via torture, Jameela decides to set off on a one-woman operation to rescue him. Her quixotic quest soon finds her entangled in an international plan targeting the egomaniacal leader of the terrorist organization—a scheme that puts Jameela, and countless others, including her hapless husband and clever but disapproving daughter, at risk.

I honestly wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did when I started reading this book. It is funny and so well written. The circumstances aren’t funny – Jameela’s imam is being forced to infiltrate a terrorist group. But that group goes by D.I.C.K. Like, come on. How can you not snicker?

Nawaz’s characters will stick in your mind for a long while. Not just Jameela and Ibrahim but the terrorists they encounter as well. You won’t feel sympathetic for those men, not exactly, but by meeting a large number of the residents in the community, you’ll be reminded that human nature is complicated and not as black and white as we like to think.

Jameela isn’t a particularly likeable character as she’s pretty self-centred and comes across as a bit abrasive. But, over the course of the novel, the reader learns why Jameela is the way she is and, again, is reminded that there are layers to people and reasons for their actions that we may never know about. Jameela dealt with a hugely traumatic event when she was a teen and hadn’t appropriately dealt with it, though she thought she had. It was really lovely to see her work through some issues and have some closure by the end of the book.

I was honestly on the edge of my seat as I was reading this book. I had no idea how Jameela was going to save herself and Ibrahim from D.I.C.K. And then her daughter shows up and my stress levels skyrocketed. Her daughter is a force to be reckoned with though – she was so fun to read. I truly couldn’t have predicted the ending (though I knew what I was hoping for, the details were fuzzy) and I really appreciated that.

As serious as some of the topics in Zarqa Nawaz’s novel are, Jameela Green Ruins Everything still manages to be lighthearted and you’ll find yourself laughing at some of the circumstances Jameela and friends get into. It’s worth a read!

*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 School of Mirrors

The School of Mirrors was the first book I’ve read by Eva Stachniak. She was born in Poland but moved to Canada in the 1980s so we’ve kind of claimed her as our own. She’s been writing for years so when I was intrigued by her latest release, I thought it was time to give her books a try. Um. It did not go well. I finished the book but…probably shouldn’t have. The history – Versailles! – wasn’t enough and the characters and the way the story was written really didn’t work for me.

Here’s the book’s description:

During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors. There they meet a mysterious but splendidly dressed man who they’re told is merely a Polish count, a cousin of the Queen. Living an indulgent life of silk gowns, delicious meals, and soft beds, the students at this “school of mirrors” rarely ask questions, and when Louis tires of them, they are married off to minor aristocrats or allowed to retire to one of the more luxurious nunneries.
Beautiful and canny Veronique arrives at the school of mirrors and quickly becomes a favorite of the King. But when she discovers her lover’s true identity, she is whisked away, sent to give birth to a daughter in secret, and then to marry a wealthy Breton merchant. There is no return to the School of Mirrors.
This is also the story of the King’s daughter by Veronique—Marie-Louise. Well-provided for in a comfortable home, Marie-Louise has never known her mother, let alone her father. Capable and intelligent, she discovers a passion for healing and science, and becomes an accredited midwife, one of the few reputable careers for women like her. But eventually Veronique comes back into her daughter’s life, bringing with her the secret of Marie-Louise’s birth. But the new King—Louis XVI—is teetering on his throne and it’s a volatile time in France…and those with royal relatives must mind their step very carefully.

I had read and loved a series about the mistresses of King Louis XV a few years ago (they’re by Sally Christie and I HIGHLY recommend them) so my hopes were high that I would enjoy the historical part of this story. I did feel like I was in France during that tumultuous time but it wasn’t enough to hold my interest. Especially because there was such a huge amount of time covered in this book. It starts with the opulence of Versailles when the King was still in his prime and ends with the French Revolution and his grandson (and many, many others) being beheaded by the guillotine. Yeah, there was a lot going on.

The way this story was written was really strange. Veronique’s sections (there are no real chapters in this book – I didn’t mind but I know others found it really irritating) were in the first person. But there were third person sections from a few other characters, such as Madame de Pompadour. And then there’s another part and all of a sudden Veronique is gone and we’re following Marie-Louise around, also in third person. It was odd.

The strongest part of the story for me was the history about midwifery that Stachniak includes. There’s a scene when Angélique du Coudray arrives at Versailles to teach Louis XV and his fans about birthing with the help of The Machine she had invented (look her up – it’s fascinating and amazing what she did throughout her lifetime). Then, Marie-Louise is raised by a midwife and eventually learns the trade herself. The reader gets to learn about the process of apprenticing and testing which I quite enjoyed.

I can’t say I’d recommend The School of Mirrors by Eva Stachniak. I didn’t enjoy my time reading the book – even with the interest I had in the time period and the surprising tidbits about midwifery – but maybe I’m an anomaly. It’s a shame, though, as this cover is absolutely stunning!

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

Review: Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist

Well, we’re about to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day so may as well review a Christmas novel, right? I was swamped with full time work and full time school last semester so many books and reviews got shoved aside as I tried to not fail my classes or my new job. Sorry, books! Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall was a fun book to read during all that madness. I read it a few days after Christmas and it kept me entertained throughout.

Here’s the book’s description:

Nick Winter is just out of the military, and his Christmas homecoming is not going as planned. What was supposed to be a memorable holiday with his long-time girlfriend goes sour when he learns she cheated on him while he was stationed overseas. At least Nick can rely on his usual shift at the family Christmas tree farm with his best friend, Noel Carter, and her endless supply of Christmas tunes to lift his spirits. A night of fun together is just what he needs to forget about his ex.
But then they kiss. And it feels...so right.
If Noel can turn Nick’s Blue Christmas merry and bright, this might be the last Christmas Nick spends with a broken heart. This year, they’ll be Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree as a couple―as long as Nick’s ex doesn’t go standing under any mistletoe.

I’m a sucker for friends to lovers romances (yes, they’re better than enemies to lovers and I will never waver on that fact) so I was immediately interested in this romance because of that trope. Nick and Noel have had an interesting friendship since they grew up together but they both joined the military, with Nick staying in longer, so they’ve been long distance BFFs for a long time. Once Nick is home for good, they have to relearn how to be friends but, hoo boy there are some serious sexy sparks between them that they really can’t resist.

I didn’t love the way the storyline went with Nick’s ex or the guy Noel had been sort of not really dating. They were both really harmful relationships (for different reasons) and Noel was constantly being verbally and mentally attacked and Nick didn’t seem to get it. Even after all this time since I’ve read it, I’m still left with a not great feeling with how those things went down in the book.

The Christmas spirit was alive and well in this book. Nick’s parents own a Christmas tree farm, which is probably my favourite setting for a holiday novel. Family AND Christmas trees? Perfection. Even with all of the holiday hullabaloo, you could read this at any time of year if you wanted. Maybe a Christmas in July pick?

Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist was a really fun rom com that I enjoyed reading. I’ll have to make sure to check out Codi Hall’s other novels to see if they’re equally as entertaining.

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