Stacy Alesi

PLAYING DIRTY IN ALASKA by Samanthe Beck

January 21, 2022

Captivity, Alaska: Book 2

From the publisher:

Bush pilot Bridget Shanahan runs from responsibility like a child runs from a dentist appointment, but when her brother leaves the family’s airfield in her hands, she knows it’s time to step up and behave like a Responsible Adult™. So of course that’s when Archer Ellison III blows into her tiny town of Captivity, Alaska, every inch the hot-as-hell mistake that most definitely belongs in her past. Been there, done that, and didn’t even get to keep the commemorative sweatshirt.
Archer has only ever had two goals. Now that he’s built his own empire outside his father’s company, he can move on to goal #2—winning back the one who got away by whatever means necessary. He knows it won’t be easy. Bridget Shanahan is older, wiser, more self-assured, and jaw-droppingly stunning…and doing everything she can to pretend the scorching chemistry between them doesn’t exist.
But fate is on his side. After an impulsive bet that would have sent Archer packing goes awry, Bridget is officially stuck with him. Which is really inconvenient, since falling for Archer again is the least responsible thing she could do.
https://amzn.to/3HyVem6

I loved the first book in this series, Wild in Captivity, so I was really looking forward to this one. I am happy to say it did not disappoint! Set in the small town of Captivity, Alaska, this book centers on Bridget, younger sister to Trace, the main character in the first book. All we really know about Bridget is that she is the flighty, irresponsible one working at the airport in the family business. She loves to fly, just doesn’t love to fly on someone else’s schedule. But Trace and Izzy are going on their honeymoon, which means Bridget has to step up.

Best laid plans and all that…the honeymooners leave, and Bridget runs into Archer, her college boyfriend who suddenly dumped her and took off. Bridget was heartbroken and dropped out of Stanford to come home. It’s a few years later but she has more to deal with than the jerk who broke her heart. She also lost her twin brother in a horrible accident, and for some reason, he keeps coming back to talk to her. Or his ghost does. It’s not too out there, but rather comforting, I think.

Archer has moved to Captivity on a permanent basis. Finally out from under his father’s thumb, he is determined to win back Bridget, the only girl he ever loved and lost. She doesn’t want any part of him, and they make a bet: if she wins, he’ll keep away from her, if he wins, he gets a kiss. So sweet! But this is not a sweet romance, it is a very steamy one, so if that is not your jam, read something else.

I would call this enemies-to-lovers adjacent. When Archer left, Bridget was devastated and she hasn’t had a relationship since, other than one night stands here and there. So the fact that Archer is back and pretty up front about wanting her back doesn’t sit well with Bridget. Sex, on the other hand, is fine with her. In this romance, sex leads the way back to love, and that worked.

This was a fun read with a lot of laugh out loud moments, and I really liked these characters. I love the small town Alaska setting, as well. Highly recommend this book, and this series. Oh, and Keyush is back, too, that smart Malamute/Husky mix dog that talks.

Which reminds me…there was an article in the NY Times recently about a small town in Alaska and something they are doing in school that I found most unusual. I have never lived anywhere outside of a city or suburb, so rural life is always interesting to me. I am anti-hunting as a rule, anti-guns to be honest, but I’ve read enough to understand why not everyone feels that way. My husband was shocked when I didn’t rage against this but rather embraced it; seemed like a great class for that Alaskan town.

We Shot a Moose, Class. There Will Be a Quiz.
A small group of Alaskan middle-schoolers gets a hands-on lesson in hunting and processing food from the land.

Books are wonderful things – they open the mind and take you places you never dreamed of. Enjoy!

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

PLAYING DIRTY IN ALASKA by Samanthe Beck. Entangled: Amara (January 17, 2022). ASIN : ‎ B09JMWPZG4. 372p.

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GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon

January 21, 2022

Outlander, Book 9

From the publisher:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Diana Gabaldon returns with the newest novel in the epic Outlander series.
The past may seem the safest place to be . . . but it is the most dangerous time to be alive. . . .
Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1746, and it took them twenty years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens to do the same.
It is 1779 and Claire and Jamie are at last reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children on Fraser’s Ridge. Having the family together is a dream the Frasers had thought impossible.
Yet even in the North Carolina backcountry, the effects of war are being felt. Tensions in the Colonies are great and local feelings run hot enough to boil Hell’s teakettle. Jamie knows loyalties among his tenants are split and it won’t be long until the war is on his doorstep.
Brianna and Roger have their own worry: that the dangers that provoked their escape from the twentieth century might catch up to them. Sometimes they question whether risking the perils of the 1700s—among them disease, starvation, and an impending war—was indeed the safer choice for their family.
Not so far away, young William Ransom is still coming to terms with the discovery of his true father’s identity—and thus his own—and Lord John Grey has reconciliations to make, and dangers to meet . . . on his son’s behalf, and his own.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary War creeps ever closer to Fraser’s Ridge. And with the family finally together, Jamie and Claire have more at stake than ever before.
https://amzn.to/33bF2Jm

It’s been a long wait – seven years – for the ninth book in this series, and Gabaldon has said she will end it with the tenth book. I hope it’s not another seven years! Because it has been that long, I feel the need to discuss the series in general, in addition to this new book.

Gabaldon’s educational background: Gabaldon holds three degrees in science: Zoology, Marine Biology, and a PhD in Quantitative Behavioral Ecology, (plus an honorary degree as Doctor of Humane Letters). I’ve met her a few times and heard her speak several times. I mention this because she was primarily a researcher in science, so when she decided to write a novel, she figured the best/easiest way for her to do that was to utilize her research skills. I think she also, if not directly then subconsciously, also sought to write the book she would want to read.

This series defies categorization and genre. When I worked for Borders, it was shelved in the Romance section. Another big bookstore chain had it shelved in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Amazon classifies it that way as well. I believe it was Barnes & Noble who just had it in the General Fiction section, and honestly, that is where it should be. The books are also very long, and getting the first book published was not easy. Publishers like to put everything in a slot, and they couldn’t do that with Outlander. It was over 600 pages, another no-no. But the right editor found it, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Speaking of history, to me this series is basically historical fiction with a time travel element and romance. The time travel is done very well. The main character, Claire, was a nurse during WWII. After the war, she and her husband go on vacation to Scotland. There are standing stones, like Stonehenge, there, and Claire falls through the stones to the 1700s. There she meets and marries Jamie, and theirs is a romance of the ages, still going strong 20+ years later. The time travel isn’t a constant thing at all. Claire does go back to her own time for a while, but that’s all I will say about it – I don’t want to spoil anything.

The history is well researched and presented in a way that feels very personal, and that I think, more than anything else, is Gabaldon’s gift. I may have learned about the battle at Culloden in school, but she put me there, in the battlefield, along with everything that led up to it and everything that followed. Eventually, Jamie and Claire make their way to America, prior to the Revolutionary War, and again, we get to live it. We can see what life was like, what they ate, how they lived.

This newest book takes place in 1779 in North Carolina, with forays to Savannah and Charles Town (Charleston) and even Philadelphia. While George Washington doesn’t make an appearance, his and some other famous names are dropped.

Instead of focusing primarily on Jamie and Claire, the story is spread between them, their daughter Brianna and Roger and their family, Jamie’s son William, and to a lesser extent, Jamie’s nephew Ian and his family. There are skirmishes on Fraser’s Ridge between Tory loyalists and those, like Jamie, with allegiance to the new country, and it ultimately ends on a battlefield at King’s Mountain with its aftereffects. There is love, war, and mostly what life was like in the 18th century in America.

Bottom line? Gabaldon’s latest was worth the wait. While not the strongest book in the series, it is definitely a good read.

If you haven’t read them, I envy you the chance to do so. This is the series that I wish I could read again for the first time. These are the books I would want to have with me if I was stranded on a desert island. I’ve read them all at least twice, and I’ve listened to the audiobooks of all of them but this one…yet.

This series truly must be read in order:

There is a TV series based on the books, “Outlander” on the Starz network. Each season follows one book, but it does veer away from the source material now and then. The casting is fantastic, and Gabaldon herself pops up now and then! You can also purchase individual episodes or seasons on Amazon Prime, or stream the entire series on Starz.

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon. Delacorte Press; First Edition (November 23, 2021). ISBN: 978-1101885680. 928 pages.

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Spotlight Review: REMINDERS OF HIM by Colleen Hoover

January 18, 2022

From the publisher:

A troubled young mother yearns for a shot at redemption in this heartbreaking yet hopeful story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover.
After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.
The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.
The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.
https://amzn.to/33I4nu7

This is the kind of book that should come with a warning: make sure you have tissues available while reading! I cried a few times reading this, yet I couldn’t put it down. It is also one of those books that I hated turning the last page, I wanted to spend more time here.

The “here” of it is also interesting. The author’s note references that there is no location given in this story – it is set in Any Small Town, USA and it worked – actual geography just wasn’t necessary. But it’s the characters that make this book so unputdownable.

Kenna was a teenager in love with Scotty. They were out one night, both had a bit too much to drink and some weed, and Scotty asked Kenna to drive because she was in a little bit better shape than he was, which isn’t saying much. She was also a fairly new driver, so when she sped through a turn on a gravel road, she lost control of the car and it flipped. She walked away, but Scotty was killed.

Heartbroken, Kenna pleads guilty at her trial and is sentenced to prison. A few weeks later, she finds out she is pregnant. The baby comes six weeks early and Scotty’s parents get custody as Kenna still has several years of prison ahead of her. Kenna is pretty much alone in the world, so when she gets out of prison five years later, she has nothing but the desire to at least see her daughter.

She saves up enough money to move to the small town where her daughter is living. She finds a dumpy apartment and moves in, figuring she’ll look for a job the next day. She heads over the to bookstore where she and Scotty spent so much time but it isn’t there anymore, it’s been turned into a bar. The bartender is intrigued with her, and asks her to come back when he gets off work, which she does. There is definite chemistry there, but once she sees his orange truck and finds out his name is Ledger, she knows this can go no further. Ledger was Scotty’s best friend.

Scotty has become a surrogate uncle to Kenna’s daughter, Diem, and he is outraged when he realizes who she is. Scotty’s parents are also incensed that the woman who killed their son has returned, and they are all determined to keep her away from Diem. But as Ledger gets to know Kenna, he starts to realize that things aren’t as black and white as they all assumed.

There is a lot going on here. The story is told alternately from Kenna and Ledger’s perspectives, which give us more depth. This is a story of mother separated from her child. It is, at times, an epistolary novel, as part of Kenna’s story is told through the hundreds of letters she has written Scotty since his death. It is also a romance, and there are a couple of sex scenes. It explores the messy emotions we all struggle with; guilt, sorrow, love, and forgiveness. It examines how everything is not always as it seems, and how assumptions can have a devastating effect on someone’s life. Ultimately, it is a story of redemption and hope.

This may be Hoover’s best book yet. It is a compelling story and a recognizable, relatable one. I read it in one afternoon, and I loved it. Book groups, please take note – lots to discuss here!

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

REMINDERS OF HIM by Colleen Hoover. Montlake (January 18, 2022). ISBN: 978-1542025607. 335 pages.

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INNAPROPRIATE by Vi Keeland

January 14, 2022

From the publisher:

A new, sexy standalone novel from #1 New York Times Bestseller, Vi Keeland.
Terminated for inappropriate behavior.
I couldn’t believe the letter in my hands.
Nine years. Nine damn years I’d worked my butt off for one of the largest companies in America, and I was fired with a form letter when I returned home from a week in Aruba.
All because of a video taken when I was on vacation with my friends—a private video made on my private time. Or so I thought…
Pissed off, I cracked open a bottle of wine and wrote my own letter to the gazillionaire CEO telling him what I thought of his company and its practices.
I didn’t think he’d actually respond. I certainly never thought I’d suddenly become pen pals with the rich jerk. Eventually, he realized I’d been wronged and made sure I got my job back. Only…it wasn’t the only thing Grant Lexington wanted to do for me.
But there was no way I was getting involved with my boss’s boss’s boss. Even if he was ridiculously gorgeous, confident, and charming.
It would be completely wrong, inappropriate even. Sort of like the video that got me into trouble to begin with. Two wrongs don’t make a right. But sometimes it’s twice as fun.
https://amzn.to/3r5liid

Keeland writes super sexy romances with a lot of humor, and this is a good one. Ireland is a morning TV journalist. She’s worked hard to get where she is but doesn’t get along with her boss and at the first opportunity, he fires her. She is enraged and shoots a drunken email to the owner of the company. She quickly realizes that was a mistake and sends another email, fighting for her job.

Meanwhile, she is hanging out in a coffee shop in the building where she used to work, and meets a very good looking man who asks to share her table. There is definite chemistry there, but he turns out to be the very man she has been emailing, Grant Lexington, the CEO of the company that fired her. He is completely smitten though, and determined to get the girl. So lots of conflict from the get go.

Both of these characters have complex and damaged backgrounds. They will need to work through their own past to find a future together, but while they do, they spend time together until they just can’t fight their attraction anymore.

There are a lot of laughs, some real angst, and some fiery sex scenes as Ireland and Grant find their happy ending. This is a good story that moves fast and was a one night read for me. Highly recommend.

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

INNAPROPRIATE by Vi Keeland. C. Scott Publishing Corp. (January 20, 2020). ISBN: 978-1951045043. 364 pages.

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WATCHING OVER YOU by Lori Foster

January 14, 2022

The McKenzies of Ridge Trail, Book 3

From the publisher:

Mysterious, unpredictable and most definitely scorching hot
While investigating a criminal network, Detective Crosby Albertson keeps crossing paths with members of the highly trained, suspiciously well-informed McKenzie family. They’re always one step ahead of him—especially their alarmingly attractive intel specialist, Madison. And Crosby needs to find out why.
Madison McKenzie is the tech and surveillance whiz of her family’s operation. A recent case introduced her to Detective Albertson. She finds herself irresistibly drawn to the sexy and mysterious cop. There’s just one problem. He’s a detective and her family’s work is secret. When Crosby starts digging for information about the McKenzies, Madison’s got to get him off the scent…while keeping him at a safe distance.
https://amzn.to/3GhIPmB

The McKenzie family business is vigilantism. There are two brothers, Reyes and Cade, their sister, Madison, and their father, Parrish, a former surgeon who runs the business. Reyes owns a gym in a seedy part of town, and Cade owns a bar on the opposite side of town, giving them access to lowlifes who like to talk. And they like to listen. Madison is their tech guru, and she has some serious skills. She also has a massive crush on a local cop, Crosby Albertson, but she doesn’t think he’s interested. He is, it’s just that he is unsure about her family – they always seem to be one step ahead of him on sex trafficking cases, and he isn’t too fond of their penchant for taking things into their own hands.

Crosby has a daughter, Hallie. and he is extremely protective. In his line of work, that should be a given. His nanny is Silver, a woman that he rescued from an abusive marriage, and while they are very close, she is like a grandmother to his daughter, and Crosby is fiercely protective of them both. But his job as a detective involves very long hours, often seven days a week, for not a lot of money. So when Parrish offers him a job, he decides to take it. The money is great and his hours are better. The only hitch is working with this family who sometimes steps outside the law.

Crosby is invited to the family compound, and Madison quickly realizes that he is more than just an employee to her father. In fact, there seems to be a bit of matchmaking going on. And an interesting side romance develops between Parrish and Silver.

Madison can’t help but throw herself at Crosby but he is slow to respond. His other responsibilities weigh on him. But working together brings them closer, and eventually they find their way together but there is a lot of action before that happens. This is romantic suspense, and Crosby and the McKenzies are after a human trafficker that escaped an earlier raid. He’s back in town and creating havoc, and there can be no happy ending until he is taken care of.

I thought this book was a terrific ending to a trilogy, but Lori told me that she is writing another book featuring one of the secondary characters from the series. I can’t wait! This was one of my favorite series in 2021 so I’m thrilled it will be continuing. I think these books can stand alone, but are best read in order. If you like romantic suspense, steamy love scenes, and hot alpha men, you won’t want to miss this.

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

WATCHING OVER YOU by Lori Foster. HQN; Original edition (December 28, 2021). ISBN: 978-1335620989. 352 pages.

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2 Comments | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Contemporary, Romantic Suspense | Permalink
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Spotlight Review: WEATHER GIRL by Rachel Lynn Solomon

January 11, 2022

From the publisher:

A TV meteorologist and a sports reporter scheme to reunite their divorced bosses with unforecasted results in this electrifying romance from the author of The Ex Talk.
Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.
In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.
Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?
One of…
Amazon’s Best Romances of January
Apple Books’ Best Books of January
Goodreads’ Hottest Romances of January
Buzzfeed’s Most Anticipated Books of 2022
Popsugar, Parade.com, The Nerd Daily, and Fangirlish’s Most Anticipated Books of 2022
Library Reads top ten books published this month that library staff across the country love
https://amzn.to/3qdRwZo

Rachel Lynn Solomon follows up last year’s terrific The Ex-Talk with an even better story. This is not a sequel, so no worries if you haven’t read her last book. What I loved most about this new book is the added depth to the story – this is so much more than just a frothy romcom. There are plenty of laughs and some steamy love scenes, but it is the way Solomon has imbued her main character, Ari, with a debilitating mental illness, depression, that really resonated with me.

Ari grew up with a mother who suffered terribly from depression, but she refused to admit it or get any kind of help. Even when her father walked out on the family, in Ari’s mind it was because of her mother’s depression, and it partly was. Her mother dated over the years, but the same issues kept coming up, teaching Ari a valuable lesson: don’t ever let anyone know about her depression. Once Ari hit high school, she realizes that she, too, suffers from this disease, but it’s not until college that she finally gets the help she needs. We learn that with medication and therapy, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Ari has her dream job as a TV weather girl in Seattle, working for Torrance Hale, Seattle’s preeminent TV meteorologist and Ari’s idol. Except things at the station haven’t been the bed of roses she’d dreamt of. While she thinks she’s been doing a good job, she hasn’t had a review or any kind of constructive criticism from Torrance in the three years she’s been there. Ari wants to grow and learn, but it isn’t happening.

It turns out the Torrance used to be married to the news director, Seth, but they’ve been divorced for years. Time hasn’t benefitted their relationship though, they are constantly bickering and are at each other’s throats, to the point where it is creating a hostile work environment. Things come to a head at the company Christmas party, when Torrance throws Seth’s Emmy award out the window.

Russell is a sports journalist at the station. He’s the newest member of the team and that makes him the person covering high school sports. He doesn’t mind, he knows he has time to move up in the hierarchy. He and Ari end up being the last ones at the party and are hanging out at the hotel bar, discussing their bosses. They get the idea that maybe if their bosses got back together, things would be calmer and happier at work. And a plot is hatched. If this sounds familiar, think “The Parent Trap,” which is referenced here. There is also a cute Netflix movie, “Set it Up,” that has assistants matchmaking their bosses.

Outmaneuvering Torrance and Seth isn’t too difficult, but the more Ari and Russell spend time together plotting and scheming, the more Ari realizes she likes him. A lot. But that worries her – her dating history isn’t great. In fact, she was engaged but the relationship was doomed to fail because Ari never told her fiancé about her depression or the meds she was on. But with Russell, Ari feels like she can be herself.

Russell has his own baggage. He’s a single dad to a preteen girl, and his life has been wrapped around his daughter since he was a teenager. He hasn’t had a date in years, and as much as he likes Ari, he isn’t sure how to go about dating and being a dad. But this is ultimately a romance, and while there are plenty of hurdles to their relationship, they get their happily ever after.

There is an author’s note explaining how she, too, suffers from depression, which is undoubtedly why that plot line rings true and is handled with such sensitivity. As someone with family members who suffer from depression, I found it comforting to see someone with a similar affliction living her best life. I also loved that these characters are Jewish and living in Seattle, home to so many inspirational and Christmas romances (I’m looking at you, Debbie Macomber!) It’s not always easy being in a minority, and that, too, is handled with grace and dignity.

I loved Weather Girl, and I hope you do, too.

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

WEATHER GIRL by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Berkley (January 11, 2022). ISBN: 978-0593200148. 352 pages.

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JUST HAVEN’T MET YOU YET by Sophie Cousens

January 7, 2022

From the publisher:

From the New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year comes a heartwarming and hilarious tale that asks: What if you picked up the wrong suitcase and fell head over heels for its mystery owner?
Hopeless romantic and lifestyle reporter Laura’s business trip to the Channel Islands isn’t off to a great start. After an embarrassing encounter with the most attractive man she’s ever seen in real life, she arrives at her hotel and realizes she’s grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport. Her only consolation is its irresistible contents, each of which intrigues her more and more. The owner of this suitcase is clearly Laura’s dream man. Now, all she has to do is find him.
Besides, what are the odds that she’d find The One on the same island where her parents first met and fell in love, especially as she sets out to write an article about their romance? Commissioning surly cab driver Ted to ferry her around seems like her best bet in both tracking down the mystery suitcase owner and retracing her parents’ footsteps. But as Laura’s mystery man proves difficult to find—and as she uncovers family secrets—she may have to reimagine the life, and love, she always thought she wanted.
https://amzn.to/31xT07t

The imagination is a wonderful thing – except when it leads you away from what is right in front of you. Or rather, who is right in front of you. That is Laura’s dilemma.

After a pretty funny scene with tampons flying everywhere, Laura reaches her destination, a small island in the Channel Islands. But when she opens her suitcase, she quickly realizes it is not hers at all. It’s a man’s suitcase, judging by the clothes. Curious, she digs through and finds a well read book that she also loves, among other things that convince her that is suitcase belongs to the man of her dreams.

The taxi driver who she gives a rather unflattering nickname to – not out loud, at least – is helpful enough to get her back to the airport to see if her suitcase is there. It’s not, so she decides to keep the one she has until she can meet the man who owns it. Her wardrobe is severely limited, leading to a few really funny scenes.

Meanwhile, Ted, the cab driver, is happy to chauffeur Laura all over the island. She is a journalist and her boss has sent her to the island to follow a happily ever after story – her own parents’ story, in fact. As Ted and Laura spend time together, they get to know each other pretty well. In fact, Laura is the first woman Ted has had any interest in for a very long time, and Laura likes him a lot, too. Except she is willing to push him away in hopes of meeting the “dream man” who owns the suitcase.

Never fear, a happy ending is reached but we get to laugh a lot along the way, and even cry a bit. But maybe that’s me. This is a very sweet romance with a lovely locale and characters that leap to life off the page. Don’t miss it.

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

JUST HAVEN’T MET YOU YET by Sophie Cousens. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (November 9, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593331521. 400 pages.

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AFTER DARK WITH THE DUKE by Julie Anne Long

January 7, 2022

The Palace of Rogues, Book 4

From the publisher:

Sparks fly when a daring diva clashes with an ice-cold war hero in the newest thrilling romance in USA Today bestselling author Julie Anne Long’s Palace of Rogues series.
She arrives in the dead of night, a mob out for blood at her heels: Mariana Wylde, the “Harlot of Haywood Street,” an opera diva brought low by a duel fought for her favors. But the ladies of the Grand Palace on the Thames think they can make a silk purse from scandal: They’ll restore her reputation and share in her triumph…provided they can keep her apart from that other guest.
Coldly brilliant, fiercely honorable, General James Duncan Blackmore, the Duke of Valkirk, is revered, feared, desired…but nobody truly knows him. Until a clash with a fiery, vulnerable beauty who stands for everything he scorns lays him bare. It’s too clear the only cure for consuming desire is conquest, but their only chance at happiness could lead to their destruction.
The legendary duke never dreamed love would be his last battleground. Valkirk would lay down his life for Mariana, but his choice is stark: risk losing her forever, or do the one thing he vowed he never would…surrender.
https://amzn.to/3zxcK7I

Mariana has a mob after her. Two men fought a duel, purportedly over her, and she is on the run. The opera singer cannot perform while the ton is up in arms about this brouhaha. She has heard about The Grand Palace on the Thames and the women who own it, and decides to see if they will let her hide out there for a while.

Of course they do, and get the idea of having Mariana perform to inaugurate their brand new ballroom. It will take a little time to decorate and arrange everything, and meanwhile, they house her and feed her. One of their other guests is the Duke of Valkirk, and they immediately butt heads. Eventually he really insults her, breaking the rules of decorum the house insists upon. His punishment is to give her Italian lessons. Spending all that time alone together leads them down a different path, as anyone who has ever read an historical romance can guess.

Valkirk is revered throughout England, and is hiding out himself. He had published his memoirs and they were a huge bestseller. Now his publisher wants a sequel, and he is trying to write in solitude at the boarding house at the docks, under the radar of anyone in his social circle. But as he gets to know Mariana, he becomes smitten. Eventually things progress until he offers to set her up as his mistress. That isn’t exactly what she had in mind.

There are some difficulties in reaching the happy ending, much of them Valkirk’s own doing, but they get there eventually. It is a lot of fun taking this journey with them. Long adds another terrific entry into this wonderful series, best read in order:

12/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

AFTER DARK WITH THE DUKE by Julie Anne Long. Avon (November 30, 2021). ISBN: 978-0063045095. 384 pages.

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THE LOVE CON by Seressia Glass

January 7, 2022

From the publisher:

He’s cosplaying as her boyfriend but their feelings for each other are real in this romantic comedy from Seressia Glass.
Sometimes Kenya Davenport believes she was switched at the hospital—how else could a lover of anime, gaming, and cosplay come from STEM parents? Still, Kenya dreams of being able to turn her creative hobby into a career. She finally has a chance to make it big when she joins the reality show competition Cosplay or No Way.
There’s just one catch: the challenge for the final round is all about iconic pairs, and the judges want the contestants’ significant others to participate. Unfortunately, Kenya is as single as can be at the moment. Luckily her best friend, Cameron Lassiter, agrees to be her fake boyfriend for the show.
Roleplaying a couple in love will force them to explore what they’re hiding under the mask of friendship. Can Kenya and Cam fake it until she makes it, or will she be real about her feelings, knowing it could cost her the best friend she’s ever had?
A LIBRARY READS PICK
https://amzn.to/3HyVem6

Is there anything more fun than the fake dating trope? Well, maybe, but it is a lot of fun and this time is no exception. This book is set in the world of cosplay, which I do not participate in. I don’t generally read graphic novels, and I certainly never read anime or superhero anything, I mean I rarely even watch a superhero movie (sorry, Marvel,) so I was coming at this from a place of unknowing and not too much interest. I felt that way about the Well Met series by Jen DeLuca, set in the world of Renaissance Faires, but I ended up loving that series so here I am, delving into the world of cosplay. I am a curious person and I love learning about things outside my scope of knowledge, and this fit that niche perfectly.

Kenya loves cosplay, but her parents don’t. They don’t understand her fascination with it, and they really don’t understand why she isn’t using the engineering degree they paid for. When her best friend and roommate, Cam, hears about this new reality TV show focused on cosplay, he urges Kenya to enter and she secures a spot on the show. Oh, and Kenya is Black, and Cam is not, which adds another layer of depth to this story.

Everything is going well until she reaches the finale, when the stakes are changed. The final two contestants get some help – but from their significant others. Unfortunately, Kenya hasn’t been in a relationship for a while, but on live TV, she blurts out that Cam will be helping her – then prays he says yes and isn’t too pissed.

Of course he is on board. Years earlier, he had tried to take things to more of a relationship than just friends, but Kenya had shut him down quick. He figures this is the perfect opportunity for her to realize that they can be more.

The ending is no surprise, but it is such a fun journey to get there and that’s what makes this such a terrific read. A lot of laughs, a lot of heart, and some hot sex combine to make this read a winner.

1/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE LOVE CON by Seressia Glass. Berkley (December 14, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593199053. 320 pages.

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Cerebration: January 1, 2022

January 1, 2022

I’ve been on vacation. Again. Apparently, I needed it.

I’m thinking about moving to a once weekly blog update. Maybe on Fridays, in time to find a few good reads for the weekend. I’d appreciate your thoughts on that.

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’ve been having eye issues for a few years now. In fact, I’m legally blind in one eye. Fortunately, the vision in my good eye is 20/15. It used to be 20/10 in both eyes. Just like Chuck Yeager:

In addition to his flying skills, Yeager also had “better than perfect” vision: 20/10. He reportedly could see enemy fighters from 50 miles away and ended up fighting in several wars.
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/07/341894780/pilot-chuck-yeager-dies-at-97-had-the-right-stuff-and-then-some

I’m sorry to say that I never did anything the least bit heroic with my superior vision. My husband appreciated it though; he used to say that I could read the signs on I-95 before he even realized there was a sign. It’s really tough going from excellent vision to where I am now. If I bob and weave, I can test out at 20/20 on an eye exam, but the DMV doesn’t let you do that. I couldn’t renew my drivers’ license until I got a note from my eye doctor.

I’m complaining about my vision again because it is taking me a lot longer to read and review than it used to. I’ve been reading Tell the Bees I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon for days and I’m barely half way through. I know her books are dense and not a quick read, and in my best days I never finished one in less than at least two days, sometimes three, but I am not used to having to spend days and days reading the same book. Luckily, I love her characters and the world she created for them so I enjoy spending time there. Good thing, too, since I’m going to be there a while longer.

If you want to make a charitable donation to start the new year, I hope you will consider the Seva Foundation; they are working to restore sight in the Americas. I have a Facebook fundraiser if you ware interested in helping: https://www.facebook.com/stacy.alesi/posts/574264547074800

I would feel remiss if I didn’t say something about this past year. When 2020 ended, I was so hopeful about 2021. I was looking forward to most people being vaccinated and the U.S. achieving that elusive bitch, “herd immunity.” It never happened, thanks to the conspiracy theorists and their moron of a leader, the feckless incompetent who lost the presidential election and built a house of lies upon it. And more Covid. Delta. Omnicron.

Wild fires. Climate change is changing the world in front of our eyes, and again, the conspiracy theorists and those devoid of any kind of common sense are happily ignoring it, leaving the planet a big mess for my children and grandchildren. The insurrection. OMG, the insurrection. People need to be held accountable for their participation. Especially the politicians, including the former president and all his minions.

Betty White dead at 99: Best moments and quotes — Getty images, New York Post

The people we lost this year, especially the authors: Eric Carle; Beverly Cleary; Eric Jerome Dickey; Joan Didion; Lois Ehlert; Lawrence Ferlinghetti; Maria Guarnaschelli; bell hooks; Norton Juster; Larry McMurtry; Gary Paulsen; Sharon Kay Penman; Anne Rice; Wilbur Smith; Andrew Vachss – to name a few. If you’re not sure who these authors are, they are all worth knowing and easy to look up. The last gut punch to the year, (per my daughter, and she’s right,) we lost Betty White* yesterday.

But I am ever hopeful, however, that 2022 will be a better year. I can’t even fathom of a year that could be worse than the last two we have weathered.

I wish you all a happy, healthy new year, filled with love and joy and lots of good reads!

As always, thanks for reading and stay safe.