For fans of Emily Henry, a debut about a rom-com screenwriter who doesn’t believe in love and a divorce attorney who does, forced together at their high school reunion fifteen years after their breakup
Molly Marks writes Hollywood rom-coms for a living—which is how she knows “romance” is a racket. The one and only time she was naive enough to fall in love was with her high school boyfriend, Seth—who she ghosted on the eve of graduation and hasn’t seen in fifteen years.
Seth Rubinstein believes in love, the grand, fated kind, despite his job as, well…one of Chicago’s most successful divorce attorneys. Over the last decade, he’s sought “the one” in countless bad dates and rushed relationships. He knows his soulmate is out there. But so far, no one can compare to Molly Marks, the first girl who broke his heart.
When Molly’s friends drag her to Florida for their fifteenth high school reunion, it is poetic justice that she’s forced to sit with Seth. Too many martinis and a drunken hookup later, they decide to make a whoever can predict the fate of five couples before the next reunion must declare that the other is right about true love. The catch? The fifth couple is the two of them.
Molly assures Seth they are a tale of timeless heartbreak. Seth promises she’ll end up hopelessly in love with him. She thinks he’s delusional. He has five years to prove her wrong.
Wickedly funny, sexy, and brimming with laughs and heart like the best romantic comedies, Just Some Stupid Love Story is for everyone who believes in soulmates—even if they would never admit it.
“A flirty, sexy read…Fresh and fun as hell―Katelyn Doyle is absolutely an author to watch.” ―People Magazine
“Refreshing…A joy to read…Much like When Harry Met Sally but with way more angst (and sex). Doyle creates a strong, winning chemistry between Molly and Seth…A smart, slightly meta romance that plays out like the best movies.” ―Kirkus (starred review)
“Doyle, who writes historical romance as Scarlett Peckham (“Society of Sirens” series), pens her first contemporary, a unique, sizzling second-chance rom-com with an HEA that will leave readers cheering.” ―Library Journal
And this is fun – “Featuring bright purple sprayed edges!” on the hardcover edition.
This is the author’s first contemporary romance, and as far as I’m concerned, she hit it out of the park. The timeline is occasionally bouncy, but it was done in a way that made it very clear, which is not always accomplished in fiction. The story takes place over five years, with a glimpse back fifteen years earlier when Molly and Seth were inseparable, and in love. But Molly dumps Seth with no explanation and ghosts him for the next fifteen years.
Molly has left Florida for the spoils of California; she has become a screenwriter, writing romcoms and hoping to the the new Nora Ephron. She has some success, but is sort of stuck lately. Her oldest friends convince her to attend their 15 year high school reunion, and she reluctantly agrees. Her doubts about this adventure come home to roost when she ends up sitting next to her ex.
Seth moved to Chicago and became a very successful family lawyer, AKA a divorce lawyer. Molly’s parents had divorced when she was a kid and he knew how devastating that was for her, so she is shocked to learn he is practicing in that area. So we have the woman who writes happily every afters, but who doesn’t believe in them, and the divorce lawyer who actually does.
Seth has dated a lot – he tends to rush his relationships to the next level in hopes of finding his soulmate. It never works out for him, maybe because he believes deep in heart and subconscious that you only get one soulmate, and Molly was his.
Molly and Seth end up having a very hot one night stand during the reunion weekend, and make a bet about the outcome of five couples currently in relationships. They are one of the couples. The next five years are a rollercoaster ride for both of them, and just when I was convinced that there was no way for this couple to ever get together and move forwards. the author takes me there.
This was a bit of an emotional read for me; my parents also divorced when I was a kid, and I still have issues with it. But it was also a fun and funny romcom – I wouldn’t mind seeing this on the big screen! I don’t think I’ve read her historical romances (written by Scarlett Peckham,) but I will be seeking those out.
7/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
JUST SOME STUPID LOVE STORY by Katelyn Doyle.Flatiron Books (June 4, 2024). ISBN: 978-1250328090. 336p.
Love checks in―even if it’s an unwelcome guest―in this delightful smalltown romance from USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Shirk…
It was supposed to be L.A. attorney Loni Wingate’s perfect day. Instead, she got only chaos and heartbreak. Her fiancé stole her promotion and ended their engagement, leaving her career and her future dangling by a thread. Then when Loni tries to go to her safe place, her family’s quaint North Carolina resort, she finds it’s up for sale.
But Loni didn’t get to where she is without a fight. So if a developer is coming by to assess the property, the place she feels most connected to her long-gone Mama…well, Loni and her sisters will serve up a taste of Southern hospitality he’ll never forget.
Ian Hollowell hasn’t experienced “Southern hospitality” firsthand, but he’s pretty sure this is not it. Between the storage room accommodation, the all-sugar sweet tea, and a lethally hot pepper omelet, he’s getting the sense his welcome is anything but. Still, he didn’t get his ruthless reputation by quitting when the game gets interesting.
And Loni is one adversary Ian can’t resist… especially when family revelations start pushing Loni to question her loyalties.
Now a round of “keep your enemies close” might be flipped on its head in bestselling author Jennifer Shirk’s sparkling and stirring story about reconsidering the past in order to shape the future. Because sometimes it takes one last resort to find the place―and people―that truly feel like home.
I liked the premise of this story about a family owned resort being put up for sale by the family patriarch. There are three sisters whose mother died several years earlier, and now their father is engaged to be married and none of them have met their step-mother-to-be. And to make things even worse, the sisters are convinced he wants to sell their beloved resort to pay for his wedding, for some reason. There is some confusion about everything that is happening in this book, but it all plays out with good results in the end.
The story focuses on Loni, the middle daughter, who is the only one who left the resort. She became an attorney and is up for partner at her Los Angeles law firm. She is engaged as well, so life is looking good for her. But when she heads into the partnership meeting, it does not go as she was expecting. She is accused of emailing a client a half finished contract, making the firm look incompetent. She doesn’t remember sending it, but has been working so many hours she thinks that maybe she did. This plot point really irked me – would a bright attorney not even look into the allegation? Check her email? See when it was sent? To make matters even worse, her finance is offered the partnership, and he dumps her. Loni goes home to North Carolina to help her sisters with the resort and see what is happening with the possible sale.
Ian is known as “the predator” for both his business dealings and I think for the way he treats women. As his business partner points out, he has never passed seven dates with any woman. He has been befriended by the girls father, who asks him to take a look at the resort and see if he would want to buy it. Ian arrives and the girls basically torture him with horrible food, drink, and accommodations. But Ian is a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, and he is able to keep his eye on the prize. Until he meets Loni.
Lots of family issues need to be resolved here. Ian and Loni form an uneasy relationship based on mistrust, but this is a romance so something has to work out. I obviously had some issues with some of the plotlines here, but I liked the characters enough to stick with it until the happy ending. There were some laughs along the way, which always helps, and some real emotional drama. In the end, I did enjoy this story.
7/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
RESORTING TO ROMANCE by Jennifer Shirk.Entangled: Amara (July 2, 2024). ISBN: 978-1649376503. 352p.
“New York Times bestselling author and southern sensation Kristy Woodson Harvey” (Good Morning America) presents a touching novel about eternal love and the places we call home.
The historic houses in the seaside town of Beaufort, North Carolina, have held the secrets of their inhabitants for centuries. One of the most enduring refuses to be washed away by the tide: What happened to Rebecca and Townsend Saint James on that fateful night of their disappearance in 1976?
Now, the granddaughter they never knew, Keaton Smith, is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort on the market, she jumps at the chance to head south. But the moment she steps foot inside the abandoned house, which has been closed for nearly fifty years, she wonders if she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Wading through the detritus of her grandparents’ lives, Keaton finds herself enchanted by their southern traditions—and their great, big love. As she gets to know her charming next-door neighbor, his precocious ten-year-old son, and a flock of endearingly feisty town busybodies, Keaton begins to wonder if the stories she has been told about her grandparents are true.
Keaton’s grandmother, Rebecca “Becks” Saint James’s annual summer suppers are the stuff of legend, and locals and out-of-towners alike clamor for an invitation to her stunning historic home. But, in the summer of 1976, she’s struggling behind the facade of the woman who can do it all—and facing a problem that even she can’t solve.
As Keaton and Becks face new challenges and chapters, they are connected through time by the house on Sunset Lane, which has protected the secrets, hopes, and dreams of their family for generations.
“The novel to read this year” (Annabel Monaghan) explores the power of family, the boundless nature of love, and the idea that discovering where we came from just might lead us to A Happier Life.
“This is women’s fiction at its best.” ― Publisher’s Weekly
“Harvey delivers another beautiful and heartfelt novel filled with romance, mystery, and her signature Southern charm. A multigenerational story told through dual timelines, A Happier Life invites readers to deeply savor its pages.”—Library Journal
What a compelling read! I started reading it Sunday morning and finished it Sunday evening – and I hated turning that last page. And I’ think ‘m pretty sure I still have a load of towels in the dryer…
The dual timelines really worked here – I wish other authors had this kind of finesse. Keaton never knew her mother’s parents, they died in a car crash before she was born. She also didn’t know that they had a beautiful home in Beaufort, North Carolina, until her uncle asked her to go down there, clean it out and get it ready for sale. The house was essentially abandoned fifty years earlier. Since she just got fired from her job and simultaneously found out her ex and her boss were having a baby, it seemed like a great idea to get out of town.
This home has been in the family for generations; it is older than America, built in the 1700’s. But when Keaton arrives, she is in for a shock. The house has been left a shrine to the 1970’s – it’s as if the family went out one day and never came back. And that is exactly what happened.
Much to her surprise, Keaton is having a hard time throwing anything away. She loves learning to get to know her grandparents, especially her grandmother, Becks, through a book she left for Virginia, Keaton’s mom. The book contains life hacks and recipes, lists of dinner parties, what was served, and who attended. There are tips on conversation starters, how to pick a good mix of people for a successful dinner party, and so on.
Keaton is also getting to know the hunky single dad next door and his amazing son, as well as a group of older women who knew and loved her grandparents. The story moves between what was happening in the 1970’s with Becks, and what Keaton is learning.
I really don’t want to give anything more away except to say Keaton’s grandparents’ death is something of a mystery. The romance, while secondary to the story, adds something special as do the descriptions of the area, the historic homes, and the southern charm. As a bonus, there are a couple of recipes at the end that I can’t wait to try. This is only the second book I’ve read by Harvey, but she is most definitely on my must-read list now, and I’m seeking out her older books as well. If you love multigenerational family stories that really resonate and are filled with charm and lots of heart, you won’t want to miss this glorious read!
7/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey.Gallery Books (June 25, 2024). ISBN: 978-1668012192. 384p.
From the author of The Book Club Hotel, a widow’s plan to spend the summer in Cape Cod is upended by an unexpected guest and a secret that could change everything… Perfect for fans of Rebecca Serle and Jennifer Weiner.
Cecilia Lapthorne always vowed she’d never go back to Dune Cottage. So no one is more surprised than Cecilia to find herself escaping her seventy-fifth birthday party to return to the remote Cape Cod cottage—a place filled with memories. Some are good—especially memories of the early days with her husband, volatile artist Cameron. But then there are the memories she has revealed to no one.
After dropping out of medical school, aspiring artist Lily is cleaning houses on the Cape to get by, guilt-ridden for disappointing her parents. Unoccupied for years, Dune Cottage seems the perfect place to hide away and lick her wounds—until Cecilia unexpectedly arrives. Despite an awkward beginning, Lily accepts Cecilia’s invitation to stay on as her guest, and a flicker of kinship ignites.
Then Todd, Cecilia’s grandson—and Lily’s unrequited crush—shows up, sending a shock wave through their unlikely friendship. Will Lily find the courage to live the life she wants? Can Cecilia finally let go of the past to find a new future? Because as surely as the tide erases past footprints, this summer is offering both Cecilia and Lily the chance to swap old dreams for new…
I’ve read most of Sarah Morgan’s books and she is a reliably good storyteller. This is a story about an unlikely friendship and romance.
Lily had a crush on her friend’s brother, Todd, and they even kissed once. She never forgot that kiss and no man has lived up her expectations since. Unbeknownst to Lily, Todd was also a fan of that kiss. They haven’t seen each other in a very long time though.
Lily was enrolled in medical school before dropping out and disappointing her parents. Her guilt leads her to run far away, and she ends up on Cape Cod, earning money by taking care of the beautiful summer homes that have absent owners. One of them is Dune Cottage, and she has no idea whose home it is. No one has visited in many, many years so Lily decides to crash there. Island living is very expensive and she cannot afford to pay seasonal, ridiculously high rents. She has a key, she takes care of the place, so it doesn’t feel entirely wrong. Until someone shows up.
An elderly woman, Cecilia, is the unlikely visitor. It turns out that Lily has met her before – she is friends with her granddaughter and has that huge crush on her grandson, Todd. Cecelia is sharp as a tack and she quickly realizes that Lily has been living in the home, and she intuitively understands why. When Lily confesses she dropped out of medical school and wants to be an artist, Cecelia is intrigued. Cecelia’s husband was a world famous artist, and at one time, Cecelia wanted to be an artist, too, but her husband’s success planted her squarely in the muse/helper role.
Cecelia has some secrets, and when her favorite grandson shows up, she eventually shares some of them with him. Meanwhile, Todd and Lily are spending time together, and Cecelia is trying to help Lily with her painting career. Lots of intrigue and surprises make this a compelling read, and the romance is a nice cherry on top. I loved it.
6/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE SUMMER SWAP by Sarah Morgan.Canary Street Press; Original edition (May 7, 2024). ISBN: 978-1335474940. 336p.
An Indie Next and a Hall of Fame LibraryReads Pick!
A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science—from New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.
Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps.
“The chemistry leaps off the page and Eli’s intelligence and thoughtfulness toward Rue will have readers swooning. Crafting a relationship that is both raunchy and emotionally nuanced, this is Hazelwood at her best.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Hazelwood fills the plot with tension and stress and employs a dual point-of-view that allows intimate access to both Rue and Eli’s roller-coasting emotions. It is less quirky-charming than some of her past work but showcases much of what her readers love.”–Library Journal
“The politics of scientific and engineering development along with the rewards and piracy of intellectual property provide a fascinating backdrop for Hazelwood’s latest smart and sexy page-turner. The queen of STEMinist rom-coms is at the top of her game.”–Booklist
I’ve read many of Hazelwood’s romances and they are all excellent, including her latest. Rue has some issues but she is a brilliant scientist working on new technology to prolong the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables. Her boss is a woman she admires greatly, and her best and only friend works there as well. She doesn’t do relationships, but she is on a hook-up app, and her primary rule is one and done. Until she meets Eli.
Eli rescues her from unwanted attention in a bar, and Rue thinks that will be the end of it. Except the next day at work, she meets him again, along with the co-founders of a company that buys up startups not to sell off the parts, but to bring tech to market better and faster. Nonetheless, Rue’s boss is very upset about the possibility of a hostile takeover and starts looking for ways around it.
Meanwhile, Rue and Eli are spending time together in her lab, and she is surprised to find that he is as good in the lab as he is everywhere else. A relationship starts building, but Rue is torn between loyalty to her boss and the undeniable attraction she feels for Eli.
Things get pretty complicated as the various factions start revealing their truths, but I’m happy to say that, much to Rue’s shock, she and Eli reach their happily ever after. This was a fun read (and trust me, I am no science nerd!) but even I could understand all the implications and motivations happening here. The characters are well-defined, even the secondary ones, the sex is hot, hot, hot, and the plot moves along at breakneck speed. I loved it!
6/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
NOT IN LOVE by Ali Hazelwood.Berkley (June 11, 2024). ISBN: 978-0593641040. 400p.
Dolores O’Shea’s marriage collapses when she discovers her husband’s AI sex doll in the garage. When she moves “Zoey” into the house, they become oddly bonded, opening the door to a lifetime of repressed feelings and memories. “Brilliant, provocative, and darkly funny, Sarah Crossan’s Hey, Zoey explores the impossibility of connection, and the things we hide from ourselves and the people we love.” (Sarah Dunn)
43-year-old Dolores O’Shea is logical, organized, and prepared to handle whatever comes her way. She keeps up with her job and housework, takes care of her mentally declining mother, and remains close with her old friends and her younger sister who’s moved to New York. Though her marriage with David, an anesthesiologist, isn’t what is used to be, nothing can quite prepare her for Zoey, the $8,000 AI sex doll that David has secretly purchased and stuffed away in the garage. At first, Zoey sparks an uncharacteristically strong violence in Dolores, whose entire life is suddenly cast in doubt.
But then, Dolores and Zoey start to talk…and what surfaces runs deeper than Dolores could have ever expected, with consequences for all of the relationships in her life, especially her relationship to herself. Provocative, brilliant, and tender, Hey, Zoey is an electrifying new novel about the painful truths of modern-day connection and the complicated and unexpected forms that love can take in a lifetime.
Sarah Crossan (Here Is the Beehive) delivers a darkly comic, wholly original novel steeped in artificial intelligence, in this case, a sexbot named Zoey, who communicates using AI. David and Delores have been married for several years, but this is not a marriage of passion; their relationship seems more like two friends who are living together, but things come to a head when Delores finds the sexbot in their garage. David refuses to discuss it when she confronts him, and he moves out, leaving Zoey behind. More frustrated than heartbroken, Delores drags the doll into the house and sets up the app, making Zoey her new roommate and confidante. Delores’s mother is suffering from dementia, and she misses her sister, who has moved across the pond to New York City. As we learn more about Delores and all her relationships, it is easy to understand her fascination with Zoey; Zoey is a good listener and can hold her own in a conversation. What once seemed like science fiction is now reality.
Verdict: In light of the proliferation of AI into all aspects of life, this is a timely read, sure to appeal to book groups who enjoy Gary Shteyngart, Ottessa Moshfegh, or Dave Eggers.
A struggling writer is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating in this fresh romantic comedy from Laura Hankin.
Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man.
Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel, which has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it.
When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match.
After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.
“Hankin performs a magic trick with this book, turning the most unlikeable (and relatable) of characters into flawed protagonists worth rooting for. Natalie and Rob are the definition of “right person, wrong time,” and because the story spans multiple years, we get the pleasure of seeing them make mistakes, grow up and grow together. It’s real, refreshing and romantic.” —The Washington Post
“Fans of not only romance but women’s fiction as well will enjoy this multilayered, realistic novel from Hankin.” —Library Journal
This is the ultimate slow-burn romance, but also a testament to friendship. Natalie and Gabby have been best friends since freshman year of college through sharing a ratty NYC apartment. Rob and Angus have been best friends since middle school, when Angus befriended the new kid, Rob. Angus and Gabby are engaged, and that’s how Rob and Natalie meet. And meet again. Several times, over several years of parties, the wedding, weekend getaways, and more.
Initially, there is some attraction there, but then Natalie figures out that the one-star review on Goodreads of her first novel was turned in by, you guessed it, Rob. That starts a hate relationship between them that occasionally veers towards a less than platonic relationship, but never quite gets there. At least not for many years.
Natalie’s first novel features a main character loosely based on Angus. Natalie is jealous of her friend spending more time with him, but more than that, she just can’t understand what her beautiful, brilliant, kind friend sees in this man she thinks is mediocre at best. Gabby realizes it halfway through reading the novel, and never finishes it. Rob instantly recognizes Angus, hence the one-star review. Luckily, Angus never even reads it. It takes Natalie quite a few years to realize it was probably a mistake to use Angus like that.
Eventually, Rob gets engaged to Zuri, and Natalie is on the fence about moving in with her boyfriend. Ultimately, she decides to break up with him instead – she is self-aware enough to realize that she is not in love with him and won’t ever be – thanks to a frank chat with Rob.
Then Natalie and Gabby have a huge blow-up and stop speaking for over a year. The only good side of that is she no longer has to endure Rob. But then Angus sends an email that Gabby is sick, and Natalie drops everything to show up for her friend, as does Rob. This time, Rob and Natalie are both single, and things take a turn towards romance, even while they both are heartsick about Gabby’s illness.
There is a very happy ending for everyone, but I have to say this book touched a little too close to home for me. I was bawling for the last quarter of the book.
I, too, had a best friend for many years. We met when my husband, son and I rented half a duplex from her husband. Shortly after we moved in, they moved into the other half. We were inseparable for many years, considered ourselves to be Lucy & Ethel, and the biggest fight we had was over who was Lucy and who was Ethel.
Eventually, we each bought a home a few miles apart, but we stayed close. Our kids were friends, and we spent many holidays together. Then, one Easter dinner, she made a remark about my husband and our marriage that he took great offense to. I thought she was kidding, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that while I wanted her to be kidding, she wasn’t, and we stopped speaking for many years, other than to say hello if we ran into each other.
One day she came to see me at work and told me she had breast cancer. I was shocked, but she was very upbeat and positive that she would beat it – most women do. She was one of the healthiest women I knew, ate mostly organic, and ran miles every day. Turned out that she had a very aggressive form that had already spread to her lymph nodes. She had a full mastectomy, chemo, radiation, and many, many holistic treatments – her husband was constantly researching and taking her wherever they could find a glimmer of hope.
After several years of struggling with sickness and surgeries and horrible drugs and pain, she finally begged me and her other friends to talk her husband into stopping all these treatments. She was ready to go, but he wasn’t. It was just about impossible for him to do that, but she eventually prevailed. We lost her in 2005, this beautiful, generous, kind 46-year-old mother of three.
I finished this book right before bedtime and woke up every hour or so all night long. It’s been almost twenty years since I lost my friend, and I still have a lot of regrets that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Sorry I veered so far off in a book review, but obviously, this book touched a nerve. It is a wonderful, emotional read and I loved the premise, these characters, their friendship, and the slow burn of romance. Highly recommend!
6/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
ONE-STAR ROMANCE by Laura Hankin.Berkley (June 18, 2024). ISBN: 978-0593438213. 400p.
She’s determined to save her family’s ranch—but there’s a cowboy hitch in her plans…in this engagingly endearing romance from USA Today bestselling author Ophelia London…
In a family made almost entirely of successful overachievers, Roxy Elliott is the odd woman out. Yet she’s determined to save her family’s old, run-down ranch from being sold and razed to the ground and, in the process, to prove that she has more heart—and ambition—than her family expected. The only problem? In a town as small as Mount Joy, there’s just one guy who can help her with the ranch’s transformation…and he’s a complete pain in her backside.
Had he known firecracker Roxy Elliott would be his new boss, ex-soldier-turned-cowboy Josh Manning definitely would have taken a hard pass on the town’s new job. He has his own memories from the last time they were together, and he’s not about to let her off the hook a second time. But Josh will do anything to save his family home from foreclosure, even sell his soul to the last woman he ever would have wanted to be partners with. But Roxy Elliott might just surprise him yet…
At first, nothing goes according to plan. The pipes are all rusted, the hideous wallpaper is impossible to remove, and the front porch is one rotten board away from swallowing someone whole. Now the dude ranch is showing some serious potential for not only transforming the community, but both their lives, as well. But while Roxy Elliott is still the loveliest thing to ever cross paths with a grump like Josh, summer romances never last forever…and history has a tendency to repeat itself.
This author was new to me, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I got was a sweet, second chance, small-town romance with a hot cowboy and the richest girl in town.
Roxy and Josh were in high school together; in fact, he asked her to the homecoming dance. But the night of the dance, something happened that caused him to leave before knocking on the door, and her to assume she’d been stood up. They never spoke to one another again.
Roxy is the youngest member of a large family; she has four older, successful brothers and her father owns an enormous company. Everything Roxy has tried she’s either failed at or given up, so when she asks to renovate the family’s ranch instead of her brother plowing it under to create a parking lot, her father reluctantly agrees. She’s on a tight budget and a tight timeline, and the first thing she does is hire a foreman to oversee the renovations.
Normally, I’m fine with suspending my disbelief but the fact that she hires Josh and doesn’t recognize his name was just a step too far for me. Yes, he had a nickname, but they went through years of school together, there was no way she never heard his real name. Teachers taking attendance?? So I sighed and moved on.
They both have the wrong idea about what happened back in high school, but Roxy needs someone and he was her only applicant. His family farm is on the verge of bankruptcy, and he needs the paycheck to pay off the lien against the property. They both put their differences aside and find out they work really well together.
The project takes on a life of its own, growing and changing as do these characters. Josh has a lot of baggage; PTSD from his army stint in Afghanistan, aggravated by bull riding in rodeos, both of which push him into drinking and drugs. It’s taken a long while to get his act together, but he has and this ranch is the better for it. Roxy and Josh still have strong feelings for one another, and they keep tamping them down to work together without any added drama. Roxy has a string of bad boyfriends behind her, and she is not looking for more trouble this close to home.
Eventually, they have a major conflict over the renovation, and a huge blowout. Josh disappears for days, and Roxy finally realizes that she is in love with him. They reach their happily ever after, and it was an entertaining read to get there.
6/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
SUMMER AT MOUNT JOY by Ophelia London.Entangled: Amara (June 10, 2024). ASIN : B0CJ82488P. 337p.
If you could rewrite your life story, would you dare? That’s the question at the heart of this charming and propulsive debut novel about love, life, and a woman finding herself and what it means to be happy and successful.
Do you ever feel like your life doesn’t measure up to everyone else’s—and wonder if you just didn’t get the memo helping you make the right choices?
Jenny Green dreads her upcoming college reunion. Once top of her class, the thirty-five-year-old finds herself stuck in a life that isn’t the one she expected. Her promising career has flamed out (literally) and her deadbeat boyfriend is cheating on her (again). All her friends seem to have it all figured it out, enjoying glittering lives and careers that she can only envy from the sidelines. Did she just not get the memo they all did?
As it turns out, she didn’t!
When she arrives at her alma mater for the festivities, she receives a text from an unlisted number.
“Jenny Green: please collect your memo.”
Somewhere on campus, a discreet female-led organization provides comprehensive memos to select students, a set of instructions that are a blueprint for success.
The first time around, Jenny didn’t receive hers. Now, she’s being given the second chance she wants—an opportunity to relive her life and make all the right decisions this time around. But at what price?
Smart, addictive, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant, The Memo will enchant readers of In Five Years and Cassandra in Reverse as well as fans of Emma Straub and Maria Semple.
“Do you ever wonder if everyone else somehow got a secret leg up, insider knowledge, or even just a map to navigate the proverbial lay of the land? Such is the premise of Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling’s charming new novel. . . . A modernized Sliding Doors set amid a delightfully specific milieu, this is a paranormal parable with a very relatable heart.” — Vogue
This writing duo’s debut is a tribute to a world of possibility. When her college career counselor suggests to Jenny Green that she quit school a few weeks before graduation, she does not take that advice. While her friends move on to uber-successful careers, Jenny feels like she is stagnating. She wonders if everyone else got the memo and learned to succeed, and why she did not. She’s not thrilled with her assistant job, she’s pretty sure her boyfriend is cheating on her, and she has to deal with her upcoming fifteen year college reunion. Then she receives an anonymous text message urging her to take the memo and follow the instructions; she does, and her whole world starts shifting on its axis. With a whiff of time travel Jenny bounces between her old life and this possible new life, but eventually, she has to make a not inconsiderable decision and face that life head-on.
Verdict: Millennial women, in particular, may be drawn to this story. Readalikes for this original literary debut include The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas, Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale, or The Good Part by Sophie Cousens.
Secrets are revealed and forbidden sparks ignited in this sizzling Sunrise Cove standalone, a tale of enemies to lovers, redemption, missing treasures, and love—by romance superstar and New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.
Anna Moore didn’t just wake up one day and decide to go on a wild quest—especially since her life no longer lends itself to wild anything—so how in the world does she end up racing against the clock with Owen Harris, a sexy, enigmatic adventurist, to prove her beloved dad innocent of stealing a million-dollar necklace?
It’s all Wendy’s fault. Her older, bossy sister, who’s seven months pregnant and on bed rest in their small Lake Tahoe hometown, is desperate to clear their departed dad’s name. Owen, though, is convinced he’s guilty as hell and wants to return the jewelry back to its rightful owner—his elderly great aunt. Together Anna and Owen go on a scavenger hunt for clues to the past (with Wendy remotely along for the ride via an earbud, supplying a running wry commentary to boot).
On opposing sides and suspicious of each other as they are, Anna and Owen still can’t deny the inexplicable and explosive chemistry between them on this heart-stopping adventure, the outcome of which will prove the necklace isn’t the only thing stolen—their hearts have been as well.
I adore this series, and this latest entry is a real pageturner!
Anna and Wendy are as close as two sisters can be. But with Wendy pregnant with triplets and on bed rest, she is living vicariously through Anna via an ear piece for her phone, which adds a lot of humor to the story.
They lost their father a few years earlier, and while cleaning out some things, they find an old and valuable coin. That opens a Pandora’s box as their father was considered a suspect in the robbery of the set of coins and a ruby necklace. No one was ever arrested, and the stolen items were never found, until this one coin.
The items were stolen from Owen’s great-aunt, who is now suffering from dementia. Owen is devoted to her, and thinks if the necklace could be found, maybe it would give her some peace of mind. He approaches Anna and they agree to work together to try and find the rest of the stolen items. This lends some suspense to this romance, and it is a heartstopper of an ending. Meanwhile, as Owen and Anna work together, real feelings emerge and Wendy is loving listening in on it all.
This was a fun read, and the suspense and the romance built naturally. I loved how Anna and Wendy got along, and how Anna and Owen moved from distrust to love. This book stands alone beautifully, as do all the books in the series, although I do recommend reading them all – I highly recommend this series and this book.
6/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE SUMMER ESCAPE by Jill Shalvis.Avon (June 11, 2024). ISBN: 978-0063235816. 336p.
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