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THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME by Laura Dave

July 26, 2021

From the publisher:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
SELECTION OF THE REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB
A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED, BEST BOOK OF SUMMER SELECTED BY * VOGUE * USA TODAY * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * CNN * TOWN & COUNTRY * PARADE * BUSTLE * AND MORE!

A “gripping” (Entertainment Weekly) mystery about a woman who thinks she’s found the love of her life—until he disappears.

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.

With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbreaking turn.

I haven’t read a thriller in a while and this one kept popping up as the one to read this summer, so I did. It is a fast paced story with interesting characters, but not a lot of depth. If you are looking for a quick, entertaining read, look no further. I read it in one night.

Hannah’s mother took off when she was a young child, leaving her in the care of her grandfather as there was no father in the picture. Her grandfather was a woodturner, and he taught Hannah his craft. Once a table she made landed in Architectural Digest, her career was made. She creates mostly custom pieces on commission for the uber wealthy. That’s how she meets Owen.

Owen works for one of Hannah’s regular customers. They are in NY and Owen’s boss stops by the wood shop to check on their current piece in progress. Owen is entranced with Hannah, and she is equally attracted to him. Owen is a young widower, having lost his wife in a tragic car accident when his daughter was a toddler. He hasn’t dated much over the years since he lost his wife, but he quickly realizes that Hannah is someone special. Bailey, his 16-year-old daughter, is not thrilled; she hasn’t had to share her doting father and isn’t sure she wants to. This is not unexpected behavior. What is unexpected is how Hannah relates to Bailey. Having no real relationship with her own mother, and at 40 Hannah is pretty sure she is not having her own children, Hannah leans in to the relationship as best as she can. Bailey eventually accepts her but grudgingly.

The family dynamic is upended when Owen disappears. He leaves a note for Hannah, but all it says is “protect her.” She knows he means Bailey. He leaves Bailey a longer note and a bag full of cash. hundreds of thousands of dollars, stuffed into her school locker before he takes off. Then the shit hits the fan; turns out the company he works for is in serious trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Shop, as it is known, has been raided and the Owen’s boss arrested. Hannah’s best friend, Jules, is a photojournalist and she gives Hannah a heads up on the upcoming raid which is how Owen has time to disappear.

The FBI and the US Marshal’s office send agents to their home, a houseboat in Sausalito, but neither Hannah nor Bailey know anything. Hannah starts to suspect there is more to Owen’s disappearance than what happened at The Shop. This suspicion takes her to Austin, Texas, where she pretty quickly figures out why Owen has gone missing. By quickly I mean just a few days but it takes most of the book to get there.

The ending was so family-centric that it was almost jarring and hard to believe. Maybe if I had been more emotionally wrangled into the Owen-Hannah relationship it would have made more sense, but I didn’t quite get that the two years they were together were enough to make it all plausible. That said, it was a very good read and I enjoyed it. This was a Reese Witherspoon pick which I generally like, and this book was no exception.

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME by Laura Dave. Simon & Schuster; Book Club edition (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1501171345. 320 pages.

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HEART ON A LEASH by Alanna Martin

July 25, 2021

Hearts of Alaska, Book 1

From the publisher:

Young pups teach frozen hearts new tricks when a pack of rescue huskies inspire love and romance in a coastal Alaskan town fractured by feuding families.

Taylor Lipin has made it her life’s mission to leave her hometown and its ridiculous, century-old feud with the Porters behind. But when her sister needs help running the family inn, Taylor agrees to return to Helen, Alaska on a temporary, definitely not longer than two weeks, basis. Or so she thinks, until she’s quite literally swept off her feet and into enemy territory by three happy huskies and their drool-worthy owner, Dr. Josh Krane.

Though Josh didn’t grow up in Helen with the rest of his Porter cousins, he’s heard the stories: Porters rescue huskies. The Lipins are cat people. Keep to your pack. But Taylor is too tempting to give up–plus, his dogs love her.

As Taylor and Josh grow closer, tensions in the town escalate and the need for secrecy starts taking a toll. Soon they’ll need to decide whether their newfound love is just a summer fling or if they’ve found their forever home.

As soon as I finished reading the second book in this series (Paws and Prejudice) I sought out this book. It would have been better had I read this one first. Some series are meant to be read in order and I think this series works better that way.

First of all, the cover. The dogs are a major part of both stories, and I love that. The small town of Helen, Alaska has this century-old feud going on between the Lipin and Porter families. The history of the feud is shady, at best, but it supposedly started when one of the families tries to steal the other family’s dogs, and that was it. Porters are the dog people, and Lipins like cats. So cats and dogs!

But when Josh, a Porter, falls in love with Taylor, a Lipin, the families take sides and both are determined to break up the happy couple. They had a few weeks of peace by sneaking around, but once the families find out, all bets are off. Vandalism, threats, family sit-downs and more don’t deter the couple but the families will not stop. Until finally Josh is scared that Taylor could get seriously hurt, so he dumps her to protect her. Big mistake.

The characters, and there are a lot of them, come to life on the page and the setting is, well, small town Alaska and all that I love. Oh, and Josh is half Jewish. I’ve found it interesting to find Jews in Alaska when it seems like most (all) small town romances usually end up with a Christmas book at some point. I love those, but I like finding my people, even if it’s just one character in the story. It means a lot to me.

There are lots of laugh out loud moments here plus some steamy sex and packs of cute dogs, Huskies to be exact. Look at that cover! Completely irresistible, like this story. Can’t wait for the next book in the series (and I hope it’s Taylor’s sister Lydia’s happy ending next!)

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HEART ON A LEASH by Alanna Martin. Berkley (April 27, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593198834. 368 pages.

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BLOOD KIN by Matt Hilton

July 24, 2021

A Grey and Villere Thriller, Book 8

From the publisher:

A fast-paced and action-packed ride through upstate New York for fans of CHRIS RYAN and STEPHEN LEATHER.

When Nicolas ‘Po’ Villere runs into Elspeth Fuchs, an old flame, he’s surprised to find who’s by her side. It’s her son, Jacob, and he’s a dead ringer for when Po was a child. His age lines up with when Po last saw Elspeth, before she left him for Caleb Moorcock and a life in a secluded community.

Elspeth and Jacob are now running for their lives from the abusive Caleb. Po and his partner, Private Investigator Tess Grey, offer shelter. But before Po can dive into the boy’s parentage, Caleb snatches the absconded pair and drags them back to their fortified commune.

Has Po dodged a bullet? Maybe it’s best for them all if he never learns whether he’s Jacob’s father. Who’s he kidding? Po resolves to rescue Elspeth and discover the truth about Jacob no matter what . . .

Matt Hilton is a top tier author of exciting crime novels and “Blood Kin” certainly ranks with the best of them. It features Tess Grey a private detective and Nicolas “Po” Villere an ex-con who had been imprisoned for murdering his father. Po’s contention was that there were extenuating circumstances but he did serve his sentence picking up a wide variety of “skills” while incarcerated, some of these quite lethal.

The story begins while Po is waiting for Tess to finish up a day in court and he runs into Elspeth Fuchs whom he hasn’t seen in years and once was almost married to. She is traveling with her 10-year-old son Jacob. Po is fascinated by Jacob who looks very much like him and based on the number of years since they were together could actually be his child conceived while being with Elspeth. He invites them to his home to meet Tess, but Elspeth doesn’t trust their motives and disappears with her son.

A sixth sense pushes Po and Tess to follow them and they do so accompanied by Pinky a friend of theirs who has the build of a strong men, is definitely one and believes it is his function to help his friends. Their chase gets them to an enclave run by Caleb Moorcock who is Elspeth’s husband and is a tyrant and a bully with the added problem of being a murderer and dealing in drugs.

The plot certainly includes necessary conflict and the attempt to rescue Elspeth and her son from the tyranny of Elspeth’s psychotic husband. The book is easily finished in one fell swoop and the reader kept involved by the constant action and shifting in the presentation of characters. I’ve had the pleasure of reading other novels by Matt Hilton and do feel comfortable in recommending this book and all future novels by him to readers that go for police and crime books.

7/2021 Paul Lane

BLOOD KIN by Matt Hilton. Severn House Publishers; Main edition (August 3, 2021). ISBN: 978-0727890962. 240 pages.

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IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey

July 23, 2021

It Happened One Summer, Book 1

From the publisher:

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who’s cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town… where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.

As seen on E!Online, PopSugar, CNN, EliteDaily, Vulture, Buzzfeed, Bustle, the Nerd Daily, PARADE, LA Magazine, Country Living, USA Today, and more!

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar… in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.

We started watching Schitt’s Creek not that long ago, during the pandemic, and finished it a few weeks ago. Apparently, I’m in the minority because I didn’t love it. I liked the most of the characters, but I expect sitcoms to make me laugh. I think I laughed just a few times throughout six seasons, so I didn’t find it especially funny. I enjoyed the final season the most so when I saw this book was inspired by the show, specifically the Alexis Rose character, I was intrigued. Bailey is one of my go to writers; I read all her books so even though I didn’t find the show particularly funny, I could see where it would be a good jumping off point for a book.

The main character, Piper, is basically Alexis Rose. She’s a Beverly Hills social media darling, and Instagram is her world. Pretty, vapid, and shallow, as her boyfriend tells her while breaking up with her three weeks after they started dating, about the longest relationship she has had. After the breakup, Piper invites everyone she knows to break into the Mondrian Hotel pool and after being turned in as the ringleader by her “best friend”, Piper spends the night in jail. Upon her return home, her very wealthy movie mogul stepfather informs her that he has had enough. Her little hotel stunt may have cost him the funding he needs for his next film.

Piper learns that her father, who died when she was a toddler, has left her and her sister a dive bar in Washington state. Her stepfather has been paying someone for minimal upkeep but he decides that Piper needs to learn how most people live, and he gives her a bare minimum of funds and sends her off to the small town of Westport for three months. Hannah, her sister, decides to go with her. The girls are close, and Piper is thrilled she won’t be banished alone.

So the general plot is rich girl gets cut off from her money, much like Schitt’s Creek. Piper meets Brendan shortly after arriving in town, and he is not a fan. But as she and Hannah start cleaning up the bar and the apartment above, he starts to help them. Piper is not used to men wanting anything but sex from her, so she doesn’t quite understand why this man is helping her. And eventually they fall in love.

There are a lot of really funny scenes throughout the book, and some really sweet ones, too. When they finally get together, there is some hot sex as well. But for me the best part was how Piper grows and changes, all for the better. There are enough quirky characters to add another layer of interest. Also I had no idea that crab fishing was so profitable. All in all, a very interesting and entertaining romance. Best of all, this is the first book of a new series.

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey. Avon (July 13, 2021). ISBN: 978-0063045651. 416 pages.

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FALLING IN LOVE ON WILLOW CREEK by Debbie Mason

July 22, 2021

Highland Falls, Book 3

From the publisher:

Fall in love with the latest Highland Falls romance about a single mom-to-be’s surprise delivery and the undercover FBI agent who rescues her and her heart in the small town of Highland Falls.

Single mom-to-be Sadie Gray will do anything to find her younger brother before the law catches up with him. Even if it means returning home to the small town of Highland Falls with a baby due any moment. But when that moment comes sooner than expected, and Sadie finds herself stranded on the top of a mountain—in labor–she couldn’t be more grateful for the park ranger who finds her and helps deliver her daughter safely. Soon they’ve formed a tight friendship, and while he may be hinting at more, Sadie isn’t planning to stick around after she finds her brother.

FBI agent Chase Roberts wasn’t looking for love when he agreed to go undercover as a park ranger to find an on-the-run informant. But he can’t help being drawn to beautiful, warm-hearted Sadie and her sweet baby daughter. He’s always longed to put down roots and start a family. But how can he hope to keep Sadie’s trust when she finds out that his job is to arrest the brother she’s been looking for?

This is another sweet romance in the Highland Falls series. I’ve read the second book but somehow missed the first (again) but I found it on my Kindle and moved it up on the to-be-read list.

This book was more romantic suspense than just a romance, but it worked. I had a harder time with the love-at-first-sight aspect of the story, but I went with it anyway. Sadie is pregnant, but the baby daddy, Drew, is a real prize. He disappears, he maxed out Sadie’s credit cards, and he isn’t interested in being a father. So when Sadie’s brother gets into serious trouble with a gang and with the police, she moves home to try and help out.

The baby comes a little early, and luckily Chase and his partner are in the area. Both men are undercover, but they manage to deliver the baby before disappearing. Chase just falls in love with the baby and Sadie, and she names the baby after him but is heartbroken when he disappears. She is struggling with the baby and worried about her brother and her grandmother, but then he returns with the bad news that he is undercover. But he is so helpful and that attraction is still there, stronger than ever.

There are lots of twists in the story but the romance comes through in the end. I enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to more in this series.

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FALLING IN LOVE ON WILLOW CREEK by Debbie Mason. Forever (June 29, 2021). ISBN: 978-1538717004. 400 pages.

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PRETENDING by Holly Bourne

July 21, 2021

From the publisher:

He said he was looking for a “partner in crime,” which everyone knows is shorthand for “a woman who isn’t real.”

April is kind, pretty and relatively normal—yet she can’t seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she’s found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that men aren’t looking for real women—they’re looking for Gretel.

Gretel is perfect—beautiful but low-maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not too easy. She’s your regular, everyday Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl-Next-Door with no problems.

When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun—especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control. It’s refreshing. Exhilarating, even. But as she and Joshua grow closer, and the pressure of keeping her painful past a secret begins to build, how long will she be able to keep on pretending?

“Thoughtful, smart and painfully true.” —Cosmopolitan UK

Dating sucks. April has learned this painful lesson so well that she invents the perfect date and even gives her a name, Gretel. Gretel is everything April is not. She’s confident, has great self esteem, is independent, and of course, sexy. After so many bad dates, April decides to channel her inner Gretel when she meets Joshua.

Joshua is your basic unicorn; a genuinely nice guy. And he falls pretty quickly for April/Gretel, only he doesn’t know the real April, only the Gretel she lets him see. But soon April finds it tiring to be on all the time, and as they grow closer, Joshua realizes something is up. But April is scared to be herself until Joshua proves that he wants the real April.

This is a fun, easy read, perfect for whiling away a Sunday afternoon when it is too hot to do anything else but read. Okay, it doesn’t have to be too hot, it doesn’t have to be too anything, it’s just an entertaining read and yes, I spend a good part of my weekends reading (and my house looks like it!) But what I liked best about this book was the strong female lead character and the humor – there were a lot of laughs here. While some may see it as anti-men, I see it as anti-misogynistic men, and (wo)mansplained in a language anyone can understand. Plus a great cover!

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

PRETENDING by Holly Bourne. MIRA; Original edition (November 17, 2020). ISBN: 978-0778331506. 416 pages.

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PAWS AND PREJUDICE by Alanna Martin

July 20, 2021

Hearts of Alaska, Book 2

From the publisher:

It’s up to a trio of adorable rescue huskies to make two lonely hearts in a coastal Alaskan town realize that true love is worth too much to turn tail and run.

Glaciers have nothing on Kelsey Porter when she decides to freeze someone out. After getting burned once, she’s not about to let it happen again. And right now all that icy contempt is focused on one annoyingly attractive and entitled interloper: Ian Roth. Not only is he looking to take advantage of her quaint, coastal community, tainting the small-town charm of Helen, Alaska, but he has committed the one crime she can never forgive–he doesn’t like her dogs.

Unlike what Kelsey believes, Ian loves Helen’s charms as much as she does. That’s partly why he’s determined to open a brewery there, and he’s not about to let anything or anyone stop his dream from coming true. But he didn’t count on the beautiful, prickly woman getting under his skin. Or having to be within hand-biting proximity of her three huge huskies.

When Kelsey’s family conscripts her into helping Ian get his brewery off the ground, she finds herself caught between a rock and a hard . . . muscular . . . man who has a fear of dogs. But the longer they work together, the more she can feel herself begin to thaw. Now she’ll have to choose: let sleeping dogs lie to protect her heart, or mush head-on toward love.

I am always predisposed to like books set in Alaska, and I am happy to say this book delivered. The setting is Helen, Alaska, one of the many small towns scattered throughout the state. But Helen has something special; two families involved in a century old feud.

Kelsey Porter is the daughter of the one of the feud’s chieftains and has been raised to keep it going. Her father offers up her writing talent to the new brewery that just bought his building, and while Kelsey is annoyed with him, she doesn’t say no. But when she goes to the brewery, Ian slams the door in her face.

Turns out he’s afraid of dogs, and even worse, afraid to admit it. Kelsey has three huskies and thinks of them as her children, so she doesn’t take too kindly to anyone who doesn’t love them. But she’s agreed to help out the brewery, and Ian is quite good looking as is his brewery partner. Both men are Jewish, which you don’t find every day especially in small town Alaska. Or pretty much any small town. So I liked that aspect a lot.

Eventually Kelsey ferrets out Ian’s dog fear, and they start to help one another. Things get more complicated when the whole town gets involved with both sides of the feud taking pot shots at the brewery. Things really come to a head (pardon the pun!) when the town finds out that Ian is dating a Porter. He can’t let the brewery fail because of the feud, so he dumps Kelsey. He quickly realizes that was the biggest mistake of his life, but it takes some time for them to work it out and reach their happily ever after.

This is definitely the book to cool off with this summer! It’s a sweet romance and I am looking forward to the first book in the series, Heart on a Leash, that I missed. (As usual.) Luckily, it was just lost on my Kindle but I have it queued up to read next. Look for the review shortly.

NOTE: There is an excerpt available at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/636309/paws-and-prejudice-by-alanna-martin/

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

PAWS AND PREJUDICE by Alanna Martin. Berkley (June 29, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593198858. 336 pages.

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SOMEDAY MY DUKE WILL COME by Christina Britton

July 18, 2021

Isle of Synne, Book 2

From the publisher:

A fake engagement becomes the real thing in this historical romance that New York Times bestselling author Grace Burrowes calls “first-rate Regency fun!” and is perfect for fans of Netflix’s Bridgerton series!

Lady Clara Ashford had no intention of ever getting married. A rogue took advantage of her innocence when she was young, and she’s spent her whole life trying to make sure no one finds out. But now that her sister is engaged, Clara’s well-meaning aunt has set her sights on Clara. Desperate to avoid the matchmaking schemes, Clara’s not sure what to do—until her neighbor, the new Duke of Reigate, shows up on her doorstep in need of her help.

Quincy Nesbitt reluctantly accepted the dukedom after his brother’s death, but he’ll be damned if he accepts his brother’s fiancée as well. The only polite way to decline is to become engaged to someone else—quickly. Lady Clara has the right connections and happens to need him as much as he needs her. But he soon discovers she’s also witty and selfless, and if he’s not careful, he just might lose his heart.

This was a really good historical romance with both a strong female protagonist as well as a strong male lead. Oftentimes one is more powerful than the other, but for some reason here it doesn’t feel that way despite the fact that the lead is a Duke. Lady Clara is just as strong, and in fact often rescues the Duke. That especially comes to bear when the Duke’s horrible mother decides he needs to marry his older brother’s fiancée.

The Duke of Reigate was the youngest son, and when his father passes away, he overhears his mother plotting to send him into the Navy. Instead, the 14-year-old gets a job on a ship to America. We don’t see his life there until he returns to England, having sold off his successful Boston business. When he finally screws up the courage to visit his mother, he is shocked to learn that all of his brothers are now dead, leaving him with the title he never wanted. His mother is as hateful as ever – in an aside, I didn’t really understand this. From all the reading I’ve done in this genre, it seems like he would have all the power and the control of the money, and if he so desired, he could send his mother off to live somewhere far, far away with no ill results. But that doesn’t happen here. Instead, she is conniving and controlling and a general pain in the butt.

But when she tries to force him into a marriage with the reticent young woman who had been promised to his brother, Lady Clara comes to the rescue by announcing she is engaged to the Duke, so he cannot marry the other woman. The fake engagement is a popular trope in romance and in this case, has the usual result of the fake couple falling in love. But Clara has some serious history and that lends more depth to this story.

This is a really good series. The first book, A Good Duke Is Hard to Find, was terrific and I am looking forward to the next.

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

SOMEDAY MY DUKE WILL COME by Christina Britton. Forever (January 12, 2021). ISBN: 978-1538717509. 352 pages.

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IT’S BETTER THIS WAY by Debbie Macomber

July 17, 2021

From the publisher:

After her marriage ends, one woman’s struggle to pick up the pieces finally leads to a new beginning but is the past truly behind her? #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber explores the powerful intersections of love and family in this poignant novel.

It’s been nearly six years since Julia Jones had her heart broken. After her husband became involved with another woman, she did everything she could to save their marriage, to no avail. Their two daughters continue to stand by Julia in the wake of their father’s behavior—and they’ve had a tough time getting along with the “other woman” who became their stepmother. Distraught after selling the family home, Julia moves into a condominium complex that offers the warmth and charm of a fresh start. Now, having settled into her new community and sold her successful interior design business, she’s embraced a fulfilling new life, one that doesn’t seem to need a man in it. Her beloved father’s trusty saying is ringing truer than ever: It’s better this way.

But when Julia meets a handsome new resident in the building’s exercise room, she can’t help but be drawn to him. Heath Johnson is a welcome change from the men she’s encountered on the occasional—mostly disastrous—dates her sister has eagerly planned for her over the years. As she and Heath, a divorcé himself, begin to grow close, their friendship blossoms into an unexpected love. However, they soon realize that combining families proves to be a challenge, even though their four children are adults.

When a dramatic revelation threatens the happiness they’ve found, Julia and Heath must reconcile their love for their children with their love for each other. If they can’t, their bright future together may be nothing but a dream.

If you haven’t read Macomber, this book is an excellent place to start. It is a romance, but like all her romances, it is of the sweet, no sex, variety. I must admit that sometimes that really bothers me, especially when the main characters are parents, legally single, and of retirement age; it just doesn’t feel real to me. Would a 50-something woman date a man for months without sleeping with him? Is she a nun? If she is then she shouldn’t be dating. There are many books that are sweet romances and don’t include sex, but hint that there is a physical relationship going on off-screen, as it were. That makes sense to me and I’m fine with it. But don’t even religious Christians have sex outside of marriage? Or am I just a cynic?

Anyway, just know going in to any Macomber book you will be safe from having to read anything sexual. I like her stories enough to push past my disbelief. But even though she writes romances, all of her books fall into another category some people call “comfort reads.” I like that descriptor, it really works for these books. They are comfort reads; cosy, sweet, sometimes a bit religious but never over the top, and they always have a happy ending. That said, she doesn’t shy away from conflict because conflict is what drives romance. In this story, the conflict comes from the adult children of our protagonists. One of the things I love best about Macomber’s books is that she doesn’t feel the need to always make her protagonists millennials, or younger. Older people also can have a great romance in their lives, sometimes more than one, and she celebrates that. As someone who is a card carrying member of AARP, I appreciate that.

I don’t want to say a lot about this story beyond what is in the publisher’s synopsis; there are too many spoilers and this is a story that needs to unfold naturally for the reader. I will say that I read it in a day and really enjoyed it. A lot of it actually hit very close to home for me, especially the way the blended families interacted. Until the happy ending, of course. I didn’t get that with my dysfunctional family! So it was especially sweet for me. Another easy read from the Queen of Christmas.

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

IT’S BETTER THIS WAY by Debbie Macomber. Ballantine Books (July 13, 2021). ISBN: 978-1984818782. 320 pages.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

CHRISTMAS AT THE RESTAURANT by Pamela Kelley

July 16, 2021

The Nantucket Restaurant Series, Book 2

From the publisher:

Nantucket’s famous Christmas Stroll is always the first week of December and this year sisters Mandy and Emma and Paul, the executive chef want to do something extra special for Mimi’s Place, the restaurant that they co-own.

It will be Emma and Paul’s first Christmas together as a couple and Mandy’s first holiday as a newly single and divorced mother of two. Although Mandy does have a promising new relationship, though she wants to take things very slow.

Their sister Jill and her new husband, Billy, are planning to spend the whole month of December on Nantucket too, juggling working remotely for the executive search firm they own together in Manhattan and relaxing and spending time with family and helping out at the restaurant too.

And Gina, their awesome bartender is spending her first winter on Nantucket and it’s a bit of an adjustment–winters on Nantucket are so much quieter than the city life she was used to. She’s even more confused when someone she had a major crush on back in the city moves to Nantucket. Suddenly her boring winter is starting to look a lot more interesting.

I recently found this series so I was excited to see that the second book was a Christmas story, just in time for the Christmas in July summer extravaganza. It was not meant for that, but it’s how it fell into my lap. So be it. It’s a fun read and a nice break from the Hallmark Channel movie bonanza. I don’t have as much patience with those movies, I can’t watch more than one a week at most. But books? I’m all in. This may even be a Hallmark movie, I didn’t check.

I loved reconnecting with the characters from the first book, but the romance is centered around the new bartender, Gina, and two men she starts dating. But I really enjoyed catching up with the sisters and seeing how their relationships were doing a year later. Nantucket in winter was fun, too, and while I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first book, it was still an enjoyable read. If you need a little holiday magic in your summer, look no further!

7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

CHRISTMAS AT THE RESTAURANT by Pamela Kelley. Piping Plover Press (December 10, 2020). ISBN: 978-1953060044. 216 pages.

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Comments Off on CHRISTMAS AT THE RESTAURANT by Pamela Kelley | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Christmas, Contemporary, romcom | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi