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Cover Reveal! THE HOMEWRECKERS by Mary Kay Andrews

October 14, 2021

Summer begins with MKA, in this delightful summer read about flipping houses, and finding true love! From the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads!

Hattie Kavanaugh went to work helping clean up restored homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at eighteen; married the boss’s son at twenty; and was only twenty-five when her husband, Hank, was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Broken hearted, but determined to continue the business of their dreams, she takes the life insurance money, buys a small house in a gentrifying neighborhood, flips it, then puts the money into her next project. But that house is a disaster and a money-loser, which rocks her confidence for years to come. Then, Hattie gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: star in a beach house renovation reality show called “The Homewreckers,” cast against a male lead who may be a love interest, or may be the ultimate antagonist. It’s a question of who will flip, and who will flop, and will Hattie ever get her happily-ever-after.

Filled with Mary Kay Andrews’s trademark wit, warmth, junking trips, and house porn, The Homewreckers is a summer beach delight.

I can’t wait!

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Me & MKA circa 2016; it’s been way too long!

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NO ORDINARY CHRISTMAS by Belle Calhoune

October 13, 2021

From the publisher:

Mistletoe, Maine, is buzzing and not just because Christmas is around the corner! Dante West, local cutie-turned-Hollywood hunk, is returning home to make his next movie. Everyone in town is excited . . . except librarian Lucy Marshall. When Dante took off for LA without warning—or even a goodbye—he broke Lucy’s heart. She swore not to spend one more minute thinking about her ex, but Dante makes an offer Lucy’s struggling library can’t refuse: a major donation to film on-site.

Dante is thrilled to help boost his hometown’s economy and finally begin making amends to the people he hurt years ago when he left, starting with Lucy. But seeing his former best friend on set every day feels a lot less like closure and more like a fresh start. It’s one thing for Dante to fall for Lucy all over again, quite another for a famous movie star and a small-town librarian to find lasting romance. Can the magic of the holiday season give Lucy and Dante’s first love a second chance?

The holiday romances are upon us. In fact, this one is from last month and I’m just catching up! This is a sweet, small town romance. Dante and Lucy were best friends since elementary school and in high school, started dating. Things got pretty serious and they made a lot of plans for their future. But one night Dante just took off, and Lucy didn’t hear from him for several months. By then, he was in California, chasing his dream of acting. He broke Lucy’s heart and now it is almost nine years later and she really hasn’t recovered. She is still in love with him.

Dante becomes a huge movie star, and the tiny town of Mistletoe, Maine becomes his next project. He’s written a script, a love story, about him and Lucy, and returns to his hometown to film the movie. They throw him a parade, but Lucy is in shock. When she does run into him, she lets him have it and storms off.

Dante wants to film part of the movie in the library where Lucy is the manager. He talks her into it by promising her a big donation, which the library desperately needs. She knows if she turns him down, the library will suffer, not to mention the mayor would overrule her anyway. The next thing you know they are spending some time together.

Lucy finds herself falling in love with Dante all over again. She tries to fight it at first, but eventually gives in. What she doesn’t realize is that when he left, Dante’s heart was also broken and he’s never stopped loving her. There are many hurdles for them to reach their happily ever after, and it is a lot of fun to get there.

This author was new to me, but I will certainly read anything else she writes. I really enjoyed this holiday romance – it was a gift!

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

NO ORDINARY CHRISTMAS by Belle Calhoune. Forever (September 28, 2021). ISBN: 978-1538735985. 336 pages.

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LOCK ‘N’ LOAD by Tee O’Fallon

October 12, 2021

Federal K-9, Book 1

From the author:

Crack CIA analyst Trista Gold is a whiz with the computer, but not so much with people. She hides behind her job, analyzing Top Secret code and making recommendations on national security. She doesn’t need a man in her life. But she will, very soon…

CIA K-9 officer Sgt. Matt Connors suspects that beneath Trista’s uptight appearance, there’s a sexy woman itching to cut loose. But he doesn’t dare act on his attraction. He’s a loner and always will be. Keeping away from Trista is a must-do directive. Until he doesn’t have a choice…

During a routine assignment, Trista stumbles across a cryptic exchange. She doesn’t think much of it…until someone tries to murder her—twice. Both times, Matt had been there to save her. But now she has to hide. And her new bodyguard, Matt, and his K-9 are the only hope she has against the powerful forces that want her dead.

I was on Twitter and stumbled across an offer for a free book, and this was it. This is a very fast paced romantic suspense with some heat.

Trista is brilliant, except socially, she is inept. She grew up being teased as the “brainiac” and never really had any friends or dated. Now she has her dream job with the CIA and she manages to track a Russian spy on the black net. But unbeknownst to her, she is discovered and two attempts on her life make things difficult, to say the least. This is a woman who works on computers all day long, she doesn’t know how to deal with people trying to kill her.

Luckily, CIA K-9 officer Matt just happened to be around the first time, and he saved her. Then he learns about the possibility of a second attempt, and saves her again. She is forced to stay in a safe location and is not happy about it, even though Matt is the best looking man she’s ever seen.

There is a lot of action and suspense here, especially towards the end. But it is the romance that is at the heart of this book. Matt lost his best friend when he was a teen, and he has been punishing himself ever since. He opens up to Trista more than any woman before, but she realizes she can’t help him; he needs professional help.

Meanwhile, Trista is staying at Matt’s house, and they grow closer every day. But then the FBI insists on moving her to one of their safe houses, and she can’t bear to stay another day with Matt when he won’t get help, so off she goes. Until Matt has to rescue her again.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting, and I especially loved Sheba, the K-9 cop. If you like animals, that is just an added bonus here. This was a fun read.

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LOCK ‘N’ LOAD by Tee O’Fallon. Entangled: Amara (May 28, 2018). ASIN: B07CWRYKPV. 370 pages.

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NOT SEEKING MR. RIGHT by Natasha Moore

October 11, 2021

From the author:

Ginny Colburn can’t believe she’s been dumped by her wedding date.

And everybody knows it.

So when a cute, younger man serving champagne to the guests flirts with her, she decides to really give the guests something to talk about and flirts back.

But the incredible one-night stand gives her more than great memories.

A few weeks later, she’s got a positive pregnancy test and the task of having to tell a guy half her age, “Congratulations, you’re a dad.”

Only he doesn’t react the way she thinks he will at all…

It was a really nice ass.
Firm. Totally bare. Sticking out the back door of a dented yellow Mini Cooper parked in the far corner of the Lakeside Country Club lot. Ginny Colburn wandered over to get a better look. The long legs were muscular with just the right amount of hair. The gravel in this back section of the parking lot had to be hurting his feet.
Opening text, Not Seeking Mr. Right

This was my first read from this author and that opening immediately caught my attention. Ginny is dumped when her boyfriend decides to get back together with his ex-wife, but that happens before the wedding they were going to attend together. Instead, Ginny goes with her two best friends. But when she gets there, she sees a man’s naked backside sticking out of a Mini Cooper. It’s a nice ass, so she decides to investigate. Once he realizes he is being looked at, he dresses quickly. Josh is a bartender/server at this wedding. He thinks the woman eyeing him is beautiful, and they do a bit of flirting out in the parking lot but he has to get to work, and she has to attend her cousin’s wedding.

Her ex is there with his no-longer-an-ex, and her friends try to protect Ginny. But as Josh finishes his shift, he sees her looking very uncomfortable while talking to the man. He decides to ask her to dance, and one thing leads to another. Ginny is 40 years old and has decided she is done with men. They don’t treat her well, and she is too old to be bothered anymore. She decides she will just have one night stands from now on, starting with Josh. He’s all in, and they spend a glorious night together.

It’s a small town, so they run into each other now and then. He would like more, but he respects her wishes so he is surprised when she asks him to come over to talk. Turns out she’s pregnant, and he immediately asks her to marry him. She laughs at him and says that is not necessary. She is quite prepared to be a single mother, but thought he had the right to know.

They decide to be friends. Josh would like more but she is firm on the matter. He wants to be involved with his child but he is young, only 25 years old, and is recently graduated from college. He is working multiple odd jobs while he interviews for his dream job as a landscape architect. While he is waiting for his dream job, he is up front with Ginny that he will be leaving the small upstate New York town of Lakeside soon.

But while he’s still around, he wants to spend time with her. He teaches her to grocery shop and cook, instead of depending on takeout for every meal. He convinces her to try yoga because his pregnant sister swears it helps with morning sickness and delivering the baby. He cares for her and shows her that in every way.

They fall in love, and he asks her to marry him again. And again. But she refuses to admit that she’s in love with him when really she is refusing to stand in the way of his dreams, without ever giving him the option of deciding what he wants for himself.

There is a lot of foreshadowing in this story that makes it pretty obvious what will happen, but somehow, when he finds his dream job and moves away, I found myself crying. And crying again when they reach their happy ending. There is a lot of humor here, too, and I found myself smiling a lot and even laughing out loud a few times. As the kids say, this book has all the feels. I loved the older woman/younger man trope, the small town feel, and these characters. Ginny is a strong woman, and Josh is much more mature than most 25 year olds, probably due to his background. They are a great match, despite all the naysayers and gossip in their little village.

This book was self published but Entangled Publishing is publishing the ebook, which is how I read it. I hope they will publish more of her work; this is an author to watch.

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

NOT SEEKING MR. RIGHT by Natasha Moore. Independently published (October 7, 2021). ISBN: 979-8491232246. 320 pages.

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HEART AND SEOUL by Jen Frederick

October 10, 2021

From the publisher:

One woman learns that the price of belonging is often steeper than expected in this heart-wrenching yet hopeful romantic novel and first in the Seoul duology by USA Today bestselling author Jen Frederick.

As a Korean adoptee, Hara Wilson doesn’t need anyone telling her she looks different from her white parents. She knows. Every time Hara looks in the mirror, she’s reminded that she doesn’t look like anyone else in her family—not her loving mother, Ellen; not her jerk of a father, Pat; and certainly not like Pat’s new wife and new “real” son.

At the age of twenty-five, she thought she had come to terms with it all, but when her father suddenly dies, an offhand comment at his funeral triggers an identity crisis that has her running off to Seoul in search of her roots.

What Hara finds there has all the makings of a classic K-drama: a tall, mysterious stranger who greets her at the airport, spontaneous adventures across the city, and a mess of familial ties, along with a red string of destiny that winds its way around her, heart and soul. Hara goes to Korea looking for answers, but what she gets instead is love—a forbidden love that will either welcome Hara home…or destroy her chance of finding one.

This book is part family story, part romance, and part travelogue to Seoul in South Korea. Hara was adopted when she was a baby after her biological mother abandoned her on the streets of Seoul. Her adoptive parents live in the Midwest, and there are no other Asian kids in her school. Hara grows up always feeling like an outsider, despite her mother trying to help her learn about her heritage. Hara pushes those efforts away.

Her parents divorce and her father eventually remarries and has a son. When he suddenly dies, she learns he left his money to his “real” child. Hara and her dad had a difficult relationship, but she is very close to her mom. A few months after the funeral, Hara receives an email from the DNA adoption matching service with her birth father’s name and address, in Seoul. Hara decides to go meet him, and hopes to also find her birth mother.

Hara doesn’t plan much; this is a spur of the moment decision. She doesn’t speak Korean but a newish friend does, and her friend will be in Korea at the same time. Hara is sure it will all work out. But of course, there are hurdles.

Her friend arranged for a car and driver, but Hara mistakenly gets a ride with a young, gorgeous man that she originally thinks is her driver. He thinks she is beautiful, doesn’t dissuade her and gives her a ride. Luckily, he speaks perfect English, and tells her he was educated in the U.S. He also admits he is not a driver. She is so jet lagged and he is so good looking, she just goes along with it.

Hara spends two weeks in Seoul, finding her father, her mother, and love. But, and this is a big but and the cause for a lot of negative reviews – there is no happy ending here. However, the sequel, Seoulmates, comes out early next year.

The story is slow moving, and Hara isn’t an especially likeable character. But I like my happy endings, so I will be reading the sequel in hopes of finding it. Frankly, the publisher should have known better than to market this as a romance; one of the defining characteristics of the romance genre is the happy ending. It is women’s fiction with some romance, but it is really a story about Hara learning about her background and her culture. I like learning those sorts of things, too, so it worked for me.

NOTE: Coincidentally, as I finished reading this book I came across this article in the New York Times*:

The Myth of Asian American Identity: We’re the fastest-growing demographic group in the U.S. But when it comes to the nation’s racial and ethnic divisions, where do we fit in? [This article is adapted from “The Loneliest Americans,” by Jay Caspian Kang, to be published by Crown in October.]

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HEART AND SEOUL by Jen Frederick. Berkley (May 25, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593100141. 352 pages.

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**Thanks to the New York Times for allowing me to “gift” my readers with free access to this article, a lovely perk for subscribers.*

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DEFINITELY YES by Ella Miles

October 8, 2021

Maybe, Definitely

From the author:

Disgusted with my love life, I join a dating app under a fake name. I start chatting to a man named Edgar.

One question from an ex-lover.

One text message from a complete stranger.

The same answer to both…Yes.

Scarlett Bell has found a way to move beyond a dark past that threatened to take her best friend, Kinsley, from her. Now ten years later Scarlett has everything. A multi-billion dollar fashion and beauty empire. A fabulous New York apartment filled with everything a girl could need. And an awesome best friend. What more could she want? Love, marriage, and a baby. Everything her best friend has.

One ex-boyfriend could give her everything she thinks she wants. Even if he is a little too nice…One dark stranger could give her everything she never knew she wanted. But he could destroy her life…Two men. Two choices. One answer to both: Definitely Yes.

It looks like this series is divided into two parts; Maybe, and Definitely. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I definitely (see what I did there? HA!) felt like I was missing backstory. It looks like the first three books of this series are Maybe, and this appears to be the first book of the Definitely part of the series. A tiny bit confusing, but no matter. I still enjoyed this book.

Scarlett knows what she wants, but she is afraid to go after it. The anonymous man she calls Beast definitely knows how she wants to be treated – in bed, that is. But she hasn’t even seen his face. And her ex is suddenly available, but he may just be too nice for her.

Scarlett’s best friend Kinsley is pregnant and Scarlett feels like maybe she is missing out. Beast is very mysterious, but will he come through for her and give her what she wants? Or should she settle for the nice guy?

The suspense is light, the sex is hot, and the story moves. Not sure I care enough to go back and read the earlier books, not to mention that being they are self published, my library isn’t carrying these. I got this book free from Amazon through BookBub and if they offer up anymore freebies, I’d read them. So who knows.

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DEFINITELY YES by Ella Miles. Independently published (May 20, 2019). ISBN: 978-1099478321. 258 pages.

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MY TIME AMONG THE WHITES by Jennine Capó Crucet

October 7, 2021

Notes from an Unfinished Education

From the author of Make Your Home Among Strangers, essays on being an “accidental” American―an incisive look at the edges of identity for a woman of color in a society centered on whiteness

In this sharp and candid collection of essays, critically acclaimed writer and first-generation American Jennine Capó Crucet explores the condition of finding herself a stranger in the country where she was born. Raised in Miami and the daughter of Cuban refugees, Crucet examines the political and personal contours of American identity and the physical places where those contours find themselves smashed: be it a rodeo town in Nebraska, a university campus in upstate New York, or Disney World in Florida. Crucet illuminates how she came to see her exclusion from aspects of the theoretical American Dream, despite her family’s attempts to fit in with white American culture―beginning with their ill-fated plan to name her after the winner of the Miss America pageant.

In prose that is both fearless and slyly humorous, My Time Among the Whites examines the sometimes hopeful, sometimes deeply flawed ways in which many Americans have learned to adapt, exist, and―in the face of all signals saying otherwise―perhaps even thrive in a country that never imagined them here.

This memoir is a collection of essays and is remarkable reading. Crucet is the American born daughter of Cuban refugees, and grew up in Hialeah, a Miami haven for Cuban families. In this book, she talks about everything from moving to Nebraska to Walt Disney World to how she was named after a Miss USA – sort of. What drew me to this book was the immigrant experience being told first hand.

Crucet is the first person in her family to go to college, and she writes about that experience and the difficulties she had because she had no guidance. She applied to only two colleges, because no one told her you could get application fees waived and they were steep. She received a full ride to the University of Florida, no easy feat, but instead, she selected a school based on a brochure a secretary was throwing away. The school that looked so appealing was Cornell University, and she was accepted. She did receive financial aid, but not the free ride she could have had at UF. She decided, along with her family, that Cornell was the best place for her, even though it was a struggle.

Struggle is at the heart of the book. Crucet is Latinx, a light skinned brown person who often passes as white, living in a country where the last president called Mexicans rapists and murderers. I loved the review in the Los Angeles Review of Books; they described this book as “post-Trump Latinx literature.” The bigotry she has to deal with is at times subtle, and other times overt, but it is always there, a backdrop to every essay in this collection. This is a worthwhile read, especially now when right-wing racist groups have gained national attention. It is sometimes painful reading, sometimes funny, but always engaging, making this a difficult but excellent read.

NOTE: I am facilitating a discussion of this book at Lynn University on Friday, 10/8/2021 at noon, with college students and faculty. I am especially looking forward to hearing what the students have to say. This discussion is part of the Impact Series: in collaboration with Student Affairs and the Lynn Library, Project Civitas‘ Impact Series is a multi-departmental collaboration that seeks to immerse students, faculty and staff in holistic conversations about issues of social justice. Register here for the book discussion: https://lynn.libcal.com/event/8297620

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

MY TIME AMONG THE WHITES by Jennine Capó Crucet. Picador (September 3, 2019). ISBN:‎ 978-1250299437. 208 pages.

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NO HOLDING BACK by Lori Foster

October 6, 2021

The McKenzies of Ridge Trail, Book 1

From the publisher:

Introducing The McKenzies of Ridge Trail, an all-new sexy contemporary romance series from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster.

Not needing him won’t stop her from wanting him…

Trucker Sterling (Star) Parson is no stranger to the challenges a woman faces, both in her industry and in life. But she can take care of herself. She’s never needed—or wanted—a man around…until she meets Cade McKenzie. The take-charge bar owner sets off all kinds of alarm bells for Sterling, but he also sets her heart racing.

Cade’s lived in Ridge Trail long enough to know trouble when he sees it, and the moment Sterling—Star—walks into his bar, he knows trouble’s come to call. Secrets run deep in the small town and Cade can tell Star’s got as many as he does, leaving him itching to uncover every last one. But finding common ground will mean trusting one another, further feeding an intense attraction that’s growing impossible to resist.

I’m glad I got to start this series with the first book because it is a complicated and worthwhile story. The McKenzie family business is vigilantism. There are two brothers, Reyes and Cade, their sister, Madison, and their father, Parrish, a former surgeon who now 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.

Star drives a big rig, but likes to stop at Cade’s bar when she’s in town. She has a habit of napping in the corner, but she’s hyper-alert, and the bar is a good place to find out what’s going on in the underworld. Star is also a bit of a vigilante, helping women who have been trafficked. She’s rescued some and helped them move on. She is self taught and doesn’t have the training or experience of the McKenzies, but she’s also very much a loner. So when Cade offers her his office to nap in, she is touched. No one has ever looked out for her, and as she gets to know him, and they start working together. feelings start to emerge.

Cade has never wanted a relationship, but there is something about Star that really draws him in, but she constantly pushes him away and he really likes her independent streak. When they do get together, their chemistry is just scorching hot. It’s not easy chasing down bad guys when you’re worried about your partner, but they work well together and Star feels respected, which is very important to her.

This is a fast read with a lot of suspense and steamy love scenes, and some violence. I can’t wait for the next book in this series, and luckily, I don’t have to – Stronger Than You Know came out in August, and the third book, Watching Over You, comes out in December.

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

NO HOLDING BACK by Lori Foster. HQN; Original edition (January 26, 2021). ISBN: 978-1335668509. 352 pages.

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THE TROUBLE WITH HATING YOU by Sajni Patel

October 5, 2021

The Trouble with Hating You, Book 1

From the publisher:

A fiercely independent engineer walks out on the man her parents have set her up with — only to start working side-by-side with him at her job in this laugh-out-loud debut with “delicious banter, deep wounds, heartwarming friendships, and a path to love that often feels impossibly hard, and [a payoff] satisfying enough to give you a book hangover the size of Texas” (Sonali Dev, USA Today bestselling author of Recipe for Persuasion).

Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents’ latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she’s out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later — the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What’s not surprising: he’s not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.

Jay Shah looks good on paper…and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He’s also infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late-night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?

I read the second book in this series, First Love, Take Two and I loved it, so I dug around my Kindle and sure enough I found this book. I was so happy I did – this was also a really good read and a good introduction to the characters.

This book is all about Liyah. She is a very successful engineer; in fact, so successful, she just got promoted to management. Except what her boss didn’t tell her is that the company is facing a ton of lawsuits, and everyone’s jobs are in jeopardy. Determined to work hard and help push the company past this bump, on her first day she is late to the meeting with the lawyer in charge of settling the lawsuits. He turns out to be Jay, who she met briefly a few days earlier when her parents tried to set her up with him. She has no interest in marriage, much less parent-matched marriage, and she flees. Unfortunately, she crashes into Jay right on the front lawn, taking them both down. She really hates his smirk as she sprawls on top of him, and she just takes off. And now it’s time for payback.

After a few snarky comments about her tardiness, they end up working together to try and save this company. But all they do is argue, and the chemistry between them just can’t be denied. Jay is intrigued for sure, but Liyah is playing hard-to-get – or actually, impossible to get.

Liyah has a terrible reputation. When she was a young teen, she accused the leader of their Hindu church of sexually abusing her. Her father called her a liar, and their relationship has been strained ever since. Her mother may have believed her, but she is completely submissive to her psychologically abusive husband. Not exactly the great role models for a good marriage, and Liyah is really destroyed by her father’s refusal to believe her. She starts sleeping around, moves out of her parent’s house after college which is frowned upon in this community, and she develops this bad reputation. So she has a hard time believing that this man and his good family would be accepting of her.

But Jay isn’t giving up. He has his own issues – his father died in a fire, and he was injured, but he feels responsible for his father’s death. He is very close with his mother and brother, and they don’t blame him but he can’t get past the guilt.

Despite their pasts, they keep growing closer. Jay is patient – extraordinarily patient – with Liyah and eventually he breaks down her barriers. Until the man she accused of molesting her starts threatening her and even tells Jay and his family that she tried to seduce him. It’s a mess, and Liyah takes off. But Jay tracks her down and they work through their issues together.

I loved these characters and learning about the Indian/Hindu culture. The hate-to-love trope works really well here, and there is a lot of humor despite the seriousness of some of the issues. I think everything is handled with sensitivity and that really added a lot to the emotional resonance of this story. I’m looking forward to whatever comes next from Patel – she is on my must read list for sure.

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE TROUBLE WITH HATING YOU by Sajni Patel. Forever (May 12, 2020). ISBN: 978-1538733332. 352 pages.

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FIRST LIGHT by Isabel Jolie

October 4, 2021

Haven Island, Book 3

From the publisher:

He could be my savior…or my downfall…

I am living a lie.

No one knows who I really am. Letting someone in could be devastating for my family.

For the most part, isolation isn’t a hardship. I haven’t been looking for love or any kind of serious relationship.

But then I met Logan.

I tried to keep my distance. He won’t let me.

Logan is gentle, kind, and loving. Everything I never knew I needed in my life.

He’s also a cop—exactly the kind of man who’d never understand my truth.

So, while he has shared his deepest, darkest secrets, I keep mine hidden.

Too bad I can’t keep my heart locked away, too.

Because now I’m falling for a man who can never be mine. Not truly, anyway.

How can I ask him to be my future when I can’t even let him help me survive my present?

First Light is a standalone steamy contemporary romance. The Haven Island Series can be read in any order; you do not need to read any of the other books in the series to enjoy First Light.

This author was new to me, as is this series and here I am starting with the third book. But, as the author says, these books do not need to be read in order and I never would have known this was part of a series if Amazon didn’t tell me. So good job on that!

Cali is a bit of an enigma. Recently moved to this tiny barrier island off of North Carolina, all anyone really knows about her is that she is divorced, runs mid-day with her dog, and locks her doors. The chief safety officer AKA the local police chief, is Logan, almost two years divorced and finds Cali appealing. He hasn’t dated in years, but decides to give it a try with her.

Cali is very close-mouthed, to say the least. She won’t discuss her divorce or her ex, and all anyone really knows is that she moved to this oceanfront home from the west coast and is a translator, tutoring a local child. What they don’t know is that, in fact, Cali has never been married. They also don’t know that she is a state of the art security system, and keeps a bunch of servers downtown in the business district. The servers are her brother’s, as is the security system, and all we really know about him is that he is some sort of hacker with international political interests. We know something isn’t quite kosher, as Cali has her own suspicions, but he is her twin and she loves him.

But then she falls in love with Logan. Her brother is appalled, but after some digging decides it is a safe relationship. But if Logan finds out anything about him, there will be trouble. And sure enough, there is. Not to mention a hurricane adding to the fun.

This was an interesting story with a bit of suspense, especially towards the end. Once Logan finds out what’s really going on with Cali, he is furious. His ex-wife lied to him and he can’t deal with lies. Or as Cali puts it, his world is black and white, and hers has multitudes of gray. But no fear, that hurricane brings them back together and they get their happily ever after. I liked this book but probably not enough to seek out the earlier books in the series. It was just an okay read for me.

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FIRST LIGHT by Isabel Jolie. Noctivity (September 24, 2021). ISBN: 978-1953942265. 304 pages.