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THE SECRET BRIDESMAID by Katy Birchall

May 26, 2021

From the publisher:

Matrimony meets mayhem in a modern British romcom about a young woman charged with pulling off the biggest aristocratic wedding of the year––and the misadventures that ensue.

Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job.

As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is hired by London brides to be their right-hand woman, posing as a friend but working behind the scenes to help plan the perfect wedding and ensure their big day goes off without a hitch. When she’s hired by Lady Victoria Swann––a former model and “It Girl” of 1970’s London; now the Marchioness of Meade––for the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is.

Of course, it’s not ideal that the bride, Lady Victoria’s daughter, Cordelia, is an absolute diva and determined to make Sophie’s life a nightmare. It’s also a bit inconvenient that Sophie finds herself drawn to Cordelia’s posh older brother, who is absolutely off limits. But when a rival society wedding is announced for the very same day, things start to get…well, complicated.

Can Sophie pull off the biggest challenge of her career––execute a high-profile gala for four hundred and fifty guests in record time, win over a reluctant bride, and catch the eye of handsome Lord Swann––all while keeping her true identity a secret, and her dignity intact?

Heartwarming and hilarious, Katy Birchall’s The Secret Bridesmaid celebrates the joys (and foibles) of weddings, the nuances of female friendship, and the redeeming power of love in its many unexpected forms.

If you are looking to escape for a few hours and you like to laugh out loud while you’re reading, this is your book! It certainly was mine.

So a professional bridesmaid is basically a laid back wedding planner, perfect for brides who want to keep control of the wedding but may need some help along the way. I don’t know if this is a real thing, but Birchall had me believing. It was a little harder to believe that a British aristocrat planning a fairly large wedding wouldn’t just go ahead with a wedding planner, but the bridezilla at the center of the wedding makes that call. Her mother, on the other hand, hires Sophie despite her daughter’s resistance (to put it mildly.)

Cordelia is the bridezilla, or as Sophie’s friend refers to her at Miranda Priestly. (You know who that is, yes?) Cordelia is determined to force her hired bridesmaid to quit, and goes to great lengths to make her point. But Sophie considers herself a professional, and with her mother’s occasional encouragement, she is bound to make Cordelia see the light, if she doesn’t get fired first.

There are other brides in the roster and they add some additional comic relief – the bride who wants all her bridesmaids to be redheads so her brunette hair will stand out, the bride who wants a Star Wars themed wedding, replete with her hired bridesmaid dressed as Chewbacca, and so forth. But Cordelia – she is the master of mean which makes for a very fun read. Her good looking brother is Sophie’s romantic interest, but he takes a back seat to everything else going on in her life.

This book was pure escapism, funny as hell with a sweet romance. I loved it!

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE SECRET BRIDESMAID by Katy Birchall. St. Martin’s Griffin (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1250795793. 400 pages.

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THE CAVE DWELLERS by Christina McDowell

May 25, 2021

From the publisher:

A compulsively readable novel in the vein of The Bonfire of the Vanities—by way of The Nest—about what Washington, DC’s high society members do away from the Capitol building and behind the closed doors of their stately homes.

They are the families considered worthy of a listing in the exclusive Green Book—a discriminative diary created by the niece of Edith Roosevelt’s social secretary. Their aristocratic bloodlines are woven into the very fabric of Washington—generation after generation. Their old money and manner lurk through the cobblestone streets of Georgetown, Kalorama, and Capitol Hill. They only socialize within their inner circle, turning a blind eye to those who come and go on the political merry-go-round. These parents and their children live in gilded existences of power and privilege.

But what they have failed to understand is that the world is changing. And when the family of one of their own is held hostage and brutally murdered, everything about their legacy is called into question.

They’re called The Cave Dwellers.

McDowell’s debut novel (after her memoir, After Perfect) is a brutal, satirical look at life in Washington, D.C., and the author knows whereof she speaks; she grew up there. The catalyst for the story is the torture and brutal murder of a wealthy, power-wielding family, including their teenage daughter. One of her classmates is determined to get to some sort of understanding of what happened and why, and she goes to the jail to visit the young Black man who was arrested for the crime. It turns out his father was an employee of the family that was killed, and motive is quickly established. The wives of the most powerful families in the nation’s capital are all perturbed, but so are their children, the teenagers and private school classmates of the murdered girl. These are among the most privileged families in the country, and the satire here is deeply wounding; racism, misogyny, and class hierarchy are all fair game, and the irony is inescapable and delicious.

Verdict: A fascinating, gossipy glimpse into the lives of the 1% (with footnotes) that should appeal to readers who enjoyed The Assistants by Camille Perri or Capital Girls by Ella Monroe.

©Library Journal, 2021

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE CAVE DWELLERS by Christina McDowell. Gallery/Scout Press (May 25, 2021). ISBN 978-1982132781. 352 pages.

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THE LAST GREEN VALLEY by Mark Sullivan

May 24, 2021

From the publisher:

From the author of the #1 bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky comes a new historical novel inspired by one family’s incredible story of daring, survival, and triumph.

In late March 1944, as Stalin’s forces push into Ukraine, young Emil and Adeline Martel must make a terrible decision: Do they wait for the Soviet bear’s intrusion and risk being sent to Siberia? Or do they reluctantly follow the wolves—murderous Nazi officers who have pledged to protect “pure-blood” Germans?

The Martels are one of many families of German heritage whose ancestors have farmed in Ukraine for more than a century. But after already living under Stalin’s horrifying regime, Emil and Adeline decide they must run in retreat from their land with the wolves they despise to escape the Soviets and go in search of freedom.

Caught between two warring forces and overcoming horrific trials to pursue their hope of immigrating to the West, the Martels’ story is a brutal, complex, and ultimately triumphant tale that illuminates the extraordinary power of love, faith, and one family’s incredible will to survive and see their dreams realized.

In an afterward to this book, Mark Sullivan indicates that it is an account of the vicissitudes of a real family living through one the most horrific periods to ever have faced human beings. The novel is more than a compelling read; it is an adventure into emotion that crosses between hope and despair bringing to life the resiliency of an extraordinary family.

The Martels are people with roots in Germany that have emigrated into the Ukraine in order to enjoy a better life. Making a life there the transplanted colony suddenly becomes caught up in war when Germany invades Russia during World War II.

The slaughter of both the Russian and German armies at the battle for Stalingrad causes the Germanic residents of the Ukraine to flee the Russian army which goes after the Wehrmacht in order to destroy them. The Germans tell the transplants to pack up and leave with them to try and make it back to Germany before Stalin, the Russian leader moves his army to slaughter them. The Wehrmacht offers protection and food during the escape. Emil and Adeline Martel and their two sons are among the group leaving their home to escape with their lives. It is their story that Mark Sullivan celebrates. The fleeing group are subjected to being caught up with the running battles of both armies. They narrowly escape being killed by tanks of both armies fighting each other and not looking to see if civilians are in the way of their shells.

The Martels are strengthened by a vision they hold of coming at last to live in a beautiful Green valley where they can enjoy peace and the tranquility of life together and with their family. The events of their travel could normally crush the spirit of anyone but in a memorable accounting of what befalls them Mark Sullivan does an excellent job of painting a picture of the triumph of the human spirit. The reader will not be able to lay down the book until finished and know that they have read a superb story and an extremely well told one that will stay with them for a long time.

5/2021 Paul Lane

THE LAST GREEN VALLEY by Mark Sullivan. Lake Union Publishing (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1503958746. 457 pages.

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HANA KHAN CARRIES ON by Uzma Jalaluddin

May 23, 2021

From the publisher:

One of Amazon’s Best Romances of the Month!

For fans of “You’ve Got Mail,” a young woman juggles pursuing her dream job in radio while helping her family compete with the new halal restaurant across the street, in this sparkling new rom-com by the author of Ayesha at Last.

Sales are slow at Three Sisters Biryani Poutine, the only halal restaurant in the close-knit Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto. Hana waitresses there part time, but what she really wants is to tell stories on the radio. If she can just outshine her fellow intern at the city radio station, she may have a chance at landing a job. In the meantime, Hana pours her thoughts and dreams into a podcast, where she forms a lively relationship with one of her listeners. But soon she’ll need all the support she can get: a new competing restaurant, a more upscale halal place, is about to open in the Golden Crescent, threatening her mother’s restaurant.

When her mysterious aunt and her teenage cousin arrive from India for a surprise visit, they draw Hana into a long-buried family secret. A hate-motivated attack on their neighborhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana’s growing attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival restaurant–who might not be a complete stranger after all.

As life on the Golden Crescent unravels, Hana must learn to use her voice, draw on the strength of her community and decide what her future should be.

Once I saw the comparison to “You’ve Got Mail,” this became a must read for me. The comparison is apt so I was pretty sure I knew what was going on fairly early in the story, but that in no way lessened its appeal. Plus it revolves around restaurants, always in my wheelhouse, and in addition to a wonderful love story, there is a gentle look at hate crimes and this book makes it personal, always a good thing.

Hana loves radio and found her dream internship with the local NPR station. Set in Toronto, a new to me setting, in an Indian neighborhood called the Golden Crescent, it just adds depth to the story. I loved learning about the culture, the food, and these characters, and we get to know them well.

There are some complications at work that make Hana’s life a little bit stressful. But when she is attacked for her ethnicity, things really take a turn for the worse. What could have been a dark turn, instead the author uses it in a more gentle way which I really appreciated.

Aydin is a wonderful hero, young, good looking, but most of all kind and generous. But his father! Every good story needs a bad guy and while he has a small role, it is a memorable one. The other secondary characters all play their parts in making this an interesting book, but it is the sweet romance at the heart of things that really drew me in.

This was a wonderful read from the author of another fabulous book, Ayesha at Last. Don’t miss it!

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HANA KHAN CARRIES ON by Uzma Jalaluddin. Sourcebooks Casablanca (January 19, 2021). ISBN: 978-1728226316. 384 pages.

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BASIL’S WAR by Stephen Hunter

May 22, 2021

A WWII Spy Thriller

From the publisher:

A British spy goes behind enemy lines to crack a secret code in this “highly entertaining World War II espionage thriller” (Seattle Times).

Basil St. Florian is an accomplished agent in the British Army, tasked with dozens of dangerous missions for crown and country across the globe. But his current mission, going undercover in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, might be his toughest assignment yet. He will be searching for an ecclesiastic manuscript that doesn’t officially exist, one that genius professor Alan Turing believes may hold the key to a code that could prevent the death of millions and possibly even end the war.

St. Florian isn’t the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip―he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh’s bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, though, Basil’s Army superiors know he’s the best man for the job, carrying out his espionage with enough charm and quick wit to make any of his subjects lower their guards.

Action-packed and bursting with WWII-era intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil’s War is a classic espionage thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, essayist, and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter.

Stephen Hunter is a successful author with a longtime background in the literary world. His main thrust are books involving the military art of sniping. He is gifted with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of weaponry which he has used to bring his novels several steps above other books about sniping and snipers.

This current book is a change in focus and involves the exploits of Basil St Florian in action as a spy during World War II. Basil is in the language of another day a “rake” for his many encounters with women. He is bold, daring and has a great sense of humor. He has traveled several times from his home in England into France, a country conquered by the Nazi war machine and an area that might be used as a springboard for action against Britian. He has successfully completed several missions and we meet him as he begins another.

In certain situations books are used as keys for secret codes. That is the message to be sent is tied to a mutually known book and the words are represented by location designations used by both parties. The difficulty level is very high since the same book must be used by both senders and receivers in order to decode the message. In his latest mission Basil must travel into enemy territory find a scroll written several hundred years ago, photograph certain portions and bring these photos back in order to be used to convince Russian dictator Joseph Stalin to shift a military position in order to avoid a massacre of his soldiers.

In the course of the mission Basil meets Alan Turing, a man that led a group of mathematicians in discovering the key to the Nazi codes used in their transmission of orders. Turing and his group actually lived and worked on breaking codes during WWII. While the codes sought by Basil are not fact, the touch of adding Turing to the plot is a good one and helps validate the action.

The almost blasé approach Hunter takes brings down the quality of the action described and I felt leaves the reader with a “hey what happened” feeling. If it is a book by Stephen Hunter I would pick up his next novel, but possibly return to awaiting others featuring the sniping format if Basil does not pick up the pace.

5/2021 Paul Lane

BASIL’S WAR by Stephen Hunter. Mysterious Press (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1613162248. 288 pages.

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MUCH ADO ABOUT YOU by Samantha Young

May 21, 2021

From the publisher:

The cozy comforts of an English village bookstore open up a world of new possibilities for Evie Starling in this charming new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.

At thirty-three-years old Evangeline Starling’s life in Chicago is missing that special something. And when she’s passed over for promotion at work, Evie realizes she needs to make a change. Some time away to regain perspective might be just the thing. In a burst of impulsivity, she plans a holiday in a quaint English village. The holiday package comes with a temporary position at Much Ado About Books, the bookstore located beneath her rental apartment. There’s no better dream vacation for the bookish Evie, a life-long Shakespeare lover.

Not only is Evie swept up in running the delightful store as soon as she arrives, she’s drawn into the lives, loves and drama of the friendly villagers. Including Roane Robson, the charismatic and sexy farmer who tempts Evie every day with his friendly flirtations. Evie is determined to keep him at bay because a holiday romance can only end in heartbreak, right? But Evie can’t deny their connection and longs to trust in her handsome farmer that their whirlwind romance could turn in to the forever kind of love.

Is this really a thing? You can go on vacation and run a bookstore? By yourself? And it’s fun and not work? In a charming village where everyone is completely welcoming? You get a work visa in the snap of a finger? Call me a cynical New Yorker, but I seriously have doubts about all this. But you know what? I don’t care because this was a terrific read. Push past your common sense and embrace the fantasy because it’s worth it.

Most of my readers know that I am a librarian, but you may not know I was a bookseller before that. I worked for Borders Books & Music, a Barnes and Noble competitor that bit the dust for a myriad of reasons. But when I worked there, it was the most fun I ever had at a job. It wasn’t because I was running the bookstore by myself though, it was because of the people I worked with, an eclectic bunch of smarty pants with an occasional pill thrown in just because. I am still friends with many of the people I worked with (and we are talking the last century people!) and remember most of them fondly. So I can totally understand the appeal of working in a bookstore, albeit one without other employees would be a bit lonely for me.

Evie is fine with it though. The owner of the shop is around at first, but then leaves it in Evie’s hands. Meanwhile, Evie has sworn off men because, well, it doesn’t matter what the weak reason is. But when the local farmer gets a massive crush on her, she fights it every step of the way. Until she realizes she is in love with him.

I love British, I love bookstores, and I love love, so this book hit on all cylinders for me.

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

MUCH ADO ABOUT YOU by Samantha Young. Berkley (February 2, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593099483. 384 pages.

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THE GIRL WHO DIED by Ragnar Jonasson

May 20, 2021

From the publisher:

From Ragnar Jónasson, the award-winning author of the international bestselling Ari Thór series, The Girl Who Died is a standalone thriller about a young woman seeking a new start in a secluded village where a small community is desperate to protect its secrets.

Teacher Wanted At the Edge of the World

Una wants nothing more than to teach, but she has been unable to secure steady employment in Reykjavík. Her savings are depleted, her love life is nonexistent, and she cannot face another winter staring at the four walls of her shabby apartment. Celebrating Christmas and ringing in 1986 in the remote fishing hamlet of Skálar seems like a small price to pay for a chance to earn some teaching credentials and get her life back on track.

But Skálar isn’t just one of Iceland’s most isolated villages, it is home to just ten people. Una’s only students are two girls aged seven and nine. Teaching them only occupies so many hours in a day and the few adults she interacts with are civil but distant. She only seems to connect with Thór, a man she shares an attraction with but who is determined to keep her at arm’s length.

As darkness descends throughout the bleak winter, Una finds herself more often than not in her rented attic space―the site of a local legendary haunting―drinking her loneliness away. She is plagued by nightmares of a little girl in a white dress singing a lullaby. And when a sudden tragedy echoes an event long buried in Skálar’s past, the villagers become even more guarded, leaving a suspicious Una seeking to uncover a shocking truth that’s been kept secret for generations.

The author is an Icelandic citizen residing in Iceland with an excellent world-wide reputation. The current novel is set in Iceland involving people that live there but showing that human emotions are similar all over the world. I can only describe it as a tight book starting slowly and building to a climax that is exactly right for the action found. Without dragging a verdict out this is a definite five star book and my recommendation to readers is just get ready to buy all forthcoming novels by the author.

Una is a young woman living in the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavík. She barely makes a living there, has few friends and not many interests for her spare time. An ad appears in the newspaper asking for a teacher for a position teaching a small class in the remote village of Skalar located on the seacoast. The isolated village has only 10 people living in it. Uma comes to the conclusion that she has nothing to lose, has a chance to make a guaranteed salary for easy work and accepts the job.

The village is as thought; remote, isolated and the very essence of the phrase provincial. Her class consists of only two girls of different ages and she gets what amounts to free room. Looks good but she meets a lot of resistance from the people in town and is terrifyingly confronted by a ghost in the house she gets the room in.

Jonasson continues to pull the reader into the action and finishes his novel with one of the most perfect endings I’ve read. An excellent read and for me an introduction to a talented author that I am pleased to have learned about.

5/2021 Paul Lane

THE GIRL WHO DIED by Ragnar Jonasson. Minotaur Books (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1250793737. 320 pages.

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PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry

May 19, 2021

From the publisher:

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Newsweek ∙ Oprah Magazine∙ Marie Claire ∙ Parade ∙ PopSugar ∙ BookPage ∙ BookBub ∙ Betches ∙ SheReads ∙ Good Housekeeping ∙ BuzzFeed ∙ and more!

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read, a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

In a nod to “When Harry Met Sally”, Poppy and Alex become friends on a car ride home from college to the small town they grew up in – Poppy hated it and couldn’t wait to get away, while Alex loved it and can’t wait to move home. The only time these friends get to spend together over the next twelve years is the annual vacation they take together. But something happened in Croatia and two years later, Poppy and Alex still aren’t speaking. But Poppy really misses him and plans a new vacation that will hopefully get them over the Croatia problem.

I loved Poppy and Alex and laughed and cried along with them in this heartfelt romance. If they could have just talked to one another, well, there wouldn’t have been a book so never mind. Opposites can attract, as Poppy and Alex prove – they often complement each other, and I was so happy to see them get their happily ever after. This was a one night read for me and this book lived up to the hype. A fun summer read!

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry. Berkley (May 11, 2021). ISBN: 978-1984806758. 384 pages.

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LEGACY OF WAR by Wilbur Smith

May 18, 2021

Courtney Family Novels, Book 16

From the publisher:

A brand-new Courtney Series adventure.

The action-packed new book in the Courtney Series and the sequel to Courtney’s War.

The war is over, Hitler is dead – and yet his evil legacy lives on. Saffron Courtney and her beloved husband Gerhard only just survived the brutal conflict, but Gerhard’s Nazi-supporting brother, Konrad, is still free and determined to regain power. As a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse develops, a plot against the couple begins to stir. One that will have ramifications throughout Europe. . .

Further afield in Kenya, the last outcrop of the colonial empire is feeling the stirrings of rebellion. As the situation becomes violent, and the Courtney family home is under threat, Leon Courtney finds himself caught between two powerful sides – and a battle for the freedom of a country.

Legacy of War is a nail-biting story of courage, bravery, rebellion and war from the master of adventure fiction.

Wilbur Smith has long since established himself as one the foremost authors of our time. His huge legacy of novels has been built around excellent research as well as the gift of being a true wordsmith. Reading his books is always a fascinating adventure with journeys into history of his beloved Africa where he was born. He has used the device of featuring several families to populate his novels which move from ancient Egypt to modern times. His technique is to make all of his heroes and also his bad guys larger than life. The good guys usually experience all that befalls them with an attitude that prohibits doing the “wrong” thing regardless of what is done to do them harm. The bad guys are what you would expect – no principled scoundrels hell bent on doing evil to gain their own nefarious ends.

Legacy of War utilizes Saffron Courtney and her husband Gerhard. The two were featured in Courtney’s War, the book prior to this one set during the second World War. Saffron bravely traveled behind enemy lines for England to get information about enemy activity while Gerhard was a pilot in the German air force fighting in the invasion of Russia and the bloodbath that took place at Stalingrad. They are now married with two children and living in what is now Kenya working a huge farm area that is part of the Courtney holdings.

Gerhard’s brother also lives in south Africa but has a background during the war which makes him a criminal and sought after by the Israeli Mossad to stand trial for his crimes. The first portion of the novel describes Gerhard participating in the chase after his brother with the need for justice outweighing family ties. There is another section devoted to descriptions of the Mau Mau, a native group that is looking, through violent rebellion, to correct their perceived inequities that allow whites to own land while native groups cannot. The violence of this group does take a strong stomach but the descriptions are taken from real life during the time they were active.

Smith moves into a meeting by Saffron with Jomo Kenyatta a native who became the first black president of Kenya showcasing the entrance of equality between the two races living in the country with the Courtney’s accepting the situation as both a desired and natural occurrence in African history.

5/2021 Paul Lane

LEGACY OF WAR by Wilbur Smith. Zaffre (April 20, 2021). ISBN: 978-1499862355. 480 pages.

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ENJOY THE VIEW by Sarah Morgenthaler

May 17, 2021

Moose Springs, Alaska, Book 3

From the publisher:

A grouchy mountaineer, a Hollywood starlet
And miles of untamed wilderness…
What could possibly go wrong?

Former Hollywood darling River Lane’s acting career is tanking fast. Determined to start fresh behind the camera, she agrees to film a documentary about the picturesque small town of Moose Springs, Alaska. The assignment should have been easy, but the quirky locals want nothing to do with River. Well, too bad: River’s going to make this film and prove herself, no matter what it takes.

Or what (literal) mountain she has to climb.

Easton Lockett may be a gentle giant, but he knows a thing or two about survival. If he can keep everyone in line, he should be able to get River and her crew up and down Mount Veil in one piece. Turns out that’s a big if. The wildlife’s wilder than usual, the camera crew’s determined to wander off a cliff, and the gorgeous actress is fearless. Falling for River only makes Easton’s job tougher, but there’s only so long he can hold out against her brilliant smile. When bad weather strikes, putting everyone at risk, it’ll take all of Easton’s skill to get them back home safely…and convince River she should stay in his arms for good.

This is one of my favorite series so I was very happy that this third entry was just as good as the first two. Alaska is one of my favorite settings, and small towns are always a good thing for me. But sometimes you have to bring in outsiders to make a romance, and that’s what happens here.

River is a movie star who wants to work behind the camera making documentaries. When she is offered the opportunity to make one about this small town, she’s all in. Except the people who live there are not. They are a quirky bunch for sure, and don’t take kindly to the tourists that come through so they are not of a mind to help with a documentary that is sure to bring in even more people. But River is nothing if not determined, and she gets to work with a small crew.

When River meets Easton, a local guide, she somehow convinces him to help her. He has never met a woman as fearless as River, or as beautiful, but he is not looking for love or to increase tourism to their small town. Nevertheless, he ends up doing both.

There are some really funny, laugh out loud moments, and some dangerous ones, too, making this a book that is hard to put down. I loved the characters and the setting and the romance, a perfect trifecta of a read. This is the third book of a series and while they each stand alone, I think they are best read in order:

The Tourist Attr a ction (Book 1)

Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Book 2)

You’re welcome!

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ENJOY THE VIEW by Sarah Morgenthaler. Sourcebooks Casablanca (January 19, 2021). ISBN: 978-1728226316. 384 pages.