The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game in this witty, clever, and swoonworthy novel following a workaholic marketing manager who is forced to go on a cruise with her arch-nemesis when they’re up for the same promotion.
Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it.
The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position. Although they’ve never met in person, their epic email battles are the stuff of office legend.
Their boss tasks each of them with drafting a proposal on how to boost bookings in the Galápagos—best proposal wins the promotion. There’s just one catch: they have to go on a company cruise to the Galápagos Islands…together. But when the two meet on the ship, Henley is shocked to discover that the real Graeme is nothing like she imagined. As they explore the Islands together, she soon finds the line between loathing and liking thinner than a postcard.
With her career dreams in her sights and a growing attraction to the competition, Henley begins questioning her life choices. Because what’s the point of working all the time if you never actually live?
Perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne, Shipped is a fresh and engaging rom-com that celebrates the power of second chances and the magic of new beginnings.
I am always excited when I find a new author to add to my ‘must read’ list. The enemies-to-lovers trope is at the forefront of this really cute romance. Although they’ve never actually met, Henley and Graeme really hate each other, all via email. When their boss offers up a chance for promotion, they both want it, even if it means taking a cruise to the Galapagos together. The company wants a new campaign to improve their cruise business and Henley and Graeme have lots of ideas. It’s totally believable and these characters are so well developed, we can’t help but root for them both.
The setting – both the cruise ship and the Galapagos are unusual, exotic, and add another layer to the story. But it’s the chemistry between these two characters that really heat up the novel and totally sucked me in. The secondary characters add a lot of humor as well. Lots of laughs, plenty of charm, and a sizzling hot romance make for a terrific read that actually lives up to its hype. Don’t miss it – I almost did as it got lost in my to-be-read pile, but I am so glad I found it.
At his beloved Nonno Paolo’s deathbed, fifteen-year-old Nico receives a gift that will change his life forever: a yellowing manuscript which tells the haunting, twisty tale of what really happened to his grandfather in Nazi-occupied Venice in 1943.
The Palazzo Colombina is home to the Uccello family: three generations of men, trapped together in the dusty palace on Venice’s Grand Canal. Awkward fifteen-year-old Nico. His distant, business-focused father. And his beloved grandfather, Paolo. Paolo is dying. But before he passes, he has secrets he’s waited his whole life to share.
When a Jewish classmate is attacked by bullies, Nico just watches – earning him a week’s suspension and a typed, yellowing manuscript from his frail Nonno Paolo. A history lesson, his grandfather says. A secret he must keep from his father. A tale of blood and madness . . .
Nico is transported back to the Venice of 1943, an occupied city seething under its Nazi overlords, and to the defining moment of his grandfather’s life: when Paolo’s support for a murdered Jewish woman brings him into the sights of the city’s underground resistance. Hooked and unsettled, Nico can’t stop reading – but he soon wonders if he ever knew his beloved grandfather at all.
Italy entered World War II on the side of Germany, no doubt convinced by Mussolini, the Italian dictator that it would be best to ally themselves with Hitler. The love affair between the two did not last through the entire war and while remnants of the Italian army still served with German troops, Hitler sent an army of occupation to Italy to ensure that the country stayed loyal.
Hewson’s book is set in the city of Venice during the Nazi occupation and does an exemplary job of depicting the horrors inflicted by the Germans on the civilian population.
Nonno Paolo is a man that lived through the occupation and has kept his ordeals to himself for many years. The novel opens when Nonno is on his deathbed some fifty plus years after the end of the occupation. He calls his grandson to his side and indicates that he wants to communicate something that must remain between the two and not told to the boy’s father.
Nicco, the grandson, is asked to read a series of manuscripts prepared by his grandfather. What is contained in these writings will be left to Nicco to interpret for himself although his grandfather would like to discuss them with him and get his ideas.
The family was engaged in building a business involving the highly skilled weaving of fabrics centered in Venice when the Nazis began their occupation. Hitler’s policies of anti Jewish, Gypsy and Homo sexual groups is adopted by Mussolini and incorporated into a code similar to the Nurenberg laws existing in Germany. A conundrum is placed upon the family when they are asked to shelter a Jewish brother and sister that had been in the Italian resistance and ambushed a group of Germany troops. Sheltering such fugitives could mean death to the family caught sheltering them. When it was explained that the sheltering would be only a little while it was decided to go ahead and offer a short term haven for the two.
In order to help out while there the brother decides to learn how to weave and aid on a project that would bring in some much needed revenue. Nonno and the brother become friends and close during the activity while the sister thinks only of action against the Nazis. Events taking place and the frights endured by all involved are carefully delineated and make for a uniquely rewarding story of another time and the circumstances peculiar to the period. The reader will find him or herself unable to put the book down and commiserating with the participants in the novel. A very rewarding read culminating in an unexpected but logical ending.
5/2021 Paul Lane
THE GARDEN OF ANGELS by David Hewson. Severn House Publishers (April 6, 2021). ISBN: 978-1250257208. 304 pages.
Public radio co-hosts navigate mixed signals in Rachel Lynn Solomon’s sparkling romantic comedy debut.
Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can’t imagine working anywhere else. But lately it’s been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who’s fresh off a journalism master’s program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.
When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it’s this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it’s not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle and climbs podcast charts.
As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other. In an industry that values truth, getting caught could mean the end of more than just their careers.
Enemies to lovers. If that isn’t your thing, you can stop now. I happen to like that trope, and Solomon really ups the ante with the fact that these are journalists faking the news. Yep, you read that right. Now it’s not exactly news, but still it is public radio and there are definitely levels of expectation here of honesty. That is not delivered.
This radio station, like many public radio stations, struggles with financing. Layoffs are imminent and they need a hit show, something that get go national, to bring their station back from the brink. The Ex Talk seems like a really fun idea – get two exes to offer relationship advice. But instead of finding a couple post breakup, the the station manager decides that two of his producers would be great – they already hate each other.
Shay is proud of her work as a producer and never really tried to be an on air personality. Dominic is a bit of a know-it-all, fresh off his masters in journalism. They are constantly sniping at each other, which should make great radio and it does. The show takes off and is hugely popular. But then the unthinkable happens (at least to anyone who’s never read a romance) – they fall in love, fighting it every minute.
I really enjoyed this – lots of laughs and some smart dialogue, too.
5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE EX TALK by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Berkley (January 26, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593200124. 352 pages.
The New York Times bestselling author of Elevator Pitch andmaster of psychological suspense returns with a riveting thriller in which the possible heirs of a dying tech millionaire are mysteriously being eliminated, one by one.
“Find You First starts with a bang and ends with an even bigger one. . . . It’s the best book of his career.” — Stephen King
Tech millionaire Miles Cookson has more money than he can ever spend, and everything he could dream of—except time. He has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. For Miles, this means taking a long hard look at his past . . .
Two decades ago, a young, struggling Miles was a sperm donor. Somewhere out there, he has kids—nine of them. And they might be about to inherit both the good and the bad from him—maybe his fortune, or maybe something much worse.
As Miles begins to search for the children he’s never known, aspiring film documentarian Chloe Swanson embarks on a quest to find her biological father, armed with the knowledge that twenty-two years ago, her mother used a New York sperm bank to become pregnant.
When Miles and Chloe eventually connect, their excitement at finding each other is overshadowed by a series of mysterious and terrifying events. One by one, Miles’s other potential heirs are vanishing—every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.
Who is the vicious killer—another heir methodically erasing rivals? Or is something even more sinister going on?
It’s a deadly race against time . . .
Miles Cookson has made himself a fortune via founding a highly successful tech company. He can afford anything and everything that he might want. Unfortunately, an exception has made its way into his life. He has been advised that he has a terminal illness that will take his life in a relatively short period of time.
Faced with this devastating news Miles brings to mind that two decades ago and before the burgeoning of his successful career he went to a sperm bank and was paid to make a donation in order to help his financial status. Now with death facing him Miles realizes that he may have children fathered by his sperm. The horror of this is that there is a good chance that his DNA passed down to those offspring fathered by him, will cause his offspring to have a good chance of developing the disease that is going to kill him.
Linwood Barclay develops a mesmerizing plot and a good book to dive into based on Miles finding out who the children born with him as the father and where they currently are residing. His searches for them are not as straight forward as they should be when it develops that someone is trying to kill off his children. The why behind the murders involves a carefully constructed plot and the warm emotions stemming from a recognition that the members of the group he fathered are actually his children.
Chloe Swanson, a member of those purported to be Miles’ children, is at first interested in how much she might collect from the very wealthy Miles. Her opinion changes as she gets to know him and she begins helping him with his search while developing a strong feeling towards him as a father figure that she did not have growing up.
The novel is one that keeps the reader glued to the pages as most of Barclay’s books are. A good addition to the author’s well received works and one that will cause the reader to keep on the lookout for his next novel.
5/2021 Paul Lane
FIND YOU FIRST by Linwood Barclay. William Morrow (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-0062678317. 448 pages.
Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads delivers her next page-turner for the summer with The Newcomer.
In trouble and on the run…
After she discovers her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her fashionable New York City townhouse, Letty Carnahan is certain she knows who did it: Tanya’s ex; sleazy real estate entrepreneur Evan Wingfield. Even in the grip of grief and panic Letty heeds her late sister’s warnings: “If anything bad happens to me―it’s Evan. Promise me you’ll take Maya and run. Promise me.”
With a trunkful of emotional baggage…
So Letty grabs her sister’s Mercedes and hits the road with her wailing four-year-old niece Maya. Letty is determined to out-run Evan and the law, but run to where? Tanya, a woman with a past shrouded in secrets, left behind a “go-bag” of cash and a big honking diamond ring―but only one clue: a faded magazine story about a sleepy mom-and-pop motel in a Florida beach town with the improbable name of Treasure Island. She sheds her old life and checks into an uncertain future at The Murmuring Surf Motel.
The No Vacancy sign is flashing & the sharks are circling…
And that’s the good news. Because The Surf, as the regulars call it, is the winter home of a close-knit flock of retirees and snowbirds who regard this odd-duck newcomer with suspicion and down-right hostility. As Letty settles into the motel’s former storage room, she tries to heal Maya’s heartache and unravel the key to her sister’s shady past, all while dodging the attention of the owner’s dangerously attractive son Joe, who just happens to be a local police detective. Can Letty find romance as well as a room at the inn―or will Joe betray her secrets and put her behind bars? With danger closing in, it’s a race to find the truth and right the wrongs of the past.
Forget the calendar; for me, summer officially begins with Mary Kay Andrews. In her early career, she wrote mysteries, then switched to contemporary romance. A few books ago, she starting combining those so the past few books have been romantic suspense, as is this one.
Set in the tiny hamlet of Treasure Island, Florida on the west coast, the story revolves around an old Florida motel, the Murmuring Surf Motel. This is more of a long term, seasonal rental type situation, where snowbirds come down for the season. Most of the guests at the motel are regulars, having stayed there season after season for decades.
The owner, Ava, lives on site with her teenage daughter who is getting ready to graduate high school. Her son Joe is a police detective, lives nearby helps out whenever he is needed at the motel. Joe is the one who finds Letty asleep in her car in the parking lot of the motel.
Even though the sign says “no vacancy”, Letty is hopeful that someone will be checking out. She really needs to stay there. Letty is on the lam; she found her murdered sister, Tanya, on the floor of her home. Letty grabbed her 4 year old niece, Maya, her sister’s “go bag” and hit the road. Tanya had warned Letty that if anything happened to her, it was Evan, her millionaire boyfriend and Maya’s baby daddy. She begged Letty to take the go bag and get Maya as far away as possible. An old magazine article was stuffed in the go bag, with the Murmuring Surf circled, so Letty heads down to Florida.
That’s where the story starts, and it gets a bit more complicated and dangerous as it progresses. Ava thinks Letty is good people, and Maya is adorable so she decides to help them out. She gives them an efficiency apartment that is being used as storage, and hires Letty to help out in the office. And detective Joe keeps sniffing around. His cop sense tells him something is up with this woman, but he is also attracted to her – an interesting dichotomy that luckily works out for the best.
This is a real page turner filled with quirky old folks, an interesting setting, and a sweet romance. I read it in one night. The perfect way to start my summer – bring on the rest of the beach reads!
5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
THE NEWCOMER by Mary Kay Andrews. St. Martin’s Press (May 4, 2021). ISBN 978-1250256966. 448 pages.
The author of the “emotional, hilarious, and thought-provoking” (People) novel The Bucket List returns with a witty and heartfelt romantic comedy featuring a wedding planner, her unexpected business partner, and their coworkers in a series of linked love stories—perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Casey McQuiston.
For the past twenty years, Liv and Eliot Goldenhorn have run In Love in New York, Brooklyn’s beloved wedding-planning business. When Eliot dies unexpectedly, he even more unexpectedly leaves half of the business to his younger, blonder girlfriend, Savannah.
Liv and Savannah are not a match made in heaven, to say the least. But what starts as a personal and professional nightmare transforms into something even savvy, cynical Liv Goldenhorn couldn’t begin to imagine.
It Had to Be You cleverly unites Liv, Savannah, and couples as diverse and unique as New York City itself, in a joyous Love-Actually-style braided narrative. The result is a smart, modern love story that truly speaks to our times. Second chances, secret romance, and steamy soul mates are front and center in this sexy, tender, and utterly charming rom-com.
When a book is compared to one of my favorite movies, “Love Actually,” I have to read it. Plus I love Georgia Clark, and I know I always like books from the Emily Bestler imprint at Simon & Schuster, so this was a win-win-win for me!
Liv is the center of this story. Married for years to Eliot, they have a young son who took years to conceive. The last few years of their marriage haven’t been great. They are business partners/wedding planners and while they work together well, they have definitely drifted apart in their private life. Then Eliot dies suddenly, and a young woman shows up with a new will. Eliot had been having an affair and left his half of the business to his girlfriend, Savannah.
To make matters worse, the day he died, they were running a wedding that turned into a disaster. The bride takes them to task on social media, and Liv just decides to hide in her house for a while. But eventually life pushes its way in, starting with Savannah who has promised free wedding planning to a social media influencer.
Liv and Savannah need to learn to work together. They also have vendors they work with – the florist, the caterer, a waitress, and the musicians. Lucky for us, all these characters embark on romances, and despite the number of characters and storylines, it was easy to follow. Clark is really great at character development, which is no easy feat with this many romances going on. But it works, and it works well. I really liked all these characters, and their stories were engaging and sexy and fun.
This is a terrific romcom, and I hated turning the last page. Don’t miss it!
5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
IT HAD TO BE YOU by Georgia Clark. Atria/Emily Bestler Books (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1982133191. 384 pages.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
“If you love a mystery, then you’ll devour [Northern Spy] . . . I loved this thrill ride of a book.”—Reese Witherspoon
“A chilling, gorgeously written tale…Berry keeps the tension almost unbearably high.” –The New York Times Book Review
The acclaimed author of Under the Harrow and A Double Life returns with her most riveting novel to date: the story of two sisters who become entangled with the IRA
A producer at the BBC and mother to a new baby, Tessa is at work in Belfast one day when the news of another raid comes on the air. The IRA may have gone underground in the two decades since the Good Friday Agreement, but they never really went away, and lately bomb threats, security checkpoints, and helicopters floating ominously over the city have become features of everyday life. As the news reporter requests the public’s help in locating those responsible for the robbery, security footage reveals Tessa’s sister, Marian, pulling a black ski mask over her face.
The police believe Marian has joined the IRA, but Tessa is convinced she must have been abducted or coerced; the sisters have always opposed the violence enacted in the name of uniting Ireland. And besides, Marian is vacationing on the north coast. Tessa just spoke to her yesterday.
When the truth about Marian comes to light, Tessa is faced with impossible choices that will test the limits of her ideals, the bonds of her family, her notions of right and wrong, and her identity as a sister and a mother. Walking an increasingly perilous road, she wants nothing more than to protect the one person she loves more fiercely than her sister: her infant son, Finn.
Riveting, atmospheric, and exquisitely written, Northern Spy is at once a heart-pounding story of the contemporary IRA and a moving portrait of sister- and motherhood, and of life in a deeply divided society.
A novel set in Northern Ireland during a period of violent action by the IRA in their attempts to force England out of their country and allow for home rule. Tessa and her sister Marian are women experiencing the constant danger of literally living in a war zone. Tessa is a producer for the BBC: Belfast branch, a single mother while her sister works as a paramedic.
Action begins when Tessa sees a picture of her sister apparently taking part in a robbery of a gas station. Her first reaction is that it is not real – Marian was away on a diving holiday not mixed up in a crime. But sadly it is the truth when her sister contacts her and confesses that she has joined the IRA and has been active in it for several years.
In a very well set up plot, Berry brings to life the lives of two independent women living in an area subject to the constant threat of war. Tessa is raising a son on the heels of a breakup from the boy’s father. She also holds a responsible job that must be worked at while her sister’s job forces her to attend horrific situations caring for grievously wounded people. The author’s handling of the events of the novel builds up in a crescendo taking the reader along on an ever accelerating pace towards the end of the book.
I found myself wondering how can a normal life be possible for people involved in the background of an active revolution. The real answer is it can’t, but circumstances, as outlined in Berry’s novel can and certainly do force the two sisters to adapt to what they are caught up in. Their mother also lives in the area and while independent is a source of worry for Tessa and Marian.
Flynn Berry’s first novel won the Edgar award for best first novel propelling her into the top tier of her profession. “Northern Spy” does continue evidencing her keen sense of how to set up a mesmerizing plot using a gift for language that is the hallmark of good writers. Join me in awaiting her forthcoming books and spending some very pleasant sleepless nights wrapped up in her novels.
The author of the “sparkling” and “steamy” (Entertainment Weekly) Never Kiss a Duke returns with the delightful third book in the Hazards of Dukes series as a rigid duke enters into marriage with a rebellious lady.
Thaddeus, the new Duke of Hasford, holds his new title reluctantly, but his sense of duty is strong. Task number one: find a wife and secure an heir. He thinks he’s found the perfect choice in Lady Jane Capel—until her sister Lavinia bursts onto the scene. Vivacious, rebellious, and strikingly beautiful, Lavinia is determined to keep him away from her shy, sweet sister. And she’s also determined not to think so much about his broad chest and strong thighs.
When Lady Lavinia and Thaddeus end up in the most compromising position, witnessed by Lavinia’s mother and nearly everyone at a party, they’re forced to get married to protect their reputations. With no love between them, but with an heir to conceive, they strike a bargain in bed. Only Lavinia demands passion, and Thaddeus complies, with both of them realizing this marriage of convenience may turn into much more…
The forced marriage is a popular trope in historical romances, especially among Dukes. They have to do the right thing, and Thaddeus knows he has no way out of it. While Lavinia realizes she is physically attracted to the Duke, he just finds her loud and too flamboyant to be a duchess, but he is also physically attracted to her. While her sister Jane might have been more what he was looking for, Lavinia wasn’t going to let that happen anyway. And turns out she was right.
There is a lot of passion between Lavinia and Thaddeus, but shockingly for any romance book, the sex isn’t perfect right out of the gate. Lavinia is a bit disappointed but thinks she can get what she wants by asking for it. So she does. Thaddeus is actually thrilled that she cares enough to ask for what she needs, and their sex life goes off like fireworks once he starts listening.
This was a very sexy book, but there are also some laughs along the way. Lavinia and Thaddeus have a lot of hurdles to overcome to get to their happily ever after, and the journey is a real page turner. If you like fun, sexy romances, don’t miss this one!
5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
A WICKED BARGAIN FOR THE DUKE by Megan Frampton. Avon (April 27, 2021). ISBN: 978-0063023086. 400 pages.
I wish it really were the end, but it is the end of my Coronavirus Diary. Fourteen months of fear and sickness and political shenanigans. I’m vaccinated, and I’m done.
Remember when it was impossible to buy toilet paper? Paper towels? Hand sanitizer? Disinfectant wipes? When the frozen food aisle was decimated? When bread was a treasure to be found? I do.
Remember when the (previous) president told us to drink bleach? To inject disinfectant? That it would be gone by Easter 2020? That the flu killed more people? Several news organizations put together the biggest lies about the pandemic, directly from the president’s mouth/Twitter account. These are a few that really pissed me off:
“It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle – it will disappear” (not so much)
“Anyone who wants a test can get one” (again, not so much until lately)
“I don’t think it’s hoarding, I think it’s maybe worse than hoarding.” (on hospitals needing PPE and respirators)
“The US was the ‘most prepared country in the world'” (maybe if you were living under a rock for the past year you would agree with this)
If I sound angry, it’s only because I am. Over half a million Americans are dead, over 3 million dead worldwide. Millions more Americans refuse to get the vaccine, ensuring that herd immunity will not happen. I personally only know one person who said they were not getting the vaccine, and I am very happy that she recently changed her mind. On the other hand, seeing Darwinism in action should be interesting. The anti-vaxxers and the people who refuse to wear masks? I hope they survive.
During the pandemic, I baked. A lot. I gained a ton of weight from all the baking and cooking and not moving. I still have my sourdough starter even though I decided I don’t like sourdough bread anymore, but I just can’t bring myself to kill it. Privileged white lady that I am, I was able to use my stimulus money to buy new kitchen appliances, and I donated some money as well. It was my greatest pleasure to massively over tip my delivery people, from Instacart to GrubHub.
I was basically a hermit for the pandemic. I rarely shopped in person. I only left my house for work two mornings a week, and for the most important doctor and dentist appointments. I cooked all our meals until fairly recently, when we started getting takeout on occasion. I’ve been masked anytime I left my house or when I had a delivery. I utilized curbside pickup whenever possible – thanks, Target! I haven’t set foot in a Target for well over a year. Remarkable to think about.
My son and daughter-in-law bought their first home and had a baby. They’ve only been married two years this June, but being cooped up 24/7 for over a year is like marriage on steroids. It either exacerbates any issues, or in their case, brought them even closer.
Interestingly, at the beginning of the pandemic there was an uptick in divorces: “By April, the interest in divorce had already increased by 34% in the US, with newer couples being the most likely to file for divorce. In fact, a full 20% of couples who had been married for five months or less sought divorce during this time period” (The National Law Review.)
The NY Times reports, “Some divorce lawyers and relationship experts said that the uncertainty of the pandemic and financial concerns are two reasons couples are staying together.” Yes, the divorce rate is now lower. According to the Institute for Family Studies, “the U.S. divorce rate has hit a 50-year low” and that was in 2019. The IFS is a conservative think tank whose goal is to strengthen family and marriage, so this statistic makes them look like they are reaching their goal. While I am no expert on statistics, there is an old expression that I learned in college – statistics don’t lie, but statisticians do. So while I am sure that all the news reports of the lowering divorce rate are probably true, I’m not really buying the 50 year low.
My husband and I qualified for the Moderna vaccine given by Publix because we paid our doctor to fill out the form stating we are medically vulnerable, which we both are. The first vaccine went off without a hitch. We both had sore arms for a few days but that was it. The second vaccine was a bit more difficult. My husband was just super tired for a day or so. He napped, and was fine. On the other hand, the next morning I went to work thinking I was fine, just a bit tired. By 10:00 I was feeling like crap. My body ached everywhere, and I started getting the chills. My boss offered to come in early so I could go home, but I stuck it out for the last hour. I drove home with the heat blasting in my car and shivered the whole way. I got home, put on my warmest pajamas and crawled into bed. My husband got me a couple of blankets, which helped, and I fell asleep. I slept off and on for 24 hours. The chills went away after the first day, and the exhaustion took another day. I started feeling somewhat normal two days after the vaccine, so I decided to take a shower and change the bedding. But by the time I got out of the shower, I was exhausted and had to lay down again. Crazy tired. I sort of dragged my butt for another day but then I was fine. And you know what? WORTH IT! I am finally starting to feel like life is going to get somewhat back to normal.
Two weeks after my vaccine, I made a hair appointment and a manicure/pedicure appointment. I hadn’t been to either shop since February, 2020. I was nervous about it, but double masked and hoped for the best. I’ve been coloring my hair myself because I can’t stand the gray, but it was a real pleasure to get it done professionally again. And to get it cut! And styled! My hands have been a mess. I loved the Color Street stick on polish, it was easy for me to do, but I hate having short nails. A pedicure seems like pure luxury at this point.
I am so happy to look like me again! It’s the little things in life that tend to make me the happiest. Meeting my vaccinated friends that I haven’t seen for over a year for coffee in the park. For dinner outside (I’m not ready to eat inside a restaurant yet.) I would love to have friends over for dinner, maybe on the patio?
Two and a half weeks after our 2nd vaccine, my husband and I went to Jeep Beach in Daytona Beach. We’ve gone every year for the last 6-7 years, except of course, last year. I must admit I was expecting to see most people at the event not wearing masks. But we only saw a few people anywhere in Daytona wearing masks. That was sort of shocking to me. I complain about how some people don’t wear masks where I live, but this was like there was no pandemic. Some old lady even pointed at us and told her husband, look, they are wearing masks. We were the freaks for sure.
We had a reservation at a beautiful hotel on the beach. The Jeep Beach event is held at the Daytona Speedway, so it’s all outdoors. There are lots of restaurants with outdoor seating, especially on the beach, but we didn’t have any luck getting in to one. We ended up getting take out and eating all our meals on our balcony. The view was spectacular! It was our first vacation in over a year, and all two and a half days were perfect.
This past year taught me a few things. My husband is the best man I know. My children are smart and thoughtful and compassionate. Depression runs in my family, and while I don’t think I was depressed, I definitely suffered from what I was calling ennui. Then the NY Times told me it is actually called languishing.
Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield. And it might be the dominant emotion of 2021.
That about summed it up for me. I have also spent the last 14 months feeling somewhat agoraphobic, and I think that is going to take some time to get over. I’ve been scared of getting Covid. Even worse, scared that my husband would get it or one of my kids. Scared of leaving my house. Scared of all the idiots I see running around without masks. But my family is all vaccinated now, and that feels like the beginning of the end. Thank God.
From the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.
Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses: The Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is holding a cooking contest—and the grand prize is a job as the program’s first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the competition would present a crucial chance to change their lives.
For a young widow, it’s a chance to pay off her husband’s debts and keep a roof over her children’s heads. For a kitchen maid, it’s a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For a lady of the manor, it’s a chance to escape her wealthy husband’s increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it’s a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.
These four women are giving the competition their all—even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together only serve to break it apart?
This book is a heartwarming story about four women living in a small village a couple of years into World War II. The main character is Audrey Landon, a young woman widowed by the was and left with three small boys. After inheriting her family home, at least she has a roof over their head, crumbling though it is.
Audrey’s estranged sister, Lady Gwendoline Strickland, likes lording it over everyone in town. Always resentful of Audrey and how their mother favored her down to leaving her the house, Gwendoline deigns to loan Audrey some money so she can fix things up a bit. Gwendoline seems to have everything, a wealthy, powerful husband, a large estate, and some power herself – she is in charge of billeting displaced people into homes in the neighborhood. Including her sister’s home, where she sends a pregnant woman, Zelda Dupont.
Zelda is a chef who had an affair with her boss, but he had no interest in continuing it. He was a con man and a player, but she has to deal with the realities of her life. She tries hiding her pregnancy for as long as she can as she knows she will lose her job as head chef of the mess at the local factory, also owned by Strickland.
Nell is the young kitchen maid at the Strickland home, working under Mrs. Quince, the cook. Nell is gifted in the kitchen and Mrs. Quince becomes a mother figure to her. Orphaned at a young age, Nell grew up in an orphanage until she was sent to work at the estate.
These four women all end up competing in a cooking contest put on by the BBC (the forerunner of the Great British Bakeoff!) There was a real radio program called The Kitchen Front, and in this story the program sponsors a contest to get a professional cook to help out. The goal of the show is to help the housewives who are all struggling with rations, severe food shortages, and black market food. The radio show provides recipes and tips, like using all the vegetable scraps to make soup, and promoting canned foods like SPAM and sardines.
Audrey is more housewife than pro, but she’s been supporting her family by baking pies and things and selling them to local businesses. She also has a kitchen farm outside her door and has laying chickens, so is much better off than many others.
The competition between the women doesn’t seem very fierce, other than Lady Gwendoline’s husband is pushing her to win by any means possible. There is something going on in that marriage and it isn’t good.
Eventually, the women form friendships and as the war goes on, they find struggling together is much better than struggling alone. These characters were all likeable, even Lady Gwendoline eventually shows a more human side. The food history (and recipes) are fascinating, even if I wouldn’t make any of them. This was a different look at WWII from the perspective of England’s housewives, and a very interesting, compelling read. If you like historical fiction and food fiction, then this is your book; it certainly was mine.
4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE KITCHEN FRONT by Jennifer Ryan. Ballantine Books (February 23, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593158807. 416 pages.
Posted by Stacy Alesi 
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 