How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn
Publisher: Hot-Lanta Publishing LLC
Release Date: October 15, 2024
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Every Kringle in Kringletown celebrated Christmas a lot.
But Cole Black on Whistler Lane, unfortunately, did not.
As his fellow citizens decorate their quaint town, brimming with carols and glad tidings, Cole wants nothing more than to hibernate the winter away. But his dreary plans are thwarted when his Christmas nemesis, Storee Taylor, moves in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Immediately, the new neighbor turns his life into a real nightmare before Christmas, especially when she decides to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest in honor of Cindy. And better yet, Storee is determined to win.
Over Cole’s dead body, she will. With help from his friend Max, Cole decides to enter the competition as well, to beat Storee at her own game by pretending that this hometown grump’s heart has grown three sizes this season and he’s fallen for the girl next door. And unfortunately for Storee, she has to follow his lead to have a chance at the Christmas Kringle title.
But the competition isn’t the only thing that heats up. Cole and Storee’s fake relationship becomes very real, and before they know it, they’re attempting to hide it from Aunt Cindy. Things get complicated, the competition gets tough, and all it takes is one single night for someone to steal it all…
[Said in my best Stefan from SNL voice] How My Neighbor Stole Christmas has everything: enemies to lovers, fake dating, grumpy sunshine, small town romance and lewd acts involving a candy cane.
As a child, Storee Taylor spent Christmas with her family visiting her Aunt Cindy in Kringletown, the town that celebrates Christmas year-round. She returns after a ten-year absence to take care of her Aunt Cindy as she recovers from a broken hip. When she runs into her childhood crush, Cole Black, in town, things do not go well. He’s upset with Storee for things that happened ten years ago.
When Storee enters the annual Christmas Kringle contest at her aunt’s behest, Cole enters too. He’s on a mission to exact his revenge on Storee by winning the contest. He’s forced suppress his grumpy side and act like he has Christmas spirit.
Part of his plan is to pretend that he’s fallen for Storee. If she rejects him, the town will think she’s cruel for breaking his heart, so she reluctantly agrees to fake date him. But you can guess what ends up happening…
I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book. The banter between Storee and Cole was top notch. As was the banter between Cole and his best friend Max. I was laughing out loud. I listened to this book but also wanted a print copy because I was so engrossed, I wanted to be able to read it when listening wasn’t feasible – like when my kids are creating chaos and I need to keep an ear out to make sure no one gets hurt. But I couldn’t find one – it was sold out everywhere!
The spicy scenes were very spicy. And yes, the rumors are true, a candy cane is involved. The only thing I didn’t like was that a hefty amount of spooge was involved and that turned my stomach. That’s a personal preference though – I’ve always been grossed out by discussion of spunk. Even just writing this is nauseating me.
That’s my only complaint. How My Neighbor Stole Christmas was a super cute and really funny holiday romance. It’s perfect for the season and should definitely be on your list if you’re a romance lover. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. It’s a duet and has a full cast. Meghann Quinn has an extensive backlist and I’m looking forward to reading more by her.
December 13th, 2024 in
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The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
Publisher: Erewhon Books
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her Appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying . . . yet enticing.
In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Mouthwatering blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescendingly toward Ji-won and her sister, as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. But George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.
No matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.
The Eyes are the Best Part follows Ji-Won, who lives in a small apartment with her mother and sister. Her father recently left her mother, upending the family. Her mother starts dating George, a disgusting white man with an Asian fetish. To give you a hint of what his character is like, he calls Asian people “Orientals”. To Ji-Wan’s horror, her mother lets George move in with them.
The stress of her family situation causes Ji-Won to have graphic nightmares involving eyeballs. Shortly after they begin, she is driven to actually eat human eyeballs. She obviously has to kill people to harvest their eyeballs and thus we are witness to the evolution of a serial killer.
Even though, or maybe because, this book is super gross, I loved it. It’s not just simply a horror novel about cannibalism. It’s a commentary on issues of race, specifically the microaggressions and racism directed toward Asian people. It’s about family and loss and grief. And it has a great twist at the end.
I picked this book up because it was recommended to fans of My Sister is a Serial Killer, and after reading it, I agree with that recommendation. But you should read it even if you haven’t read My Sister is a Serial Killer. And then read that book too!
Highly recommended.
November 8th, 2024 in
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True Confessions of an Ambivalent Caregiver by Cindy Eastman
Publisher: She Writes Press
Publication Date: September 17, 2024
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
At first grateful to be able remodel the dining room of her family’s modest home in Connecticut to accommodate her eighty-six-year-old father for what everyone felt would be a short duration of care, Cindy Eastman ultimately experienced a whole gamut of feelings over the course of what turned out to be four years of caring for her dying dad. Caregiving impacts everyone, and this account—told in essays recorded before, during, and after the time Eastman’s father was with her—details that impact, not just on the primary caregiver but also the rest of the family.
One of the reasons Eastman committed to writing down her experiences was because she predicted that once her dad died, there would be a tendency to soften or even deny any of the negative and challenging times—and there were many. As of 2020, more than 53 million adults provide homecare in this country, and the reality of that arrangement is different for every family. It is not, as some might suggest, a “noble gesture” but rather an elegant conflict—an intricate reassembling of the family dynamic that many people don’t ever see coming. In these candid, often poignant essays, Cindy Eastman brings all the emotions of taking on the challenging responsibility of caregiving a parent at the end of their life to the surface.
When Cindy Eastman decided to care for her dying father in her home, she thought he only had a few months to live. He ended up living for four years in her home before he died. Not only was he diabetic and legally blind, but he also had dementia that got worse over time.
True Confessions of an Ambivalent Caregiver is a series of essays that Cindy Eastman wrote at varying points during those four years. She wrote them while she was in the midst of caring for her father because as she says, “I might not be as open and honest about recording them through the lens of loss and grief.” Because of that, this book is likea journal of what she was going through.
Being a full-time caregiver is hard and often thankless, as is clear in Eastman’s essays. It became her full-time job. She was overwhelmed and stressed out a lot of the time and she’s very honest about her thoughts toward her father and being a caregiver in general. I think this book would be great for someone who is a caregiver and is feeling frustrated and alone. The essays are short so it’s perfect for a caregiver, who probably doesn’t have much time to read, to read an essay or two at a time. It’s also good for someone who is friends with a caregiver to gain insight into what their friend is going through.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)
September 22nd, 2024 in
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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: April 18, 2017
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.
As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a well-researched account of what happened to the Osage. Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure the extent of the murders and who was responsible for them. Some of the people were caught and convicted but there were surely more people involved. It’s speculated that hundreds of Osage deaths were murders.
I watched the movie of the same name, which is based on the book, when it first came out. I chose to read the book because liked the movie, but I wanted more of the nitty gritty details of the time. Even though the movie is over three hours long, it doesn’t delve into the specifics of the law, for example, how the government was able to declare fully functioning Native Americans incompetent and take over their finances. The movie expanded on and embellished a lot of what happened for dramatic effect. After you subtract the copious number of notes, the book is less than 300 pages long. There’s not enough material for a three-hour movie!
I recommend Killers of the Flower Moon to everyone who is addicted to true crime documentaries and podcasts. You know who you are!
September 17th, 2024 in
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The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
Publisher: S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books
Publication Date: May 4, 2021
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.
Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.
Hannah Hall’s husband, Owen, has disappeared. A girl delivers her a note from him that says, simply, “Protect her.” Hannah knows that he’s referring to his teenage daughter Bailey. But protect her from what? Why are U.S. Marshall’s and FBI agents looking for Owen? Hannah and Bailey decide to go on a mission to find out.
I actually read this book twice. The first time was about a year ago. At the time, I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. I read it again recently because there is a limited TV series starring Jennifer Garner streaming on Apple TV+ based on the book and I wanted to refresh my memory before I watched the show. I liked it even less the second time!
I had a really tough time with the premise. A man goes into hiding and leaves his wife a cryptic note when he easily could have a written a full note explaining to her why he had to go?
I’m not sure this actually is a thriller – maybe thriller light? The twist was little and not exactly jaw dropping. I had a hard time feeling invested in the story and what was going on with Owen because the suspense felt manufactured.
Even though I thought the book was meh, I’m still going to watch at least the first episode of the TV series because I’m curious to see how they’ve adapted the book.
September 5th, 2024 in
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A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don’t leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she’s so set on going her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures—no matter what.
But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel…
Because it is.
This place can’t be real, and yet… she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story.
Elsy is sure that’s why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending.
Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can’t place—a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book.
Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town’s happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.
None of Eileen’s book club friends can go on their annual book retreat, where they spend the week reading and discussing romance books. Feeling sad and lonely after a bad breakup, Eileen decides to go on the retreat all by herself. On the way, her car breaks down and she finds herself in Eloraton, the town in which her favorite romance series is set. It will take a few days to get it fixed, so the town’s grumpy bookstore owner offers to let her stay in the loft in the store. She quickly makes friends with the townspeople since she knows almost everything about them from reading the books. She’s so comfortable in the town that she doesn’t want to leave and go back to her real life.
A Novel Love Story completely charmed me. While I’m not a huge fantasy fan, I can get on board with magical realism if it’s done right. Ashley Poston got it right in The Seven Year Slip and she’s done it again here. This book is a tribute to romance, not a send up. It’s interesting how self-aware it is. Eileen can recognize the tropes that are playing out right before her eyes. She feels like she knows what’s best for the characters and can’t help meddling in their lives a bit even though the bookstore owner warns her not to.
Eileen does have a bit of a romance herself, but the focus of the book is the journey that both her and the people who live in Eloraton take while she’s there. Eileen has to time to reevaluate her life and try to figure out what would make her happy.
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Eloraton right along with Eileen and thought the story was clever and fun. Highly recommended.
September 2nd, 2024 in
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Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 11, 2024
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.
Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps.
Rue works as a biotech engineer at Kline, a food science corporation that has become the target of a hostile takeover attempt. Eli works for the private equity firm trying to take over Kline. When he meets Rue, he feels an instant, intense attraction. Rue feels it too, but she doesn’t want to betray the owner of Kline, who is also a close friend by doing anything with Eli. But they can’t help themselves and end up having a secret, passionate affair.
Not in Love has a different tone from Ali Hazelwood’s other books. She states in a note in the front of the book that Not in Love is less a rom-com and more erotica or dark romance. It is darker – both Eli and Rue come from troubled childhoods and have issues because of that. The spicy scenes are on the dark side, but nothing compared to some of the dark romance that’s out there! Ali Hazelwood knows how to write a love scene. They don’t have any of the cringy language that I’ve seen in some other romance books.
I loved Not in Love. Rue and Eli’s chemistry was palpable. I liked that Rue was a strong woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t have any problems communicating it. Her dry humor was fantastic – she had some great lines. And there was a callback to Check & Mate. It’s fun when authors put Easter eggs in their books.
Ali Hazelwood continues her streak of writing fantastic romance books with Not in Love. She can do no wrong. Highly recommended.
Other books by Ali Hazelwood I’ve reviewed:
The Love Hypothosis
Love, Theoretically
Check & Mate
August 20th, 2024 in
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Turtles All the Way Down is based on the book of the same name written by John Green. It follows Aza, a high school girl who has OCD. Her OCD manifests itself in her being afraid that any sort of bacteria she encounters will lead to her contracting clostridium difficle, commonly known as c. diff. It’s actually not that common and rarely leads to death although Aza’s sure she’ll die if she gets it. Her thought spirals as she calls them, have started to affect her relationships with her friends.
I thought this movie was a fantastic adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down. I wondered how they would do it successfully because a lot of the book is Aza’s inner thoughts. There are some great special effects used to convey what Aza is feeling and her thought spirals.
In the book, Aza reconnects with her childhood friend Davis when his billionaire Dad goes missing. It explores Davis’s feelings about this and also how Davis’s younger brother Noah is not handling things well. Davis’s father is missing in the movie but how it’s affecting Davis and Noah isn’t a part of the story. I understand why that was left out. This was a movie primarily for teenagers. To include Davis’s story would have made the movie a lot longer and might not have held the kids’ attention. Aza’s point of view is the most important.
I thought the movie was well-cast. Almost everyone looked how I pictured they would. The acting was a lot better than in most young adult movies. And John Green has a cameo! (That is not a spoiler. He posted a clip of it on Instagram.) Felix Mallard, who plays Davis, is hot in a generic hot guy way. He’s 26 in real life so it’s okay to say that! didn’t picture Davis as being particularly good looking when I read the book. He’s not nearly as awkward in the movie as he is in the book.
Turtles All the Way Down is a movie that both teenagers and adults alike will enjoy, even if they haven’t read the book or are a John Green fangirl like me. Highly recommended.
The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi
Narrator: Sneha Mathan
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
Release Date: March 28, 2023
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick The Henna Artist, the final chapter in Alka Joshi’s New York Times bestselling Jaipur trilogy takes listeners to 1970s Paris, where Radha’s budding career as a perfumer must compete with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past.
Paris, 1974. Radha is now living in Paris with her husband, Pierre, and their two daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago, when she was only a child herself, but she loves being a mother to her daughters, and she’s finally found her passion—the treasure trove of scents.
She has an exciting and challenging position working for a master perfumer, helping to design completely new fragrances for clients and building her career one scent at a time. She only wishes Pierre could understand her need to work. She feels his frustration, but she can’t give up this thing that drives her.
Tasked with her first major project, Radha travels to India, where she enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the courtesans of Agra—women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully managed world and threatening to destroy a vulnerable marriage.
The Perfumist of Paris follows Radha, Lakshmi’s younger sister. She lives in Paris with her husband Pierre and works at a perfume company mixing scents. She and Pierre have two little girls. Radha loves her job and sometimes works long hours. Pierre would rather she stay home and focus on their daughters.
*****This review has tiny spoilers for The Henna Artist*****
This book takes place in the 1970s when women were entering the work force en mass for the first time. France was behind America in accepting working women, which is one of the reasons Pierre was so against it.
If you’ve read The Henna Artist, you know that Radha gave birth to a baby boy when she was thirteen and placed him for adoption. One day, that boy, named Nicki, who is now a teenager, shows up at Radha and Pierre’s doorstep. The problem is that Radha never told Pierre about Nikki.
This book started out slowly – the first half was just Pierre and Radha fighting over her career. It got tedious. Things picked up once Nikki showed up at Radha’s house. Radha takes a trip back to India to look for new fragrances and we get to catch up with what Lakshmi and Malik have been up to.
Although not my favorite book of the series, I thought The Perfumist of Paris was a nice conclusion to The Henna Artist Trilogy.
Review of The Henna Artist (Book 1)
Review of The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (Book 2)
June 24th, 2024 in
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The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: June 22, 2021
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
It’s the spring of 1969, and Lakshmi, now married to Dr. Jay Kumar, directs the Healing Garden in Shimla. Malik has finished his private school education. At 20, he has just met a young woman named Nimmi when he leaves to apprentice at the Facilities Office of the Jaipur Royal Palace. Their latest project: a state-of-the-art cinema.
Malik soon finds that not much has changed as he navigates the Pink City of his childhood. Power and money still move seamlessly among the wealthy class, and favors flow from Jaipur’s Royal Palace, but only if certain secrets remain buried. When the cinema’s balcony tragically collapses on opening night, blame is placed where it is convenient. But Malik suspects something far darker and sets out to uncover the truth. As a former street child, he always knew to keep his own counsel; it’s a lesson that will serve him as he untangles a web of lies.
***This review might have mild spoilers for The Henna Artist.***
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur takes place about ten years after the end of The Henna Artist. Lakshmi and Dr. J are married and running a medical clinic in Shimla. Malik has graduated from an elite boarding school and is in Jaipur interning at Samir’s construction company. The company has been contracted by the Palace to build a fancy cinema.
Malik has left Nimmi, a humble tribeswoman that he’s started to form a relationship with, behind in Shimla. One of the reasons Lakshmi sent Malik to Jaipur is to get him away from Nimmi – she doesn’t think Nimmi is good enough for him.
The cinema collapses on opening night, injuring, and even killing, some of the people in attendance. Malik doesn’t buy the official explanation for the collapse and decides to investigate himself.
In this book Laksmi is a supporting character but she’s still up in everyone’s business, just like she was in The Henna Artist. The focus is mostly on Malik and Nimmi. It’s more plot driven than The Henna Artist since we already know most of the characters. (Although this could be read as a stand-alone because anything you need to know from the first book to understand what’s going on is explained.)
I thought The Secret Keeper of Jaipur was just as good as The Henna Artist. The mystery of who was behind the cinema collapse was well-plotted. I’m looking forward to the final book in the trilogy, The Perfumist of Paris.
My review of The Henna Artist is here.
May 9th, 2024 in
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