Hi, yes. Better late (and brief) than never, okay???
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. So deliciously agonizing to read. Highly recommend.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield. A fun rom com (surprise!) where love blossoms – eventually – between the given-up-on-love comedy writer for an SNL-type sketch variety show and the smokin’ hot musical guest star.
Murder in the Drawing Room by C.J. Archer. Historical cozy mystery. It was fine. I had to look at the cover blurb to remind myself what it was about before writing this a month after reading it. But fine!
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. Entertaining and creepy.
New Girl in Little Cove by Damhait Doyle. A young woman comes from away (Ontario) to teach in a wee fishing village in Newfoundland where everybody is throughly immersed in everyone else’s business, and no one is quite sure what to make of the stranger. A thoroughly charming story.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. A fake boyfriend story. How many of these can there be? Has my Libby app algorithm gotten me in some kind of dimension where one must read a faux relationship novel at least monthly? And yet, I enjoyed this one.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sagar. Another creepy tale! A woman moves home to the haunted? possessed? house her family had fled decades earlier. She’s determined to renovate the house and sell it once and for all. But dark secrets still lurk. Will she make it out alive?
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. On the cusp of turning 40 and not living quite the life she’d imagined, Alive wakes up to her sixteenth birthday again. She’s young, the world is fresh, she just thinks she’s wise and jaded, and her dear ailing dad is well! Young! There’s time to make better decisions that can change the course of her life and maybe – just maybe – keep her dad healthy. What should she do differently this time, and the next, and the next? I ate this novel up, even as it stabbed me in the heart repeatedly.
Enchanted to Meet You by Meg Cabot. I thought I recognized Meg Cabot’s name as an author I’ve enjoyed, but this novel fell flat for me. There’s a witch who’s not very good at being a witch. Then a sexy guy (also a witch) comes along and tells her they need to save the community together. Also something, Chosen One, something, something. It’s a bit of a muddle. (Anyway, I just googled the author’s booklist and I think I just plain recognized her name because she pumps novels out a rate of more than one a year. Full respect, but… is this a Carolyn Keene situation?)
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. Can love survive when the two members of the couple live seven years apart in time? A great read with emotional depth, interesting characters and a novel premise. Two time travel novels in one post. Huh. I’m on some definite streaks here.
Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, there’s another twist to the tale. The author warns you right in the title.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamen Stevenson. Very much my jam, thank you. I love a fictional narrator who’s aware of their audience.
Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones. Highly enjoyable and enlightening. I knew nothing about Leslie Jones-the-person, and she’s interesting and introspective. As well as crass, spiritual, self-confident, insecure, tall, strong, and funny.
