My mother recommended the Countess of Harleigh series to me and it's become my go-to whenever I need to chill out after a darker read. This second book in the series, A LADY'S GUIDE TO GOSSIP AND MURDER, takes off exactly where the previous one ended. Frances is still kind of in a will she/won't she with George Hazelton and her younger sister, Lily, is practically engaged. The dispute of her finances is mostly settled with her in-laws. It seems like everything is golden.
Until somebody dies.
I don't want to say too much because spoilers, but basically red flags begin waving when one of Franny's matchmaking attempts doesn't go as planned, and when somebody dies, she, her aunt, sister, and cousin are plunged into a world of schemes and scandal sheets, where everyone has got something to hide and one of those things might just be a motive for murder.
The pacing on this one was a lot slower than the previous one and I think that's because it didn't have the same stakes. The first book directly involved Franny and her money, and her relatives played more of a direct role (including her daughter and sister, whose respective safeties were threatened). This book had some exciting portions but a lot of it was just running around and talking in circles. It wasn't nearly as fun (for me).
I skimmed to the end because I wanted to see what happened and I did like the writing and the central mystery. This book just felt like a pale shadow of the previous, and I had been hoping for more. I still love Mr. Hazelton, though. Who doesn't stan a golden retriever love interest? Even if he is a nepo baby.
My mom actually recommended this series to me and I have the first five books in the series loaded up on my Kindle (thanks, KU!), but I haven't really been in the mood for "cozy mystery." Until now.
This series is so cute. It's narrated in first person from the point of view of the Countess of Harleigh, Frances Wynn. Frances, newly widowed, is now a single mother, and the prey of her greedy relations. They've looked down on her for being American and a woman, but they're not too good to take her American money to restore the house.
When Frances puts an end to that by getting a house of her own, to live in with her daughter, Rose, that seems like it will be the end of it. But then her sister, Lily, and Aunt Hetty come, and Lily (who is younger) starts courting some men of potentially dubious intentions and provenance, it falls to Frances to vet her sister's dates.
Which is a daunting enough task without the prospect of murder.
I don't want to say too much because less is more, but I thought the mystery element was really well done. I didn't guess who it was. Maybe I could have if I'd tried harder, but I was mostly just happy to go along with the ride. I loved Frances's voice, and even though she could be PAINFULLY obtuse at times, she had a quick mind and it was fun to read a book about a single mom character with a kid who wasn't bratty (I'm reading another right now where the kid IS bratty and that's okay but still, yikes).
Oh, AND the love interest for Frances is one of those human golden retriever type guys AND he wears glasses. Usually my favorite pairing with the no-nonsense female type in hist-rom is the duke of slut, but apparently I also ship no-nonsenses and golden retrievers, too. AND I've been assured that he's a continued presence in the future books too, HUZZAH.
So my mom was right about this book. It's light and fun and perfect for those days where you want to know "who did the bad thing and with what instrument?" but not worry about the kids or the dog.
I'm pretty picky when it comes to chicklit. It's a genre that I want to like, but a lot of the time, the unrealistic situations, bland writing, and overly quirky heroines ruin what would otherwise be a decent premise. Apparently my mom picked this up in a ship library while on a cruise. She enjoyed it so much that she brought it back for me from Europe. And, as with all books I'm excited about reading, I promptly set it aside and forgot about it for several months. Now that I'm ill, though, I've been treating myself to some guilty pleasure reads, and THE FLATSHARE seemed like it would fit the bill.
Told in dual POV, it is the story about Tiffy and Leon. Tiffy works at a small publishing company and has just been booted out of her ex-boyfriend's apartment; now she needs a new place to live. Leon works the night shift as a palliative care nurse, and he needs the extra cash flow. He decides to rent out his apartment to someone who can sleep there while he works, ideally with the opposite schedule as his. They will share the flat and the bed, but sleep on opposite sides. Kay, Leon's girlfriend, will manage things to keep it less weird.
At first, Leon's odd narration style and Tiffy's quirkiness seemed like they might be too much, but their characters grew on me. I liked the epistolary elements (via Post-It), the friends-to-lovers, and the emphasis on consent and healing after an emotionally abusive relationship. I loved Leon's brother, Richie, and all of Tiffy's friends. I also liked the distinguishing between Leon's relationship with Kay, which wasn't toxic but soured because of a difference in expectations, and Tiffy's relationship with Justin, which was toxic, and which she had kind of psychologically repressed for her own emotional wellbeing. If nothing else, THE FLATSHARE is a fascinating look at relationships of all kinds and how they shape us, but luckily for me, it's also a really cute romance.
P.S. Nearly lost it when they ate tiffin together because that would be a great ship name for them.
So I'm doing this thing where I'm rereading the books I read as a teen and trying to figure out whether they hold up to an adult's perspective or if they were just zeitgeist-appropriate crap. BRIDGET JONES is definitely not a teen book, but that didn't stop me from reading it anyway! Actually, the first time I read it, I was ten. My mom wouldn't let me have it because she was like, "She'll be a bad influence on you!" which meant me pulling up a chair to the bookshelf to get it from where she'd hidden it and staying up three nights straight to read it. Did ten-year-old me understand WTF Ms. Jones was on about? No. Did I suddenly start weighing myself and listing my meals in my journals just like she did because I thought it was cool and the Grown-Up Thing to Do? Yes. Did it mess me up for life? Well, no, but it did seem to turn me into a thirty-something Singleton so maybe that's The Curse of the Book.
I'm not sure there's a book out there that captures the life of the thirty-something single woman quite like this one. Bridget is so relatable and so funny. She's like the perfect blend of good girl/bad girl, and her dynamics with her friends and family were such a delight to read and made her feel like such a well-rounded character. I did think the movie was better since so much of the focus is on Daniel that Darcy almost feels like an afterthought and when his feelings do crop up, they seem to come out of nowhere. It's funny that Hugh Grant and Colin Firth were chosen for the roles because both of the actors are actually mentioned in this book (which I thought was super hilarious).
The sexual harassment and outmoded dating advice don't age quite as well, and part of my love for this book is definitely nostalgic, but I still really enjoyed being in Bridget's head. Her anxiety/neuroticism really mirrored my own in my teens/early 20s. I honestly feel a little embarrassed thinking about how much I obsessed over boys sometimes when I was younger. I still have my journals from my early teens and oh my god, I forgot how I could spent hours parsing through every single interaction for secret clues. I'm not sure this book will be quite as appealing to teens and young women now but if you're interested in some fun 90s references and a pretty well-rounded heroine (that also serves as a pretty decent homage to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE), you should definitely check out this book.
After being lucky enough to receive an ARC of the author's first work, THE LION'S DEN, I knew I was going to have to read anything she published next. THE SIREN takes a while to get moving and the multiple narrators take some getting used to, but once the plot slowly starts rolling, I found that I couldn't put this book down. Like THE LION'S DEN, this book reads half like a Jackie Collins fairytale of Hollywood excess (and its dark underside), and half like a charming locked room mystery from the days of yore.
I don't want to say too much about the premise, but basically, Stella is an actress whose career is on the rocks who is hoping to make a comeback with a new hit movie and maybe a new memoir. Felicity is her gorgeous and mysterious young assistant. And Taylor is a young director with daddy issues who is hoping to make a hit movie to get some cred. All three women are involved with the project, but each has a secret ulterior motive for doing so, and as a dangerous storm moves into the tropical island where they're filming, the danger and distraction may provide fertile grounds for... REVENGE.
So, I mean, obviously I really liked the book. It reminded me a lot of THE GUEST LIST, which was another "rich people gone mad" mystery that I found myself enjoying way more than I thought I would. One of the things I've learned about myself recently is that I really enjoy books that focus on the connections and relationships between characters, especially if the plot ends up being the vehicle that turns up all of those deliciously dusty secrets that the main character(s) were hoping would stay buried. This is purely escapist reading and I think if you know that going in, you're going to enjoy the book a lot more, because I think people are going to hype this book up as being THE BEST MYSTERY EVER (as book bloggers do), and it really isn't a shocker. I predicted several of the big twists.
But it's compulsively written with fascinating characters and a really great location, so take this book with a tiny pinch of salt as you suck it down like a poolside margarita.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Laura Lee Guhrke is an author who has been recommended to me so many times, but there are so many historical romances out there that look good, it's easy to lose the signal in the noise, and I never tried any of her work until now. Funnily enough, even though I own two of her more popular books in ebook, I started out with one of her out-of-print books that's not really all that well-known. BREATHLESS, unlike her other books, is set in the United States, and not England. In fact, it's set in the United States at the turn of the century, in a post-slavery Georgia. Uh-oh. Well... don't worry. Slavery isn't actually mentioned.
Like, at all.
The heroine of the book, Lily, is a librarian and a pariah. Once a socialite who married into a good family, her reputation has since fallen into tatters ever since her ex-husband, Jason, hired his lawyer friend to make her look like an adulteress who pushed him into the arms of the willing women at the local brothel. Lily hates that brothel and has managed to get a judge to close it, which is where the hero comes in. Daniel is the lawyer who smeared Lily's reputation and now has his eye on a seat at the senate. But to do that, a lot of men with money (and women) tied up in the brothel want Daniel to go into the town of Shivaree and make sure the brothel stays open for the good of mankind.
Obviously, sparks fly between Lily and Daniel immediately. She hates his guts, and the way they get back at each other constantly was hilarious and made me laugh a couple times. Although, when Lily manages to rally the women to the cause of the temperance movement and the brothel stays closed, Daniel stops laughing. It was a Lysistrata moment in some ways, especially when the women of Shivaree kick the men out of their homes and refuse to cook them dinner. What with all the fighting over whether the brothel stays open or closed, at first, I thought this was going to be a whores = bad book, and it seems like it is, but BREATHLESS ended up being more thoughtful and progressive than I thought it would be, exploring how the temperance movement let a lot of women feel a taste of political power at a time that they couldn't vote, and how the women working at the brothel are just doing a job-- a job that some of them actually like-- and that doesn't necessarily make them bad people.
What? How progressive of you, 90s romance. *pats sofa* Come sit next to me.
It gets a little weird when the third act of the book introduces a murder mystery element (sad cliche: dead prostitute), and Lily's developmentally disabled friend, Amos, is accused of killing one of the prostitutes (hello, other sad cliche). Then the book becomes a court procedural drama when Daniel ends up representing Lily's friend. The book definitely crosses a lot of genres, and shifts tone a handful of times, and I was a bit disappointed that the mystery element wasn't more ingrained in the story, and that Lily's own involvement in the thriller element turns out to be a red herring at the end.
Slavery isn't really mentioned at all, and there are a few Black characters who are only mentioned a handful of times (all of them servants-- eek). The author gets around the hero having a slave-owning legacy, despite being rich, by having him come from a poor and abusive home. The heroine's wealthy family probably owned slaves, though. Is that mentioned in this book? NOPE. It feels a bit weird to have such a glaring hole in a book set around 1901, at a time when the South was still recovering from the social and economical ramifications of the war, and racism still ran rampant, but I guess just omitting the bad stuff and portraying a "slice" of that Southern way of life is one way of doing things. At least there weren't any wince-worthy racial stereotypes or cliches. And no, I'm not being facetious.
I liked this book a lot, despite it feeling a bit dated and having a few cliches that would probably be frowned at more heavily now. I think if you like Jude Deveraux, you will love this book, as the heroine is a bit of a feminist (but in a way that feels conceivable for the times) and the hero is strong but not abusive or domineering, and the sexual tension between him and Lily could be downright explosive. The commentary on social relationships, accepting people who are different, admitting when first impressions can be wrong and harmful, and loyalty were all solid messages, and I don't think the author did anything particularly offensive or trigger-worthy. So for anyone who loves the vintage vibes of older romances but hates the racism and dated stereotypes, this is a book for you.
I'm definitely bumping the author's other two books up my priority list now!
Sometimes I buy books just because the cover is so outrageous that it makes me laugh-- and this book, THE WITCH AND THE WARRIOR, is almost iconic in the sheer magnificence of its cheese. It's laid out like a stepback, with a close up of the Fabio wannabe gazing pensively into the distance, holding a pink gem at dick height that's gushing white sparkles (SYMBOLIC!). Below that, we see him and the bound heroine locked in a passionate embrace. KINKY! Only, no, because behind them, we see a girl tied to a stake, engulfed by flames-- and not the passionate flames, but the real shit.
***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***
When we first meet the heroine, Gwendolyn, she's about to be burned by her village. The MacSweens, her clan, have always been suspicious of her and her family, but after she's wrongly blamed for the death of her father, they've decided enough is enough. And her execution was expedited by the evil brother of the clan's laird, Robert, who likes to rape women, and planned on raping Gwendolyn until he found out that her father had a magical stone with magical powers-- then he decided he wanted badly enough that he was willing to kill for it. And so he did.
The entire village has come to toast and leer and celebrate Gwendolyn's horrendous death, and they've invited one of the other clans, the MacDunns, to join in the celebration. So nobody is more surprised when Mad Alex Dunn steals her right out of the fire like a naughty boy swiping the last hamburger off the girl, and makes off with her along with his men, and the daughter of the clan's laird, Isabella, who has a lot of very explicit and infuriated things to say about her kidnapping.
As it turns out, Alex wants her to help heal his sickly son, David. After his mother, Flora, died, Alex became "mad" with sorrow and extremely overprotective. But nothing his healing women have done has helped, so he's turned to witchcraft and the devil. Knowing that her usefulness is the only thing keeping her alive and out of the clutches of Robert MacSween, Gwendolyn agrees to see to the young boy, figuring that since her mother was a healer, maybe she can rough her way out of the situation.
I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did, but it's actually a lot of fun. It kind of reminds me of Elizabeth Vaughn's WARPRIZE. The alpha hero is gruff and stoic, but quite kind-hearted and charming in his way. The way he interacts wth his clan results in some great banter. I loved the elders, especially the blood-thirsty Reginald, the cranky Owen, and Lachlan with all of his potently noxious "anti-witch" potions that are also anti-wood, anti-metal, and anti-basically anything organic. And while I'm not always a fan of children in romances, I loved David, too.
The unique characters, action-sequences, and strong women make this a fast-paced and fun read, and I found myself drawn into the story immediately. The scenery descriptions are excellent and in some ways, it follows the same formula that have made a lot of YA fantasy and historical fiction so popular: large casts of likable characters with distinct personalities, forbidden romance, a strong and tortured female lead, and lots of amusing banter. Honestly, apart from the sex scenes (which are no more graphic than one could find in A Court of Thorns and Roses), I think this is a book that would really appeal to older teens as a gateway romance into historical romance books. It's FUN.
I'll definitely be checking out more books by this author.
When people think of the 70s, they generally think of bell bottom trousers, Farrah Fawcett hair, or disco. Me? I think of chunky family sagas. Before the bodice-ripper craze of the 1980s, Gothic romances and multi-tiered family epics were in, and PENMARRIC is the perfect example of what a prized specimen of the genre looks like. Based on the lives of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and their many children, PENMARRIC is set in late 19C and early 20C Cornwall, revolving around a crumbling Cornish estate and petty manners of inheritance, and the bickering chains of family lineage that twine and intertwine in numerous and surprising ways.
Mark Castellack becomes an inadvertent heir to the Penmarric estate after having it long be denied him. He isn't a Penmar, though-- at least, not by marriage. But his mother, it seems, might have some personal grievances involved that go well beyond the matter of contesting the will. His father, Laurence, is also a Castellack, an intellectual and moral man, but after Giles Penmar makes Mark his heir, their relationship suffers-- especially when Mark's promiscuity begins to dive out of control.
After an affair with a gently-bred woman named Rose that ends about how you would expect, Mark marries a woman named Janna and takes her to Penmarric. We get to read the book from both Mark and Janna's POVs and I loved seeing their story from both their eyes. How Mark's infatuation with Janna borders on violent obsession and how little respect he clearly has for women, especially when they behave in ways contrary to how he expects and tumbles from his pedestal. Janna, on the other hand, is a woman of low birth who had to struggle and strive to make a living. At first, she blossoms in Mark's harsh glare, but after a while, the wonder fades, and so does their romance.
The next chunk of the book is told from their children-- both Mark's children of his marriage with Janna, and the ones he had out of wedlock with Rose. We follow these offspring from childhood to adulthood, from petty rivalries, to the parts they played in WWI and WWII, their affairs and betrayals, their battles and rivalries over inheritance, their grievances, their secrets, their day-to-day lives. Honestly, if you had told me that Susan Howatch could sit me down and have me eagerly read about a character obsessed with the rigors of tending a mine and mining, I would have laughed, but then I read this book and I ended up being fascinated with the concept of tin mining.
One thing I loved about this book is how Susan Howatch doesn't concern herself with moral highhandedness. The characters behave in often unscrupulous or unlikable ways, and she lets them do it. This is not a morality play. These characters come across as painfully human in their flaws, and honestly, considering that this book was published in the early 1970s, her attitudes towards a lot of concepts like LGBT+ matters and abortion come across as shockingly progressive. I love how each chapter opens up with quotes taken from history books to let you know which character and historical event she is doing an allegory for because there is a HUMONGOUS cast of characters in here and it was hard to keep in mind who was who, let alone which Plantagenet they represented.
I love reading about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine so it was really exciting to find out that this was an allegory to that time period (I honestly didn't know that when I started reading it until I checked out some of the other reviews). This book is LOOOOONG but I read through it surprisingly quickly and one of the things I had forgotten about reading long books is how immensely satisfying it is when you finish them, like tucking into a multi-course meal. I loved this book and can't wait to read her other one, CASHELMARA, which is about the Edwards (I, II, and III).
If you enjoy chonky historical fiction about gloomy people living in gloomy estates, this is the perfect book for you.
Since libraries and bookstores are closed right now, me and some friends have been exchanging small bags of books via porch drop-off (and then sanitizing them with wipes, ofc). DEFINITELY NOT MR. DARCY was in my bag, and when I found out it was based around the premise of a Regency-themed reality television show, I was ready to go full ham on this chick-lit.
Our heroine, Chloe, is a single mom in her late-30s yearning nostalgically for the days of yore in books when men courted women, letters were hand-written, and dresses were elegant. She's a Jane Austen fan, because of course she is, and in need of money, so when she signs up for what she thinks is a Jane Austen game show, she thinks the cat is in the reticule. Unfortunately, it isn't a game show-- it's a dating show and she's one of the finalists.
Eight ladies are competing for the heir to the estate, Mr. Wrightman, who seems like a total Prince Charming on paper. The catch is that they must obtain "Accomplishment Points" by doing appropriate ladylike activities, like the languages of fans or sewing, and unladylike behavior results in docking of said points. If they perform well, they get alone time with Mr. Wrightman, but if they fail, well, you're off, and Bob's your uncle.
DEFINITELY NOT MR. DARCY turned out to be just the light-hearted read I needed right now. I often find myself sighing nostalgically for the pretty costume dramas, but this book solemnly disabused me of the notion that older is better, with its horrors of lemon-squeezed underarm deodorant, once a week baths, side sadle riding, and, oh yes, chamberpots and rags. (Although, what with all the toilet paper shortages here in the States, that's a nearer horror than I feel comfy with.)
Chloe is a likable heroine and I liked all the cattiness with the other ladies, especially Grace. I think it's slower-paced than some might like, but it ended up working because of the time period (and I learned a lot of new facts about Regency England!). The romance is very slow-burn and has a very Austen-like ending, in that the heroine finds love but not at the cost of her dignity or self-respect. I felt like it was a very nice modern throwback to Austen romances, which made me very happy.
I'm giving this three stars because I'm not sure I'd read it again or that it's particularly memorable, but it was a satisfying read and I had a good time living vicariously through Chloe as she had her preconceived notions about costume dramas-- and romance-- shattered.
I've developed a reputation for being a fan of dark romances but sometimes I like to read something cute. When I found a new copy of THE SWITCH at a thrift store, I was excited because I really enjoyed the author's other book, THE FLATSHARE, despite thinking it would just be pointless fluff. There was an emotional depth to that book and a really strong connection between the two leads that made it so much more than a bookish piece of candy that you forget after one bite. I was excited to see what the author would do in her other books, too.
THE SWITCH kind of has the same premise as those house-swapping shows that were popular in the aughts. Leena and Eileen are granddaughter and grandmother. Leena works a stressful corporate job in London and has just messed up a major presentation by having a panic attack after overworking herself for months. Eileen lives in a small English village; her husband left her and she fills the void of loneliness by looking after her daughter and participating in the Neighborhood Watch Association, which is filled with other nosy, lonely busybodies, like herself.
They end up proposing a swap of each other's houses. Eileen will go to London to take care of things and maybe do some online dating with over-seventies folks, and Leena will rest and convalesce in the English village and take some time to clear her head. It seems like the perfect plan, except in the village, Leena starts to fall for a sweater-wearing teacher who isn't her boyfriend and Eileen finds out that dating isn't quite as simple or easy as she thought it would be, and that her granddaughter's problems go so much deeper than a maybe half-hidden fear of public speaking.
So I'm going to be straight up and say that I didn't like this as much as I did THE FLATSHARE. Namely because it wasn't as romantic or sweet or light-hearted. This one has a pretty heavy subplot involving cancer, like so many other chick-lit books seem to have these days, and it's not mentioned in the blurb, which I know some people find triggering. The heroine has a sister who died of cancer and it put a rift between Leena and her mother, and it's talked about a lot. I appreciate the importance of grief and overcoming it to the point where it becomes manageable even if it never goes away, but I hadn't quite signed up for that. So if you're sensitive to topics like that, take heed.
The romance was also pretty weak. Weirdly, the grandmother gets most of the romance (and the sex scenes!), which is refreshing but also makes the book feel very one-sided. This is more Eileen's book than it is Leena's, which is also not obvious from the cover, as it was designed in the exact same way as THE FLATSHARE, but I feel like FLATSHARE is targeted towards young women in their late-teens to their early thirties, whereas the targeted audience for THE SWITCH feels older. I wish there had been more development between Leena and her love interest. It felt like they went from like to love very quickly, to the point where the epilogue had me going, "Whaaa?"
I also feel like things were never fully resolved with the mother. And the resolution with Leena and her not-nice boyfriend wasn't nearly as satisfying as the one in THE FLATSHARE. THE SWITCH ends up feeling more like chick-lit than a romance because the focus of the story is less on romance than it is on the development of the characters. It actually reminded me a lot of Jane Green's books, only without the mean streak of humor that could make those such difficult reads. Not surprised Marian Keyes blurbed my copy, either, because there's definitely traces of that sort of family hijinks vibe present here, too.
Overall, I'd say that this was fine. I skimmed a little towards the end because I got a little bored but it was cute, and Eileen is the cozy, meddling grandmother that I always secretly wished I had growing up.
THE LION'S DEN turned out to be the perfect read for my current mood. It was light, frothy, and utterly mean-spirited, a scathing critique on social climbers through the medium of locked-room murder mystery aboard a private yacht. Similar to Janelle Brown's PRETTY THINGS, everyone in the book is an awful person... but some of them are more awful than others.
Aspiring actress Belle is a little surprised when her friend Summer invites her above her rich (and older) boyfriend's private yacht for her birthday on a trip to the French Riviera. Particularly since she and Summer haven't exactly been biffles lately. But an all-expenses paid vacation is an all-expenses paid vacation-- OR SO SHE THINKS. Things start getting sinister pretty quickly. Assigned seating, restricted diets, technology embargos. John isn't just a rich boyfriend, he's also super controlling.
And then the killings begin.
Told in past and present POVs, THE LION'S DEN plunges us not just into a vacation-turned-Hitchcock-movie but also into the super secret falling out between Summer and Belle and how it ties into the events of the present day. Let me just tell you that even if you get cocky about reading this book and think you have it all figured out-- you don't. There were several things in here that shocked me in a good way, even though I thought I knew what was going to happen. Little twists keep the book interesting and spicy, so I appreciated that as a reader.
Even though Belle is vapid, she quickly proves to be surprisingly interesting-- and there's a great cast of characters in here to love, hate, or love to hate, ranging from tacky pageant-type moms to hot artists to silent and sinister bodyguards. Yes, THE LION'S DEN is pleasure reading, but it's decadent and delightful and just brainy enough to be completely guilt-free. I enjoyed it immensely!
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
ONE TO WATCH is a book that perfectly captures all of the cringe of reality television, while also providing a pitch-perfect look at the behind-the-scenes manipulation of the reality TV industry, the way people view women's bodies, and what it means to be an empowered woman in a society filled with double-standards. This could have been a heinous, horrible book in the wrong hands, but in Stayman-London's hands, it became a new fave.
✨ Body positivity. I feel like this book really does a great job with its heroine, plus-sized fashion blogger, Bea. She's just an ordinary woman who happens to wear a size 20, which is a pretty typical size for a lot of American women, although a lot of us think of that as unusual because we don't see women with bodies like that in TV or magazines. When Bea is called to be on the very show she criticized on her blog, people treat it like she's breaking a very controversial barrier, even though those barriers should not exist. The body positivity movement has its flaws but I feel like those are addressed here: there's a HUGE difference between living a healthy lifestyle and judging others for the way they look.
✨ The rep. In addition to Bea, who is plus-size, there is a lot of diversity in the guys she's supposed to date (which she demanded on her show). One of the love interests is Asian, one of the love interests is black. There is a character in here who is gender-nonconforming and a character in here who is asexual. One of the (male) love interests is a virgin, and it's treated so respectfully, which I definitely felt like was a call out to how The Bachelor and all of the promo handled Colton, where everyone made SUCH A BIG DEAL OVER IT, whereas here it feels totally normal.
✨ The portrayal of social media and reality television. I loved all of the multi-POVs in here, which I usually can't stand. But the blog posts, the Tweets, the comments, the podcasts, and the mailing groups were just spot-on with how people talk. I felt like the blog posts were a really great portrayal of how people really do consume and write about media. The comments and Tweets about Bea are (sadly) an accurate reflection of how people talk to and about women with a prominent online presence, especially if those women aren't considered conventionally attractive.
✨ The romance. OH MY GOD, so usually in reality TV about dating there's just a whole bunch of jerks and all the good guys get voted off immediately, which is why I find watching them so frustrating (you get invested, you know?), but here, there are a number of good guys that I loved. (And also a ton of guys that I loved to hate, and hated to love.) I'm so picky about chick-lit, and haven't enjoyed a book THIS MUCH since the heyday of Meg Cabot and Plum Sykes and Jennifer Weiner circa the late 90s and early 2000s. This was SO MUCH FUN and I was obsessed with Bea's journey not just to find love, but also to find happiness and to love herself.
✨ The feminist themes. Honestly?? So good. Bea was the perfect blend of vulnerability and empowerment. She wasn't portrayed like an icon. A lot of her insecurities were things that I, as a plus-size woman, really related to. She made mistakes and could be irrational and selfish, but I could see myself making and doing a lot of her decisions and having those same doubts. But despite all that, there was an overarching message that women shouldn't have to settle for less, and they shouldn't have to apologize for being the way they are. I loved that about this book; it kept it from feeling exploitative, because it had the heart, and didn't portray this as a throwaway thing.
✨ The hate-watching cringe. ONE TO WATCH is seriously just like watching a television show, and I hope there are spin-offs because I WOULD TOTALLY READ MORE OF THIS WORLD. I found myself rooting for various love interests, and wanting to scream at the book when drama surfaced, especially the love-hate relationship between Bea and the director of the show (omg, Lauren, like, CAN YOU NOT). I don't think I've ever read a book that captures the vibe of reality TV this well, only it's better than any reality TV show that I've seen in like ten years, so.
I found myself at a crucial point about 370 pages in where I knew it was a make-or-break moment, which would determine whether this book was four or five stars for me. The book didn't choose the ending I wanted though-- it one-upped me and found an even better one. I honestly hope that this becomes a movie, because if it doesn't... PEOPLE ARE MISSING OUT. This is the best chick-lit book that I have read in years, and I honestly couldn't put it down once I really started reading.
Love.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
WARPRIZE was a book that I put off reading for a while because I'd hyped it up in my mind so much that I was afraid it wouldn't meet my expectations. But I finally mustered up the courage to read it and much to my surprise and delight, it exceeded my expectations in all ways. This is a slow-burn romance with a light fantasy setting that makes up for the lack of magic with great world-building and a diverse and interesting cast of characters who are all worth getting to know. I had so much fun reading this fantasy romance.
✨ The heroine is a healer. As fun as it can be to read about warrior or assassin heroines who take on their enemies by the sword, it's also sometimes nice to read about people whose strength lies in their intelligence and their kindness. The heroine, Lara, first attracts the attention of the hero because of her steadfast attention to healing the wounded of both camps, including the enemy's. Everyone loves her-- but there's ample reason for it here, which keeps her from coming across as a Mary Sue. Plus, we constantly see her at work and it's such a delightful part of the world-building.
✨ The heroine is a compassionate warlord. Picture Khal Drogo, only without the cruel streak. That's Keir, the hero: warlord of a group of people who ride horses on the plains and have just come to an uneasy truce with Lara's people. I could say sooo many great things about Keir, not just that he's hot but also that he's noble and honorable and merciful and kind. Not a pushover by any means, but definitely a man who knows that blood is not always the answer, and that the best way to win the heart of a lady is to treat her with respect and patience. *heart eyes* I stan an honorable man!
✨ The court intrigue. Even though the world-building is light, there's still enough tension to keep the pages turning. Lara's half-brother, Xymund, sells her into what he thinks is slavery when he gives her to Keir, and a lot of the book is her slowly coming to trust Keir and his people and realizing that so much of what she believed about them was wrong (and vice-versa). There's also political machinations and assassination attempts, threatening not just Lara's life but also that uneasy peace.
✨ The romance. Look, it's slow-burn with some great relationship building with two likable characters who just want to find happiness while also not screwing over their respective people. If you've ever read Grace Draven's RADIANCE, you'll know what to expect: it's like a comedy of errors that makes light of the misunderstandings and cultural disconnects of two people from different worlds whose compassion and empathy end up uniting them over their differences.
✨ Excellent secondary characters. Whether it was Anna, the temperamental cook; Atira, the female warrior who secretly loves fantasy epics; Simus, the brave and intimidating warrior with the outrageous sense of fashion; Joden, the bard (who reminded me a lot of Jaskier from The Witcher, only with better luck with the ladies), or Warren, Lara's noble guardsman, there were so many people in here who added spice to the story and some genuinely entertaining interactions.
Was it cheesy at times? Yes, but that's part of the fun of a fantasy romance, and honestly, this had more depth to it than some of those dudebro fantasy "classics," so even if you don't think you like romance, I'd still recommend it to fantasy readers who enjoy a good character-driven story.
Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨
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