Book Critic
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Review: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
I have been a big fan of Chanel Cleeton for a while now. I have loved all her books and whenever I see that she has a new book coming out, I fan-girl pretty hard! But this book in particular made me really fan-girl. Most of Cleeton’s have a strong historical fiction component but it’s mostly 1930s or 1950s/60s time period, which is fine but its truthfully not my favorite time in history. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cleeton’s books but historically, the modern era isn’t my fav, but when I saw this book was coming out and it was set at the end of the 19th century, I…
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Review: The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews
Can it even be summer without a new Mary Kay Andrews book? The answer is no—no it cannot! I started reading some of MKA’s books a couple of years ago and they are always good as a beach read or a quick read on a plane on the way to your latest vacation destination! I picked this one up and read it in a matter of days which is what I expect when I pick up any of her books. This book featured both a romance and a little bit of a murder mystery and I just loved that combo. If you love beach reads you no doubt have read…
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Review: It Had to Be You by Georgia Clark
Any book that has a similarity between Love Actually noted in the title gets a yes from me to read! I love that movie and when I saw that this book featured a similar braided narrative that also included a wedding planner and all the best parts of various rom-coms, well I simply needed to make room on my review calendar for it. Lately I have had good luck with some well done rom-coms and this one was just begging for me to read it. It looked so so good and I loved the cover. I haven’t read anything by this author before, but after checking out some of her…
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Review: I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin
This is my first ever Ann Garvin book but I have certainly seen her other books on best seller lists and I was interested in checking this one out. I also belong to the Tall Poppy Bloggers group and I love getting Ann’s email newsletters. They are always so funny and well written so I was excited to get this book to read knowing her humor would shine through! To be honest I was worried this book would be a little heavy and that Ann’s great humor would be overshadowed by some of the heavier topics in the novel, but I wanted to read one of her novels so much…
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Review: The Social Graces by Renee Rosen
Renee Rosen is an author who has been on my radar for years but one of her books just hasn’t found it’s way onto my nightstand yet! Last spring I was part of the cover reveal for this one and ever since then I have been dying to read this one. That cover is absolutely stunning and I love a well done historical fiction novel. The historical fiction genre is flooded with books set in WWII and the Tudor period so a book like this one stands out as unique simply for the time period it’s set in. Plus the lush backdrop of the uber rich promises something entirely different…
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Review: Rosie’s Traveling Tea Shop by Rebecca Raisin
This book has an adorable cover and I thought the premise sounded promising. After reading the summary, I thought this would be a great book for the modern woman. So many women are struggling to find a work/life balance right now and I think that a lot of readers could find something to relate to in this one. I also really loved the idea of a traveling tea shop! Here in Oregon, food trucks are all the rage and I thought that this book would a be a fun little diverting read that would be relevant yet light with some delicious food and tea! A comfort read was the phrase…
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Review: The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert
This was a books that I was kind of ‘meah’ about when I read the description. It didn’t grab me in the way that I was expecting. Sure is a romcom with ghosts sounds interesting but for me ghosts are more about horror than romcoms. So it didn’t stand out as one that I was dying to read (no pun intended). However so many people were raving about it all over social media which made me stop and ponder a little bit more. After a week of seeing it all over the place on social media I finally broke down and downloaded it! Suddenly this book went from ‘meah’ to…
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Review: Under the Southern Sky by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Kristy Woodson Harvey is one of my absolute favorite authors! She is the sweetest thing and I just adore her books. I mean is it even spring time without a KWH book? No—no it is not! Every spring I look forward to one of her new books and this year was no exception! Her books always have so much heart, charm, and general warm fuzzies! Even the covers, I take one look at the covers and I can almost feel the soft sea breeze and sun on my skin. When I received the ARC of this one, it was early fall I believe and I couldn’t wait to read it…
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Review: The Smuggler’s Daughter by Kerry Barrett
This book’s cover is positively stunning and that’s how it ended up on my TBR list! I love the tempestuous looking sky, rocky coastline, and the pale peach of the girl’s dress on the cover. It suggests innocents and yet something stormy brewing in the sea. Not to mention the title suggests adventure! I love books set on the coast, it’s something so instantly atmospheric about it. Author Kerry Barrett, has written a couple of other books and while they sound good, this is the one that would naturally stand out to me. I love the description of the book and the setting, and as I noted before, the cover…
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Review: A Wicked Conceit (Lady Darby Mysteries #9) by Anna Lee Huber
I have been a long time fan of all Anna Lee Huber’s books, but the Lady Darby series stands out as a favorite of all her books. I will gladly clear my calendar for any upcoming Anna Lee Huber book because they are just that good! This book is the ninth in the series and I will say that I encourage readers to start this series from the beginning. Some of the books could be read out of order but there are relationships and back stories that spread across multiple books, thus making it difficult for readers to fully appreciate the nuances of the characters and the mysteries. This book…