Book Critic
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Review: Red Sky over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman
I read my very first book by Sara Ackerman last year and really liked it, so when I saw that she was coming out with another war time book set in Hawaii, I was eager to read it. The covers of her books are all so beautiful and exotic feeling not to mention set on the gorgeous Hawaiian islands and featuring a unique view of WWII, it’s no wonder that I couldn’t resist her books! This was a book that I made room on my review calendar for and I am so glad that I did because it was a wonderful escape!
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Review: Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
This book is one of the buzziest books of the summer. It’s been everywhere and I have tried to stay away from reviews so as not to taint my own but it’s been so hard because it’s literally everywhere on social media right now. I had such great luck with Beach Read (another buzzy book) and I was eager to start this one thinking it would be really similar—-but it wasn’t. The cover makes me think this book would be more of a beach read but then the summary suggested women’s fiction and yet there was a mystery element to the story. Basically this book had a lot going on…
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Review: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
When I saw this book come across my desk for review, I knew it was going to be an easy yes. The cover is elegant and inviting, not to mention the title promised a literary lovers dream setting. I couldn’t wait to dive in and get caught up in the romanticism of Paris and a book that was sure to be an ode to book lovers everywhere. Now that I think back, I don’t even think I read the summary of the book before saying yes—that was how sure I was that I wanted to read this book. One look and I knew. I should also add that my sister…
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Re-Share Review: Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin
Last spring I picked this book up and was caught up in all it’s history and the lovely story. WWII is one of my favorite time periods and I had really enjoyed her book The Girls in the Picture so I was excited for this one. It didn’t disappoint and it also cemented Benjamin as a ‘tried and truth’ author in my opinion. Now a year later, Mistress of the Ritz is out in paperback and to celebrate, I wanted to re-share my review with you guys! If you missed it the first go around, then you definitely want to check out the paperback and curl up for a few…
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Review: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton (Audible Edition)
This book has been everywhere since it first came out in 2018, but it wasn’t a book that I was dying to read. The time period and setting really isn’t my cup of tea so while it was being met with rave reviews, I wasn’t jumping at the change to read it. Then last year I read the book about the sister, WHEN WE LEFT CUBA, and loved it. I picked up that book on a whim and because everyone kept saying that I simply had to read these books so I read WHEN WE LEFT CUBA. After that I was eager to go back and read this book once…
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Take Two Review: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
When this book came out last year, I was instantly sold on the summary. It sounded so dark and twisted and I was dying to read it. I made room for it on my review schedule and was so glad that I did. Recently a few of my closest girlfriends have been tossing around the idea of starting a muderino-esque book club where all we read is thrillers and/or true crime books. Being THE reader in this group, it has fallen to me to pick books that I think would be great for our little book club. This was the first book I had thought of when we started talking…
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Review: The Prisoner’s Wife by Maggie Brookes
The first thing that caught my eye about this book was that it was set in the Czech Republic. My husband and I visited that lovely country a few years ago and while we were there we visited a lot historic sights while we were there including the Holocaust museum and the Terezin camp. It was one of the most impactful experiences of my adult life and the rich history of that particularly dark time in history, was vast and humbling. So when I saw this book was set in that part of the world, it was an easy yes!
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Review: The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
This book was an instant yes for me when it came across my desk for review. It looked so incredible and Jane Austen—need I say more? It was also marketed to fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which was a huge favorite of mine last year and I was eager to read something in the same vein. When I started reading this one, it was with the expectation that it would be charming and heart warming just as one of Jane Austen’s novels.
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Review: Recipe for Persuasion (The Rajes #2) by Sonali Dev
Sonali Dev was a new to my author when I read her Pride and Prejudice retelling, Pride Prejudice and Other Flavors, last year. I was thrilled to see that she would continue the story of the Rajes family and do a retelling of my favorite Austen novel, Persuasion. Dev has a great sense of humor and a way of capturing difficult family issues and difficult sibling relationships but yet keeps her focus on the romance at hand. So basically, I couldn’t wait to reacquaint myself with the Rajes and start this one. One of the things that makes Persuasion so great for me is that it’s a second chance romance…
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Review: The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) by Lucinda Riley
This series is one of my absolute favorites. I adore the Seven Sisters and with each book I am always won over by the sister being featured. Some of the stories are better than others but it’s still an impressive series and never disappoints. When this book arrived, it was massive. The ARC came in at just under 900 pages so easily the longest Seven Sisters book by far and since this is Electra’s story, I didn’t find it surprising at all. I decided to start reading this one early to give myself a lot of time to finish it, but it turns out I only really needed about 6…