Review: The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable

Most people know who John F Kennedy was and can probably name a fact or two about him. President. First Catholic president. Assassinated president. Democrat. Bostonian. War hero. Hyannisport yachtsman. Rich Playboy. Womanizer.

I think it’s safe to say that he is one of the most recognizable presidents in modern memory. For me personally I am not a huge fan of the post war America time period but I was intrigued by this novel. Though I know quite a bit about JFK in a professional sense–I am more intrigued by his personal life than his politics.

When this book came up for review many many months ago, I was eager to read it mostly because it was a different period than I normally read but also because I was intrigued by his love life. Most Americans know of his alleged affair with Marilyn Monroe but who was this Alicia Darr person? I had no idea and was thus interested to learn something new.

While this is a fictionalized account of their relationship, it is rooted in real life.  Continue reading “Review: The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable”

Review: A Sin Such As This (Love Lies Beneath #2) by Ellen Hopkins

I’ve been curious about Ellen Hopkins for quite some time. Her books are always being checked out at my local high school library and I’ve seen a ton of students walking around with Crank in their backpack.

Many of her books are YA novels so I was curious to see what it is that so many teens love about her work. From the sound of it, she writes really really edgy stuff so needless to say I was intrigued. Reading for high school students is like pulling teeth so when they are eagerly awaiting the next Ellen Hopkins book in droves, clearly there is something interesting happening there.

When A Sin Such As This came across my desk for review, I jumped on it even though it was geared toward adults and it was the second in a series, I was curious to see what it was about her writing that made so many students want to read her books—is it content? Prose? What is it about this author that people love?

In this gripping follow-up to Love Lies Beneath, #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins’s “fabulous, sex-filled masterpiece of mystery and romance” (Library Journal, starred review), the honeymoon ends for Tara Lattimore when her husband’s ex-girlfriend is murdered, and she becomes a prime suspect. Continue reading “Review: A Sin Such As This (Love Lies Beneath #2) by Ellen Hopkins”

Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

This book was everywhere last year. It was first published in June of 2017 and it’s been every where ever since. All over my social media, on all my friends ‘to read’ or ‘favorite’ shelfs, and at my local library as a librarian favorite.

It sounded like something that would be right up my alley, but for some reason it just didn’t scream ‘read me’ even though I had it sitting in my Kindle library for months. Part of me was worried about the hype and another part of me just wasn’t into reading a war time friendship story as I prefer war time romances generally.

However, this last month on the #historicalfix chat on Twitter, this was the featured book and there was a Q & A with Kate Quinn and after following along with the chat I was curious and eager to check this book out after all this time.

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption. Continue reading “Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn”

Review: Black Amber by Phyllis A. Whitney

Phyllis Whitney is an author who has been on my radar since I was old enough to read and appreciate romantic suspense books…..so basically since like thirteen or fourteen. So for over 20 years I’ve been trying to motivate myself enough to read one of her books.

I mean she’s written tons and tons and tons of books so she must be doing something right. So why haven’t I picked up her books? I honestly have worried that they would be ‘dated’. I mean, Victoria Holt (my all time favorite romantic suspense writer), wrote books that were very clearly meant to be historical fiction. They were always set in the past even though she was a more modern writer.

Writers like Whitney and Mary Stewart tend to hope around between historical fiction and what would have been more ‘modern’ fiction by their standards and writing period. I just wasn’t sure that her books would live up to my expectations. Continue reading “Review: Black Amber by Phyllis A. Whitney”

Review: The Family Gathering (Sullivan’s Crossing #3) by Robyn Carr

This year I have tried to read a little more fluffy contempo romances. I’ve sometimes felt that I get pigeon holed into reviewing just historical fiction—don’t get me wrong, historical fiction is my jam but sometimes I need a break and could go for something a little more modern and different just to keep things interesting.

Romances never seem to get old for me and I think a lot of women would agree. It doesn’t matter how cliche or repetitive the romance might seem–theres just something about love and having everything turn out in the end that just makes me happy and gives me hope that romance is still alive n the digital age!

Enter books like The Family Gathering. Sure I feel like I’ve read similar stories before but I enjoy love in all it’s shapes and forms and I never get tired of seeing how individual romances unfold.  Continue reading “Review: The Family Gathering (Sullivan’s Crossing #3) by Robyn Carr”