romance – Page 2 – The Spine View

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews

The Santa Suit, by Mary Kay Andrews, is the perfect feel good story for the holidays about a young, recently divorced women who is starting over in a small town in North Carolina. It made for a marvelous and entertaining read everyone is sure to enjoy.

After her divorce, Ivy Perkins, decides a change of scenery is just what she needs and purchases an old farm house on a couple of acres sight unseen. She arrives at her new home with her dog Punkin, some baby chicks, and what few possessions she has managed to pack into her car. A far cry from her life in Atlanta as the co-owner of a PR firm.

She is meet by Ezra, the helpful real estate agent, who sold her the property and just happens to be her neighbor. A very good looking neighbor and he turns out to be very handy with the little problems that crop up. The first problem is all the furniture and things from the previous owners.

Ivy starts settling in and going through some of the things left behind. During this process she runs across an old Santa suit with a crumbled note in the pocket. The old note is from a girl asking for her father to return from the war. This note intrigues her and she can’t resist the urge to find out more about this girl. It leads her to many new friends and allows her start healing her broken heart.

This story has so many good things going for it. I loved the plot and the setting of a small, rural community which was perfect for this type of story. The mystery of the note was a fantastic plot device that helped the story move along in a believable way.

Loved Ivy and her unflappable attitude and strong sense of person. She is a take life by the horns type of person. Just the type of strong, yet feminine character, I enjoy reading about. The supporting characters were just as good and they complimented the story and Ivy’s character wonderfully.

Everyone needs a little dose of the Christmas magic throughout the year and this is the book to give you that. I highly recommend it for all those who love stories with feeling. I received a free copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Song of Gabrielle by John Anthony Miller

Song of Gabrielle is a historical fiction novel, set in medieval times. It is full of romance, sorcery and wonderful prose. I found it to be well researched and highly imaginative. I was totally absorbed from start to finish.

Gabrielle’s story is told by a traveling Troubadour years later and begins in Normandy, France in 1216 where she has just arrived at a convent that sits along the coast. The English are raging a war upon France and the French forces are scattered and retreating. Montague of Rouen, a solider of the king, asks the Reverend Mother to shelter Lady Gabrielle a lady of the king’s court and his love. The convent is well known to Lady Gabrielle and her to the convent. Therefore, the request is easily granted and Montague leaves, to reassemble the scattered forces of the king, knowing she will be sheltered and safety away from the English.

Unfortunately, the English army come upon the convent and ask that the nuns help treat the injured soldiers. Gabrielle is a skilled healer and helps the nuns in administering treatment to injured and dying men. Despite the nuns disguise the Reverend Mother insists Gabrielle wear to hide her identity, she is recognized by Captain Carney the leader of the English army of Sir Michael Marston. By a stroke of bad luck, she is now a prisoner of war and becomes a pawn in the power struggle between two great forces.

Captain Carney knows what the value of Lady Gabrielle will be to the English. They can hold her as a political pawn to their advantage. Unhappily, Gabrielle is shipped off to Marston as a political prisoner of war. Once she reaches England she is treated kindly and with respect by Marston even though she is truly a prisoner. However, there is much a foot in England and several forces are converging on Marston’s castle with goals that will have a far reaching affect if they are achieved. Marston may not be able to protect Gabrielle, a women he is attracted to and maybe even beginning to love.

This is just the type of story that I crave and love to lose myself in. There is political intrigue, wizards, magic and all sorts of nefarious people that had me cringing hoping that they would be the ones on the short end of the stick. The plot was fast paced and there were enough surprises that I was never bored.

In addition, I felt a connection with Gabrielle because the author did an amazing job with the character development. I loved that she was a strong character and though she pined to be in France, in the arms of Montague, she did not let it cloud her judgement. She was able to recognize the goodness in Marston despite her circumstances.

I would not do this book justice if I did not mention how much I enjoyed the prose. It was descriptive but not overly so that it over shadowed the action and characters. It is such a fine line to do enough to help the reader understand the setting without bogging the story down in overly flowery and totally unnecessary language.

There is something to love in this book for most every reader. However, I think readers of Historical Fiction and Romance will find this book especially enjoyable. Highly recommend!

I received a free advanced copy from the author in exchange for me honest review.

A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

A Vow So Bold and Deadly is the third book in The Cruse Breaker Series. While I adored the first two books, I was disappointed with this one. It is still a good story, and series, just not on the same level as the previous two books.

Book three brings together the prior two books and this book is about the fate of not only the kingdom of Emberfall but of Syhl Shallow too. There are several big questions the book will answer. First, will the two kingdoms really wage war on each other now that we know Grey is the true heir of Emberfall? Will Lia Mara be able to hold her throne? Finally, Will Rhen ever defeat Lilith?

The book is not badly written nor did it have big plot holes. No, nothing as damaging as that. I just lost interest in the story and the plot was very slow in the beginning. Then to top it off, there were unresolved issued. It left me wondering if there will be another book. I thought it was a three book series. Maybe I am wrong.

I enjoyed that we finally got to read about all four characters in one book and from their own POVs no less. However, I came to detest Lia Mara. I wanted to tell her to grow a pair. All the self-doubt and whining got old. I would have preferred to have seen more growth for her character. She was strong enough to kill her mother; therefore, at this point in the game, she should not be second guessing herself at every turn. We all wonder at times if we are doing the right thing or not; however, her fears left me with mammoth doubts about her capacity to rule. Ugh!

Lastly, the interaction between characters did not feel genuine. I never got this feeling in the previous two books. I think this is partly due to the pacing in the first half of the book. There was not much going on and all the talk and preparing for war got a bit tiresome. A good subplot would have made things more interesting and would have given the characters a chance to interact meaningfully.

The thing I liked most about the story was the ending. Even though I wish it had been a little meatier after spending so much time on the lead up to it. In truth, the ending felt almost anticlimactic. Yet it suited the story. Not everybody gets everything they want in life and the characters had to accept compromises and come to terms with them. That is the way life works and so was very appropriate.

As I stated at the beginning, this book is not terrible. However, it is not on par with the previous two. I still loved the series and well gladly read other books by the author. If you like fantasy and retellings this is a good series to read. I encourage you to give it a try and sincerely hope you enjoy.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

People We Meet On Vacation is a lively rom-com from author Emily Henry. The familiar troupe of opposites attract drives this heartfelt story of two people who just can’t seem to get it right. So glad I made this my Book of the Month pick.

Poppy and Alex meet during freshman orientation and there is no connection. Poppy is everything Alex is not, loud, fun loving and a total extrovert with a passion for travel. Then she hitches a ride home with him and everything changes. They become best friends and stay in contact despite Alex still living in the same small town in Ohio and Poppy living in NYC. Every year they take a vacation together and it is always a grand adventure, until it isn’t.

They screwed up the friendship and have not spoken for two years. Now Poppy wants to give it a try again. She reaches out to Alex and to her surprise he answers. She convinces him to take another vacation with her. This time she wants to not only patch up their friendship but finally tell Alex how she really feels about him. Will it work, so much could go wrong.

The opposites attract troupe worked so well in the story because the characters were perfect. Yes they are opposites and yet they complement each other so well. They just go together like PB&J and the author did a fabulous job of showing this to the reader. The character development was perfect.

Though the story is character driven, there is plenty of tension to make the reader want to keep turning the pages. In fact, there were some places that the tension was almost unbearable. Sometimes I felt like shouting at the characters in order to get them to speak honestly and from the heart. It would have saved them so much heartache if they had.

The plot was all about this slow buildup of tension. Of course, there was the sexual tension between Poppy and Alex. However, that tension is overshadowed by the buildup to the crest when the reader finally finds out what caused the rife in their relationship. I kept wondering if they slept together on that last trip and something awkward happened that they could not reconcile the event. So many possibilities went through my mind as I read and I had to know what happened.

This is the rom-com you have been waiting for if you liked When Harry Met Sally. It has all the elements of wonderfully slow burn of a story. This is most definitely one of those books that you want to rush through to see what happens and yet dread to finish because you are not ready to say goodbye to the characters. Highly recommend.

In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren

This is a super cute Christmas romance story with a side of Groundhog’s Day thrown in. Maelyn, the MC, is spending Christmas with family and close friends at a cabin in Colorado. A long standing tradition. However things go horribly wrong this Christmas. On the way back to the airport she makes a wish for the universe to show her what will make her happy.

As the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for,” because immediately after the wish a car runs a red light and plows into the car Maelyn is riding in. When she wakes up it is no longer December 26th but December 20th and she back on the plane headed to Colorado and the cabin. She must figure out what will make her happy.

Cheesy…yes. Predictable… totally! Yet I still enjoyed it. The characters are what make this story. The plot had a great pace and even the minor characters were well done. I appreciated all the flaws of Maelyn. The author was very authentic with her handling of this character.

I can see this appealing to lovers of romance and contemporary fiction. This would make a good choice for a book club because there are a lot of life lessons that the main character must learn to move forward.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has become my favorite book by V. E. Schwab and my favorite read this year. It is an absorbing story that is brilliantly written and absolutely flawless is execution.

Addie LeRue is born in 1741 in a small, rural French community. Her dream is to travel to bigger cities and experience the greater world. These dreams are far more than a simple girl can ever aspire to. Her circumstances, and the times, will see her wed to someone she does not love. She will die young, worn out by domestic life and children she does not want.

Addie is desperate to avoid this fate. So desperate in fact, she makes a deal with a dark god whom goes by the name Luc. The deal she strikes is simple, she wants her freedom and in return the god will get her soul when she is done with it. Luc agrees and the deal is sealed with blood.

The deal turns out to be not everything Addie bargained for. She has gained her freedom, in a sense, but the cost was high and much more than a soul. In truth, she has just traded the shackles her situation has placed on her with ones that tie her deeply to Luc. In addition, she quickly finds out that no one can remember her. There is one perk to this deal, she no longer ages. In essence she is immortal. Thus begins the second life of a forgettable girl named Addie.

The prose was fabulous. It had an almost sensual quality to it. I once read an author’s advice about how a setting should be treated as a character and thus requires time to be spent discovering that setting. Schwab has assuredly done that here. I could smell the dirty streets of the Paris of the past and feel the energy of New York City as it is viewed from a rooftop.

This is not a novel that the plot skips along carefree in an almost haphazard way. It moves slowly and purposefully in a well thought out way. Much the way a river winds through its course, sometimes swiftly and sometimes with languid ease, on its journey to the sea. It is the trip that the reader should savor here, it is entertaining and deeply satisfying.

The story is totally character driven. To keep the reader reading, I feel that the author walks a fine between keeping the reader’s interest and boring them to death. Because Addie lives such a long life it would be easy to lose the reader in too much detail. However, Schwab has managed to straddle that line to perfection. For example, Addie’s feelings of loss and loneliness come through elegantly. I felt it especially in one particular Paris scene in which Addie sees the first man she ever loved when he is much older. It was one of those moments when she truly recognizes and acknowledges what she has given up. There are many more scenes like this that the author uses them to entrance the reader.

I could go on and on in my praise because there is a lot to love about this story. In short, this is by far Schwab’s best work. A stunning piece of fiction!

Obvious I loved this book. It should be on everyone’s to-be-read-list. In addition, this book would make a great pick for a book club. There are so many layers and themes in this book that the topics for discussion are nearly endless.

The Flip Side by James Bailey

The Flip Side by James Bailey is a laugh out loud, with just a touch of melodrama, romantic comedy set in the UK. It was highly entertaining and very funny. A great debut that should be on everyone’s to read list for the holidays.

The story begins with Josh, the main character, proposing to his longtime girlfriend, Jade, on New Year’s Eve while taking a romantic ride on the London Eye. However, all does not go according to plan. She not only says, “No”, but she then proceeds to tell him she has been cheating on him. To make matters worse, Josh has been living in her flat. Therefore, he has lost his home and his girl all in one night. But wait! It gets even better! His ex-girlfriend’s father is his boss and that means he lost his job too. Nothing like kicking a guy when he is down.

With limited financial resources and out of options, Josh is forced to move back in with his parents while he looks for another job. The welcoming committee when he arrives home is anything but appreciated. His parents had planned a congratulatory engagement party that feels like a funeral to him. When he takes a minute to escape and talks with his Pap an idea forms. To date, all his well laid plans have not worked out. So why not let chance rule his decisions for the next year? This is how the flip a coin for all decisions starts out.

Josh’s family and friends thinks he has lost his marbles with this idea. Yet, as the year wears on and Josh is sticking by his decision to flip a coin over choices, they start to warm to it or at least accept it. Leaving things to chance leads to some unexpected results. As you can imagine, some are good and some are not so good. But it does make for a great story. Especially when you consider that it forces Josh out of his comfort zone and in the process he learns a lot about himself.

Like Josh’s friends who warmed to the idea of a coin toss, I warmed to the idea of chance as a good mechanism to move the story forward. Each toss of the coin resulted in some of the most unexpected outcomes that were totally unpredictable. Events that might be seen as hooky or contrived suddenly became believable with a simple toss of a coin.

As much as I came to like the coin toss, the character of Josh is the real star of the story. He has all the best things of the average boy next door kind of guy. I can sum him up in one word, “adorable”. I loved that he was not perfect, made lots of mistakes, and in spite of being 28 still did not know what he wanted. This allowed to author to grow the character throughout the story.

Excellent debut. Loved it from beginning to end. Highly recommend to fans of Nora Roberts and similar authors. I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Friend Contract by Dria Andersen

Paranormal romance books are a guilty pleasure of mine and I just love finding new (to me) authors and books in this genre. This is exactly what I have been needing lately. This book was a wonderful escape from reality and it was highly entertaining.

Gabriel Hamilton is a bear shifter and he has been in love with Naomi a member of the Ayala Panther Prowl for the longest time. Gabriel also knows that Naomi is his mate. Naomi is resistant to the notion because she is latent, meaning she does not have the ability to shift, and because of this she believes she can never be mated to a shifter. She also has some issues from a past relationship with a fox shifter that I feel clouded her judgement a little.

Therefore, Gabriel cooks up a fake marriage plan. He tells Naomi that he is betrothed and wants to get out of the arranged marriage, but the only way to do so is to tell his family he has found his mate… her. Now he just has to find a way to convince her she is his mate.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected despite the very familiar plot of a convenience marriage. On top of that you also have the best friends to lovers story. Both are well used in romance books. However, the author introduced elements of humor and family along with a few other things to make the story interesting and updated. It is also a feel good story and that is just want I wanted and needed.

The plot moved nicely and I enjoyed the characters a lot. The interaction with other characters was genuine and overall the story had a “real” quality despite being a paranormal book. I also thought the setting in the book worked well for the story. Lastly, I appreciate that the author ended the story and didn’t leave us hanging in order to sell her next book. That to me is always a big turn off.

While this book is one I would but into the beach read category, it is still a great story with characters that are well done. So don’t overlook it because of how people tend to stereo type romance stories, you will miss out on this little gem. Needless to say, I recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading more about some of the minor characters in the book.

I used my Kindle Unlimited account to read this book, though the author did request a review.

The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs

I wanted to read The Lost and Found Bookshop, by Susan Wiggs, as soon as I saw the title. It was really a no-brainer since it has the word books in the title. I have this thing for stories about books and bookshops. Lucky for me this book turned out to be everything I enjoy in a good book.

Natalie Harper is working for a winery in California. The job pays well, but she finds the work unrewarding. She also feels stuck in an unfulfilling relationship and is planning to break things off just when tragedy strikes. Her Mother dies suddenly and she inherits a small bookshop in San Francisco. Her world is suddenly turned upside down and she is devastated.

In an act of rashness, she quits her job and moves into her Mother’s apartment above the bookshop. As Natalie sorts through the mess that was her Mother’s life and livelihood, she discovers that the bookshop is in dire financial straits. To make matters worse, she finds out, after meeting with her attorney, that her grandfather owns the building. This is were he was born and has lived all his life. She knows he will never agree to sell. Therefore, she decides to tackle the problem and see if she can revive the store.

Natalie has taken on a lot. The building is old and on the historic registry and old means issues. The roof leaks, there are some electric problems, along with a slew of other issues. She reaches out to a contractor and in steps Peach to the rescue. Natalie is immediately attracted to him but feels it is too soon to invest herself into another relationship.

However, her luck seems to be turning when Peach finds some historical items of value hidden in the walls of the store. Then she is able to secure an author signing with the top local children’s author. Maybe there is hope for the store yet.

I adored Natalie. She is strong and humble but also has some issues with opening up to be loved because of a Father that was absent all her life. It made me want to hug her and assure her that not everyone is like her father and encourage her to take a chance so she can be happy. In short, Natalie felt like a real person. The supporting characters had a lot of charm also and rounded out the story nicely.

The plot did not move very fast, but that was OK. It did not need to. The characters are the true driving force behind this story. The only thing I was not crazy about in the plot was how these unexpected lost items kept popping up in walls and in the basement. It just was not believable and it took away from the story a bit. I know this is a minor thing and the story was really good otherwise. I enjoyed it and everything does not have to perfect for me to love a story. After all, it is fiction.

This would make a great book to take on vacation, beach or to the pool. I recommend it to readers of all ages who enjoy a story about love, loss and hope.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsnar

You know summer is here when the beach reads start arriving enforce. Something to Talk About, by Meryl Wilsner, is a feel good romance that is a carefully prepared slow burn that will have your toes curling. Make sure you put this one in your beach bag before heading out. You don’t want to miss out on this little gem.

As the proverb says, “It is easier to dam a river than stop gossip” and the story showcases this. When Jo, a Hollywood starlet, takes her assistant Emma to an awards ceremony and the camera catches them in what appears to be an intimate moment, the rumor mill is off and running. Could Jo and Emma be seeing each other? Then the rumor mill turns to the question of age differences and, help us all, if there is not the faux pas of dating an employee. Lots of juicy gossip, just what sells papers.

Jo has a no comment policy that she has lived by her entire career. Since she never rises to the bait, Jo insists that any response will be seen as trying to hide the truth. There is nothing going on; therefore, nothing to hide, just business as usual and the reporters will eventually find something more exciting and move on. Jo’s advice to Emma is just ignore the gossip. Emma is just an employee who does her job well as that all. Move along now! Nothing here folks to see… or is there?

There might not be anything going on at the moment, but there is no denying the chemistry between Jo and Emma. A few missteps later and the rumor mill is still going strong. Yet, Emma does not want to jeopardize Jo’s career, and vice versa. It is hard enough in Hollywood to get a job and even harder to keep it without all this mess going on. Therefore, both Jo and Emma ignore the sparks that are flying and try to carry on. The ten dollar question is, just how long will they be able to ignore their feelings?

The story grabbed me in the first few pages. The tension was real between Jo and Emma, so much so that it became palpable. The author used it to good effect and I could not turn the pages fast enough. The plot moved along at a fast clip and there was no lull in the tension causing the slow build up I alluded to earlier. In addition, there was a lot of sexual tension, but it was not overly so. The author did an outstanding job in handling the subject matter (same sex relationship) in a respectful way.

The characters were my favorite part of the story. They were so well done, it is hard to believe this is a debut novel. The self-doubt of Emma, at the beginning, and how the author grew her into a strong young women worked well with story. I liked the support that Jo provided to Emma to help her achieve her goals and Emma’s family should win an award for their support.

In summary, this is a well written story. Sure to please any reader who loves a good, slow burn type of romance. I recommend this to all readers of romance and women’s fiction especially those readers who like a little diversity in the story. I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review.