The Girl in Seat 24B by Jennifer Peel

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

It’s fun and all to read about Navy SEALS and billionaires and professional athletes, but the stories I love best are the ones about normal people who are facing real life issues. Even when those issues are gut wrenchingly TOO real.

Carly Bishop thinks she has a great life as a wife and stay-at-home mother. So she’s absolutely blindsided when her husband of 10 years announces he doesn’t love her anymore and he’s moving out – to an apartment he’s already rented. With two young children, she has no choice but to keep moving forward and make plans to be a single mother. But she still loves her husband and desperately keeps hoping he’ll tell her what went wrong and pull his head out of his ass before it’s too late to repair the damage he’s caused to their marriage.

There was so much to love about this story even though it was heartbreaking to watch a marriage falling apart. Carly is a strong, independent woman who truly loves her life and thought she and her husband were on the same page. When she learns they aren’t, she’s angry but doesn’t let her emotions make things worse. But at the same time, she doesn’t hide her feelings from Michael and she calls him on his crap all the time. I also loved how she was patient waiting for Michael to get his head screwed on straight, but also wasn’t going to let him string her along indefinitely. If I were ever in Carly’s situation, I hope I’d be able to have the same amount of grace for the husband I love, yet still stand up for myself.

I’m not going to lie…this was a hard book to read. I cried along with Carly, and I got angry along with Carly. I wanted to strangle Michael. Yet I couldn’t help rooting for this marriage and was so happy with how the author chose to have things work out. The Girl in Seat 24B is a beautiful story of believing in the power of love to pull a marriage through the really rough times. Life is messy, people make mistakes, but forgiveness can be earned. This story also did a great job of showing a woman who had enough self-respect to not let herself get walked over.

Jennifer Peel is quickly becoming a must-read author for me. Her writing is impeccable. There are no useless words, no wasted thoughts. Every sentence pulls the reader further in and moves the story forward. Her characters are believable, realistic, and relatable. Her heroines are smart and strong, and the heroes mess up big time but know how to apologize and do it well! I love how she shows the ugly, messy part of life, but also shows that if you fight hard you can get through it to get back to happily-ever-after. For me, that is the ultimate in romance.

Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟½

There are a few authors I love that, when I get their books in my possession, I let them sit on my Kindle, unread, for months. It always ends up that I love the stories and devour page after page until I’ve reached THE END. Then I always kick myself for not reading the book the moment I had it in my possession.

Yet I hesitate again and again because I know the book probably isn’t going to be light and fluffy and pure entertainment. I know my mind and my heart will be completely invested and a piece of my soul will be forever altered. It’s an overwhelming endeavor to undertake in a flippant way and I feel like I need to be in the right headspace before starting such a venture.

And I questioned myself extra this time:
Do I really want to read about what is sure to be a difficult situation?
With the world in such a precarious time, am I mentally able to handle reading difficult things?
With the whole family all up in my business all day, every day, can I give this book the proper attention it deserves?

Do I usually overthink new books this much? No! But I knew Where the Lost Wander could be epic, and I wanted to give the story the respect it deserves. And also be prepared for the carnage on my heart that may ensue.

Because Ms. Harmon has caused it several times. And DAMN IT. She did it again.

Naomi May and her family – father, mother (who is due to give birth any day), older brother and his wife, and three younger brothers – have joined a wagon train in Missouri that’s headed west on the Oregon Trail in the spring of 1853. Joining the group is John Lowry, a half-white/half-Pawnee man, who is delivering a small herd of mules to a fort a couple hundred miles along the trail.

Naomi and John’s attraction is instant. But life on the trail is hard and perilous and fraught with uncertainty. Just when they allow themselves to get excited about a future together, all their greatest fears come true and neither knows how they’ll be able to continue on.

But they do.

I can’t remember when I read such a beautiful story of determination, grit, and love. Despite already experiencing the loss of a husband, Naomi is not only physically strong, but mentally and emotionally strong. She knows her mind and isn’t afraid to speak it. I loved how open and clear she was in communicating with John exactly what she felt and what she wanted. She hadn’t a coy bone in her body. And oh, John…I loved his restraint and his internal conflict, and how he was intentional with everything he did, his patience with Naomi’s younger brothers. I loved how his love for Naomi was so deep he was willing to risk great things for her and to be with her. Together they battled harsh elements, unforgiving terrain, unfair prejudice, and soul-crushing loss. John and Naomi’s happily-ever-after was not easily won.

I also can’t remember when I read a book that had me so tied in knots from the beginning. The prologue drops you in the middle of a horrific situation, then chapter one begins several months earlier with John Lowry and the May family making final preparations for the start of their journey west. So you spend two-thirds of the book on your own journey of frustration and angst, along with all the other things the emigrants experience, waiting for the bottom to completely fall out. You know what’s coming, you know it’s awful, and I was sorta angry with Ms. Harmon for doing that to us readers. I really do think I would rather have not had the tragic event hanging over my head for so much of the book. Please, just let me be horrified when it happens…

Readers may think the pacing of this story is slow and tedious. I don’t disagree. But I think travelling two thousand miles in a covered wagon with a group of two hundred people must also be slow and tedious. Interspersed amongst monotonous days are events wrought with great peril and disaster. It was not difficult for me to imagine what that journey must have been like and I was fascinated by all of it – the numerous river crossings, the interactions with Indian tribes, the stops along the way. Because of Ms. Harmon’s masterful storytelling, this story took me along the trail with her characters and I felt every hope, every disappointment, all the impending doom, and every heartbreak.

What I didn’t feel enough of? Great relief and triumph. When you read over 335 pages of harrowing, gut wrenching, heartbreaking story, I feel like the reader has earned more than a short epilogue of a few pages wrapping things up. Yes, I was glad to know how things worked out. But the ending chapter made me feel like I was a starving person who was given a mini-sized Snickers as a whole meal.

Other than an abrupt and unsatisfying ending, Where the Lost Wander is an amazing, touching, and poignant tale of love and determination. Once again, Amy Harmon has taken my heart on a journey filled with ups and downs. This was a hard story to read – not because of the writing, but because of the emotions it evoked. I knew it would be because that’s what Ms. Harmon does, my trepidation was not without merit. And that’s why I have to prepare myself before reading her books.

* thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) by Hope Ellis

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟

I love a good second-chance romance! Is Been There Done That a good one? Well…not quite.

Zora and Nick were the best of friends growing up, which then turned into young love when they were in high school. But shortly after making plans to get married and leave Green Valley after graduating, Nick gets himself into some trouble and leaves Zora behind with only a short five sentence note. Devastated, Zora goes on with her life.

Twelve years later, Nick shows up back in Green Valley as a successful business owner developing a relationship with the university where Nora works. But a partnership with the university isn’t the only thing Nick’s interested in developing, and he knows he has an uphill battle winning Zora back.

There were a couple things I did like about this story. The big one is that Zora was good and mad at Nick for disappearing, and stayed mad for a good long time in the book. I also really liked how willing Nick was to apologize for what he did, and apologized several times. He didn’t come barging in with a cocky smile and expect that would fix things, nor was Zora swayed to quick forgiveness by Nick’s hawtness. I don’t like when forgiveness is given so quickly or never earned, so it was good to see that not be the case here.

But so much of the book was bogged down by all the internal lamenting, all the inner turmoil. I get that Zora is still hurt and wonders if she could – or should – trust Nick again. I get that Nick has regrets. Having to read them over and over again slowed the pace of the story to a crawl.

Also, in order for a second-chance romance to really work for me, the reason for the separation has to make some sense. I can’t go much into what happened since I don’t want to give anything away, but there really wasn’t a good reason why Zora had to be kept in the dark about why Nick left. Do I understand Nick’s reason for staying away so long? Nope. Given the terms under which he wanted to make his “triumphant” return (which I totally DID get), he could have gone back to Zora far sooner than he did.

I really wanted to like this book. This is Hope Ellis’s first book, and I love discovering brand new authors – if they can give a fresh voice to the story they want to tell. Sadly, this one seemed too much like what so many other authors are spitting out these days with all the repeated internal monologues and self-inflicted, contrived angst. Add in a plethora of editing/proofreading errors and this wasn’t as pleasurable a read as I was hoping for and it took me five days to get through it. On the upside, Ms. Ellis does a fantastic job with character dialogue (which is a big plus in my opinion), and her wordplay is often creative and fun, so I have high hopes for this new author. Hopefully she learns to tighten things up so there’s not as much extraneous, repetitive, fluff in her next book.

The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was in desperate need of a book that could provide levity and humor. The Honey-Don’t List delivered!

Carey Douglas owes a lot to Melissa and Rusty Tripp. They gave her a job at 16 and have been quasi-surrogate parents for the past 10 years. So despite being overworked and given very little credit for all she contributes, she’s very loyal and devoted to the couple and the Comb+Honey business the Tripps have built – which started as a store in Jackson, Wyoming and is now a whole brand with a huge TV following.

But things are not good between the once loving Melly and Russ. And they are about to embark on a two-week bus tour promoting the release of their new book about marriage, when in reality they can hardly stand each other. So Carey and James, Russ’s assistant of two months, are sent along on the tour to make sure Melly and Russ play nice.

Not only were Carey and James looking forward to a much deserved couple weeks off, they don’t particularly like each other. James – and his MIT engineering degree – unintentionally make Carey feel inadequate and inferior, and because James was basically duped into assistant duties (think fetching coffee and performing all-around gopher duties) when he was expecting to be a design engineer, he’s generally grumpy around Carey.

But there’s nothing like a common goal to bring two “enemies” together to face insurmountable challenges!

Overall, I found The Honey-Don’t List to be an entertaining, charming story that touched on sweetness in the midst of a difficult situation caused by a narcissistic woman and her hapless husband. Carey was a fantastic heroine who, at the age of 26, was just coming into her own and learning to stand up for herself. James was a fantastic hero who saw Carey for who she is and wanted to support and encourage her to be all she could be. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them see who the other truly is and watching their relationship develop.

Was this book without some shortcomings? In my humble opinion…no. Transcripts from police interviews are sprinkled throughout the book that – while funny – didn’t have as much importance to the story as I thought they would. (What does it say about me that I was hoping the book would end with a heat-of-the-moment murder?) Also, realistically speaking…no one would make two lowly assistants responsible for keeping such a volatile situation from completely blowing up. And the ending, including the big conflict with the hero and heroine, felt rushed and less developed than it should have been.

But those things aside, this book was exactly what I needed right now – lighthearted and funny. It touched on some deeper subjects (health issues, verbal abuse, settling for less), but I don’t need every book I read to take me and my emotions on a roller coaster. I read Christina Lauren for the laughs. For the hilarious dialogue. For the poetic wordplay. On those counts, I wasn’t disappointed in the least!

* thank you to NetGalley and Gallery, Pocket Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

After All (Cape Harbor #1) by Heidi McLaughlin

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟

Someone PLEASE send a therapist to Cape Harbor – PRONTO!

Brooklyn Hewett left Cape Harbor, Washington the day her boyfriend was laid to rest. Heavy with guilt about the fight they had and who she was with when Austin died, she left without a word to anyone and didn’t return for 15 years – until she was summoned home to help bring life back to the Driftwood Inn, the seaside resort owned by Austin’s mother, Carly.

Once Brooklyn arrives at the inn with 14 year old daughter Brystol in tow, she’s forced to work with Bowie Holmes – also known as Austin’s best friend, and her confidant throughout her relationship with Austin. It’s a reunion neither was aware was going to happen, nor were either of them happy about it. But as they work together to repair the Driftwood Inn, they finally have a chance to talk about the past and repair their relationship.

I really liked the premise of the plot, but the execution was a hot mess. After All was a guilt-fest of epic proportions – both self-inflicted and imposed on others. It was tiresome by the half-way point of the book, and never let up. Brooklyn felt guilt for leaving and never coming back, Bowie felt guilty for not trying to find Brooklyn, Carly felt guilty for becoming a recluse (but oddly enough…not guilty for the one thing she SHOULD have felt guilty for), everyone felt guilty for not reaching out to Carly after her son’s death. Geesh. Go see a therapist already!!! All of you!

The main storyline between the hero and heroine was bogged down by the author’s attempt to make things way more “dramatic” than they needed to be, which resulted in a jumbled, barely comprehensible mess. So much of the story felt…contrived. Forced. Clunky. Cape Harbor is a fishing town, where everyone is aware of the dangers of fishing. People had died in the past. So what made Austin’s death so tragic, so worthy of commemorating – with a town festival no less – year after year? The fact that all these people are still having a memorial service for someone who died 15 years ago is just…odd. He didn’t die heroically. In fact, he was reckless and foolish. The whole situation with the town “idolizing” this kid in his early 20s never added up for me, which means a good portion of the book is nonsense.

Add in that the author tried to build extra suspense by only doling out crucial information about the past in bits and pieces and this book just frustrated me. The prologue did nothing to draw me in (actually, it mostly caused confusion), and it took several chapters for me to get interested. At 25% my husband asked me about the book I was reading – as he often does! – and I was at a loss for how to describe the story. Very little was making sense at that point. Because again, the author didn’t just come out and tell us what the history was. She was trying to be all mysterious and dramatic. But it didn’t work for this reader.

I’ve read quite a bit by Heidi McLaughlin, and this is the first time I’ve felt like the writing, the storytelling, was…off. To me it seemed like she was trying to build a story with more depth, but instead created more chaos. I really feel like if she’d just stuck to the story with Brooklyn, Bowie, Brystol, and Carly – and not tried to bring in the whole town – After All would have been a much cleaner, more compelling story. Will I read the rest of this series? Eh, probably. Ms. McLaughlin did manage to create a sufficient amount of interest in Austin’s friend group that I’ll most likely read more. I just hope the stories aren’t plagued with the same issues I had with this one…

* thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Holding Pattern (Landing in Love #2) by Jennifer W. Smith

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟

Full transparency here: I have become bored with all the billionaire romances out there. I rarely read one anymore. But Holding Pattern is a flip of that usual trope – with the heroine being the one who is rich. So I wanted to give this book a try, because I want to support authors who give us readers something new and fresh! But I wish we would have gotten more that was new and fresh.

Veronica Lang is a self-made billionaire at the age of 30. (I’ll abstain from my usual lengthy rant about how ridiculous the billionaire character is to begin with…why is being a multi-millionaire not enough? It would be far more realistic. But, whatever…moving on!) She’s under a lot of stress and the doctor orders her to get some balance in her life, to relax more. So she escapes from Boston to her recently acquired property in a small coastal town in Massachusetts, where she’d bulldozed the house that’s already there, and built a 6000 square foot mansion (which she refers to as a “cottage” – and to me, a mere normal person, cottage = a small house, so right off the bat she comes off as pretentious). One afternoon on her way back to Boston she pops into the local sandwich shop to order a couple lobster rolls to go, and meets Cole Miller, owner of the Miller Lobster Company – which supplies lobsters for the sandwich shop.

After a couple of chance meetings in the small coastal town, Veronica and Cole start a long-distance relationship. Cole is a widower of nine years, but is ready to move forward with the new woman in town. Veronica likes how she feels when she’s with Cole, but isn’t sure how to fit him in her exceedingly busy life.

Long story short, there’s misunderstandings, partial truths, long-held secrets, and a heroine who changes her mind and mood so quickly and frequently I’m concerned the poor hero needs to be treated for whiplash.

Sadly, there were a great number of things that rubbed me the wrong way.

At the top of the list, is all the clunky, awkward dialogue, using phrases no 30 year old would mutter. Realistic dialogue is important to me, and this book frequently missed the mark on this.

My next issue is something I see occasionally and always confounds me. I don’t get why authors will start a chapter with a character name when the story is told in a third person narrative. The story isn’t being “told” by the characters. Sure, there may be more focus on what’s happening with one of the characters, but it’s not difficult to figure out which one. It’s not a chapter being told from one or the other character’s point of view. So why put the character’s name at the beginning of the chapter like it is???

We also had large jumps in time. Which on its own isn’t an issue – readers don’t need a day by day accounting of what’s going on. But the time spans in this book happened without much acknowledgment. One paragraph the hero and heroine are talking about an event that’s two months away…and the next they are AT the event. It was hard to get some context for just how long Veronica and Cole were apart between being together, and how long their relationship was.

And speaking of context…I have no idea how old Cole is supposed to be. I’m guessing about the same age as Veronica, maybe a little older. But who knows? It was never mentioned. All we know is his wife died nine years ago. We don’t know how long he was married, we don’t know the circumstances surrounding his daughter’s death. Cole lamented frequently that he didn’t know about Veronica’s past, but I feel the reader’s didn’t really know about his.

And finally, Cole and Veronica’s relationship…

I don’t like when a heroine gets walked all over and treated badly by a hero, so I can’t be okay with how the heroine treated the hero here. Several times she said rude or heartless things with little to no reaction from the hero. Veronica would then apologize (good for her, she should), but then Cole would be all “it’s okay, I know you’re under a lot of stress.”

What a wimpy hero. I can appreciate someone who is forgiving and understanding, but geesh dude – stand up for yourself! Push back! Either the hero has no backbone, or our heroine has one magic vagina…

I prefer reading stories about adults who behave like adults, and there wasn’t enough of that in this book. Too much of the conflict was self-inflicted, and I’ve become as weary of that kind of drama as I am of billionaires.

And the final nail in the coffin for this book? This couple has a serious geographical issue. She owns a business that is based out of Boston, Cole has a business that is two hours away. This is an ACTUAL obstacle to them being together, and it’s not dealt with. The story ends with a promise of forever (let’s not pretend we’re surprised, since this is a romance book after all!), but we don’t get to see them figure out HOW they are going to make a marriage work while managing this true logistical issue. It’s hardly even mentioned while they’re dating…

So, as much as I wanted to like this story, not much about it worked for me. I’m not sure how long this book is, but it took me a week to read – which should tell me a lot because in these days of self-isolation because of COVID-19, I cook dinner and read. That’s it. I have plenty of time to read and this book didn’t compel me to sit down and keep reading. Yet, it wasn’t so bad that I didn’t want to finish. So I guess that’s something???

* thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A Son for the Mountain Firefighter (Mountain Firefighter #1) by Melinda Curtis

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟

This book has two tropes that are like catnip to me: second chance, and secret baby.  I would normally stay away from a book with such an uncreative title…but second chance romance AND secret baby…I can hardly stay away from one, but both together? Nearly impossible!

Jackson and Lexie married young and found themselves divorced after ten years. When Jackson returns home after being in Russia to train firefighters for six months, he’s determined to win back his wife. He’s shocked, but then thrilled, to discover Lexie is seven months pregnant.

Lexie is determined to keep Jackson from working his way back into her life. She’s tired of broken promises and feeling like his job, and everything else, comes first and she doesn’t want to feel let down again. Jackson is persistent. But then he isn’t.

This book started out well. Really well. Lexie still loves her husband and desperately wants to be with him, but knows she deserves better. Jackson knows he messed up and just wants to make things right with his wife. When he finds out how much she’s been struggling since he left, and how difficult the pregnancy has been, he’s determined to do what he can to help. It was sweet to see how much Jackson wanted to make things right and how much Lexie wanted to be with her husband but was afraid to let him in. However, they have serious issues to work through. Namely, poor communication skills – on both their parts. Everything was all heartfelt and compelling.

Until things took a left turn towards melodramatic around 60%. And it was all from the hero, and went downhill from there. He wants his family, but he’s no good for them. He loves Lexie and his new son, but it’s better if he’s not in their lives. I was kinda afraid Lexie was going to have to deal with whiplash in addition to postpartum issues.

Here’s the thing. I’m not a fan of the “grand epiphany” as a result of a tragic situation. This couple had issues from their childhood they needed to deal with, they had issues from their marriage to deal with, Jackson’s job as a hot shot firefighter causes a lot of strain – both for him mentally and on their marriage, and they were currently going through a difficult situation with the birth of their son. NONE of these things are going to go away just because you suddenly realize you don’t want to live without the other person. I want to see people do the hard work – like go to a therapist!!! – to work through and earn the resolution to their problems. This couple did not do that. In fact, I have a problem with an author reinforcing (whether intentionally or not) the message that seeing a therapist or going through counseling is useless or makes you weak.

Thankfully, this was a quick, easy read. I liked the characters and was glad to see this couple find their way back together, but I really feel like all their problems were swept under a rug and not dealt with. After such a strong start with the couple dealing with realistic issues in a realistic way, it felt like it turned into one big angst fest before “Ta-Da” everything was all the sudden all better. There were a bunch of things I liked about this story, but the schmaltzy ending doused water on all my positive thoughts.

A Highlander in a Pickup (Highland, Georgia #2) by Laura Trentham

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟

Despite considering myself a solid Laura Trentham fan, this Highland, Georgia series is not working for me. Not one bit, sadly. And even more frustrating is that I’m not really able to put my finger on WHAT isn’t working. I just know it isn’t.

Anna grew up in Highland, Georgia and returned home after trying to make it as a dancer in New York. When her mom decided to move to Florida, Anna took over her dance studio. Now she has big dreams for Highland and hopes to accomplish them by becoming mayor. But first she has to successfully manage the town’s annual Highland Games, which she was left in charge of when her best friend Izzy moved to Scotland with her husband Alasdair.

Enter Scotsman Iain, who was sent by Alasdair to help Anna with the festival. Except Anna doesn’t want help and is suspicious of Iain’s every act.

I tried, I really tried to get into this story. I got all the way to 60% and still didn’t care about what was happening. After reading for five days (which is a long time for me to read a book), I let myself quit and added another book to my 2020 DNF list.

The thing is…Ms. Trentham has a way of writing that is often poetic and flowery without being ridiculous. The hero gets into an old, dusty truck that “started with a grind of the engine that made his ears tilt toward the unharmonious sound. A well-tuned engine was like an orchestra. This was more like a garage band.” This author frequently has a fantastic way to describe things – and she does so many times in this book!

But I think the big problem I have is this story goes against my motto of “Less Pecs, More Plot.”  The heroine spends a good deal of time outwardly behaving as if she despises the hero, but internally going on and on about how hot he is, waxing poetic about all his body parts, and wondering what he’s wearing under his kilt. We also get repeated concerns about spontaneously combusting, and ovaries popping – both of which are trite, cliched and overused phrases in today’s romance books. I get disappointed seeing an author – who I know is capable of writing clever and unique prose – using such run-of-the-mill wording.

Were this book written by any other author, I would have given up far sooner than I did. After not liking the first book in this series, I was truly hoping this one would rebound and I’d find myself in love with the characters and the town of Highland – as I did with Ms. Trentham’s Cottonbloom series. Alas, it was not to be, and I’m feeling sad.

NOTE TO SELF: don’t request an ARC of the final book in this series!

*thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review