The Great Pretenders

By: Laurie Kalpakian
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 400

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): The daughter of Hollywood royalty, Roxanne Granville is used to getting what she wants--even if she has to break the rules. But after a falling-out with her grandfather, a powerful movie mogul, she has to face life on her own for the first time....

Roxanne forges a career unique for women in the 1950s, becoming an agent for hungry young screenwriters. She struggles to be taken seriously by the men who rule Hollywood and who often assume that sexual favors are just a part of doing business. When she sells a script by a blacklisted writer under the name of a willing front man, more exiled writers seek her help. Roxanne wades into a world murky with duplicity and deception, and she can't afford any more risks.

Then she meets Terrence Dexter, a compelling African American journalist unlike anyone she's ever known. Roxanne again breaks the rules, and is quickly swept up in a passionate relationship with very real dangers that could destroy everything she's carefully built.

Roxanne Granville is a woman who bravely defies convention. She won't let men make all the rules, and won't let skin color determine whom she can love. The Great Pretenders is a riveting, emotional novel that resonates in today's world, and reminds us that some things are worth fighting for.

First Impressions

This cover got me. It is gorgeous. I love the shade of blue and the pop of the yellow dress is wonderful. The summary also interested me. Old Hollywood? Female agent? Covering for Soviets? It sounded like the kind of action packed historical fiction that I enjoy.

What I thought

When I first got this book, I was so excited about it that I read the summary of it to my mom. Her first response was “Wow. Seems like there’s too much going on there.” Well Mom, you were 100% right.

After the death of Roxanne’s grandmother, she decides to become an agent for writers in Hollywood. After running into sexual harassment and misogyny, she decides to start her own agency. She continues to struggle until one of the old Hollywood writers who was run out of town because of accusations of being a communist contacts Roxanne, he asks if she would be willing to take one of his screenplays and present it to a studio with a different writer as a front man. In amongst all of this, Roxanne meets and falls in love with a black man who is a journalist for an NAACP newspaper.

Phew! Is there enough in that brief summary for you?

I will say, I loved the first quarter of this book. It was a bit overly detailed for me, with a lot of long descriptions about unnecessary points that I found myself skimming. But, the story itself I enjoyed. I liked reading about the struggle of a woman in Hollywood, even though she is quite possibly the most privileged woman in Hollywood that you could get. Her grandfather owns Empire and she’s basically handed everything on a gold plate. However, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t face the typical challenges of a woman.

I liked the story up until Terrence, the black journalist, became a focus character. It just felt like at that point the book split and became two different stories. While Roxanne, the agency, and the danger of falsely presenting blacklist writers was once the lead focus, it completely disappears once she starts to fall for Terrance. All of a sudden, those aspects are no longer talked about and instead it’s about the difficulties of being in a biracial relationship in the 1950s.

So, here’s the thing, I have no issue with that being a storyline, but it’s not what I expected to get myself into and I didn’t like that the book did a complete 180 on storylines somewhere between 25-50% of the way through the book. Add that to the fact that there is a lot of excess descriptors that could be edited out and I just lost interest in this book.

I was about 200ish pages through when I found myself completely spacing out while I was reading. The interest and momentum I had when I started reading the story had disappeared. Unfortunately, I skipped to the final part and skimmed the ending of the book.

After reading the final few chapters, I was glad that I ended up skipping to the end, because it appeared that the Terrance/Roxanne love story continued to be the lead story throughout the rest of the book.

Even though I technically finished the book, I skipped about 130 pages. If you are interested in reading a story about the struggles of a biracial relationship in the 1950s, this book might sit better with you. The fact that this wasn’t what I was expecting was part of my problem. There also was A LOT that was going on. I wish that this could’ve been two different stories; one that was about being a female agent, and one that was about being in a biracial relationship. I also wasn’t a fan of the writing itself, as I feel like it was overly written.

Book Club May 2019- Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After

By: Heather Harpham
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Pages: 318

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Folks, we have another book off of Reese Witherspoon’s book club list! Meghan was the picker this month and honestly didn’t know that this book had been on Reese’s book club list a year ago when she picked it.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A shirt-grabbing, page-turning love story that follows a one-of-a-kind family through twists of fate that require nearly unimaginable choices.

Happiness begins with a charming courtship between hopelessly attracted opposites: Heather, a world-roaming California girl, and Brian, an intellectual, homebody writer, kind and slyly funny, but loath to leave his Upper West Side studio. Their magical interlude ends, full stop, when Heather becomes pregnant - Brian is sure he loves her, only he doesn't want kids. Heather returns to California to deliver their daughter alone, buoyed by family and friends. Mere hours after Gracie's arrival, Heather's bliss is interrupted when a nurse wakes her, "Get dressed, your baby is in trouble." 

This is not how Heather had imagined new motherhood – alone, heartsick, an unexpectedly solo caretaker of a baby who smelled "like sliced apples and salted pretzels" but might be perilously ill. Brian reappears as Gracie's condition grows dire; together Heather and Brian have to decide what they are willing to risk to ensure their girl sees adulthood. 

The grace and humor that ripple through Harpham's writing transform the dross of heartbreak and parental fears into a clear-eyed, warm-hearted view of the world. Profoundly moving and subtly written, Happiness radiates in many directions - new, romantic love; gratitude for a beautiful, inscrutable world; deep, abiding friendship; the passion a parent has for a child; and the many unlikely ways to build a family. Ultimately it's a story about love and happiness, in their many crooked configurations.

What I thought

Heather and Brian are a couple and living in New York. Brian has no desire for children but Heather does. When Heather gets pregnant, Brian makes it clear he doesn’t want to be a part of the baby’s life and recommends that Heather head back to California to be with her family. When the baby is born with a life threatening illness, Heather has to learn how to move forward as a single parent and Brian has to decide whether or not he wants to be a part of Heather and their child’s lives.

I have read a decent amount of memoirs and I find that when I’ve truly enjoyed one, I feel better for having read them. As clichéd as it sounds, I feel like a good memoir leaves me feeling like my life has been changed for the better. Unfortunately, I did not feel that way after reading this one.

I found the style of the beginning of the book to be confusing and disorienting which made it hard to get into. The first part of the book is told in alternating paragraphs basically. One paragraph is about the story of how Heather and Brian met and fell in love and the other is the birth and subsequent emergency of the baby. I didn’t care about the relationship at that point as I wanted to know what was going on with the baby. I feel like that ended up setting the tone for me for the entire book. I just found I didn’t care about Heather and Brian even though I knew that I should and that there was a lot of insight to be had in their interactions.

There were also moments in the story where I wanted to scream and yell and throw the book across the room. Not because of the unfairness of the situation, but because of the way things were being handled. It infuriated me.

Ultimately, while I found it to be an interesting story that had some good points, it’s just not one that reached me. I don’t have that feeling of “OMG this is amazing and something everyone needs to read!”

What Book Club Thought

It seems like everyone pretty much felt the same way that I did. There were bits and pieces that we appreciated and definitely parts that we found interesting, but overall it wasn’t a book that we loved. It did lead to some fun science discussion and a little bit of moral compass discussion. I would say that if this book sounds interesting to you that you should read it with a group so that you can discuss it with people.  

Park Avenue Summer

By: Renee Rosen
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 368

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada as Renée Rosen draws readers into the glamour of 1965 New York City and Cosmopolitan Magazine, where a brazen new Editor-in-Chief--Helen Gurley Brown--shocks America by daring to talk to women about all things off limits...

New York City is filled with opportunities for single girls like Alice Weiss who leaves her small Midwestern town to chase her big city dreams and unexpectedly lands the job of a lifetime working for Helen Gurley Brown, the first female Editor-in-Chief of a then failing Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Nothing could have prepared Alice for the world she enters as editors and writers resign on the spot, refusing to work for the woman who wrote the scandalous bestseller, Sex and the Single Girl. While confidential memos, article ideas, and cover designs keep finding their way into the wrong hands, someone tries to pull Alice into this scheme to sabotage her boss. But Alice remains loyal and becomes all the more determined to help Helen succeed. As pressure mounts at the magazine and Alice struggles to make her way in New York, she quickly learns that in Helen Gurley Brown's world, a woman can demand to have it all.

First Impressions

What can I say. I’m a sucker for the historical fiction novels with a backwards woman on it. I know they are all the rage in historical fiction right now, and I love them. Needless to say, this book got me on the cover. Add in the fact that it was the story of the editor of the editor who created the magazine Cosmopolitan as we know it today and I was in.

What I thought

This book fascinated me!

Alice has just oved to New York City from Ohio and is an aspiring photographer. When she learns that it is going to be a lot harder to get a job as a new photographer than she originally thought, she accepts a position as the secretary to Helen Gurley Brown; the new editor of Cosmopolitan. Through Alice, we learn about the struggles that Helen goes through to turn Cosmo into the strong woman’s magazine that we all know and love.

Before I get into my review of this book, I have a fun fact to share. I told my mom about this book when I got it, not really knowing who Helen Gurley Brown was (I know, it’s sad). I had heard of Sex and the Single Girl, but didn’t know who the author was, let alone that the author went on to create Cosmo. When I told my mom her first comment was “You know your Grandfather dated her right?”

WHAT?! WHAT?!

Mind blown guys. Apparently, my Grandfather briefly dated Helen Gurley Brown shortly after she moved to LA before she became who she did. In fact, she wrote about him in her book and every time she came on TV my Grandmother would snarkily call out “Dear, your girlfriend is on TV!” Like, I’m dying. This is hilarious.

Back to the story itself, I was fascinated by everything about this book. Knowing next to nothing about Helen Gurley Brown, I loved reading her story. I know this isn’t a biography, so a lot of this is fictionalized, but the author mentions that it is largely based on fact. I liked Alice as well and liked how Helen’s story was told through her perspective and not through Helen’s.

Alice’s story balanced out Helen’s very well. Like I said, this wasn’t a biography of Helen Gurley Brown, so it was nice to have a solid secondary story. Alice is finding herself as a newly independent woman in a big city. She is struggling to figure out who she is and who she wants to be. I also liked that while there was some drama, it wasn’t overly dramatic and she doesn’t get sucked into a lot of extra drama. I feel like Alice is what I would have been like in the 1960s if I had moved to New York. She has struggles, but she doesn’t suffer.

The story is quick paced and I enjoyed reading a historical fiction novel that wasn’t based around war. There are strong female characters and I greatly appreciated each of them. I also liked that NYC was a character in and of itself but in a way that it didn’t take over. I know that Rosen has written a lot of other historical fiction, and while I haven’t read any of her previous novels, this one has piqued my interest for sure. I look forward to going back and reading more of her novels.

This was tough for me. I definitely feel like this is a solid 3.5 stars for me. Even though I knew Cosmo was going to be successful, I was curious about how it got to be where it did. Like I said, I knew nothing about Helen Gurley Brown and this book made me want to go out and learn more about her. I feel like any time that a historical fiction novel makes me want to learn about the fact part of the story, it has done its job. The writing is quick paced and strikes the perfect balance between fact and fiction.

Independent Bookstore Day

This past Saturday, April 27th, marked the 5th annual Independent Bookstore Day. Each year on the last Saturday of April, Independent Bookstores around the US open their arms to book lovers everywhere. In Chicago, they set up the ChiLovesBooks Passport challenge, where if you visit 10 of the bookstores in the passport, you can receive 10% off at those bookstores for a whole year!

My wonderful friend Stephanie asked me this year if I would like to go with her, as I somehow had never really heard about this before. Since we also had to fit in a screening of The Avengers, we did not have the ability to go to downtown Chicago and really go all in. However, this ended up working out in our favor as the weather was pretty gross. Instead, we visited a few of the suburban independent bookstores to learn more about where we could shop nearby.

Our first stop on our exploration was The Book Bin in Northbrook. I have driven by this bookstore multiple times without knowing it even existed, and I am so thankful that this day brought it to my attention. This store, while on the smaller side, is my perfect bookstore. It is well organized, beautifully laid out, and not overwhelming. The staff was also very friendly and helpful, striking the perfect balance between not breathing down your neck and not leaving you searching when you need some help. They also had a fun little basket in the Young Adult section of free ARCs. I love the idea that because you can’t sell ARCs, they just had a basket offering for people to take one. I forgot to check with them to see if they accept ARC donations, because I would love to pass my copies on to them.

They even had a store turtle!

The fun thing about being there on Independent Bookstore day was that they had a lot of little specials going on. Not only did they have a raffle for a Harry Potter water bottle (which I am heartbroken that I did not win) and a bowl with coupon discounts off your book ($1, $3, or $5 off), but they also gave away a free mystery book with purchase! They had a shelf of books wrapped in newspaper and you had a choice of fiction, nonfiction, or mystery. Stephanie and I each picked a fiction (which I’ll get to a little later). We also bought a gift for our friend who is expecting a baby and they offered free gift wrapping (done beautifully by the way).

This store was an absolute gem ad was the perfect beginning to our bookstore adventure. I will definitely be heading back in the future.

Our second stop was in Winnetka at The Book Stall. This store was a lot busier and a lot bigger than our first stop. It still had that warm welcome feel, but definitely leaned more towards a bigger bookstore feel. Not that that is a bad thing, just that it ended up making me feel a little bit more overwhelmed. However, a bigger store does have its benefits. This store appears to have a lot more author events, which is fun to look out for. They also had an entire shelf full of signed books. I think if you’re looking for something a little more niche and still want to purchase from an independent store, this would be your pick.

I also liked that this store offered non-book items, such as cards, socks, stationary, and candles. For independent bookstore day, they were having a raffle for a $20 gift cards, offered a $5 off coupon for the month of May, and also were doing the mystery book giveaway with purchase (though they were only offering fiction and nonfiction). Oh! And I forgot to mention! Both this store and the Book Bin had some snacks to enjoy. The Bookstall also had some jazz musicians playing in the back of the store as we were leaving.

After visiting two bookstores, we had worked up an appetite. We found a cute little sandwich shop called Stacked and Folded that was delicious. I had a Turkey, brie, and apple sandwich with French fries that was delicious. They also offer tacos and bowls and it was within walking distance of The Book Stall. While at lunch, we decided to open up our mystery books and see what we got. Stephanie had picked one fiction and one non-fiction, whereas I picked fiction both times. You can see in the picture below what we ended up with. My books are the first two and Stephanie’s are the second two. We were both happy with at least one of our free books and, honestly, how can you get mad at a free book?

For the final stop, we headed to Bookends and Beginnings in Evanston. This one easily had the best aesthetic/atmosphere though it as a little tricky to find. It’s hidden down an alley between buildings, so it’s not easy to spot from the street but definitely adds to the feel. I loved the layout of this store. The low ceilings and twisty layout and dim lighting all summed up to a perfect warm and inviting independent bookstore feel. This is the type of bookstore you could find a chair and cozy up in for a while. Size wise, it was in between The Book Bin and The Book Stall. This was also one of the only bookstores we visited that

The unfortunate thing about this store was that after visiting two wonderful bookstores that embraced the celebratory mood of Independent Bookstore Day, this one fell a little flat. There were no raffles, coupons, or free books. It left me feeling like this store’s personality was a bit hipster. Like it was saying “Yeah, I’m an independent bookstore, but I’m too cool to participate in the excitement of this event.” Overall, while it was a nice store with a lot of fun recommendations hanging from the shelves, it wasn’t my favorite of the day.

This day was such a success and I’m already looking forward to next year. We have already made plans to head downtown a commit to visiting at least 10 of the stores. I love the books that I got and bought and I love knowing that I supported local businesses. I also have a new store to visit in the future! Of the books in the picture below, I only paid for one of them. I bought 3 children’s books for friends and one birthday book for Stephanie that I didn’t take pictures of because I don’t want people to see them. The bottom book, Dancers Among Us was a $5 used book purchase from Bookends and Beginnings that I am obsessed with.

Did you visit any bookstores on Independent Bookstore Day? Do you have any local bookstores that you love to frequent?

The Missing Years

By: Lexie Elliott
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 320

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads):  An eerie, old Scottish manor in the middle of nowhere that’s now hers.

Ailsa Calder has inherited half of a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace twenty-seven years ago—her father.

Leaving London behind to settle the inheritance from her mother’s estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home, nestled amongst the craggy peaks of the Scottish Highlands, joined by the half-sister who’s almost a stranger to her.

Ailsa can’t escape the claustrophobic feeling that the house itself is watching her—as if her past hungers to consume her. She also can’t ignore how the neighbourhood animals refuse to set one foot within the gates of the garden.

When the first nighttime intruder shows up, Ailsa fears that the manor’s careless rugged beauty could cost her everything.

First Impressions

I recently have received a ton of interesting books for review. As a result, I found myself overwhelmed and falling behind schedule. Luckily, my mom, who is an avid reader, writer, and English teacher, offered to help me out. She was looking for a book to read and I had books that needed reading. This review was written by her (Thanks mom!).

This book made the best first impression in the world. When I read the back, I thought it was a mystery and I love mysteries. I was looking forward to reading all about how the house was haunted or whatever strange things would be going on inside the house. I loved the cover and the author had already written a bestseller.

What I thought

The book starts out with the name of the house, “The Manse” being an all-encompassing, if not dilapidated, mansion. Since the book is written in the first person, the reader gets the feeling right away that this house is haunted. Additionally, there is a one paragraph preface that mentions what the narrator of the story, Ailsa, feels is really going on with her father. The book immediately captured my attention as it introduces Ailsa’s half-sister Carrie (an actress in a play in Edinburgh), and a middle of the night intruder named James.

The author introduces a lot of characters right away and tends to intersperse between each chapter, a one paragraph description of Ailsa’s father. Pretty soon, the reader starts to notice that these are just Ailsa’s fantasies as no one in the town seems to know where the disappearing father could possible have gone. Ailsa’s mother, a struggling artist, was also not well known in the town and those that did know her, didn’t like her.  The excitement about the mystery of the Manse soon disappears, however, and what is left is a poorly developed novel about an emotionally devoid main character, a half-sister who appears to lead this strange struggling actress life, and a few of the town’s locals around the same age as Ailsa and Carrie.

I found the character development to be quite weak and the story line to become dull. I struggled to find out who could have possibly been involved with Ailsa’s father’s disappearance, if he did disappear at all. Characters are thrown in for the sake of adding color to the story but they are not developed. This twist in the plot comes from nowhere and is extremely unexpected…but not in a good mystery sort of way. The ending boarders on ridiculous and the characters of the story leave the reader feeling like many of their stories are incomplete. The overall feeling of the book is that the author was “rushed” into writing another book quickly after her first one had been such a success, with her post notes confirming as such.

Another problem I had with the book was the dialect of the Scottish characters. It’s very distracting and at times difficult to understand. Ailsa switches into Scottish brogue after living in London for an extremely long period of time and the switch (and the lack of translation as to what the characters are saying) makes the reader trying to figure out what the words mean in context. The love interest of Ailsa is represented in short phone calls and stream of consciousness thought and at the conclusion of the book, a new love interest is thrown in, just because. The person that the reader thinks Ailsa is going to end up never has any resolution as a character and is merely thrown in as a catalyst to the psycho-killer. I felt that this novel lacked description, plot development and resolution and I would definitely not recommend it. Not only is it a poor excuse for a mystery but it certainly doesn’t suspend ones interest.

The Huntress

By: Kate Quinn
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 531

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): In the aftermath of war, the hunter becomes the hunted… 

Bold and fearless, Nina Markova always dreamed of flying. When the Nazis attack the Soviet Union, she risks everything to join the legendary Night Witches, an all-female night bomber regiment wreaking havoc on the invading Germans. When she is stranded behind enemy lines, Nina becomes the prey of a lethal Nazi murderess known as the Huntress, and only Nina’s bravery and cunning will keep her alive.

Transformed by the horrors he witnessed from Omaha Beach to the Nuremberg Trials, British war correspondent Ian Graham has become a Nazi hunter. Yet one target eludes him: a vicious predator known as the Huntress. To find her, the fierce, disciplined investigator joins forces with the only witness to escape the Huntress alive: the brazen, cocksure Nina. But a shared secret could derail their mission unless Ian and Nina force themselves to confront it.

Growing up in post-war Boston, seventeen-year-old Jordan McBride is determined to become a photographer. When her long-widowed father unexpectedly comes homes with a new fiancée, Jordan is thrilled. But there is something disconcerting about the soft-spoken German widow. Certain that danger is lurking, Jordan begins to delve into her new stepmother’s past—only to discover that there are mysteries buried deep in her family . . . secrets that may threaten all Jordan holds dear.

In this immersive, heart-wrenching story, Kate Quinn illuminates the consequences of war on individual lives, and the price we pay to seek justice and truth. 

First Impressions

The Alice Network was my first read of the year and I LOVED it. I knew that I needed to read more by Quinn and was excited to see she was coming out with a new book this year along the same lines of the Alice Network. Even if I hadn’t read The Alice Network, this cover would’ve definitely caught my eye.

What I thought

I think Quinn has solidified herself as a new favorite author!

The Huntress concurrently follows three different storylines; Ian, an ex-war correspondent turned Nazi Hunter 5 years post WWII in Vienna, Nina, a Russian fighter pilot during WWII, and Jordan, an American teenager living in Boston just at the end of the war. Over time, all of these stories become interconnected with one commonality- The Huntress.

Because of the variety of narratives occurring during a variety of time periods it took a little while to get settled into the book, but once I did I was hooked. I loved reading about Jordan because she was the one I could relate to the most. She is in her senior year of high school with a serious boyfriend and all she wants to do go to college to become a famous photographer but everyone expects her to marry her boyfriend and become a homemaker.

However, Nina’s story was probably the one that was most fascinating and exciting. One of the things I like best about Quinn’s stories is the insight into how females helped fight the wars. With the Alice Network it was all about a female network of spies, whereas with The Huntress it’s about a Soviet Flight Unit that attacked the Germans. I had no idea that there was a unit like that and I always appreciate stories that share with the world how much work women have done for the world.

The mystery side of this story isn’t unpredictable, but as that’s not the point of the story, it didn’t bother me. I appreciated that I knew where the story was going but that the mystery was how it was going to get there.

I wasn’t ask into Ian’s storyline as the two women, but I did like Tony and I loved Ian’s interactions with Nina. I read a lot of historical fiction, specifically WWII fiction, and sometimes the stories can be slow and hard to get through. While I don’t dislike this about these stories, sometimes it can be a little draining or tiring to read them. Quinn’s stories are easy to read and quick moving without losing the seriousness of the subject matter.

I flew through this book and enjoyed every moment of it. I have found a new favorite author and cannot wait to read more of her stories. If you like stories about female empowerment and historical fiction, you will definitely enjoy Quinn’s books. I cannot recommend this book enough!

You'd Be Mine

By: Erin Hahn
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: 304
Pages: Wednesday Books

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her Gran warned her about. Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things. 

But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. That’s what happens when your bad boy image turns into bad boy reality. Annie has been avoiding the spotlight after her parents’ tragic death, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and Clay has to make it happen. 

Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right. But if there’s one part of fame Annie wants nothing to do with, it’s a high-profile relationship. She had a front row seat to her parents’ volatile marriage and isn’t interested in repeating history. If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk.

First Impressions

This cover for sure caught my eye. I love the neon yellow print and the light heartedness of the girl twirling in the field. The summary also gave me some Emery Lord vibes with the country singer and I remember loving Open Road Summer, so I hoped that this book would give me the same feels.

What I thought

I don’t know if it was the way in which I read this book or the book itself, but I was left feeling kind of meh.

Clay Coolidge is a young country music star with a drinking problem. His label tells him he needs to get Annie Mathers, daughter of country star legends, to open for his summer tour in order to help his reputation. Of course, Clay is gorgeous, so Annie, against her best intentions, ends up falling for Clay.

Starting with what I liked about this story is that it is more than what it seems. In addition to being a country star and rising country star, they have pretty serious backstories. And while they were serious, I feel like Hahn did a really great job with them. I never felt like “OMG even more terrible things happened to these people?” It was realistic and well fleshed out. I also felt like their story/character building was very well done because I truly felt like I got to know Annie and Clay. It could’ve been irritating, but it wasn’t.

On the other hand, some of the secondary characters fell by the wayside. Felix, Clay’s best friend and bandmate was pretty well built, but I still feel like I barely know Annie’s bandmates Kacey and Jason.

Just for a bit of explanation, I started reading this book on the Kindle app on my phone a while before I marked it as read on Goodreads. It was one of those books that I was reading simultaneously without ever really committing to fully focusing on it until more recently. I liked having a book on my phone that if I was out without a book I had something to read. So, I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t give this book my full attention from the beginning or what, but I just felt like even though I knew the characters, I didn’t connect with them.

I never felt like I wanted this book to be my main focus and I almost felt like I could’ve left this book without finishing it. I didn’t feel the connection between Annie and Clay so I never got behind their romance. Again, I wasn’t quite sure if this was me or the writing, but after reading a Christina Lauren book in which I immediately got sucked into and involved in the characters’ relationship, I’m thinking it’s the writing.

This is Hahn’s debut and I do think there are a lot of strengths in this book, but overall missed the mark for me. I liked the writing style and found it to be a fun book, but the emotion behind the romance was lacking a little bit. I’m hopeful that Hahn will have stronger books in the future because I can see the potential! If you are very into country music YA, I would still say check this out. Maybe it was just me. Otherwise, I would give this book a pass.

Who Slays the Wicked?

By: C.S. Harris
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 349

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for review. This in no way shape or form has influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): When the handsome but dissolute young gentleman Lord Ashworth is found brutally murdered, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is called in by Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy to help catch the killer. Just seven months before, Sebastian had suspected Ashworth of aiding one of his longtime friends and companions in the kidnapping and murder of a string of vulnerable street children. But Sebastian was never able to prove Ashworth's complicity. Nor was he able to prevent his troubled, headstrong young niece Stephanie from entering into a disastrous marriage with the dangerous nobleman.

Stephanie has survived the difficult birth of twin sons. But Sebastian soon discovers that her marriage has quickly degenerated into a sham. Ashworth abandoned his pregnant bride at his father's Park Street mansion and has continued living an essentially bachelor existence. And mounting evidence--ranging from a small bloody handprint to a woman's silk stocking--suggests that Ashworth's killer was a woman. Sebastian is tasked with unraveling the shocking nest of secrets surrounding Ashworth's life to keep Stephanie from being punished for his death.

First Impressions

This is the fourth Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery that I have read. You can read my review of the previous one here. I am a bit sad that they have moved away from the over the top colorful covers and instead have these black and white ones. Even though the colorful ones were a bit cheesy, they were at least fun.

What I thought

I enjoyed this story a lot. I started reading this series pretty late, as I hadn’t read (or even heard of) the books before being asked to review one of them. Because of that, there is a lot of information that I don’t know much about. But I do find that with each book I read, I enjoy the series more and more.

In this story, Sebastian/Viscount Devlin, is investigating the murder of Ashworth. Ashworth is the husband of his niece Stephanie and an all in all terribly evil man. This story is a bit unlike the others as the murder victim is not one that anyone sympathizes with. In fact, there are a lot of suspects because of how many people disliked him.

I still get a bit confused with the large cast of characters in this series. Especially because each character has multiple names that are used interchangeably from sentence to sentence. However, now that I know the characters a little bit, it is getting easier. This story also focused pretty solely on the murder and didn’t reach into a lot of the other backstories or secondary stories.

I was a bit shocked by who the murderer ended up being which I always appreciate in a mystery. I don’t have too much to say about this book because, while I did like it, not much happened. Especially because I don’t like to give much away with mysteries.

These books are good fun. I tend to forget about them until I get another offer to review them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. Is this a series I would have picked up on my own? No. But is it a series that keeps my attention and is a fun read? Yes.

Who Slays the Wicked is a solid contribution to a series which, in its 14th book only seems to be getting better.