You Were There Too

By: Colleen Oakley
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 320

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I was sent 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): Mia Graydon's life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too — unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of them, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he's been dreaming of her too.

Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?

First Impressions

Colleen Oakley initially impressed me with her debut novel, Before I Go. It is still one of my favorite novels. She just manages to write these heartbreaking novels that even though you want to hate them because they break your heart you just can’t. So, between the author and the summary of a dream ma that really exists I was hooked. I go back and forth about my feelings on the cover. I like the gold and the purple, but I wish there was just something more and I can’t figure out what.

What I thought

I have been in a bit of a reading rut the past few months. For some reason I just haven’t been finding books that make me want to pick them up and read them over watching TV. This one finally did it. I finished it in 3 days which, lately, feels like a record.

Mia is married to Harrison and they have just moved to the small town of Hope Springs. But since high school she has been dreaming of a different man. One day at the grocery store she spots this dream man in real life. When the finally meet, she discovers that he’s been dreaming of her too. Mia starts to question everything she thought she knew about love and who she is as well as where she is in life.

Like I said, this book caught me from the beginning. I was immediately sucked in and found myself thinking about these characters when I wasn’t reading. I have always been a bit of a sucker when it comes to dreams. I love to believe that there could be some psychic elements to them, so the idea that you could dream of someone before meeting them appealed to me.

Oakley did an amazing job of balancing the characters. I felt like I was able to understand Harrison and Mia as separate people and when they had their disagreements, I didn’t dislike either of them because I was able to see and understand both of their sides.

Without giving too much away, I was also surprisingly ok with how the story turned out. It’s one of those stories where I feel like you’re never going to be happy necessarily with the ending. Like, if Mia ends up with her dream guy, that means she has to leave her husband. But if she stays with her husband, that means she’s not with her dream guy! But this ending left me content. It didn’t play out in a way I expected but it fit and just felt right.

I have already passed this book on to one of my friends. The love story, the characters, the pacing, the supernatural elements. Everything just worked so well. I could see this book working well as a book club book so if you are looking for one early this year, I would recommend grabbing this one. Otherwise, if you’re just looking for a good love story with a bit of a twist, I would recommend this as well. Oakley’s writing is still solid and I look forward to continuing to read her works.

Royal Holiday

By: Jasmine Guillory
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 304

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Vivian Forest has been out of the country a grand total of one time, so when she gets the chance to tag along on her daughter Maddie’s work trip to England to style a royal family member, she can’t refuse. She’s excited to spend the holidays taking in the magnificent British sights, but what she doesn’t expect is to become instantly attracted to a certain private secretary, his charming accent, and unyielding formality.

Malcolm Hudson has worked for the Queen for years and has never given a personal, private tour—until now. He is intrigued by Vivian the moment he meets her and finds himself making excuses just to spend time with her. When flirtatious banter turns into a kiss under the mistletoe, things snowball into a full-on fling.

Despite a ticking timer on their holiday romance, they are completely fine with ending their short, steamy affair come New Year’s Day. . .or are they?

First Impressions

I have read two of Guillory’s previous novels (The Wedding Date and The Proposal) and have enjoyed them. They’re always fun, even though the writing isn’t the strongest. I am a sucker for anything that involves England so I barely read the description before adding this book to my TBR.

What I thought

My friend Carly received a copy of this book after winning a Goodreads Giveaway, so she did give me a bit of a review before I started it. She hated this book. All she talked about was how terribly written this book was and that she was going to start a drinking game for how many times “scones” are mentioned in this book. Needless to say, I no longer had high expectations for this book and was solely reading it to see just how bad it was. In fact, I kept a post-it now in the front of the book to count how many times “scones” are mentioned.

Vivian heads to London with her daughter Maddie over the week of Christmas when Maddie is offered the opportunity to style the Duchess at the last minute. While there, she meets Malcom, who is the first black secretary to the Queen. They immediately hit it off and start a whirlwind vacation romance.

45 (possibly 49, I couldn’t remember if there was one time that I actually tallied the 4 scone mentions) scones. In the first 40 pages it was said 20 times. I felt like every other word out of Vivian’s mouth was “Scone”. If it wasn’t scone it was “Oh my God. I couldn’t possibly…” I don’t think I’ve ever rolled my eyes so hard. Vivian is supposed to be 54, but easily reads like she’s 22. She doesn’t think she deserves anything and is constantly giggling and confused by British slang. If I had to read one more time about her basically being like “hehehe the British say things funny!” I was going to chuck the book across the room.

The writing in this book is shamefully poor. I honestly don’t understand how it got published. The only thing I can think of is that she has a contract to write a certain amount of books and they hit the deadline where this one needed to be ready and just shipped it off. The second half does get a little better (much less mentions of scones and those silly British words), but still not great.

Vivian got on my nerves, so it was difficult to get into her romance with Malcom. I didn’t dislike them together or anything like that, I just didn’t connect with either of them. Especially when Malcom all of a sudden went moody, but I only knew he was moody because he said so.

For as much fun as The Wedding Date and The Proposal were, this is the absolute opposite. The only redeeming quality for me about this book was that it was quick. I’m thankful that I had a friend who had read this book before me so I could vent to her about so many of the ridiculous things that happened. Unfortunately, this book has given me pause when it comes to reading Guillory’s future novels.

Meg & Jo

By: Virginia Kantra
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 March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy, and shy Beth—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook and secret food blogger.

Meg appears to have the life she always planned—the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you’ve ever wanted isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

When their mother’s illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they’ll rediscover what really matters.

One thing’s for sure—they’ll need the strength of family and the power of sisterhood to remake their lives and reimagine their dreams.

First Impressions

This book actually gave me a little pause on first impression. I love the cover and that’s ultimately what sold me, so that part was a strong first impression. The summary on the other hand had me a little concerned. Every time I’ve read a modern retelling of a classic I’ve been underwhelmed. But Little Women was not a huge part of my childhood, so I decided to give it a chance.

What I thought

This book was very delightful! I appreciated how the story was original and completely its own, while still holding the heart of the characters true.

This story is told in alternating perspectives with Meg and Jo. Meg is married with twins and living in their hometown, not too far from their mother. Jo is an aspiring writer living in New York who was recently fired by her newspaper and is now working in the kitchen of a well known restaurant. When their mom gets sick, both girls have to re-evaluate their Christmas plans and decide what’s important to them.

I loved the differences between Meg and Jo’s lives. It made it easy to keep track of each of their chapters as well as felt like I was getting two stories in one. I thought I was going to prefer Jo over Meg just because I’ve always been one to like Jo. I relate to her love of books, independence, and desire to be a writer. But in this retelling, I think I preferred Meg’s story! I liked that she was dealing with normal relationship difficulties as well as finding herself. Jo, who was also finding herself, did so by sleeping with her boss which is not something I could relate to. I also was not a fan of her friendship/possible relationship with her male best friend. It was very underdeveloped and unnecessary.

I also liked the dynamics between all the sisters, including Amy and Beth. I re-read Little Women a few years ago and I think Kantra did a great job capturing their key personality points and the relationships of the family members. I think that aging the characters so they are young adults also really helped to make this story work. Each of the women are finding their way in their lives and seeing how the dreams they had as children work out in their adult lives.

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately and this was one of the few books I’ve read recently that I found myself wanting to pick up and keep reading, over watching TV. It moved quickly and held my interest. Even though it wasn’t a fast paced book with a million things happening and the drama of “what will happen next???” it had just the right amount of everything to make a solid and engaging story with likable characters.

The writing in this book is solid and enjoyable. I loved the characters and getting to see them modernized. I liked that Kantra chose to replicate the characters and not necessarily the plot line. There is a sequel following Amy & Beth and I am already looking forward to reading that one! If you are fond of the Little Women characters, I would definitely recommend checking this book out.

Book Club December 2019- Landline

This month, Denise picked Landline which I originally read back in 2014. I did not end up deciding to re-read this one, so I am re-posting my original review from 5 (yes 5!) years ago. The funny thing is that I remember thinking only ok thoughts about this book and remembering that I read another book that was similar to it and liking that more. But when I look back on my ratings and my review, I raved about this book! Funny how your memories work.

By: Rainbow Rowell
Published Year: 2014
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 310

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

First Impressions

Rowell has won me over so much with her other 3 books that I did not even read the summary of this book before I decided to read it. I found out that she had a new book coming out and it immediately went on my to-read list based solely on the fact that it was written by Rowell. The cover though is super cute. I really like the fact that the cover is grey but that the spine is grey and pink stripes. I would definitely have picked up this book based on the cover.

What I thought

Rowell, you have done it again! I love this book a lot. On my Rowell rating list, I have to say that this might have beat out Eleanor and Park for my 2nd favorite Rowell book (at the very least, they’re now tied).

I finished this book in a day. First off, I want to say that I had absolutely nothing else to do that day but read. BUT! I think I would have finished this book quickly even if I had things to do. It’s an easy read and is fast paced. There is never a slow moment in this story and you will find yourself sucked in. Next time you look up you’ll realize that you’re halfway through the book and you don’t know how you got there. I love books like that. Wonderful.

Yet again, Rowell has made me fall in love with her characters. I don’t know how she manages to do this every time, but I have yet to be annoyed by one of her main characters. They all have such depth and complexities that you really understand why they are the way they are and you accept them for it. Georgie is in her mid-thirties and is a comedy writer. Neal is her husband and is a stay-at-home dad. They have been together for 17 years and their marriage is complex. It’s not as easy as it used to be, and neither of them seems to be very happy. This all comes to a head when the week of Christmas, Georgie has to cancel the family trip to Omaha to see Neal’s family to work on writing for a new show, with her writing partner and best friend, Seth. While Georgie assumes that Neal is going to cancel the whole trip because she can’t go, Neal is so fed-up, that he brings their girls to Omaha without Georgie.

Being in a long-term relationship (7 years, holy cow!), this book spoke to me on so many levels. I will start by saying that all I wanted to do while reading this book was find my boyfriend and hug him and squeeze him and tell him I love him. It’s that kind of book. It deals with the issues of what happens when both people in the relationship start to take each other, and their relationship as a whole, for granted. If you are in a relationship, I think it will really make you think about your relationship, open up your eyes a little bit, and possibly make you feel like you’re not alone in ever having felt like Georgie and Neal do. If you have never been in a relationship or a long-term relationship, I think you will still enjoy this book, but maybe at a different level.

As a side note, I would love to see this book as a movie. I think it could translate really well to screen if done correctly. On the other hand, it’s one of those stories where if it’s done the wrong way it would be a disaster. Either way, I would really like to see Georgie and Neal come to life.

There is not one bad thing I can say about this book. It is well written, has wonderful characters, is paced beautifully, and makes you think. I would definitely recommend that you pick up this book and read it NOW.

Meet Me on Love Lane

By: Nina Bocci
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 304

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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): Charlotte Bishop is out of options in New York City. Fired, broke, and blacklisted by her former boss, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Hope Lake, PA to lick her wounds. Although she’s expecting to find a miserable place with nothing to do, she is pleasantly surprised to discover it is bustling and thriving.

She’s only supposed to be in Hope Lake temporarily until she can earn enough money to move back to New York. She’s not supposed to reconnect with her childhood friends or her beloved grandmother. She’s not supposed to find her dream job running the local florist shop. And she’s definitely not supposed to fall for not one but two of Hope Lake’s golden boys: one the beloved high school English teacher, the other the charming town doctor.

With a heart torn between two men and two cities, what’s a girl to do?

First Impressions

I read the first book in the Hopeless Romantics series, On the Corner of Love and Hate, just recently and enjoyed it. I looked forward to living with these characters a little bit longer, so when I saw there was a sequel I was in. I also loved this cover so much.

What I thought

This book was so much stronger than the first one! I really enjoyed this story and cannot wait for the next one.

Charlotte returns to Hope Lake for the first time in 20 years after being fired from her job in New York. Her mother moved her away when she was a child and never let her back to visit, causing Charlotte to block out pretty much every memory she had growing up there as a child. When she does return, she has negative feelings towards Hope Lake and doesn’t expect to reconnect with her childhood friends, let alone fall in love.

I liked Charlotte a lot. I don’t know exactly what it was that I liked about her, but I connected with her more than Emma. I am, admittedly, a bit of a sucker for romance novel series in which old characters come back in a new story. I loved that in this one Emma actually had a decent sized role. She is Charlotte’s only friend when she gets back to town and I liked how she manipulated a lot of what was going on.

I also loved Henry in the first book, so I was really excited that this story included so much of him too. It was fun to learn more about him and I immediately felt the connection between him and Charlotte. The side characters and stories felt much stronger in this story than the first which I appreciated. Charlotte’s grandma was great and it was fun to see some of her friends carry over too.

I love when books in a series get stronger with each one. I am really excited to read the 3rd book in the series and can’t wait to see what characters pop up next. If you like romantic stories, I would highly recommend checking this series out. It’s more along the rom-com line in that it doesn’t have a lot of physical romance, if you know what I mean. So if you love love but don’t love sex, this would be a romance series for you.

Twice in a Blue Moon

By: Christina Lauren
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Gallery Books
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 of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): As an adventurous send-off to her childhood, eighteen-year-old Tate Jones travels with her grandmother from their small town in Northern California to London. But the vacation of a lifetime is wonderfully derailed by the appearance of two charming Vermont farmers: grandfather Luther and his handsome grandson Sam.

Sam and Tate fall hard and fast. For two glorious weeks, the couple share their hopes, dreams, and secrets. Sam admits he suspects his grandfather is dying and that this could be the last trip they take together, and Tate reveals that she is the hidden daughter of one of the biggest film stars in the world—a secret she’s never told anyone before.

But when Tate is exposed by a crush of cameras and reporters, she knows she's been betrayed by the one person she thought she could trust. She is forced to decide whether she will return to her quiet life or embrace being in the public eye. So when Sam reappears in her world more than a decade later, can Tate forgive the past and rekindle the passion they shared on their magical trip abroad? And does she even want to?

First Impressions

If you have read my blog in the past year, you will know that Christina Lauren is one of my favorite authors and an immediate read. I LOVED Honeymooners and was excited to see they already had another new book coming out. The summary and cover of this one didn’t catch me as much as some of their other recent releases, but I still wanted to read it immediately.

What I thought

Another solid story by Christina Lauren! I will say, I think because I love them so much, I might hold them to a higher standard than others.

Tate Jones meets Sam when she’s in London. She shares her biggest secret, that she’s actually the daughter of one of the world’s most famous actors. When she is found by the paparazzi, she is crushed. Fast forward 15 years, and Tate is now a famous actress acting in a movie with her famous father for the first time. When she gets to set, she learns that the writer is Sam.

I’m going to start with what I like, in hopes that maybe it will help me figure out what didn’t work for me. I liked Tate a lot. I thought she was a great character and I liked seeing her grow. The first 30% or so of this book is a young adult novel and it really shows up different someone can be at 18 vs 32. Tate is a strong female lead and I liked all of her scenes.

Sam was almost annoyingly good. I think him turning Tate into the press was supposed to make the reader dislike him, but in the end he does it for good reason. I also kept waiting for it to be exposed that he wasn’t the one who leaked her story to the press, so maybe that effected my point of view. Spoiler alert in hopes that it makes you enjoy it more than I did, he did leak her story.

I think one of the things that didn’t work for me was that some of the passion was lacking for me. Christina Lauren is usually packed with passion and characters that can’t keep their hands off of each other and I love the way that drive their stories forward. Tate and Sam were very standoffish with each other and it took until the final part of the story until they started to reconnect.

The story is a good story and after a slump of books I had no desire to finish, I was happy I found one that was interesting and paced well. I think if this wasn’t a Christina Lauren book, I would have enjoyed it more and rated it higher, but because I had such high expectations for it, I was a little let down. It’s a little different from what I’ve come to know and love from them, so that threw me a bit. I would still recommend reading this book, because it is a good story. I would just maybe recommend some of their other books first.

The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street

By: Karen White
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 374

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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): Melanie Trenholm should be anticipating Christmas with nothing but joy--after all, it's only the second Christmas she and her husband, Jack, will celebrate with their twin babies. But the ongoing excavation of the centuries-old cistern in the garden of her historic Tradd Street home has been a huge millstone, both financially and aesthetically. Local students are thrilled by the possibility of unearthing more Colonial-era artifacts at the cistern, but Melanie is concerned by the ghosts connected to the cistern that have suddenly invaded her life and her house--and at least one of them is definitely not filled with holiday cheer....

And these relics aren't the only precious artifacts for which people are searching. A past adversary is convinced that there is a long-lost Revolutionary War treasure buried somewhere on the property that Melanie inherited--untold riches rumored to be brought over from France by the Marquis de Lafayette himself and intended to help the Colonial war effort. It's a treasure literally fit for a king, and there have been whispers throughout history that many have already killed--and died--for it. And now someone will stop at nothing to possess it--even if it means destroying everything Melanie and Jack hold dear.

First Impressions

This cover! This is the book cover my Christmas dreams are made of! To be honest, I didn’t read the summary too closely. I have read some of White’s previous novels and really enjoyed them, so I was excited to read one of her Christmas stories.

What I thought

Maybe I should have read the summary a little more closely?

This is the 6th installment in the Tradd Street series. Melanie can see and communicate with ghosts. Just before she is set to host part of a progressive holiday dinner, she sees new ghosts in her house that are causing problems. Add on top of that the issues that her husband is dealing with in regards to writing his latest novel and fending off his arch nemesis from trying to film in their house and you have a lot going on.

The funny thing about this book is that it came out in November, but I couldn’t bring myself to read it because I wasn’t in the holiday spirit yet. I did pick it up shortly after Halloween, feeling much more ready. Then I saw that it dealt with spirits (duh Lindsey, just read the title closely), and realized I could’ve started it before Halloween and still been good!

Sometimes when you pick a book up in the middle of a series it can be hard to get your bearings. I didn’t find this to be the case with the Tradd Street series. White did a really nice job of making sure that past relationships and events were explained. While I’m sure that I don’t know or understand all of the subtleties, I didn’t find myself not enjoying the story because I felt lost or like I was missing something.

Melanie and her husband Jack were a lot of fun. They’re newlyweds and very flirty, but they are also friends. I really enjoyed their relationship and it was probably the biggest aspect that makes me want to go back and read the other books in the series. I think Jack redeems Melanie a lot. She could be a very annoying character, but he balances her well. She is a bit petty and impulsive and I’d be curious to see how she managed to get rid of spirits before Jack or before the help of her half sister.

My biggest criticism of this book is that in all honestly, it wasn’t that Christmassy. It felt more like a regular story that was just happening at Christmas time. In fact, because of the spirits and their nature it felt more like a Halloween story.

This story and the characters are a lot of fun. Is this a book that will get you in the Christmas spirit? No. But will you enjoy reading it? Yes. Karen White is a solid author and she did not disappoint. I am definitely intrigued by this series now and am looking forward to seeing how the rest of them come out.

Frankly in Love

By: David Yoon
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: G.P. Putnam Son’s
Pages: 432

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo–his term for Korean-American kids who find themselves caught between their parents’ traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance–“Date Korean”–which proves complicated when Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful–and white. Fellow Limbo Joy Song is in a similar predicament, and so they make a pact: they’ll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks it’s the perfect plan, but in the end, Frank and Joy’s fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love–or himself–at all.

First Impressions

This cover is woah! I love the 3D effect. I also love puns and appreciate that the title is a pun on the main character’s name, Frank Li. Add on top of that that the author is the husband of Nicola Yoon whose book Everything Everything I loved and I was all in for a fun romantic YA.

What I thought

If this book had ended about 2/3 in, I would’ve liked it so much more.

Frank Li is first generation Korean. He is in his senior year of high school and all his parents want for him is to go to Harvard and have a Korean girlfriend. Unfortunately for them, he starts dating a white girl. In order to hide it from them, he starts to fake date his family friend and fellow Korean American, Joy.

Ok, so, from the beginning I wanted Frank to end up with Joy. I just loved the idea of him falling for what was right in front of him all along. Spoiler, they do end up dating but it all happens a little quickly for me. I felt like Frank started dating Brit just because she liked him. Which, I guess is supposed to make the reader feel better when Frank drops her? Instead, it just made me dislike Frank.

Now, it’s entirely possible that part of the reason I did not connect with this book is because I am not a Korean-American male teenager. However, there were certain parts from a writing standpoint that I just didn’t like. I’m not a fan of books that try to do too much and this was one of them. There’s a storyline that happens in the final third of the book that just came out of nowhere and seemed unnecessary. Almost like someone said, “Yoon. This book is a cute romance, but you need something that makes it deeper.” I actually ended up skipping the last 50/60 pages of the book and reading the final two chapters because I just couldn’t anymore.

Like I said above, I wasn’t crazy about Frank. I didn’t understand why the girls liked him and I didn’t get why every time he saw his best friend’s sister she was described as “unbelievably hot sister” yet nothing happened between them. Why is that necessary?

If you could just read and enjoy the first 2/3 of the book, I would rate this a 3. In fact, I did give it 3 stars on Goodreads because of that. However, the book keeps going and I couldn’t even finish it. It does look like there’s going to be a second book, so I’m curious about what it will be about, but I probably won’t read it. I don’t think I have any teenage boys reading my blog, but if you are, you might enjoy this one. Otherwise, I would say you can pass.