Wild at Heart

By: K.A. Tucker
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: K.A. Tucker
Pages: 400

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): From the internationally best-selling author of The Simple Wild comes the continuation of a woman’s journey to Alaska and a life she never imagined for herself.

Calla Fletcher returns to Toronto a different person, struggling to find direction and still very much in love with the rugged bush pilot she left behind. When Jonah arrives on her doorstep with a proposition she can’t dismiss, she takes the leap and rushes back to Alaska to begin their exciting future together.

But Calla soon learns that even the best intentions can lead to broken promises, and that compromise comes with a hefty price—a log cabin in interior rural Alaska that feels as isolating as the western tundra.

With Jonah gone more than he’s home, one neighbor who insists on transforming her into a true Alaskan, and another who seems more likely to shoot her than come to her aid, Calla grapples with forging her own path. In a world with roaming wildlife that has her constantly watching over her shoulder and harsh conditions that stretch far beyond the cold, dark, winter months, just stepping outside her front door can be daunting.

This is not the future Calla had in mind, leaving her to fear that perhaps she is doomed to follow in her mother’s fleeing footsteps after all.

First Impressions

Ugh this cover! It is so pretty! I love it even more than the first one and it makes me want to go back to Alaska like yesterday. I really liked the first book, so I knew I was going to read this one since I liked the characters so much.

What I thought

Call and Jonah are back in Alaska and moving in together in a home closer to Anchorage. Unfortunately, it ends up being more in the wilderness than Calla originally expected. Can she survive moving to Alaska to be with the love of her life and not turn into her mom?

While I did enjoy this book and seeing how their first year in Alaska played out, it didn’t have that same spark for me as the first one. Maybe it was because there wasn’t the driving force of her dad dying or maybe it was the lack of Agnes and Mabel. I’m not quite sure but it took me quite a while to get through this book. I enjoyed it every time I picked it up, but I had to convince myself to pick it up.

This book I very Calla heavy. It focuses a lot on her struggles. I did appreciate that there weren’t any Hallmark-esque romance tropes with lack of communication. Jonah and Calla talked a lot and handled things like adults when they had problems. I also did like watching the development of Calla’s relationships with new characters. But like I said, it was a very slow read.

I feel like the book needed a singular focal point to move towards. It was very much just reading a diary of their lives during their first year in Alaska. While it was interesting, it wasn’t the greatest story. I loved revisiting old characters and I wish there had been more of it. I feel like there were some untold stories with Agnes and Mabel and the airline company Aro that would’ve been good. Maybe the book is meant to make you feel as isolated as Calla feels? If so, it definitely accomplished that.

Like I said, it was fun to revisit old characters and the Alaskan wilderness. Is this sequel necessary? No. I think I would’ve been just as content to only know as far as where The Simple Wild ended. Is this book fan service? No. It’s a well written sequel and I know some people who enjoyed it more than me. I will make a disclaimer that I read this in the time of COVID-19 isolation, so that could’ve impacted my mood a bit. Overall, a good read with solid writing and lovable characters but not one that I couldn’t put down.

Simple Wild

By: K. A. Tucker
Published Year: 2018
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 390

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Calla Fletcher wasn't even two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when Calla learns that Wren’s days may be numbered, she knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.

She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this rugged environment, Jonah—the unkempt, obnoxious, and proud Alaskan pilot who helps keep her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.

Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. Soon, she finds herself forming an unexpected bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago. It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.

First Impressions

My friend Stephanie has been telling me to read this book for almost a year now. She absolutely loved it and I think even read it twice in the course of 12 months. The cover is completely up my alley and, having gone to Alaska this summer, I was even more intrigued.

What I thought

Why does the sequel not come out until March?!?!?! (I read this book back in December 2019 and apparently never posted the review)

This book was just as good as Stephanie promised and exactly what I needed after being in a bit of a reading rut.

Calla is a spoiled 20-something who lives in Toronto with her mom and step-father. Her biological dad, who she hasn’t seen since she was 2 or spoken to since she was 14, lives in Alaska and owns a small airline called Alaska Wild. Shortly after getting fired from her job, Calla receives a phone call that her dad has been diagnosed with lung cancer and that she should come visit and get to know him.

Initially, Calla comes off a little irritating. She comes from money and doesn’t seem to realize how lucky she is. Luckily, she’s not completely ignorant, it’s just that she hasn’t really known anything different. I appreciated that a balance was struck between mer being materialistic and relatable. It made some of her selfish moments more relatable. She travels to Alaska with a massive suitcase full of clothes, which I totally get having gone there. I brought way too many options because I honestly wasn’t sure what kind of weather to expect. But when she arrives, Jonah (the asshole bush pilot sent to pick her up) comes in a super tiny plane that doesn’t fit her suitcase and she has to leave it behind in Anchorage. Days later, her suitcase still hasn’t arrived and she is, understandably pissed. Jonah doesn’t seem to get it at all, and this easily could’ve gone into spoiled girl territory, but it doesn’t. It just makes sense to anyone who has traveled and lost luggage that only having one outfit for days on end is beyond irritating.

I also just loved Jonah immediately. One of my favorite tropes is hate-to-love because I love good teasing banter and Jonah and Calla had some great ones. It was also fun to learn his reasons behind his actions. I get irritated when someone does something “just because”, and Jonah always seemed to have a rational reason behind what he did, even if it did seem a little ridiculous.

Add in a strong cast of secondary characters and you have me sold on a book. Aggie, Wren (Calla’s dad), Simon (Callas step-father), and Mable were all solid. I fell in love with Wren and was heart broken as the book went on about his lung cancer diagnosis. I also really loved the love story between Wren and Calla’s mom Susan, as well as the relationships between Susan, Simon and Calla. The complications were realistic and yet nothing that I feel like I read about often.

The writing in this book was also just good. I don’t know how to say anything more than that, given that the last book I read was written so poorly.

This was such a good story. I think it’s one that the longer it sits with me the more I will like it. I am furious that I read it in December and didn’t wait until the sequel came out because I want to read more of Calla and Jonah like now. The character development in this story is second to none and I enjoyed every minute. If you’re stuck in a rut, I highly recommend checking this book out. Also, if you like contemporary romance stories, with a little bit of adventure and some hate-to-love, this book will be right up your alley.

The Ingredients of You and Me

By: Nina Bocci
Published Year: 2020
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 novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): After selling her famous bakery back in New York, Parker Adams visits Hope Lake, Pennsylvania, to figure out her next steps. And soon she’s wondering why she ever loved city life in the first place. Between the Golden Girls—the senior women who hold court—and Nick Arthur, her equally infuriating and charming former flame, Parker finds a community eager to help her get her mojo back.

But even though Hope Lake gives her the fresh start she’s been looking for, Parker discovers that it’s not so easy to start over again with Nick. Their chemistry is undeniable, but since Nick is a freshly taken man, Parker is determined to keep things platonic. With a recipe for disaster looming, Parker must cook up a new scheme, figuring out how to keep everything she’s come to love before she loses it all.

First Impressions

I’ve read the previous two Hopeless Romantics Books (review for book 1 here) so this book immediately went on to my to-read list. I was excited to read Parker’s story, having met her in previous books. The cover is also adorable and happy and I definitely would’ve picked it up based off of that. I’m also a sucker for romance novel series where you get to follow all of the secondary characters.

What I thought

While I enjoyed this book and I still really like Parker, it wasn’t my favorite of the series.

Parker and Nick hooked up on July 4th when she came to visit Charlotte. Neither of them expected that their connection would continue. Right as Parker is deciding to sell her bakery, Nick disappears and stops returning her calls. Parker, stuck in a rut, decides to visit Hope Lake and her best friend in hopes of getting her baking mojo back. But that also means facing Nick again.

Parker is one of my favorite of the female characters. I like her more than I liked Emma. But while I liked Nick in the previous books, I felt like he fell flat in this one. In the previous books he was a bit of a bad boy and had a bit of a naughty spark. In this book, he spent the majority of it in a relationship with someone who is not the main character and he’s boring. I know that’s a little bit of the point, but it didn’t make for much of a love story.

Even though this is a romance novel, it seemed more like a contemporary fiction. It focused mostly on Parker’s growth and what she wanted to do with the romance on the side. While it didn’t bother me too much, I think it might disappoint some people who expect more of a romance.

The Parker/Nick connection is interesting. They do have a good connection, but Bocci spent the majority of the novel keeping them apart. It seemed like she kept them apart because she couldn’t think of another way to stop them from getting together.

I did love getting to catch up with the old characters, though I do wish that there had been a little bit more Parker and Charlotte. I did like the feature of Mancini and the other older women of the town. I love the town of Hope Lake and everyone that lives there and Bocci didn’t fail to bring this to this book.

I was torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. There was a lot of it that I liked, but there were parts I was disappointed in. Like I said, I liked Parker, but the romance side was lacking considering this is meant to be a romance novel. I could see this entire series on Hallmark, so I do love it. I also think this one is stronger than the first book, but not as strong as the second. It rounded out the series well, and I would recommend looking into the series as a whole.

Book Club May 2020- Conviction

By: Denise Mina
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Mullholland Books
Pages: 376

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A true-crime podcast sets a housewife's present life on a collision course with her secret past.

The day Anna McDonald's quiet, respectable life explodes starts off like all the days before: packing up the kids for school, making breakfast, listening to yet another true crime podcast. Then her husband comes downstairs with an announcement, and Anna is suddenly, shockingly alone.

Reeling and desperate for distraction, Anna returns to the podcast. Other people's problems are much better than one's own--a sunken yacht, a murdered family, a hint of international conspiracy, but this case actually is Anna's problem. She knows one of the victims from an earlier life, a life she's taken great pains to leave behind, and she is convinced that she knows what really happened.

Then an unexpected visitor arrives on her front stoop; a meddling neighbor intervenes; and life as Anna knows it is well and truly over. The devils of her past are awakened--and in hot pursuit. Convinced she has no other options, she goes on the run, and in pursuit of the truth, with a washed-up musician at her side and the podcast as her guide.

What I thought

I don’t think I could give a better summary than the one provided, but basically Anna has a secret past life that is brought to the forefront of her new life when she listens to a true crime podcast.

This was the perfect thriller for the time in which we are living. It’s mysterious but light and unique. Each episode of the podcast is written as part of the story so you can “hear” what each episode is. I have never read a book that has written podcasts in this way before.

As you know, I’m not the bet at writing reviews for mysteries because I am constantly worried about giving too much away. I really liked the way that the story unfolded and found it to be unlike other books that I have read before. I liked the style in which everything was written and the pacing was great.

None of the characters in the book are likeable but they’re aware of this which makes them more tolerable. I don’t mind unlikable characters if there is that self-awareness. Anna even says a few times that she knows she doesn’t come off well and I appreciated that. I also appreciated that this book surprised me. I did not expect the ending. There were bits throughout the book that I was able to predict, but the ending was not one of them. I will always have more respect for a mystery that surprises me.

What Book Club Thought

Everyone really enjoyed this one! While not everyone is typically a thriller/mystery fan, the lightness of this one appealed to everyone. We also laughed when we found out that this was previously a Reese’s Book Club Pick. We’ve consistently had the same taste in books as Reese and, while we’ve enjoyed some of them more than others, we have not had one that we’ve actively disliked. 2/5 of the book club members did guess the ending before it happened, but not 100% of the way in which in played out. Overall, it was a fun and light book that sparked some fun discussion. If you enjoy mysteries and are looking for something lighter that is a bit different from the standards, I recommend checking this one out.

The Love Story of Missy Carmichael

By: Beth Morrey
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: G.P. Putnam and Son’s
Pages: 352

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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 novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Woman meets dog...

The world has changed around Missy Carmichael. At seventy-nine, she's estranged from her daughter, her son and only grandson live across the world in Australia, and her great love is gone. Missy spends her days with a sip of sherry, scrubbing the kitchen in her big empty house and reliving her past--though it's her mistakes, and secrets, that she allows to shine brightest. The last thing Missy expects is for two perfect strangers and one spirited dog to break through her prickly exterior and show Missy just how much love she still has to give. Filled with wry laughter and deep insights into the stories we tell ourselves, The Love Story of Missy Carmichael shows us it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. It's never too late to love.

First Impressions

I loved A Man Called Ove and enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, so when this book was described as being for readers of both of those novels, I was in. The cover is cute, but it doesn’t stand out much. It reminded me a lot of The Story of Arthur Tru Love as well as a lot of other novels about senior citizens. I do like the color of it though.

What I thought

Missy is 79 years old and alone. Until she goes to the park and bumps into Sylvie, Angela, and Otis. Unexpectedly, she beings to grow a new family and learn more about herself than she expected.

I did enjoy the book overall, but I think it’s going to be one of those that I forget about in a month’s time.

I liked Missy and I liked seeing her open up with the help of a dog and some new friends. However, there were a few things going on that I felt like weren’t fully developed and could’ve ultimately been left out. There were also parts that didn’t make much sense until the very end of the story.

The character development was my favorite part of this novel. Missy was great, Angela was dynamic, Sylvie was sweet, and Otis adorable. I also loved Bobby, who was the dog who really helped Missy open up. The fact that an animal can help someone heal so much really warmed my heart. Since this is a story that is centered around a character’s growth and development, this was a strength of this novel. I liked the writing style. Unfortunately, this was another one of those books that didn’t have a driving force behind the story that made me want to continually pick it up. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy reading it! Every time I picked it up I was invested, it was just one that was easy to put down again.

The one part that I really liked about this story was that it showed a different type of love story. I think we often get sucked into flashy love stories because they translate well in novels, but that isn’t how every love story is. There is a line in this that said something along the lines of “we were never fireworks, we were coming home” and that really resonated with me. Even though this was a slow burn of a book, it had a lot of wonderful things to say.

This is one of those books that if someone asks me if they should read it I will wholeheartedly say yes. It was a good book that has a lot of great characters and messages. Like I said above, the problem is that if someone asks me if I have any recommendations for a book to read, I don’t think this one would pop into my mind.

Book Club April 2020- The Authenticity Project

By: Clare Pooley
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Pages: 368

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): "Everybody lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth?" This is the question that Julian Jessop, an eccentric, seventy-nine-year-old artist, poses within a pale green exercise book that he labels The Authenticity Project, before leaving it behind in Monica's Café. When Monica discovers Julian's abandoned notebook, not only does she add her own story to the book, she is determined to find a way to help Julian feel less lonely.

And so it goes with the others who find the green notebook that will soon contain their deepest selves. It will also knit the group together In Real Life at Monica's Cafe, where they'll discover the thrill and sometime-risk of being completely honest--and, for some, find unexpected love.

With a cast of characters who are by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life, The Authenticity Project is a novel readers will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.

What I thought

This month was my book club pick. I read about this book a while ago and immediately knew it would be my choice. It seemed like just the type of book my book club enjoys. In these crazy corona times, we did have a virtual book club.

Monica finds a notebook in her café titled The Authenticity Project. When she opens it up, she reads Julian’s story encouraging the sharing of ones authentic self and then passing the notebook on. This book the finds Hazard and moves onward, touching a bunch of people’s lives and changing them in ways they never saw.

I loved the idea of people’s innermost truths being written into a notebook and then shared with strangers. I am a sucker for fate and serendipity and this book revolves around a lot of that. The characters aren’t necessarily the most likeable of people. They are highly flawed, but for some reason that ended up making me like them. But I could see this turning some people off. There is a lot of character growth though which I always appreciate.

The chapters switch between all of the characters with mostly Monica and Julian being the story tellers. There are different characters added as each new person gets the notebook. Each person is different but they are all struggling with their own inner demons. The changes that happen in their lives just based off of putting their truths out there was touching.

I enjoyed everything about this book. The characters felt so real and I got so invested in their lives. I want to text and check up on them because I feel like they’ve really become a part of my life. This is one of those books that I don’t want to say too much about because I want you to experience it the way I did. Just know that this book is exactly what it says it is. It lived up to my expectations and it is easily one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.

What Book Club Thought

This was a winner! Everyone loved it. A few members had a little bit of a harder time getting into it initially, but in the end everyone really liked it. There was a lot to discuss and we talked a lot about the characters and how we would’ve handled stumbling upon The Authenticity Project. I highly recommend this book as a whole but also as a book club book.

Gorwn-up Pose

By: Sonya Lalli
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

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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 novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A delightfully modern look at what happens for a young woman when tradition, dating, and independence collide, from acclaimed author Sonya Lalli.

Adulting shouldn’t be this hard. Especially in your thirties. Having been pressured by her tight-knit community to get married at a young age to her first serious boyfriend, Anu Desai is now on her own again and feels like she is starting from the beginning.

But Anu doesn’t have time to start over. Telling her parents that she was separating from her husband was the hardest thing she’s ever done—and she’s still dealing with the fallout. She has her young daughter to support and when she invests all of her savings into running her own yoga studio, the feelings of irresponsibility send Anu reeling. She’ll be forced to look inside herself to learn what she truly wants.

First Impressions

I read Lalli’s debut novel, The Arrangement, last year. I remember liking it but not being crazy about it. The story and the cover caught me for sure and I was intrigued. Solid first impression.

What I thought

I really enjoyed this book. There are some problematic storylines/character moments but overall I really enjoyed everything.

Anusha is Canadian-Indian, 30 years old, mother of a 5 year old, and semi-recently separated from her husband Neil. Anusha and Neil got married young and she has only known the life of being a good wife and mother. When she and Neil separate, she realizes it is time to figure out who she is and live her life to find out if she is a grown-up.

I’m going to start with a few of my issues with the book. My first issue is, well, when it’s boiled down to it, Anusha’s immaturity. It causes a lot of problems that I think could rub a lot of people the wrong way. The first is that she goes to take a yoga class at a random studio, and after she takes a one-on-one class, the owner comes in and offers for her to buy the studio and she considers it! Like, she just has the disposable savings that she can just buy a yoga studio with no thought about it whatsoever and doesn’t even consider the fact that she knows nothing about running a business.

A little later in the book, Anusha has a bit of a mental break and literally days after signing the lease on the studio, she buys a one way ticket to London, abandoning her daughter, husband, job, and home without a second thought. She just up and leaves with no idea where she’s going or when she’s coming back. The irresponsibility that stems from her immaturity is just, baffling. Like, I understand being in a position of trying to recapture a youth you’ve never had, but at the same time you need to accept where you are. You can’t just up and leave your child. After talking about this with a few of my friends, I think I was able to forgive and understand Anusha a little more than my friends were able to, so I think this could be a big sticking point for some people when they read this book.

One part that I related to was her separation with Neil. I have been in a very similar position, so I understood a lot of her thoughts and feelings regarding her marriage. I also saw a lot of the flaws in her thinking and her actions. I couldn’t figure out through the entire novel whether or not she and Neil were going to end up back together. Lalli had me guessing until the last pages.

While Anusha could be a very problematic character, Lalli does a great job of having her thought process explained. I felt like I understood where Anusha was coming from with all of her actions (except maybe abandoning her daughter) and that made it easy to relate to her. I also haven’t read a lot of novels about people who are separated from their husbands and what they do during that time, so that was fun to read. If you have gone through a separation or a mid-life crisis, I think you would really enjoy and relate to this book.

More Than Words

By: Jill Santopolo
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Pages: 368

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Nina has always known who she's supposed to be. But is that who she truly is?

Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter. Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most. And Tim--her devoted boyfriend and best friend since childhood--feels the same. But when Nina's father dies, he leaves behind a secret that shocks Nina to her core. Soon, Nina begins to see the men in her life--her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her boss, Rafael--in a new light, finding herself caught between the world she loves, and a passion that could upend everything.

First Impressions

This cover is gorgeous! The falling leaves and the silhouette are so perfect and it’s definitely a cover that caught my eye. The summary grabbed me too. I as very excited to read this book when I got it.

What I thought

This was such a thoughtful, well-written book with a romance that really resonated with me at this time in my life.

Nina is the heiress to her family’s hotel fortune. When her father dies, she is going to inherit the business, whether she wants to or not. And at this point it’s pretty much, not. She is dating her lifelong best friend Tim, who is the son of her dad’s best friend and everything her dad wants for her. It’s also what she thought she wanted for herself, until she met Rafael whose campaign she’s writing for in his run for Mayor of New York Ci

I think I’ve mentioned once or twice on the blog that I’m going through a divorce. My ex and I had been together since we were 19, so he was my comfort and everything I had known. Now, I didn’t meet someone while I was with him, but after we had separated I did meet someone who made everything feel different. The feelings that Nina is dealing with I could really relate to. She struggles throughout the novel with whether she should stick with what she knows and what feels comfortable or plunging into the unknown, letting go of what she has always dreamed for herself, and going after what makes her happy.

While there were some predictable plot points, they were well written and handled very realistically. Nina finds out a few secrets about her father after he passes away, and while I wasn’t surprised by what the secrets were, I appreciated how they moved the story forward. I think the reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did is because Nina was so relatable. She wasn’t perfect, but she reacted in a lot of ways similar to how I see myself reacting to those situations.

Her friendships were some of my favorite parts and I wish they had been a little bit of a bigger part, but I also get why they weren’t. Nina had a lot of growth and self-discovery to go through and she needed to do that on her own.

I wouldn’t say this is an un-putdownable book, but the more I talk about it and sit on it, the more I realize how good of a book it was. The writing is great, the characters are likeable even with their flaws, and the story is relatable. I think this is one of those books that the further I get away from reading it, the more it will settle and stay with me. I wish that I had chosen this as a book club book, so if you had a book club I would highly recommend picking this one up. I haven’t read Santopolo’s first book, but this one definitely moved it higher up my to-read list!