Book Review: One Last Kiss by A. S. Kelly  @AKelly_Writes @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

 

 One Last Kiss
by A. S. Kelly 

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Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Rian Kerry, and Im in huge trouble.

This is how it happened: I had a crush. You know those teenage crushes, which Im sure youve all experienced, too. It was that kind of crush that makes your knees tremble, that makes you blush violently and stammer when youre with that person. One of those crushes that you assume youll just grow out of, the way the seasons change.

The problem is that my crush didnt go anywhere. Actually, it only got worse, transforming into something absurd and unbearable, which no one could seem to understand.

Especially not him.

Because hes off-limits. Hes barricaded himself within his walls, from a sense of fear and guilt. Hes locked up his heart forever, and seems to have no intention of letting anyone in ever again.

My friends, Jordan, Anya, and Holly, say that he just needs a little push. They say that he needs to learn to believe again.

But I dont think hell ever be ready, because he simply doesnt want to be.

He doesnt want to believe.

Not in something like us.

Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Parker Hayes, and Im an idiot.

Yep, you heard me right. Im a real idiot. And, I swear, thats putting it lightly.

But Im a lot of other things, too. Im a fireman, and a single father to two cheeky, hyperactive six-year-old twins. Im a brother to Tyler, another fireman and another idiot who always seems to stick his nose into my business. Im a kind of friend to Niall, yet another idiot with nothing to do but barge into my life, uninvited.

Let’s get back to the point, here: the reason Im an idiot.

Well, its pretty simple. Ive lost my mind. Literally. It happened again. I fell for it. With my head, with my body, and with the heart I was sure Id never be able to piece back together after another inevitable disaster.

The problem is that shes not like the others.

She bakes cakes with my daughters, laughs with them, and shows them her magic bag. Theyre crazy about her.

And so am I.

And now she knows it, and I know it, and everyone around us knows it. But I cant take that step. I cant let everything go to start over.

I cant live through this again because this time, I wont be left standing.

Not if shes the one to break my heart.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Niall brings his hand to his chest in a dramatic flourish. “I can’t get any more black marks against my name. I’m getting old and I won’t have time to make up for it.”

 

He couldn’t be more handsome if he tried, and I couldn’t be in more trouble even if I’d dug myself the hole with my own two hands.

 

I’m nervous. Not because I don’t want to be here, but because I wanted to be here so badly.

 

Plan? What plan? Come on. You know I’m not some plotting evil genius. I just let things run their course and waited patiently for the stars to align.

  

My Review:

 

I wasn’t sure about this one since I was jumping into a series on book number three, and while I’m sure I probably would have enjoyed it even more had I read the previous two, I found the installment to have strong enough legs to stand well on its own. The storylines were original and engaging and I adored all the characters by the end of the book, although they often annoyed me with their indecision, anxious fears, and alternating periods of cowardice.

There were hefty servings of tormented and debilitating angst, yet the emotional tone balanced out overall due to the smirk-worthy and rapid-fire levity provided by the highly amusing banter and witty barbs tossed back and forth between the main and secondary characters of friends and family.   The romance was sweet and tender and I fell for the grumpy single-dad fireman myself by the time the steamy sensuality was added to the mix and the sexy fireman was no longer cranky but a romantic silver-tongued sex god instead.

This was my first foray into A.S. Kelly’s work and I landed well indeed. Having gotten to know the characters, I feel the pull to read the previous books in the series as well. I have added this clever wordsmith to my list of favorites.

 

 

 

About the Author

A. S. Kelly was born in Italy but lives in Ireland with her husband, two children, and a cat named Oscar.

​She’s passionate about English literature, she’s a music lover and addicted to coffee.

​She spends her days in a small village North of Dublin, looking for inspiration for her next stories.

Rainy Days was her debut novel.

 

Book Review: Give Love a Chai (Common Threads #2) by Nanxi Wen 

Give Love a Chai
(Common Threads #2)
by Nanxi Wen 

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Tia Wang’s Wedding Planning To-Do List:

1. Find the perfect dress

2. Win her future mother-in-law’s approval

3. Divorce her not-so-ex husband, Andrew Parker

When she fell in love and married her childhood best friend on a whim in Vegas, Tia innocently thought love conquered all. Turns out, that was a crushing lie. Her world shattered as she and Andrew were torn apart by secrets and mistakes.

Ten years later, Tia has left the pain behind and carved out a new life with Mr. Perfect. The only thing standing between her and happily ever after? A divorce from Andrew.

It should have been easy for Andrew to sign his name on the dotted line. Independent, prickly, and always in control, Andrew has done everything to escape his past. But seeing Tia on his doorstep after all these years? He can’t help wondering what might have been. Andrew has never forgotten Tia and vows to fight for their relationship this time around. If he has to hold those divorce papers hostage to get his second chance, he will.

Feelings resurface, stronger and more complex than ever. But Tia and Andrew have more than Mr. Perfect between them. Can they overcome past mistakes to forge a future together, or will new threats ruin their second chance at forever?

‘Give Love a Chai’ is a full-length contemporary romance, and can be read as a standalone. Book #2 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Her dress probably cost more than my monthly salary, and I didn’t even have to look down to know that her nails had been buffed and polished more than even her wine glasses at home. And those were meticulously polished daily with silk cloths and steam from filtered water by housekeepers wearing gloves.

 

Clayton may be eye candy, but Andrew was some weird whole-person candy for me.

 

One thing that I had learned while dating Clayton— you didn’t need to be best friends with someone to share gossip. Drama was the most infectious of diseases, and no amount of social distancing could eradicate it, only slow the rate of spread.

 

I hadn’t realized until now how exhausting it was to argue with yourself. You knew all about your own weaknesses and, unlike arguing with others, you couldn’t slam the door and leave.

 

My Review:

 

I struggled with this one and am waffling in how to rate it as while I enjoyed the clever lashings of humor and sensual steam, the emotional tones were far from balanced due to the overload of angst and constant conflict, which is just not my jam. But if angst is your friend, you would most likely be a happy camper and bouncing in your chair. Amongst the angst, poignant heart-squeezing threads were noted and Ms. Wen’s smoking hot sensual scenes had me gasping during their happier phases.

The storylines were original and the writing was easy to follow, colorfully described, and pulled sharp visuals to my mind’s eye throughout perusal. The main characters were likable but as a couple, they took turns annoying me with their on-again/off-again, back and forth, and panic modes became a bit tedious, yet I remained invested in the story and curious about the mysterious secrets they each hid from the other.

 

About the Author

Nanxi Wen thought she was going to write the greatest historical novel. Turns out, her characters decided that they want to be in the 21st century with modern plumbing, online shopping, and reality TV shows. Her first book comes out in February 2021 – Give Love a Chai.

She lives in New England with her husband and two clingy monkeys (aka toddlers). When she is not despairing over word count, she enjoys reading, snacking, drinking coffee, sitting by the fireplace, hanging out with friends (far apart and with masks), and daydreaming.

Find Nanxi Wen online

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Book Review: Mad About Ewe (Common Threads #1) by Susannah Nix @Susannah_Nix  @SmartyPantsRom

Mad About Ewe (Common Threads #1) by Susannah Nix

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Dawn Botstein is doing just fine after her divorce, thank you very much.

She’s got her yarn store to run, her house to herself for the first time in her life, and no use for men anymore. That is until the hottie silver fox who walks into her store turns out to be her old high school crush—the guy who rejected her 30 years ago.

No way is she going to lose her head over him this time, no matter how well he wears that salt-and-pepper lumberjack beard. Okay, so he’s the opposite of her ex in every way, and his attention gives her a thrill she thought she’d never feel again. She’s not risking her heart again.

Mike Pilota is having a mid-life crisis.

Only instead of buying a red sports car he can’t afford and dressing like a 25-year-old who’s time-traveled from the 1990s, he quit his job after his second divorce to move closer to his recently widowed mother.

He didn’t expect to run into Dawn again, but as soon as he lays eyes on her he’s utterly smitten. So he sets out to make up for past mistakes and prove he can be the kind of man she deserves.

But is it too late for second chances? Or will these two lonely hearts find a way back to each other?

‘Mad About Ewe’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.  

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

  … before Mike went off to college in Ohio— I screwed up my courage to ask him out on a date. It did not go well. His expression in response to my proposal that we catch a showing of Turner & Hooch was not unlike that of Janet Leigh when Norman Bates pulled back the shower curtain. The sight of Mike’s face frozen in shocked surprise still haunted me occasionally in my anxiety dreams.   I’d catch a heady whiff of her perfume. It was floral, but not like just any old flowers. She smelled like the kind of flowers that only bloomed deep in a mysterious woodland fairy realm.   It looks a lot easier when you do it. Your fingers are so small and graceful. Mine are as ungainly as a pack of Oscar Mayer wieners.   “As you wish.” My heart melted a little more. A man who quoted The Princess Bride in the middle of a make-out session? I had to reach up and touch his face to assure myself he was real.

 

My Review:

  This was a crisp, enjoyable, and breezy read, I was having so much fun the day just flew by. The storylines were entertaining and engaging and packed with amusing smirk-worthy levity as well as insightful observations and inner musings. I adored this couple together, it only took them thirty years to get it right but they sizzled like rabid teenagers despite the passing of time. I certainly picked a winner to introduce myself to the clever craft of one Ms. Susannah Nix, but I knew I couldn’t go wrong with a Smartypants Romance.
 

About Susannah Nix

Susannah Nix is an award-winning author of contemporary romances featuring smart women and swoony men, including the Chemistry Lessons series of romcoms about women who work in STEM fields and the Starstruck series of movie star romances. Susannah resides in Texas with her husband, two ornery cats, and a flatulent pit bull. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, cooking, knitting, watching stupid amounts of television, and getting distracted by Tumblr. She is also a powerlifter who can deadlift as much as Captain America weighs. .  

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Book Review: Lil’s Bus Trip by Judy Leigh @JudyLeighWriter  @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

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Lil’s Bus Trip
by Judy Leigh

 

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It’s always a good time for a road trip…

When 82-year-old Lil decides to book herself, her 65-year-old daughter, Cassie, and her friend Maggie on a bus trip across Europe, she hopes for a little adventure to counteract the monotony of life in sheltered accommodation.

Along with three members of the Salterley Tennis Club and the Jolly Weaver five-a-side football team, whose ideas of a good time are rather different to Lil’s and strikingly at odds with each other’s, the merry band of travelers set out on their great adventure.

From moving moments on the beaches of Normandy, outrageous adventures in Amsterdam, to the beauty of Bruges and gastronomic delights of France, the holiday is just the tonic Lil, Maggie and Cassie needed.

And as the time approaches for them to head home, Lil makes an unexpected discovery – even in her advancing years, men are like buses – there isn’t one for ages then two come along at once. Is Lil ready to share her golden years, and can the ladies embrace the fresh starts that the trip has given them? Or is it just too late to change…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Denise wrinkled her nose. ‘This is hardly a booze cruise, Cassie. I think it’s a mistake to imply that it is. While we’re enjoying the cultural richness of each place we visit, our interest in the alcohol is purely intellectual.’ She held up her beer, then took a deep draught. Her glass was almost empty.

 

Lil caught her breath. ‘Maggie, we’re in the middle of the red-light area.’ Maggie stopped and stared at her friend. ‘Oh, no – should we go back?’ ‘Why ever would we do that?’ ‘Someone might proposition us.’ Maggie was aghast with fear. Lil laughed. ‘I’m eighty-two and you’re only a few years younger, Maggie. We’d have more chance of being propositioned if we paid the clients.’

 

‘Fifty euros for fifteen minutes?’ Maggie marvelled. ‘And I’ve done it for nothing all my married life.’

 

Lil pressed her lips together, trying not to burst out laughing. It was most entertaining, the way others’ secret lives and liaisons were unfolding on this trip. Lil was enjoying it almost as much as her romance novels.

 

My Review:

 

What fun! Every time I pick up a book by this clever wordsmith I find a new favorite octogenarian. I want to be just like her Lil when I grow up, she is eighty-two years young and proudly and unapologetically reads “bonking books,” performs random acts of kindness, is up for all types of shenanigans, and flirts outrageously every morning with the much younger tattooed man who owns her favorite breakfast eatery.

 

The writing was well-honed and shrewdly paced with original and engaging storylines that were relatable and entertaining while packed with wry smirk-worthy humor. The book featured an interesting cast of oddly beguiling characters of various ages and walks of life from common to snooty while traveling together on a coach tour of Europe.

 

I adore and revere this author’s skills as she covers all the feels with smart observations and keen perceptions while keeping a smile on my face during the vast majority of my perusal. Plus, she had me Googling a giggle-snort-worthy exchange between the elderly ladies involving a “posing pouch.”

 

About the Author

Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of A Grand Old Time and The Age of Misadventure and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

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Book Review: We Belong Together by Beth Moran  @bethcmoran @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

We Belong Together
by Beth Moran

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Eleanor Sharpley has been living a lie…

Needing to escape her London life quickly, Eleanor throws her things into the back of her car and heads to her erstwhile best friend Charlie’s family farm.

But Charlie isn’t there. Instead, she finds Charlie’s grieving brother Daniel, her eight-month-old daughter Hope (a daughter Eleanor had known nothing about), and a crumbling and unloved Damson Farm.

Damson Farm lies at the edge of the village of Ferrington, with the river Maddon flowing at its heart. But Ferrington is a village divided by more than just a river – it is split in two by an age-old feud – between the Old Side and the New Side. Eleanor has run from her problems, straight into a family and a world that has problems of its own.

But Damson Farm has magic too, and as winter gives way to spring, the old farm starts to come to life under Eleanor’s love and care. The orchard starts to blossom with daffodils and bluebells, and the sound of bees busy in their hives fills the warming air. Can Eleanor bring Daniel and the feuding village of Ferrington back to life too, or will her secrets catch up with her first?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

After an initial glance in the mirror I had to steel myself before I could face a closer inspection… if you could find a foundation to match this skin-tone it would have been called ‘hint of corpse’.

 

Kathy deigned to glance across at me. ‘That hair tone is upsetting. I didn’t think they sold such dismal shades outside Eastern Europe.’ ‘This is my natural hair colour!’

 

I could feel him smiling against my hair. How could one moment be so full of horror and so deliciously lovely all at the same time?

 

My heart was flapping like a demented chicken.

  

My Review:

 

Oh, happy, day!  I have a new author to fangirl and add to my favorites list. Beth Moran was found treasure and I have entered her entire Goodreads listing to my TBR.   Her characters were exceptionally endearing while her writing style was easy to fall into, shrewdly paced, engaging, and poignant.   But it was her well-crafted storylines that ticked all my boxes, as they were relatable, realistic, and unfailingly entertaining while touching on several prickly social issues with generous servings of wry levity, internal tension, perceptive inner musings, clever humor, a blossoming romance, and a bit of peril and intrigue to round out all the feels. I enjoyed her uniquely quirky villagers as they waged a decades-old and pointless feud but I reveled in Eleanor finding her footing while also helping everyone she met find theirs as well.

 

About the Author

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Beth Moran is the author of three previous romance novels, including Making Marion. She regularly features on BBC Radio Nottingham and is a trustee of the national women’s network Free Range Chicks. She lives on the outskirts of Sherwood Forest. Beth’s first novel for Boldwood, Christmas Every Day, was published in September 2019.

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Book Review: A Dollop of Delight (A Recipe for Love Novel Book 5) by Kelly Collins  @kcollinsauthor

A Dollop of Delight
(A Recipe for Love Novel Book 5)
by Kelly Collins

 

She’s tired of coming in second. He needs to be first. Will a baking competition chill the air or bring heat to the kitchen?


Pastry chef Chloe Mason is always chosen last, so when she has to fill a space for a no-show contestant on the popular reality cooking show The Big Bake-off, she vows to settle for nothing less than first place. With her and Luxe Resorts’ reputations on the line, she puts all distractions aside—that is until fellow competitor Mark McMillan kicks things up a notch in the kitchen. Before she knows it, the attraction between them moves from a slow bake to a full broil!

Baker Mark McMillan is about to lose everything—his home, his business, his self-respect. Winning The Big Bake-off is his last-ditch effort to save it all. Victory should be as easy as pie, but Chloe Mason could ruin everything with her sweet-as-spun-sugar smile. She’s one teaspoon of trouble, a tablespoon of frustration, and a whole lot of competition.

Will rivalry ruin the passion stirring inside them, or will they each bring the perfect ingredient to make a winning recipe for love?

Find out in A Dollop of Delight …

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

On the outside, she was smiling, but inside she was cussing like a sailor— a drunk sailor who’d stubbed his toe.

 

All this woman was missing was a wart on her nose and a broom.

 

I heard about his disappointment all my life. Pleasing Dad was like petting a porcupine. It was impossible and painful.

 

She remembered her grandma Mavis once telling her that love is defined not by what you get but by how much love makes you want to give.

 

My Review:

 

This was a tasty treat from beginning to end and I was smacking my lips and savoring every sweet and amusing morsel. The storylines were entertaining and easy to follow with the perfect mix of levity and external tension. The characters were relatable and quick-witted and gave good banter as they teased and flirted their way into a blossoming and supportive romance.   They were also endearingly earnest humans and people I’d enjoy spending time with, even if only to sample their outstanding culinary skills. Their conflicts were seldom with each other, which is always a refreshing change. I adored Gage and wish men like him existed outside of a book but alas, he was far too perfect to exist out in the wild so I enjoyed him while I could and will keep him on my Kindle.

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

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International bestselling author of over 30 novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.

Book Review: A Midwinter Match by Jane Lovering @janelovering @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

 

A Midwinter Match
by Jane Lovering 

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Ruby Oldbridge needs to learn to take her own advice.

A brilliant counselor at work in York, she is however floundering in her own life. Her romantic track record is woeful, her finances are in a pickle, and she’s back in a house-share after splitting up with her useless ex.

But one thing Ruby is brilliant at is helping other people find a way through their problems, and she excels at the job she loves, doing just that.

Happy-go-lucky, Mr. Positivity, Zac Drewe also loves his job – the trouble is, it’s the same as Ruby’s, and the management has decided to ‘rationalize’ their department. There’s only room for one of them.

As the snow and winter close in on York, Ruby and Zac have everything to lose, and Ruby starts to wonder if the happy face Zac shows the world, might be disguising a sadder secret.

Set against one another, they are unlikely friends. But perhaps, if they could take the time to understand each other, they might discover that rather than rivals, they could be the best thing that ever happened to one another…

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

The meeting room was a swirl of people, all milling about on the static-filled carpet like restless wild ponies before the roping started.

 

Although office gossip has it that Zac is fancied by over half the female staff, and his going may cause a backwash of oestrogen and eyeliner that carries us to the brink of destruction.

 

‘I hope he gets syphilis and his willy rots off!’ Sophie called back cheerily, and went back to her phone call.

 

It gave me a chilly feeling in the pit of my stomach. As though we were being picked off, one by one, vanishing one day never to be seen again. It was either a ruthless management style at work or ritual sacrifice.

 

Unresolved sexual tension. The air was so thick with it in here that I could only get in with scissors.

 

You disappoint me. I thought I was going to have to fight off hordes of disappointed women, I was going to buy a special stick.

 

My Review:

 

I adored this cleverly perceptive and wittily written tale. I guffawed and chortled as I dove between the pages laced with Ms. Lovering’s smirk-worthy levity, sharp comedic visuals, and head-nod inducing snark. I was totally engaged and fully present with them in the midst of their office chaos, clearly hearing the shuffling of papers and squeaking of office chairs over the drone of Christmas carols. The characters were endearingly quirky and struggling to do their best while in a difficult squeeze whilst in competition with each other for the same desperately needed job. The storylines were relatable as well as entertaining while striking all the feels and eventually igniting an unexpected fledgling romance. I reveled in the perfection of the epilogue.

About the Author

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Jane Lovering is the bestselling and award-winning romantic comedy writer who won the RNA Novel of the Year Award in 2012 with Please Don’t Stop the Music. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home. Her first title for Boldwood will be published in September 2020.

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Book Review: What’s Left Unsaid by Emily Bleeker @Emily_Bleeker

What’s Left Unsaid
by Emily Bleeker

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An enthralling novel of secrets, second chances, and confronting the past by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone.

After a series of devastating losses, Chicago journalist Hannah Williamson has landed in Senatobia, Mississippi, to care for her bedridden grandmother and endure grunt work at a small newspaper. But in cleaning out its archives, Hannah discovers a compelling distraction from her life: a series of rejected articles from the 1930s that illuminate a long-hidden mystery.

The articles, penned by a young woman named Evelyn, are haunting accounts of first love, trauma, and surviving a mysterious shooting that left Evelyn paralyzed at the age of fourteen. The articles stir up more questions than answers, and Hannah becomes consumed by what’s left unsaid. Encouraged by Guy Franklin, a local middle school teacher, Hannah’s investigation into Evelyn’s past becomes more personal with each new reveal. For Hannah, as both a journalist and a woman bearing her own emotional wounds, this is a chance to move forward and bring closure to the story of the girl whose secrets are buried in Senatobia.

What Hannah’s about to discover next is that, even after nearly a century, the truth she’s been looking for still has the power to change lives. Especially her own.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

My mama always said that you need to let people have whatever fiction makes their life tolerable. And I agree. There’s no use in churning up the past.

 

This man could make her feel like this— like a shook-up bottle of pop or the time she’d put regular dish soap in the dishwasher in her first apartment instead of dish detergent and the kitchen had flooded with suds.

 

No one from her father’s family had ever said the word depression or suicide—Mamaw’s tolerable fiction was an accident while Sam was cleaning his firearm, but accidents didn’t usually come with a goodbye note.

 

He moved out immediately, ignored her calls and texts, and fell into a new life without her like in his life story she was written in pencil and he’d decided to make revisions.

 

Her accent was thick like it was an elixir she’d swallowed whole and it was coating her throat and mouth.

My Review:

 

This was my introduction to the wily craft of Emily Bleeker so I had no idea that I was stepping into a book tornado, as fact – her storylines tossed me around but good. The feels were going in every direction but my heart was battered and bruised by her poignant threads concerning Evelyn. It wasn’t until after I had finished reading that I learned the book was a mixture of fact and fiction and Evelyn’s half was not only based on fact, it packed an even more powerful punch as it was close to home.

At various times while reading, my palm itched to give the main character of Hannah more than a few pops to the back of the head for being so tiresome and self-involved; but depression does that, a condition the author truly captured well. Hannah was deeply and realistically flawed, childish, and often annoying, yet her tale was intriguing and I had a hard time not being snappish when my perusal was interrupted.

All of Ms. Bleeker’s characters were well-contrived and held my interest and curiosity. I enjoyed the colorful descriptions and snarky inner musings as Northern Hannah arrogantly appraised those around her in her new transplanted environment of Mississippi while staying with her paternal grandmother. Yet her superior attitude had a false bottom as even if her current position at a small newspaper was beneath her, she also knew it was the only one that would currently have her and she was in danger of losing it with her continual cock-ups.

The writing was perceptively observant and hit upon various social issues old and new, as some problems such as abuse of power and privilege and racism are deeply rooted and most likely will never go away and have unfortunately been resurrected to be far worse than a mere five years ago.

About the Author
Emily Bleeker is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of What It Seems, The Waiting Room, Working Fire, When I’m Gone, and Wreckage. Emily is a former educator who learned to love writing while teaching a writers’ workshop. After surviving a battle with a rare form of cancer, she finally found the courage to share her stories.  Emily lives in suburban Chicago with her family. Between writing and being a mom, she attempts to learn guitar, sings along to the radio (loudly), and embraces her newfound addiction to running.

Book Review: Emily’s House by Amy Belding Brown @AmyBeldingBrown

Emily’s House
by Amy Belding Brown

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From USA Today bestselling author of Flight of the Sparrow Amy Belding Brown comes an evocative new novel about Emily Dickinson’s longtime maid, Margaret Maher, whose bond with–and ultimate betrayal of–the poet ensured Dickinson’s work would live on.

Massachusetts, 1869. Margaret Maher has never been one to settle down. At twenty-seven, she’s never met a man who has tempted her enough to relinquish her independence to a matrimonial fate, and she hasn’t stayed in one place for long since her family fled the potato famine a decade ago.

When Maggie accepts a temporary position at the illustrious Dickinson family home in Amherst, it’s only to save up enough for a ticket west to join her brothers in California. Maggie never imagines she will form a life-altering friendship with the eccentric, brilliant Miss Emily or that she’ll stay at the Homestead for the next thirty years.

In this richly drawn novel, Amy Belding Brown explores what it is to be an outsider looking in, and she sheds light on one of Dickinson’s closest confidantes–perhaps the person who knew the mysterious poet best–whose quiet act changed history and continues to influence literature to this very day.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

We love Aunt Elizabeth, but she’s a human corset, and a tight one at that. A person needs to breathe after a week of wearing her.

 

I couldn’t think what she meant—it made no sense. But that’s how it was with Emily. She sometimes said things in a way made me think I should be writing down the words and saving them like gold coins.

 

Thank you. You always wear the perfume of thoughtfulness.

 

It’s hard work tending the grieving, for they don’t have their wits about them. And the dead always leave troubles behind for the living to mend.

 

Haven’t you ever noticed how certain scents flutter around us, Maggie! Like ribbons in a breeze.

 

She turned and gave me a sad smile. “It’s the transitory nature of life that makes it so sweet, don’t you think, Maggie?” she said. “The knowing each moment that it will never come again.”

 

I closed the window and drew the curtains so her spirit wouldn’t be coming back and making mischief. For I knew she would try. Emily had a talent for mischief and I wasn’t so foolish to think Death would be stopping her.

 

It was Emily’s favorite time of day, an hour before sunset when the air turns gold.

  

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this insightfully written dual timeline tale weaving fact and fiction about the enigmatic Emily Dickinson. The writing was stellar and true to the period with amusing and profound perceptions of an often-disconcerted Irish maid who was initially coerced into working in the home of the revered family. The engaging storylines crossed several of my favorite genres including women’s fiction, historical fiction, and family drama with descriptions and observations that conjured sharp visuals to my gray matter.

The Dickinsons were an odd family, each one being quite peculiar in their own way, yet Emily’s oddities were the most intriguing and sparked of brilliance. It feels an outrage that her haunting passages and clever wordcraft weren’t appreciated until after her death.

I’d never heard or read of several of the Irish phrases used, such as “wet the tea,” yet the meaning was immediately clear with writing that was easy to fall into and engaged the senses. This was my first exposure to the talented scribe known as Amy Belding Brown, but it certainly will not be my last as I was impressed and consumed by her craft and fell into a Google wormhole looking up the characters and scandals she featured. The research and prep must have been massive, as is my adoration of her mad skills.

Amy Belding Brown is the author of historical novels, including the USA Today bestselling Flight of the Sparrow, and Mr. Emerson’s Wife. A New England history enthusiast, Amy was infused at an early age with the region’s outlook and values. A graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, she received her MFA from Vermont College and now lives in rural Vermont with her husband, a UCC minister and spiritual director.

Book Review: Colouring Outside The Lines by Amanda Paull @Apaullfiction @rararesources 

 

Colouring Outside The Lines
by Amanda Paull

Meet Katie: she’s about to marry the most wonderful man in the world. The planning is done, the checklist is checked. The future is set.

Having spent her twenties and thirties enjoying life with good friends, and building a career she loves, it’s taken Katie until her forties to contemplate settling down. And she couldn’t be more delighted she waited.

So, why is her perfect groom standing gawping at her, wearing mismatched socks and sweating buckets? This can’t bode well.

With her special day in tatters, Katie has a decision to make. Does she snatch back the reigns of her old life, and tighten her grip even more? Or should she take a chance on change? Will she find the key to happiness at a Pilates class in a smelly old hall? Or is the curveball heading her way too huge to handle?

If you like British humor and a flawed protagonist on an emotional journey, you’ll enjoy reading Amanda Paull’s latest novel, Colouring Outside the Lines – a heart-warming tale of shattered dreams, self-discovery, and finding true love where you least expect it.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘I wish I’d had a cute brother. Our Simon gave my Barbie a crew cut and pinched the wheels off her car.’ She struggled to imagine him ever looking cute, even when he was young. He’d always had a face she felt like slapping. Or perhaps that was only because he’d been such a rubbish big brother. The image of her empty piggy bank flashed across her mind, and she had an urge to slap his grown-up face.

 

Katie stood in the doorway and gave a loud cough. Her parents both shot around, their expressions frozen in horror. They looked like a terrible photograph, snapped in the night following a rude awakening from a bright torch. The comedic aspect of this scene took the edge off Katie’s growing anxiety, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek not to laugh.

  

My Review:

 

I adore Amanda Paull, her unique tales and peculiar casts of players tickle my funny bone in the most merciless manner. She specializes in creating outlandishly obnoxious, selfish, and amusingly hideous family members and characters that are on the edge of vile, yet I have never failed to remain invested and engaged in their tales – if only to see that the one semi-normal family member comes out alive at the end. The humorous storylines annoyed, entertained, and kept me guessing. I wanted to give the main character numerous pinches as well as a few hugs before I reached the end, at least she did apologize for being “a bit deranged.” I am still smirking an hour after finishing and eager to see what Ms. Paull’s magical pen conjures up next.

 

About the Author

Amanda Paull grew up in the North East of England and couldn’t wait to move away. However, after studying and then living both in England and abroad, she returned to the North East and wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else now.

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After a short career in teaching, she retrained as a nurse. She recently retired from her post as a Sleep Nurse Specialist and now spends her time writing Women’s Fiction novels and Romantic Comedy short stories.

Social Media Links

https://www.amandapaull.co.uk

https://twitter.com/Apaullfiction