Fans of Emily Henry will not be disappointed with her latest offering, a perfect summer beach/vacation read. I enjoyed this friends-to-lovers tale desFans of Emily Henry will not be disappointed with her latest offering, a perfect summer beach/vacation read. I enjoyed this friends-to-lovers tale despite it's predictability, but to be fair the no-surprises-hallmarkish goodness of the story is exactly what we expect from these books, right? No spoilers, but I will just say characters you are supposed to like are very personable and relatable. And the witty repartee between them caused me to laugh out loud at times. ...more
Like most Jennifer Weiner books, body image/size are a primary theme in this story centered on Abby, who loves cycling and is leading her first bike tLike most Jennifer Weiner books, body image/size are a primary theme in this story centered on Abby, who loves cycling and is leading her first bike tour through NY. As the group makes they way from NYC to Niagara Falls topics touch on abortion, mother/daughter relationships, infidelity and cycling safety. Much of the story is believable and the parts that seem a bit far-fetched, well that's okay since truth is often stranger than fiction, right? All in all, was a quick read that kept my interest. I rate it 3.5 stars but rounded up since there are no half stars option here on GR (boo on GR for that!) ...more
At this point, if you a fan of Elin Hilderbrand like me then you know what you are in for. With this installment you'll get more middle aged ladies naAt this point, if you a fan of Elin Hilderbrand like me then you know what you are in for. With this installment you'll get more middle aged ladies navigating difficult issues (life after losing a spouse, the cancer scare, discovering one's true sexual orientation, infidelity from both POVs, and being unfairly cancelled, to name a few) while simultaneously living their best life against the gorgeous backdrop of the island that is Nantucket.
The writing style makes for easy-peasy reading and while characters may not be 100% relatable to the vast majority, they are very likable (except for the few villains, who serve as the vile foils). The other thing you can count on is how everything always gets wrapped up in a nice and tidy way, leaving the reader feeling satisfied with the ending. No unhappy ever-afters here!
If you are the target audience for this genre, then it squarely hits the mark and you will love it. I enjoyed the writing style, it's very digestible If you are the target audience for this genre, then it squarely hits the mark and you will love it. I enjoyed the writing style, it's very digestible and easy to read. You can tell there is a "but" coming, right?
The protagonist, Britney, sorry, I mean Kathleen was a uber successful pop star in the past, until her boyfriend Justin, wait, I mean Ryan, who was in an uber successful boyband, vilified her after they brokeup due to an alleged infidelity. The present has Kathleen preparing for a comeback in a musical directed by Cal, also a former member of the same boyband and, well, I am sure you can figure it out.
With the second chance genre, you know going in how it will end and what you hope for (at least for me) is that the route to get there is fun, unexpected and interesting. This book kind of meets these criteria, the alternating story lines of past and present were interesting, and making Kathleen a former huge pop star was fun (up until the career ending slut shaming part, which in a missed opportunity wasn't really resolved in a meaningful way) but nothing was unexpected, all of it was completely predictable.
I would still read this book knowing all this ahead of time because I just happen to like these types of snackable stories, I just wish they were not so cookie cutter predictable....more
I really enjoyed the first of the three parts of this book, which takes place in 2018 over the 6 days it takes to produce an episode of TNO (a fictionI really enjoyed the first of the three parts of this book, which takes place in 2018 over the 6 days it takes to produce an episode of TNO (a fictional version of SNL). The writing was funny and I especially enjoyed the skit with dog search history examples ("Where do humans pee? Doghub two poodles and one corgi").
Much as I wanted to like the very successful, clever comedy writer, her constant self-doubt and her fixation on not being pretty enough to date the famous musician who is very into her was off-putting. This fixation was a central theme for the book, presenting first in a skit she proposes for her show and then later the reason she self-sabotages the budding relationship with the musician.
In part two, the book switches to a series of emails sent 2 years later during the height of the pandemic when both characters are holed up at home. The writing was less fun and interesting, and was a lazy way to move the plot forward.
The last part of the book reverts back to the style used in part one but was not as engaging. By this point the self-doubt about her not being on par looks-wise with her beau becomes tiresome. The author does do a good job of capturing and integrating how the Covid pandemic impacted everyday life. Even with the Covid-realism, this is a romance story so you can probably figure out how the book ends, but the journey to get there, strong start then meh.
This is my second CoHo book and I am starting to see why she has such a huge following. The story itself isn't anything new, star crossed lovers who yThis is my second CoHo book and I am starting to see why she has such a huge following. The story itself isn't anything new, star crossed lovers who you really want to see overcome all the obstacles in their way. You'll have to read the book if you want to know whether or not they do, no spoilers here.
The author does a good job of parsing out bits of information to create some mystery to keep the reader engaged. Even though I was able to sort out most of the twists before they were revealed, I still enjoyed the tale she spun. I especially liked that CoHo included images of some of the paintings so we could see what they looked like, it was an unexpected nice touch. ...more
Imagine if you arranged a date between John Connolly's Charlie Parker novels and Faye Kellerman's Peter and Rina Decker series, and then Emily Henry'sImagine if you arranged a date between John Connolly's Charlie Parker novels and Faye Kellerman's Peter and Rina Decker series, and then Emily Henry's books showed up to join the fun. Well, you need not wonder what the output of such a steamy rendezvous might be, Shelley Burbank manages to nail it with her debut Final Draft (Olivia Lively Mystery #1 ).
Being a multi-genre book lover, this one satisfied my deep affection for both mystery and chick-lit novels, quite a feat given there aren't many authors who fit this niche. No spoilers here, don't want to ruin the mysteries of who done it and Liv's tumultuous love life for other readers. It is worth noting that one unexpected character that shines throughout the novel is the city of Portland, Maine. The warm descriptions instantly transported me right alongside Olivia....more
You know what to expect with Emily Henry books and this one is no different. I wanted to like it more but it felt like I was reading a short story thaYou know what to expect with Emily Henry books and this one is no different. I wanted to like it more but it felt like I was reading a short story that had been padded to increase the page count. If you are an impatient reader like me, you will likely find the slow pace of this story irritating.
I did enjoy the witty repartee between the characters and that the story largely takes place in Maine but sadly, this didn't make up for the constant annoyingness of the main character's inability to communicate with her best friends and alleged soulmate. ...more
Meh. Not as good as her last book, Good Riddance, but you get what you expect from this author and these type of chick-lit-rom-com stories.
The premisMeh. Not as good as her last book, Good Riddance, but you get what you expect from this author and these type of chick-lit-rom-com stories.
The premise is a good one, but the execution was pretty humdrum. Jane, a successful NYC lawyer, is sentenced to home confinement after being found guilty of public indecency. Apparently Jane has no friends beyond her twin sister. While serving her time, she learns another person in her building is also under home confinement, and of course that person is an age-appropriate, attractive, single man. Will sparks fly? You must be thinking, duh, of course! Well, surprisingly, it was more like a sputter and wheeze resulting in an apathetically anemic liaison.
There were a couple of interesting storylines weaved in, the Polish siblings seeking quickie marriages to get green cards, the cooking of unappealing recipes on tik tok, the apparent murder of a neighbor but these stories also fell short of their potential.
If you are a fan of this type of book, you'll likely still enjoy this limpish example of the genre. ...more
Seems like right now fiction from the perspective of the "bitch" is in. Carrie Soto is not a new character for Taylor Jenkins Reid, she's the "other wSeems like right now fiction from the perspective of the "bitch" is in. Carrie Soto is not a new character for Taylor Jenkins Reid, she's the "other woman" in her book Malibu Rising, and this reminds me of Book Lovers where Emily Henry writes from the perspective of the awful girlfriend who always gets dumped. Both characters are strong, successful women who know what they want and go after it, and because they are women behaving like men, they are painted as unlikable B's.
In this book, Carrie is a tennis superstar who comes out of retirement in 1994 to retain her grand slam record. With her father coaching her, she trains to play in several tournaments with the goal of taking her title back. She is single minded about this and as such, the outside world views her as gruff and cold. The reader gets to see where she's coming from and while at times her brutal honesty does make her a bit unlikable, understanding her perspective better allows you to have some empathy for her and see she is not that terrible after all.
As you accompany Carrie on her quest to retain her world record, if you are an avid reader of these types of books, you will likely be able to predict just about every major plot point, so from that perspective this wasn't as fun to read as some of the author's prior books. That said, this is a quick read, good for the beach or a plane ride, with well developed characters that draw you in.
Since the story takes place in the Mid 90's, GenX readers might feel some nostalgia with all the pop culture references peppered throughout. And as you might imagine, there's tons of tennis talk and while I did learn a lot about how the game is played, at times I felt that all the tennis talk was word count filler, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.
If you are into food fiction, which I'm guessing is a thing given the amount of space given to the descriptions of food in this book, and like easy toIf you are into food fiction, which I'm guessing is a thing given the amount of space given to the descriptions of food in this book, and like easy to read stories with some bits of strife and romance, then this is a book for you.
This was an easy read with lots of descriptions of food. The food really didn't play into the plot line beyond the protagonist's self disclosure she is a massive foodie, raised amongst other foodies. At times I felt all the descriptions were there solely to raise the word count.
The story centers around Vanessa Yu, she's got some magical powers, they run in her family. She hates the powers because she has no control over them. She agrees to let her Aunt Evelyn, who also has powers she can control, teach her how to better manage these powers. They do this in Paris where Evelyn is opening a new Tea Shop.
I won't go into more detail than that since it would spoil some of the other story lines. That said, once you start the book you'll likely be able to anticipate what will happen along the way.
Miss✧Pickypants
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