CBR16 Book 58: "Much Ado About Nada" by Uzma Jalaluddin

Page count: 320 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Retelling (modern retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion)

CBR16 Bingo: Bollywood (set in Canada with desi protagonists)

The absolutely last place Nada Syed wants to be is the big annual Muslim convention in downtown Toronto. She is nearly 30 years old, single and lives at home with her parents and two brothers. If she goes to the convention, there is a high chance that she'll run into her old mentor, formerly her mother's best friend. She might also run into her mentor's son, her former business partner, who promised to help her launch an advice app, but stole her ideas and launched a rival app of his own shortly before the official release, making Nada's app a dud. 

Now Nada's friend Haleema is getting married, and her fiancée Zayn's parents run the convention. Haleema obviously wants to introduce her future husband to her maid of honour. What no one knows, because Nada has made very sure not to tell anyone, is that while she's never met him, she knows of him from his brother Baz, who will also be at the convention. Nada hasn't seen Baz for six years, and they have a long and complicated past between them, some of it romantic. When they finally do meet again, Baz treats her like a stranger, which she can understand, but it still hurts. During the days of the convention, their paths keep crossing, and with each new meeting, Nada can't help but wonder what would have happened if she's given them a proper chance all those years ago, instead of breaking both Baz' and her own heart.

Jalaluddin's first novel, Ayesha at Last, was a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in Canada. Her second novel, Hana Khan Carries On, had a lot of elements from You've Got Mail. In this novel, Jalaluddin takes inspiration from Persuasion, and even includes some direct references to the characters and some quotes. It, therefore, shouldn't come as a surprise to the reader that Nada and Baz have a past, and that there are unresolved issues between them, as well as regret and longing colouring their current interactions. 

Nada and Baz first met when they were eleven, at Sunday school. Baz was the new boy and Nada became his relentless bully, trying to gain popularity and fit in. It's pretty bold of the author to show such a negative side of Nada as early as chapter two. By the time Nada and Baz meet again, she has realised how badly she acted and apologises to Baz, who forgives her. They become friends, and later, when they are students together, romantic feelings spring up between them. But they are young and inexperienced, and Nada's parents disapprove of their relationship, so they have to date in secret. Having to lie to everyone she knows and keeping Baz secret from her friends and family is difficult, and in the end, Nada's insecurities and doubt lead to them breaking up.

While Nada's parents indirectly contribute to Nada and Baz's breakup, they are not portrayed as bad people. They care a lot about their three children, who all have challenges in different ways. Nada's elder brother got divorced and has joint custody of twin girls, but still lives in a small apartment in his parents' house. Nada is worried that he is depressed and unable to move on with his life. She takes him to a dating event during the convention to help him meet new women, and maybe get a new chance at love. Nada's younger brother has a rare genetic disease that makes him wheelchair-bound, but despite his parents' protectiveness, he clearly has ambitions and plans for the future that don't involve living at home forever.

The need to change and move forward with one's life is a major theme in the book. Nada and her brothers all need to make some changes and take steps to better their futures. Nada realises that she also has to deal with her former professional failure, and after many years of being depressed and dejected, she is finally getting new ideas and possible plans for new and useful apps to develop. 

Normally I'm not a big fan of second chance romances, but as with the novel it's homaging, this was really sweet. I also liked the subplot with Baz and Zayn's Muslim boyband, and their adoring audience throwing extra hijabs on the stage to show their enthusiasm. While I wouldn't say Jalaluddin has achieved pre-order status yet, she is absolutely someone whose books I would probably pay full price for, since I've now read and really liked three of her novels. I'm already looking forward to seeing what she will do next.                                                      

Judging a book by its cover: All of Jalaluddin's covers have fairly different designs, yet each of them also features a woman with a hijab, so there's certainly no doubt that she writes about Muslims. Of the three books I've read, I think I prefer Hana Khan Carries On to this one, but they are all nice. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 56: "Three Reasons to Run" by Jackie Lau

Page count: 241 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Free Space

Disclaimer: This was an ARC from the author, it has not affected my review in any way. 

Leo Mok (younger brother of Max, from Four Weddings to Fall in Love) is late for his cousin Carl's wedding because he got a speeding ticket. He's not exactly thrilled to be going, since he's had a crush on the bride since he first saw her at a family gathering two years ago. He's about to leave his car when the bride comes running out of the church and nearly crashes into him. She implores him to help her get out of there, and Leo wouldn't hesitate to help a woman in distress, even if he wasn't infatuated with her. He takes her to buy ice cream and helps her fetch her things from her apartment before anyone comes home. 

Yvonne Siu is a people pleaser and has always tried to be the perfect daughter and later girlfriend. She could never understand why her older sister was always in conflict with her parents and eventually rebelled and cut all contact with them. She's been in a relationship with Carl for five years, and while she hasn't really felt appreciated or satisfied for a long time, she invested a lot of time and effort into the relationship. She even forgives Carl for cheating on her. However, as she is walking up the aisle, she just can't make herself marry him. She flees and is deeply grateful to Leo for helping her escape the awkward scene of her wedding. 

Even if Leo hadn't been present in the parking lot as Yvonne came storming out of the church, she would have had an escape available. Shortly before the ceremony, Yvonne spoke to Leo's mother, who could tell she was having doubts and gave Yvonne her car keys just in case. Once Yvonne clears out her things from the apartment she shares with her now ex-fiancée, Leo's parents offer to let her stay with them at their house until she can find a place of her own. So Yvonne ends up crashing temporarily in Leo's old bedroom. 

While Leo tries to keep his distance, he is completely unable to say no every time Yvonne asks for help, or to hang out, and later, because she's never really had a satisfying sexual experience, to "show her a good time". Leo knows that he shouldn't want his cousin's ex, and Yvonne has a lot of work she needs to do before she's certain she's ready for anything new. Can there ever be anything more between them than friendship and casual sex?

Jackie Lau has written quite a few novels where the couple's HEA (happily ever after) doesn't involve becoming parents. When they reconnect after she runs from her wedding, Yvonne discovers that her sister is heavily pregnant. Once her nephew is born, Yvonne is happy to spend time with the baby, but it also confirms to her that she doesn't actually want children of her own. Running away from her own wedding shakes up Yvonne's life drastically, and she's left with a lot of time to think and reconsider her wants and priorities for her future. It becomes very clear to her that being a mother is not part of that future. 

Her thoughts on motherhood are not the only things that Yvonne needs to consider. Having been a "good girl" her entire life, trying to be the perfect daughter who never caused any trouble, and later the perfect girlfriend and fiancée, it's only after leaving her Carl that she realises how unhappy she was. Seeing her sister, entirely estranged from their parents, so happy with her partner and seeing Leo's parents, many years married, also in a healthy, functioning relationship, she comes to understand how toxic the situation she grew up in was, and how controlling and demanding her father was. Her ex wasn't emotionally abusive, like her dad, but he did take her for granted and never seemed interested in or cared about what Yvonne liked, wanted or needed.

Leo is quiet and rather taciturn and doesn't think he's in any way good enough for Yvonne. He's also so smitten that despite knowing it's a bad idea, he still takes every chance to spend more time with her. He takes care of her favourite plan, he will happily hang out with her, or go for a meal with her, and he ends up going on her honeymoon with her. Agreeing to casual sex so she finally discovers what a satisfying sex life is like? He isn't going to say no to that. He has to come to terms with the fact that while his life might seem quiet and boring next to those of his siblings, he's a kind, helpful and very thoughtful person, and wanting what is best for the person you love isn't a bad quality in a partner.

While I liked this, it wasn't one of my favourite of Lau's books. She doesn't write bad books, but this one felt 'just fine' instead of 'really great' if that makes sense? Your mileage may vary. 

Judging a book by its cover: Maybe not the most exciting of covers, but the wedding bouquet is very pretty and the flowers and the pastel colours give a good indication of the book's content (a wedding will be involved, it's unlikely to be a very angsty read). 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR16 Book 55: "Touch Not the Cat" by Mary Stewart

Page count: 400 pages

Rating: 3 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: From the decade I was born (1970s)

Smart Bitches Book Bingo: Published in 2000 or earlier (first published 1976)

CBR16 Bingo: Vintage (published 48 years ago)

Briony Ashley is working in Portugal when she recieves word that her father has died, in what appears to be a hit-and-run accident. Her father didn't die instantly, but had time to ramble some strange and slightly mysterious things, among them a warning that Briony needs to be careful. She goes home to what is now her cottage, bordering Ashley Court, the large and expensive estate her father could really only keep by renting out parts of it to wealthy Americans, and letting the National Trust conduct guided tours in other parts of it. Briony is rather relieved that the estate will no longer be her responsibility, and doesn't begrudge her male cousins the inheritance at all. However, she is a bit taken aback when she discovers that several valuable artifacts have been removed from the house. Have they been stolen?

It seems to be an occasional family trait in the Ashley family, going back generations, that some of them have the "sight", that grants them premonitons, and sometimes the ability to telepathically communicate with other family members. Briony has been using this gift since she was a child, able to transmit words and emotions to another, who by now she just calls 'lover' in her mind. She doesn't know the actual identity of her secret telepathic friend, but since the "sight" only seems to be shared by other Ashleys, this 'lover' is most likely one of her three male cousins. Since Briony in time also becomes convinced that one or several of these cousins were responsible for her father's untimely death, the whole telepathic soulmate that she's never actually confirmed the identity of, but who may be a close blood relation gets a bit squicky. 

I've only read one other Mary Stewart mystery, and Madam, Will You Talk? was a lot more batshit than this. In the previous novel, in between chain-smoking from waking up to literally being in bed in the evening, the heroine thought the love interest might be a murderer stalking her through Europe. Here the potential love interest's true identity isn't revealed until about two thirds of the way through, but it's strongly implied that said person may also be a murderer, and even overlooking that, he's one of Briony's cousins. 

There was a much more convoluted plot in the previous book I read, here a lot of the plot is quite slow, and while I see what the author was trying to do with the little snippets of a story from the late 19th Century included at the end of each chapter, I don't think it worked very well and felt rather unneccessary on the whole. Because I bought a whole load of Mary Stewart mysteries in an e-book sale a while back, I'm sure I'll be reading more of them eventually. At the moment, however, I finished this book mainly because it fit into three different bingo challenges. 

Judging a book by its cover: This book came out in the 1970s and consequently has had a number of covers, some of them more baffling and crazy than the next. The cover of my edition is a fairly boring one, with a grave in the foreground and some houses from an English village in the background. Nothing here screams romantic mystery with mild paranormal elements. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 54: "Take the Lead" by Alexis Daria

Page count: 368 pages

Audiobook length: 11 hrs 10 mins

Rating: 3.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Reality TV

CBR16 Bingo: Disco (so much dancing in this book)

Gina Morales has been a dancer for four seasons of the popular reality dancing show The Dance Off, but she's never even made it to the finals. She dreams of stardom but doesn't like the behind-the-scenes machinations on the show. She may be a beautiful Latina woman, but refuses to be roped into any kind of 'Showmance'. She wants to be taken seriously as a dancer and choreographer.  Now her producer has told her that if she doesn't make it to the finals this year, her contract won't be renewed. She's hoping her dance partner this season will be an athlete or Olympic medallist or something, yet finds herself paired with a large and seemingly taciturn reality star.

Stone Nielson has been 'the strong, silent one' on his family's survivalist reality show in Alaska for far more years than he's comfortable with, and now the producers have decided that it would be great cross-promotion for him to take part in The Dance Off. The money he'll be paid, even if he doesn't make it very long will help pay for his mother's hospital bills. However, he doesn't have any dance experience and Los Angeles is vastly different from the quiet Alaskan home life he's used to. He wants to be a good partner to Gina but struggles with keeping things professional, considering how hot he finds her. 

Gina keeps resisting her producers' suggestions of a 'Showmance' with Stone and has strict rules for herself about getting involved with her dance partners, but as the rehearsal sessions get more intense and the attraction between them becomes undeniable, it becomes harder and harder for her not to fall for the large, kind, considerate and sexy Stone.

This book was a good fit for two different bingo challenges I'm doing this summer. I listened to it on audio and narrator Seraphina Valentine did a good job. The book was a bit slow to start, and I was never all that interested in all the behind-the-scenes intrigue of the reality shows, but Gina and Stone were likeable protagonists. I also think that in the latter half of the book, the story dragged a bit as Gina kept having misgivings about the relationship and I kept rolling my eyes and thinking 'Get on with it!'

Take the Lead was Alexis Daria's debut novel, originally published back in 2017. The audio version I listened to is a reworked version from 2023, where some of the content has been edited and I think some things have been added to improve the story. Having never read the original, I can't say how different it is now.

Judging a book by its cover: The original book has a wild-haired woman and a shirtless dude with very implausible abs on the cover. While the female model might look a bit like the way Gina is described, the guy looks absolutely NOTHING like Stone. So the new cover is a lot more appropriate, as at least it has a big, blond, bearded guy dancing with a pretty Latina woman. Based on the description of Gina's dance outfits throughout, the red dress the woman is wearing is far too modest, but I guess you can't get everything. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 53: "Slow Dance" by Rainbow Rowell

Page count: 496 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Plants or flowers on the cover

Cary and Shiloh were best friends in high school. They saw each other every day, told each other everything, and were utterly inseparable. Everyone thought they were in love and would end up together, but by graduation, they're still just friends. Both come from unstable family environments and dream of getting out of Omaha. Shiloh is going to college to become an actress and Cary has joined the Navy. Once Cary finishes boot camp, he is certain what he wants and needs to do. He shows up at Shiloh's college and they spend 48 hours together, finally acting on their long-repressed feelings for one another. But neither of them is old or mature enough to say what they actually want and need. Shiloh knows Cary has dreamed of seeing the world and getting away from Omaha his whole life, she's not going to stop him from going. Cary has waited and longed for years, but since Shiloh seems perfectly happy to send him on his way, he assumes he misinterpreted her affections.

The two of them don't speak again for fourteen years. Shiloh gets married, has two kids, gets divorced. Cary works diligently in the Navy, slowly advancing in rank. They both get the occasional update about the other's life from their friend Mikey, who was also their best friend (but never like THAT). When Mikey marries for the second time in 2006, both Cary and Shiloh are hoping the other will be there, without wanting to admit to themselves why it's so vital for them to reunite. Shiloh is late for the ceremony, but shows up for the reception, and despite Cary being one of the groomsmen, he and Shiloh pretty much ignore everyone else the whole time, just talking, and eventually slow dancing the evening away. 

Meeting at the wedding may mean another chance for them, but neither Cary nor Shiloh are the unencumbered teenagers they once were. Shiloh is a divorced mother with two young children who lives in her childhood home with her mother, she has a manipulative ex-husband and a job she enjoys. Cary is only back in Omaha on leave for a few days, desperately trying to sort out the finances of his elderly mother and still working for the Navy. He's going to be on a ship in the Pacific for months. They finally manage to talk about their brief, passionate weekend so long ago, and the misunderstandings that led to their heartbreak and disappointment and having no contact for so long. They promise to keep in touch from now on, and Shiloh agrees to help out if something happens to Cary's mother.

This time, when Cary leaves, it's not a total goodbye. He and Shiloh send texts and e-mails and Shiloh steps in and helps when Cary's mother has a fall and needs to be taken to the hospital. Six months of e-mails, letters and care packages later, Cary is sure what he needs to do. But is it too late, has he misinterpreted things again? Can he convince Shiloh that while they squandered more than a decade of their pasts, there is still hope for their future?

I started reading this pretty immediately after finishing Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews. On the surface, the contrast between the two stories could hardly have been greater. One is an action-packed paranormal story full of magical critters and dark gods, while the other is a slow-burn contemporary novel full of wistfulness and regrets. However, both stories are about adults who have been through a lot of disappointment and hardship in their lives and are just doing their best to get by. There is a hope of reconciliation and new beginnings in each of them. 

Rainbow Rowell is one of my favourite authors. After writing the Simon Snow trilogy and for a few different Marvel comics titles, this is her first novel for adults in a decade. Alternating between the characters' present in 2006 and their past, in the 1990s, when Rowell herself was in high school, this story is absolutely not for teens. Shiloh and Cary are in their early thirties and have both lived a life, much of it away from each other, yet never really forgetting about the other. 

For a lot of this book, I felt frustrated about how many misunderstandings and how much of the story was complicated by a failure of the characters to communicate clearly. Rowell has said that of her previous novels, this one is probably a tonal sibling to Eleanor & Park, and that is a good comparison. Neither Cary nor Shiloh had happy, stable home lives growing up. They have messy family situations and life seems to throw a lot of obstacles in their path to a possible happy ending. Rowell also makes it very clear that teenagers are rarely the best at expressing themselves or knowing exactly what they want and need in any given situation. 

While the plot in 2006 progresses in chronological order, the flashbacks to the past keep jumping back to various points in Shiloh and Cary's friendship. The POV changes between Shiloh and Cary and the reader is privy to their thoughts and hopes and therefore the mutual pining for so long throughout the book. It's a very romantic story, for all that it is slow and wistful and the characters have a lot of baggage to work through before daring to take the plunge and love again. 

Both Shiloh and Cary are damaged people, who find it hard to trust. It's one of the reasons they found closeness in their teenage years, and why they still can't let go of the hope of the other, even after fourteen years apart. There's quite a bit of pain and angst before our characters finally get their happy ending, but it feels so worth it once they do. When I got the chance to buy a signed hardback copy while visiting the US, I happily took it, even though I'd already pre-ordered the book to my e-reader months before. Considering how dreadful the exchange rate is for Norwegians at the moment, that should tell you something of my love and dedication to Ms. Rowell. 

Judging a book by its cover: I really don't like the green of the cover (which is slightly lighter on the actual book than in this picture). It feels sort of putrid. The crushed, slightly wiled corsage on the cover seems very appropriate though, considering the story within. It can symbolise a number of things. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 51: "The Earl Who Isn't" by Courtney Milan

Page count: 370 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: 2024 Summer Release

Disclaimer! This was an ARC from the author. This has not affected my opinions or my review. I have also paid actual money for my own copy of the book because Courtney Milan is on "my pre-order immediately when she announces a new book" list. 

Andrew Uchida works very hard to collect and cultivate seeds, plants, and vegetables, and every time he learns of a plant or vegetable that one of the diverse residents of the little town of Wedgeford misses from their homeland (Wedgeford has inhabitants who have ended up there from all sorts of corners of the globe, many of them from Asia), he does his best to figure out a way to grow it, to allow said resident to feel a bit more at home in their new homeland. He also helps run the inn that his mother, aunt and uncle own. 

Andrew has also hidden a secret for most of his life. He is, in fact, the eldest legitimate son of the Earl of Arsell, and his mother is technically a countess. Now his father (who he has never met) is dying, and Andrew is very determined not to have to become an earl. So when Lily Bei, the woman he has loved for most of his life, returns from China after seven years away, and excitedly confides in him that she has proof that he is next in line to the earldom, he isn't exactly thrilled. While he hates having to lie to and dissemble with Lily, he also can't have her "help" him by securing him a noble title he desperately doesn't want. Complicating things further, Andrew is very aware, from stories his mother told him, that the relatives of the Earl of Arsell are extremely ruthless, and are not going to accept a half-Asian man as the heir to the title. If they discover that his mother is still alive, and has a son, they are likely to try to do away with both of them.

Fear for the safety of himself, but mostly his mother, is also the reason why Andrew never told Lily how he felt about her before she was sent off to China by her grandfather. Before she left, they shared one night together (because Lily wanted to make sure she wasn't married off to anyone and made sure to ask her best friend to help divest her of her pesky virginity). Now Lily is back, and more irresistible than ever, but Andrew just cannot bear anything happening to her or any potential children they might have. 

Lily believes Andrew sees her as nothing but a good friend. She also believes her grandfather sent her to China because he was disappointed in her when she tried to join the English suffragist movement. In China, instead of learning to be a dutiful wife, she became even more radicalised and learned to use a printing press. Now she has bought one of her own and intends to print translated poetry in order to inspire universal suffrage. Never one to entirely fully understand subtle language or social cues, Lily always felt like the odd one out in Wedgeford, growing up. She is surprised to discover that many of the people she thought disliked her or wanted nothing to do with her are delighted that she's back and eager to include her in their social circle. 

The Earl Who Isn't is the third and final book in Courtney Milan's The Wedgeford Trials, about the inhabitants of the fictional village of Wedgeford in the south of England, where a large number of immigrants, especially of Asian descent have settled down and made new homes for themselves. It was established early in the series that one of the unspoken rules of the town is that newcomers aren't really asked about their past, where they came from, or why they have moved there, allowing them the possibility of a blank slate and a chance at a new beginning. In this book, we discover part of why this rule came to be. 

Andrew Uchida has been a supporting character in both the previous two novels in the series and Lily has been mentioned, although she was away when both of the other couples in the series got their happy endings. There are cameos from Chloe and Jeremy (or Posh Jim), as well as Andrew's cousin Naomi and her husband Kai, and the young and implausibly named Mr. Wilderhampsher plays a fairly significant part in the story.

In my opinion, Courtney Milan has yet to write a bad book. Some are on my all-time favourite romances list, but all are good and I always learn new things when I read them. In this, while the romance between Andrew and Lily was sweet, I found that the personal developments of each of the protagonists as well as the growing relationship between Andrew and his previously unheard-of younger brother took up more of the story than the actual romantic plot. So that makes me unable to rate it more than 4 stars. 

Judging a book by its cover: All three books in this series have had excellent covers (a far cry from the photo-shopped wedding dress covers of The Worth Saga novels). I love the colour of the woman's dress (although it seems way more bright and colourful than anything Lily is described as wearing in the story), I love the way the couple is embracing and gazing at each other. Really well done. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR16 Book 50: "The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love" by India Holton

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Only one bed (and horse)

CBR16 Bingo: And also... (Repeat of the Bananas square, because this book fits the bill)

Beth Pickering is the youngest professor of ornithology at Oxford, and she needs to really impress the faculty if she is to get tenure. She works with wealthy widow Hippolyta Quirm to try to locate and capture rare (and usually dangerous) birds. Just as they are about to capture the coveted deathwhistler, a rival ornithologist, the dashing young Professor Devon Lockley from Cambridge, swoops in and steals the bird away from them. Not only that, he has the temerity to flirt with Beth!

Beth is determined to keep her distance from such an obvious villain as Devon, but that becomes a lot harder to do once a competition to win not only "Birder of the Year", but a large cash prize and tenure for the winning ornithologist is announced. Ornithology is a discipline full of ruthless individuals who are willing to do almost anything to catch their prey, and Beth and Devon discover that they are probably more likely to succeed if they join forces trying to track down the elusive bird in question. Of course, there can only be ONE winner, so sooner or later, one of them is going to have to betray the other. 

What Beth and Devon (and all the other unscrupulous competitors) are unaware of is that the contest is in part to drum up publicity for and increase recruitment to the ornithology departments of British universities, not to mention encourage international tourists to visit Britain. Both Beth and Devon are young, intelligent, and attractive, and publicity agents soon have newspaper reporters trailing them and emphasising just how dashing and compatible they are, spinning a fictional romance in the press long before Beth and Devon can actually act on the growing attraction between them. Constantly finding themselves in locations where there is only one room (with or without the one bed) available, or one horse that they must use to escape pursuers doesn't exactly make them less aware of one another.

Will Beth and Devon succeed in locating the rare bird needed to win "Birder of the Year"? Will they survive the various devious traps and vicious birds thrown at them by competitors (or publicists wanting to secure exciting news coverage of the competition)? Will they actually ever find privacy and peace enough to possibly act on their growing feelings for one another, or will inconvenient interruptions keep occurring? Which of them will actually win the contest (and the coveted tenured position)?

India Holton already wrote three witty and adventurous novels set in an alternate Victorian England with witches, pirates, domestic staff who were also spies, and a bunch of flying houses. In her new series, Love's Academic, there are lots magical birds all over the world, most of them in varying degrees of viciousness, and the academic discipline of ornithology is full of manipulative scoundrels, all working to one-up each other for fame and glory. I'm not going to lie, I care very little for birds, and all the actual ornithology stuff, while wildly fantastical, did very little for me.

This book is an adventure novel, through and through, taking inspiration from films like Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and Romancing the Stone. Our protagonists might seem very different at first, but it turns out that always being smarter than everyone else around them, and having to prove their brilliance in academia at a very young age, hasn't exactly made them popular growing up. While Beth has dealt with years of rejection by becoming a very proper, polite, and unfailingly kind young lady, Devon has hidden his insecurities behind a charming exterior, seemingly careless about what anyone might say or think about him. He's utterly smitten with Beth from the start, constantly in awe of both her beauty and academic achievements. Beth keeps trying to deny just how handsome and dashing she finds Devon, wanting to keep him at arm's length and calling him a villain, but she comes to discover that he's not just a charming rogue, but an equally skilled and intelligent scholar, and obviously her perfect match. 

I'm eager to see where Ms. Holton takes the series next. The next book in the series involves Devon's cousin Gabriel (he seems grumpy and deeply unimpressed with Devon's antics, but nevertheless helps him several times throughout this novel) and magical geography. The Geographer's Map to Romance isn't out until 2025, but after the teaser chapter included at the end of this book, I'm already very excited to see what happens to Gabriel and his estranged wife.

Judging the book by its cover: I love both the colours and the design of this cover, featuring no people whatsoever, just a very formidable bird and a simple and elegant design. I had pre-ordered this book long before the cover design was revealed, but now I might have to buy a physical copy, just so I can have this pretty book on my shelf. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR16 Book 49: "Not Another Love Song" by Julie Soto

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Rock star or musician (this one has both)

Gwen Jackson started playing the violin at eleven and now, over a decade later, she is part of a popular ensemble orchestra and dreams of one day being famous enough to play solos and tour on her own. To pay the bills, she occasionally plays weddings on weekends with her roommate. Being told by the wedding planner that the bride wanted cello and piano, rather than violin, Gwen is forced to do her best and improvise, even though she's barely ever played the cello. She's even more flustered when the cello she's allowed to borrow belongs to Xander Thorne, popular rock star and master cellist. 

Gwen knows her performance is mediocre at best, and is painfully aware of the scrutiny of one of her musical idols. While she's loved Thorne and Roses, Xander's band for years, as well as played with him in the same orchestra for over a year, Xander doesn't seem to even know she existed prior to this wedding appearance. He certainly notices her afterward. Shortly after their first proper meeting, Gwen is promoted to First Chair at the Pops Orchestra, a position that Xander has wanted for years. He wants to despise this seemingly timid nobody but is forced to admit that she is very talented, and has every potential to become a star if she just learns to let go and forget about the audience watching her. 

While they initially dislike and distrust each other, there is also an undeniable attraction between them, and after a memorable evening when Xander invites Gwen back to his apartment to see his instruments (not actually a euphemism), it becomes clear that they collaborate beautifully together (and also really want to bang each other). Once their relationship becomes public, however, it turns out Xander's manager is less than thrilled, while Gwen's superiors at the Pops Orchestra want to mine it for ticket sales. Gwen and Xander also have very different ideas of where their career paths should lead. Will they be able to find a happy ending together?

I read Julie Soto's first novel, Forget Me Not, last year and mostly enjoyed the story of wedding planner Ama eventually reuniting with her lost love, florist extraordinaire Elliot. Both characters turn up in cameos in this novel as well. It seems that Soto, who like a lot of authors out there today, got her start as a fan fiction writer, and this book is actually a reworked Reylo fan fic that she didn't initially get a publishing deal for. There are obvious signs throughout the book that the protagonists are based on Rey and Kylo Ren, but I didn't mind it all that much. Obviously, this is a rivals to lovers story, and while it ended up being quite a cute romance, it starts out a bit rough, mainly just because I am never really a fan of the 'being mean and rude to the object of your infatuation' trope. Most of the book is written from Gwen's POV, with the occasional chapter from Xander's, so the reader is aware of how fascinated and besotted he is before Gwen is clued into the fact, mostly again, because he's rude, dismissive and outright unpleasant to her when they actually interact. 

Neither Gwen nor Xander have had the easiest time growing up. It also turns out that despite being from very different backgrounds (Xander's very privileged, Gwen's not so much so), the same woman actually taught them to play their instruments. Once Xander shows a more vulnerable side, he becomes a much less frustrating character. Part of what made this book so enjoyable was some of the supporting characters. Gwen's roommate and some of Xander's band members were a lot of fun. The villain of the story and their motivations could have been more nuanced and thought out, though.

In my review for Forget Me Not, I wrote that I hope Ama's photographer stepsister gets her own book. I still hope that, and I also hope that in the next story, the protagonists aren't Rey and Kylo Ren with the serial numbers filed off. 

Judging a book by its cover: I totally get why the author is excited to have this image on the cover of the book, it's a very memorable and sexy scene in the story. However, the cello in question is very clearly an electric one, which is NOT what is pictured here. I know that this might not matter to most readers, but I find it exasperating. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 48: "A Ruse of Shadows" by Sherry Thomas

Page count: 368 pages

Audio book length: 13 hrs 3 mins

Rating: 3.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: the latest or last book in a series

CBR16 Bingo: fan fiction

This is book 8 in the series, and really not a good place to begin. Start with A Study in Scarlet Women. 

Charlotte Holmes, more used to solving murder mysteries, now finds herself questioned by the police, the main suspect in the murder of Lord Bancroft Ashburton. Inspector Threadles is concerned for her, but needn't have worried, Ms Holmes isn't going to let something as tiresome as a charge of murder keep her down.

In the present, the reader follows Charlotte and her questioning by the police. In various flashbacks, we are given insight into what has really happened, and how Charlotte, her beloved Ash, Mrs Watson and the rest of her gang have been working on a number of different schemes, some of which did involve Lord Bancroft. 

While I really enjoyed the most recent book in the series, A Tempest at Sea (or Lady Sherlock on a Boat! as I have cheerfully renamed it in my head), this one felt like more of a chore to read. No reader of this series is actually going to believe that anyone can stick a murder charge to Charlotte Holmes, whether she actually decided to murder someone or not, so the whole framing device of her being questioned seemed a bit tedious. Then there are the flashbacks, which are spaced out oddly, and keep illuminating different aspects of the story, which obviously doesn't entirely come together properly until the end. It probably doesn't help that this story referenced things that happened fairly early on in the series and I didn't entirely remember all the details, so kept being a bit confused.

As a big fan of Thomas' romances, I was pleased to see that the relationship between Ash and Charlotte is proceeding apace, and some very lovely declarations are made over the course of the story. I always enjoy Mrs. Watson and her niece, but have to confess that I care very little for Charlotte's sister Livia and her thwarted romance with the put-upon Mr. Marbleton. This whole book felt like filler, and since the plot seems to suggest that Charlotte is gearing up to take on Mr. Moriarty in a more serious manner in upcoming books, I am not exactly thrilled by the prospect. Nevertheless, Kate Reading's narration always make these a treat, so I'll probably be reading the upcoming books as well. 

Judging a book by its cover: Another woman in an expansive dress, seen from the back, possibly running from something or towards something. Is it supposed to be Charlotte? Who knows?

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 45: "The Ex-Talk" by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Page count: 352 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Pets (Steve Rogers Goldstein plays a fairly major role in the book)

CBR16 Bingo: Dreams (Shay has dreamed about having her own show on public radio for over a decade)

Shay Goldstein grew up loving radio. She and her now deceased father would listen to radio together and even have their own pretend radio shows, so she is very grateful for her job as a producer at a Seattle public radio station, and is very happy with what she does. However, while trying her best to be an indespensable help to the hosts whose show she produces, she can't help but wish she could have a show of her own. She's also very frustrated about the fact that one of the radio station's new hires, Dominic Yun, keeps being given positive attention by their boss, even though Shay has worked there for a decade, while Dominic only recently graduated with a journalism degree.

Unexpectedly, during a pitch meeting (where her boss asks her to take notes, naturally, can't leave that to a man), one of Shay's ideas is met with great enthusiasm and before she knows it, Shay will have a chance to host her own live call-in show. The only problem? The show is supposed to be hosted by two exes, who now share relationship advice, rooted in their own relationship failures. The station boss proposes that Shay and Dominic pretend to be those exes, a little white lie to help bring listeners and advertising revenue to the station. Neither is happy about having to lie to their listeners, but once it becomes clear that both of them, and possibly their young producer too, are likely to lose their jobs if they don't go ahead with the show, they reluctantly agree.

The Ex-Talk very quickly becomes a huge success, and their fan base grows week by week. On social media, there is a lot of talk of Shay and Dominic's supposed relationship, with a lot of people hoping "they get back together". The co-hosts are both shocked and pleasantly surprised at how well their show is doing, but they also start feeling more and more uncomfortable about lying. Only their boss knows their relationship is pure fiction, even their producer thinks they dated for a few months but kept it quiet. What will happen if the truth comes out? After spending so much time together, discovering the other person's strengths and weaknesses, Shay and Dominic also find themselves falling in love. Can they really risk an actual relationship when their entire working life is based on them being broken up?

Confession here, I find radio generally very boring. Going to university in Scotland, with so many of my friends absolutely addicted to BBC Radio 4, I've listened to my fair share of it. I just don't get it. I don't really get podcasts either. Why would I spend lots of time listening to people talking about stuff when instead I could read, or listen to an audiobook? It just seems like wasted time. I will, on occasion, listen to pop culture related podcasts with my husband, but we also watch a lot of TV together, so it becomes more about the shared experience, and feels less like I'm frittering away time when I could be reading. So I cannot tell you how true to life all this behind the scenes in the radio world this book is.

I did, despite my indifference to radio shows and podcasts, really enjoy this book, mostly because Shay and Dominic are great characters, both separately and together. Both of them are very lonely people, and once their initial antagonism (much greater on Shay's part than on Dominic's) passes, they discover that they have a lot in common. Shay has invested sensibly and bought herself a house, but it feels far too big for her, and she can't really be there without all the lights on and TV or radio playing. Once she adopts a dog, the adorable, if somewhat demanding, Steve Rogers, her life improves, even if she now has to go home every afternoon to make sure he gets walkies.

Shay manages to squash down her misgivings about lying to their audience because she's wanted a show of her own for so long. She gets Dominic to agree to give it six months, even though he's scrupulous about workplace ethics and being truthful. As their show becomes not just a local listening success, but starts becoming a thing nationwide, both of them are uncomfortable about the way their boss is managing the situation, and especially how much he seems to ignore Shay, but listen to Dominic, even when they're saying the same thing. The job market is tough, and a steady paycheque is important, but how long can they continue lying to their family, co-workers and friends? 

My LibraryThing tells me that I own quite a few Rachel Lynn Solomon books, both YA and adult fiction. This is my first romance by her, and based on it, considering how much she made me care about characters and a premise I wasn't sure I would even like, I am absolutely going to be reading more of her books in the next year or so. 

Judging a book by its cover: I like the cute simplicity of this cover, and the two faces over the microphone. It works for me, even though I'm very aware that modern radio and podcasts in no way are recorded this way. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR16 Book 44: (Trust) Falling for You by Charish Reid

Page count: 145 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: A novella

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: The Great Outdoors   

Yolanda Watson tries her best to be an engaging and motivating English professor, she is well-liked by both her colleagues and her students. However, writing grant applications are not her strongest suit and she is upset that she lost out on a generous grant that could have helped a lot of her disadvantaged students.

Samuel Morris knows he's not popular, and doesn't particularly try to be either. He believes in working hard, following rules and taking things seriously. He's aware that Yolanda seems to dislike him, but doesn't really know it's because he was awared the grant she had also applied for, which he also needed the grant to help many of his own disadvantaged students. On his part, he finds Yolanda both exasperating and confounding, and wishes she'd be on time for committee meetings and show signs of taking issues seriously occasionally.  

Now the two of them are forced to share a cabin while on a team-building retreat in the woods of Wisconsin. Not only that, the people who share a cabin are Team-Building Buddies for the whole retreat and are supposed to do a lot of different bonding activities together. Samuel is a neat freak, Yolanda is chaotic and messy. Can they endure a week together? How long before their dislike turns to like, and possibly lust? And will Yolanda, very much a city girl, survive challenges like grasshoppers, spiders and even bears?

It can be tricky to write a satisfying romance in a novella, since you have a lot less space and time to get the characters together. Since Yolanda and Samuel are already coworkers and know each other, to a certain extent, they already have an established connection. Then there's the forced proximity, and various challenging situations where one of them has to help or assist the other, and since this is a small scale story without too much drama, it's not like there needs to be a third act breakup or some sort of grand gesture for them to get together. It's very quickly established that their dislike of each other comes mostly from them being very different people, and once they get a chance to talk and get to know each other better, those differences don't really matter. Over the course of the novella, Yolanda helps Samuel relax and let go a bit, while he helps her get more focused and organised (and promises to help her improve her grant applications in the future). 

This novella has been on my TBR list for a while, and seemed like the perfect choice when the Smart Bitches Summer Bingo had a square for "The Great Outdoors". Since the Nowhere Book Bingo had a square for "Novella" this worked as a two-fer, which is great.  The only other Charish Reid I've read is The Write Escape (also for the Nowhere Book Bingo, clearly Reid just writes books that fit that challenge well) and I like both stories, although the one set in Ireland is probably more to my taste than this one (like Yolanda, I'm not very comfortable outside in nature). Based on the two stories I have now read, I'll probably be moving some of my other Charish Reid books higher on my TBR. 

Judging a book by its cover: This is a pretty cute cartoony cover, although I'm pretty sure the woods described in the novella are nothing like the weird tall and strangely spaced beech trees on here. I especially like the bear peeking out from behind the bush in the background (IYKYK). 

Crossposted by Cannonball Read                                                                                       

CBR16 Book 43: "Don't Want You Like a Best Friend" by Emma R. Alban

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: 2024 Debut Release

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: New to Me author

CBR16 Bingo: Scandal (Gwen and Beth's friendship lead to a scandal in the latter half of the book)

Beth is the daughter of the Viscount Demeroven, but has no brothers, and as a result, the title will pass to her cousin. If Beth doesn't find a wealthy and suitable husband during her first season, she and her mother will be left with barely anything (because her father was a very unpleasant man who didn't settle any money on them in his will). She hates being out in society, though, smiling and nodding and pretending to be a ninny just so some man might like her.

Her season gets a bit more bearable when she befriends Gwen, the daughter of a notorious rake. Gwen is in her fourth season, but since her father is wealthy, there is no real need for her to marry, and with each passing year, she becomes more certain she probably doesn't even want to. She takes an instant shine to Beth and promises to help her find a suitable match. The young ladies also notice that there is something strange going on with their parents, and discover that Beth's mother and Gwen's father were friends, and possibly more, back before Beth's mother got married. Now they seem determined to avoid one another, which is difficult as their daughters are becoming best friends.

Beth wouldn't have to get married if her mother married someone wealthy, so the young ladies start scheming (rather ineffectually) to get their parents to fall in love. While trying to push their parents together, the girls grow ever closer, and it becomes obvious that one of the reasons neither of them want to get married, is because they are madly in love with each other. Meanwhile, Beth has managed to catch the attention of a very eligible young man, and their matchmaking plan isn't going as well as they are hoping. Will our young lovers be separated because of Beth's need to secure her future?

A Victorian romance novel with a pair of lesbians with a title inspired by a Taylor Swift song? Sign me up. The book is set shortly after the introduction of the crinoline, or hoop skirt, so there is quite a lot of descriptions of the intricate garments the ladies have to wear during the various balls and such. Both young ladies, upon discovering their queerness, are able to be open with their various family members and instantly accepted, which seems unlikely for the time period, but also avoided some of the angst often present in queer historicals.

The story is mostly frothy and fun, some of the dialogue and attitudes felt anachronistic, but the characters (both the protagonists and the supporting cast) are very charming and I really enjoyed readin it. As is often the case with historical romances (hi Jane Austen!), women's rather unfortunate situations if left without generous male relations are highlighted. Beth's mother was in a similar situation to her daughter before she got married, and since Gwen's father was an untitled nobody at the time, he felt heartbroken when she chose to marry Viscount Demeroven rather than him. Sadly, the now late viscount was abusive and Beth is very aware that her parents' marriage was less than ideal. She dreams of being able to marry for love, but is all to aware that a lot of the eligible men of the ton might hide cruelty and unpleasantness behind their well-dressed facades. Gwen's father is in Parliament and trying to gather enough support to pass a bill that would make it possible for wives to divorce their husbands in cases of abuse or cruelty. Unsurprisingly, there there are a lot of noblemen opposing the bill, and as such, are not big fans of Gwen's father. 

This is Ms. Alban's debut novel. In the final part of this, she pretty heavily foreshadows the sequel, where Beth and Gwen discover that their male cousins (one of them the new Viscount Demeroven) both seem to be gay, and while they are trying to hide it, rather interested in one another. So they decide on another matchmaking scheme. I'm already looking forward the the hijinks that will no doubt ensue. 

Judging a book by its cover: Yet another wonderful cover by Leni Kaufmann, although based on their descriptions, I think Beth (the dark-haired one) should quite a bit shorter than Gwen (the blond one). Their dresses are lovely, and it's a nice touch that the main colour choices can also be found in the lesbian Pride flag. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read 

CBR16 Book 42: "To Say Nothing of the Dog" by Connie Willis

Page count: 512 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: Award Winner (Won the Hugo and Locus awards in 1998, plus a bunch of others)

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Scene on a boat or body of water (there's a lot of rowing on the river)

CBR16 Bingo: Tech (time travel requires pretty specific technology)

This is the second book in the Oxford Time Travel series, but you really don't need to have read the first one, Doomsday Book, to understand and enjoy this one.

In the universe these books are set in, time travel was discovered, but once it was further discovered that no items could be taken back to the future, so it couldn't be used to gain riches or plunder the past of treasures, the technology became used solely by historians, and there are strict rules that must be followed when doing it for academic pursuits.

Ned Henry is an Oxford historian in the 2050s who feels like he's going mad. Lady Schrapnell, a frightfully wealthy and extremely demanding woman is funding the recreation of Coventry Cathedral (in Oxford, for reasons not really explored in the book) and is demanding that absolutely everything is exactly like it was before the Cathedral was destroyed in an air raid during World War II. Ned has been sent on countless missions back to the past to locate something known as the bishop's bird stump (I had to google this, it turns out it's an incredibly ugly vase shaped like a tree stump with decorative birds on it), because that was one of the items apparently present in the church at the time. Because he has been unable to locate it, Ned has had to go back to the past and visit any number of church bazaars and jumble sales in the hopes of finding the blasted relic. If people are sent back too often, they start getting delerious and behave very oddly, so Ned is ordered by his boss to get some rest.

He can't get the required rest in the present, however, because if tyrannical Lady Whatsherface discovers his whereabouts, she'll just demand that he keeps looking for the bird stump. So Ned's boss sends him back to the Victorian age, to hide out for a few weeks and get the much-needed break he requires. In the Victorian age, he encounters a fellow Oxford historian, Verity Kindle, who is trying to undo an unfortunate mistake, and if they don't manage to set things right, it could have consquences for the entire future timeline. While working together to fix Verity's mistake, she and Ned also have to try to make sure that Lady Schrapnell's ancestor, a truly dimwitted girl, doesn't fall in love and marry the wrong person, a task that proves more complicated than one might first have imagined.

I read Doomsday Book back in 2016 and don't remember it very fondly. It was far too long, the plot meandered a lot and because most of the story takes place during the Black Plague, it was also pretty depressing. This book is much lighter in tone, and a lot of the plot plays out like a farce, with humorous mix-ups, misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and a fairly large cast of rather ridiculous characters. The book is also full of literary allusions and clever references to all sorts of academic things, at least 50% of which went entirely over my head. I'm not sure I'm clever enough to appreciate this book on as many levels as the author intended.

Ned and Verity are both extremely likable characters, and my main complaint about the book is that there is so much faffing about and preventing romances between other characters, so there isn't enough time for them to spend together on page, developing their own romance. Nevertheless, this was a fun read, and I'm very much looking forward to my book club's discussion of it in August (we were supposed to have the meeting in June, but too many people were sick or busy, so we just postponed everything over the summer, which also gives more people the chance to read the book). Considering some of the books we've had in the previous months have been rather disappointing, this one felt like a breath of fresh (albeit confusing) air. 

Judging a book by its cover: This book has been out for decades, and as such, there are a lot of different covers for it, most of which I dislike. The cover for my e-book copy isn't great either, but at least I like the warm colours on it. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read