Love Songs for Skeptics by Christina Pishiris

 

4*

I really liked this one although it was sometimes confusing to keep all of the characters straight. There were overlapping love triangles, office romances, spoiled, dissolute rocks stars, and misdirection based on poor or misleading communication. It's a cautionary tale about the need to let go of old loves in order to open yourself up to the possibility of something new and better. Take one dash of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, mix it with a pinch of Daisy Jones and the Six, and you get a concoction that blends all the flavor notes in this book. It's a wild ride with a couple of surprise twists that keeps you riveted until the final page.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Sourcebooks Landmark through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

5*


Whenever you’re in the mood for an intelligent, somewhat steamy, addictive romance, look no further than the writing duo Christina Lauren. In Soulmate Equation, their latest swoonworthy treat, single mom Jess, a freelance statistician, is intrigued by the gorgeous but arrogant man who has stopped into her local coffee shop every morning for the past two years. She and her best friend Fizzy, a bestselling romance author, have dubbed him Americano, but when the barista tells them this stuffy guy (real name, Dr. River Pena) is starting a matchmaker service, skeptical Jess can’t help but ask him for details. Turns out he’s a geneticist who has developed a dating app that matches people based on their DNA. When she and Fizzy visit his office to provide a spit sample, little does she suspect that she and River will be almost a perfect match.

This is marketing gold for a company about to go public. So when they offer to pay Jess to spend time with River for investors & the press to get a birds-eye view of the successful technology and for him to prove that his program works, she can’t afford to refuse. However, neither of these practical, data-driven doubters believes that a high score will automatically translate into happily ever after, especially since their initial impressions of each other are so negative. It’s no surprise that, as they spend more time together, the attraction grows and they both begin to realize that the numbers don’t lie...or do they?

There’s so much to love about this book: Jess’s precocious 7-year-old daughter Juno who instantly warms to River, her loving grandparents who raised her after her drug-addicted mother lost custody; River’s meddling sisters; the friendship between Jess and Fizzy; and the wonder of two people who’ve put their search for love on hold (he by focusing on his company & her by devoting herself to motherhood), only to realize that life is more than just statistics. As with any successful romance, the road to happiness is bumpy and littered with baggage, but this one is well worth the trip. Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Gallery Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn

5*


When Will first visits the Chicago apartment building he inherited from his uncle, his only thought is to sell it as soon as the year his uncle required he keep it expires. He refuses to live there due to the bad memories associated with it, except for one shining exception: the young girl he saw on a balcony tossing cherry tomatoes at the squirrels who strikes his very heart and soul, a feeling he’ll never forget. Although he never got the chance to speak with her, Nora is the one bright spot in a day when Will lost everything. When he finds her 16 years later, living in her late grandmother’s apartment and looking out for the older tenants who are like family, he realizes that his plans to rent the apartment short-term will make him the enemy. Despite Nora and the others’ attempts to sabotage his efforts, the two are drawn to each other.

Clayborn has such a way with words. Describing their first pseudo-date on a Lake Michigan beach and discovering the comfort and joy they find in each other’s company, she writes, ”Between them, the jacket-tablecloth had wrinkled up, a dozing chaperone.” So much of their relationship is conveyed with looks, limited words, and intense feelings that can’t be hidden. However, the path to happily-ever-after is strewn with the baggage of childhood neglect and abandonment for both of them, and Will is determined to avoid falling into the “rash, reckless, selfish” love he witnessed between his parents (as described by his uncle on that fateful day). Out of fear that he might follow in his parents’ footsteps, he spent his adult life proving that he could be stable, measured, and in control, going on to become an ER doctor. It will take a great deal of persuasion on the part of friends who care for him to get him to accept that there isn’t just one way to love.

There’s so much packed into this beautiful, enemies-to-lovers story: genuine emotion, a subtle romance with mild sex scenes, selfish parenting, and a colorful cast of secondary characters who offer a platonic, at times parental, kind of love. This is a very worthy follow-up to Love Lettering, and you won’t be able to help being charmed by the well-meaning extended family. Highly recommend!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Shipped by Angie Hockman

 

5*

This is a fully-engrossing enemies-to-lovers romance between two co-workers who meet face-to-face the first time on a company cruise to the Galapagos Is. They’re competing for the same promotion, and each need to come up with a digital marketing proposal. However, the attraction between them threatens to derail Henley’s plans as she comes to realize that Graeme isn’t the rude, conniving jerk she took him to be.

If The Galapagos Islands weren’t already tops on my bucket list, they would be after reading this book. The descriptions of the untouched flora and fauna of this unique place evoke the beauty and fragility that conservationists fight to protect. This fight takes center stage in the book when Henley comes up with an idea she hopes will win her the promotion and help our planet at the same time. The only problem is that she doesn’t want Graeme to lose. As they grow closer, they struggle between wanting to win with wanting to help each other.

Hockman touches on a variety of themes besides corporate politics, conservation, philanthropy, and romance to include domestic abuse, terminal illness, and the bonds of sisterhood (through both blood and friendship). It is a well-balanced offering of women’s fiction with a captivating, clean romance, female empowerment, and a colorful cast of characters. This debut author is one to watch. Give this to fans of Sally Thorne and Christina Lauren. Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Gallery Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner

 

5*

Meissner is a queen of historical fiction with stellar books such as As Bright as Heaven (set in Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu pandemic), Secrets of a Charmed Life (set in London during the Blitz), and A Fall of Marigolds (set in NYC after 9/11). The Nature of Fragile Things is one of her best yet, a taut thriller that opens just months before the 1905 San Francisco earthquake and fire. The story begins with Irish immigrant and mail-order bride Sophie Hocking being questioned by a detective concerning the whereabouts of her husband Martin after she reports him missing weeks following the earthquake. She left home under mysterious circumstances, lived briefly in the tenements of New York, then married the very handsome Martin in order to have a good life like she had in her childhood with “a warm house and clean clothes and food in the pantry,” someone to share it all with, and the opportunity to be a mother to his daughter Kat.

However, she soon finds that Martin is a very dispassionate man who pays little attention to her or Kat other than amply providing for them. He’s gone many days a week for his insurance business, but Sophie doesn’t know the name of the company or exactly what he does on his trips. When he tells her he’s going to be storing and helping sell a hair tonic made by his cousin, Sophie becomes suspicious, but she can’t begin to comprehend the depths of his deceit until she receives shocking news when a stranger appears at her door on the eve of the earthquake.

Meissner deftly weaves together the horrors of the SF tragedy, the mystery of Martin, the friendship between three women thrown together by circumstance, and the love of a mother for her child. Her descriptions of the earthquake and fire are alarmingly accurate, making readers feel as if they’re there experiencing it with Sophie and Kat. The adrenaline spikes as the mystery unfolds, and leaves us on the edge of our seats. Masterful and epic! Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Much Ado About You by Samantha Young

5*

Evie Starling, 33, is done looking for love after a string of bad relationships, culminating with being stood up by a guy she’d been texting with for a month. When she’s passed over a 4th time for an editor position at her misogynistic company in favor of a younger man, she chucks it all for a month’s vacation in northern England, running a bookstore. Shortly after arriving, she meets a handsome, kind farmer after saving his dog. Despite her best intention to focus on herself and discover if her loneliness means she wants to be in a relationship or she’s just missing the companionship of friends who are coupling up and having kids, she can’t resist the friendship Roane offers. As the sexual tension between the two grows and the villagers accept her as one of their own, she begins to believe the fantasy that there might be someone who’s just perfect for her. Can this independent feminist trust that her feelings for this unicorn of a man are real and reciprocated or will she return to her unfulfilling, lonely life in Chicago?
There’s so much to love in this delightful, heartwarming romance. Although Evie’s an American outsider, she welcomes the embrace of the villagers, and reciprocates by lovingly interfering with their lives. Whether it’s freeing a young woman from an abusive relationship, bringing together star-crossed lovers, reuniting an estranged mother and daughter, or encouraging a widow to move past her grief, she has a profound, positive effect on the lives of those around her.

This lovely romance, inspired by the real rental bookstore holiday in Wigtown, Scotland, is quite a departure from Young’s best-selling, steamy On Dublin Street series. She deftly balances the various relationships without taking attention away from the central couple, giving readers a bountiful bouquet of love and heartbreak in all its forms. Topics like abuse, addiction, racism & homophobia are handled delicately and are not gratuitous, but rather integral to the story. Recommend this to fans of Susan Wiggs, Jenny Colgan, and Christina Lauren.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

5*

This is Christina Lauren at their finest. Again, they’ve gifted their readers with a friends-to-lovers romance that, despite employing many tropes, is fresh and unique. In an added twist, heroine Mae is trapped in a Groundhog Day scenario after she wishes to be shown happiness. She is destined to repeat Christmas vacation with her family and lifelong friends until she can figure out how to capture that happiness. In this case, it’s with Andrew, the boy she’s pined for since she first discovered what love was at age 13. Unfortunately, her close friendship with Theo, Andrew’s younger brother, has obscured her true feelings so that Andrew has never felt he had a chance to make her his. Will Mae be doomed to an endless repetition of days or will the curse be lifted when the truth becomes clear?

An amusing cast of characters, especially “Uncle” Benny the pot-smoking sage, a bit of Christmas magic, and a romance full of laughter and shared memories all add up to a heartwarming gift for the holidays. If you adore Lauren’s Love and Other Notes, you want to get your hands on this treasure ASAP.

I received this ARC from Gallery Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are completely my own.