Review: Awk-Weird

Awk-Weird by Avery Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Tess and Cole's story.

Tess is a factoid-spewing florist with a devil kitten. Cole is an ice-hockey player wedded to his routines and in an on-again, off-again relationship with the coach's daughter. Tess and Cole meet and bond at a wedding rehearsal party (seriously, who has one of those?) over trivia and end up getting weddinged (carried away into having sex by the whole wedding atmosphere).

As you can see by the cover, which is pretty descriptive of the book, Tess gets pregnant from their weddinged night and this is the romantic comedy of how two people brought together by a mutual love of trivia can fall in love while having a baby.

This was a fun read, not much hockey and Tess held on to her insecurities too long - she reached that point where I wanted to shake her and tell her she was ignoring all evidence to the contrary just to hold on to her beliefs for no reason.

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Review: Meet Me at Willoughby Close

Meet Me at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ellie Matthews is a divorced single mother, she's moved from Manchester to the small village of Wychwood-on-Lea with her eleven year old daughter Abby, where they have rented a cottage in the newly renovated Willoughby Close, as a new start for both of them; a new job for her at Oxford University and getting away from the mean girls at her school for Abby.

But things quickly turn sour, Ellie has been assigned as assistant to a grouchy lecturer to type up his book on Victorian children without her knowledge, and she's already 24 hours late. Abby finds that mean girls are just as common in idyllic villages as in inner cities and the yummy mummies give Ellie the cold shoulder. Oh, and Ellie's parents and older sister are convinced she'll fail and come running home / need rescuing, again.

But then things start to get better, Abby and Ellie make friends with the owner of Willougby Manor, Lady Stokeley, Ellie's grouchy boss has a nephew called Tobias who makes friends with Abby and suddenly romance seems a possibility.

I have read these books totally out of order, can I just say that Kate Hewitt is what I want Katie Fforde books to be, but I'm always slightly disappointed (by KF not KH). There's humour, dogs, fish and chips and cottages in Cornwall, academics, crotchety aristocrats and a charming romance.

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Review: Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct by April White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shane is a PI in Chicago who specialises in exposing cheating spouses. Out on a 'date' to expose a cheater she borrows his phone and transfers half of the balance from his secret bank account to his wife's account. Shortly after the transfer her 'date's' phone sets off an alarm, he's protected by the top secret Cipher Security. Shane makes her escape, but not before she sees and is seen by a representative from Cipher, who looks a lot like Idris Elba. Now, I don't know about you but I think Idris Elba is one seriously beautiful man so I can understand Shane's rabbit in the headlights attitude.

Gabriel Eze is a British-Jamaican-Nigerian ex-soldier and ex-peacekeeper, recent joiner to Cipher. He can't help but think the tall woman with the slight limp leaving the restaurant may be connected to the theft of $500,000 from Cipher's obnoxious client. But his reason for tracking her down have very little to do with the case.

This is very different from the other series I have read by April White, The Immortal Descendants but I found it equally as fascinating. She has created a whole cast of clever, interesting characters that I want to know better. Honestly the only character that I don't think warrants his own book is the man who owns the Armenian supermarket (and I'm willing to be persuaded about him).

There's politics, Russian gangsters, murder, mystery, and just a whole load of fabulous intrigue. Loved it, loved Shane and Gabriel, loved Jorge, the Greenes and all the other characters. Can't wait to see what comes next.

An autobuy for lovers of The Princess Bride, snarky heroines, men raised by strong women and the dark web.

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Review: Parental Guidance

Parental Guidance by Avery Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you can swallow the premise that an ice hockey team would punish a senior player for saying nothing while his junior team-mates trash talked in an Uber, said punishment being to participate in dating where your mother chooses the dates and then discusses them on breakfast TV afterwards with your date's father, then you'll enjoy this.

Caleb desperately wants to be Assistant Captain, its a position he feels he's earned, but this one mistake could cost him that coveted A on his jersey. So when his mom, a force of nature in her own right, comes up with this dating scheme, five dates with a girl of his choice using a new parental guidance dating app, he has to buckle on his skates and take it on the chin.

Zara makes miniatures for a living (think dioramas), she's never had much success with men or dating but her BFF blackmails her into joining a dating app with the promise of being her plus one at a big society shindig where she could meet a wealthy miniature collector.

Their first date isn't going well, until they both reveal that they don't want to be there - then they hatch a plan, have the required five dates, maybe have some fun, but no more. They each get what they want. There's also Zara's Great Dane called Marmite, her flaky dad and some suitably cute dates. But what happens when you want more than five dates?

This was fun, sexy, cute and had a huge slobbering dog with no boundaries. Huge fun to read.

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Review: Country Hearts

Country Hearts by Cindi Madsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After being laid off city teacher Jemma Monroe takes the first available teaching job, in a small town town. Her first days are filled with inclement weather, strange livestock and grumpy cowboys.

Wyatt Langford is bringing up his daughter Bailey Rae alone after his wife left them for the big city lights. Since the divorce he's retreated into his shell, concerned only with caring for his daughter and bringing a smile back to her face. The last thing he needs is a city girl neighbour worming her way into his heart only to let him down again.

Jemma is a veritable child-whisperer, able to charm the naughtiest child in her class. The small town is charmingly cosmopolitan with country yoga classes and a cafe which creates weekly whimsical coffee concoctions. Bailey Rae is charmingly precocious and Wyatt is touching as the gruff cowboy who nevertheless braids his daughter's hair, buys her unicorn themed bric-a-brac and submits himself to tweenager films on Friday nights. But overall, it was too sweet, too predictable and didn't have enough tension to leaven the sugar. Even the school play Jemma directs is a Valentine special.

If you love a sweet small town romance, cute moppets, gruff cowboys and dedicated teachers this is the book for you.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Restoring Grace

Restoring Grace by Katie Fforde
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ellie Summers is pregnant and has fallen out of love with her boyfriend who still seems to think he's a college student. She earns a living painting watercolours of houses for their owners. One day she meets Grace Soudley, the owner of a beautiful William and Mary era country house. The two become unlikely friends and Grace offers Ellie a place to stay.

Grace is divorced from a serial-monogamist older husband. She inherited the house from her godmother but her older siblings inherited the furniture. After the divorce her ex-husband took all his antique furniture so Grace is living in a house with no furniture.

Ellie and Grace come up with a series of schemes to earn some money, including wine tasting and wine and dinner parties, but can love bloom in a sleepy village for a gun-shy divorcee?

Note to self, don't read Katie Fforde books back-to-back. The things I find charming become slightly irritating when you read books one after the other. Both of the heroes in this book were variously described as bossy and both of the heroines were happy to be infantilised, or if they weren't they made such stupid decisions that they deserved to be treated like children. Also, why do all of Kati Fforde's heroines seem to have such awful siblings?

I did enjoy this sweet English romance but next time I'll read something different as a palate cleanser before trying another Katie Fforde book.



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Review: Wolf's Bane

Wolf's Bane by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Logan and Kate Danvers get sent to Supernatural Summer Camp but what with strangely aggressive campers, weird sexual undertones, unknown supernaturals and camp leaders who seem to be fuelling the aggression.

As Kelley Armstrong has noted, this is part 1 of a two part story so it ends on a cliff-hanger but for a novella length book this certainly packs a punch, camp fires were never like this in my day!



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Review: Out with the Ex, In with the New

Out with the Ex, In with the New by Sophie Ranald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Gemma thinks getting a job at Clickfrenzy as a junior writer is the start of all her dreams coming true. Finally she'll be able to leave home and get a place in London with her long-term boyfriend Jack. BUt when she breaks the good news to Jack he tells her that he's resigned his job and is going to travel the world with his friend Olivia. Suddenly all Gemma's hopes and dreams are left for dust in Jack's wake, made even worse when he dumps her via email and announces that he and Olivia are an item.

Gemma tries to make the best of things, vlogging about hair and make-up to her small group of followers, coming up with imaginative posts about cats for work, and feeling desperately alone in a house-share in Hackney, until her tearful rant about being dumped by Jack goes viral and opens up a new world as a minor celebrity vlogger. Soon she's dating another vlogger, visiting the latest cocktail bars and endorsing products from carefully selected partner brands. But is the social media butterfly lifestyle any more fulfilling than meeting her mates down the pub? And when Jack comes home with his tail between his legs will Gemma choose her old life over the new?

This is a bit of a bildungsroman, Gemma starts out as a naive young woman, her hopes and dreams are all built around her life with Jack and her unrealistic expectations that once she got a job she would be living like a character from Love Actually or Bridget Jones. Then she gets swept into the artificial world of vlogging, whilst doing her day-job, but the quest for posts at the expense of integrity feels false. Is Jack's return a wake-up call? Will Gemma choose celebrity romance with fellow vlogger Charlie or normality with Jack? Or is there a third way?

I enjoyed this novel, I liked the side plots and stories, in fact although there is romance it is definitely subservient to Gemma's voyage of self-discovery, the romance is almost an afterthought.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: My Best Friend’s Royal Wedding

My Best Friend’s Royal Wedding by Romy Sommer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Khara is a cocktail waitress in Vegas, working her way through college. Her BFF is getting married to a minor European royal and Khara is going to be the bridesmaid. She's used to grabby customers, drunks and frat boys who think she's easy pickings but the loud, obnoxious group of eurotrash trust fund kids take the biscuit, especially the one who just assumed she'd be grateful to sleep with him - arrogant pig.

Adam is minor eurotrash royalty, 'working' for his family's investment bank, sleeping his way round Europe, drinking and partying, until a friend's suicide acts as a wake-up call, but now he feels powerless and guilty that he didn't know how bad his friend felt. Now he's best man at his cousin's wedding and intrigued by the bridesmaid who seems to regard him with disdain.

If you liked The Princess Diaries, especially the sequel, or The Prince and Me (again especially the sequel) then this is right up your street. Tiny European principalities, entitled (literally) wealthy minor royalty and plucky Americans falling in love. Of course Khara has a great work ethic and principles despite having been brought up in a trailer park by a single mum. Of course Adam is a waster, despite having parents who are hard-working and principled.

This felt like a very young book, as an over 50 I am definitely not the target audience but it was a fun read (and I am a closet fan of The Princess Diaries).

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Chosen Mate

Chosen Mate by Katie Reus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A sweet, sexy romantic novella between Alpha werewolf Malcolm and beta Leslie.

Leslie's ex was abusive and she barely escaped with her life. She has slowly rebuilt a life for herself and her son Elijah in Malcolm's pack. As she has grown in confidence she has fallen for the sexy Alpha, never dreaming that he has been slowly courting her for the past six months.

This was short but perfect, loved the way that Malcolm was going slow, trying not to spook Leslie after her last relationship. Loved the sexy Alpha caring for Leslie's son. Loved the soupcon of danger and suspense when the feral wolf encroaches on Malcolm's territory.

I received a free copy of this novella from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Highland Fling

Highland Fling by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jenny Porter is a virtual assistant. One of her clients sends her to Scotland to assess a textile mill which owes him a lot of money. Along the way Jenny meets cranky, entitled Scottish nobility, bad-tempered holiday-makers, troubled family members and the coldest house you can imagine.

This is classic Katie Fforde, sweet, slightly put-upon heroines, condescending boyfriends who are most definitely NOT the one, enigmatic heroes and a host of side characters each with their own story to tell. If I think about the plot carefully there are huge holes in it, way too many coincidences and a romance in which the protagonists fall in love with no provocation but I don't care, Katie Fforde novels to me are a form of escapism and I enjoy them. At least this time the hero's feelings for Jenny seemed clear to the reader, even if he did have a bad case of insta-lurve!

If you always dreamed of spending Christmas in a big old scottish house stuffed full of antiques with highland reels, kilts and more shortbread than you can shake a stick at then I'm sure you'll love it too.

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