Reading Fanatic Reviews
Books to Add to Your TBR list... or Not!Hey, ya’ll! I’m VERY behind getting my reviews up on the website! I’ve increased the reading and reviewing, leaving less of my leisure time available to update this website. I’ll do weekly posts with links to my reviews at Amazon; you can also check out my Amazon and Goodreads profiles.
By the way, I’m now a top 50 Amazon.com reviewer (#12 currently) and the top 8 US reviewer of all time on Goodreads (and top 9 in the world)… and the #6 US reviewer and #8 in the world in the past year. Cool stuff!
I hope to make updates to this site soon!
The Honeymooner by Melanie Summers
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Honeymooner*
Fun Romantic Comedy with All the Feels
What a delightfully fun romantic comedy! I love the unique start to the book, showing maps to made-up places and an epistolary beginning to the book. Through these letters and emails, we clearly learn a bit of the backstory of the hero and the heroine. Even with that, though, the author still did, in the beginning chapters that introduced them both, dump a little bit too much information all at once instead of letting information flow more naturally in the book. These characters have incredible backstories, but I like to see characters’ histories show up more organically rather than breaking up the flow of the narrative in a big chunk or two. The heroine’s world was tipped on its ear when her affianced leaves her waiting at the altar, breaking it off via text. She takes the honeymoon anyway, hoping to get the owner–whom she had written to previously in those early letters and emails–to take her company’s offer to buy out his nearly bankrupt resort. What she experiences when she goes to this resort is nothing she could have imagined but something that has the potential to change her life if she is willing to let go of the rigid control that she has had over her life since her mother abandoned her to her grandparents when she was a child. What path will she choose? I thought both the characters were well drawn. There were some laugh-out-loud moments. And even though I wouldn’t say I liked the backstory dumped into the text, it did really inform who they were as characters. Their actions reactions made sense given their histories. All in all, it is a well-done book.
Epic Vegan by Dustin Harder
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Epic Vegan*
Fun Vegan Recipes that May Surprise You
If you’ve ever thought that vegan food is boring, this book will disabuse you of that notion! It is full of fun and tasty-looking recipes, some of which will definitely challenge what you think vegan food can or should be. The book starts with a tiny section about vegan essentials, but the book really is all about the recipes. Sections for the recipes include basics, breads, appetizers, pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and dessert. Some recipes are meant to mimic foods and textures that omnivores are familiar with, like a section on making your own fake meats; I think these kinds of recipes in particular appeal to those who are considering becoming vegan or are in the early days of following this diet. When I have tried veganism, the one thing I missed most was a creamy texture, like you get with dairy products. This book has recipes that definitely scratch that itch, with creamy dishes that don’t have dairy. Other recipes are simply wholly vegan, with no reference to omnivore recipes. A simple flip through this book will show you the creativity contained within and will perhaps inspire your own. Whether you are new to veganism or are an old hand at it, this book will most likely give you plenty of fun ideas for this way of eating.
Curtains for Romeo by Jessa Archer
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Curtains for Romeo*
Good World but Too Much Backstory
I usually enjoy the amateur sleuth mystery stories by this author. Even though this book is long enough to support a more drawn-out peppering of backstory all throughout, this book suffered from some large info dumps in the first part of the book. Don’t get me wrong; the backstory for this series is actually interesting. The amateur sleuth, Tig (a name I actually found annoying) is a former actress who once played a teenage detective on a TV show in the 1990s. She and her teenage daughter move from the west coast to North Carolina, where the heroine takes a job as a drama professor. Their new life is upended when the former professor turns up dead, making the heroine the number one suspect. Will her skills as a fake detective help her puzzle out the present? I actually thought the book was better written from the middle on, after the backstory had been fully disclosed. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first. I did enjoy some characters and the world the author created. I look forward to the next book, hoping that it won’t be drowning at the start with too much history all at once.
The Summer Duke by Jillian Eaton
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, and Bol.de
The Summer Duke*
Hero Too Unlikeable After the Compromise
I usually like the books by this author, but I found both the pacing and characters to be off in this book. The inciting compromising incident which sparked their forced marriage took up nearly 40% of the book, not leaving much room for the conflicts and tension in their marriage to fully be explored, played out, and resolved. In that pivotal first scene, the characters actually seem to have a fair amount of chemistry, but the duke pulled back sharply, despite his undeniable attraction to the heroine, once he decided to go through with a marriage rather than ruin the heroine. Maybe it would have been better to have seen some of it from his perspective right after the wedding instead of starting with the heroine’s viewpoint. Instead, he just seems like a petulant child; “I’m not going to be a good husband because I didn’t want a wife.” The heroine was amusing at times, but she definitely lacked a spine. How could proclaim to love him after the way he treated her. And the way she attempted to “woo” him back… ack, rankled my every sensibility as a reasonably intelligent woman. Ick. I also thought that the author did some strange head-hopping in the initial scene. In the ballroom, we were in the heroine’s head in the first chapter when suddenly perspective shifts to a group of young women; the heroine couldn’t possibly have overheard them. I enjoyed the references to Jane Austen and her works, but this book, as a whole, just didn’t work for me.
Rogues Like It Hot by Various Authors
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Rogues Like Ir Hot*
Nine Steamy Reads
I am a sucker for a collection of Regency romance! Even if I don’t like every book in a set, I will usually like enough of the books to make it worth my while. This book had the standard dukes and marquesses along with a couple of pirates and a prince of a made-up realm that existed in the channel between real Regency England and France. Some of these books don’t appear to be available singly. I’ll admit I wasn’t too wild about the pirate stories (because pirate romance is not really my thing), although the authors still did a good job writing them. I thought, too, that some of the heroes were more rakes than rogues… and I prefer my Regency rogues to be just a little naughty, but not too much. Still, I found the books in this collection to be enjoyable, steamy reads.
The Finding Nolan Series by K. S. Thomas
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
The Finding Nolan Series*
Level of Crudeness Not to My Tastes
This box set follows the romances of a rock band called Finding Nolan. These stories involve the band members as well as some of their assistants and friends. Some of them followed taboo themes, like getting involved with a good friend’s younger sister. I found the stories themselves to be typical of contemporary romance, like friends to lovers and unrequited love. I found the characters fascinating to watch as they figured themselves out as well as their romances. However, I wasn’t expecting all the profanity and crudeness in the books. I guess I should have realized that most contemporary rockstar romances are written with those kinds of words and those kinds of scenes and descriptions. I have read a clean rockstar romance or two, so I forget that they can be this way. I just don’t see the need for so much swearing in modern books, especially romances. The book is also written in the present tense, which I find distancing as a reader. All in all, I can’t say that I recommend this unless you don’t mind profanity and other crudeness.
Lucid Dreaming by Patricia Smith
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Lucid Dreaming*
Elementary, Too-Short Guide
Lucid dreaming is a fascinating concept. Like the author, I had experience with it when I was a teenager, although I didn’t know what to call it at the time. I was having the same bad dream over and over, and at one point, I decided to turn the tables on my attackers in the dream; the dreams ended at that point. The book is rather short, and the subjects listed in the table of contents are not explored in any true depth. I feel like this subject actually needs more exploration to be fully understood and practiced by the reader. The book needed to be more tightly focused on lucid dreaming. At the beginning, there are sections on some of the history of sleep science and psychology that relates to lucid dreaming. In a book meant to help one explore lucid dreaming, that may be interesting information (though it wasn’t necessarily presented so here), but it really doesn’t feel relevant to the main thrust of the book. This book may do as an elementary introduction to lucid dreaming, but I am sure other books explore the subject more fully.
Married to the Rake by Samantha Holt
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Married to the Rake*
Characters Fascinating, but Plot Dull
This book was a little frustrating at times because, while I enjoyed the characters of both the hero and the heroine, I felt like the plot was a bit dull. The book has a good premise: the hero and heroine are from neighboring families who have participated in silly feuds since medieval times; these have escalated into hatred between the families, as evidenced in the current generations by their fathers. The hero, Brook, wants to mend this feud because he sees the toll it is taking on his father. The heroine, Chloe, while she doesn’t trust him because he is a Waverly and has a reputation as a notorious rake, wishes for the feud be over for her brother’s sake for when he inherits. So essentially, the plot of follows recurring complications that are similar in nature. Brook and Chloe set up something that they think will help, they fail, and they try again. There was no sense of progressive complications, no escalating conflict. I found the heroine’s self-loathing because of her looks to be disheartening; self-acceptance, if it is used as a theme in a book, needs to be handled sensitively, and I do not believe it was done so here. I also have an issue with the cover. I’m not sure which timeframe this is supposed to be, Regency or Victorian, but ladies from neither era would have worn a dress with so much skin showing. If this is meant to be an undergarment, it isn’t period either. Still, I liked these characters and their interaction; I just wish there was more to the plot.
Falling for Her Best Friend by Tami Franklin
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Falling for Her Best Friend*
Another Charming Romance in Holiday Junction
Interestingly, this is the third book that I have read in the Holiday Junction series, but it is actually the first book of the series! I had, of course, seen this couple in the other books, but now I got to read their story! This is a friends-to-lovers romance. When Vi comes back to town, she thinks she might restart her relationship with her high school boyfriend, but her best friend from high school, Cade, has actually been in love with her since high school. He was content to remain her bestie while she was dating Liam. Will he have a second chance now that they’re older?
I have found all of the Holiday Junction series books to be charming. This one felt especially so. I love the setting of the town, and that was explored more in this book than the other ones. I want to live in Holiday Junction; it is just so quaint and lovely. The meet-cute between the couple was funny and adorable, and Vi’s reaction to being home as well as Cade’s reaction her seemed honest and authentic. I like both of these characters, and it was fun to watch their relationship evolve.
Too Clever by Half by Nancy Yeager
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Too Clever By Half*
Witty Banter and Amusing Games, but Too Short
This book has a delightful beginning. The hero and heroine are in competition to get a grant for their worthy causes. The author did a good job portraying the hero’s chauvinism. The heroine wanted to win the grant for the higher education of women; the hero at first could not understand why women would need or want such a thing. After all, if they could run a household, raise children, and provide good dinner parties, of what use would more education be and how could it possibly help them fulfill the role of their sphere? The heroine does educate him somewhat, and he starts to come to some new conclusions on his own. It is hard to imagine being a woman of those times, straitjacketed into a narrow societal role, even if you wanted more.
Watching their interactions at the beginning was a delight. Tessa, the heroine, is indeed a smart woman who is underestimated by the men around her, but she’s not afraid to use her feminine wiles to get her what she wants. She is quite amusing. The hero is much more uptight, and he wants the money to help worthy young men who would not be able to afford a Harrow education to get one. I liked watching their relationship evolve. I quite enjoyed the banter and the games that went on between the hero and the heroine, especially at the start of the book, but I felt that this novella was too short to fully give much in the way of true conflict or show in-depth characterization. I also have an issue with the cover. This book is supposed to take place in Victorian England, and the cover dress looks more like it belongs at a froufrou high school prom (or is perhaps a really bad bridesmaid’s dress). Victorian women would have never shown so much skin. All in all, though, I did find a story very enjoyable, and what I got to know of the characters, I liked.
Jamie Brydone-Jack
Reader, Editor, Writer
I’m an avid reader, for both fun and work/business. I enjoy a wide variety of books, including literary fiction, romance, thrillers, cozy mysteries, and fantasy for fiction and history, contemporary issues, philosophy, music, medicine, and cookbooks for nonfiction. I’m a freelance copyeditor who also does beta and alpha reading. I have two websites that are all about romance and mystery. You can also follow my reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
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