REVIEW: Chasing the Ring by Lauren Rowe

 

OUR REVIEW:

This one was cute, y'all. I love a good romance that involves sports and this one definitely fit that...heavy on the romance, light on the sports, but it worked. Iris and Roman meet and fall in love in one romantic week in Hawaii. She's enjoying what was supposed to be her honeymoon and he's killing time before he meets up with a former coach...there's no way that they should've ever been together, never even met, but they do and the first two thirds of the novel ...or maybe first half...is all about that. It's the aftermath of that week where the swoon comes in. The steps Roman takes to prove that he is who she thought he was...and the steps she takes to show him that he can trust her and himself, is sweet and full of romance.

New to me writer, Lauren Rowe, gave me a solid romance reading experience. 

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SYNOPSIS:

Iris Benedetto’s wedding day just went viral . . . for all the wrong reasons.
After a heated blowout with her lying, cheating fiancé at the altar, Iris storms off on a solo honeymoon—loudly announcing that she’s finally going to find out what good sex is all about. Rebranding from small-town preschool teacher to #Horny Runaway Bride was not the plan, but the insanely hot stranger who ends up double-booked in her bungalow on the island of Kauai is an opportunity even devastated Iris can’t ignore.

It’s not often NFL quarterback Roman Maguire meets someone who doesn’t recognize him. Even rarer to have that someone barge in while he’s taking a shower and quickly make him an irresistible offer. Roman is in Hawaii to secure the deal that could finally land him a Super Bowl ring—and closer proximity to his son. A sexy fling in paradise is a perfect way to spend a week with a surprise roommate . . .

Except . . . suddenly a week doesn’t seem nearly enough. And once the truth about Roman’s identity, Iris’s internet infamy, and all kinds of loyalty-testing secrets are revealed, will they both be willing to step into the real-life spotlight together?

REVIEW: Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

 

OUR REVIEW:

I first came across Suleika Jaouad when I watcher her husband's documentary, American Symphony, and as someone who had recently undergone chemo for cancer, I found her to be inspiring. When my book club selected Between Two Kingdom, I immediately downloaded the Audible version (highly recommend) and began. My youngest daughter and I would read it as we drove to school and we were both deeply engaged in her experiences with her diagnosis and various treatments. Not one person's cancer journey will be like anyone else's, but there are things that feel so similar. The isolation, even when surrounded. The desire to be stoic and not needy. Independent. The exhaustion and being sick of being sick. The hope and fear that walk side by side when you have your next scans or bloodwork, waiting to hear what's going on inside your body. The allowing of speculation for a minute before you banish it and focus on the good, the here, the now. 

Is it strange to say I enjoyed it? I related. I appreciated it. I want to read all of her everything now.

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SYNOPSIS:

A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission and, ultimately, a road trip of healing and self-discovery.

In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter "the real world". She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent. The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone.

It started with an itch - first on her feet, then up her legs, like 1,000 invisible mosquito bites. Next came the exhaustion, and the six-hour naps that only deepened her fatigue. Then a trip to the doctor and, a few weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival. Just like that, the life she had imagined for herself had gone up in flames. By the time Jaouad flew home to New York, she had lost her job, her apartment, and her independence. She would spend much of the next four years in a hospital bed, fighting for her life and chronicling the saga in a column for The New York Times.

When Jaouad finally walked out of the cancer ward - after three and a half years of chemo, a clinical trial, and a bone marrow transplant - she was, according to the doctors, cured. But as she would soon learn, a cure is not where the work of healing ends; it’s where it begins. She had spent the past 1,500 days in desperate pursuit of one goal - to survive. And now that she’d done so, she realized that she had no idea how to live.

How would she reenter the world and live again? How could she reclaim what had been lost? Jaouad embarked - with her new best friend, Oscar, a scruffy terrier mutt - on a 100-day, 15,000-mile road trip across the country. She set out to meet some of the strangers who had written to her during her years in the hospital: a teenage girl in Florida also recovering from cancer; a teacher in California grieving the death of her son; a death-row inmate in Texas who’d spent his own years confined to a room. What she learned on this trip is that the divide between sick and well is porous, that the vast majority of us will travel back and forth between these realms throughout our lives. Between Two Kingdoms is a profound chronicle of survivorship and a fierce, tender, and inspiring exploration of what it means to begin again.

REVIEW: The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead

 OUR REVIEW:

I really really really enjoyed this novel. Having never heard of or read anything by Ashley Winstead I was not expecting much and I enjoyed reading this so much that I am now in search of her backlist. As it states in the blurb, this novel is a love story but it's not heavy on romance, instead it's focused on the depths of love and grief and how those things can be a controlling narrative in your life when they collide and explode and you're left to figure out how to move on with your life. In The Future Saints, not only is that happening, but this young band is struggling to figure out success and fame while grappling with the remains of grief. Can you even imagine how confusing and chaotic it would be to attain so much of what you've wanted while feeling the worst you've ever felt? And then on top of that, to have the world follow your every move? Then you have a new guy, Theo, there to 'handle' you so that things stay on track for your record company. So many moving parts.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. While there are romantic bits, those aren't the driving force of this novel...they're just icing on the cake. A messy, chaotic, flavorful cake. Definitely check this one out.

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SYNOPSIS:
This is a love story, but not the one you’re expecting.

When record executive Theo meets the Future Saints, they’re bombing at a dive bar in their hometown. Since the tragic death of their manager, the band has been in a downward spiral and Theo has been dispatched to coax a new—and successful—album out of them, or else let them go.

Immediately, Theo is struck by Hannah, the group’s impetuous lead singer, who’s gone off script by debuting a whole new sound, replacing their California pop with gut-wrenching rock. When this new music goes viral, striking an unexpected chord with fans, Theo puts his career on the line to give the Saints one last shot at success with a new tour, new record, and new start.

But Hannah’s grief has larger consequences for the group, and her increasingly destructive antics become a distraction as she and her sister Ginny—her lifelong partner in crime—undermine Theo at every turn. Hannah isn’t ready to move on or prepared for the fame she’s been chasing, and the weight of her problems jeopardize the band, her growing closeness with Theo, and, worst of all, her relationship with her sister—all while the world watches closely. The Future Saints’s big break is here—if only they can survive it.

A novel about sisterhood, friendship, and the ghosts that haunt us, The Future Saints is “a mesmerizing look at grief, love, and the music industry that's so raw and emotional, you’ll want to play it on repeat.” (Laura Hankin, author of One-Star Romance).

REVIEW: The Odds of You by Kate Dramis

OUR REVIEW:

The Odds of You synopsis had things that were an immediate draw for me: celebrity secret romance, debut writer hitting it big, romance, Scotland....lots of things that would suck me right in-which I need right now. This novel did have many things that I enjoyed, but truth be told, I also struggled. I had trouble not getting frustrated with Sage, unfairly, I'll admit, but her struggle was so visceral that I felt it and wanted to fix it and when it wasn't happening, I struggled. I also didn't quite follow the big blow up--I mean, I did, but I didn't see it as much of a big deal as the character did. That being said, even though it was a solid three star read for me, I am still thinking about it, so maybe I'll revise my star rating upwards. The private moments between Theo (her love interest) and Sage were warm and fuzzy. Sage's friend group was the best and I super loved that they had their own group chat with Theo outside of Sage. I also loved the work Sage did to move forward with her life and family in ways that felt right and healthy for her. Lots to enjoy with The Odds of You. 

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SYNOPSIS:

Sage Collins knows a thing or two about odds. A year ago, she was a data analyst until she burned it all down to pursue her dream of becoming an author. One whirlwind bestseller and a struggling second book later, and Sage isn’t sure she’ll ever write a novel again.

But then an accidental encounter with an irritating passenger on the flight to Comic Con leaves Sage in an untested position. That passenger is Theo Sharpe: a breakout actor on the cusp of fame. And, unfortunately, the paparazzi have mistaken her for his girlfriend.

Armed with signature British charm and a smile that could tame oceans, Theo wears fame like a well-fit coat…though Sage can see there’s something deeper held in his eyes. But his fans are too involved in the drama, the pressure to deliver the next bestseller is on, and Sage and Theo both must agree there’s nothing between them. They don't have to acknowledge that saying it doesn't make it true.

When Sage decides to flee to Scotland to clear her head and write her novel, she expects to find fresh air and the stillness to think. What she doesn’t expect is Theo Sharpe to come back into her life…and how he may be her greatest miscalculation of all.

An emotionally-charged novel in the vein of Ashley Poston and Yulin Kuang, The Odds of You is a smart and sexy first contemporary novel from bestselling romantasy author Kate Dramis.

 

REVIEW: The Great Dane by Suanne Laqueur

 

OUR REVIEW:

I feel like so many of us are intimidated about writing a review for Suanne Laqueur's latest, The Great Dane, because how, exactly, do you write about it in any way that captures its many layers and do it any kind of justice? I truly don't know. 

Here's what I do know. 

I know that I recognized the bone deep grief that Dane and Liko carried with them. The way Laqueur conveyed that through Liko and Dane was so convincing that I could feel it in the back of my throat and the tremble of my lip as I'd flip to the next page. I've felt that grief. I feel that grief now as my mortality seems to be constantly flashing before my face these days.

I know that I recognized that feeling of pure happiness and joy that somehow sneaks in and settles in between the ribs of grief. As Dane and Liko recounted their pasts and their present, the relief that those happy moments provided were sweet and tender, edged with a little sad, which only made the happy that much more, well, happy.

I know that I recognized how painful and yet steadying it was/is to feel like you're living from breath to breath only to eventually realize you've somehow made it days or months and you're still here, somehow surviving. Liko was living that and the depiction of it was so accurate that I felt the phantom pains that it seemed like he was feeling.

I know that the world Laqueur created was so vivid that I wanted to live on that farm and read and write and plant and weed and sink to the bottom of the pool and hike around the property and soak in the tub and go to the pub and see all the things and feel all the feels. 

I know that a few years ago over a Christmas break, I found and fell in love with Suanne Laqueur's writing and am so glad that she gifted us with the treasure that is The Great Dane.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4iiI5BD

SYNOPSIS:

This book is dedicated to all of us.
At one point or another, all of us have wondered who we are.
All of us have scratched at a label put on us, feeling it didn't quite fit.
All of us have felt pressured to be something we're not.
All of us have wished we were someone else.
All of us have looked in a mirror and been confused at what we see.
All of us don armor to do brave things: a change in voice, a different accent, a favorite sweater, high heels, a good luck charm.
All of us are fluid.
I used to think all of us hear a voice when we talk to ourselves but I've since learned this is only some of us. But whether or not you have an inner monologue, the book is for you. The journey is for you. The quest and the game and the mystery and the solution: all for you.
And also for me.

THE GREAT DANE

After the sudden death of his only child, Liko Greenman is looking for any way to pass, waste or kill time. He becomes obsessed with a compelling mystery within his son's favorite video game, Three Hares, and is determined to solve it. The game travels along the Old Silk Road, following the triskelion motif of the Three Hares in art and architecture. The player's journey ends abruptly at Paderborn Cathedral in Germany, but fans are certain the game isn't over.

Liko receives a condolence letter from the gaming company, with a single clue that leads him to the rural town of Birch Island, New York and a farm called Schoenfeld's. There, Liko comes face-to-face with Danelaw Strong, who has one blue eye, one brown eye, and a compelling, dual personality.

For 22 years, Dane was intimately involved with Ethan Hasen, the creator of Three Hares, and Ethan's wife, Nomi. As three deeply bonded lovers, they made a life together at Schoenfeld's that defied convention. Now only Dane is left to work the farm, a single hare grieving the loss of soulmates and simply concentrating on doing the next thing.

Recognizing they're both killing time and each has something to give the other, Liko agrees to move to New York for the summer and Dane will guide him in solving the video game's mystery. So begins a journey of friendship, love and belonging that will show Liko there's more to the Three Hares game and more to Danelaw Strong than he could possibly imagine.

Suanne Laqueur's newest novel is a chimerical blend of romance, drama, identity, power and hope. Combining legend and folklore with her signature depth and understanding of the human experience, The Great Dane explores how we view the most profound human connection in pairs, when three is often love's most magical number.