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.

BUY IT:https://amzn.to/3IXtY6R

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. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/45vTuZY

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.

REVIEW: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 

OUR REVIEW:

I've seen Sally Hepworth's books floating around the book-verse for a while now and I've been curious, but it was the first sentence of this novel that grabbed my attention. In chapters that alternate between the present and the past, we learn why she's called "Mad Mabel" and how she's become the grouchy old woman she is. Spoiler alert: she's completely entitled to be grouchy and yet she's really not-she really has a soft heart-the heart of someone who desperately wants to love and be loved. Her backstory is grisly and the experiences she had, nightmarish, and yet she lived to become a beloved member of her street and, eventually, her world. 

While not earthshatteringly revelatory, it was an interesting read.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/49iAJLV

SYNOPSIS:There are two kinds of people no one ever expects to be: little girls and old ladies.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street for sixty years—longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past she's worked exceedingly hard at concealing—because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.

REVIEW: If Only You Knew by Ellie K Wilde

OUR REVIEW:

I have only read one other book in this series and I can confirm that I adore this series. I loved Summer and Parker's stories and how the love they've always felt, but suppressed or hidden behind the veil of friendship. I mean we all knew they were inevitable, right? Right. So seeing them struggle with admitting the feelings, then feeling the feelings, then hurt while trying to do the 'right' thing was grueling and yet the ending felt immensely satisfying. Now that I've read the last two books in this series, I really really really want to read book one and then read every single thing she's written. 

It's a good one, y'all.

BUY IT:https://amzn.to/3Xu2UQG

SYNOPSIS:

In the highly anticipated final installment of the Oakwood Bay series—“packed with sizzling tension, heat, and sweet, swoon-worthy moments” (Peyton Corinne, USA TODAY bestselling author)—childhood best friends Parker and Summer agree to matchmake each other, to disastrous results, all while fighting the fact that they’ve been each other’s soulmate all along.

Summer Prescott and Parker Woods have been best friends since they were three years old. Now thirty, neither of them feels like they have a good handle on adulthood. While their friends are coupled up and thriving, they’re struggling through career crises and disastrous dates, and frequenting the same old bars and surf spots they’ve been going to for years—until, on a whim, Summer decides to hand over her love life to Parker. After all, who better to help find her soulmate than the person who knows her best?

But when the date Parker introduces her to goes from husband material to dead end in one publicly humiliating swoop, Summer is so devastated that she breaks up with both men. And she decides to embrace a fresh start away from home by entering a surf competition that’ll have her chasing waves around the world.

Parker soon realizes the troubling truth—he’s spent nearly thirty years by Summer’s side and has only just realized that he’s in love with her. Now he’s on a mission to win back not just her trust but her heart, before she slips away for good.