REVIEW: Holiday Ever After by Hannah Grace

 

OUR REVIEW:

Holiday Ever After is a cute holiday romance, though it doesn't really have to be read during the holidays to be enjoyable. That being said, if you crave a good holiday read, grab this one and hold on to it until late October and it'll quickly get you in the spirit. 

Clara and Jack are fun. They're both opinionated and stubborn and are great compliments to each other. They're both take action type people and competitive, which really works in the favor of Jack's small town-the town Clara is trying to win over. In the course of her trying to win everyone over, they win her over, for the ultimate swoony HEA. 

It's a little slower of a read, or it was for me, but I stuck with it and enjoyed imagining myself in Fraser Falls.

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SYNOPSIS:

Clara Davenport wants to solve Fraser Falls’s biggest problem. According to Jack Kelly, Clara is Fraser Falls’s biggest problem.
All Clara Davenport has ever wanted to do is climb the ladder at Davenport Innovation Creative, her family’s toy business. Everything was going according to plan, until the company was accused of stealing a doll design from an independent toy maker, creating a flurry of bad publicity. With a promotion dangled in front of her like a carrot to a reindeer, Clara is tasked with charming the locals of the small town to solve the PR nightmare, by any means necessary.

Jack Kelly would be happy to never hear the name Davenport ever again. Less than a year after a guy in a fancy suit appeared on his doorstep with a sleigh-full of promises, the company that once falsely claimed they wanted to sign him to their small business program has copied his design. So when Clara prances into town hoping to convince Fraser Falls that her company is not the enemy, Jack is determined not to be fooled by Davenport twice.

But Clara has a plan to win over the community only to realize that beneath Jack’s frosty demeanor lies the key to the town’s heart—and maybe her own.

REVIEW: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

OUR REVIEW:

The Correspondent is one of my favorite reads of 2025. It's heartfelt.  Emotional. Engaging. How do you write a character who is so unlikeable and yet so loveable? Sybil is onery. She's stubborn. Opinionated. So hard on herself, which causes her so much loss and sadness. She's also thoughtful, kind, and inadvertently hilarious. Her grumpy-sunshine personality really won me over and, admittedly, I saw parts of myself in her. 

I loved learning about Sybil through her various correspondence exchanges-her successes and tragedies and her ability to learn and grow and change all the way up to the very end. 

This was my last five star read of 2025 and I cannot recommend it enough. A truly engaging, lovely read.

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SYNOPSIS:

Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime. Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever find.

 

REVIEW: It's Different This Time by Joss Richard

 

OUR REVIEW:

Another new to me author, another good read! It's Different This Time follows the story of June and Adam. June is an actress--one who was successful on Broadway and struggling in Hollywood. Adam is a notable chef in NYC. That's their now. What this novel offers us is a look at their present with chapters interspersed that show us their past and how they went from best friends to being estranged. We get to see them go from strangers trying to make a name for themselves..the jobs, the successes, the risks, the rewards but the question that lingers is how in the world did they go from being so close to being so distant? It takes a good portion of the book to get a definitive answer (one that many will figure out before it's confirmed), but I didn't find it annoying that I had to read many pages to get there. I liked their stories. I liked reading their past but also how they were managing now. I liked the conflict and tension and revelations. And of course, I loved the last part...the part where they finally figure things out and find the happiness everyone wanted for them. 

Consider me a fan; I can't wait for her next book!

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SYNOPSIS:

Subject 74 Perry Street

So begins the email that turns June Wood’s entire world on its head. Five years ago, she lived on Perry Street with her former best friend Adam Harper. But why is the management company reaching out to her about it now? 

Still smarting from the news of her hit TV show being canceled, June has nothing else to lose. She boards a plane from Los Angeles to New York City to find out more about the mysterious email and the promised opportunity it alludes to. It turns out that, thanks to an unbelievable legal loophole, if she and Adam can live together in the stunning West Village brownstone for a month, it’s theirs. Any true New Yorker knows you don’t pass up prime city real estate, and that fall in the city is magical—so what’s there to think about?

And yet, though most things have changed in the time since they last spoke, one thing hasn’ June and Adam have unfinished business. They didn’t exactly end on good terms when they each went off to chase their dreams. Now, confronted with the consequences of their choices, they must navigate the minefield of their past the best way they know together.

Every day they move closer to owning Perry Street reveals misunderstandings, long-term resentments, and long-buried feelings . . . which are suddenly feeling very, very not so buried. But they’ve already lost their friendship once before, devastating them both. Can they risk losing it again for something a little different this time?

REVIEW: Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Bohm

OUR REVIEW:

If I recall correctly, this was advertised for fans of Ali Hazelwood-which to me meant smart romcom and so, of course, I was interested. Not knowing anything about Hannah Brohm or her writing, I dove in and found myself instantly engaged. The story of Frances and Dr North and the way they wound up fake dating was interesting, but I think the unknown to me politics of post graduate research jobs was even more so. The blatant misogyny wasn't surprising--as anyone living in the world knows it happens--but I guess I just thought that science would be better than that--clearly I was wrong. And yes, I know this story is fiction but it definitely like that part of the novel could be based on some real things. I also enjoyed the build up of their relationship and their love story and enjoyed how all of that played out. 

A little spicy. A little romcom-y. A lot of commentary on being a woman in the world of science. And a lot of learning how to trust when you've been screwed over. Most definitely a good read. 

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SYNOPSIS:

Neuroscientist Dr. Frances Silberstein has success on the brain. As a grad student, she was offered a job by her brilliant boyfriend, but determined to make it on her own, she turned it—and him—down. Now, stuck in postdoc purgatory with no job security and no personal life to speak of, Frances is desperate to make a breakthrough. Her best shot is a summer conference packed with her field’s leading scientists. The only problem? It’s organized by her ex, who has found the success that’s eluded her. But backing out is not an option, because Frances desperately needs to network to save her career.

Enter Dr. Lewis North: her perceptive, meticulous, and inconveniently attractive rival. When their academic sniping gets mistaken for flirtatious chemistry, Frances doesn’t deny it—putting her integrity and career on the line. As soon as her prefrontal cortex is operational again, Frances realizes she needs to keep up the charade, or risk everything she’s worked for. Faking data is out of the question, but fake dating? That might just be the solution she needs.

But as Lewis starts to make her reward centers spark and a major setback has Frances questioning everything, she must confront what she’s willing to chase—for love, for science, and for the future she thought she wanted.