Review: Recipe for a Charmed Life by Rachel Linden

Recipe for a Charmed Life by Rachel Linden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley and the Berkley Besties program, all opinions are my own.

This was super cute. It has some somber and serious moments which are balanced out with sweeter moments and a bit of magic. This is what I consider a clean romance, which I really appreciated. While the book does focus on the romance it is so much more than that. This book is about self discovery, family dynamics, forgiveness, and finding magic in the world. Georgia goes on quite the journey to recovery her sense of taste, but she also discovers things about herself and her life for each taste she gains back. I thought the character development and the descriptions of the food and the locations were very well done.

This follows Georgia, an aspiring chef who is just about to get the big promotion to run her own restaurant in Paris, when everything goes sideways for her. She finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, her friends all knew about it, and to top it all of she has lost her sense of taste. She finds herself homeless, jobless, and a bit lost when she gets an email from her long lost mother whom she hasn't seen in 30 years. Her mentor tells her to get away from Paris for a while and let the dust settle and find her inspiration again. Georgia decides to reconnect with her mother and hopefully reignite the spark and inspiration she had for food and cooking. What she didn't plan for was falling for the handsome oysterman that lives next door in the process. Georgia finds herself asking lots of questions about her past and her future. In the end she has to decide where she wants to be and what will make her happy? Is it the being the chef at the fancy French restaurant in Paris, or is it being with the people she loves cooking what makes her happy?

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It had a nice mix of romance with a bit of family drama and self discovery. This does have a touch of magical realism, which worked well with Georgia's profession as a chef. I loved all the references to the food and cooking. If nothing else this book will make you hungry.

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Review: Principles of Emotion by Sara Read

Principles of Emotion by Sara Read
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a really interesting look into mental health, family dynamics, trauma, and women in STEM.  Meg is a brilliant mathematician, who's math abilities became apparent to her father at a very early age.  A mathematician in his own right, he made it clear that her worth was equal to her academic ability because she wasn't like other girls her age.  He also made it very clear that he was responsibly for all of her achievements.   Meg decided to leave academia to become a caretaker for her ailing grandmother where she meets Isaac, a carpenter who doesn't understand math but he understands Meg.  Isaac leaves to pursue a career in blacksmithing, while Meg works on solving an impossible math problem.  Years later they are reunited, and they both need each other to support them through some tough times.  Meg's father is trying to take credit for her life's work solving the impossible, and Isaac is in trouble with the law.  They are both struggling with very real trauma in their lives and don't have much of a support system in place as they deal with the stressors in their lives.  As they get to know each other again, they find it a bit easier to face life's problems with someone at their back.

I really enjoyed Isaac and Meg together.  Life is always easier when you've got someone in your corner.  Meg's family is horrible, except for her cousin Lizzie (she's great).  Meg has very real anxiety and panic attacks, which I think the author did a good job portraying those.  I appreciated that Meg was able to take charge of her situation and advocate for herself despite how uncomfortable it made her.  This isn't a super fun happy rom come like I expected.  It is kind of sad and bleak as Meg and Isaac deal with his legal troubles and she tries to get her intellectual property back and talks about math quite a bit.  There are some intimate scenes, but they are fairly fade to black.  

This book isn't going to be for everyone.  It is heavy on the math, and the romance is more on the sweet side than the spicy side.  This does cover some heavy topics, and I thought the author did a good job addressing them.

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Review: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided an Audio ARC of this book via Macmillan Audio and Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was wonderful, one of my favorites in the series so far. I am a big fan of The Wayward Children series. I highly recommend reading Lost in the Moment and Found prior to reading this as this installment is more of a sequel to that particular story and really finishes up Antoinette's story. All of the other installments are more companion stories. I recommend starting at the beginning with this series so you get to know the characters and the quests that they've gone on as they are mentioned again in later installments.

This follows Antsy after she left her door and ended up at the School for Wayward Children, and our familiar cast of characters that I've grown to love so much finds themselves on yet another quest. Antsy puts her ability to find lost things to good use in this installment and we get to visit some really interesting worlds via the doors. We also get some insight and closure on some of the characters. I'm not sure how many more books are planned in the series, but it feels like things are starting to wrap up. I really love this series as a whole and I'm looking forward to the next installment and plan to reread the series from the beginning soon.

This was the first time I've enjoyed one of the installments via audiobook and I highly recommend it. The narrator did a fantastic job giving a voice to each of the many characters.

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Review: A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided both a digital and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a cute romantic fantasy set in a regency type of setting.  Niamh is a talented tailor and dressmaker, who is able to enchant the items she makes with emotions and memories.  She is one of the last of her line with her abilities, and her abilities have caught the eye of the aristocracy.  She is surprised and thrilled when the Prince Regent calls on her to make the wedding wardrobe for his younger brother Kit and his bride to be.  Determined to make a name for herself and support her family, Niamh is going to do her very best to make the young prince and his new wife look spectacular, unfortunately when she arrives the estate and city are not at all what she expected.  She is thrown into a city full of unrest, all while trying to fit the prince for wedding garments he is not thrilled about.  As she spends more time with Kit, she slowly peels back the layers of his unhappiness and a tentative friendship begins to blossom and eventually turn into something more.  As their relationship develops, so does their desire to fix what is broken in their country and help the Prince Regent see the light.

This was cute, but Kit and Niamh were a little too "woe as me" at times.   Both of them willing to sacrifice themselves at every turn "because it is their duty" and was a bit overdone throughout the book, especially since they were both fairly hypocritical about it.  I feel like the author had a real opportunity to talk about social issues here but only just touched the surface of the very real historic issues and the very real current issues with class, privilege, and race/heritage.  The social issues were glossed over for the sake of the other plot elements of which I felt there were too many.

I thought the audio narrator did a wonderful job with the narration of the book.  She did different voices and accents for the various characters which was important seeing as how their was civil unrest based on class and heritage/race.  I believe in this case this was a take on the disdain the English had for the Irish which was a very real issue.

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2024 Netgalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge

 

I participated in this challenge in 2023 and plan to do it again  It is being hosted by Socrates Book Reviews.  I was able to review 91 books in 2023 between Netgalley and Edelweiss and this was a great way to keep myself accountable.

I currently have 38 outstanding ARCs on my TBR right now, 20 of those are 2024 releases.  

I'm going to shoot for the Platinum Level this year and try to hit 75 books.

I'll link my reviews below as I post.  To keep myself accountable, I'll be posting my tentative TBR based on release dates and approvals as the year goes on.

January - Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft (1/2/24)
2. Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire (1/9/24)
3. Principals of Emotion by Sara Read (1/9/24)
4. Recipe for a Charmed Life by Rachel Linden (1/9/24)
5. The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder  by Robert I. Sutton & Huggy Rao (1/30/24)
6. When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein (2/6/24)

February Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. The Ultimate Glow Up Guide by Elicia Goguen (2/13/24)
2. What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher (2/13/24)
3. Nothing But It All by Adriana Locke (2/20/24)
4. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (2/20/24)
5. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (2/6/24)
6. The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace (2/13/24)
7. The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert (2/20/24)
8. The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
9. Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (3/5/24)

March Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli (2/20/24)
2. Island Witch by Amanda Jayaissa (2/20/24)
3. What Grows in the Dark by Jaq Evans (3/5/24)
4. Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley (3/5/24)
5. Bride by Ali Hazelwood (2/6/24)
6. The Day Tripper by James Goodhand (3/19/24)
7. The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett (3/19/24)
8. Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury (2/27/24)
9. A View from the Stars by Cixin Liu (4/2/24)
10. Alien Earths by Dr. Lisa Kaltenegger (4/16/24)
11. The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox (4/2/24)

April Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes (4/9/24)
2. The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure the Paranormal by Chris French 
3. The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton (4/9/24)
4. Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina (4/16/24)
5. Granite Harbor by Peter Nichols (4/30/24)

May Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins (ebook) by P. Djèlí Clark (8/6/24)
2. Court of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco (4/2/24)
3. When Among Crows by Veronica Roth (5/14/24)
4. Mind Games by Nora Roberts (5/21/24)
5. The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuar Turton (5/21/24)
6. The Hunter's Daughter by Nicola Solvinic (5/14/24)

June Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (6/4/24)
2. Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire (6/4/24)
   
3. There is a Door in This Darkness by Kristin Cashore (6/11/24)
   
4. Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell (6/4/24)
5. Devil is Fine by John Vercher (6/18/24)
   
6. Honey by Isabel Banta (6/25/24)

July Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi (7/2/24)
   
2. The Best of All by Karla Sorensen (7/16/24)
3. House of Marionne by J. Elle (8/29/23)
4. 49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards (7/2/24)
5. Heir, Apparently by Kara McDowell (7/9/24)
6. Let the Games Begin by Rufaro Faith Mazarura (7/9/24)
7. Dashed by Amanda Quain (7/16/24)
8. Nobody Cares About Your Career: Why Failure Is Good, the Great Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths by Erika Ayers Badan 6/11/24)

August Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1.  The Dead Cat Tail Assassins (audiobook) by P. Djèlí Clark (8/6/24)
2. House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen (8/6/24)
3. A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
4. The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava (8/6/24)
5. The Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings (8/6/24)
6. Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca (8/13/24)
7. Hera by Jennifer Saint (8/13/24)

September Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas (9/3/24)
2. Medusa by Nataly Gruender (8/13/24)
3. A Bit Much by Lynday Rush (9/17/24)
4. Dead & Lovely by J.M. Miller (9/3/24)
5. We Love the Nightlife by Rachel Koller Croft (8/20/24)
6. Voices Carry by Raven Oak (8/6/24)
7. Star Father by Charlie N. Holmberg(3/8/22)
8. The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin (9/10/24)
9. The Haunting of Moscow House by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore (9/3/24)
10. The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak (9/17/24)
11. In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King (9/24/24)
12. Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro (9/17/24)
13. We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida (9/3/24)

October Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang (10/1/24)
2. Buried Deep and other Stories by Naomi Novik (9/17/24)
3. The Butcher Game by Alaina Urquart (9/17/24)
4. The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin(10/8/24)
5. If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens (10/15/24)
6. The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner (9/24/24)
   
7. Heir by Sabbaa Tahir (10/1/24)
8. The Fate of Magic by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis (10/1/24)

I hit my goal this month, with 79 reviews posted!

November Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. Song of Ash and Moonlight by Claire Legrand (9/17/24)
2. The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken (7/30/24)
3. My Darling Jane by Ilsa Madden-Mills (11/5/24)
4. Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen (11/12/24)
5. Bride of the Shadow King  by Sylvia Mercedes (11/12/24)
6. Once Upon A Christmas Tree by Lulu Moore (11/15/24)
7. The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard (11/19/24)
8. The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce (7/16/24)

December  Link up to see what everyone else read and reviewed

1. Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood (9/17/24)
2. Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang (10/29/24)
3. I Made it Out of Clay by Beth Kander (12/10/24)
4. What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould (12/10/24)
5. Between Now and Forever by Adriana Locke (12/17/24)
6. Her Knight at the Museum by Bryn Donovan (11/12/24)
7. The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea (11/26/24)

I finished the year with 94 Netgalley and Edelweiss reviews posted in 2024.  

Review: All Hallows by Christopher Golden

All Hallows by Christopher Golden
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. In an effort to clear this off of my shelf, I did opt to listen to the final production version of the audiobook. I did enjoy the narration, both narrators did a great job with the multiple POVs as this was told from multiple characters and I thought they both did a good job differentiating between the various characters.

This is set on Halloween, so it is the perfect read for spooky season. The author did a good job giving this the feel of the 80's, which is when the book is set. The book bounces back and forth between several characters on the night of Halloween as the kids trick-or-treat, attend the annual Halloween party at a local neighbor's home, and walk through the haunted woods attraction. As the kids and adults prepare and attend the night's festivities, something much more sinister has come out to play.

Overall, this was just OK for me. For a Halloween horror book nothing much happens for much of the book. All of the action happens in the last 20-30% of the book. There are some creepy kids that no one knows walking around and the neighborhood seems to be going nuts airing all of its dirty laundry all in one night, but overall this was missing the suspense I was looking for. I feel like the concept of The Cunning Man was really unique, however I didn't find him creepy or terrifying. I actually don't understand his purpose at all. He and the creepy children aren't really well explained, and I felt their execution was lacking. The book focused too much on the family and teenage drama and not enough on the horror and suspense that I was looking for.

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COVER REVEAL: Head Over Heels by Karla Sorensen

 

HEAD OVER HEELS

Karla Sorensen

Release Date: January 24

WILL BE FREE IN KINDLE UNLIMITED

There’s only one course of action when your dad wants you to marry a clammy-handed wimp to make one of his board members happy—you get yourself stuck in an elevator with a hot stranger and have the steamiest make-out session of your life. Years of etiquette lessons went out the window thanks to Cameron Wilder, who managed to unleash my hidden bad girl with naught but his talented mouth and deliciously rough hands.

Afterwards, he went back to his small-town life, and I marched home to inform my dad there would be no business-centric nuptials. As punishment, he shipped me off to Sisters, Oregon and demanded I turn a healthy profit on a not-so-healthy property.

You see where I’m going with this—the buttoned-up city girl stuck in a small town hires a local builder to help her … and he’s the hot stranger from the elevator. Turns out, I have a weakness for the broad-shouldered nice guy who’s not so nice behind closed doors. Keeping things professional gets harder the longer I’m in town, until the only lesson I have left to learn is how to keep both our hearts from getting broken.

Pre-Order Link:

https://amzn.to/47vuHnt

Cover Design: Qamber Designs

Photographer: Jane Ashley Converse 

Meet Karla Sorensen:

Karla Sorensen is an Amazon top 20 bestselling author who refuses to read or write anything without a happily ever after. When she's not devouring historical romance or avoiding the laundry, you can find her watching football (British AND American), HGTV or listening to Enneagram podcasts so she can psychoanalyze everyone in her life, in no particular order of importance. With a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from Grand Valley State University, she made her living in senior healthcare prior to writing full-time. Karla lives in Michigan with her husband, two boys and a big, shaggy rescue dog named Bear.

For more information on Karla Sorensen and her books visit: http://www.karlasorensen.com/

Connect with Karla Sorensen:

http://www.karlasorensen.com/message