I Otter Be Reading

Overall:  This book takes place at an elite High School in the Colorado Mountains full of rich, spoiled kids and their snobby, entitled parents.  However, the main character, Natalie is an artist and is not rich.   She just recently moved to the town to help her brother recover after an accident.  She walks his dog and keeps him company while he heals.  She works at the fancy school’s front office as an administrative assistant.  The schools Head Coach of soccer, Nick is fit, handsome, and very popular with all the school’s moms.  One mom who is very interested in Nick is Brooke, a bakery goods heiress, who is also is the mother of soccer star
daughter Sloane.   Another of the school’s female soccer stars is Mia, who’s mom Asha is worried her rich husband is probably cheating on her.  Surprisingly, Coach Nick starts dating young Natalie instead of any of the rich, pampered moms who flirt with him.  The school’s moms are all fake friends who pretend to get along socially.  The daughters are behaving badly and engaging in risky behaviors, while also trying to get into good colleges.  One day Natalie wakes up in her car parked outside of the school.  Inside of the school, a body lies in a pool of blood.  Who is dead?  Who killed them, when, and why?  Why did Natalie black out in her car?  These are the things we are trying to figure out as things are not always as they seam among the rich and privileged.        

Ovations: The story and characters are all compelling.  All the characters are interesting in their own ways.  I did figure out who was dead ahead of time, but not how or why it happened.  Plus, there is a twist to the story that I did not see coming.  The book is like a Lifetime Movie or like the tv show Big Little Lies.  If you like stories about the lives of privileged, rich people behaving badly, then this book is totally for you. 

Oh Well:  This book is listed as a thriller / mystery.  I would not call it a thriller at all.  The book is very slowly paced.  It unravels bit by bit, taking it’s time.  It is
technically a mystery, as you do not know who dies or how, until the end.  However, it is not like a mystery you are trying to actively solve…..like an Agatha Christie with clues.  This book is just more of a story where everyone has secrets and is just managing to hold their lives together, even though everything looks perfect from the outside.  But, then someone is murdered.  The book is just sort of the explanation and backstory as to why that murder happened.   

Opinion: Not enough happened in this book to really hold my interest all throughout.  It was too slowly paced.  But, the plot made sense and there were no holes in it.  I also did not guess what the ending was going to be.  This book was not a thriller and barely a murder mystery, so if you are looking for either of those, this is not the book for you.  But, if you like the setting of people with scandals and secrets at an elite high school in the exclusive, wealthy, Colorado suburbs, then you would enjoy this book.  Rating 5 out of 10    

Overall:  Gus and January are previous college rivals (who once made-out at a party in college) and are now both published authors.  Gus writes deep, dark, literary novels and January writes romance books.  They end up living in neighboring beach houses for the summer in a small town on Lake Michigan.  
January is dealing with the recent death of her father and Gus is dealing with his own person issues.   They both have a bad case of writer’s block.  To try and help, they make a deal with eachother.  January will write the next Great American Novel, and Gus with write a Happily Every After Love Story.  Who ever sells their book to a publisher first is the winner.  During the summer, they go on “field trips” together to give the other one ideas for writing in their new genre.  January takes Gus to places you could fall in love, like carnivals and farmer’s markets.  Gus takes January to tragic places, like the spooky grounds of where an old cult was that was deliberately set on fire and people died.  They spend a lot of time together on these “non-date-field-trips” each weekend.  They end up admitting to eachother that they have had feelings for eachother since college and do not really dislike eachother, even though they are total opposites.  But, they are both going through emotional stuff in their personal lives and are not even ready to date anyone, let alone fall in love.  So, they try to focus on writing their books and working on themselves.  But, as they keep spending time together, against their better judgement, they start to fall in love.        

Ovations: I liked both the main characters of Gus and January.  They are both interesting people separately, and I like their interactions together too.  They both have strong backstories that have shaped their world views and help explain who they have become as adults.   Their relationship together is nice because there are sparks between them, but also they have no idea the other feels this same way.  When they do find out the other has feelings for them as well,  I like the way they
really try to be adults about it and not jump into a relationship they are not emotionally ready for, but fate and love have other plans for them.  I of course love that they are both novel writers!  The storyline is romantic, and sexy while also being serious and emotionally complex.  Also, I loved Chapter 13! 🙂 

Oh Well:  The main criticism I would have is this book is just sort of average.  It’s not the funniest romance I have read, or the hot & steamiest, or the most heartbreaking, or the most interesting plot line …. it is just average.  Also, it does deal with very serious issues, divorce, child abuse, infidelity, death … etc. , all while being a romance book.  So, there is a lot going on in this book.  On the one hand, it makes the book have more layers and depth, but if you are thinking it is a light, frothy, “beach-read” romance, it is not that.  

Opinion:  The first Emily Henry book I read was called, The People We Meet On Vacation, and I did not like that one at all.  It was very dull and I felt like nothing interesting happened the whole book.  But, I gave this popular author another chance, and I am glad I did.  This book is much better than that other one.  I did care about Gus and January and wanted to read more about their lives.  But, I would say that the title “Beach Read” is misleading.  It is not a quick, light, fun, summer beach read.  But, it is an engaging book about 2 very different authors and how they fell in love.  Rating 7 out of 10   

Overall:  This book takes place back in 1999 and is told from multiple character’s points of view.  The main character is Samantha and she works as a dancer at the Lovely Lady Strip Club.  She lives with her boyfriend, who is not happy about her working at the club, but he lost his job.  He has a daughter from a former relationship, so Samantha feels responsible for providing for them both.  She does not mind working there, makes good money, and stays out of trouble.  But, one night, she gives Jolene, a naive new girl, a ride home.  Samantha notices that they are being followed, and then they are run off the road.  When the police get to the accident, the new girl, Jolene, is dead and Samantha is missing. 
Two main detectives start working on the case.  They are trying to determine who ran the women off the road, and who murdered Jolene.  Also, they need to quickly try to find out what happened to Samantha and where she is.  The rest of the story goes back and forth between the ladies that work at the strip club, other cops that work at the station, and all the potential suspects.  All the while the detectives are trying to figure out who committed the crimes, why did they, and where is Samantha?        

Ovations: I liked the mystery elements of the plot.  The whodunnit question of who committed the crimes was good.  I did not know who the killer was until they told me near the end of the book.  I also liked that this story was told from many different points of view.  From their story, we got to know what each character was thinking and why.  It was also very interesting to get a backstage look at happenings of a strip club. 

Oh Well:  This book is very dark and depressing.  You get to know many different characters and their backstories.  But, they are have depressing or sad stories.  Every.Single.One.  There is more than just one murder in this book.  I can’t say more than that, or I will give spoilers away.  But, I can say that there is also abuse and damage and pain and intimidation by men to women all throughout this book.  That is something I personally do not like to read about.  You really feel the oppression of women and their powerlessness throughout the entire book.  (And I don’t mean from their being strippers.  That actually gives them some power back over the men.)  Just the aspect of all the male domination and violence towards women was really sad and such a downer to feel the whole time I was reading this
book.  

Opinion:  This is a disturbing, and bleak novel.  I found the whole story sad and depressing.  Then the author threw in the last chapter for no reason I can think of but just to make the reader even more sad and depressed!  I did not care for all the violence towards women that I had to read about in this book.  It made it really difficult to finish the story.  But I did want to finish reading to find out who the killer was and if they were caught and punished.  I would not really recommend this book.  There are so many, much better thrillers out there you could be reading instead.  Rating 4 out of 10   

Overall:  Olivia Marshall just lost her job, found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, and accidentally burned down her apartment while burning his old love letters.  Bad luck seems to always find her.…or maybe she brings it with her?  Anyway, she is now crashing with her brother for a month until she gets her life back on track.  Her brother also lives with his lifelong best friend, the hot and arrogant Colin Beck.  Growing-up, Colin always just barely tolerated Olivia because she was Jack’s clumsy, annoying, little sister.  But, now the 3 of them are going to have to try and get along with eachother for a month while Olivia gets a new job and money for a place of her own.  One night, Olivia gets a sexy, “What are you wearing?” text from a random number by mistake.  She is bored, and a writer, so she can’t resist writing back a witty answer to this unknown texter, who she labels, Mr. Wrong Number.  And so begins their new fun and flirty texting-only relationship.  She becomes known to him only as Miss Misdial.  She begins to look forward to their daily humorous and sexy text exchanges as she tries to make a new life for herself and recover from her old one.  Because they share the same apartment, Colin eventually realizes that Miss Misdial is actually Olivia.  That gets him thinking about her in a new light.  She is all grown-up now and not just Jack’s little sister anymore.  Now that he knows who his anonymous sexy texting buddy really is, should he keep the text relationship going and start an actual relationship with her, or ghost her and pretend like it never happened?        

Ovations:  I like that this book makes you laugh right from the very beginning pages.  It is fun and breezy and full of sexy banter.  I like the older-brother’s-best-friend- forbidden-romance angle.  I like that Olivia and Colin are total opposites in every way…. but opposites do attract you know!  Some other things from the book that are fun, true rom-com tropes as well:  forced proximity, enemies to lovers, hot-mess heroine and hot hero with heart of gold.   I also appreciated how the, “area of conflict that always comes in rom-coms that threatens to ruin their relationship” part of this book was actually believable. ( I  hate when the issue is so ridiculous that it would never actually happen.) 

Oh Well:  I hate to say it but, Olivia’s behavior is a bit over the top, inconsiderate, and immature sometimes.  She is mostly a loveable character, but she does some things that are quite rude sometimes and acts like it’s nothing.  Also, Colin does and says a few shady thing himself, so his behavior is not above reproach either.  Both of the main characters are very likeable, but act somewhat immature for their age.       

Opinion:  I enjoyed reading this breezy, funny rom-com.  It is full of heart and witty, sexy, banter.  The two main characters have lot of sexual tension and like to give eachother a hard time. (No pun intended!)  Speaking of the sex, there is no graphic sex in this book, just the beginnings of it, and then fade-to-black sort of scenes.  (So the spice level in the book is low, if that is what you are looking for.)  This is a charming romance by Lynn Painter, who has more books coming out in the future, and I will for sure be reading those also.  Rating 8 out of 10   

Overall:  Malcolm Kershaw owns a bookstore in Boston that specializes in murder mystery / crime / thriller books.  When he first bought the bookstore, he was doing a blog to bring in more customers.  One of his blog articles was called, “Eight
Perfect Murders”, in which he talks about 8 murder mystery books in which he
believes the best, unsolvable murders were pulled-off.  Now, an FBI Agent comes into his bookstore looking for him because of several murders which she thinks may be related to the list of murders from his old blog post.  She asks to discuss the cases with Malcolm partly as an advisor, but also he’s part suspect too.  Malcolm does meet with her and they discuss all the books and all the “perfect murders”, how those may be related to some unsolved murders in the area, and how those murders may all be involved with eachother.  One thing is for sure, Malcolm seems to be involved somehow.  Throughout this process, we get to know Malcolm more, and learn that he has lots of secrets he is hiding.  Is Malcolm the killer from these unsolved murders?  Or is it just someone random who is using his article’s ideas?  Or is it someone who knows Malcolm, and is trying to frame him? Meanwhile, the list of people murdered keeps getting longer.  Are these murders “perfect” and will always remain unsolved?  Or will the FBI finally close-in on the killer(s)?       

Ovations:  I love that this murder mystery / thriller book is about lots of other great murder mystery / thriller books!  I love that the narrator of the story, Malcolm, owns a mystery / crime bookstore.  I love the idea about the blog article he wrote about 8 Perfect Murders.  It is  a fun idea for us mystery / thriller lovers!  I like that the narrator of the whole book is Malcolm himself writing what he calls a “memoir”, so you don’t know if you can trust anything he says.  I love that this book refers to so many Agatha Christie novels, as I am a HUGE Christie fan and have read every single one of her books and plays.  This book keeps you interested interested the whole way through.  I did not know for sure how this book was going to end. I was not able to guess who the killer(s) was/were.  I had suspicions, but was not sure.   

Oh Well:  OK, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!  This book takes it’s whole plot from the plots of other books.  You need to have read most of these other books first, before you read this book!  If you don’t:  First of all, you will be confused, because you might not understand the connections to the books and their plots/murders/endings.  Secondly, those perfect murders in those books are explained and talked about and the endings are all given away!  So, if you have not read those books yet, the endings are ruined for you!  So, my suggestion is to either read them all first, or read any of them that you are interested in reading, because you won’t want to read them afterward, the plots and endings will be spoiled for you!  (Note:  There are more books than the 8 from the blog post listed here because there are other books talked about in the discussions that will also give away the murders / plot / ending of these books too.)  Here is the reading list:

(PS:  I did not know about this reading list before I started this book, but I luckily have already read 6 of these books before I read this one. And I was fine following the plot.  So, you do not have to read ALL of these if you want to read this book.  But, I think reading all 3 Agatha Christies and Strangers On A Train are critical to understanding this book.  (Strangers On A Train was made into a great movie in 1951, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  Double Indemnity was also made into  a  great film noir in 1944.   You could watch those as movies instead.  They are both worth watching!)  

And Then There Were None:  Agatha Christie

The ABC Murders:  Agatha Christie

The Death Of Roger Ackroyd:  Agatha Christie  

The Red House Mystery:  A.A. Milne  

Malice Aforethought: Anthony Berkeley Cox  

Double Indemnity: James Cain  

Strangers On A Train: Patricia Highsmith

The Drowner:  John MacDonald

Deathtrap:  Ira Levin  

The Secret History:  Donna Tartt       

Opinion:  I love that this is a murder mystery about other murder mysteries!  I love Agatha Christie books, and they are referred to all throughout this book.   But, I would be very upset if I had not read the books that they discuss, because they give away the plots and endings to all those books!  This book was well paced, slowly unfolding, and keeping you guessing the whole way through.  I would say it’s a murder mystery, not a necessarily a thriller.  I would call it a multi-layered, psychological murder mystery.  This is my second book by Peter Swanson.  The first I read was, THE KIND WORTH KILLING.  That book was a masterpiece!  I gave that one a 10 out of 10.  I will be definitely reading more books by this author in the future!  Rating 8 out of 10.      

Overall:  This book is a modern retelling of a Hades and Persephone story.  It is set in an ultra modern city of Olympus.  It is supposed to be in the modern world, but obviously, we never know exactly where.  There is a fun map, that I referred to a lot, at the front of the book that explains the lay-out of the city.  The city is run by it’s leader Zeus, and the rest of the powerful Thirteen.  At yet another glitzy party
that socialite Persephone and her sisters have to attend, their mother Demeter
and Zeus suddenly announce Zeus’s engagement to Persephone.  This forced engagement is a shock to Persephone and she flees the party, running for her life.  All of Zeus’s other wives have eventually ended up dead, and Persephone is determined not to become the next one.   She keeps running, not really knowing where she can go, while being chased down by Zeus’s men, who are not going to let her get away.  She has no choice but to cross the bridge over the River Styx, into the forbidden lower city, the territory of Hades.  Hades himself is a myth in
Olympus…. not supposed to actually exist.  But, the mysterious man that helps her to safety turns out to be Hades himself.  Persephone and Hades agree to make
a deal that will benefit them both.  He offers her refuge and safety from Zeus for 3 months, until she turns 25, gets her trust fund, and can leave Olympus forever. 
She offers him the revenge that he has been wanting for so many years, a way to finally get back at Zeus.       

Ovations:  I like that this is a modern retelling of the Gods of Greek Mythology.  Many Gods are in this book, but only in a vague way.  It is really a love story between Hades and Persephone.  I love that is a romance book, but so different from the usual, predictable storylines.  Hades and Persephone are a very opposites-attract type of pairing.  But, that said, even though they are opposites, I do enjoy how the relationship is a balanced one, in terms of a power dynamic.  He is rescuing her but she is rescuing him right back.  They are both strong, smart, sexy, confident, brave, kind, beautiful, appreciative, and caring people.  Also, the two of them are mutually very hot for eachother.  So, I have to mention that there are a lot of spicy sex scenes between them in this book.  I enjoyed them and that is why I put it in the “Ovations” section.  If you don’t like a lot of hot sex scenes in your romance books, this book is definitely not for you! 

Oh Well:  This book does use Greek Mythology in it’s storyline.  However, it was not really the main focus of the book.  But, I would have liked more of it.  For example, they live in Olympus but it is not talked about in very much detail.  I would have liked to have much more information on that world.  Also, the other Thirteen are mentioned, but we really get no other information on the purposes and personalities of the other Gods.  ( I know there are more books in this series that do go into the other characters, so that will help.)  Also, they are called Gods, but they don’t have any supernatural powers.  It would have been a much more interesting book if they did.  I just feel like the whole Greek Gods / Mythology aspect was not used to the advantage that it could have been.       

Opinion:  If you want to read a very hot & steamy love story between 2 well matched people, then this book is for you.  The plot being set in the Greek Mythology world adds a fun and unique storyline to this book.  It is so much more interesting than your normal romance book setting.  This book is the first of a series that goes on to tell stories about other members of the Gods of Olympus.  I really liked this book and am definitely going to read the next books as they come out.  I want to keep finding out more about this world and these characters.  Rating 9 out of 10   

Overall:  The book starts out with Fallon and her father having a difficult discussion at a diner, and Ben, a total stranger to them, sits down next to Fallon.  He pretends to be her boyfriend, and proceeds to defend Fallon in the disagreement and also tell-off her father.  This is how Fallon and Ben first meet, on November 9^th.  Fallon is moving across the country from L.A. to New York the next day.  She and her new found fake-boyfriend decide to spend the rest of that day together before she moves away.  They find out that they have a strong connection and really love spending that time together, however, she is moving away to start a new life.  So, they decide to not exchange numbers, and they block each other on social media so they can’t be in contact.  But, they really want to see eachother again, so they decide to meet up at the same place next year on the same date, November 9^th.  They are young.  She is only 18 years old, and they go on with their respective lives for that next year.  She is trying to break into becoming a Broadway actress, and he is going to write a novel.  Even though they have the whole country between them, and no contact with eachother, they are always in each other’s thoughts.  They do meet up again the next year.  They stick to their agreement though, and only spend the one day together.   They give eachother assignments for the next year to try and help themselves grow as separate people and make the most of their time apart.  But, all they want to do is be together!  They realize that they are falling in love.  But then, the plot twists start coming!  There are several… and they are shocking!  Obviously, I am not going to spoil anything for you here.  But, the two of them have a lot to overcome if they really want to have their Happily Ever After.      

Ovations:  The way that the author, Colleen Hoover, writes is just beautiful.  She puts in so many quotable lines, my book is all underlined in pen!  I never do that, but I couldn’t help it! There is so much good writing in this story.  I liked both the main characters of Fallon and Ben.  They both are flawed characters with lots of growing up and learning to do.  They are trying to do that separately, but also together.  It is a beautiful story filled with heart.  There is a lot of fun book-talk
about romance books and rom-coms in this book.  There is some witty banter between Fallon and Ben, but this book is not a humorous rom-com.  It is a contemporary love story with some tragic twists.  I have never read a book like this one before.  I really loved this touching and memorable story. 

Oh Well:  One thing that bugged me was when Ben called her Baby.  I know it was supposed to be a term of endearment, but it just really annoyed me.  Also, he could be a bit too controlling at times, which I did not like either.       

Opinion:  I originally bought this book because I knew it was a romance, and it was called November 9.  My Grandparent’s Wedding Anniversary is November 9, 1939, so that made me interested in reading this romance.  I am so glad I did, because this is a beautiful book!  It will run you through all of your emotions.  It is so interesting, heartbreaking, romantic, devastating, hopeful, and so well written.  I know this author has written many books, and I am going to be buying more of them!  Rating 9 out of 10.   

Overall:  This book is by a Minnesota author, about a group of women who don’t have much in common except that they all live in the same suburban Minnesota neighborhood.  They decide to start a book club together.  The beginning of each chapter is the new book chosen by a book club member to read for the month, and reason why she chose that particular book.  Their book club was named, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons (AHEB for short), because one of the husbands wouldn’t “allow” his wife to join a book club.  He said it would probably just be a bunch of angry housewives sitting around bitching about their husbands and eating bon bons.  That wife did in fact join the book club, and they named it that as a joke on her husband.   This book covers the lives of the book club ladies over the next 30 years, from the late 1960’s through the late 1990’s.  As the book goes on through all the years, you get to learn all about the happenings in the lives of the book club members.  The marriages, divorces, them having children, getting jobs, deaths, dating, and becoming empty nesters.  The ladies, their husbands, and children all live in the same neighborhood and all know eachother socially.  You get to learn their backstories to learn a little about why the ladies turned out the way that they did.  But, the core of the book is really about the friendship and amazingly strong 30 year bond between these ladies who, at first, had little in common but their address.  Through this book club, they become lifelong best friends and help eachother get through all of life’s ups and downs together.     

Ovations:  I loved that this book had a Minnesota connection.  It is written by a Minnesota author and is set in a Minnesota suburban neighborhood.  But, the best part of the book was it’s storyline.  The life stories of all of these ladies was told in such a realistic and honest way.  This book will run you through a full range of emotions…. from happy, joyful, and excited, to sad, confused and outraged.  You will laugh and you will cry.  You will become very invested in the lives of these women and their families because the writing is so authentic and absorbing. 

Oh Well:  This book is over 400 pages and has a very slow pace.  It has 30 years and many characters to cover and it takes it’s time.  So, this is not a quick, light read.  You need to know that going in. 

Opinion:  I enjoyed that this book was about a book club.  I liked that each chapter named the book they were reading in book club, who selected it, and why.  The books were real books that came out during those 30 years that this book follows the events of.  So, you can go out and find some of these old books if they are something you would like to actually read now.  Each month these ladies got together to discuss a book, have some snacks, cocktails, and good conversation.  But what they got was so much more than that.  They formed such strong and lasting friendships that would sustain them through the toughest times in their lives.  Everyone deserves a group of friends like this!  I know I wish I was in a book club like this one!  I especially recommend this book to any woman in a book club, or any woman over 40.  (I believe that being over 40 will be the age group who would relate best to this book.  I am 53.)  Rating  7 out of 10  

I can’t believe how fast this year is going!  It’s half over already!  I have read over 60 books so far in 2022, so you don’t have to.  I thought in case you are looking for a good book or two to read this summer, I would let you know what my favorite reads for the first half of this year have been so far.  I highly recommend these books.  All of these books earned a 10 out of 10 in my ratings!  I am just writing a quick synopsis of the book here, but if you want to find out more about any of them, just click on the title, and it will send you to my full-length review of the book.  Hopefully you can find one or two here that you will enjoy reading!  They are listed in no particular order:

THE KIND WORTH KILLING:  A thriller full of twist and turns about a man who makes plans with a stranger he meets on a plane to kill his wife, who he believes is having an affair.  Things do not go how you think they will.   

THE INHERITANCE GAMES:  A fast-paced, family inheritance mystery full of riddles, puzzles, and secrets about a girl who suddenly inherits billions from a man she has never met and does not even know.                       

THE GUEST LIST:  The “It Couple” plans a lavish, expensive wedding on a secluded island and someone winds up dead.  A unique murder mystery where you don’t know who the killer is, or who dies either.  

BETTER THAN THE MOVIES:  A sweet and funny High School contemporary romance filled with all the romance novel tropes we love.  As a bonus, it is all about the 80’s classic rom-coms!

THE PARIS APARTMENT:  A mysterious, atmospheric thriller about a woman trying to find her missing brother in a strange old Paris apartment building with highly suspicious tenants. 

NO EXIT:  An exciting, action packed thriller about being stranded at a roadside Rest Stop during a mountain blizzard with strangers, some of whom are child kidnappers and murders.  

BOYFRIEND MATERIAL:  A sweet, LGBTQ, fake-dating romance set in England that is full of heart, romance, and hilarious, witty dialogue and banter.  

A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER:  A girl decides to do her senior project about the murder of another girl from her High School who was killed a few years ago.  It was ruled a murder / suicide, but she does not believe that is actually what happened.  

Overall:  Rosaline Palmer is chosen to be on a British baking reality show called, “Bake Expectations”.  She is a bisexual, single mom of a spunky, precocious, 8 year old daughter, Amelie.  Rosaline is barely making ends meet working at a stationery shop after dropping out of medical school when she became pregnant.  Her parents are both wealthy, workaholic doctors who disapprove of Rosaline’s life choices.  This book is structured in chapters through the weeks of the baking competition.  It is about all the interesting things they have to bake, what it’s really like to be on a tv reality baking show, and all the unique people she meets there. 
She meets two totally different men in the competition who are interested in her.  There is Alain who is posh, handsome, accomplished, and her parents will love him.  Then there also is Harry, who is sweet, hot, thoughtful, and a bit rough around the edges.  She becomes involved in a love triangle of sorts between these two men.  While this book is a romance, it is also about Rosalie learning about herself, and what she wants out of her life.  She is in her late 20’s and is not sure if she wants to go back to school and finish her medical degree, or if that is just what her parents want her to do.  She is a people pleaser and has not really learned to stand up for herself and decide what she wants her life to look like yet.  Through the trials of the baking competition and the people she meets there, she starts to figure out herself and her life, and what her own road to happiness looks like.    

Ovations:  This book is very funny!  Alexis Hall writes wonderfully witty dialogue
and snappy humor very well.  I was laughing out loud many times!  (There is a lot of swearing in the book, so if that is not your cup of tea, this book won’t be either.)  I like the setting being back and forth between going to the mansion where they taped the baking “reality show” and then also back at her small house with her daughter in her “real life” world.  Rosaline’s young daughter, Amelie, is smart, sassy, funny, and fantastic!  Rosaline’s ex-girlfriend Lauren, is honest, hilarious, and fun.  I love that they are exe’s but are still able to be best friends.  I liked that the plot has a love triangle for romance, I love a good love triangle!  I appreciate the way that this book is so well written that you get a very funny book, but also a romance book, but also a thoughtful book about a woman in her 20’s who is growing up and finding both her voice and her own direction for her life.   

Oh Well:  There are several parts in the book where it gets sort of preachy, over explaining bisexuality and lesbian issues…..and also other gender and consent issues.  I am all for treating people with equality and respect, but I don’t need it constantly brought up in this book so much.  I feel it detracted from the story more than it added anything to it.

Opinion:  This book was about a young woman gets chosen to be on tv in a British baking show.  It is fun to read about the competition, what they are baking, and about all the quirky people she meets and interacts with on the show.  There is plenty of hilarious dialogue and witty banter to make the book enjoyable.  But this book also dives into some deeper issues that Rosaline is dealing with in her life.  Plus, Rosaline is involved in a love triangle (two actually!).  There are a lot of things going on in this book all at once, it is not a short book.  If you love watching baking shows, or are a baker yourself, or love British books about life in England, or like LGBTQ books with bisexual female main characters, I think you will especially enjoy this entertaining book.  Rating 8 out of 10