Women’s Fiction – Page 2

ARC — The Sweet Spot — Amy Poeppel

Genre: Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A
Content Warnings:Mentions parental death, cheating, and abandonment.

“The Sweet Spot” follows multiple points of views to tell a story of three women—women at different stages of life and who don’t particularly like each other—as they face the oddest of situations. Lauren is a ceramic artist who’s happily married and has 3 kids. What she was not intending was to cause Melinda’s husband to leave her after 30 years of marriage, simply by giving a small pep talk to the art curator who was having an affair with Melinda’s husband. Melinda worked in HR at a firm for years, but after finding herself forcefully retired after an incident, she ends up working as a school receptionist. What Melinda was not intending was to get Olivia fired after Olivia had a confrontation with Melinda at the mistress’s store and it goes viral on Tiktok. And what none of them expected was to find a baby upon their doorstep.

Getting to meet Lauren first, Melinda second, and Olivia last, these interlacing points of view bring us a story that’s so sad and improbable that it’s comical. These three ladies and a few of the side characters have so many flaws that aren’t regularly portrayed in fiction. Amy Poeppel gives us a very unique story in “The Sweet Spot.”

But I can already see from the reviews on Goodreads that my opinion is the unpopular one this time around. I really enjoyed the whimsicality of the characters, but the story never fully captivated me. I did not DNF this book out of pure willpower and stubbornness, because I honestly was done with this narrative at around 20%.

It’s complicated because the book is really well-written and the characters are thoroughly constructed and fairly unique, yet I did not empathize with any of them. I was not interested in their story and their lives and their problems. Lauren’s struggles with her commissions, Melinda’s grudge over someone steeling her husband, and Olivia’s unemployment after a meltdown inspired barely any emotion in me.

Although this book wasn’t my cup of tea, I would recommend it to readers who have enjoyed books by Sally Rooney, especially “Conversations with Friends”, and books by Frederik Backman, especially “Anxious People” and “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry”.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: January 31, 2023

One Italian Summer — Rebecca Serle

“When you’re just a reflection, what happens when the image vanishes?”

Author: Rebecca Serle
Narrated By: Lauren Graham (!!! Yes!!! Lorelai from Gilmore Girls)

Genre: Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 2 stars (and I’m being generous)
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Narration: 5 mikes
Content Warnings: Death of parent, unhealthy grief coping mechanisms, cancer, cheating, and some sexual content.

“One Italian Summer” follows Katy, as she travels to Italy in hopes to reconnect with her mother, who’s just passed away. Leaving her husband behind, Katy sets off to the small town her mother loved—little did she know she would indeed reconnect with her mother, as she literally runs into her, in the flesh, and 30 years younger.

Rebecca Serle is one of my biggest hits or miss. And this one was definitely a miss for me. I came in blindly because I will read anything Rebecca publishes, period, but I lowkey regret doing that.

The only reason this has 2 stars is because of Lauren Graham, THE Lorelai Gilmore, who narrated the audiobook I listened to. Her voice was absolutely perfect. Disliked the story, but loved the experience. So lets get on with the actual review.

The relationship between Katy and her mother is absolutely, insanely, unequivocally unhealthy. Like no, honey, your mother is not your soulmate. And hey, I am all for magical realism, but this book was insane. You’re telling me you run into your dead mother, 30 years younger, and you wait 200 pages to ask someone what year you’re in? This was just ridiculous.

Also, there was some cheating here. Which, as you know if you’ve been following my reviews for a while, is the BIGGEST no-no for me. This novel had literally nothing going for it in my opinion (except for the narrator, 10/10).

I would only recommend “One Italian Summer” if time-travel cheating and dysfunctional, codependent mother-daughter relationships are your jam. If not, please just steer clear.

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“(…) Memory is by definition fiction. Once an event is no longer present, but remembered, it is narrative. And we can choose the narratives we tell—about our own lives, our own stories, our own relationships. We can choose the chapters we give meaning.”

ARC — The Happiness Project — Kirstie Pelling

“It seems the secret to happiness was there all along, a smiling face, winking at me from the froth.”

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses parent death and mental illness. Deep dive into cancel culture. I was honestly struggling so much to read this that I can’t recall anything else.

“The Happiness Project” follows Daisy Blane, a self-proclaimed Happiness Expert while she hasn’t even found happiness herself. That’s all you have to know about this book, really. She gets “canceled” and critiqued for just that a few times. She looks for happiness and love where there is none. But she gets her happily ever after, so at least there’s that.

There are two very unique things about this book: 1) there are no proper quotations just these ‘ ’ little guys and 2) the amount of times the narrator thinks/says “I” will drive you insane. ‘I did this and then I did that.’ It got repetitive and annoying after a while. It almost made me think about DNFing at one point, but I am sort of glad I stuck through.

This is a cute, lighthearted read that is trying to be quirky to a fault. I know we’re supposed to empathize with Daisy, but I just could not connect with her. One would think a panda-looking, adorable dog could save the day, but Doodle really wasn’t enough to save this one for me. This didn’t feel like the Romance books I love, it was much more Women’s Fiction with just a tiny sprinkle of Romance.

I’m not sure I will be recommending this book—unless you’re a big fan of first-person narration, then perhaps this book would be for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Embla Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: December 1, 2022

ARC — Mad Honey — Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

“This has always been my favorite fact about bees: in their world, destiny is fluid. You might start life as a worker, and end up a queen.”

Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction (I would add Mysteries and thrillers here)
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A, was clean, but does mention the act itself.
Content Warnings: Discusses transphobia, homophobia, suicide attempts, self harm, and bullying. Described domestic abuse and child abuse. This is a hard, serious read.

“Mad Honey” follows Olivia McAfee, a single mother to Asher and professional beekeeper, as she lives through her son’s murder trial. This book also follows Lily Campanello, Asher’s girlfriend, before her death. Built between flashbacks and two points of view, this book will take you through a rollercoaster of emotion like no other.

This is one of the best books I’ve read all year. I loved absolutely everything about it—from the writing, to the timelines, to the characters. Everything. I loved and grieved Lily with Asher. I suffered through the trial with Olivia. My heart shattered for Ava, Lily’s mom. The plot twists where literal breathtaking.

—Can’t say I was completely surprised with who ended up being the murderer, but I still loved how it was revealed and executed. This book will be nothing how you expect it to be.

I would highly recommend this book above any other suspense or mystery or just general fiction book you’ve got on your TBR. “Mad Honey” will have you on the edge of your seat and you’ll just wish you could finish it in one sitting, I know I did.

If you’ve enjoyed books like “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley or “The Maid” by Nina Prose, then this book is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 4, 2022

“You read about tragedies in the paper, where a student athlete falls dead in the middle of a basketball game or a National Honor student is killed by a drunk driver or a school shooting claims the life of a preteen. In the news you see their faces, braces and cowlicks and freckles.
You tell yourself this wouldn’t happen in your
hometown.
You tell yourself this isn’t anyone you know.
Until it does, and it is.”

ARC — Something in the Heir — Suzanne Enoch

“I love you, William Pershing.” (…)
“I have waited a very long time for you to say that, Emmeline Pershing.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji (if that)
Content Warning: Mentions physical and emotional child abuse, domestic violence, classism, and death of parents.

“Something In The Heir” is all about marriages of convenience and fake adoptions. It follows Emmie and William Pershing, as they deceive their family into thinking they have kids, just so they can inheriting Winnover Hall. (Is it weird it’s called Winnover, when this whole books is about winning over this Estate? Anyways, let’s move on.)

You see that endorsement on the cover? Nice stuff. Julia Quinn saying Suzanne Enoch is “one of (her) favorite authors”… See how she says nothing about the book per se? That tells you pretty much all you have to know about that. I had to know I would hate it as soon as I read her last name was “Pershing”. Or as soon as I saw how the Pershings were willing to take two orphans through a ride of faking being their kids, cementing those strong abandonment issues.

I love books from the Regency period—think “Pride and Prejudice” or the Brigertons series—so I had very high hopes for “Something In The Heir”. Oh, how wrong I was to expect so much. I feel like this book was 150 pages longer than it should’ve been. In the end, I had to skim through it because the descriptions were too long and downright boring, and I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters. This did not feel like a romance book at all. I am not even sure why I tortured myself getting through it, I’m thinking I should’ve just DNFed.

I’m not sure who to recommend this book to. But here we are. Writing this review anyway. I guess grab “Something In The Heir” if you want a slow-paced read with lying characters that want to be quirky and clever but aren’t, with two first-endearing-but-then-annoying kids, and a somewhat happy ending.

This is the first St. Martin’s Press book that wasn’t a hit for me, but that doesn’t me it can’t be a hit for you. Reviews on Goodreads are mixed, so might as well give it a try if you like historical and Regency Era novels.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

ARC — Something Bright and Burning — Whitney Amazeen

“He does the most dangerous thing a person can do; he lets me hope.
And this kind of hope-the kind that makes me feel like somehow everything’s going to turn out okay in the end-will only end in disappointment.”

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Is all about teenage pregnancy, discusses rape and blackmailing leading to sexual assault, sexual content in general, suicide, underaged drinking, incest, miscarriages, financial hardships, parental death and abandonment, and religious guilt.

“Something Bright and Burning” follows Everly Martin, as she finds out she’s pregnant at 18… and she’s not sure who the father is. Her whole future is ahead of her, she’s taking college classes and working and barely making ends meet. The father could either be Vaughn, the douchebag coworker who’s forced himself on her, or John, the older man she met at a bar. But then there’s also Nicolai, her best friend’s brother, and someone Everly had an instant connection with. In this world, where there are no right answers, will Everly choose to follow what she things if best for her or her baby? Or for both?

Told through journal entries, poems, and a first-person narrative, “Something Bright and Burning” is an ode to hardship and self-improvement. Some characters were a bit cartoonish but, in general, almost all were well-defined, with their diverse personalities, stories, and beliefs.

“I often feel like she willingly allows me to shoulder the weight of our family’s responsibilities. When she leaves the parent role empty, I have no choice but to fill it.”

The only thing I wasn’t 100% sold on was the poetry… It was simply not my cup of it. It was just some instagram-worthy prose, just like the next guy. No poem really spoke to me. It just felt like a little something added to give the main character some hobbies and personality traits.

But oh, was the plot twist so so wild. It has been months, maybe even years, since a plot twist had hit me so hard. Just that plot twist makes this book worth reading. I wish I could go back and read it for the first time all over again.

This book kind of reminded me of Lauren J. Sharkey’s “Inconvenient Daughter” and maybe even a bit to Hanya Yanagihara’s “A Little Life”. It just undertook some very heavy subjects. It did an amazing job of portraying life, with some of its extreme threats.

I would highly recommend this book. “Something Bright and Burning” is a complex read, with a ton of triggering situations (and therefore a ton of content warnings), but if you find the heart to read through them, you won’t regret it.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Swan Pages Publishinf in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

“It’s not you, Nicolai. It’s me, I want to tell him. But
those words have never worked for anyone. So, I don’t look back. I grab all my shit, I take a deep breath, and leave.”

ARC — The Bodyguard — Katherine Center

“There’s nothing like the mutuality of a hug—the way you’re giving comfort but you’re getting it, too. I didn’t know what was real or fake anymore, but right then, it just didn’t matter.”

Genre: Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis (stays PG13, but it’s great)
Content Warnings: Mentions cheating, cancer, car crashes, and discusses the loss of parents and alcoholism.

“The Hating Game” meets “Spoiler Alert” (or Starstruck, that Disney movie from the 2000s) in this exceptional novel about an Executive Protection Agent (essentially a bodyguard) and a superstar falling in love. “The Bodyguard” follows Hannah Brooks, a recently-dumped, ordinary-and-stumpy Executive Protection Agent, and Jack Stapleton, a famous actor who took a hiatus after a tragic accident that led to the death of one of his brothers. Now that Jack’s mother has been diagnosed with cancer, he steps back into society and is forced to get a security team—but refuses to scare his mother with the fact that he needs security at all. So in comes Hannah, who is lowkey forced to be Jack’s fake girlfriend while they stay at his family’s ranch. But when does faking end and reality starts? That’s for them to find out.

Oh God, I can’t even begin to explain how much I enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, I loved the plot and the writing, I hated the villains (for a change), and I just couldn’t get enough of the fanfiction feel of it all. I just have to mention it again: I can’t believe how good of a villain we got, I don’t know who I hated more: her ex boyfriend or her ex best friend, that’s all I’m saying.

Also, I can’t believe this is my first Katherine Center book, I’ll definitely be adding her to my TBR list. I really enjoyed her writing, her descriptions are there but aren’t long enough to be boring. The characters she crafted were both relatable and fantastical, in the best sense of the word. Both Hannah and Jack were so sweet. It’s like you know the things that happened in this book probably wouldn’t happen in real life, but they still technically could, and it would be wonderful if they did.

I also couldn’t tell you if this book was a slow burn or not, because it sort of was, but, at the same time, it felt like a romance from the start, even if that was fake. What I can tell you is that this book is filled with character development and growth, not just two shallow characters pining after one another.

I would recommend “The Bodyguard” to any readers who’ve enjoyed close proximity and fake dating trope books, like “The Spanish Love Deception” by Elena Armas, “The Unhoneymooners” by Christina Lauren, or “The Hating Game” by Sally Thorne. Also, if you’ve been into fanfiction at any point in your life, or if you’ve ever had a big crush on someone famous, this book is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 19, 2022

“To what we’ve held onto. And what we’ve lost.”

ARC — Here for the Drama — Kate Bromley

“All love stories are complicated.”

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Toxic work dynamics.

“Here for the Drama” follows Winnie, as she moved across the world from the United States to the United Kingdom—straight to the heart of London’s theater world. She is the right hard of a renowned, American playwright, and she is trying to hold the play from falling apart as the director and her boss butt heads, and as she falls for the one guy she was told not to fall for. To say there’s a lot going on in this book would be an understatement.

If you’re reading a book titled “Here for the Drama” I assume you’re, well, here for the drama. Over-the-top would be an accurate way of describing this book and all Winnie goes through. I loved the dynamic banter and I loved the forbidden romance feel to it (not the spicy part, that part was entirely awkward and worded weirdly), but I think it was a bit much at times. I wasn’t completely engaged and sometimes only skimmed through, just reading the dialogue, that’s why I’ve given this book 3.5 stars.

I would recommend “Here for the Drama” to anyone who’s ever watched Mexican Novela type shows (let that be actual novelas or perhaps tv series like “Jane The Virgin”). Basically, if you like unrealistic, slice-of-life drama and the New York City-London vibe, then this book is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 21, 2022

ARC — Same Time, Same Place — David M. Barnett

“Everything is the same. But different. Just like Daisy said.”

Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Mentions harassment and family violence.

“Same Time, Same Place” follow Daisy Dukes (yes, that’s her name) and Nate Garvey, two security guards who work at the Museum of Social History. As Nate works the day shifts and Daisy works the night shifts, their days only overlap for a few minutes during handover—that is until things start going missing at the museum, for a few days at a time, before being put back on their museum display. Delving into how our past affects our future, and told through different points of view, this is a dynamic and engaging read that goes to show that our history doesn’t define us and that love can be born from the oddest of places.

Sadly, I didn’t connect with the characters in this book as much as I thought I would. I enjoyed the story and the quirky romance, but there was something too ficticios about the characters for me. I did like how they redeemed themselves and how the mystery came to fruition. Maybe 4 stars is too high a rating for characters I didn’t love, but David M. Barnett did such an excellent job with the writing that I couldn’t give it any less.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy both romance and mystery books, even if the publisher hasn’t categorized it under Mysteries. There isn’t too much suspense here, but mystery is definitely in the mix.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 07, 2022

ARC — Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting — Clare Pooley

“The advantage of boarding the train at Hampton Court was that it was the end of the line, or the beginning, depending, of course, on which way you were traveling. There was a life lesson there, thought Iona. In her experience, most endings turned out to be beginnings in disguise.”

Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions medical emergencies (choking), and deals with homophobia and bullying.

“Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting” follows a set of characters that all commute on the same train—all getting on and off at different stops. After one eventful morning breaks the ice between them, one wonders: what would happen if you throw the rules of commuting away? What if you were to talk to a perfect stranger—who you see every day, through your silent commute? Told through different points of view, we get a glance at different realities, all being tied by their preferred mode of transport.

This book had so many funny, quirky, and diverse characters. Actually, I think it’s been the most diverse cast I’ve read this year. Contrary to what I expected, Iona is, in fact, not a millennial like myself—and that only made me realize that I can’t remember the last book I read where the character wasn’t a young woman. I loved Sanjay, I could relate so much to his inner narrative. I learned to love Piers, or “Smart-But-Sexist-Manapreader” as Iona would call him before meeting him formally. I feel like I am most like Emmie when commuting, always with a book in hand. I think the narrative I enjoyed the less was Martha’s, but even then I wouldn’t change a thing, because all these characters brought together a heartwarming story.

I dread human interaction with strangers but, strangely, this book kind of made me want to talk to a stranger. Connect a little. It made me realize that there are so many different lives being lived all around. It’d be a disservice to only focus on my own.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, easy, fast-paced read with different points of view. If you’ve enjoyed books like “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman, then “Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting” by Clara Pooley is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.