Month: March 2021

Review: The Dating Plan

Title: The Dating Plan
Author: Sara Desai
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Berkley Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 16, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can’t give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiance.

Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend’s little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy’s matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather’s will. If only he hadn’t broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago…

Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren’t about to follow the rules of this engagement.

Review:

Daisy Patel works as a software engineer at a startup company. When she’s at a tech conference to find funding, she runs into her old boss (who is now dating Daisy’s ex) and her aunt (who has brought an eligible bachelor to introduce to Daisy). Daisy runs right into a childhood friend, Liam, who she hates. Liam was Daisy’s brother’s best friend, but after he stood her up for her prom, she never heard from him again. In the spur of the moment, she kisses him to get away from her former boss and her aunt. When Liam realizes he needs a fiancé to get his inheritance from his grandfather, he asks Daisy to be his fake fiancé in exchange for helping her company. Daisy puts together a dating plan so they can convince their families that they are really engaged before they get married. It will take a lot for Daisy to forgive Liam for what he did to her when they were teens but they both need their fake engagement to work out.

The fake dating trope is one of my favourites. The characters have to keep many secrets from others and from each other. Some of these secrets were kept until the end, such as the real story behind why Liam didn’t go to the prom with Daisy.

I loved the families in this story. Both Daisy and Liam had large extended families who were involved in their relationship. Neither of their families believed they are actually getting married so quickly because it doesn’t seem like something they would do. Liam’s family was visiting following the death of his grandfather. They were a loud, funny, boisterous family. Daisy’s family was very big. She had relatives that worked all over the city, at every place she visited with Liam. It was so funny to see how she had connections everywhere. I really enjoyed seeing their large, entertaining families.

This was a fun rom com!

Thank you Berkley Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon

Other books in the series:

  • The Marriage Game

Have you read The Dating Plan? What did you think of it?

TBR Thursday – March 18

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is The Neat Witch by V.E. Schwab.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Brand new edition of Victoria Schwab’s long out-of-print, stunning debut

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

There are no strangers in the town of Near. 

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. 

But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. 

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. 

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

All-new deluxe edition of an out-of-print gem, containing in-universe short story “The Ash-Born Boy” and a never-before-seen introduction from V.E. Schwab.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Review: Delicates (Sheets #2)

Title: Delicates (Sheets #2)
Author: Brenna Thummler
Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Oni Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 23, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Following the events of the bestselling graphic novel Sheets, Delicates brings Brenna Thummler’s beloved characters, artwork, and charm back to life.

Marjorie Glatt’s life hasn’t been the same ever since she discovered a group of ghosts hiding in her family’s laundromat. Wendell, who died young and now must wander Earth as a ghost with nothing more than a sheet for a body, soon became one of Marjorie’s only friends. But when Marjorie finally gets accepted by the popular kids at school, she begins to worry that if anyone learns about her secret ghost friends, she’ll be labeled as a freak who sees dead people. With Marjorie’s insistence on keeping Wendell’s ghost identity a secret from her new friends, Wendell begins to feel even more invisible than he already is.

Eliza Duncan feels invisible too. She’s an avid photographer, and her zealous interest in finding and photographing ghosts gets her labeled as “different” by all the other kids in school. Constantly feeling on the outside, Eliza begins to feel like a ghost herself. Marjorie must soon come to terms with the price she pays to be accepted by the popular kids. Is it worth losing her friend, Wendell? Is she partially to blame for the bullying Eliza endures?

Delicates tells a powerful story about what it means to fit in, and those left on the outside. It shows what it’s like to feel invisible, and the importance of feeling seen. Above all, it is a story of asking for help when all seems dark, and bringing help and light to those who need it most.

Review:

Eighth grader Marjorie has a group of ghosts that live in her family’s laundromat. When Marjorie starts school after the summer, she’s become friends with the kids that used to bully her. This year, the kids have turned to bullying Eliza, a girl who has been left back a grade and is in their class. Eliza feels left out and finds comfort in her photography hobby. Eliza tries to take photos of ghosts, which also makes her the subject of teasing. However, Marjorie knows that ghosts do exist. Eventually, the bullying reaches a breaking point, and Marjorie is the only one who can save Eliza.

This is the perfect companion to the graphic novel Sheets. In that story, Marjorie and her laundromat full of ghosts were introduced. In this sequel, Marjorie has to use what she learned in the first story to help Eliza.

There was a lot of bullying in this story. There was also some discussion of suicide. This theme of death is part of the story, since Marjorie is friends with the ghosts of people who have died. This could be triggering content, but this story is also an important teaching experience about depression.

I really loved this graphic novel!

Thank you Oni Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Martian Ghost Centaur by Mat Heagerty, Steph Mided

Girl Have by Lilah Sturges

Other books in the series:

Have you read Delicates? What did you think of it?

‘Waiting on’ Wednesday – March 17

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Poison Priestess (Lady Slayers #2) by Lana Popović. The expected publication date is April 6, 2021.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Book 2 in the Lady Slayers series, about French murderess and fortune teller Catherine Monvoisin

In 17th-century Paris, 19-year-old Catherine Monvoisin is a well-heeled jeweler’s wife with a peculiar taste for the arcane. She lives a comfortable life, far removed from a childhood of abject destitution—until her kind spendthrift of a husband lands them both in debt. Hell-bent on avoiding a return to poverty, Catherine must rely on her prophetic visions and the grimoire gifted to her by a talented diviner to reinvent herself as a sorceress. With the help of the grifter Marie Bosse, Catherine divines fortunes in the IIle de la Citee—home to sorcerers and scoundrels.

There she encounters the Marquise de Montespan, a stunning noblewoman. When the Marquise becomes Louis XIV’s royal mistress with Catherine’s help, her ascension catapults Catherine to notoriety. Catherine takes easily to her glittering new life as the Sorceress La Voisin, pitting the depraved noblesse against one other to her advantage. The stakes soar ever higher when her path crosses with that of a young magician. A charged rivalry between sorceress and magician leads to Black Masses, tangled deceptions, and grisly murder—and sets Catherine on a collision course that threatens her own life.

What books are you waiting on this week?

Review: Love in English

Title: Love in English
Author: Maria E. Andreu
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: February 2, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Ana has just moved to New Jersey from Argentina for her Junior year of high school. She’s a poet and a lover of language—except that now, she can barely understand what’s going on around her, let alone find the words to express how she feels in the language she’s expected to speak.

All Ana wants to do is go home—until she meets Harrison, the very cute, very American boy in her math class. And then there’s her new friend Neo, the Greek boy she’s partnered up with in ESL class, who she bonds with over the 80s teen movies they are assigned to watch for class (but later keep watching together for fun), and Altagracia, her artistic and Instagram-fabulous friend, who thankfully is fluent in Spanish and able to help her settle into American high school. 

But is it possible that she’s becoming too American—as her father accuses—and what does it mean when her feelings for Harrison and Neo start to change? Ana will spend her year learning that the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love.

With playful and poetic breakouts exploring the idiosyncrasies of the English language, Love in English tells a story that is simultaneously charming and romantic, while articulating a deeper story about what it means to become “American.”

Review:

Sixteen-year-old Ana moved to New Jersey from Argentina. She likes to write poetry, but now she’s somewhere that she doesn’t speak the language. She meets Harrison, a cute American boy, who needs her help with math. Then, she meets Neo, a cute Greek boy, in her ESL class. Harrison is the ideal boyfriend she imagined having in America, but she has a lot in common with Neo, as they both help each other with English. Ana has to navigate this new world with a new language, while also dealing with the usual issues of growing up.

English is the only language I speak, so I’ve never had the experience that Ana had. However, everyone at some point in their lives has felt left out of a group, whether at a new school or a new workplace. When I was a child, most of my friends spoke English as a second language. I was reminded of them while reading this book. After reading this story, I feel like I have a better understanding of how they felt coming to a new country and learning English.

This story gave an interesting view of the English language. There are so many strange things in the language that really don’t make sense. Some sayings, such as “have your cake and eat it too,” were mentioned a lot because Ana thought it was so strange. She also pointed out how the words dough, rough, and bough look so similar but have completely different pronunciations. I don’t usually examine these parts of English, since it’s the only language I know. It was fun to see all these unusual parts of language pointed out in this story.

This was a fun and beautiful story!

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Hot British Boyfriend by Kristy Boyce

A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen

Have you read Love in English? What did you think of it?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books on My Spring 2021 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Books on My Spring 2021 TBR. Here’s my list:

1. The Accidental Apprentice by Amanda Foody

2. Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab

3. Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera

4. Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart

5. Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

6. The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell

7. Hello, Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson

8. Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

9. These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy

10. Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein

(All book covers from Goodreads)

What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?

Happy Pub Day – March 16

Happy Pub Day to all of these new books!

Namesake by Adrienne Young

The Dating Plan by Sara Desai

Delicates by Brenna Thummler

A Queen of Gilded Horns by Amanda Joy

My Last Summer with Cass by Mark Crilley

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

That Way Madness Lies by Dahlia Adler (editor)

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore

A Better Bad Idea by Laurie Devore

The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Five Ways to Fall Out of Love by Emily Martin

Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

The Seventh Raven by David Elliott

What books are you most excited for this week?

Blog Tour Review: Her Dark Lies

Title: Her Dark Lies
Author: J.T. Ellison
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Mira Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 9, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

At the wedding of the year, a killer needs no invitation

Jutting from sparkling turquoise waters off the Italian coast, Isle Isola is an idyllic setting for a wedding. In the majestic cliff-top villa owned by the wealthy Compton family, up-and-coming artist Claire Hunter will marry handsome, charming Jack Compton, surrounded by close family, intimate friends…and a host of dark secrets.

From the moment Claire sets foot on the island, something seems amiss. Skeletal remains have just been found. There are other, newer disturbances, too. Menacing texts. A ruined wedding dress. And one troubling shadow hanging over Claire’s otherwise blissful relationship—the strange mystery surrounding Jack’s first wife.

Then a raging storm descends, the power goes out—and the real terror begins…

Review:

Claire Hunter is an up-and-coming artist who is marrying into the famous Compton family. Jack Compton is taking Claire to his family’s villa on an island in Italy to have the wedding of the year. On the night before they leave, they come home to find an intruder in their house. Claire gets the gun away from the intruder and shoots him dead. Jack’s bodyguard takes the fall for it. Then, when they arrive at the villa, a body has just been found in ruins on the island. This is just the beginning of the ominous disasters that happen at the villa. Everything that happens has one thing in common: it all leads back to the death of Jack’s first wife.

This was a heart pounding thriller from the beginning to the end. It was so hard to put this book down because I wanted to know what was going to happen. Each incident escalated the drama and made me excited to keep reading.

I figured out what was behind the incidents pretty early on in the story, but I couldn’t figure out how or why they were happening. There were still some unexpected twists at the end that surprised me. Even though I was pretty sure I was right, I had to keep reading to find out how it all happened.

This was such a great thriller!

Thank you HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

About the author:

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of the literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim, prestigious awards, and has been published in 28 countries. Ellison lives in Nashville with her husband and twin kittens.

Have you read Her Dark Lies? What did you think of it?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – March 15

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading Love in English by Maria E. Andreu.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading The Dating Plan by Sara Desai.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – March 14

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

I did 9 weekly blogging memes:

How was your week? What did you guys read?