Contemporary – Page 3 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Salt and Sugar

Title: Salt and Sugar
Author: Rebecca Carvalho
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: November 1, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families’ feud.

Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.

Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.

Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?

Review:

Lari Ramires’s family bakery, Salt, has always been at war with the Molina’s bakery across the street, called Sugar. The feud goes back a couple of generations. When Lari’s grandmother passes away, she’s faced with the hard truth that the bakery is struggling. A new supermarket chain that has opened nearby is trying to get all of the small businesses to close. Lari is desperate to save her family’s bakery, so she teams up with Pedro Molina, the grandson of Sugar’s owner, to try to save their family legacies.

I love this kind of star-crossed lovers story. Lari and Pedro were from feuding families, like Romeo and Juliet. The tension between them was there immediately, since their families were enemies. At the same time, they had a lot in common since their families had the same type of business with the same problems, which was a recipe for romance.

If you read this one, I highly recommend having some sweet treats nearby because the descriptions of pastries and treats made me so hungry!

Salt and Sugar is a cute YA romance!

Thank you HCC Frenzy for sending me a copy of this book!

Review: Season of Love

Title: Season of Love
Author: Helena Greer
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, LGBT
Publisher: Forever
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 11, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Miriam Blum has no choice but to face the past she thought she’d left behind when she inherits her great-aunt’s Christmas tree farm in this witty, glittering, heart-filled romcom.

Thanks to her thriving art career, Miriam Blum finally has her decoupaged glitter ducks in a row—until devastating news forces her to a very unwanted family reunion. Her beloved great-aunt Cass has passed and left Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm.

But Miriam’s plans to sit shiva, avoid her parents, then put Carrigan’s in her rearview mirror are spoiled when she learns the business is at risk of going under. To have any chance at turning things around, she’ll need to work with the farm’s grumpy manager—as long as the attraction sparking between them doesn’t set all their trees on fire first.

Noelle Northwood wants Miriam Blum gone—even if her ingenious ideas and sensitive soul keep showing Noelle there’s more to Cass’s niece than meets the eye. But saving Carrigan’s requires trust, love, and risking it all—for the chance to make their wildest dreams come true.

Review:

When Miriam Blum’s great-aunt Cass dies, she goes back to visit her family for the first time in 10 years. While there, Miriam learns that she has inherited Cass’s Jewish-run Christmas tree farm with her cousin and the grumpy manager of the farm. On top of that, they learn that the farm is in danger of going under. Noelle Northwood is the manager of the farm. She doesn’t trust Miriam since she’s come back after being away from her family for so long. All that Noelle knows is that Miriam wasn’t there when her family needed her, so she really doesn’t want to fall for her. Noelle, Miriam, and Miriam’s cousin Hannah have to work together to put aside their differences to save the farm.

This was a fun holiday rom com! I loved all the quirky characters. They were all distinct and had their own storylines, which leaves open the possibility of more books in a series.

The characters celebrated many holidays from October to January. They celebrated both Jewish and Christian holidays. Miriam’s family was Jewish, but since they work at a Christmas farm with Christians, they also celebrated Christmas all together. It was fun to see so much celebration in a holiday story!

Season of Love is a fun holiday story!

Thank you Forever for providing a digital copy of this book.

Review: Once Upon a December

Title: Once Upon a December
Author: Amy E. Reichert
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Berkley
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 4, 2022
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A one-of-a-kind Christmas market offers holiday magic in the new romance from the author of The Kindred Spirits Supper Club.

With a name like Astra Noel Snow, holiday spirit isn’t just a seasonal specialty–it’s a way of life. But after a stinging divorce, Astra’s yearly trip to the Milwaukee Christmas market takes on a whole new meaning. She’s ready to eat, drink, and be merry, especially with the handsome stranger who saves the best kringle for her at his family bakery.

For Jack Clausen, the Julemarked with its snowy lights and charming shops stays the same, while the world outside the joyful street changes, magically leaping from one December to the next every four weeks. He’s never minded living this charmed existence until Astra shows him the life he’s been missing outside of the festive red brick alley.

After a swoon-worthy series of dates, some Yuletide magic, and the unexpected glow of new love, Astra and Jack must decide whether this relationship can weather all seasons, or if what they’re feeling is as ephemeral as marshmallows in a mug of hot cocoa.

Review:

Astra Noel Snow loves going to the Milwaukee Christmas market with her best friends every year. They eat, drink, dance, and go to the mysterious Julemarked area of the market where they buy kringle pastries from a handsome man. Jack Clausen is one of the workers at the bakery. He’s looking forward to seeing Astra again that Christmas, but she won’t remember him. The Julemarked is a market that only exists from December 1st to 24th, and then jumps to a different city to open as a Christmas market there. Only a few special people can remember the Julemarked from one year to the next. Jack is hoping this will be the year that Astra finally remembers him. After spending a night together, they make plans to meet again at the end of the month. When Astra can’t find him for their date because the Julemarked has disappeared for the year, she spends her time searching for answers so she can finally have her happily ever after.

This was an unusual story. The world of the Julemarked was hard to wrap my head around. It was confusing at first. The people who live and work at it only ever experience the month of December in different cities around the world. They don’t know what year or location they will end up for each month. It was disorienting and unexpected.

I really didn’t like Jack. He had a closed mind when it came to deciding on his and Astra’s relationship. He wanted her to give up everything for him without even thinking about it. There was also the dreaded pregnancy trope, which seemed forced.

Unfortunately Once Upon a December didn’t work for me.

Thank you Berkley for providing a digital copy of this book.

Have you read Once Upon a December? What did you think of it?

Review: By the Book (Meant to Be #2)

Title: By the Book (Meant to Be #2)
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A tale as old as time—for a new generation…

Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves.

All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be?

But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn’t there before.

Best-selling author Jasmine Guillory’s reimagining of a beloved fairy tale is a romantic triumph of love and acceptance and learning that sometimes to truly know a person you have to read between the lines.

Review:

Izzy is a twenty-five year-old, who works in publishing, and still lives at home with her parents. She’s overworked and finds it hard to speak up for herself, as the only Black employee at the publishing company. When she hears her boss complaining about the high-profile celebrity who is late with his manuscript, Izzy gets an idea. Izzy goes to Santa Barbara to give the author, Beau Towers, a pep talk. However, when she meets him, she discovers that he is so withdrawn that he will need more than one pep talk. Izzy stays with him and encourages him to tell his story. As Beau writes his memoir and gets closer to the end, Izzy discovers they have more in common than she expected, and she doesn’t want to leave him when they’re finished.

Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairytale, so I was excited to finally read this retelling. This was a fun twist on the story with a publishing spin. It’s not realistic that a publishing assistant would be sent to live with and help a celebrity write their memoir, but it was a fun fantasy to read about.

By the Book is a cute Beauty and the Beast retelling!

Other books in the series:

If the Shoe Fits (Meant to Be #1)
Kiss the Girl (Meant to Be #2)

Have you read By the Book? What did you think of it?

Review: Witcha Gonna Do? (Witchington #1)

Title: Witcha Gonna Do? (Witchington #1)
Author: Avery Flynn
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Fantasy
Publisher: Berkley
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: December 6, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An unlucky witch and her know-it-all nemesis must team up in the first of a new, hot romantic comedy series from USA Today bestselling author Avery Flynn.

Could it possibly get any worse than having absolutely no magical abilities when you’re a member of the most powerful family of witches ever? It used to be that I’d say no, but then I keep getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly whose hotness is only matched by his ego. Seriously. I can’t stand him. Even if I also can’t stop thinking about him (specifically kissing him) but we’re going to pretend I never told you that part.

So yeah, my life isn’t the greatest right now, but then it goes straight to the absolute worst hell when I accidentally make my sister’s spell glitch and curse my whole family. And the only person who can help non-magical me break the spell? You guessed it. Gil the super hot jerk.

Now we have to work together to save my family and outmaneuver some evil-minded nefarious forces bent on world domination. Oh yeah, and we have to do all that while fighting against the attraction building between us because I may not be magical, but what’s happening between Gil and I sure feels like it.

Review:

Tilda Sherwood is part of a large magical family, but she doesn’t have any magic. She keeps getting set up on dates by her godmother, and every date is with the same guy: Gil Connolly. He’s gorgeous but annoying, and Tilda can’t stop thinking about him. One day when Tilda’s sister is doing a spell, Tilda interferes with it, and something goes wrong, freezing her entire family in ice. Since Tilda doesn’t have magic, she has to go to Gil for help. They have to find a spell to unfreeze her family, while also fighting the growing attraction between them.

This was such a fun rom com! Tilda is a bit of an outcast, being surrounded by magic but unable to use it herself. Gil has secrets of his own that add a lot of tension to the story when he has to lie and keep them from Tilda.

The epilogue was so good. There’s a lot of potential for future stories about other characters. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Thank you Berkley for providing a digital copy of this book.

Review: A Merry Little Meet Cute

Title: A Merry Little Meet Cute
Author: Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Avon
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 20, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone—a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with.

Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn’t ask for more. But when Bee’s favorite producer casts her to star in a Christmas movie he’s making for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, Bee’s career is about to take a more family-friendly direction.

Forced to keep her work as Bianca under wraps, Bee quickly learns this is a task a lot easier said than done. Though it all becomes worthwhile when she discovers her co-star is none other than childhood crush Nolan Shaw, an ex-boy band member in desperate need of career rehab. Nolan’s promised his bulldog manager to keep it zipped up on set, and he will if it means he’ll be able to provide a more stable living situation for his sister and mom.

But things heat up quickly in Christmas Notch, Vermont, when Nolan recognizes his new co-star from her ClosedDoors account (oh yeah, he’s a member). Now Bee and Nolan are sneaking off for quickies on set, keeping their new relationship a secret from the Hope Channel’s execs. Things only get trickier when the reporter who torpedoed Nolan’s singing career comes snooping around—and takes an instant interest in mysterious newcomer Bee.

And if Bee and Nolan can’t keep their off-camera romance behind the scenes, then this merry little meet cute might end up on the cutting room floor.

Review:

Bee Hobbes is a successful plus-size adult film star under the stage name Bianca von Honey. When her producer casts her in a clean Christmas move for the Hope Channel, Bee is ready to take her career in a new direction. Her co-star will be Nolan Shaw, a former boy band singer whose career ended with a scandal. Nolan decided to do this movie to make extra money to help his sick mother and young sister. As soon as they meet on set in Vermont, Nolan recognizes Bee as Bianca von Honey because he subscribes to her ClosedDoor channel. Things heat up between them, but they have to keep their relationship a secret so that Bee’s other career isn’t discovered and their movie isn’t cancelled.

This was a super steamy read! There were some funny holiday-themed romance moments that were a little silly, but it was a good story too.

I liked that even though Bee and Nolan each had big secrets that they were keeping from almost everyone else on set, they knew each other’s secrets. I was surprised because usually the love interests in a romance are keeping the huge secrets from each other but in this story, the tension comes when everyone else discovers the secrets. Bee’s and Nolan’s secrets bonded them throughout the story and made them have an intense and steamy romance.

A Merry Little Meet Cute is a steamy holiday rom com!

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a digital copy of this book.

Review: Lord of the Fly Fest

Title: Lord of the Fly Fest
Author: Goldy Moldavsky
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Horror
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Source: Once Upon a Book Club
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: August 30, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

One of Us Is Lying meets Lord of the Flies meets Fyre Fest in this wickedly addictive and funny YA thriller.

Rafi Francisco needs something really special to put her true crime podcast on the map. She sets her sights on River Stone, the hearthrob musician who rose to stardom after the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend. Rafi lands herself a ticket to the exclusive Fly Fest, where River will be the headliner.

But when Rafi arrives on the Caribbean island location of Fly Fest with hundreds of other influencers and (very minor) celebrities, they quickly discover that the dream trip is more of a nightmare. And it’s not just confronting beauty gurus-gone-wild and spotty WiFi. Soon, Rafi goes from fighting for an interview to fighting for her life. And, as she gets closer to River, she discovers that he might be hiding even darker secrets than she suspected . . .

Review:

Rafi Francisco has a true crime podcast called “Musical Mysteries.” For season 2 of her podcast, she decides to explore her theory that heartthrob musician River Stone killed his girlfriend and lied that she mysteriously disappeared. Rafi goes to Fly Fest, an influencer festival on a Caribbean island where River will be performing. However, there isn’t anything set up on the island when everyone arrives. There are no buildings, no food, and almost no Wi-Fi. Rafi convinces everyone to stay so that she can get her interview with River, but she discovers what lengths influencers will go to to have a good time at the festival.

This story was more funny than I expected. The influencers who were on the island with Rafi were caricatures of influencers, going to extreme lengths to make it look like they were having a good time. I loved the quote: “People would rather live in a lie utopia than in a true dystopia.” So much on social media is a lie made to look much better than real life. I’ve done that too. When I’ve been having a bad day, I’ll post a positive, happy post rather than something that reflects how I’m really feeling. This story took it to the extreme where the influencers made it seem like they were having a great time while it was actually a disaster.

I was expecting this story to me more dark and graphic, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that dark. It had a creepy atmosphere on the island, but everything that happened had a logical explanation. There were some gross scenes, but there were so many funny parts that made up for it.

Lord of the Fly Fest is a fun YA story.

Review: Love from Mecca to Medina (Love from A to Z #2)

Title: Love from Mecca to Medina (Love from A to Z #2)
Author: S.K. Ali
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Salaam Reads
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: October 18, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Adam and Zayneb. Perfectly matched. Painfully apart.

Adam is in Doha, Qatar, making a map of the Hijra, a historic migration from Mecca to Medina, and worried about where his next paycheck will come from. Zayneb is in Chicago, where school and extracurricular stresses are piling on top of a terrible frenemy situation, making her miserable.

Then a marvel occurs: Adam and Zayneb get the chance to spend Thanksgiving week on the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia. Adam is thrilled; it’s the reboot he needs and an opportunity to pray for a hijra in real life: to migrate to Zayneb in Chicago. Zayneb balks at the trip at first, having envisioned another kind of vacation, but then decides a spiritual reset is calling her name too. And they can’t wait to see each other—surely, this is just what they both need.

But the trip is nothing like what they expect, from the appearance of Adam’s former love interest in their traveling group to the anxiety gripping Zayneb when she’s supposed to be “spiritual.” As one wedge after another drives them apart while they make their way through rites in the holy city, Adam and Zayneb start to wonder: was their meeting just an oddity after all? Or can their love transcend everything else like the greatest marvels of the world?

Review:

Adam is in Doha, Qatar, trying to find work as an artist while his MS isn’t bothering him. Zayneb is in Chicago, trying to find an apartment while she studies and has to fend off accusations from her school’s newspaper. They are both looking forward to spending a week together in England, but when Adam is offered a trip on the Umbrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, he has to take the opportunity while he’s feeling well. They change their plans to go on the Umbrah together, but their relationship faces the ultimate test on this spiritual journey, making them question if they’re meant to be together.

This was another fabulous S.K. Ali book! It was so nice to be reunited with these familiar characters. There were also characters from the Saints and Misfits books, which was fun to see all of the characters together. The characters were college age, so they had to deal with more adult problems than in a young adult novel, but it was nice to see the characters grow up in this story. There were some chapters from the perspective of Bertha Fatima, Adam and Zayneb’s cat, which were so entertaining.

I didn’t know anything about the Umbrah or Mecca and Medina so I learned a lot in this story. It inspired me to look up some of the terms and places to be able to picture them. The story was detailed and described the entire trip so I got a full picture of this experience.

Love from Mecca to Medina is a great story!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

Love from A to Z

Have you read Love from Mecca to Medina? What did you think of it?

Review: Hide

Title: Hide
Author: Kiersten White
Genre: Horror, Contemporary
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 24, 2022
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don’t get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win–to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts–Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she’s an expert at that.

It’s the reason she’s alive, and her family isn’t.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.
Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

A high-stakes hide-and-seek competition turns deadly in this dark supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

Review:

Would you spend a week in an abandoned amusement park to win $50,000 dollars? That’s the challenge that Mack enters. She lives in a shelter and has nothing to lose, so she decides to enter the challenge along with thirteen other people. Each day the contestants must hide from the “seekers,” with two contestants being “out” each day. However, this is a much darker game than they predicted. They have to figure out how to hide so that they make it out alive.

This was such a psychologically creepy story. There wasn’t anything actually scary on the page for most of the story, but the threat of some unknown seeker gave the story a spooky atmosphere.

I wish there was more character development. There were three characters that had full backstories, but the other eleven contestants weren’t as well developed. It would have been helpful to even have a list of the contestants at the beginning so I could tell them apart. I had a higher opinion of this book when I read the acknowledgements at the end. Kiersten White tells her inspiration for writing this book, and it made me understand the terrifying atmosphere in this story.

Hide is a creepy horror story!

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

Review: Twelfth Grade Night (Arden High #1)

Title: Twelfth Grade Night (Arden High #1)
Author: Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, Jamie Green
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, Contemporary
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 11, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The course of true love never did run smooth . . . and neither does high school in this new graphic novel series for fans of Heartstopper and The Prince and the Dressmaker.

Vi came to Arden High for a fresh start and a chance to wear beanies and button-ups instead of uniform skirts. And though doing it without her twin feels like being split in half, Vi finds her stride when she stumbles (literally!) into broody and beautiful poet-slash-influencer, Orsino. Soon Vi gets roped into helping plan the school’s Twelfth Grade Night dance, and she can’t stop dreaming about slow dancing with Orsino under the fairy lights in the gym.

The problem? All Vi’s new friends assume she’s not even into guys. And before Vi can ask Orsino to the dance, he recruits Vi to help woo his crush, Olivia. Who has a crush of her own . . . on Vi.

Star-crossed love abounds in this hilarious and romantic story of self-discovery, mistaken identities, and the magic that happens when we open our hearts to something new.

Review:

Vi decided to go to Arden High for a fresh start in high school and to get away from wearing her uniform skirts. Her brother Sebastian stayed at their boarding school, leaving Vi to start this journey on her own. As soon as she walks into the cafeteria, Vi stumbles into the poet influencer Orsino, and she instantly likes him. They spend time together but before Vi can ask Orsino to the Twelfth Grade Night dance, Orsino asks her to ask Olivia out to the dance for him. Things get even more complicated when Olivia reveals she has a crush on Vi. All of these star crossed lovers come together in a mix of mistaken identities at the Twelfth Grade Night dance.

As soon as I saw the title of this book, I knew I had to read it. Twelfth Night is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays and She’s the Man is one of my favourite adaptations. This story was set in Arden High, which was full of different Shakespeare characters who will probably be in future books.

Vi was a girl who dressed in masculine clothing, so others assumed that she was attracted to other girls. This also made Vi look identical to her twin brother. Vi’s masculine appearance led to the mistaken identities that are present at the end of Twelfth Night. These queer and gender identities were a great way to adapt Twelfth Night into a modern story.

Twelfth Grade Night is a fabulous graphic novel adaptation!

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