What I Read in February 2022
We all know that February is a short month but I honestly wasn’t expecting it to fly by as quickly as it did. The first half of this short month was great for reading lighthearted romances. I didn’t read much in the second half because we went to the mountains to celebrate my brother-in-law’s wedding over President’s Day weekend. I brought a few books to read but didn’t pick them up and instead I only added more books to my collection. I bought Josie Silver’s new book One Night on the Island from Foggy Pine Books in Boone, NC, and pre-ordered a paperback copy of George Saunder’s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life (more on why later).
Favorite Books of the Month:
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser and Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
Some Fun Reading Stats:
5 audiobooks
1 paperback
1 Kindle book
2 backlisted giveaways completed from my Books I'm Prioritizing In The New Year post
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Goodreads Synopsis: What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family? You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!
When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It's the biggest job yet for the family wedding business - "Don't leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!" - and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie's perfect buttercream flowers.
But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy's great college love - and biggest heartbreak - makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?
My Thoughts: This book was so much fun! I'm so glad that I decided to listen to it on audiobook because hearing the accents helped with the overall delivery of the storyline. I really enjoyed learning about the idiosyncracies Indo-Chinese culture through Meddelin's relationships with her Aunties. There were a couple of second chance love stories weaved in but overall it's impossible to fit this book neatly into just one genre. It is part romance, part comedy, and part murder mystery. The drama of the wedding weekend this book focuses on is absolutely chaotic. There are so many twists and turns that you'll have to suspend your disbelief to truly embrace the storyline. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Finlay Donnovan is Killin' It. Dial A for Aunties is sure to put you in a good mood and make you laugh out loud! I'll definitely be reaching for Four Aunties and a Wedding when it's released in March '22!
The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert
Goodreads Synopsis: Cherry Neita is thirty, flirty, and done with men. As far as she can tell, they’re overrated, overpaid, and underperforming – in every area of life. But a girl has needs, and the smoking-hot stranger she just met at the office seems like the perfect one-night stand…
Prince Ruben of Helgmøre is reckless, dominant, and famously filthy. The outcast royal is rebuilding his reputation – all for a good cause – but he can’t resist a pretty face. And bossy whirlwind Cherry’s got the face, the body, and the attitude to make Ruben’s convictions crumble. Even better, when she propositions him, she has no idea who he really is.
But when paparazzi catch the pair, erm, kissing in an alleyway, Ruben’s anonymity disappears faster than Cherry’s knickers. Now the press is in uproar, the palace is outraged, and Ruben’s reputation is back in the gutter. There’s only one way to turn this disaster around – and it involves Cherry, some big fat lies, and a flashy diamond ring. On her left hand.
Unfortunately, Cherry isn’t pleased with Ruben’s ‘fake engagement’ scheme… and neither is the king.
The Princess Trap is a steamy, diverse royal romance featuring a take-no-sh*t heroine and a misunderstood hero fighting to survive life at the palace. There’s fake relationship fluff, a healthy dose of angst, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. Please be aware: this story contains scenes of abuse that could trigger certain audiences.
My Thoughts: I picked out this audiobook on a whim from my library. I love romances with a royal main character and it was refreshing to read an interracial romance with a plus-sized lead! This is a very steamy fake engagement story so consider yourself warned that there is a lot of explicit language and mature themes. Full transparency - the audiobook narration was terrible! The accents were all over the place and it just made the sex scenes more humorous than anything. I think they would have been much more alluring if I read the words on the page instead. The pacing of the story was a bit strange to me. Even though it was a quick read, the middle dragged on despite it taking place over a very short period of time. I didn’t like that Cherry and Reuben's romance felt rushed and the resolution at the end was a little too perfect for the amount of time the characters knew each other. I wanted more from the plot and felt that Cherry’s character could have been developed a lot more. Overall, this was a really fun but forgettable romance and I look forward to reading the Brown Sisters series next!
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
Goodreads Synopsis: A woman desperate to turn a new page heads to the Scottish coast and finds herself locked in a battle of wills with an infuriatingly handsome bookseller in this utterly heartwarming debut, perfect for readers of Evvie Drake Starts Over.
Thea Mottram is having a bad month. Her husband of nearly twenty years has just left her for one of her friends, and she is let go from her office job--on Valentine's Day, of all days. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn't know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs.
Almost instantly, Thea becomes enamored with the quaint cottage, comforted by its cozy rooms and shaggy, tulip-covered lawn. The locals in nearby Baldochrie are just as warm, quirky, and inviting. The only person she can't seem to win over is bookshop owner Edward Maltravers, to whom she hopes to sell her uncle's antique novel collection. His gruff attitude--fueled by an infamous, long-standing feud with his brother, a local lord--tests Thea's patience. But bickering with Edward proves oddly refreshing and exciting, leading Thea to develop feelings she hasn't felt in a long time. As she follows a thrilling yet terrifying impulse to stay in Scotland indefinitely, Thea realizes that her new life may quickly become just as complicated as the one she was running from.
My thoughts: The Bookshop of Second Chances is a middle-aged love story about starting over and finding love through grief. It deals with some real-life issues without feeling too heavy or overly sappy. I really liked this book and I wish I had picked it up sooner. It was the cozy read I needed to fulfill my wanderlust for the Scottish Highlands. It's been way too long since our visit and the descriptions of the town and bookshop transported me. The dialogue is written in the way the characters speak so it helps to approach the writing from that frame of reference. Thea and Edward's banter is playful and I found myself smiling from ear to ear at their sweet interactions. The whole story felt as relaxed and natural as their friendship. Pick this one up if you need a book to savor with a cup of coffee by the fire on a winter's night!
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
Goodreads Synopsis: Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.
Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.
As Dev fights to get Charlie to open up to the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.
My Thoughts: I didn’t love this one in the way I expected to. I’m a little bit bored of the reality TV dating show premise when it comes to contemporary romances. I also found some of the diversity problematic. I was happy that there was so much representation but the characters weren’t developed more than just a label. The author did do a really good job of dealing with men’s mental health, which is something you don’t see often. It was an enjoyable read but not a book that will stick with me.
The Unravelling of Cassidy Holmes by Elisa R. Sloan
Goodreads Synopsis: Cassidy Holmes isn't just a celebrity. She is “Sassy Gloss,” the fourth member of the hottest pop group America has ever seen. Before Britney stunned everyone with “Toxic,” before Christina went dirrty, Gloss was the pop act that everyone idolized. Fans couldn't get enough of them, their music, and the drama that followed them like moths to a flame—until the group’s sudden implosion in 2002. And at the center of it all was Sassy Cassy, the Texan with a signature smirk that had everyone falling for her. But now she's dead. Suicide.
The world is reeling from this unexpected news, but no one is more shocked than the three remaining bandmates. Fifteen years ago, Rose, Merry, and Yumi had been the closest to Cassidy, and this loss is hitting them hard. Before the group split, they each had a special bond with Cassidy—truths they told, secrets they shared. After years apart, each is wondering: what could they have done?
Told in multiple perspectives—including Cassidy herself—and different timelines, this is a behind-the-scenes look into the rise and fall of a pop icon, and a penetrating examination of the dark side of celebrity and the industry that profits from it.
My Thoughts: Will 2022 be the year I learn to mark a book as DNF? Unfortunately not. This book might have been more engaging if it were half as long. There wasn't enough character development found in any of the Gloss girls descriptions, including Cassidy. Despite the marketing descriptions - don't go into this thinking you're getting a novel on the level of Daisy Jones and the Six. I did appreciate the content warning at the beginning of the book. Ultimately, the way the author deals with the grittier mental health issues takes place off the page and the writing leans towards YA.
The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
Goodreads Synopsis: On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, Gorman captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe. Her poem “The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country” can now be cherished in this special gift edition. Including an enduring foreword by Oprah Winfrey, this keepsake celebrates the promise of America and affirms the power of poetry.
My thoughts: I suppose I needed to be reminded that there is hope for this world so I listened to this inaugural poem again as performed by the author.
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
Goodreads Synopsis: A provocative, razor-sharp, and timely debut novel about a beloved English professor facing a slew of accusations against her professor husband by former students—a situation that becomes more complicated when she herself develops an obsession of her own...
“When I was a child, I loved old men, and I could tell that they also loved me.”
And so we are introduced to our deliciously incisive narrator: a popular English professor whose charismatic husband at the same small liberal arts college is under investigation for his inappropriate relationships with his former students. The couple have long had a mutual understanding when it comes to their extra-marital pursuits, but with these new allegations, life has become far less comfortable for them both. And when our narrator becomes increasingly infatuated with Vladimir, a celebrated, married young novelist who’s just arrived on campus, their tinder box world comes dangerously close to exploding.
With this bold, edgy, and uncommonly assured debut, author Julia May Jonas takes us into charged territory, where the boundaries of morality bump up against the impulses of the human heart. Propulsive, darkly funny, and wildly entertaining, Vladimir perfectly captures the personal and political minefield of our current moment, exposing the nuances and the grey area between power and desire.
My thoughts: This one is for fans of The Chair on Netflix!
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