Coffee & Books discussion

How To Walk Away – Katherine Center – 3.5***
There are many kinds of “happily ever after…” I’d read one book by Center previously and I wasn’t all that impressed. So, I wasn’t expecting much more than a contemporary romance with possibly “relevant issues” for today’s woman thrown in. I was pleasantly surprised that my expectations were exceeded. Margaret’s journey is what kept me interested. She has many downs, and a few ups, but ultimately, she takes charge of her life in a way that is totally believable and had me cheering her on.
LINK to my full review

Die Trying

A Royal Pain – Rhys Bowen – 3***
Book two in Her Royal Spyness cozy mystery series, has Lady Georgiana Rannoch (Georgie to her friends) hosting a Bavarian princess as part of Her Majesty’s plan to get the Prince of Wales interested in a more suitable partner than that awful American woman. I like Georgie as a character, and love her grandfather, as well as her best friend, Belinda. But the plot here didn’t really capture my attention. Still, it did give an added dimension to Darcy O’Mara. He may be more than just an unreliable rogue…
LINK to my full review

The Christmas Bookshop – Jenny Colgan – 3***
This was a delightful rom-com. The city of Edinburgh is described as a virtual living Christmas card during this season, with fairy lights and snow and decorations, and all the shopkeepers on the street hosting parties. Our down-on-her-luck heroine will meet two promising romantic leads: a famous bestselling author and a bedraggled college professor. Of course, there’s a hugely successful attorney sister Carmen feels inferior to, and the additional drama of the “mean-girl” nanny. But never fear, this holiday romance will deliver on the promise of an HEA ending.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called Hope at Christmas by Nancy Naigle

Things My Son Needs To Know About the World – Fredrik Backman – 3***
In this collection of essays, Backman speaks directly to his infant / toddler son about life and being a man. He covers such subjects as bullies, getting your child to eat, being careful, the importance of best friends, and love. It’s tender and funny and entertaining.
LINK to my full review

Get a Life, Chloe Brown – Talia Hilbert – 3***
I was drawn to the book because of the promise of a heroine who faces some significant challenges. I did get that, and some other serious issues, along with the typical rom-com tropes, but the book fell flat for me. I really liked Chloe and totally understood both her insecurities and her desire to break out and DO things. I also liked Red, the super of her apartment building with tattoos, a leather jacket and a motorbike, who promises to help her with her list. The chemistry between the two seemed genuine and I liked their banter. But the graphic sex scenes which just turned me off. I’m still willing to try another book by Hibbert, but I’m in no hurry to do so.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

Eight Perfect Hours – Lia Louis – 3***
Sam and Noelle meet when both are stranded in their cars during a blizzard. When the weather clears they part, strangers still and not expecting to see one another again. But you wouldn’t have a romance if they didn’t keep bumping into one another. It’s a fairly predictable story line and a fast read. NOT a holiday book, though, despite the cover’s promise. There are some serious issues these characters must deal with on the road to HEA.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox

The Five Wounds – Kirstin Valdez Quade – 4.5****
What Quade’s characters share is that desire to “be someone else” and/or somewhere else, but no real means of achieving that. They dream, but are somehow powerless to change their circumstances, falling back on old patterns of behavior, afraid to let go of their past to head into the future. Despite how they infuriated me, and how often I wanted to just shake some sense into them, I wound up really loving these characters.
LINK to my full review

How To Raise an Elephant – Alexander McCall Smith – 3***
Book # 21 in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series set in Botswana and featuring Mma Precious Ramotswe and the other employees (partners?) of the agency, as well as friends and relatives. As is typical for this series, the mysteries are not murders, but a cousin who has some financial difficulties, or a woman with a straying husband, and also figuring out why the suspension in Mma Ramotswe’s beloved little white van seems to have gone bad … not to mention the peculiar smell coming from the back of the van.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called The Perfect Love Song by Patti Callahan Henry

All I Want For Christmas Is a Cowboy – Jessica Clare – 3***
Young woman with a stressful job decides to go to her family’s cabin in Wyoming over Christmas for some alone time. Misses the turn in a blizzard, crashes her car and is rescued by a handsome cowboy. It's a predictable, fast holiday cowboy romance. And I did so like looking at the cover!
LINK to my full review

The Shop On Royal Street – Karen White – 2.5**
This is the beginning of a spinoff series from White’s popular Tradd Street novels (which I haven’t read). White has included all the tropes of Southern gothic and chick-lit romance: ghosts, family secrets, an irascible grandmother, enemies-to-friends (lovers), a stereotypical Southern Belle best friend who speaks in cute-n-colorful Southernism. It was a fast read, but I’ve already forgotten it.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called Nantucket White Christmas by Pamela M. Kelley

The Last Coyote –Michael Connelly – 3.5***
Book # 4 in the Harry Bosch series has our detective on ISL – Involuntary Stress Leave – after an “incident” involving an altercation with his supervising officer. This is a pretty dark episode in the series. But the reader gets to know much more about Harry and the way he operates, his background and what drives him. Despite the attention paid to his psychological problems, though, there is still a mystery to be solved with many clues, multiple suspects and enough twists and turns to keep any fan of thrillers interested and engaged.
LINK to my full review

I just finished , Emma Straub 3.5 🌟 It took me a while to get into the MC’s Alice’s life whether current or time traveling. I really enjoyed the last 1/4 though. The bond between Alice and her father was quite moving. Overall, creative book.

Just starting, , Amita Parikh. This is a new author for me, but the book sounds really compelling. In 1938, Lena had polio and is limited to a Life in the Circus. She longs to do bigger things with her life. WWII arrives and some close friends are taken to the camps. Lena is left alone and will have to see how she survives.

Letters From Father Christmas – J R R Tolkien – 4****
This lovely volume duplicates the letters from Father Christmas which were sent to Tolkien’s children beginning in 1920 and continuing for the next twenty-three years. The letters relate the many adventures Father Christmas and his helpers – The North Polar Bear, elves, etc – have both in preparation for the big day and throughout the year. I much enjoyed the inventiveness of these missives and loved the hand-drawn illustrations.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called Fool Me Twice at Christmas by Camilla Isley

The Heartbreak Bakery – A R Capetta – 3***
A teen who is unsure which pronouns to use displays feelings through baking. At the outset, I had some difficulty with the constantly changing pronouns – not just Syd but Harley and others seem unsure which pronouns they prefer on any given day. But I got over this and began to enjoy this YA romance. Syd is a great character, and I liked how Capetta explored relationships and changing feelings and how we need to learn to communicate openly and honestly.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Shroud For a Nightingale – P D James – 3***
Book 4 in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series has the detective investigating two deaths at a school of nursing, Nightingale House. I really like how Dalgliesh is so methodical and contemplative. He never rushes to a conclusion, and carefully constructs and explores the possibilities before proclaiming a case is solved. This one took several turns I didn’t expect.
LINK to my full review

Holly Jolly Cowboy – Jessica Clare – 3***
Totally predictable, given the genre, but hey, there are cute dogs in abundance, not to mention that hunky cowboy. And, of course, perky, optimistic Holly will bake and cook her way into his heart. Will there be bumps in the road to romance? How could there not be? Will there be tears shed and hearts broken? Certainly. Will there be a happy ending? No doubt. This Holiday Cowboy Romance is enjoyable at any season.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called A Gift for Santa by Beth Carpenter

Scones and Scoundrels – Molly MacRea – 1*
I know this is a cozy mystery and don’t expect the kind of gore and mayhem from a hard-hitting police procedural. But I DO expect a murder and a reasonable effort by the amateur sleuth to investigate. Here the big murder doesn’t happen until page 206, and the ladies manage to get into serious danger just because they were thinking about possibilities, and somehow the murderer caught on to them. B O R I N G … And I’m done with this series.
LINK to my full review

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child

The Burden of Proof – Scott Turow – 3.5***
Turow turns his attention to the defense attorney from Presumed Innocent , Alejandro “Sandy” Stern. It opens with a shocking discovery. And quickly expands to a complicated legal mess, involving securities / commodities trading, that frankly lost me in its complexity. I really loved how Turow wrote Sandy and his relationships. This is really more character-driven than most legal thrillers. But the plot complexities, however puzzling to me, were also what kept me interested and engaged and wondering and guessing right to the end … which is a stunner.
LINK to my full review

The Christmas Cookie Collection – Lori Wilde – 2**
I knew going into it that this collection of novellas (originally published separately) would be a schmaltzy romance. I’ve read another work by Wilde previously and liked it; I found this one charming for its genre, though unremarkable. It was a fast read, but I’ve basically forgotten the characters and their stories already.
LINK to my full review