Book Review: Everything's Fine

Hi lambs! I've been on a reading frenzy and gearing up for our first roadtrip in two yars, which is why I've been quiet around here. I hope your summer is going well and that you have some fun things planned. I'll keep you updated after our roadtrip about the highs and the lows and any shenanigans we come into. 

Everything's Fine - Cecilia Rabess

When Jess lands a job as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, she’s less than thrilled to learn she’ll be on the same team as Josh, her preppy, white, conservative sparring partner from college. Josh loves playing the devil’s advocate and is just…the worst.

But when Jess finds herself the sole Black woman on the floor, overlooked and underestimated, it’s Josh who shows up for her in surprising—if imperfect—ways. Before long, an unlikely friendship—one tinged with undeniable chemistry—forms between the two. A friendship that gradually, and then suddenly, turns into an electrifying romance that shocks them both.

Despite their differences, the force of their attraction propels the relationship forwards, and Jess begins to question whether it’s more important to be happy than right. But then it’s 2016, and the cultural and political landscape shifts underneath them. And Jess, who is just beginning to discover who she is and who she has the right to be, is forced to ask herself what she’s willing to compromise for love and whether, in fact, everything’s fine.

A stunning debut that introduces Cecilia Rabess as a blazing new talent, Everything’s Fine is a painfully funny, poignant, heartfelt novel that doesn’t just ask will they, but…should they?

Everything's Fine is one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and I couldn't wait to get into it... unfortunately it wasn't a hit for me. It's your traditional enemies to lovers romance, but it's peppered with the patricharchy, race, and political arguments and it just wasn't what I needed right now. I don't know if I'm the only one who ended the book with a "what the hell is this ending?!" but maybe that's the point. Now that we know what happened since that election in real life, you could just imagine how Jess and Josh would handle it. I definitely don't think they'd survive it as a couple, that much I know. 

I haven't read a book where I didn't like either character. Jess is the realist/pessimist, Josh is the optimist/his own version of white realist, a classic Fox News Republican. Surely they wouldn't work as a couple somehow they make it through different things. I think I found myself so frustrated throughout it I almost DNF'ed it but I wanted to know how it was going to end. I had an ideal ending that would be best for everyone and that'd didn't happen so I was left frustrated and wanting to yell at someone. 

But... maybe that was the point. 

Regardless of the ending or how you feel about the story, it is truly a stunning and promising debut for Cecilia Rabess. I'll be interested to see what she does next. 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour!

Book Review: Breaking All the Rules

TGIF, folks. TGIF. It feels like a long week but also not really at all. I don't have much in the way of plans for this weekend and I'm OK with that. Matt is going to bring me grocery shopping, because oh yes, I can't do that by myself. Love the loss of independence, it's really so much fun. 

Breaking All the Rules - Amy Andrews

Sometimes you gotta toss your whole life into a burning dumpster to find what’s most important...

Beatrice Archer has always done everything she’s supposed to —worked her ass off, ignored her non-existent personal life, and kept her mouth shut. Now she’s over it. The rat race, respectability…the underwire bras. She’s taking her life back. Starting with moving to Nowhere, Colorado to live life on her own terms.

Now Bea gives exactly zero forks. Beer for breakfast. Sugar for everything else. Baggy sweats and soft cotton undies FTW. Then a much younger and delightfully attractive cop is called to deal with her flagrant disregard for appropriate clothing outside the local diner (some folks just don’t appreciate bunny slippers) and Bea realizes there’s something missing from her little decathlon of decadence…and he might be the guy to help her out.

When it comes to breaking rules, Officer Austin Cooper is surprisingly eager to assist. He’s charming, a little bit cowboy, and a whole lot sexy. But Bea’s about to discover that breaking the rules has consequences. And all of the cherry pies in Colorado can’t save her from what’s coming…

I loved this book!! I didn't realize this was going to be a reverse age gap (Bea is older than Austin) romance, but I was here for it because I'm trying to read things I haven't seen a lot of and reverse age gap is just that. I loved Bea's character, I feel like if I were a literary character, I also would give zero forks, if you will. Austin really is charming, and their chemistry is FIRE. For all of that alone, you need to add this to your TBR for 2023, hands down. What sealed the deal for me though is the humor, I love romance with some good humor, and the author balanced it perfectly. I really liked that Bea is going on a limb and asking for exactly what she wants and Austin is eager to please. If I had to offer a critique, I would say I wished the epilogue wasn't mostly Bea, and not them as a couple/their future. This is a series though, so I'm assuming we'll see more from them in future books so I can't be mad about that. This was my first one from Amy Andrews but it definitely isn't going to be my last, I loved her writing style and the personality in her characters. 

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour and sending me a copy for review! 

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Book Review: The Love You Save

What day of the week is it? Who knows! I keep telling my family that it feels like Friday, everyday is feeling like Friday, so I have no idea what is even going on anymore. What I do know is that this is now the second day in a row that I've kind of forced myself to get dressed, try to look like a functioning adult, and I think that's helping. Also, I bought some new pants and the fact they are the same size as I was at my biggest isn't getting me down. I'm just happy to now own two pairs that fit me, lets just hope they don't shrink in the wash. Now I just need shirts, but I'm poor, so baggy hoodies it is! Anyways, lets talk books. 

The Love You Save - Goldie Taylor

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings meets Educated in this harrowing, deeply hopeful memoir of family, faith and the power of books—from acclaimed journalist and human rights activist Goldie Taylor 
 
Aunt Gerald takes in anyone who asks, but the conditions are harsh. For her young niece Goldie Taylor, abandoned by her mother and coping with trauma of her own, life in Gerald’s East St. Louis comes with nothing but a threadbare blanket on the living room floor. 
 
But amid the pain and anguish, Goldie discovers a secret. She can find kinship among writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. She can find hope in a nurturing teacher who helps her find her voice. And books, she realizes, can save her life.  

Goldie Taylor's debut memoir shines a light on the strictures of race, class and gender in a post–Jim Crow America while offering a nuanced, empathetic portrait of a family in a pitched battle for its very soul.

Profoundly moving, exquisitely rendered and ultimately uplifting, The Love You Save is a story about hidden strength, perseverance against unimaginable odds, the beauty and pain of girlhood, and the power of the written word. 

Wow. If you are doing any reading challenges that are asking for a memoir, let this be the one you pick. Today is actually its book birthday so go to your local bookstore and pick this one up. It isn't very long, 277 pages, but WOW. 

As a white woman, who was once a white little girl in the public school system in a rather poor neighborhood, I have absolutely no idea what life would have been like for Goldie Taylor, and this book was eye opening for me in so many ways. I try hard to learn the things I do not know and I'm coming to realize that no matter how hard I try or how much I learn, I will never get to the end. I'm sad about that, but that doesn't mean I'm going to quit. 

In The Love You Save, Goldie's father is brutally murdered, her brother is beaten and robbed, and if that isn't enough, Goldie's mother moves them to a mostly white neighborhood, which, in the 1970's, was bound to be difficult on all of them. Most of all anyone being sent into the school system because children are assholes. They can be sweet and loving, but we all know children are assholes when the adults leave. Goldie is then raped, her mother isn't the support she needs, so she is moved yet again. Her entire upbringing is a serious of chaotic moments, and at times dangerous, and we have this little girl trying to walk around all of it. The entire story is harrowing and that is really putting it lightly. 

I will say the times where they are left alone for long hours because mom is at work, I know what that feels like. I can't be mad at my mom, we have to have money to pay for an apartment and food, but man. It would have been nice to have a mom who wasn't so stressed out and tired. Or have a mom that would take us to cool after school events like the other kids. I'm not mad at her, as a mom of four myself I absolutely get it. I also found a home in my school work, and the few teachers who saw me and saw what I needed. Honestly, thank god for them, really. I am so grateful Goldie had those same kinds of teachers because without that, the entire course of her life could have been wildly different. 

If you are focusing on specific books for Black History Month, The Love You Save should absolutely be on that list. I know it's the end of January but this might actually be my memoir of the year. Sorry, Prince Harry. 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour and sending me a copy for review. This one has made a mark on my heart. 

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Book Review: Never Cross a Highlander

I feel like I owe you a life post, and I promise you'll get one. It'll probably be a doozy. Just have some snacks at the ready. 

Never Cross a Highlander - Lisa Rayne

Ailsa Connery has waited three long years to finally escape her enslavement at Stirling Castle and reunite with her clan. But her carefully laid plans are completely destroyed by the arrival of the infamous Highland warrior known as Dubh Mahoun, the Black Devil...who has plans of his own.

Kallum MacNeill's fearsome reputation has long allowed him to keep hidden his secret double life of freeing enslaved captives across the land. It's only when he kidnaps a servant lass—quite by accident—that he finds himself facing a wee predicament. He must accompany the lass home or risk her exposing his true identity. It'd be easy enough...if the feisty hellion didn't fight him at every turn.

As they make their way to the Highlands, the perils the two must face are surpassed only by their constant sparring. Soon, their heated sniping sparks heat of a totally different kind. The kind that ignites a hunger that could consume them both. Yet the difficult journey is no match for the dangerous secrets they're about to uncover.

You know I love a good series, but I love getting into the series for the FIRST one. I am perpetually finding a series in the middle of it and feel like I don't know what's going on, with who, and where. Clueless and I'm slow, so there's that. But we're coming into The Shadow Lairds series and woo-boy... I am here for it. Lisa Rayne has made me decide that my new favorite thing is highlander based romances, so I'll just be picking those up left and right, thanks. 

Setting itself apart from others, Never Cross a Highlander uses actual historical facts of Black history in the United Kingdom way back in the 1700s day. (Trigger, the book does feature abuse, physical and sexual.) I love how everyone is always trying to get back to their clans, such is the case with Ailsa. Enter Kallum, a warrior who helps slaves escape, who accidentally kidnaps Ailsa and that's where their story converges. (I mean, haven't we all accidentally kidnapped someone?) Both of them are independent, strong willed, but also highly intelligent and absolutely against the idea of marriage. Ever. Like forever and ever, you guys. Of course you know this means their chemistry is literal fire so a large part of this book is their brooding and brewing romance until... you know. Stuff happens. 

Ahem. 

If we're being honest I didn't think any of their sexy time was explicit, it was fairly PG from what I normally read, and I didn't particularly get the feels from this book. I do like their relationship and how it developed, and it probably works for that couple (imagining it as a real life couple), but not for me. Overall though? I liked the story. I think the series is set up well, I like that we're going to likely see Ailsa and Kallum again. I liked the light humor in this, I loved finally seeing a historical romance with some damn diversity! It's there, it existed, let's write about it! 

Overall this was a solid 3 for me. I liked it, I definitely want to see where Lisa Rayne does next with this series, this was a great start. Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Entangled Publishing for sending me a copy for review!

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Book Review: Mail Order Cowboy

Happy Monday, lambs! I feel like I've got 2023 by the balls, and I know we aren't supposed to call it, but I feel like I am really set up for good things this year. I'm already on a reading roll, I got my budgeting stuff worked out just the way I want it, I found jellybeans already, and I bought a new pack of manila folders and dammit, things are pretty alright. 

I completely realize how lame and old that makes me sound but my therapist says it really is little wins so screw off, nay-sayers. 

Mail Order Cowboy - Victoria James

Hope Roberts has a strict No Cowboys Allowed policy. Between raising her daughter, running her business, and trying to settle into her new ranch, Hope has no room for romance—especially when it comes to cowboys. What she needs is someone to help fix her ranch. But the only person to respond to her ad is the one man Hope still blames for her husband’s death…

In Wishing River, Dr. Dean Stanton is pretty much a legend. Cowboy, doctor, heir to his family’s ranching empire—everyone knows and loves him…with the exception of Hope. But Dean doesn’t trust a complete stranger to keep Hope and her daughter safe. And despite their troubled past, he’s still the best cowboy for her job.

Bit by cautious bit, Hope’s little family of two is making room for the man she once thought of as her enemy. Until one day, Dean looks like the perfect exception to her “no cowboys” rule. But he’s been keeping a secret from her that could destroy their newfound family…

I'm going to start this one off with something I almost never say, but while everyone will tell you these are stand alone books, nay, nay, I say. I haven't read the other three, and maybe the other three truly are stand alones, but I feel like I came into this book mid-way through a story. I had zero back story, I guess they've had some intense, fun banter in the other books and I wish I had that buildup. You also learn at the very beginning that Hope is a widow and her husband died of cancer, but Dean was his doctor. Hope is a more natural doctor and she is convinced Dean could have/should have seen the cancer sooner so she basically blames him for her husband's death. Dean is keeping a pretty big secret and if Hope knew it, Dean know it would devastate her, so he swore to hide it from her. 

Anyone who has watched a Hallmark or Lifetime movie knows that she absolutely would find out and the lesson is always that keeping secrets isn't good for anyone. Nobody wants to deal with hard stuff, or wants to have a broken heart, or be the one to do that to someone, but the alternative can be really awful, sometimes worse. 

As I step off my soap box, let me say I really liked Dean. I really liked Hope and her ambitious desire to take care of herself without the sympathetic help from other. She doesn't want to be dependent on anyone and I can admire that. Dean is a genuinely nice guy, he helps everyone, even at the expense of his sanity/time. Both of them are the kind of people you would set up with each other and you root for them the get it together. His dad is real piece of work, but you know right off the bat his awfulness wasn't passed down, thankfully. I also LOVED their friends but also the dynamic of all of them together. 

If you're a fan of a clean romance, with cowboys, something that could easily become a Hallmark movie to spend a weekend on, this is your book. I really want to go back and read the first three though because I love the other couples so I know I'd love their stories, but I'd also get a little background on Dean and Hope knowing how their story ends. (Also sometimes I just really need a solid, sweet story, you know?) 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Entangled Publishing for having me on this tour and sending me a copy for review! 

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Book Review & Excerpt: THE HIGHLANDER'S HOLIDAY WIFE

 

The Highlander's Holiday Wife - Vanessa Kelly

Filled with saucy wit, surprising twists, and unforgettable lovers, the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Vanessa Kelly's captivating historical romance series puts the most levelheaded Kendrick at the center of a passionate and perilous adventure...
It's Christmastime in Edinburgh, but Lady Samantha Penwith's secret mission takes no holiday: the Highlands-born lass vows to find the assailants who murdered her beloved husband, founder of a charitable school for orphaned boys. On her latest undercover excursion, she closes in on a pair of armed attackers and interrupts another assault, then disappears into the darkness, leaving the lone victim mystified--and lucky to be alive...

Braden Kendrick may be the sensible brother, yet the dedicated doctor routinely ignores the dangers of his late-night calls to the city's slums. But when a fleet-footed rescuer saves his life, he's determined to uncover the stranger's identity. And once he does, he'll find himself facing his own past loss for the first time--and more than willing to risk his heart again, just in time to make the Clan Kendrick's Christmas celebrations more festive than ever...

Despite the title, while this does take place around Christmas, I didn't think it was overly Christmasy, so I guess I wouldn't let the name prevent you from reading this at other times in the year. I'm kind of odd in that I don't really like to read holiday books outside of the holidays, but that's me. I'm odd. I also haven't read anything else from this series, but it was fine as a stand alone. I will say that I wish the romance was just... different. We got so much buildup and then.... I won't say it's a clean romance, but it's a closed door kind of romance so you know what's happening just.... you don't know what's happening, if that makes sense. This one was a bit of a different story because it's clear from the start that children with different abilities aren't really seen as equal, so that's kind of a bummer story line. So we've got that, we've got a romance, we have a possible murder, and we have a maybe coverup/mystery, it's just a lot going on, but it was a pretty good blend making this a good read for anyone. 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour! Read below for an excerpt from The Highlander's Holiday Wife! 

Excerpt

Kade, one of Braden’s brothers, makes a surprise holiday visit to Edinburgh, along with Angus, the family’s colorful and rather disreputable patriarch. Braden immediately suspects that his family is up to something… 

 

Angus scratched his chin, suddenly looking furtive. “We dinna want ye to feel neglected, particularly at such a special time of year.” 

 

Braden narrowed his gaze. “That sounds a bit fishy, Grandda.” 

 

“Why don’t we join the others in the drawing room,” Kade smoothly interjected. “Braden, I’m sure you must be wanting a drink before dinner, yes?” 

 

Braden nodded. “I should change, first.” 

 

Donella emerged from the back hall. “No need to rush. You can change when I send Pippa upstairs. She’s much less likely to fuss if you take her up to the nursery.” 

 

Pippa, a sweet-tempered four-year-old, was the least fussy child Braden knew. 

 

Over the years, he’d developed excellent instincts when it came to his family. At the moment, his instincts were giving him a good thump between the shoulder blades. 

 

“Why are you all trying to manage me?” he asked. 

 

Donella simply gave him an innocent smile. No one did innocent better than his sister-in-law, but he wasn’t fooled. 

 

Angus heaved a dramatic sigh. “Och, laddie, yer growin’ paranoid. That’s what comes from workin’ so hard. Yer picklin’ yer brain, which canna be—” 

 

“Why don’t we pickle our brains with a nice whisky,” Kade said as he steered Angus toward the staircase. “I hear you just got a new batch from our Graeme’s distillery.” 

 

“Yes, Logan says it’s quite excellent,” Donella brightly replied. 

 

Braden followed the others up the stairs, listening to their cheerful—and disingenuous—conversation about Graeme’s thriving distillery business. The more he listened, the more he became convinced that some plan was afoot. This visit was not a spur of the moment decision by any means. 

 

Logan was ensconced in a leather club chair by the drawing room’s fireplace, reading his paper.  “Ah, finally. I thought I’d have to drink all this splendid whisky myself.” 

 

Pippa, who’d wedged herself into the chair beside her father, shook her head. “That would be bad, Papa. Mamma would have to scold you for being a scaly hog grubber.” 

 

Donella scowled at Angus. “You’ve been here less than an hour, and you’re already teaching Pippa cant?” 

 

“Me? I never teach the bairns rough words.” 

 

“Grandda, you do it all the time,” Kade said. 

 

Joseph walked into the room, catching the tail end of the conversation. “Grandda knows all the best swear words.” 

 

Logan snorted. “Aye, he always had a talent.” 

 

Angus pointed a finger at his great-grandson. “Laddie boy, yer not to be sharin’ any of our secrets. It’s breakin’ the code.” 

 

“There is no such code, and you’ve never been able to keep a secret in your life,” Braden dryly noted. 

 

Donella eyed each of the males. “I would still like to know who is teaching my daughter inappropriate language.” 

 

“Papa,” Pippa replied with lethal candor. “But he told me not to tell you.” 

 

Logan winced. “Oh, bloody—” 

 

Donella whipped up a hand. “Do. Not. Goodness, husband, I expect better of you.” 

 

Braden snorted. “Mistake number one.” 

 

“Of course I didn’t actually teach her,” Logan explained. “She just overheard me talking to one of the grooms.” He did his best to look contrite. “Sorry, love. I promise it won’t happen again.” 

 

She scoffed. “It will absolutely happen again. You are a very bad man, Logan Kendrick.” 

 

“I’ll show you just how bad I can be the next time we’re alone,” he said with a grin. 

 

Joseph grimaced. “Ugh. Papa is trying to be romantic again.” 

 

“Are you in trouble, Papa? I’m sorry if I got you in trouble,” Pippa said, placing her little hand on his arm. 

 

He winked at her. “Papa is usually in some sort of trouble. Grandda might have to take me out behind the mews for a paddling.” 

 

Pippa giggled. “Now you’re just being silly.” 

 

“A natural state of affairs.” Donella said. “Now, we have time for one drink before dinner. Cook has gone to a great deal of trouble to make a special dinner for Grandda and Kade, and we mustn’t spoil it.” 

 

“Oh? I thought their arrival was a surprise?” Braden casually asked. “When did Mrs. Brady have time to pull together a special dinner?” 

 

If he hadn’t been watching her closely, he would have missed his sister-in-law’s slight wince. 

 

“That’s why we had to set dinner back. Mrs. Brady had to reorganize the menu a bit,” she said. 

 

“Then we’d best get to it,” Angus said. “I’m that eager to try the new brew.” 

 

While Logan poured the drinks, the rest of them chatted about the new batch from their brother’s distillery, and the general state of affairs in Clan Kendrick. It was as pleasant a family scene as one could imagine. While it might be a cold and gusty evening in late November, in the house all was warm and inviting. 

 

Too bad his blasted family was up to something. Now he had to figure out what it was before they embarked on one of their typically deranged—if well meaning—plans. 

 

When a glass appeared under his nose, Braden glanced up to see Logan regarding him with a quizzical expression. 

 

“You look rather lost in thought,” his brother said. 

 

“Oh, thanks.” He took the glass. “Just thinking about the family.” 

 

Angus heaved a dramatic sigh. “It’s not much time ye have for us. We never see ye, what with yer doctorin’ work and them bodies ye like to cut up for fun. Ye’d think ye love those cadavers more than ye love us.” 

 

“What’s a cadaver?” Pippa asked. 

 

Braden shot his grandfather an irritated look. “I do not cut up dead bodies for fun. Besides, Kade’s away far more than I am. We barely know where he is from one day to the next. Which is perfectly reasonable,” he hastily added. “He’s building his career as a pianist, just as I’m building my medical practice.” 

 

“Aye, but ye—” 

 

“Braden’s right,” Kade said. “If you’re going to bite off anyone’s nose for flying the coop, it should be mine.” 

 

“Aye, but yer in London or on the Continent. Our laddie here is only a few hours away from Glasgow, yet he canna find the time to visit his own family. And the laird himself—that would be yer brother, Nick,” Angus pointedly said to Braden, “is worried about ye.” 

 

“I know who the laird is,” Braden dryly replied. 

 

“Everything is fine, Grandda,” Kade said. “Stop fussing.” 

Angus subsided with a mutter. 

 

“By the way,” Braden said, “where’s the rest of the family spending Christmas this year?” 

 

“Oh, at Kinglas, I suppose,” Kade vaguely replied. 

 

“You suppose?” 

 

Angus frowned. “Of course they’ll be at Kinglas. Where else would they be?” 

 

“All of them, including Graeme and Sabrina?” 

 

“Aye, unlike some people we willna mention.” 

 

Donella jumped up. “More whisky, anyone? I can fetch it.” 

 

Joseph frowned. “But Mamma, you said there was only time for one glass, remember?” 

 

When Donella sighed, Braden was tempted to laugh. His family’s clumsy charade was falling apart before his eyes. 

 

“We’re not sure about Graeme and Sabrina,” Logan hastily put in. “Awfully long trip from Lochnagar to Kinglas at this time of year.” 

 

“Of course they’re goin’ to Kinglas, ye ninny,” Angus said. “I told ye that.” 

 

Logan shook his head in disbelief. 

 

“Do ye really think our Braden doesn’t ken what we’re doin’?” Angus demanded. “He’s got more brains than the rest of ye put together.” 

 

“True,” Kade said. “But we were trying to be slightly more subtle about it.” 

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