Coastal Magic Featured Author & Giveaway - - Kate McMurray

  

Our Coastal Magic Convention 2025 Featured Author this month is Kate McMurray. Kate writes romance novels. She likes creating stories that are brainy, funny, and of course sexy, with regular guy characters and urban sensibilities. She advocates for romance stories by and for everyone. When she’s not writing, she edits textbooks, watches baseball, plays violin, crafts things out of yarn, and wears a lot of cute dresses. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with a bossy cat and too many books.
 

Welcome to The Romance Dish, Kate!  It’s a pleasure to have you visit with us today.

Thank you for having me.

For those who have yet to discover you, please share what readers should expect when they pick up one of the books in your Whitman Street Cat Café series and, in particular, book one, Like Cats and Dogs.    

The vibe I was going for was a small-town romance feel, just set in a big city. The center of the series is a cat café in Brooklyn. (Lauren, the heroine of Like Cats and Dogs is the manager. The café is adjacent to a veterinarian’s office, where Caleb, her love interest, works. Lauren’s friends are all regulars at the café—her friend Paige manages events—and they all play roles in each book.) In Like Cats and Dogs, Lauren and Caleb get off on the wrong foot and annoy each other at first, but in that enemies-to-lovers way in which they needle each other because they actually like each other. It was a pretty fun book to write.

A little trivia: Whitman Street is fictional—which gave me license to make up which businesses were on the street; I drew a map, even—but it’s loosely based on western part of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. I’ve lived in Brooklyn since 2006, so a lot of setting is drawn from my own experience. I’m a city girl, for sure, but even within cities, people build their own communities, and that’s one of the running themes in the book—it’s a found family, small community story, just set in the country’s most populous city.

I’m an animal lover so, of course, I enjoyed the cats and dogs that were featured in Like Cats and Dogs. Are you a cat person or a dog person? Or both? Do you have any pets? (If you do, please feel free to share a photo)

I like dogs, but I am ultimately a cat person. I put my cats in the series, actually. Lauren has a cat named Molly, who is named for my own late cat (who passed in 2020 from cancer). Then there’s the “office manager,” Sadie, the cat café’s one permanent resident. (The café otherwise doubles as a cat shelter, an idea I stole from the real-life Brooklyn Cat Café, which rescues and helps find forever homes for cats.) The shelter where the real-life Sadie was adopted referred to her as their office manager, probably because she can be pretty bossy. (She orders me around pretty regularly, although she’s also a big ball of sweetness. The guy who cat-sits for me when I go out of town calls her a lovebug. One of the friendliest cats I’ve ever known.)

Here's a recent photo of Sadie in her “draw me like one of your French girls” pose in her favorite spot on one of my couch cushions.

 

She's adorable! She also appears to be giving you that "why are you taking my picture" look I often receive from our family cat. 

Lauren’s and Caleb’s story is an enemies-to-lovers trope. What draws you to this trope and what makes it fun as an author to write? Do you enjoy reading it as much as writing it?

It’s a fun but difficult trope to write, because you have to get the balance right. The characters hate each other, except they actually don’t, and they fight and spar, but they enjoy the sparring, and ultimately they get invested in and care about each other. I think about love and loathing as being two sides of the same coin—they are both strong emotions. So it’s tricky, but I love that moment when the fighting flips over into kissing. The passion switches direction. It’s delicious. It’s a trope I really enjoy both reading and writing, but it’s hard to do well.

In addition to being a romance, Like Cats and Dogs also feels like a love letter to Brooklyn. By the end of the book, I was ready to book a flight. As a local, what is it about this area that makes it special?

I lived in Manhattan for a few years before I moved to Brooklyn, and one of the things I noticed when I moved here is that Brooklyn feels more, I guess, residential. There are definitely things for tourists to see—the Brooklyn Museum is wonderful, and the view from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade can’t be beat—but to me, Brooklyn is less touristy than Manhattan, and more just people living and going about their lives. It’s a little more raw, too; this is literally true in Prospect Park, which is similar to Central Park but less aggressively landscaped, but also true of the streets, where there isn’t really a grid the same way there is in Manhattan. It’s very walkable, which I like (as is true for many New Yorkers, I don’t own a car) and you can find all kinds of mom-and-pop shops and restaurants. I’d love it more if it were less expensive, but it’s a pretty great place to live.

What can readers expect from you next?  

I took a bit of a hiatus that I’m just now coming back from, so I don’t have anything specific coming out in the near future, but I’m currently working on a contemporary romance about two actors who fall in love while working on a movie together, and a couple of rom coms that are similar in tone to the Cat Café series (one is a childhood-friends-to-lovers, which is my absolute favorite trope, and the other is my attempt to write a love triangle). 

Let’s do a few rapid-fire questions.

What are your passions (aside from writing, of course)?

I have a lot of hobbies! I love crafts. I knit and crochet and recently started doing embroidery/cross stitch. I used to paint and draw, although haven’t done much of that recently. I love art; the Met is my favorite place in New York City and I go 2–3 times a year just to look at beautiful things.

I took violin lessons for many years but haven’t played in public in a while. (I think sometimes about finding an orchestra to play with again, but there are only so many hours in a day.)

(Basically, if it hadn’t been writing, I would have ended up in some other creative profession.)

The other thing I like about Brooklyn is that I have family nearby. My brother lives near me and has two boys, and I try to spend as much time with my nephews as I can. (They are 8 and 3, which are very funny ages.)

Also sports. I’m not athletic—I do cardio and yoga sometimes, but I’ve never really been a team sports type—but I love watching them. The Olympics just happened, and I watched as much of that as I could, but I also love baseball—don’t hate me, but I’m a Yankees fan—and I suspect this is not surprising if you look at my backlist.

What would readers be surprised to learn about you?

I have a degree in English lit and almost went to grad school for teaching; instead, I currently work in educational publishing and work on textbooks and educational materials for K-12 students. People seem surprised to learn that I frequently work on math books. I was always very good at math, but couldn’t figure out what to do with that, and it turns out that the group of people who can edit text and also understand math is pretty small, so it’s a good niche for my skillset.

What are you currently reading or looking forward to reading?

I just finished the new Casey McQuiston book The Pairing, which is about two exes that end up on a food and wine tour of Europe together. (After watching the Paris Olympics, I really want to go to Paris, so this hit the spot in that sense. The setting descriptions are delicious.) Next in the queue: Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, which is the sequel to Assistant to the Villain, which I loved. (This series is funny and imaginative and also emotional and romantic.) 

But the fiction TBR is giant right now because I’ve been buying books faster than I can read them. I’m looking forward to The Paris Affair by Maureen Marshall, The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer, The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center, You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian and many, many others.

I’m also a history buff and read a lot of heavy nonfiction. I’m currently working on The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, about Fort Sumter and the beginning of the American Civil War. (It’s very good, reads like a thriller.) I’ve also been reading The King’s Assassin, which is a book about George Villiers, a favorite of King James I of England (the recent series Mary & George with Julianne Moore and Nichols Galitzine is based on this book, which is quite dishy).

Where can readers find you online?

On social media, I’m most active on Threads and Instagram. You can find me in both places @katemcmurraygram. If you want a full list of my books, it’s on my website, www.katemcmurray.com. (Fair warning: the website is a bit anemic because I accidentally deleted it last year—long story—and have been slow to get it back up, but you can find a complete list of my books there.) I also just relaunched my newsletter, which you can sign up for here: https://eko-km-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Thank you for visiting with us today, Kate. Before we wrap this up, would you like to add anything or ask a question of The Romance Dish readers?  

One of the best things about doing publicity for the Cat Café series was that readers showed me photos of their pets and I absolutely loved all the photos of cats and dogs (and sometimes hamsters and lizards and goldfish and things), so if you've got pets, tell me about them! Or, if you've got a book about animals that you love, tell me about that too! 

Okay, readers, now's the time to put your pets in the spotlight. Let's hear about them! Or give us your favorite book recs that feature animals. You know I'm always happy to add to my book buy list. And yours too!

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, September 15 will receive their choice of one print book from Kate's Whitman Street Cat Café series. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

 

 

Review - - Cross the Line

Cross the Line

by Simone Soltani

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 28, 2024

Reviewed by Nancy

 

Her brother’s best friend sends her heart racing in this sparkling Formula 1 romance.

 
Formula 1 driver Dev Anderson’s career is on the line. After a social media disaster leaves him with an angry team and sponsors threatening to jump ship, he needs someone to help save his image. At a party in Monaco, he bumps into the woman who can fix it all. There’s just one problem: she’s his best friend’s little sister. And, okay, maybe there’s another problem—he kissed her last year and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
 
Recent college grad Willow Williams needs a job. She may have a talent for seeing the bright side of any bad situation, but it’s hard to stay positive when she’s struggling to get hired. So when Dev offers her a temporary solution, she can’t help but say yes. Even if it means ignoring the crush she’s had on him since childhood.
 
Willow and Dev are determined to keep things strictly professional, regardless of old feelings and the blazing chemistry between them. But in the glittering and high-stakes world of Formula 1, some lines are meant to be crossed…

 

Nancy’s Thoughts: 

This delightful friends-to-lovers romance skillfully blends the hero’s and heroine’s families, their mutual friends, and the world of Formula 1 racing. Even though I knew nothing about this sport when I started reading, the story includes just enough of what I needed to know to let me keep reading without stumbling over things I didn’t understand. I enjoyed this new-to-me setting and the way events in Dev’s career push him and Willow closer. 

From the moment she starts her job as his social media manager, their mutual attraction flares. Resisting it becomes increasingly difficult. But the presence on his team of two of his longtime friends provides a constant reminder of the risks of crossing the line. 

These friends, along with Dev, are very close to Willow’s brother, Oakley, who has made it plain that he doesn’t want them to become involved. He’s mainly concerned about protecting her, but Willow and Dev worry about what their involvement could do to him. Her last boyfriend, who was part Oakley’s friend group, treated her horribly, and the resulting breakup fractured Oakley’s group’s friendship. Neither she nor Dev wants to risk a similar problem or to make Oakley feel pulled between them if a relationship doesn’t work out. 

Others in their lives, like Dev’s family and Willow’s friends, are urging them to go for it, but neither wants to cause pain or strife among those they love. Soltani handles the conflict skillfully and believably. Everyone involved is credibly acting out of concern for others. 

The same cannot be said of Dev’s racing team, whose members try to support him but are often stymied by the owner. His son, Nathaniel, is the team’s second driver, and the owner doesn’t want Dev to show up Nathaniel. Dev’s frustration over being held back and his determination to do his best anyway earn Willow’s sympathy and support and lead to increasing emotional intimacy between them. In turn, this deepens their attraction, which plays out for most of the book in beautifully done sexual and emotional tension. 

Once Dev and Willow decide to cross that invisible line and become physically intimate, their concerns about Oakley and the reactions of their friends remain. They try to keep the relationship secret, but that proves harder than they expect. When Oakley does learn the truth, his reaction has a great twist on it. 

The one problem I had with the book occurs near the end. Everyone is preparing for Dev’s sister’s wedding. Because his family are Indian, they’re having an Indian wedding, which Soltani refers to as a Desi wedding. I don’t know what that is, and it stopped me. The stoppers became more numerous as the wedding approached. Apparently, such a wedding involves several nights of celebrations, each of which has a particular name and observes particular customs and requires particular clothing. The book explains none of them, except to say one outfit has a skirt and a top, and the meanings are not apparent from context—unlike the term jaanu, which Dev uses to address Willow and which context shows is an endearment. 

Readers shouldn’t have to look up one term, let alone several terms, to understand what’s happening in the story. A brief explanation would have sufficed. Without it, I kept stumbling over these unfamiliar terms. 

The characters are likeable, and the hero and heroine are also charming. The romance is sexy and hot without undermining the characters’ friendship, and the story moves at a good pace. The only reason I’m not giving this book a five is the problem I just mentioned. Despite that, I highly recommend it. 

4.5 stars. 

~Nancy

Review - - The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

by India Holton

Love's Academic - Book 1

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 23, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon. 

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals. 

When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.

Hellie’s Heeds

Amazon has a quote from NPR, which summarizes what I thought much more elegantly: "So riotously clever it almost defies description...an alchemy of romantic elements held in perfect harmony." It is. On nearly every page, there is a tongue-in-cheek, riotously clever one-liner or several, which will have you in stitches as you marvel at India Holton’s writing style and obvious firsthand experience with all things academia. 

Some of the more notable gems I found particularly hysterical were:

“Don’t try that charm on me, if you please. I will not succumb like some–some–liberal arts undergraduate.” 

[Hellie aside: as a former liberal arts undergraduate–I can say I definitely fell for some charm in my time. And I fell for the charms of Devon Lockley in this romp.]

Gladstone’s summer residence…reflected his academic character–and the fact that he’d inherited a large income, since no science teacher could afford such an estate.

This morning he [Gladstone] was outdoors, endeavoring to capture a leechsparrow. Which is to say, he sat on a mahogany sofa in the meadow behind the house, gesturing with his rosewood pipe to several graduate students who traipsed through the grass, bedecked with protective goggles and earmuffs, wielding  heavy-duty nets, as they did the actual work of capturing a leechsparrow. 

And so many more that if I continue, I might as well just quote the entire book. Being I work in Academia with many faculty who are not that different than the ones described in this story, it was a marvel to enjoy and I wished I could sit with India and just exchange academia stories. [Note: I obviously don’t think this was taken from real life–there are no magical birds to my knowledge nor Oxford women professors in 1890, during a time when India did not yet exist–but it was very adjacent to life in academia, let me just say.]

The chemistry sizzled between the two characters; the pacing was fast and constantly moving–they were on the run for their lives a good majority of the time. I do hope they had a restful break after they found their happily ever after because the pacing did get occasionally exhausting. All the characters were larger than life; and OMG, the IOS “press” agents were a riot. I loved the writing style–as a liberal arts undergraduate, I majored in English, so it tracks–it’s colorful, witty, and very British in humor a la Oscar Wilde. 

I’m delighted that another character featured in this book looks to be the hero of the follow up book in this series: a grumpy geographer named Gabriel. I cannot wait. 

Chef’s kiss. 5 stars. (I recommend this book while eating a bag of chocolates. You don’t really need it to finish the book…but I recommend it just the same.)

Winner - - September Coming Attractions

 

The randomly chosen winner

of a print copy of

The Duke's All That by Christina Britton is:

Sharlene Wegner

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Winner - - Tangled Up With The Highlander

 

The randomly chosen winner of

an e-book copy of

Tangled Up With The Highlander by Julie Johnstone is:

cheryl c

Congratulations!

Please send your email address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Review - - The Cottage on Pelican Bay

The Cottage on Pelican Bay

by Brenda Jackson

Catalina Cove - Book 7

Publisher: Canary Street Press

Release Date: August 20, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

 

Sometimes one hot night simply isn’t enough.

Two years ago, Zara Miller found herself heartbroken and stranded in a New Orleans hotel bar with a sexy stranger named “Saint.” One thing led to another and to a night of unforgettable pleasure. Though contact info wasn’t exchanged—no strings attached—Zara hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him or that one scorching night ever since. Now she’s returned to her hometown of Catalina Cove only to discover that her brother’s new hire is Evans “Saint” Toussaint, the one-night man she can’t forget.

Though Saint, like Zara, grew up in Catalina Cove, they'd never crossed paths. Now all of a sudden they can’t seem to avoid each other. Despite an enduring attraction, Zara and Saint decide to keep their spicy secret in the past. Everybody knows everybody’s business in Catalina Cove, and they don’t need everybody knowing theirs—especially since they’ve both been burned in the past.

But when their intense desire becomes impossible to ignore, they escape to Zara’s secluded cottage on Pelican Bay, where they’re free to explore whether their casual connection might actually be the lasting love they’ve both been missing.

PJ's Thoughts:

I've been reading Brenda Jackson's Catalina Cove series since book one, Love in Catalina Cove. Though the books can be read as standalones, each new entry has felt like an enjoyable reunion with fictional friends where a few new people are added to the group. The sense of community is strong in this series and it's always fun to catch up with favorite characters while also taking a journey with the newest couple.

I was excited to learn the heroine of The Cottage on Pelican Bay would be Zara (sister of the hero of book 5, One Christmas Wish) and eager to discover what Jenkins had in store for her. I was not disappointed. The chemistry between Zara and Saint sizzles from the start but neither is looking for a relationship...for reasons. I appreciated the time Jenkins took with them, indulging their desires while allowing them to gradually grow emotions between them. It felt very realistic and gave me the confidence that their eventual relationship would stand the test of time. I really liked these two, individually and together, and was cheering for them the entire way while also cheering against certain family members (Saint's), a toxic ex (also Saint's), and a deluded husband hunter on the prowl. Happily, all of them are satisfactorily dealt with in the end. 

This book also contains a sweet secondary romance between mature characters who are both widowed. I enjoyed it but would not have missed it if the focus had remained solely on Zara and Saint. 

If you enjoy contemporary romance with Southern flavor, a strong sense of community, fully-developed characters, heartwarming romance, strong friendships, and happy endings, I recommend The Cottage on Pelican Bay...and the rest of the books in the Catalina Cove series too!

Coming Attractions & Giveaway - - September 2024

 

Are you sad to bid farewell to summer or excited to welcome autumn? I had a great summer this year with lots of wonderful adventures but being a huge football fan, I'm always ready for September to roll around. Any other football fans in the house? Who are you cheering for? Have you read any football - or other sports - romances recently? I have a new hockey romance from one of my favorite authors on the schedule this month. Speaking of schedules, here's what's happening at The Romance Dish in September.

Brenda Jackson takes readers back to Catalina Cove, Louisiana in her newest contemporary romance, The Cottage on Pelican Bay. Stop by Tuesday, September 3 to read my review.

Our third Coastal Magic 2025 featured author steps into the spotlight on Thursday, September 12. Join me for a Q&A with Kate McMurray as we talk about her charming enemies-to-lovers romcom, Like Cats and Dogs. 

I just can't get enough of the romances - and bromances - in Kate Meader's Rookie Rebels hockey series. Stop by on Monday, September 16 for my review of the newest book in the series, Hockey Wife. 

Wednesday, September 18 brings a review of Brenda Novak's The Banned Books Club. This emotional women's fiction novel kept me reading way into the night.

How could I not jump all over a historical romance novel titled The Worst Duke in London? Especially when it's written by Amalie Howard. Stop by to read my review on Tuesday, September 24.

We're taking a trip into the realm of Romantasy on Wednesday, September 25 with a review of Sophie Jordan's A Fire in the Sky. I read this book yesterday, so engrossed in the story that I forgot to eat dinner. It launches a new series and all I can say to Ms. Jordan is, "Please write fast." I need to know what happens next!

Stop by Thursday, September 26 for our first holiday book review of the season. I'll be sharing my thoughts about Sarah Morgan's The Holiday Cottage. Morgan's holiday novels are always on my must-read list.

That's the Dish schedule for September. What are you looking forward to this month?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, September 3 will receive a print copy of The Duke's All That by Christina Britton (click to read my 5-star review).

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Review & Giveaway - - Tangled Up With The Highlander

Tangled Up With The Highlander

by Julie Johnstone

Return of the Highlanders - Book 2

Publisher: Darbyshire Publishing

Release Date: August 30, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

 

He thought he would never love again… Then he fell for the lass he must give up to save his clan.

Desperate to keep his children and clan from starving, Laird Alasdair MacLachlan joins the ranks of mercenaries searching for the missing lass of a powerful clan. The mission seems simple—find the lass, return her to her family, and claim the hefty reward. But when fate throws bow and arrow wielding Sorcha MacGregor in his path, he’s about to discover how complicated one mule-headed, beguiling beauty can make things. For a man who has lost and loved and has no interest in doing either ever again, he’s confounded by the desire the opinionated woman awakens in him, and he’s shocked to discover his heart might not be permanently frozen after all. But his duty to his family and clan must come before all else, and that means sticking to the plan. Or is that just an excuse to avoid burying his painful past and taking a risk on a new future? One thing is certain—if he doesn’t figure it out soon, Sorcha will be lost to him forever.


Life has taught Sorcha MacGregor that only a harebrained fool would wish to wed and become a man’s chattel to control. So when she’s kidnapped by a Highlander who intends to deliver her like a trussed pig to a family she’s never known, she instantly decides he’s a selfish barbarian like all other men. Her opinion becomes harder to maintain, though, when the devilishly handsome warrior risks his life for hers. Still, she has no intention of lowering her well-placed guard and making herself vulnerable. But with each act of kindness Alasdair shows her, every moving interaction between him and his children, and the simmering way he looks at her, not to mention the toe-curling kisses, she comes to see the gentle, brokenhearted man behind the hardened exterior, and she does the one thing she swore she’d never do: falls in love. When the time comes for Alasdair to make the ultimate sacrifice for her, for love, will he prove he’s really the man of her dreams or just a fantasy that is too good to be true?

PJ's Thoughts:

Julie Johnstone is my favorite author writing Medieval romance today. Her stories are exciting, adventurous, heart-tugging, and immersive. It's always a bit of a jolt when I look up from my Kindle while reading one of her books and realize that I'm in present time and not the Medieval Scottish Highlands. The web she weaves is that realistic.

Alasdair and Sorcha both claimed my affection in this book while Alasdair's young children outright captured my heart. As they did Sorcha's. It was so endearing to watch their relationship grow but, mostly, I enjoyed watching Sorcha help Alasdair bridge the emotional gap between him and his children that had been erected since the death of his beloved wife as well as find new, unexpected love with Sorcha. But not without some monumental challenges to overcome along the way. I love strong warriors, hardened by loss, who gradually rediscover the joy of both familial and romantic love.

Tangled Up With The Highlander is book two of Johnstone's Return of the Highlanders trilogy but can be read as a standalone, however if you're like me you'll want to read all three. Book one, Secrets of a Highlander's Heart, was released earlier this year. I haven't read it yet though I plan to rectify that soon. Both books are available to purchase in print, digital, or audiobook as well as through Kindle Unlimited. 

Readers, do you enjoy Medieval romance?

Have you read Julie Johnstone yet?

What's your favorite romance time period? Do you read books set in multiple periods? 

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, September 1 will receive an e-book copy of Tangled Up With The Highlander.

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Winner - - A Novel Love Story

 

The randomly chosen winner 

of a print copy of

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston is

Cherie J

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address to

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Review - - Magical Meet Cute

Magical Meet Cute

by Jean Meltzer

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: August 27, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy. 

Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone. 

That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right? 

When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory… 

But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.

Hellie’s Heeds: 

So say you had really bad luck in the dating territory and had taken yourself off the market; and say you practiced witchcraft; and say after a really harrowing event where you felt you needed a protector…and you’d had some wine, you decided to try your hand at summoning a guardian, a golem, if you will–so far, it was sounding a lot like an average pre-husband Friday night to me, where I honestly believed the perfect man did not exist and I would have to make him up. But Jean Meltzer takes it one step further: Faye Kaplan actually summoned the perfect man…or golem. Faye can’t quite pinpoint which. Greg–well, that’s what she’s calling him, she’s not sure since she’s the reason for his amnesia and she had to call him something–is definitely a man, but he also looks like her wet-dream in real life and his characteristics are alarmingly checking every single box she created in the little clay golem she buried in her backyard just last night.  

The premise is a hoot and a treat–and I thirstily read this book down like the cool drink of lemonade, sweet and tart and refreshing, that it is. The secondary characters, particularly Nelly, are hysterical and add to the antics. But besides being fun, flirty, and all the best of rom-coms, it also pulled in real emotion from real issues: like parental neglect and child abuse, anti-semitism and the escalading violence we continuously see in our communities, and the pain and trauma in always feeling like one is either too much or not enough in our relationships–that we’re inherently unlovable. ANGST! (It’s one of my favorite things about a Jean Meltzer book: the angst and emotion! Recall: it was her Mr. Perfect on Paper which had both me and my husband sobbing from a scene I read to him.) 

Representation matters–and I think these books definitely add perspective to the lived experiences of those who are treated as Other in our communities. I’m always honored and thrilled to read these review books that touch on these issues that affect all of us in one way or another and to learn new perspectives–and maybe also how to be a better ally to those around me. But don’t worry–if that’s not what you’re looking for in a book–I think the straight up rom-com feel of this story will keep you laughing and proclaiming this the perfect beach read.  

I would start offering scenes you definitely need to read, but then I’d need to add a subsequent one…and soon you’d have the whole story told to you and it wouldn’t do it justice. Just know the pacing, the emotion and pacing are well-done, and you will be rooting for Greg and Faye on every page. Apparently you can create the perfect man…and he will find you. Top Dish!

Review - - Marriage & Masti

Marriage & Masti

by Nisha Sharma

If Shakespeare Were an Auntie - Book 3

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: August 27, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

Veera Mathur has been through a lot in the past year. Both of her friends found soul mates, the man she fell in love with got engaged to another woman, and her father fired her before selling the family company. When her twin sister, Sana, tells her there is no way of getting her old life back, Veera feels lost at sea: a single, unemployed mess with a bad tattoo and tons of talent, but nowhere to go.

Deepak Datta hasn’t had the best luck either. To secure enough board votes for the CEO position at his family's company, Illyria Media, he’s ready to marry board member and famous beauty influencer, Olivia Gupta. That is until he wakes up to a get ready with me video announcing their separation. Despite his immediate relief, Deepak needs to do something fast to repair his image.

After a series of convenient mishaps bring them together again—including a literal shipwreck, way too many drinks, and a sunset elopement on the beach—Deepak and Veera realize their accidental wedding might be the solution to their career aspirations. Together, they plot against the very company that ruined their lives in the first place.

As they try to convince the world their friendship was a ruse for romance they’ve felt all along, the line between fake and real begins to blur. Now Veera and Deepak must ask themselves the terrifying question that has haunted them since the first time they met: will love ruin everything?

With her signature humor and heartfelt storytelling, Nisha Sharma writes a messy, spicy romance about identity, family honor, and love. In Marriage & Masti, readers are sure to love the highly anticipated finale of this beloved trilogy.

PJ's Thoughts:

Nisha Sharma hits it out of the park with this final installment in her If Shakespeare Were an Auntie series. I've enjoyed all three books but this one is my favorite. I loved the humor, the heart, the spice, the Indian-American representation, and the generational - and gender - conflicts. Sharma knows of what she writes and conveys the obstacles many first generation Indian-Americans, especially women, face with humor, wit, and clear-eyed truth. It makes this book fun to read while also being thought provoking.

Friendship is a strong thread in this series and it's been enjoyable to watch the six main characters (three women/three men) evolve over the course of the three books as well as their interwoven relationships. It's a relatable reflection of what we all face as friendships transition due to growth, marriage, and other factors in our lives, occasionally leaving some of us on the outside looking in. 

As stated in the book's blurb, the relationship between Veera and Deepak is messy and spicy. It's also funny and endearing. I'm a huge fan of fake relationships in fiction and this one had me laughing, sighing, cringing, and cheering. 

As with the first two books in the series, family and community played huge roles in Deepak's and Veera's journeys. Particular favorites were Deepak's mother and, of course, the Aunties. We should all be so fortunate to have such a group of Aunties in our lives. 

For more information about Dating Dr. Dill (book one) and Tastes Like Shakkar (book two), click on the book titles to read my reviews. While each book stands well on its own, I'm glad I read them order to appreciate the full effect of the evolution of the six main characters, their friendships, and their romantic relationships. I enthusiastically recommend all three books.