Review - - Pride and Puppies

Pride and Puppies

by Lizzie Shane

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: November 22, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

Dr. Charlotte Rodriguez is single—again—and she blames Jane Austen. She made brooding, aloof men sound oh so dreamy. But after years of failing to find her own Mr. Darcy, Charlotte decides it’s time to swear off dating. She’s going to lavish all her love and affection on someone who actually deserves it: her new puppy, Bingley. 

And there’s no one better to give her pet advice than her neighbor and coworker George Leneghan. He’s quiet and patient and, best of all, way too sweet to ever be her type. But as their friendly banter turns flirty, the unimaginable happens—Charlotte starts catching feelings. 

Just as Charlotte is trying to untangle what it is she truly wants, George announces he’s contemplating a cross-country move. Suddenly, Charlotte wonders if she’s kept her soulmate in the friend zone so long that she’s entirely missed her chance at a happily ever after. Dear Reader, could it be possible she’s had it wrong all this time?

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

You ever read a romance novel and think, “Wow, this book is my story–aside from the characters who are preternaturally gorgeous and have more thrilling jobs, of course”? This was that book for me. George–who is as kind and as smart as my own Mr. Hellie–is the proverbial best friend and never the best man. Charlotte, who is kind, funny, generous, and beautiful, just can’t seem to find a good man because she’s constantly chasing ass-clowns. Did I feel a bit attacked while reading this book? I did, dear Reader, but truth often hurts. Finding Mr. Darcy is not the same as trying to turn an ass-clown into a silk purse. And let’s remember, Mr. Darcy had a MAJOR character arc throughout his story, as did Lizzie. So too do the characters in this book–they have to grow and decide they deserve better and in deciding they deserve better, they also need to be courageous and go after the love they deserve.  

But while all this heavy character growth is happening, there are puppies and best friends and all manner of hijinks. I fell really hard for George, who is a transplant to Pine Hollow, and after two years is still being referred to as the “new guy.” Watching him stepping out and becoming a true Pine Hollow resident was heart-warming–and yes, I totally wanted to attend a gig where he and the band he’s a part of were playing. It all felt so real and adorable. There were additional characters I longed to see HEAs for, including a pair that I’m pretty sure are going to get their own book eventually.  

If you like best friends to lovers, this is your book. Even if it’s not your favorite trope, I think this is the book where you’ll change your mind because you can’t help but read it and think, George and Charlotte belong together. While Emma seems to be the book that is supposed to best represent this couple–George has some Knightly moments as Charlotte is definitely an Emma–there are bits of Persuasion woven in as you see love that has been lingering on the sidelines, just waiting its turn, finally winning the happily ever after. This book is a love letter to the Friends to Lovers trope as well as Jane Austen, who I believe has sent most all of us on this road for love and romance, chasing that high that is Mr. Darcy…and Mr. Knightly…and Captain Wentworth. Well done.  

Also the dogs are real cute.

 

Review - - A Cat Café Christmas

A Cat Café Christmas

by Codi Gary

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: October 4, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

Veterinarian and animal lover Kara Ingalls needs a Christmas miracle. Opening the Meow and Furrever Cat Café to find loving homes for adorable, adoptable cats was a dream come true—but with more cats than customers, it’s quickly turning into a nightmare. If Kara can’t figure out some way to get the café out of the red, it won’t last past the holidays. 

Marketing guru Ben Reese may be annoyingly smart and frustratingly bossy, but when he hatches a plan to put the café in the “green” by Christmas, Kara realizes that she’d be a fool to turn down his help. And so what if he turns out to be an excellent problem solver and nerdy-hot—he can’t even handle fostering one little kitten. She needs to keep their relationship professional and focus on saving the café. 

But if Ben and Kara can set aside their differences—and find homes for all the cats by Christmas—they might discover that, by risking their hearts, they’ll have their own purr-fect holiday . . . together.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

In a world of dog lovers, I’m a cat person–and this book was a delight from beginning to end. I wanted to adopt and pet every one of the cats “featured” in this book–except Chaos–Chaos can remain with Ben, for the sanity of everybody. Now, being it was a romance with a happily ever after, my favorite happily ever after was all the happily adopted cats at the end of the story, including cats who are more challenging to adopt (i.e. seniors or cats with disabilities.) That just made the story PURRFECT.  

Of course, we’re here for the romance–the grumpy hero and the snarky veterinarian–and they do not disappoint. They both have their own “tragic” pasts that do a number on keeping them apart and wary of each other. Trust is something that definitely has to be earned with these two. They are both very stubborn and it takes some heroic efforts on their mentoring BFFs to turn them around and get them back on the path of happily ever after.  

I was very sympathetic to Ben’s tragic past–and very put out with his family who seemed to constantly be telling him, “Just get over it already and make mom happy again.” (I wanted to shake his mother; but I’m not sure if other readers would feel the same. They might be in the mom’s corner.) Kara’s past was more horrifying, but her friends were more sympathetic on the whole, though there was a point where Kara also needed to “let it go” and trust again.  

The heroine is more on the curvy side, but this is not treated as a plot point. There are a couple scenes where I believe Kara feels that her friend Charity is the more attractive one, et al, but when the hero does show interest in Kara, she doesn’t question it or hide herself (body wise) from him. I only mention this because I’m very used to books featuring characters on the curvier side and the weight being a plot point–so I’m enjoying books now featuring a more varied selection of characters and using other aspects for conflict and growth.  

Now, if you’re a dog lover, I think you’ll still enjoy this book. And knowing dogs as I do, I know they won’t mind you reading a book in which all the animals waiting for their forever home finally find a place to call home–they too enjoy a happy ending. And if you get to enjoy that with a side of steamy kisses and hunky man candy, all the better. This book is so Christmas, it even has a Love Actually airport scene. This book is definitely a lovely kick off to the Season.

 

Review - - Kit McBride Gets a Wife

Kit McBride Gets a  Wife

by Amy Barry

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: August 23, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

The four McBride brothers have their worlds turned upside down when their precocious younger sister secretly places an advertisement for a mail-order bride. 

Kit McBride knows that Buck's Creek, Montana, is no place to find a wife. Between him and his three brothers—plus little Junebug—they manage all right on their own, thank you very much. But unbeknownst to Kit, his sister is sick to death of cleaning, cooking, and mending for her big brothers, so she places an ad in The Matrimonial News to get them hitched. 

After Maddy Mooney emigrated from Ireland, she found employment with an eccentric but poor widow. When her mistress decides to answer an ad for a mail-order bride, Madd​y is dragged along for the ride to Montana. But en route to the West, Maddy is suddenly abandoned and left to assume the widow's name, position, and matrimonial prospects…. 

With no other recourse in the wilderness, Maddy must convince Kit she’s the wife he never knew he needed.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

Part Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, part Ransom of Little Red Chief and Tom Sawyer, this book brings the best of these comedies for this historical rom-com. I would like to clarify that Maddy doesn’t really set out to convince Kit she’s the wife he actually wants. When she arrives (unwillingly) at his trading post, a series of unfortunate (but hilarious) events have occurred, mostly at the behest of the book’s most memorable character: the kid sister, Junebug McBride. All she really wants to do is go back home to Ireland because America isn’t all it's cracked up to be. When Kit finds out his kid sister has placed an ad for a WIFE on his behalf, he doesn’t want one, not even one as pretty and lovely as Maddy. And his other three brothers certainly don’t want a wife. 

Who then wants a wife? Junebug. In what I would consider a more accurate response to having to take care of a bunch of dirty, ill-mannered backwoods-men, Junebug has had it with all the cooking, cleaning, laundering, housekeeping, and all manner of things womenfolk have been saddled with since time immemorial. (God bless Millie* who pushed up her sleeves and took it on, but I would not have.) So Junebug places an ad for a wife, but what she receives is not who represented herself in her letters (an irony that knows no bounds.) Maddy is actually the “maid” for the supposed wife in question, but when Junebug meets the marital prospect and realizes her mistake, her rectifying of the situation ends up leaving Maddy homeless and abroad.  

Maddy ends up spending some time in the company of these brothers, though she too is not the wife material that Junebug was hoping for. After all, what Junebug would have liked most was someone who could cook. (She despises cooking, something that many of the readers could probably sympathize with.) Maddy is a housemaid, so cleaning, sure; laundry, perhaps to some extent; but cooking? Nope. Meanwhile Kit is worried about Maddy, who when she arrives, is frightened by his brother and then horribly injured. Maddy is convalescing and isn’t able to help with the chores (yet again something Junebug was not wanting–another person to care for.) However, given some time, a new arrangement is made: the brothers will send Maddy back to Ireland (once she is healed) after she gives some “feminine” lessons to their sister, who they point out is as wild as a badger. No one has to marry anybody…except after some time in close proximity, now Kit and Maddy are reconsidering the idea. What if she stayed? That is, until the original “bride” returns to claim her man.  

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.  

Both the main characters are lovely and worthy hero(ine)s and Kit McBride is a very deliciously built Hemsworth brother who is a blacksmith, strong but sensitive, while Maddy is a plucky heroine who is just trying to make the best of some unfortunate things that have happened to her. Morgan–the scary older brother–is definitely going to be an amusing hero of the next book (a very crusty old dragon on the outside, marshmallow middle); and Junebug, the character who steals every single scene she is in–and she’s in a lot of them–well, it will be interesting to see who manages to tame her. I can’t wait to read more. Well done. 

*main character from Seven Brides.  

Tour Review - - Killers of a Certain Age

Killers of a Certain Age

by Deanna Raybourn

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: September 6, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

  

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.

They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire – it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.

Hellie’s Heeds

Part Charlie’s Angels (movie version), part RED, this book delivers the action and antics one would expect of a story where the main characters are the underestimated underdogs. (In one of the descriptors of this book, it was pitched as The Golden Girls meets James Bond–which is also apt, but for me, when I heard the premise, I was immediately, “Oh, it’s RED but all women! I’m in!” The Charlie’s Angels bit came a bit later when I was immersed in the world of the four women, mainly Billie’s POV, who reminds me of Drew Barrymore’s character in the Charlie’s Angels movies, and the hilarious shenanigans the Angels did to accomplish their goals.) Normally I would offer more details of the story itself (sometimes the blurb doesn’t really do the actual story justice) but in this case, the blurb is exactly what is happening: these very dangerous women aren’t being allowed to have the quiet retirement they have earned. The organization where they’ve worked for 40 years has issued a termination order for them, and it takes all their cunning to stay ahead of the kill shots and take out the organization instead. 

If you ever were curious how to make a death look natural, you will definitely get an idea how to do so; as well as some truth how even the best thought out plan can go awry when the bad guy has a gun and a twitchy trigger finger. Also the very real need for a personal trainer to keep one in the physical shape needed to crawl around in the catacombs of France or outmaneuver the assassin who is trying to kill you. I love the fact that no matter how old these women are, they are the same women as they were when they were 20, which I think in our culture (maybe in all cultures), we forget and treat women of a certain age as well, not people. It’s a smack on the nose of the patriarchy that just because a woman isn’t “young”, she isn’t sexy or smart or relevant any longer, that she doesn’t deserve to be a heroine (main attraction) just because she’s over the age of 40. So yes, it’s some good feminist fiction. 

My only beef with the story is the writing style for the “flashbacks.” The current scenes, first person POV of Billie, are smooth and well-paced, easy to follow, and the dialogue and banter are hysterical. However, the flashbacks almost always drew me out of the story and made it a bit too easy to set the book aside to go do something else, which is a problem when you’re reading something that needs a review by a particular date. It wasn’t that the flashbacks weren’t necessary; when I did get into them, the content was relevant and also well-paced, but it was written in third-person present-tense omniscient, which meant for me it had two pet peeves of mine: head-hopping (thus no deep point-of-view) and flashbacks (things that already occurred) told in present tense. It made me crackers. However, not everyone is as precious about the type of tense used in story writing, so this might not bother most readers. There are a ton of YA novels that others rave about that I won’t touch because it’s in present tense. I’m just sharing my opinion about this in case anyone wonders, “Why only 4 ½ stars? Are you only somewhat feminist, Hellie?” No, no, I’m wholeheartedly feminist; I’m anti-present tense is all. 

That said: I think if you like a good romp with your girlfriends, if you think of your girlfriends as “ride or die” friends, this is a book to celebrate those relationships. Also, I am wondering if we might see these women again. I feel like the ending is left open to the possibility of another book, and I want to remind everyone that RED 2 was even funnier than the first RED.

Review - - Mr. Perfect on Paper

Mr. Perfect on Paper

by Jean Meltzer

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: August 9, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

The perfect Jewish husband should be:

• A doctor or lawyer (preferably a doctor)
• Baggage-free (no previous marriages, no children)
• And of course—he must be Jewish 

As the creator and CEO of the popular Jewish dating app J-Mate, matchmaker Dara Rabinowitz knows the formula for lasting love—at least, for everyone else. When it comes to her own love life, she’s been idling indefinitely. Until her beloved bubbe shares Dara’s checklist for “The Perfect Jewish Husband” on national television and charming news anchor Chris Steadfast proposes they turn Dara’s search into must-see TV. 

As a non-Jewish single dad, Chris doesn’t check any of Dara’s boxes. But her hunt for Mr. Perfect is the ratings boost his show desperately needs. If only Chris could ignore his own pesky attraction to Dara—a task much easier said than done when Dara starts questioning if “perfect on paper” can compete with how hard she’s falling for Chris…

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

You’re going to be “verklempt” in every sense of the word. Verklempt, assuming you were an SNL fan in the early 1990s when this word became more mainstream, means: overcome with emotion. Get your chocolate, get your tissues, and clear your schedule because you will be turning pages long into the night as you constantly wonder: “How in the world is Dara going to end up with Chris, who is clearly Mr. Right, even if he’s not perfect on paper?” I have rooted for some fictional couples in my time, but I rooted for Chris and Dara as if my very life depended on it. These two were perfectly flawed, but oh-so-lovable characters with friends and family that were just the right amount of supportive without being intrusive. Well, apart from that scene her grandmother does on live TV.  

The more I read this book, the more I wanted to slow down and take notes about HOW the author did it. For me, it is one of those perfect books to take and pull apart to show all the beats and nuanced tension that kept the story going, making me truly worry (as someone who has read HEA books for over 30 years) if the hero and heroine were going to make this work. This author did all the right things and made it look seamless–and what’s more I know it couldn’t have possibly been seamless–so I applaud her (and her editors) all the more for how perfect this book came out.  

If you have ever been to a writer’s conference or workshop where they talk about character development, one of the first keys to building realistic tension and relatable characters is identifying something (usually a quirk or a boundary for the character) that the character will never do. It doesn’t have to be “big” (like, they’d never rob a bank or kill someone) but it has to be a true boundary for the character. I always get stymied by what seems like a very simple question to answer for my characters; therefore, when I see it so artfully done in books I read, I take notice. I know how hard that was to create and then create the outcomes needed for the character arcs. And the arcs for both of these characters, the quirks and boundaries they each had to overcome, were handled spot-on. If you’re still reading this and you’re like, “I’m just a reader, Hellie, what ARE you talking about?”--just let me say the reunion scene in the end where the two characters are trying to get to each other to declare their love is AMAZE-BALLS. Like When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless in Seattle AMAZE-BALLS. Classic rom-com.  

The Dark Moment scene–I was crying–and I had to read it aloud to my husband, who cries at Disney movies, and then we were both sobbing into our breakfast meals. We are soft-touches for a great dark moment and then an even bigger reunion. The scene with Dara and her grandmother, as Dara realizes what she thought she always wanted isn’t what she wants…and how going for what she truly loves may impact her life and understanding of what it means to be Jewish, had us sobbing harder into our bacon–I mean it, we were a mess. Then when Dara takes the leap of faith–and the ChallahBack Girls come to her rescue: SOLID GOLD.  

And I haven’t even gotten to talk about all the LOL moments–which there is one basically on every page. I assure you I laughed much more than I cried–but when I cried, it was because I was invested and verklempt.  

When I read Jean Metzler’s The Matzah Ball last year, I put her on my auto-buy list, even as I knew sophomore books sometimes don’t live up to the perfection of their predecessors. Worry not, dear readers. It is as perfect as a slow-roasted brisket, cooked for 12 hours on low. This one is definitely going on my list as one of the best books of the year.

 

Review - - The Accidental Pinup

The Accidental Pinup

by Danielle Jackson

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 19, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie 

Photographer Cassie Harris loves her job—her company Buxom Boudoir makes people look beautiful and feel empowered with her modern twist on classic pinup photography. Cassie’s best friend, Dana, is about to launch her own dangerously dreamy lingerie line and wants Cassie to shoot and direct the career-changing national campaign. But company politics and Dana’s complicated pregnancy interfere, and Cassie finds herself—a proud plus size Black woman—not behind the camera but in front of it.  

Though she’s never modeled herself, Cassie’s pretty sure she can handle the sheer underwear and caution tape bralettes. She’s not sure she can work so intimately with the chosen photographer, her long-time competitor in the Chicago photography scene, Reid Montgomery. Their chemistry is undeniable on set, however, and feelings can develop faster than film…

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

A glamorous career, body positivity for all sizes and shapes, and a happily ever after? Sign me up. This book is well-paced with a smooth writing style that will have you eagerly turning pages to see what happens next. The secondary characters–of which there are many–are diverse and add to the story. (I was particularly fond of Cassie’s mom, and also the assistant named Sam.) I was looking forward to reading more about them in subsequent books, but I felt that the author tied up the loose ends for these characters quite well. The heroine, Cassie, is everything you want in a heroine: hard-working, willing to go out of her comfort zone, and willing to say the hard things (even to her parents) but in a way that is respectful to both herself and the other person. Reid is also a good guy, but did seem to be the character with the most growth of the book. He’s not a jerk (no alpha moves here) but he did have a lot to learn at times, which made me struggle at times not to want to strangle him.  

Cassie and Reid have polar opposite experiences when it comes to family life: her family is supportive (though of course, always want more for their daughter), financially secure, and happy; his family is dysfunctional, toxic, and avoided at all costs, which leaves him dealing with a younger brother that he feels he has to bail out once too often. While Reid’s reasonings for how he behaves toward his brother–and his reasons for agreeing to “spy” on Cassie for the LL company (the company they are working for) in order to get a bit more money to pay for his shiftless brother are understandable, this reader seriously wanted to send him to diversity and inclusion school, because he seemed to be completely unaware of his white privilege or the reasons why LL were giving Cassie a hard time and unwilling to allow her full reign over the campaign.  

There are a few very notable scenes between Cassie and Reid where Cassie (once again) is basically having to have a “teachable” moment with Reid about his behavior or how the world works if you’re not a white male. There was literally a conversation about Reid talking about how hard he worked at his craft–that his promotions were all based on his work and nothing else–and I just wanted to scream. And that conversation where he said she didn’t have to be professional all the time–oh, man–that was an eye opener for him. Cassie handled him much more graciously than I ever would have. There are moments where she wonders if this is the kind of relationship she wants to have, where she is always the moral compass of the pair, and I could not blame her. I have not read a lot of romances where this dynamic plays out (where one has white privilege and the other doesn’t), nor how couples navigate it in order to have a successful relationship–but I think the author did an admirable job of making the ending work, where you felt this couple could be together.  

There are also things that Reid does to draw Cassie out, to make her pursue some of her art for art’s sake, which makes her a better person in the end as well. It’s not one-sided–it’s just, I think she has the bigger end of the stick. They both grow and have better and healthier boundaries with their families in the end, which is key, and I enjoyed that as well. The Grovel Scene is pretty darned good (the sort of thing that would work for me); and the epilogue is hilarious. I cannot wait to see what else Danielle Jackson has in store for my reading pleasure. 

 

Review - - Thank You, Next

Thank You, Next

by Andie J. Christopher

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: June 14, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

Alex Turner is never The One—but always the last one an ex dates before finding love—and now she’s determined to find out why in this hilarious new rom-com. 

Single divorce attorney Alex Turner is watching reality TV when she sees her latest ex’s new fiancée picking out her wedding dress. Yet again, the guy she dumped went on to marry (or at least seriously commit to) the next person he dates after her. Fed up with being the precursor to happily ever after, she decides to interview all her exes to find out why. 

Up-and-coming chef Will Harkness mixes with Alex like oil and vinegar, but forced proximity growing up means their lives are forever entwined. When Will learns Alex and her friends are going on a wild romp through Los Angeles to reconnect with her ex-boyfriends, he decides to tag along. If he can discover what her exes did wrong, he can make sure he doesn’t make the same mistake with Alex.  

On this nonstop journey through the streets of LA, Alex realizes the answer to her question might be the man riding shotgun…

 

Hellie’s Heeds: 

Warning: If you prefer your heroines more Disney-Princess sweet (even when furious) and not equipped to speak fluent sailor, this book is not for you. Technically speaking, I think in general, in that circumstance, Andie Christopher’s books are not for you, because Andie’s heroines all live at the intersection of “Zero fucks to give” and “Fuck around and find out.” This is awesome–but it can make a reader go, “Why don’t I like this heroine?” I give this warning because I too can be hard on my heroines, requiring them to be nicer, more civil than the alpha males that tend to line the covers of my favorite books. I too have been Socially Gendered and when I encounter heroines in books who are either too abrasive, too bossy, or too sexually liberated (especially for what I consider the time period), I get balky. But…if you don’t mind your women on the salty side, you should be just fine with Alex Turner, the divorce lawyer and young woman with daddy issues and childhood trauma she’s still working through. She feels modern and relatable.  

Now the hero, Will Harkness, is much easier to love (not the least of which because we usually give men a pass) and he cooks us food–can’t hate anyone who takes care of your hangry. And sure, the rejection he gave Alex was YEARS ago, but I can go on record, there are still guys from my teen years I won’t talk to for very similar reasons and I’m happily married now. There is just something about the trauma of a teenage rejection that just stays and stabs your self esteem for the rest of your life, no matter how many times you tell yourself, “It wasn’t personal, Hellie. Really.” And I mean, he didn’t have to be so adamant about turning her down, did he? Honestly. 

Now Alex’s ride or die friends, Jane and Lana, are worth the read alone as is her grandmother, Lexie, who basically raised her…and is the sort of person we all want to be when we grow up. I recommend reading just for the ideas of what you should be doing in your retirement: younger men, aerial yoga, and extensive travel. The ex-boyfriends Alex revisits to figure out why she is the problem are hysterically awful–though my personal favorite is the yoga instructor. (I read that particular scene to my husband and he wheezed coffee out of his nose and said my SoCal accent was spot on for the character.)  

I think my particular favorite bit–and it was an on-going bit–was the reference to the Attachment Style of the hero and heroine. It seems both characters were familiar with the book, Attached, a non-fiction book about attachment types. Both characters are the Avoidant attachment type–you can’t get too close or they bolt (or you leave because you realize it’s fruitless.) Now if you’ve read this book (my husband has), you’ll know that getting two avoidant types to be successful is near to impossible–and knowing this, there were times, especially when I saw Alex acting out–that I wondered, how is this possibly going to work? But I think the premise is that you just at least need to be aware this is your attachment style–and that you need to communicate better if you want to make the relationship work; and Andie does successfully do that for the characters, in my opinion. (You may ask, Hellie, what’s your attachment style–anxious attachment, thank you for asking, and possibly anxious avoidant, which is the WORST of the types–and no I didn’t read the book. I did take the quiz. Well, partly, basically I just told my pre-husband: look, I assure you, it’s anxious. And because I’m anxious, I tend to pick people who are unavailable or avoidant because I like to be right about my anxiety.) TLDR: I understood Alex, even if she was one salty sailor.  

Oh, and both characters are biracial, if that is also something you like in your books and characters (representation matters!), but honestly these are just two smart, caring, successful people with hot-messes for love-lives who find each other…finally. Enjoy!

 

TLC Tour Review - - It Takes a Villa

It Takes a Villa

by Kilby Blades

Publisher: Entangled: Amara

Release Date: May 24, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

 

For the reasonable price of $1, Natalie Malone just bought herself an abandoned villa on the Amalfi Coast. With a detailed spreadsheet and an ancient key, she’s arrived in Italy ready to renovate—and only six months to do it. Which seemed reasonable until architect Pietro Indelicato began critically watching her every move… 

From the sweeping ocean views to the scent of the lemon trees, there’s nothing Pietro loves more than his hometown. And after seeing too many botched jobs and garish design choices, he’s done watching from the sidelines. As far as he’s concerned, Natalie should quit before the project drains her entire bank account and her ridiculously sunny optimism. 

With Natalie determined to move forward, the gorgeous architect reluctantly agrees to pitch in, giving her a real chance to succeed. But when the fine print on Natalie’s contract is brought to light, she might have no choice but to leave her dream, and Pietro, behind.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

Part Under the Tuscan Sun and part Money Pit, this contemporary romance blends romance, humor, poignancy, and HGTV renovations into a happy beach read. Natalie, the heroine, is both starting over and fulfilling her grandmother’s dying wish, to live and thrive in Italy. She has big plans for the huge DIY project she has picked for herself, wanting to invest her small nest egg into creating a B&B out of a beloved old Italian inn. Pietro is the poor beleaguered son of his father, the mayor, of this town who has started this program of “selling” DIY renovations for one euro, giving hopeful ex-pats (or really anyone with the necessary 75,000 euros to try) a chance to create a life in Italy. Pietro is an architect who has constantly warned the council his father sits on that this program is not sustainable; and when he meets the hopeful (and somewhat desperate) Natalie who plans to renovate a huge villa all by herself in six months, his concerns only seem more validated.

 

Natalie meets other “hopefuls” in the program; and soon she finds camaraderie in all the expected and unexpected pitfalls of DIYing an old house. Pietro–drawn to Natalie despite himself–finds himself pitching in to help her, especially when he learns more about her plans for the villa and that her changes to the place are fitting for the theme of the project. They grow closer with each project, but their young relationship is threatened when one of the DIY houses’ collapses and the town council has to re-evaluate the project and then re-inspect each place and give specific instructions for tenants to repair in order to meet the terms of the agreement. Natalie finds she only has 30 days to make repairs she can no longer afford. And the man who has been helping her, Pietro, seems to have had his own agenda the whole time. It takes Pietro all his efforts–and those of the villa–to win her back.  

I think what I liked most about this book was the theme (so to speak) of looking forward and letting go of things that no longer serve you. As someone who struggles a lot with letting go, I found one of the scenes in this book particularly poignant and made me stop to think, “Ah, yes, wisdom.” I love when my romances do that. I think in nearly all the romances I’ve read, there’s at least one of those scenes. They’re why I like to read romances, really. I mean the romance is great–but the little fortune cookies of wisdom? I love that. The other thing I loved about the book was the lemons. I swear more than once this book sent me on internet searches about lemons–and I’m now determined one day, when I’m a homeowner, I will have a lemon tree. But I also just want to go to Italy and enjoy their lemons. This book felt very much a love letter to the region, which I enjoyed.  

If I had to critique–and this is probably just me–I didn’t always connect with the characters per se with their love scenes. (I tended to gloss over them or stop and try to figure out why I was glossing over them.) Again, like humor, love scenes are subjective. Or it could be that I didn’t connect with the hero and heroine so much that I was particularly engaged when their love scenes rolled around. While I like Natalie and Pietro a lot–both very thoughtful and giving characters with real flaws that I could relate to, maybe it was that I didn’t quite understand their connection. I don’t know. I just know it was the reason I couldn’t quite give this a 5 star from me. Again, I think ratings are rather subjective.  

But if you loved Under the Tuscan Sun as I did and if you are tolerant of knowing a bit too much about home renovations (i.e. it will dull any desire you may have had to DIY your own house), you will absolutely want to lose yourself in the story about the Italian coast, lemons and limoncello, and a villa who comes together for the benefit of all the inhabitants. 

 

Review - - The No-Show

The No-Show

by Beth O'Leary

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: April 12, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

 

Three women who seemingly have nothing in common find that they're involved with the same man in this smart new rom-com by Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare. 

Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth. 

These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: they’ve all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up—Valentine’s Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they’ve all been stood up by the same man. 

Once they've each forgiven him for standing them up, they are all in serious danger of falling in love with a man who may have not just one or two but three women on the go.... 

Is there more to him than meets the eye? Where was he on Valentine’s Day? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

The premise sounded amusing–I had to wonder how the author was going to redeem a hero who looked to be stringing along 3 different women–but the reality is much different. Beth O’Leary is also the author who wrote The Road Trip (which I reviewed but didn’t care for as much as this one.) O’Leary is known for being quirky in her writing style, having complicated characters–some of which really struggled to be likable on the page, and being the sort of rom-com that is more like 4 Weddings and a Funeral rather than like When Harry Met Sally or The Lost City. They’re cerebral British rom-coms, which in my mind also means there’s quite a bit of time where I’m more depressed than laughing at any antics. But I can say: it all does work out in the end.  

As for characters, I think I may have liked Carter (the hero) least. Again, once you get to the end, you understand his behavior, but 352 pages is a long time to not really understand why a hero is behaving as he does. My favorite characters were Miranda and AJ–and for them, I would recommend the book. Jane–for me–was very relatable as a character, but others may find her weak; and Siobhan was far too diva-ish for my blood. This said: they were all very well-drawn characters that were memorable and distinct; and the book revolves through the POVs of the three women, so the pacing definitely left the reader turning the page to see what happened next.  

Turn offs for me as a reader fell to two things: First, present tense writing format a la Bridget Jones. I cannot get into it half the time and I find it too easy to put the book down. Life is too short for me to put down a book this often. I want to be immersed in the story. I want to come out of reading, wondering what day it is and melancholy that the book has ended and I have to find something else. I get that most from third person past tense style of writing. Second, I only consider it a rom-com beach read if no one dies in the book. This story failed that test. So if you happen to also be a person who does not want to combine their rom-coms with death (especially if death is not alluded to in the blurb), you have now been warned.  

After reading this you may wonder, “But, Hellie, you gave this 4 stars.” Yes, I did. For me, it would fall more into 3 ½ stars, but as far as plot, characterization, writing, pacing, et al went, Beth O’Leary is really good at what she does. It just happened to be the kind of story that I don’t prefer as much–which reflects my rating. I have a very specific classification for rom-coms, but rom-coms, I believe, fit a much broader scope than I usually like to attribute. See: 4 Weddings and a Funeral.