-
Continue reading →: Secretly Yours is Stereotypical Romance
Authored by Tessa Bailey; Published 2023; Romance ⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ Secretly Yours is everything that I was taught romance novels are. Full of tropes—inexperienced ingenue heroine, exceedingly competent hero, etc.—that may not be the most empowering for young female readers. It was also *very* spicy, almost gratuitously so. That being…
-
Continue reading →: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year Mixes Mystery, Romance, and Christmas
Authored by Ally Carter; Published September 2024; Mystery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ The strongest feature of The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year has to be the balance between mystery, romance, and just the right amount of seasonal cheer. Despite reading it in the middle of summer, it did not feel…
-
Continue reading →: The Paris Express Combines History with Edge of Your Seat Tension
Authored by Emma Donoghue; Published March 2025; Historical Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️ The Paris Express somehow manages to capture both the vibes of the 19th century European railroad culture and the modern TV show 24. It had my attention from the first page to the last. The Paris Express follows…
-
Continue reading →: Baggage Claim May Be Predictable, But It’s Full of Holiday Cheer
Authored by Juliana Smith; Published 2022; Romance ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ The truth is, I don’t expect much from Christmas-themed rom-coms. They almost always follow a prescribed formula and contain exactly the expected tropes. Baggage Claim delivers what it should: cozy Christmas-y scenes and a grinch whose heart grows three sizes…
-
Continue reading →: Three Days in June Is About Ordinary Glorious Love
Authored by Anne Tyler; Published February 2025; Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The two novels by Anne Tyler that I’ve read have been realistic about romantic relationships to the point of almost depressing. I’ll admit that I liked Three Days in June a little more because of the somewhat happier ending. In Three…
-
Continue reading →: The Paris Understudy Will Make You Think About Collaborationists
Authored by Aurelia Thiele; Published September 2024; Historical fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️ In a world awash with World War II historical fiction novels, The Paris Understudy stands out. I can’t say I’ve ever read a novel where the protagonist (Hero? Antihero?) is a French collaborator. In The Paris Understudy, Yvonne…
-
Continue reading →: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is the Best Kind of Creepy
Authored by Janice Hallett; Published 2023; Mystery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels was one of my favorite reads of last summer. I loved watching the mystery slowly come apart, but be warned: if the occult gives you the creeps, I do not recommend this book.…
-
Continue reading →: The Women Behind the Door Brought Me Back to COVID
Authored by Roddy Doyle; Published September 2024; Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️ There is a type of real, exquisite pain that comes from facing the truth of mistakes you have made that had a deep impact on another person’s life. That pain is at the heart of The Women Behind the Door. In…
-
Continue reading →: The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore Isn’t Quite as Cozy as Its Predecessor
Authored by Laurie Gilmore; Published August 2024; Romance ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ If you fell in love with the quaint small town of Dream Harbor from The Pumpkin Spice Cafe of TikTok fame, The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore will send you straight back. It doesn’t have quite the same cozy vibes, but…
-
Continue reading →: The Mountain in the Sea is a Thought Experiment
Authored by Ray Nayler; Published 2022; Science Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️ Reading The Mountain in the Sea felt like an extended thought experiment, exploring the meaning of consciousness and communication. What does it mean to be sentient? Why is language important? If you like pondering these questions, you will like…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Breakaway Books 