Category: contemporary fiction

Book Review: Unsheltered

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver is a 464-page historical/literary fiction novel. The story follows two different time periods of families who live in the same run-down house. Here is the book blurb: Willa Knox has always prided herself on being the embodiment of responsibility for her family. Which is why it’s so unnerving that she’s arrived at middle age with nothing to show for her hard work…
Book Review: In Five Years

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! In Five Years by Rebecca Serle is a 272-page romance novel with added magical realism. It’s about Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan. During the most important interview of her career, she’s asked where she sees herself in five years. Of course, she has a meticulously crafted answer ready and she nails the interview. Afterward, she accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal. Dannie goes to bed that night…
Book Review: When Katie Met Cassidy

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri is a 264-page lesbian romance novel. Katie Daniels is a perfection-seeking 28-year-old lawyer living the dream in New York. She engaged to a charming art curator, Paul Michael, and has successfully made her way up the corporate ladder at a multinational law firm. She’s come a long way from growing up in Kentucky. But when she’s suddenly dumped by…
Book Review: Red, White and Royal Blue

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is a 448-page YA queer romance novel. First son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to America having a prince. With his sister and the VP’s granddaughter, they’re they White House Trio, an effective millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides though, especially when photos of a confrontation with his…
Book Review: Courting Mr. Emerson

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! Courting Mr. Emerson by Melody Carlson is a 341-page Christian romance novel. When fun-loving, spontaneous artist Willow West meets buttoned-up, retired English teacher George Emerson, she finds the obsessive-compulsive man intriguing. She makes it her mission to get him to loosen up and embrace life, which seems like a lost cause, but she doesn’t mind. In the process, she finds herself falling in love with him.…
Book Review: On the Come Up

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! On the Come Up by Angie Thomas is a 464-page Contemporary Fiction YA (Young Adult) novel. The story is a coming-of-age story about a sixteen-year-old rapper, Bri, who wants to become one of the greatest rappers of all time. Bri is the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he made it big, so Bri has big shoes to fill. However, when her mom…
Book Review: The Twelve Dates of Christmas

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss is a 320-page romance novel. Here is the book blurb: When it comes to relationships, thirty-four-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say “Bah, humbug.” The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn’t exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate’s found fulfillment in her career as a designer, and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt’s…
Book Review: A Merry Little Meet Cute

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone is a 418-page romance book and the first book in the A Christmas Notch series. Here is the book blurb: Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn’t ask for more. But when Bee’s favorite producer casts…
Book Review: The Girl with the Louding Voice

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré is a 371-page literary fiction novel set in Nigeria. Here is the book blurb: All you have are your words. Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. As the only daughter of a broke father, she is a valuable commodity. Removed from school and sold as a third wife to an…
Book Review: The Cactus

This post contains spoilers. This post also contains affiliate links. If you buy through Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog and indie bookstores! The Cactus by Sarah Haywood is a 384-page romance novel. Here is the book blurb: An unforgettable love story that shows sometimes you have to embrace the unexpected. Susan Green is like a cactus: you can’t get too close. She likes things perfectly ordered and predictable. No surprises. But suddenly confronted with the loss of her mother and the unexpected news that she is about to…