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emslitlibrary's reviews
100 reviews
Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
4.25
I devoured this in, like, 2 sittings. It is a beautiful story about grief, motherhood, and finding yourself again after you’ve become a little lost. Annabel is so good at writing about life in a very simple way that somehow still makes your heart ache.
Ali is about to be divorced, with 3 kids she adores, grieving for her mother who she lost 2 years ago. She’s kind of a mess when we find her. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband is the literal worst. When she finally gets up the courage to put on hard pants, she runs into her best friend’s baby brother (he’s actually 36, and she doesn’t actually remember him). He’s a little bit of a kid at heart, but has his life together despite his family and everyone else thinking he’s just a screw-up. When he sticks around for the summer to clean out his parents house, Ali pursues a romance with him “just for the sunmer.” Yeah, right.
I really love the way Annabel writes and I loved this story. It feels immersive without being overly prosaic or flowery. It’s a realistic and somewhat heartbreaking account of what it’s like to be a mother and trying to find something that’s just for you. It’s definitely reminiscent of Nora Goes Off Script, a personal favorite of mine from this author.
Ali is about to be divorced, with 3 kids she adores, grieving for her mother who she lost 2 years ago. She’s kind of a mess when we find her. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband is the literal worst. When she finally gets up the courage to put on hard pants, she runs into her best friend’s baby brother (he’s actually 36, and she doesn’t actually remember him). He’s a little bit of a kid at heart, but has his life together despite his family and everyone else thinking he’s just a screw-up. When he sticks around for the summer to clean out his parents house, Ali pursues a romance with him “just for the sunmer.” Yeah, right.
I really love the way Annabel writes and I loved this story. It feels immersive without being overly prosaic or flowery. It’s a realistic and somewhat heartbreaking account of what it’s like to be a mother and trying to find something that’s just for you. It’s definitely reminiscent of Nora Goes Off Script, a personal favorite of mine from this author.
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
3.0
First let me say that I really loved having a couple of middle-aged main characters. It was such a unique reading experience compared to what we usually see. If you read The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and enjoyed the fantasy world, Duckers, and the mystery-solving aspects, the good news is that all of those things are present and just as lovely in this installment. And there are cute, sparkly, pink dragons!
While the writing was captivating and the world is fun, I just really found the romance aspect lacking. H&M was dual POV so that was what I was expecting, and this was not...and Twyla's POV was painful at times. She holds a lot of resentment surrounding marriage and motherhood, which is entirely valid, but as a wife and mother myself I got a little tired of reading about it. Maybe it's just me!
Overall, it was enjoyable and I will definitely read more books in this world in the future, but this one was not my favorite. There are plenty of things to love about it, but the romance and FMC missed the mark for me.
While the writing was captivating and the world is fun, I just really found the romance aspect lacking. H&M was dual POV so that was what I was expecting, and this was not...and Twyla's POV was painful at times. She holds a lot of resentment surrounding marriage and motherhood, which is entirely valid, but as a wife and mother myself I got a little tired of reading about it. Maybe it's just me!
Overall, it was enjoyable and I will definitely read more books in this world in the future, but this one was not my favorite. There are plenty of things to love about it, but the romance and FMC missed the mark for me.
The Curse of Sins by Kate Dramis
adventurous
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
The Curse of Sins is a really solid and enjoyable sequel to The Curse of Saints. Aya and Will return home to face insurmountable odds and in doing so, must keep their newly blossoming relationship a secret. And man, did they really go through it in this book.
I found the first half of this book to be a bit slow as you’re dealing with more questions than answers at that point. I struggled a bit with jumping to Aidon & Josie’s POVs but I do understand why we needed it. That said, the chapters are short enough that it still moves at a decent pace even if it feels like the plot does not move much in that first half. Aya was also kind of annoying with her mistrust but I think it was valid given her position and granted, she had a lot going on.
Now for all the good stuff. There was plenty of tension and angst between Will & Aya but we also got some really sweet, tender moments that I loved. Around the 55% mark things really started to pop off. I predicted one big reveal, but aside from that I was thoroughly surprised and delighted with where the story went in the end. I loved seeing all the key players come together, if only for a brief period of time. There were a lot of developments leading up to the final scenes that felt like all the puzzle pieces being positioned so that they can slide into their rightful places in the third and final installment.
After that ending, I imagine the final book in this trilogy is going to put us through quite a bit of heartache, but I am really excited to see where this story goes and have my fingers crossed for a HEA. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC to read and review!
I found the first half of this book to be a bit slow as you’re dealing with more questions than answers at that point. I struggled a bit with jumping to Aidon & Josie’s POVs but I do understand why we needed it. That said, the chapters are short enough that it still moves at a decent pace even if it feels like the plot does not move much in that first half. Aya was also kind of annoying with her mistrust but I think it was valid given her position and granted, she had a lot going on.
Now for all the good stuff. There was plenty of tension and angst between Will & Aya but we also got some really sweet, tender moments that I loved. Around the 55% mark things really started to pop off. I predicted one big reveal, but aside from that I was thoroughly surprised and delighted with where the story went in the end. I loved seeing all the key players come together, if only for a brief period of time. There were a lot of developments leading up to the final scenes that felt like all the puzzle pieces being positioned so that they can slide into their rightful places in the third and final installment.
After that ending, I imagine the final book in this trilogy is going to put us through quite a bit of heartache, but I am really excited to see where this story goes and have my fingers crossed for a HEA. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC to read and review!
Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto
medium-paced
3.75
This is a sweet romance with a unique storyline and a hint of coming-of-age. I liked getting small snippets of Alex’s pov and I think we needed that to get to know his character more. The romance focused mostly on physical attraction and their musical compatibility; I would have liked to see more of them really getting to know each other. It came off as a little insta-lovey even though Gwen did make him work for it a little bit.
There were a few places where Alex was swoon-worthy and I would have liked more of that dynamic! His character took a step back, in my opinion, when the 3rd act break-up happened but Gwen was equally as frustrating.
I did really love how everything resolved at the end and how all the interwoven characters came together. Overall it was a really enjoyable read that kept me invested in the story.
There were a few places where Alex was swoon-worthy and I would have liked more of that dynamic! His character took a step back, in my opinion, when the 3rd act break-up happened but Gwen was equally as frustrating.
I did really love how everything resolved at the end and how all the interwoven characters came together. Overall it was a really enjoyable read that kept me invested in the story.