When I reviewed Serena Bell’s So Close (Tierney Bay #1) earlier in 2020, I remarked that it was set in the same locale as a 2015 book that I had read and loved by this author called Turn Up the Heat. At the time, it was no longer available in stores but I’m happy to…
Mayra Cuevas’ Salty, Bitter, Sweet is a sharply etched and unforgettable tale of an expat American teenager trying to find her way in France. It’s a beautifully done life study that knows what it’s talking about when it speaks of food, family and love alike, with a heroine who’s unforgettable. Isabella Field’s life revolves around…
It’s too bad that the couple in Ruby Lang’s House Rules hadn’t stayed together in the first place because their second-chance romance is a dull love story. This third standalone installment in the Uptown series features mildly sympathetic protagonists whose largely uncomplicated reunion unfolds at a humdrum pace. Ex-spouses Lana Kuo and Simon Mizrahi have…
House Rules is the third story in the Uptown series by Ruby Lang. Set in some of New York’s original neighbourhoods, the houses and apartments the characters live in are as much a part of the stories as the characters themselves. I loved the first in the series, Playing House, especially the fact that the…
It’s been a while since I read a good cowboy romance, and I was starting to miss them. When I saw A Cowboy to Remember getting buzz on Twitter, it caught my fancy. Friends-to-lovers and second chance at love are my two favorite tropes, and this book has some of both going on in it…
When I saw that Whiteout is set in Antarctica, I found myself instantly intrigued. The place fascinates me and seeing Antarctica is a not-so-secret dream of mine. However, amazing though the continent may be, I know it’s a pretty unforgiving place in terms of climate and terrain, so the idea of people being stranded out…
Sweet Heat combines family drama and heated romance beautifully. A story of love between two plus-sized black characters filled with humor and drama, it’s wonderfully appealing. Marvin Carter is a wiz with a whisk and a spatula. An exemplary baker, he spends his days toiling as a line cook and would do anything to save…
There’s something unexpected and unique about Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune. Magical and sublime with a core that’s a real heartbreaker, it nonetheless has a few problems that keep it from being a full-out A-grade homerun. Natalie Tan once vowed to herself that she’d never return to San Francisco’s Chinatown community. After surviving…
I’ve been hearing a lot of good buzz about Tessa Bailey lately, and when I dug into her backlist, I wasn’t disappointed. Too Hot to Handle is fast-paced, emotional, and blisteringly sexy. I highly recommend it. Chef Rita Clarkson has never been able to live up to her late mother, culinary legend Miriam Clarkson, and…
Family tradition, high octane baked goods, the world of competitive baking, small town living and pet pigs collide in Nancy Naigle’s The Secret Ingredient, a decently good and pleasantly readable homespun romance about an engaged couple torn apart by differing ambitions But its deep commitment to a grow-where-you’re-planted philosophy might rub some readers the wrong…