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danadoesbooks's Reviews (954)
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Thank you William Morrow and BiblioLifestyle for the gifted copy of A Bakery in Paris! All opinions in this review are my own.
A small bakery is what connects Lisette's life in 1870 to Micheline's life in 1946. Lisette is living through the Prussians trying to starve Paris and Micheline is trying to care for her two sisters after the devastation of World War II has forced Paris to try to rebuild. Both women feel trapped in their lives and must make important decisions in order to live for their own futures.
What immediately drew me to A Bakery in Paris was the fact that neither timeline is set during WWII. I know this seems like a silly criteria but I liked that this novel explores two timelines in Paris that I don't know much about.
I also appreciated that each story in this dual timeline historical fiction novel were well developed and made you care about the characters. While they were connected by the bakery and a book of recipes, I liked that each storyline could stand on its own.
As described in the Author's Note, Runyan had so much joy writing this novel and it shows. Make sure to read her story about the bakery that she used as a model for the one in the book!
A small bakery is what connects Lisette's life in 1870 to Micheline's life in 1946. Lisette is living through the Prussians trying to starve Paris and Micheline is trying to care for her two sisters after the devastation of World War II has forced Paris to try to rebuild. Both women feel trapped in their lives and must make important decisions in order to live for their own futures.
What immediately drew me to A Bakery in Paris was the fact that neither timeline is set during WWII. I know this seems like a silly criteria but I liked that this novel explores two timelines in Paris that I don't know much about.
I also appreciated that each story in this dual timeline historical fiction novel were well developed and made you care about the characters. While they were connected by the bakery and a book of recipes, I liked that each storyline could stand on its own.
As described in the Author's Note, Runyan had so much joy writing this novel and it shows. Make sure to read her story about the bakery that she used as a model for the one in the book!
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the eARC of Reputation! All opinions in this review are my own.
I read Reputation in a day. It is so easily to get swept up in Georgiana's discovery of a new group of friends and despite being set so long ago, it is a timeless story arc.
Reputation has been compared to Mean Girls and Gossip Girl but mixed with Jane Austen. While Frances definitely seems like a Regina George, Georgiana reminds me of Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl and her exploration of how the super rich live. As with any character trying to enter this elite world, Georgiana loses herself and makes mistakes before recognizing who is truly there for her.
Make sure you read the Author's Note at the end because Croucher explains the significance of including more diversity in regency era books.
After this debut, I am excited to read more of Croucher's books!
I read Reputation in a day. It is so easily to get swept up in Georgiana's discovery of a new group of friends and despite being set so long ago, it is a timeless story arc.
Reputation has been compared to Mean Girls and Gossip Girl but mixed with Jane Austen. While Frances definitely seems like a Regina George, Georgiana reminds me of Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl and her exploration of how the super rich live. As with any character trying to enter this elite world, Georgiana loses herself and makes mistakes before recognizing who is truly there for her.
Make sure you read the Author's Note at the end because Croucher explains the significance of including more diversity in regency era books.
After this debut, I am excited to read more of Croucher's books!
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you SMP Romance and NetGalley for the eARC of How to Love Your Neighbor! All opinions in this review are my own.
The house next to Noah has been vacant since he moved in and he really wants to buy it in order to expand his backyard. When Grace finally moves in, Noah immediately offers to buy her house. Little does he know, this house was Grace's grandparents' and she can't wait to renovate it. In this close proximity, hate to love romance, Noah and Grace grow closer as they both deal with the problems of rennovation.
I have to admit Noah walked a very fine line for most of the book. I find that sometimes hate to love romances push so far into the hate territory to start that it is hard to recover from once the characters fall in love. Noah's tendency to solve his problems with money got old quickly, however, I was glad we also had his point of view. I think without hearing his side of the story, Noah would have come across as a much shallower character and it would have been hard to believe that he had genuine feels for Grace.
I love how the tension built throughout most of the book but both characters acknowledged that they wanted different things. I appreciate that Grace recognized Noah didn't want a relationship and wasn't trying to "fix" him until he was ready to truly be with her.
I liked Noah and Grace's romance but I'm really excited to go back and read Chris and Everly's romance in Ten Rules for Faking It!
The house next to Noah has been vacant since he moved in and he really wants to buy it in order to expand his backyard. When Grace finally moves in, Noah immediately offers to buy her house. Little does he know, this house was Grace's grandparents' and she can't wait to renovate it. In this close proximity, hate to love romance, Noah and Grace grow closer as they both deal with the problems of rennovation.
I have to admit Noah walked a very fine line for most of the book. I find that sometimes hate to love romances push so far into the hate territory to start that it is hard to recover from once the characters fall in love. Noah's tendency to solve his problems with money got old quickly, however, I was glad we also had his point of view. I think without hearing his side of the story, Noah would have come across as a much shallower character and it would have been hard to believe that he had genuine feels for Grace.
I love how the tension built throughout most of the book but both characters acknowledged that they wanted different things. I appreciate that Grace recognized Noah didn't want a relationship and wasn't trying to "fix" him until he was ready to truly be with her.
I liked Noah and Grace's romance but I'm really excited to go back and read Chris and Everly's romance in Ten Rules for Faking It!
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC of Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust! All opinions in this review are my own.
This is the second book in the Deep Dish Mystery series. Despite not reading the first one, Six Feet Deep Dish, I did not feel lost at the beginning of the sequel and it was easy to get to know all of the characters. I always enjoy a good cozy mystery with a cat as a prominent character and Butterball did not disappoint!
The mystery itself was more complex than I would have originally thought. It was a great twist at the end to realize that things may not come together as neatly as you would assume!
My only complaint about this book was that I was craving pizza the entire time I was reading it!
This is the second book in the Deep Dish Mystery series. Despite not reading the first one, Six Feet Deep Dish, I did not feel lost at the beginning of the sequel and it was easy to get to know all of the characters. I always enjoy a good cozy mystery with a cat as a prominent character and Butterball did not disappoint!
The mystery itself was more complex than I would have originally thought. It was a great twist at the end to realize that things may not come together as neatly as you would assume!
My only complaint about this book was that I was craving pizza the entire time I was reading it!
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you Wattpad Books and NetGalley for eARC of Lockdown on London Lane! All opinions in this review are my own.
I could see this being a subject that not everyone wants to read about, but I enjoyed it!
I liked that each of the storylines was very different and I truly had no idea how any of them were going to end. Because each of the apartments contained such different stories, it was easy to keep the stories apart. However, I did get confused when some characters were connected to characters in other apartments.
Reekles does an excellent job of capturing how caught off guard many were during that time and the anxiety of not knowing how everything will turn out. Despite the subject matter, this is a mainly lighthearted read.
I could see this being a subject that not everyone wants to read about, but I enjoyed it!
I liked that each of the storylines was very different and I truly had no idea how any of them were going to end. Because each of the apartments contained such different stories, it was easy to keep the stories apart. However, I did get confused when some characters were connected to characters in other apartments.
Reekles does an excellent job of capturing how caught off guard many were during that time and the anxiety of not knowing how everything will turn out. Despite the subject matter, this is a mainly lighthearted read.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC of Dark Corners! All opinions in this book are my own.
It seems to be a theme this summer that I keep reading thrillers I don't realize are actually sequels. Luckily, it wasn't necessary to read The Night Swim before Dark Corners and I don't believe there are any spoilers for the first book.
I had so much fun reading this dark thriller. You are given all the clues and people pretty early on in the book so I was determined to figure out how everything fit together as I was reading. Despite all of this, I was still surprised by how it all came together at the end.
I'm really excited to go back and read The Night Swim now! I hope there are more Rachel Krall books in the future!
It seems to be a theme this summer that I keep reading thrillers I don't realize are actually sequels. Luckily, it wasn't necessary to read The Night Swim before Dark Corners and I don't believe there are any spoilers for the first book.
I had so much fun reading this dark thriller. You are given all the clues and people pretty early on in the book so I was determined to figure out how everything fit together as I was reading. Despite all of this, I was still surprised by how it all came together at the end.
I'm really excited to go back and read The Night Swim now! I hope there are more Rachel Krall books in the future!
Thank you SMP Romance and NetGalley for the eARC of The Dating Dare. All opinions in this review are my own.
DNF at 36 pages
Unfortunately, I didn't like the banter between the two characters and once Tara threw up on Seth's shoes because she was drunk, I knew that was it for me. Tara and Seth just seem too immature for me.
DNF at 36 pages
Unfortunately, I didn't like the banter between the two characters and once Tara threw up on Seth's shoes because she was drunk, I knew that was it for me. Tara and Seth just seem too immature for me.
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you SMP Romance and NetGalley for the eARC of The Suite Spot! All opinions in this review are my own.
I absolutely loved this romance and here is why:
- the setting - A bunch of cabins on a tiny island in Lake Erie sounds like a perfect way to spend the summer!
- Maisie - While I'm not always a fan of kids in books, especially in romance books, I actually really liked Maisie and I liked reading about how Mason was with her.
- the gentleness/matureness between Rachel and Mason - After declaring that she has never had a strong relationship with a man, I appreciated how gentle and mature Rachel deals with Mason. She recognizes that he has his own issues to go through and she doesn't want to subject herself to that until he is ready to give them his all.
- the chapter "titles" - Instead of giving each chapter a name, they start with a word in another language and the meaning of it. Each word is a word that doesn't exist in English so the definition can be long, but the word has a very specific meaning that applies to the chapter.
The only downside for me was that the ending felt a little rushed but I also wonder if it felt too fast because I was enjoying it so much and didn't want it to end!
Float Plan and Off the Map (books 1 and 2 in the Beck Sisters series) are now definitely on the top of my summer TBR!
I absolutely loved this romance and here is why:
- the setting - A bunch of cabins on a tiny island in Lake Erie sounds like a perfect way to spend the summer!
- Maisie - While I'm not always a fan of kids in books, especially in romance books, I actually really liked Maisie and I liked reading about how Mason was with her.
- the gentleness/matureness between Rachel and Mason - After declaring that she has never had a strong relationship with a man, I appreciated how gentle and mature Rachel deals with Mason. She recognizes that he has his own issues to go through and she doesn't want to subject herself to that until he is ready to give them his all.
- the chapter "titles" - Instead of giving each chapter a name, they start with a word in another language and the meaning of it. Each word is a word that doesn't exist in English so the definition can be long, but the word has a very specific meaning that applies to the chapter.
The only downside for me was that the ending felt a little rushed but I also wonder if it felt too fast because I was enjoying it so much and didn't want it to end!
Float Plan and Off the Map (books 1 and 2 in the Beck Sisters series) are now definitely on the top of my summer TBR!
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Thank you Level Best Books and NetGalley for the eARC of Death Checked Out! All opinions in this review are my own.
I was immediately drawn into this cozy mystery because of the murder victim. You are introduced to Greta's reserved but sweet neighbor Franklin, and then she finds him in his backyard a few chapters later! Having already been introduced to Franklin, made me more invested in solving the mystery. I felt like there was a good balance between real clues and red herrings so that the solution fit the story well.
Death Checked Out is the first in the Larkspur Library series and I look forward to the sequel!
I was immediately drawn into this cozy mystery because of the murder victim. You are introduced to Greta's reserved but sweet neighbor Franklin, and then she finds him in his backyard a few chapters later! Having already been introduced to Franklin, made me more invested in solving the mystery. I felt like there was a good balance between real clues and red herrings so that the solution fit the story well.
Death Checked Out is the first in the Larkspur Library series and I look forward to the sequel!
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Thank you Grand Central for the gifted copy of I Told You This Would Happen! All opinions in this review are my own.
I can't believe I started reading another thriller where I got 50 pages into it without realizing it's technically a sequel. Luckily, it was pretty easy to get up to speed on the back story of Carrie and the author explains what happened in the first book concisely.
Carrie thinks she has gotten away with her crime and can finally escape her sister's manipulation, but this is quickly proven false in I Told You This Would Happen. It was interesting to read from not only an accomplice, but a murderer's point of view. I Told You This Would Happen reminds me a lot of the Finlay Donovan series because of the funny way Carrie is constantly trying to cover up mistakes and being dragged into situations that she has nothing to do with.
Overall, this is a light and engrossing thriller that is perfect for a summer read!
I can't believe I started reading another thriller where I got 50 pages into it without realizing it's technically a sequel. Luckily, it was pretty easy to get up to speed on the back story of Carrie and the author explains what happened in the first book concisely.
Carrie thinks she has gotten away with her crime and can finally escape her sister's manipulation, but this is quickly proven false in I Told You This Would Happen. It was interesting to read from not only an accomplice, but a murderer's point of view. I Told You This Would Happen reminds me a lot of the Finlay Donovan series because of the funny way Carrie is constantly trying to cover up mistakes and being dragged into situations that she has nothing to do with.
Overall, this is a light and engrossing thriller that is perfect for a summer read!