danadoesbooks's Reviews (954)

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of The Ice Swan!  All opinions in this review are my own.

Set during World War I and the Russian Revolution, Princess Svetlana Dalsky must flee her home with her family and the few possessions she can take with her.  Now in Paris, she struggles to hide her identity from the Bolsheviks for fear of capture.

Wynn MacCallan is the second son of a Scottish Duke, which means he is free to pursue his passion and become a surgeon.  While serving in a hospital in Paris, he meets and heals a beautiful Russian girl.

As Svetlana runs out of money and options, she agrees to a marriage of convenience with Wynn.  As the two struggle to find safety in a war-torn world, their love and affection for each other begins to deepen.

Part historical fiction and part romance, I liked reading about the love that blooms between Svetlana and Wynn.  Despite Svetlana's mother driving me crazy sometimes, The Ice Swan is full of a well-developed cast of characters.  The novel is full of twists and threats of danger that kept me reading to find out what happens next!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca through their Early Reads program for the gifted ebook of Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I know I'm supposed to be more focused on the romance between Kiran and Nash, but my favorite part of Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words was Kiran and her friend group, Chai Masala Club.  I loved how their bucket lists prompted the rest of the story and how supportive they were of each other.

I think my biggest complaint was that Nash was too boring for Kiran.  I knew when he was introduced as Nash and he was from Nashville, it would take time for me to like him.  While I am glad that he loves and supports Kiran, I couldn't help the feeling that she could find someone better.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Sally Hepworth, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Younger Wife!  All opinions in this review are my own.

Well, Sally Hepworth has done it again.  I was in a terrible reading slump before picking up The Younger Wife.  Much like The Mother-In-Law, I couldn't stop reading The Younger Wife because I just had to know what happened in the opening scene of the book!

Stephen is getting married again.  While his adult daughters, Rachel and Tully are struggling with him divorcing their mom, who is in a home for people with advanced dementia, they meet his new wife-to-be, Heather.  Heather is the same age as Rachel and even younger than Tully so the daughters are immediately wary of her intentions.  As Rachel and Tully begin to uncover family secrets, and share some of their own, everyone begins to reveal their true colors.

The structure of The Younger Wife is what kept me hooked.  I love that it starts with a mysterious event at the wedding and then jumps back in time to show what led up to it.  It is also told in alternating viewpoints between Rachel, Tully, and Heather, which not only helps develop each woman's individual story, but also helps to throw doubt on which characters are telling the truth.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist!  All opinions in this review are my own.

Nick and Noel have been best friends since they were kids.  Now that Nick is home for good, he is starting to look at Noel differently.  However, before he is able to pursue something with Noel, he has to deal with his ex-girlfriend, Amber.

I always have a hard time with romance books that start out with the woman not wanting to get married or have kids.  Typically, they end with the woman realizing she just hadn't found the right man yet to have kids with.  While Noel's past does weigh heavily on her decision to not have kids, this decision was obviously going to cause some tension between her and Nick.  It is mentioned a few times, but they barely discuss it before she is head over heels in love and changes her mind.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of Greenwich Park!  All opinions in this review are my own.

When Helen's husband and sister-in-law ditch her for the first prenatal class, Helen isn't sure what to do.  Luckily, she finds a new friend in Rachel.  However, Rachel isn't quite the mum-to-be friend Helen was looking for.  Rachel smokes, drinks, and shows little excitement in becoming a mother.  Helen keeps bumping into Rachel everywhere she goes too and the more she gets to know Rachel, the more concerned Helen gets.  Rachel is hiding something and Helen needs to figure out how she is involved.

The sign of a good thriller is when you can't put it down.  I looked forward to reading Greenwich Park and trying to figure out more about Rachel.  While the ending wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked, I still think this is an exciting page-turning thriller to get you out of a reading slump and I look forward to reading this author's future books!

On the bus ride home from work right before Christmas, Laurie is contemplating her life.  She's temping at a hotel but still waiting for her dream job to appear.  She lives with her best friend Sarah who has already started her career and Laurie feels like she is just waiting for life to start.  Suddenly, she makes eye contact with a stranger waiting at the bus stop.  Before either one of them can move, the bus pulls away.  Laurie spends the next year looking for her bus stop man, but when she finally finds him, he's being introduced to her as Sarah's new boyfriend.  One Day in December covers 10 years of friendship and heartache as Laurie and Jack try to overcome how they feel about each other.

One Day in December is the second Josie Silver novel I've read and it's easily my favorite.  While it is a pretty long book, my copy was 485 pages because it's a mass market, One Day in December flies.  Since it covers important days over the course of 10 years, most of the chapters are only a few pages long.  I loved watching how Laurie and Jack's relationship changes in response to different challenges over the years. 

Thank you to Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of What Once Was Mine!  All opinions in this review are my own.

What Once Was Mine is the third in the Twisted Tale series that I have read.  I read the ones based on Aladdin and Hercules first because those are two of my favorite movies.  I don't like Tangled so it was a different experience reading this one.  I think it left more room for me to enjoy the novel because What Once Was Mine is my favorite out of the three.

What Once Was Mine was also slightly different from the other two Twisted Tales I read because of the frame story around it.  While the frame story was sweet, I found that it interrupted the flow of the novel in the middle.  It should have been more contained to the beginning and the end of the book because Rapunzel's adventures were so exciting!

In a Holidaze is my second Christina Lauren book (highly recommend Autoboyography if you haven't read that one yet) and I think it officially got me out of my reading slump.

Maelyn has messed everything up.  After too much eggnog, she made out of with the brother of the man she's been in love with for the past 13 years.  Not only could this mistake jeopardize their families' friendships, but now she finds out they are selling the cabin she loves too!  On the way home, Maelyn wishes for what will make her happy and is granted a redo.  Now she is stuck in a time loop reliving the past Christmas vacation over again.  Can Maelyn get everything she wants this time around?

In a Holidaze was an excellent start to my holiday reading this year.  I loved the time travel aspect of this Christmas romance but I was surprised that Maelyn didn't have to redo everything again once more.

Judith is seventy-seven and lives on her own in a mansion in Marlow.  She loves to make crossword puzzles, drink whiskey, and swim in the Thames.  One night when she is out swimming, she witnesses the murder of her neighbor.  When the police don't take action, Judith decides it's up to her to figure out what happened, especially when another murder occurs.  Together with her friends, Suzie and Becks, they form the Marlow Murder Club.

I love how The Marlow Murder Club begins and ends with really tense scenes.  It felt more like a mix between a thriller and a cozy mystery because of this.  This book was the perfect choice for The Travelling Reader box because Thorogood does a great job of immersing the reader in Marlow.  The cast of characters are all quirky in their own way and the mystery keeps you guessing until the end!

I received my copy of The Marlow Murder Club through The Travelling Reader subscription box.  I love the immersive experience that this book box provides.  Not only do the treats in the box go along with the story, but there are also postcards of the places mentioned throughout Marlow tucked in the book.

Perfect for fans of Ready Player One, Walking in Two Worlds tells the story of Bugz, an Indigenous teenager who is one of the most popular players in the virtual world, but struggles in the real world.  

I like how well Walking in Two Worlds blends the future with the past.  For example, Bugz spends a lot of her time in this high-tech virtual world, but the traditions of her people are still celebrated.  Bugz being able to bring these traditions into her gaming life, help her become the dominant player she is.