lisaluvsliterature's Reviews (4.19k)

I was really excited for a book about teachers. But it started off rough for me with being in 3rd person. Then the characters didn't have the greatest chemistry, and I just didn't get how quickly they ended up together before what happened to lead on to a surprise pregnancy. So after reading other reviews saying the same things I was feeling, I ended up DNFing at about 11%

Obviously the punny title grabbed me when I first heard about it. So when the publisher sent me a Netgalley link to read this one, I quickly downloaded it. Unfortunately I didn’t get to it until it was actually published, but then I devoured it pretty quickly!

This is a story for anyone who has loved Bridgerton, especially for the YA crowd, as it doesn’t have the extremely steamy parts that the tv show and the novels have. But it was still a fun romance, set in a time where titles were important and you might have to marry due to money need for your family, etc. There was also a Jane Austen feel to it.

Briggs was a character, we got the enemies to lovers because he and Blythe had a habit of some misunderstandings leading to pranks, leading to a really horrible prank the last time the two saw each other. Both of them had family financial issues that kept any attraction between them from being able to be acted upon because of the responsibilities they felt needed to take care of their families. So then they made a deal to help each other. Blythe to help him win a very quiet, hard to get to know girl with a huge dowry. Briggs was supposed to help introduce her to possible inventors for her proposed beekeeping business.

Of course the two had so many sparks, and so many close encounters. Not to mention more misunderstandings and half-truths, blowing up at each other, then making up. There was a man that through the trying to find investors became a suitor for Blythe, and he was a nice guy, so it was really hard to not root for him. Again, reminded me of the last season of Bridgerton.

So many wonderful side characters as well. I loved the cousins and best friends, and would love if the author maybe wrote some connected stories for some of their HEAs/love stories. Even just the people that lived on Briggs’s land, and his friend who ended up also kind of saving them in the end with his own romantic past.

While there is a bit of a third act break-up/drama portion, it fit into the story enough that I didn’t mind it. I also loved the way the author solved the obstacles for these two star-crossed lovers to be together in the end.

I adored the little friendship/love story that started with Lewis and Callie as kids in their parents’ books, so I was extremely excited to read this one! We got some of the sweet stories from their past when they were teenagers, and then we found out that they had of course broken up and things weren’t good between them now. When the two of them meet up for the first time since they broke up, things get pretty tense, and then later intense, as they let their drinking help them get physical again.

Callie of course runs away before Lewis wakes up, and goes back home. Things seem perfect at home, her mom is like her best friend and she loves working at the bakery with her. Soon though, the small town atmosphere makes itself known with the gossip and how people are saying things behind her back. I kind of felt for her a bit, even made me think of myself as a bit of a mooch with how my parents have always been there for me as well.

Lewis is all grown up and not at all what I would have expected from what we knew of him in the books when he was a kid. He’s a tattooed motorcycle riding architect. Okay, so the architect bit wasn’t a surprise, lol. But he wants Callie back, and decides to give up on his London job and take his father’s offer to come work at the firm back in Ardnoch so he can be close to her and figure out a way to get her back.

As the blurb says, their one night together leads to a surprise pregnancy. Although the fact that he knew the condoms in his wallet were old and thought about that made me figure that was coming, because I hadn’t read the whole blurb before reading this. I just always know I’ll read this author’s books, so I don’t bother with the blurb other than maybe to see who the characters are and if I know them from other books. I did like how the two used the pregnancy to get to know each other and did find their way back to each other.

Like the other books in the series there was some danger and suspense from bad people. I kind of clued in to what was being looked for when Callie’s house got broken into based on another bit in the story that seemed like we got some random info. Maybe I just read too much and notice all that now. I do like however, that this type of story means we don’t usually get the third act breakup that I don’t care for, and so that made this book lovely as well.

I’m pretty sure all the characters from both this series as well as the one it branched off of were mentioned or showed up at some point in the story. While I’ve enjoyed all the books, they’re not ones I reread like with the author’s On Dublin Street series, so a few names were kind of run together for me. But I still liked getting to see them. A few small details I loved were the “In My Baking Era” t-shirt she had, since I have a similar one that says “In My Librarian Era.” And, one of Callie’s favorite snacks was Irn-Bru, the soda I discovered and fell in love with when I visited Scotland last summer. Also now that I’ve been there, some of the details about when they visited Edinburgh stuck out to me since I’ve been there and recognized what they talked about.

Anyway, this will now probably be my favorite in the series, and I’m excited for the next one, since I’m guessing it will be about Lewis’s little sister Eilidh.

Of course I will read and devour anything that Penny Reid writes. And I honestly thought that when she called this book “Bananapants” it was like a working title until she told us the real one. So imagine my surprise when it was the actual title, lol. Although it was shown in the story why this was the name once I started reading it, as well as the author talked about it in her note at the end.

This was such a great story. It had so many moments that I laughed out loud. But it also had so many moments I was tearing up and feeling all kinds of ways. In a way, it is hard to review this because I feel it is also a very important story. What I’ve always loved about Reid’s books is that her characters are just real. They are imperfect, but not all the same imperfections. For some characters I totally connected with, feeling the same about so many things, probably having similar imperfections as they did. And then there are others that are normally people in real life I might not understand exactly why they are the way they are. What is so great about her stories though, is how they give the reader a glimpse into what or how or why these people are thinking or doing or reacting the way they do. It’s important to note, that the author herself even notes that not all people with certain diagnoses behave the same as the people or characters she’s written. She does her due diligence in talking to people who are like Desmond and are bi-polar. She has her own loved ones that are able to do the sensitivity reading and help make sure she gets it right for what they experienced.

Some things that were so important in this story, and that I think I need to keep in my own mind with my own depression, is that it can’t be you’re living or doing things for other people all the time. You have to do it for yourself or it won’t continue. It also will be emotional warfare in a way to the person that you depend on, especially if they know they are the one. I also love how because Desmond and Ava were being honest with each other (a bit from my favorite Outlander between Jamie and Claire in a way), she is able to ask him all the questions that I know I would want to ask in that situation. And he doesn’t placate her, he is honest and explains it to her. Plus she knows that he isn’t being mean when he explains, he is being honest with her, and telling her what she needs to know.

Okay, let’s talk about some of the not so serious aspects of the story that I loved. First of all, going back to the Knitting in the City series, and seeing all or almost all of our favorite couples and their significant others and families, loved that! Ava being a part of the knitting night. And I’m a bit embarrassed to admit I haven’t read Desmond’s parents’ story in a bit, the very first in the series. But I loved that even though we love these characters, they might not have been perfect parents, and their kids might have had some of the same types of relationships they’d have, even if in the end, they could work it out.

And finally, I loved the banter and chemistry between Ava and Desmond. I loved Desmond’s joking around with Sue. I loved how Ava said she’d often have random movie lines pop into her head, um, hey girl, that’s me too! Once again, Penny Reid blows me away with the perfect story, with perfectly imperfect characters, perfect dialogue, no third act break-up in this one either!

Will try to get to it later if time

I haven’t read one of Johnson’s books in so long, but I’ve been a fan of her since the early days of the Twitter world! I loved following her there, and I loved her books. When this one came up on Edelweiss and I saw it wasn’t part of the series I hadn’t had a chance to start, I knew it was time to jump in and read another by this author.

And as I knew from prior books, Johnson can spin a perfect mystery, leaving little clues along the way, red herrings, and still surprise me in the end with what really happened. I loved getting the details from the past sprinkled in throughout the story, especially as the things happening in the present timeline somewhat mirrored those from the past. Another thing I also love about this author is the way she can add humor to any situation, so that you can like these characters and be laughing one minute or even laughing as the danger is occurring. I have a bit of gallows humor myself, so this is something I definitely appreciate as I’m sure many teens that I know also can feel this way.

I even learned some things in this book I didn’t know, probably because I’m not from that area of the country. While I know a bit about NYC and maybe a few other details about the state, I didn’t realize there was an area called Thousand Islands and that it is where the salad dressing got its name from! Live and learn! And I love that.

The description of this house and the island were so interesting I found myself pausing and rereading to try to get the full picture in my mind before I went on with the story at times. I liked also how the author kind of slipped in that this character from the past was a doctor in the field of eugenics. I can see teens then looking that up if for some reason they hadn’t been taught about it in school. Other characters in the book kind of spelled out what that actually was, and that was a great way to do it as well.

Can’t wait to put this one out for my mystery loving students to read and enjoy!

Overall this was a really good story. I liked the characters, I liked the setting, and I enjoyed a lot of the humor. Both characters had their issues, and both had their reasons for the way they acted with each other. A lot of the side characters, including AJ’s students and co-workers, were some of the best parts of the story for me.

There was a lot riding for both characters on the things that happened with their jobs. And I liked seeing that Samantha figured out maybe she was more happy doing the actual work by the end, as opposed to necessarily having to do all the running of the company/brand, etc. AJ had a chip on his shoulder as it said, based on an ex-girlfriend, and while it was definitely understood, I feel he totally overreacted to someone he’d just met at the beginning. I also felt some things were awkward, like the steamy scenes were a bit, as well as her being so turned on by his hairy hands. I mean, yeah, I get that people like different things, but some of that was kind of weird for me to read.

The narrators were great for the book though, and it was a pretty quick and easy listen. And I think the rest of the series is probably good to listen to or read as well! Maybe the other heroes won’t have hairy hands, lol. 

This is an author I’ve wanted to read for a while, so I was excited when I won an ARC from Bookish First. It seemed appropriate that I picked it up to read when the Olympics were in Paris as well!

Most of the story is from Ruby’s viewpoint, as she goes to Paris on a school field trip. Of course she is a travel blogger/influencer, and really wants to see certain things that are unusual. One of those things is the catacombs. Also on the trip is her ex-best friend and her current best friend. Her current best friend, Val, is a bit of a wild child. In fact she sneaks out the first night there to go to a party with a cute guy she met on their daily outing. When Ruby finds out, she tries to stop her. But sneaking out she gets caught by her ex-best friend, as well as another of their friends. Those two girls end up sneaking with her so they don’t get caught either. When they catch up with Val and this guy, he is already getting ready to take them down a manhole to a secret entrance that isn’t open to the public. He says he is going to a party with other “cataphiles” people who like exploring the catacombs. 

Of course once they get down there, things just don’t go right. Julien, the guy, won’t let her take pictures for her travel blog because people can’t know how the cataphiles get down there or they might get caught and those ways blocked off. Of course some get hurt. They get lost. It floods when it rains, and then there seem to be people chasing them, dressed in skeleton costumes, scary skeleton costumes. Through their traversing for over 3 days, they come to know each other. Secrets and lies that had come between Ruby and her best friend Selena come out. Ruby also learns that maybe Val isn’t as good a friend as she says she is. 

We also get a bit of the story from Sean’s viewpoint. Sean is another of Ruby’s closest friends. In fact she thinks she likes him as more than a friend, and that maybe he feels the same way. But he will be going away after high school where she won’t see him all the time, and she’s not able to deal with people leaving her, like her mom, and her friend, etc. Sean also is interested in Ruby. And he wants her to know. He also doesn’t trust Val, after she did something that we find out about in the story with the ones lost in the catacombs. And when the girls disappear, he makes it his mission to do whatever he can to help them get out, as well as be there for her when she makes it out. In doing all this, he also takes steps to let his father know what he really wants to do with his life, and starts to figure that out a bit as well.

There are a lot of tense moments as we follow the girls through the tunnels with their mysterious French cataphile tour guide Julien. And lots of moments of waiting, as Sean and the other teachers, students and French police try to find them. Definitely was a good story, and will have it available for my students to read!