madeline's Reviews (776)

Five years in the publishing industry has worn the shine off for Nora Hughes.  She's underutilized at Parsons Press, stuck ordering lunches and working with forgotten authors instead of editing and shepherding books to completion.  When her salary is cut, Nora can see only one option: taking a part-time freelance position doing essentially the same role at a rival publishing house.  At the end of the six month contract, either she'll have a full time role at this new house, or a promotion at her current job, and it all depends on where she gets bestselling author Andrew Santos to sign.  But balancing two jobs is harder than she expected, and it gets even tougher when Andrew goes from a client, to a friend, to something more.

I think this was a really solid debut - generally well-written, the kind of prose that will only get better with time and practice, paced well, and with interesting characters.  I guess my biggest issue is with the marketing?  I'm not one to knock covers, most of the time, but this one definitely has light, rom-com vibes and this book is neither of those things.  It's definitely women's fiction (it is not a romance by genre conventions), and it leans hard onto the heavy side.  CW: suicide

At one point, Nora is remembering her passive suicidal ideations as a child as they kind of resurface for her, and while it isn't out of nowhere for the situation, it is kind of out of nowhere for the reader?

  I think this book (and all books like this, tbh) would really benefit from an author's note detailing the mental health concerns presented, because they're a huge part of this book and impossible to know from the blurb.

Overall, I think this is a pretty accurate depiction of the publishing industry, from what I know (thank you Zoe), and of the burnout that comes from trying to make a living off what you love.  I'd pick up another book by this author, but I'd really like for Robinson and Sourcebooks to include more information on the potential triggers.

Thank you Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

Nora is experiencing burnout and her depression is in full force because of this.  She relates a time when she experienced passive suicidal ideations ("it would be nice if I wasn't here, but I probably won't do anything to make that happen") as a child, because she's having them again.  Nora also experiences workplace misogyny.

Harper Horowitz is at the top of her dental class and ready to enter the competitive world of oral-maxillofacial surgery.  Nothing can distract her from her goals... except the super hot student whose jaw cast she accidentally destroyed the other morning.  Dan Craige is a first-year dental student entering the field to carry on a family legacy after a few years in another career.  He's feeling the pressure to save his family's dental practice after his father's death, but knows this isn't the field he's meant to be in.  When Harper and Dan collide -- literally -- it forces them to reevaluate their paths, their goals, and their outlook on love.

It's probably good to start this review with a quick disclaimer: I think this is primarily a case of "it's not you, it's me," and I am someone who has been fairly mentally ill her entire life, including dealing with an anxiety disorder like Harper does.

This book sets out to do something really tough - make dentists sexy.  For me, it doesn't really succeed.  There's no graphic dental work here, but there's still a lot of dentistry going on.  Lots of studying, lots of explaining how to make molds, lots of thinking about facial bones and muscles.  Just not my cup of tea.

I would also say that this book is aggressively straight.  It's absolutely not homophobic, but two characters who claim to be feminists are... not really?  Dan is glad when he meets a vaguely paternal (and I mean vaguely) figure for Harper that this man doesn't have a rack of guns on his wall.  No thanks!  And while Harper verbalizes her irritation with Dan when he undermines her authority with a patient they see in clinic in a misguided attempt to support her, she doesn't care at all when he punches an academic rival of hers in an effort to do the same thing.  Call me odd, but I would much rather a man accidentally undermine me verbally than punch someone for me.  Let's not normalize violence like this??

My other biggest qualm with this book is the resolution.  Harper says some things to Dan in a state of panic that, to me, are unforgivable.  I would not forgive someone who spoke to me like that, nor would I expect to be forgiven if I said those things in a similar position, which is a totally viable possibility for me.  Somehow, Dan seems to accept the responsibility for having put her in a position where she emotionally exploded and her anxiety manifested in some pretty horrible words toward him.  There's some time that passes between this and their resolution, which was 100% necessary, but Harper needed a much more intense grovel.  Being mentally ill does not excuse you acting like a jerk, and she's absolved of this behavior much too quickly.  

Like I said, this is really a case of this book just not being my thing.  I'd be careful recommending it to people with anxiety issues, but otherwise don't have a ton of concerns with it.  Thank you St. Martin's and NetGalley for the ARC!

CWs:

Harper's mother died in a car accident and her injuries/death are described but not in detail.  She went to live with extended family after that.  Harper has serious anxiety issues and there are multiple on-the-page panic attacks.  Dan has an emotionally abusive father who died of cancer and a mother working to come to terms with that abuse.  His mother is experiencing financial insecurity.  Harper experiences sexism and has a lot of internalized ableism.

Violet has what looks like a picture perfect life, with a handsome husband, a beautiful home, and a wildly popular advice column that’s about to be nationally syndicated.  But everything comes crashing down when she returns home early from work one day to find her husband and her neighbor in bed together.  Suddenly, Violet’s finding it very hard to be the composed, polite woman she was raised to be, much to the chagrin of everyone who knows her -- everyone, that is, except the handsome firefighter who showed up to put out a small bonfire of her husband’s possessions.  Dez likes her just the way she is, and she likes him too.  Dear Sweetie: does moving on mean Violet has to rebuild her facade of perfection, or can she find love and happiness while being her true self?

I love an advice column, so I was really eager to see where this story would go with it.  Unfortunately, what I thought was a great premise was really let down by flat characters.  No one really gets a fleshed out story besides Violet, and I even still have questions about her motivations.  Sam is just the Evil Ex-Husband (to be clear, I don’t want him redeemed, he’s an ass), his mother is the Evil Mother-In-Law, there’s a lot of unresolved threads with her parents, and even key pieces of who Dez is aren’t dropped until the final moments of the book.  A lot of characters tell Violet she’s essentially overreacting to literally finding her husband engaged in the act of cheating, and I am firmly Team Violet here.  Burn his shit, babe.

This book is fairly White Feminist-y: there were a couple of moments that made me raise an eyebrow, but Violet specifically remembers an instance with some neighbors where a newcomer was revealed to be a liberal (Violet is a Democrat who says she’s been hiding as a centrist independent), and when this newcomer rightfully calls someone out for wondering if soy formula will make her sons gay, she’s shunned out of the group.  Violet does nothing to intervene, and while she doesn’t ignore the woman going forward, she certainly doesn’t make any effort to befriend her.  There’s another pretty yucky moment with a coworker and a revenge plot, too.  These bits didn’t do a ton for the story, and they left a bad taste in my mouth.

This was my first Libby Hubscher, and while I’d pick up more of her work, I’m not rushing out for it.  If you’re looking for a hot firefighter and some totally sensible reactions to finding your husband of over a decade cheating on you, though, this is the book for you.  Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

infertility, pregnancy loss discussed on the page, panic attack on the page, death of a sibling, infidelity, a truly horrific mother-in-law

at some point i will have more coherent thoughts on this book, but here's what you need to know right now: i felt this story on an elemental levels. it has rearranged my body. i have new atoms; my quarks are totally different.

maybe i just say the right thing for you.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a somewhat-scandalous theatre must be in want of a wife to remove all hint of impropriety of scandal from said theatre.

Or something like that.  Lady Emily Turner and Lord Julian Belfry have struck a deal: he'll marry her and save her from the odious clutches of Mr. Cartham, and in return she'll use her sterling reputation to improve his and his theatre's.  They'd become good friends after watching two couples from their set fall in love (or back in love) over the summer; surely they can continue being of use to each other?  And really, the role that Julian would like Emily to play isn't so different than the one she's been playing for years for her mother.  Of course, these marriages of convenience are never so convenient, and Julian's learning that he rather likes the Emily he sees in the moments where she's not the perfect society host, and Emily likes her too.  Can they strike a balance between propriety and reality, and still accomplish what they set out to do?

It's official -- I'm a Martha Waters stan.  I loved her first two books, To Have and to Hoax in particular becoming a comfort read during the pandemic.  She's absolutely knocked it out of the park with the third installment in this series.

This book is incredibly funny; Waters has a voice and a sense of comedic timing to rival Tessa Dare, the queen of the historical rom-com.  And it's also quite sweet, as well.  The heroines in the first two books in the series are larger-than-life characters, and while Emily has always been a willing participant in their shenanigans, she's certainly overshadowed by them.  Here, Emily has the opportunity to explore who she'd really like to be, all the while tenderly supported by Julian.  

I love a loud, brash heroine who knows what she wants, don't get me wrong.  But of course there's room for, and I wonder if more people might be seeking this out right now, a heroine who's doing the quiet work of truly understanding herself and her desires.  In going on two years of pandemic isolation, I think many of us have likely had the space to do the same: to evaluate who we've been and for whom we've been that person and why, and where our real wants and needs lay.  Julian does this work for himself, too, but it's particularly poignant to watch a woman evaluate how she's been a pawn to a role in society and decide how she'd like to wield her power going forward.

I've had a huge soft spot for Emily and Julian since book 1, and Waters couldn't have given them a more perfect story.  I'm eagerly awaiting watching the rest of the friend group fall in love now: Penvale and West & Sophie of course, but now I wouldn't mind a book for Julian's brother Robert, and maybe a holiday novella about Julian's friend Bridgeworth and the love notes he leaves on his wife's dressing table?  I love this world Waters has created, and this wild and witty friend group, and I can't wait to spend more time in it in the future.

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for the ARC!

I was really looking forward to the first book in this series and was ultimately disappointed.  Still, I was looking forward to picking up the second book, and other folks had let me know they'd heard it worked better than the first.  I'm very happy to confirm those rumors!

Callie and Luke are dancing around taking the next steps in their relationship, spending time in the mortal realm and in Hell.  It's on one of her trips to Hell that Callie realizes some of the people doomed to life in fiery pits or in eternal servitude or whatever might deserve a second chance.  Lucius decides to grant this -- if Callie and Luke can prove a soul of his choosing is redeemable.  Suddenly, the two of them are spending what was meant to be a quiet weekend in chasing a wayward Hell-escapee who looks like he should be a Hemsworth brother all over Europe on a Grail quest.  The consequences of failure could be dire: not just for the souls they're trying to redeem, but for their relationship, and the human world at large.

Some of my biggest issues with the first book are resolved or at least improved upon here: Callie is a fully-fleshed out person with thoughts besides trivia, and the writing style is much more consistent throughout.  Since there's an external guide for the plot (Arthurian myth), there's fewer things dangling here and there, which means there's not a solution to all the woes that appears at 93% out of nowhere, too.   

Still, this series reads far more YA to me than adult romance.  A huge element of the plot is Luke not feeling worthy of Callie's love, but there's only cursory exploration given to why he might feel like this.  It's what I'm going to call "cracked-door romance": not closed-door, but nothing more than an illusion at intent and a "yes, that was good" at the end.  Combining some underdeveloped angst with low steam just really feels oriented towards a younger crowd.  

There's no doubt that this book is a much neater product than its predecessor, and I encourage people who waffled on the first one to see if this works better for them.  

Thank you to St. Martin's and NetGalley for the ARC!

Ari Abrams loves her job as a meteorologist for a tv station in Seattle.  But her boss, lead meteorologist Torrance Hale, is too busy sniping with her news director ex-husband to give Ari the mentorship and guidance she’s looking for.  Sports reporter Russell Barringer sees the problem too, so they hatch a plan: they’ll sneakily set their bosses back up, encouraging them to work through the issues that ended the marriage in the first place.  Shenanigans ensue: swing dancing dates, gifted succulents, an accidental double couples massage, until Ari and Russell start to feel like something’s sparking not just between their bosses, but between them too.  But it’s not always rainbows and sunshine for Ari -- can she trust Russell with her cloudy days when she’s never trusted anyone like that before?

I really liked THE EX TALK, Solomon’s adult debut, so of course I picked up this book expecting to enjoy it as well.  Wow, did I underestimate how much I’d love it.

Solomon excels at writing fully-fleshed out, nuanced characters that I’d love to be friends with IRL, with dialogue that’s witty and sharp without ever feeling too contrived.  Ari and Russ are so tenderly crafted -- you can tell that Solomon really loves and respects these characters.  

A fundamental part of this book is Ari’s depression, which is now well-managed after nearly a decade of mental health treatment (which means she’s on medication, sees a therapist regularly, and still has some bad days).  It’s juxtaposed against her mother’s struggle with the same illness.  Again we see how much Solomon cares for the people she’s writing: Ari’s mom isn’t demonized for being in a pretty deep depression most of Ari’s childhood, but Ari is definitely critical of her mom’s choices not to seek help.  It’s tough for her when her mother finally does seek treatment.  I really respect where Solomon took this storyline: I love that Ari explored how her mom was too depressed to seek help and understanding that feeling, but also examining how that made her a bad parent at times, and how that affects Ari’s feelings of being capable of being a partner and a parent.

Weather Girl is simply delightful.  It’s both laugh-out-loud funny and tear-jerking, it’s tender, thoughtful, and nuanced, it’s a book I cannot recommend enough.

CW:

Ari has well-managed depression with the occasional dark day, her mother has a history of depression that results in her entering in-patient psychiatric treatment at the beginning of the book, her mother’s depression resulted in her being an absentee parent for some of Ari’s childhood and occasionally making a snide comment about Ari’s appearance, Russell is fat and acknowledges it might bother Ari (it does not)

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC! 

Ten years after leaving the pageant world, Ruby Taylor finds herself back on the scene in a much different role: coaching the dog of a resident of the retirement community where she works for the local dog show.  Wheezy... isn't really pageant material, though, and so Ruby hires a dog trainer to help her.  The thing is, the trainer happens to be the identical twin brother of one of the judges, Spencer, a handsome veterinarian who didn't want to let Wheezy in the show in the first place.  The more time Ruby and Spencer spend together, the more she and Wheezy wear down his defenses, until he's rethinking his standards and she's proving just what a fierce competitor she can be.

This was such a cute premise for a book, with tons of really great characters (Wheezy obviously being at the top of the list).  It's pretty low-angst, and the plot requires a lot of character growth, particularly on Spencer's part, which I love.  It's not just "things happen to people," but rather "things happen and we assess our knee-jerk responses to them."  And the book itself is pretty fun, too!  You can't help but empathize with Wheezy, want to befriend Mrs. Orson, and admire Ruby.

As fun as it was, I didn't totally buy the chemistry between Ruby and Spencer until late in the game.  It seemed just convenient until he really got to know her, even though it was always presented as a more serious feeling.  I was also uncomfortable with a lot of the body talk: I think it could be pretty triggering so it's going behind the block. 

Ruby is a former pageant queen.  She's comfortable with her body, which isn't quite in pageant shape anymore, but is still slim, white, and conforming to Eurocentric beauty standards (which she acknowledges).  Her mother is obsessed with staying underweight, and there's a lot of talk about diet foods and Ruby rejecting them, but Wheezy is also on a diet.  Even though Ruby actively speaks against her mother's prodding to eat calorie-free foods and diet, I think the amount of time this book talks about diet foods and the size of bodies could be triggering

.

This was a cute, relatively light read, and fairly low-steam (surprisingly, given their first romantic encounter).  If you love dogs and strong heroines, you'll love this.

Thank you Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC!

CWs:

fatshaming, diet talk, lots of body talk, non-narrative character is on house arrest due to a perceived gambling addiction, prescription medication theft, pet in minor peril (pet is fine), non-narrative characters use legal marijuana, childhood poverty

Born in a matriarchal pagan village, Évike is an outcast due to her mixed heritage and her lack of magic.  When the Woodsmen come to claim a village girl for their sacrifice, the villagers lie about her abilities and send her with them.  The small group of Woodsmen and Wolf-Girl is soon attacked, leaving only Évike and the prince, Gáspár alive.  Mortal enemies, they must form a temporary alliance to stay alive, one that soon extends to defeating Gáspár's brother's attempts to steal the throne.  When they reach the capital, a family connection will strengthen Évike's power even as it puts her in more danger, and the two must rely on old connections to defeat the evil that threatens them all.

I really, <i>really</i> wanted to love this book.  Eastern European folklore is having a real moment right now, but the combination of Jewish tradition and Hungarian history was something I hadn't seen yet.  Unfortunately, while this book has a super compelling beginning and start, the middle sags almost unbearably.

It's clear that Reid does her best thinking when it's about religion and identity, which permeates 0-30% of the book, and then 60-100%.  It gets so far off track in that middle section, though, that it struggles to refind its footing at the 60%, and doesn't get back into the swing of the story until 75%ish.  The politics are lost in the lore, and I honestly think we could have skipped Évike & Gáspár's whole road trip for some more political action, which is not something I think I've ever said before.  So much is left to the last 13% of the book that I really didn't see how it could be solved without a sequel, but it is, if a bit too neatly.

Some really gorgeous prose is studded throughout the book, even where the plot is fumbled, which makes the reader feel like they're stumbling on treasure in the tougher parts of the book.  I'll pick up the next book by Reid, even if it won't land at the top of my TBR.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC!

Hugh Standish, the Earl of Fareham, is in a bit of a pickle: after two years of writing to his mother in America about his lovely fiancée, Minerva, his mother is on her way home to England to get the two married.  Except, the thing is, Minerva... doesn't exist.  He made her up in an effort to end her relentless attempts at matchmaking.  A chance meeting with a <i>real life</i> Minerva, however, may have solved the problem for him.  He pays her a handsome fee for several weeks of pretending to be his fiancée, they call it off, his mother returns to America, and Minerva's got the money she needs to pay off some debts and provide for her sisters.  Of course, shenanigans ensue, and it's not long before Hugh and Minerva are wondering if they can avoid falling in love with their fake significant other...

NFFYF is a perfectly acceptable romance, but it's ultimately disappointing.  It's full of one-note characters: minus her lack of riding ability, Minerva is a Mary Sue.  Hugh is a rake who has conveniently tired of raking two years ago, totally incapable of monogamy because his father had a mistress which of course dooms him to disappointing anyone he'd marry with his wandering eye, and just wants to be England's Best Landlord Several Years Running in peace.  His mother Olivia is a textbook overbearing mama, and Minerva's sisters are 1 - a loudmouth who tends to give more details than she should when trying to maintain a cover story, and 2 - a seventeen year old who's going on seven.

It's full of revelations made too early in the narrative arc and last minute plot additions that are meant to heighten the drama but don't function well.  We're getting things resolved at 97% of the way through the book that absolutely should have been worked out before the Black Moment.  

Anyways, this is an inoffensive, low-steam romance novel if you're not looking for a lot of depth or growth from your characters.  Fairly frothy, very light.

Thank you St. Martin's and NetGalley for the ARC!