yourbookishbff's Reviews (650)

As a devoted disciple of Meredith Duran, I went into this second-chance romance fully expecting our usual heartache and angst, only to discover that it's... hilarious?! This was delightfully funny with an original premise and a tight Christmas-time timeline, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second. The crux of our conflict is miscommunication, but the eventual reckoning is so beautifully done that I didn't mind waiting for it. I would recommend this Christmas novella to any historical romance reader, but Meredith Duran readers in particular shouldn't miss it.

There were so many A+++ moments in this (my millennial heart was soaring reading all of the Rugrats and Wild Thornberrys references), and I really enjoyed this premise for fake dating in a contemporary. I also really appreciated the discussions of Max's Jewish faith and cultural practices and the constant microaggressions Jewish folks deal with, particularly during the holiday season. I only wish we had more time in the third act and an opportunity to really resolve questions of Brooklyn's safety, mental health, career goals, etc. I was a bit torn up worrying about her and wanting more for her personally, too! 

Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, by Mosab Abu Toha, feels like it was written yesterday, and the continued relevancy of this collection is what makes it so gut-wrenching to read. A Palestinian poet born in and currently living in Gaza, Toha recounts first-hand experiences living through Israeli attacks. Some occur during prolonged conflicts - like those in 2014 or 2021 - and other incidents are described as the routine occurrences of violence in occupied Gaza. The incessant sound of drones, the constant threat of aerial attack, the accessibility of the beach to Israeli naval patrols - all are woven together in a net of surveillance that shadows day-to-day life. Toha's voice is reflective and unfiltered as it drifts between memories of family and images of leveled homes, reflections on ancestry and odes to death. As we bear witness to the horrors of occupation and ethnic cleansing in 2023, I am haunted by Toha's plea in US and THEM: "I want to build my house on a swing. / I don't want to walk on this earth"

This was an adorable holiday romance (Hanukkah and Christmas featured in this interfaith love story) featuring a rainbow personified (Sheldon) and a grumpy (emotionally scarred) teddy bear (Theo). I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved the dual narration by Mark Sanderlin and Kirt Graves. This is a low-conflict romance with a fake-dating set-up. Sheldon needs a date to his ex's Christmas Eve wedding and Theo needs a boyfriend to keep his hovering, matchmaking parents appeased. As one would expect, this quickly becomes real, and in its transition from playacting to partnership, our characters confront past trauma with open communication and tenderness. I loved the exploration of intimacy in Sheldon and Theo's story, and how their interactions slowly build on a foundation of honesty and vulnerability. This is an affirming romance that centers Jewish joy and delivers a well-deserved happily-ever-after to two of the most besotted gay men to ever grace the page. 

Children of the Land, by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, is a memoir written by a poet, and this will likely determine if it’s a story you’ll want to pick up. It is never linear, it is painful and unresolved, a memory of him at five years old huddled under a tractor in the desert near the border will have as much page time as this sentence. He will never call his siblings “my sister” or “my brother” and you will never understand why. He will not filter out his trauma for you - in his own words, he may be embarrassed, but he’s not ashamed - and he will not answer the questions he asks. It’s a challenging read in content and structure, and so intimate that at times I felt I should walk away, that my presence during his pain could only be voyeuristic. “No one in this story is a ghost. This is not a story.”

Castillo’s story is one I always felt I understood factually - he is about my age, lived in the U.S. without papers for his entire childhood after crossing the border with his parents and six siblings at five years old, avoided deportation with his father because of DACA (Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals) and suffered multiple family separations. When we all chanted “families belong together” and protested cages for children in 2018, I really thought I understood stories like Castillo’s. Reading a memoir like this makes you realize that, for those of us who have never lived through an ICE raid, understanding is impossible - but we are called to witness. The layered traumas of displacement, separation, surveillance and xenophobia, contrasted to the endless bureaucracy of immigration policy and enforcement, are brutally exposed, and the ripples of every single denial feel overwhelming, even to the reader. 

I listened to this on audio, and while I loved the narration and recommend the format, I did find it helpful to orient myself with a digital copy, because the structure is, again, non-linear and I needed to visualize the stops and starts to understand how the story was being told.

 

After reading Liana de la Rosa's Daltons duo, I was excited to dive into her newest series start, Ana Maria and the Fox, book one in the Lunas Sisters series. While the pacing was challenging for me at times (I wish the marriage of convenience had happened sooner in the narrative, and I struggled with this extra slow, slow-burn), the sisters were a delight. I felt so much kinship to Ana Maria as a fellow older sister - always conscientious of parental expectations, hesitant to admit inexperience or self-doubt, and far more sheltered to the realities of the world than our younger siblings. Gideon was a perfectly starchy hero, and I love a man who is immediately devoted to his wife. I am anxious to read Isabel's story next! 

This is purely historical fiction with an unreliable first person narrator. I didn't dislike it, it just didn't have the elements of magical realism I had assumed it might based on her other books - that's on me for not knowing what this was! Historical fiction readers will likely enjoy this more. 

This was exactly the follow-up to The Captain's Midwinter Bride that we needed! I appreciated the time jump that allowed for independent growth and reflection for Beth, because it means we have a more mature character at the start of this sequel, and I was so desperate to finally understand Henry's mysterious and untimely disappearance years before. I love the tension in a well-executed second-chance romance, and the unresolved heartbreak and mutual pining made this tension palpable all the way through. I particularly enjoyed Beth's independence and the backdrop of her own flourishing - but relatively secret - career that lowers the stakes for marriage and enables a true love match. This was an excellent novella!

For a Christmas novella that barely crosses the hundred-page threshold, this was a truly lovely romance with an original premise and two fully realized main characters. Retired navy captain Phillip Dalton is now settling into life at home with his wife of 20+ years and his grown children, though he's more at sea on land than he ever was at sea. His devoted wife, Annalise, is adjusting to a life with her husband present after years of raising their children on her own, with only infrequent visits to ground their family life together. I didn't realize how much I would love seeing two main characters navigate life with grown children as much as I did, but the through-line of Beth's impending marriage evidenced all of the tender hopes and long-nurtured affection Phillip and Annalise have shared despite their separation. What was once a marriage of convenience becomes a chance at a love match, and it is so beautifully done that I was misty-eyed by the end. I loved this Christmas novella and highly recommend it to historical romance readers desperate for more mature characters navigating marriage and parenthood.