Jane Litte's Blog, page 138

REVIEW: Slow News Day: A Groundhog Day Hot Holiday Hookup (Hot Holiday Hookup Novella Series) by Danielle Allen

Slow News Day

A Groundhog Day Hot Holiday Hookup

I dreamt of being a news anchor my whole life. When I was offered the opportunity to sit behind the desk, I was ecstatic. Hours later, instead of reporting real news from a real desk, I was going on assignment to document Groundhog Day.

That’s not even a real holiday!

But when asked about my hottest holiday hookup, my mind flashed to the second day of February. Everything that happened that day was completely unexpected. It might’ve been a slow ...

Open Thread for Readers for September 2020

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general?

REVIEW: House Rules: A Second Chance Romance (Uptown Book 3 by Ruby Lang

ROOMMATE WANTED to share a gorgeous sun-filled apartment in Central Harlem. Must love cats. No ex-husbands or wives need apply.

Seventeen years ago, different dreams pulled Simon Mizrahi and Lana Kuo apart. But when Lana takes a position as a chef back in Manhattan, her apartment search puts her right in her ex-husband’s path. Music teacher Simon is also hunting for a new place to live, and when Lana proposes they be platonic roomies, well…it’s not the worst idea he’s ever heard.

A sunny uptow...

REVIEW: A Quiet Girl by Peter Carnavas

Mary was a quiet girl. She thought quiet thoughts, stepped quiet steps, and whispered quiet words. Mary knows how to savor the small things. Wonder is everywhere: in the rustle of leaves, in the sigh of a sleeping dog, in the wing beats of the birds who visit her upcycled feeders. But Mary’s family couldn’t be more different. Amidst the sound of blow-dryers, blenders, lawnmowers, and her brother’s trombone, Mary goes almost unnoticed. It isn’t until her family starts searching the neighborhood...

REVIEW: The Fox & the Little Tanuki Volume 2 by Mi Tagawa

After 300 years, the gods that imprisoned Senzou the Fox Spirit for his arrogance finally set him free. There is only one condition – he can’t have any of his supernatural abilities back until he successfully helps a tanuki cub named Manpachi become one of their magical assistants.

Unfortunately for Senzou, there’s no cheating when it comes to completing his task! The magic beads around his neck make sure he can’t wander too far from his charge or shirk his duties, and so… Senzou the once-grea...

REVIEW: Cone Cat by Sarah Howden

One day, Jeremy wakes up at the vet’s with a giant cone around his head. In a momentary existential crisis, he resigns himself to his new role as clumsy, smelly Cone Cat. That is, until the cone becomes instrumental in lapping up the last few bites of cereal on the breakfast table.

Surprisingly, Cone Cat can do a lot of things old Jeremy couldn’t. He can hunt spiders with ease, collect stuffing from the couch, and disguise himself as a bowl to steal a scoop of ice cream at a birthday party. Wh...

DUELING REVIEW: The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Jennie: I was alerted to the terrific debut The Flatshare by Janine’s review last year, and read it myself earlier this year. Janine gave it an A-, but I liked it so much I gave it a straight A, which is rare for me. When she suggested we review O’Leary’s second book together, I was entirely game.

I was then less sure when I read the synopsis: Leena Cotton and her grandmother Eileen decide to “switch lives” for two months. Leena will stay in Eileen’s cottage in the small British village of Hamle...

REVIEW: Welcome Me to Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt

Welcome back to Willoughby Close, with four new residents and happy endings to deliver…

Emily David didn’t want to move to Willoughby Close. She was perfectly content in London, but when her boss, Henry Trent, asks her to relocate, she’s left with little choice. Emily prefers living on her own and finds comfort in her routines. But the well-meaning residents of Wychwood-on-Lea are determined to include her in their friendly circle—a prospect Emily finds utterly alarming.

When sparks fly with l...

Review: Mean Machine by Aleksandr Voinov

For a boxer ravaged by guilt and in deep denial of his desires, a fight beyond the ring might yield his greatest prize. In a dystopian UK devastated by austerity and ruled by corporate interests, Brooklyn Marshall was a happily married London police officer—until an accident resulted in the death of a protester connected to a powerful family. Now he takes out his anger and pain on his opponents, fighting for the company that took him into stewardship after his conviction ...

REVIEW: Just a Heartbeat Away by Cara Bastone

Dear Cara Bastone,

I heard about your debut contemporary romance, Just a Heartbeat Away, when it was recommended somewhere on social media. The main conflict (May-December) and the background of the hero (he’s a widower) sounded good so I checked it out of the library.

Sebastian Dorner, an architect and a Brooklynite, had his world upended when his wife Cora was killed in a car accident. Four months later, he is at a parent-teacher conference with his four-year-old son’s pre-K teacher when Miss...