Posted on by tacklingtbr

#SRC2020 End of Summer Pop-up Tour

Blog Tour: Courtesy of Booksparks

Thanks so much to the authors and publishers of these amazing books, as well as to Booksparks, for these complimentary finished copies in exchange for my honest thoughts and participation in this blog tour. { partner } All opinions are entirely my own. All of my reviews and tours can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Check out my full review here!

Book Description from Goodreads:

Emily is a mess.

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.

Emily is desperate.

Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.

Emily is perfect.

Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn’t play along, the consequences could be deadly.

Superbly tense and oozing with atmosphere, Anna Downs’s debut is the perfect summer suspense, with the modern gothic feel of Ruth Ware and the morally complex family dynamics of Lisa Jewell.

Welcome to paradise…will you ever be able to leave?

About the Author (From Goodreads):

ANNA DOWNES was born and raised in Sheffield, UK, but now lives just north of Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children. She worked as an actress before turning her attention to writing. She was shortlisted for the Sydney Writers Room Short Story Prize (2017) and longlisted for the Margaret River Short Story Competition (2018).
The Safe Place was inspired by Anna’s experiences working as a live-in housekeeper on a remote French estate in 2009-10.

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

Friends & Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan

(Check back here for my full review, to be added later!)

Book Description from Goodreads:

An insightful, hilarious, and compulsively readable novel about a complicated friendship between two women who are at two very different stages in life, from the best-selling author of Maine and Saints for All Occasions (named one of the Washington Post‘s Ten Best Books of the Year and a New York Times Critics’ Pick).

Elisabeth, an accomplished journalist and new mother, is struggling to adjust to life in a small town after nearly twenty years in New York City. Alone in the house with her infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms’ Facebook group, her “influencer” sister’s Instagram feed, and text messages with the best friend she never sees anymore.

Enter Sam, a senior at the local women’s college, whom Elisabeth hires to babysit. Sam is struggling to decide between the path she’s always planned on and a romantic entanglement that threatens her ambition. She’s worried about student loan debt and what the future holds. In short order, they grow close. But when Sam finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Elisabeth’s father-in-law, the true differences between the women’s lives become starkly revealed and a betrayal has devastating consequences.

A masterful exploration of motherhood, power dynamics, and privilege in its many forms, Friends and Strangers reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.

About the Author (from Goodreads):

J. Courtney Sullivan is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Commencement, Maine, The Engagements, and Saints For All Occasions. Maine was named a Best Book of the Year by Time magazine, and a Washington Post Notable Book for 2011. The Engagements was one of People Magazine’s Top Ten Books of 2013 and an Irish Times Best Book of the Year. It is soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon and distributed by Fox 2000, and it will be translated into 17 languages. Saints For All Occasions, was named one of the ten best books of the year by the Washington Post, a New York Times Critic’s Pick for 2017, and a New England Book Award nominee. Her fifth novel, Friends and Strangers, will be published in June 2020. Courtney’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Chicago Tribune, New York magazine, Elle, Glamour, Allure, Real Simple, and O: The Oprah Magazine, among many others. She is a co-editor, with Courtney Martin, of the essay anthology Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. In 2017, she wrote the forewords to new editions of two of her favorite children’s books: Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. A Massachusetts native, Courtney now lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two children.

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

The Wife Who Knew Too Much by Michele Campbell

Check out my full review here!

Book Description from Goodreads:

From Michele Campbell, the bestselling author of It’s Always the Husband comes a new blockbuster thriller in The Wife Who Knew Too Much.

Tabitha Girard had her heart broken years ago by Connor Ford. He was preppy and handsome. She was a pool girl at his country club. Their affair should have been a summer fling. But it meant everything to Tabitha.

Years later, Connor comes back into Tabitha’s life—older, richer, and desperately unhappy. He married for money, a wealthy, neurotic, controlling woman whom he never loved. He has always loved Tabitha.

When Connor’s wife Nina takes her own life, he’s free. He can finally be with Tabitha. Nina’s home, Windswept, can be theirs. It seems to be a perfect ending to a fairy tale romance that began so many years ago. But then, Tabitha finds a diary. “I’m writing this to raise an alarm in the event of my untimely death,” it begins. “If I die unexpectedly, it was foul play, and Connor was behind it. Connor—and her.”

Who is Connor Ford? Why did he marry Nina? Is Tabitha his true love, or a convenient affair? As the police investigate Nina’s death, is she a convenient suspect?

As Tabitha is drawn deeper into the dark glamour of a life she is ill-prepared for, it becomes clear to her that what a wife knows can kill her.

About the Author (from Goodreads):

Michele Campbell is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor in New York City who specialized in international narcotics and gang cases.

A while back, she said goodbye to her big-city legal career and moved with her husband and two children to an idyllic New England college town a lot like Belle River in IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND. Since then, she has spent her time teaching criminal and constitutional law and writing novels.

She’s had many close female friends, a few frenemies, and only one husband, who – to the best of her knowledge – has never tried to kill her.

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane

Check out my full review here!

Book Description from Goodreads:

A hilariously heartfelt novel about living life at full force, and discovering family when you least expect it, influenced in part by the author’s time as Carrie Fisher’s beloved assistant.

Charlie Besson is about to have an insane job interview. His car is idling, like his life, outside the Hollywood mansion of Kathi Kannon. THE Kathi Kannon, star of stage and screen and People magazine’s worst dressed list. She needs an assistant. He needs a hero.

Kathi is an icon, bestselling author, and an award winning actress, most known for her role as Priestess Talara in the iconic blockbuster sci-fi film. She’s also known for another role: crazy Hollywood royalty. Admittedly so. Famously so. Fabulously so.

Charlie gets the job, and embarks on an odyssey filled with late night shopping sprees, last minute trips to see the aurora borealis, and an initiation to that most sacred of Hollywood tribes: the personal assistant. But Kathi becomes much more than a boss, and as their friendship grows, Charlie must make a choice. Will he always be on the sidelines of life, assisting the great forces that be, or can he step into his own leading role?

Laugh-out-loud funny, and searingly poignant, Byron Lane’s A Star is Bored is a novel that, like the star at its center, is enchanting and joyous, heartbreaking and hopeful.

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier

Check out my full review here!

Book Description (from Goodreads):

In the tradition of audacious and wryly funny novels like The Idiot and Convenience Store Woman comes the wildly original coming-of-age story of a pregnant pizza delivery girl who becomes obsessed with one of her customers.

Eighteen years old, pregnant, and working as a pizza delivery girl in suburban Los Angeles, our charmingly dysfunctional heroine is deeply lost and in complete denial about it all. She’s grieving the death of her father (who she has more in common with than she’d like to admit), avoiding her supportive mom and loving boyfriend, and flagrantly ignoring her future.

Her world is further upended when she becomes obsessed with Jenny, a stay-at-home mother new to the neighborhood, who comes to depend on weekly deliveries of pickled covered pizzas for her son’s happiness. As one woman looks toward motherhood and the other towards middle age, the relationship between the two begins to blur in strange, complicated, and ultimately heartbreaking ways.

Bold, tender, propulsive, and unexpected in countless ways, Jean Kyoung Frazier’s Pizza Girl is a moving and funny portrait of a flawed, unforgettable young woman as she tries to find her place in the world.

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

The Vanishing Sky by L. Annette Binder

(Check back here for my full review, to be added later!)

Book Description from Goodreads:

For readers of Warlight and The Invisible Bridge, an intimate, harrowing story about a family of German citizens during World War II.

In 1945, as the war in Germany nears its violent end, the Huber family is not yet free of its dangers or its insidious demands. Etta, a mother from a small, rural town, has two sons serving their home country: her elder, Max, on the Eastern front, and her younger, Georg, at a school for Hitler Youth. When Max returns from the front, Etta quickly realizes that something is not right-he is thin, almost ghostly, and behaving very strangely. Etta strives to protect him from the Nazi rule, even as her husband, Josef, becomes more nationalistic and impervious to Max’s condition. Meanwhile, miles away, her younger son Georg has taken his fate into his own hands, deserting his young class of battle-bound soldiers to set off on a long and perilous journey home.

The Vanishing Sky is a World War II novel as seen through a German lens, a story of the irreparable damage of war on the home front, and one family’s participation-involuntary, unseen, or direct-in a dangerous regime. Drawing inspiration from her own father’s time in the Hitler Youth, L. Annette Binder has crafted a spellbinding novel about the daring choices we make for country and for family.

About the Author (from Goodreads):

L. Annette Binder was born in Germany and grew up in Colorado Springs.

Her first novel The Vanishing Sky (Bloomsbury, July 2020) is inspired by events in her own family history.

Her story collection Rise came out in 2012. Her short stories have been included in the Pushcart Prize anthology and the PEN/O. Henry Prize anthology and have been performed on Public Radio’s “Selected Shorts.”

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O’Neal

(Check back here for my full review, to be added later!)

Book Description from Goodreads:

From the Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids comes a story of four generations of women grappling with family betrayals and long-buried secrets.

It’s been years since Zoe Fairchild has been to the small Devon village of her birth, but the wounds she suffered there still ache. When she learns that her old friend and grandmother’s caretaker has gone missing, Zoe and her fifteen-year-old daughter return to England to help.

Zoe dreads seeing her estranged mother, who left when Zoe was seven to travel the world. As the four generations of women reunite, the emotional pain of the past is awakened. And to complicate matters further, Zoe must also confront the ex-boyfriend she betrayed many years before.

Anxieties spike when tragedy befalls another woman in the village. As the mystery turns more sinister, new grief melds with old betrayal. Now the four Fairchild women will be tested in ways they couldn’t imagine as they contend with dangers within and without, desperate to heal themselves and their relationships with each other.

About the Author (from Goodreads):

Barbara O’Neal is the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling writer of women’s fiction. She lives in Colorado with her partner, a British endurance athlete.

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

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Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 by Jennifer Haupt

Blog Tour: Courtesy of Kate Rock Book Tours

Thanks so much to the author and to Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, and Central Avenue Publishing for the complimentary e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and participation in this blog tour. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 (September 1, 2020, Central Avenue Publishing) is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline into connecting and thriving during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come. All net profits will be donated to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc).


“I was looking for some way to make a dent in the overwhelming grief and devastation, and I hoped other authors would feel the same way,” says Jennifer Haupt, editor and curator of ALONE TOGETHER, who put out a call for submissions on Facebook a month after the quarantine began. “The book came together in astonishingly short amount of time—just two months. It was inspiring to see how it snowballed, with my publisher and the book distributor donating their services.”


The diverse roster of 76 bestselling and up-and-coming contributing authors (55 in the print book and another 21 in the digital edition) includes: Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, W. Ralph Eubanks, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Jane Hirshfield, Pam Houston, Major Jackson, Jean Kwok, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Lidia Yuknavitch.


This book is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don’t Stop. The overarching theme is finding grace and humanity in this devastating time. “Some might argue that the private sector is all about survival of the fittest, but I see booksellers as existing in this place between the public and private sector,” says Michelle Halket, publisher, Central Avenue Publishing. “Bookstores are akin to our libraries; collectors and curators of our culture, and the hubs our local communities. I’m proud to help bookstores survive the COVID19 economy, while bringing forth more of the prose and poetry we all need.” All authors, the publisher and book distributor are donating their time, talent, and expertise, so the contribution to Binc is expected to be significant.

Review: (4 Stars)

TW : COVID-19 pandemic, loss of loved ones, sickness

I will say, first and foremost, that if I wasn’t on the blog tour for this book I likely would not have picked it up or read it when I did. This virus, and the time we have been living in hasn’t been easy for anyone – there is so much fear in the world right now, and being basically locked into your houses for a full quarantine was really hard on a lot of people’s mental and emotional health, myself included. And so diving right into a book about the world seemingly falling apart while we are still very much in the middle of it was a bit strange for me.

That being said, I am so incredibly glad that I read it.

This book, and all of the poems, short stories, etc. that make it up, were so powerful. And not every story will speak to every reader, but I think every reader can find at least a handful of stories that really will speak to them, and will possibly stick with them after they’re done reading. More so than anything else, this book was amazing to show me that I am not alone while I’m locked in my house all day having conversations with my pets. To show me that all of my really big feelings that I’m feeling are not only valid, but I’m not the only one feeling or experiencing them.

I would say that at this moment in time this book might not be a healthy read for every single person, and that maybe some people would do better to wait and read it once it feels like we have, as a country, come out on the other side of all of this. But I do think that more people should read it, either now or then. As I said, it felt wonderful to read some of the stories that were so similar to my own – so if that is something that you have been craving, that connected, togetherness with other people, then I really think you need to read this book. And if you can’t intake media right now because we are still too close to the situation, maybe consider buying the book to read later on. You’ll be supporting the book-ish community with your purchase, and then if nothing else 10 years from now you will have this very real, very raw look back at this crazy time in history that we will have all lived through.

About the Author (from Goodreads):

Jennifer Haupt is the editor of ALONE TOGETHER: Stories of Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19. Her essays and articles have been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, Parenting, The Rumpus, Spirituality & Health, The Sun and many other publications. Her debut novel, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills was awarded the Foreword Reviews Bronze Indie Award for Historical Fiction. Her second novel, Come as You Are, a contemporary family drama, will be published in July 2021.

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

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Charleston Green by Stephanie Alexander

Blog Tour: Courtesy of Kate Rock Book Tours

Thanks so much to the author and to Kate Rock Book Tours for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and participation in this blog tour. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews and collaborations can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads.

Book Description from Goodreads:

If Tipsy Collins learned one thing from her divorce, it’s that everyone in Charleston is a little crazy–even if they’re already dead.

Tipsy, a gifted artist, cannot ignore her nutty friends or her vindictive ex-husband, but as a lifelong reluctant clairvoyant, she’s always avoided dead people. When Tipsy and her three children move into the house on Bennett Street, she realizes some ghosts won’t be ignored.

Till death do us part didn’t pan out for Jane and Henry Mott, who’ve haunted the house for nearly a century. Tipsy’s marriage was downright felicitous when compared to Jane and Henry’s ill-fated union. Jane believes Henry killed her and then himself, and Henry vehemently denies both accusations. Unfortunately, neither phantom remembers that afternoon in 1923. Tipsy doesn’t know whether to side with Jane, who seems to be hiding something under her southern belle charm, or Henry, a mercurial creative genius. Jane and Henry draw Tipsy into their conundrum, and she uncovers secrets long concealed under layers of good manners, broken promises and soupy Lowcountry air. Living with ghosts, however, takes a toll on her health, and possibly even her sanity. As she struggles to forge a new path for herself and her children, Tipsy has a chance to set Jane and Henry free, and release the ghosts of her own past.

Original Press Release for Charleston Green:

CHARLESTON GREEN Presents a Haunting Take on Women’s Fiction


“An enchanting novel of a woman finding her way out of a midlife (and mid-death) crisis.” –Kirkus Reviews


Charleston, South Carolina, April 14, 2020— Bestselling author Stephanie Alexander’s new novel, CHARLESTON GREEN, asks readers to contemplate the life-shaping experiences that haunt us—literally and figuratively.


CHARLESTON GREEN introduces Southern spitfire Tiffany “Tipsy” Collins, a clairvoyant artistic genius, as she rebuilds her life after a devastating divorce. Tipsy moves into a historic house in the Old Village of Mount Pleasant, a tony Charleston suburb, and discovers she’s inherited two undead roommates. Married couple Jane and Henry Mott have been haunting the house for almost a century. They hate each other, because Jane thinks Henry killed her and then killed himself. He denies her accusations, but neither phantom remembers
what really happened. Tipsy must use her supernatural and investigative powers to solve the mystery, all while mothering her three children, managing her vindictive ex-husband, rebuilding her painting career, venturing into the dating pool, and navigating Charleston’s quirky small town social scene.


“At its heart, CHARLESTON GREEN is the story of how Tipsy comes to grips with her past experiences and decisions, and learns to let go and move forward,” says author Stephanie Alexander. “As with many works of Southern literature, there’s a lot of symbolism, humor, and a touch of magical realism. Jane and Henry might be ghosts, but they are characters unto themselves, with their own voices. They just happen to be dead!”


“I am always on the lookout for exciting new writers,” says New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand. “Once I started reading CHARLESTON GREEN by Stephanie Alexander, I was captivated. This novel leaves the reader entranced; the writing is skillful and clever and funny. I highly recommend this book.” 


Kirkus Reviews says, “Alexander blends the warm humor of her characters with balmy descriptions of her Southern gothic setting. Her descriptions of Tipsy’s paintings are particularly lyrical… It’s a breezy paranormal read, and yet one with more depth than the reader might expect from the premise. In Tipsy and her ghosts, Alexander finds a story about the frustrations of love and aging, as well as the weight that history places on the living, particularly, perhaps, in the South Carolina Lowcountry.”

Review: (4 Stars)

TW: murder, suicide, infidelity, custody battles, the afterlife

I was really intrigued by this book once I read the description – I love a character driven novel, I love books and movies set in the 1920s, and I loved watching Ghost Whisperer with my mom when I was younger. So this book seemed like it might be right up my alley! I’m glad to say that I really did enjoy it, so I was not disappointed.

One thing that made this story, and the storytelling, really interesting in my opinion was the fact that most of the story is happening in the modern day, but that we get to peak into the past to try and unravel the mystery at the heart of this story. As the story goes on, Tipsy learns more about her abilities in relation to the spirits that share her house – meaning that she learns that she can do more than just see and talk to them, but if she touches a spirit she can also see into their own memories, whether they want her to or not. Having a character who can see and talk to ghosts isn’t all that unheard of, so I thought that that was a really interesting way to kind of mix things up with that character. And especially the fact that she was learning about, and how to handle, this new side of her power along with the readers was really fun.

For the characters themselves, for the most part they were enjoyable. I feel pretty confident in saying that the author means for you to hate Tipsy’s ex-husband, and believe me I did, so I won’t be including him here. Just trust me, he’s awful. Tipsy was a really fun character to be inside the mind of – she is a strong and feisty (while still imperfect) newly single mother and artist. I especially loved when she was able to use her insight into the past as inspiration for her paintings, because I loved getting to imagine those pieces coming to life. Although I have to say that Jane and Henry may have been my favorite of the characters in the novel. I was really interested in the idea of these two people who can’t remember the week leading up to their deaths (including how they died) and living all of these decades with only the gossip that they’ve overheard to go off of. Again, they were both flawed and imperfect characters that you couldn’t help but feel sympathetic towards.

To try to avoid spoilers, I won’t say much about the other characters or story specifics. But I will say this – I did guess the ending before it happened, but that didn’t make it less enjoyable for me. I didn’t find myself minding that I was right all along with my guess. I was just enjoying watching how we got there, and seeing how the story unfolded.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to my friends! At times it can be a tiny bit slow moving, but not terribly so, and not enough that I had a hard time getting into it. Just enough that a few chapters took a bit longer to get through. This was a fun read reminiscent of a cozy mystery, with a little bit of family drama and historical fiction thrown into the mix just for flavoring. I would say that the perfect environment for this book would be a grey and stormy day spent on the couch under your favorite blanket!

About the Author (from Goodreads):

Stephanie Alexander is the bestselling author of The Cracked Slipper Series and Charleston Green. She grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Drawing, writing stories, and harassing her parents for a pony consumed much of her childhood. After graduating from high school in 1995 she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the College of Charleston, South Carolina. She returned to Washington, DC, where she followed a long-time fascination with sociopolitical structures and women’s issues to a Master of Arts in Sociology from the American University. She spent several years as a Policy Associate at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a think-tank focused on women’s health and economic advancement.

Stephanie embraced full-time motherhood after the birth of the first of her three children in 2003. Her family put down permanent southern roots in Charleston in 2011. She published her first novel, The Cracked Slipper, in February 2012. The first printing of the series sold over 40,000 copies. The Cracked Slipper made multiple appearances on Amazon’s bestseller lists, and peaked at #11 in all genres. Stephanie has appeared on local and national media, been a contributor on many writing blogs and in writing magazines, and regularly joins with book clubs for discussions of her work.

In addition to her personal writing, Stephanie returned to the College of Charleston as an Adjunct Professor of Sociology and launched her freelance ghostwriting and editing business, Wordarcher, LLC. She has ghostwritten dozens of books, from novels to memoirs to academic theses. Beginning in the Fall of 2015, as a single working mother, she attended law school on a full academic scholarship, earning her juris doctor with honors from the Charleston School of Law in December, 2017.

She currently practices family law in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the Charleston suburb that is the setting of her latest novel, Charleston Green. Her personal experience rebuilding her life after divorce inspires both her legal work and her fiction. Stephanie and her husband live in the Charleston area with their blended family of five children and their two miniature dachshunds, Trinket and Tipsy.

Stephanie’s work is published by Bublish, Inc., and is available on Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, Kobo, Google Play, iBooks, and IngramSpark. Stefanie Lieberman of Janklow & Nesbit Associates, New York, NY, represents Charleston Green. You can learn more about Stephanie and her work at www.stephaniealexanderbooks.com, or follow her on Twitter (@crackedslipper) or Instagram (@stephaniealexanderbooks).

Link to Buy on Amazon:

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Mayhem by Estelle Laure

Blog Tour: Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press

Thanks so much to the author, Netgalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, and blog tour participation. All opinions are entirely my own. { Partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads.

Book Description:

The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls in this supernatural feminist YA novel.

It’s 1987 and unfortunately it’s not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy’s constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem’s own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren’t like everyone else. 

But when May’s stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem’s questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good. 

But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost. 

From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and saying when enough is enough.

Author’s Letter to the Reader:

Dear Reader,

Like Mayhem, I experienced a period of time when my life was extremely unstable. I can still remember what it was like to be shaken so hard I thought my head would come off, to watch the room vibrate, to feel unsafe in my own home, to never know what was coming around the next corner. I wanted to run. I always wanted to run.

I ran to friends, but also movies and books, and although girls were more passively portrayed in movies like The Lost Boys back then, that feeling of teenagers prowling the night, taking out bad people, being unbeatable . . . that got me through it.

I guess that’s what I tried to do here. I wanted girls who feel powerless to be able to imagine themselves invincible. And yes, I used a rape as the seed for that fierce lineage, not without thought. For me, there is nothing worse, and I like to think great power can rise up as a result of a devastating trespass.

Please know I took none of this lightly. Writing this now, my heart is beating hard and my throat is dry. This is the first time I not only really looked at my own past, the pain of loss, the pain of the loss of trust that comes when someone puts hands on you without permission, the pain of people dying, the shock of suicide, and put all of it to paper in a way that made me feel victorious, strong, and warrior-like. It is also terrifying. I know I’m not the only one who had a scary childhood, and

I know I’m not the only one who clings to stories as salve to smooth over burnt skin. I am so sick of girls and women being hurt. This was my way of taking my own vengeance and trying to access forgiveness.

Thank you for reading and for those of you who can relate, I see you and you are not alone.

Estelle Laure

Q&A with the Author:

Why did you choose Santa Maria as the setting? What drew you/your story to that location?

When I was young growing up in the Bay Area, we used to go to Santa Cruz sometimes on weekends, go to the boardwalk, go on rides, so I was familiar with it. It’s also the place where The Lost Boys was filmed and it’s the thing I most directly took from that movie. I didn’t want to have to be true to Santa Cruz though, so I created Santa Maria so I could take more liberties in terms of the layout and businesses, etc.

Is there a plan for this to be released on audio? If so, were you a part of the casting process for the narrator?

Yes!, I believe it’s released the same day as Mayhem comes out in hardcover. I love listening to books, so I’m delighted that’s an option. As far as casting, I was sent a sample of the person who was eventually cast and absolutely loved her. She’s perfect so there was no question they picked the right person. I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t had that reaction, but I’m glad I didn’t have to find out. I haven’t heard it yet but I feel sure she’s done an incredible job.

According to your author profile you have a Theatre Arts degree – how do you think that influences your writing? And any influences to this story in particular?

Wow, I’ve never had this question before and I think it’s a great one! I was trained to understand the psychology of a character fully in order to embody it, so I think that plays a part in every keystroke for me. I want everyone to feel fully realized and I reach into my actor toolbox a lot in order to get to the bottom of the emotional story. One thing I learned in theatre is that no one is ever saying what they’re saying, so when I write dialogue I try to always have an unspoken element and a subtext happening. I also think in terms of tone, silhouette, movement, blocking…it’s all there all the time. I’m so glad I have that training to lean on because I use it in every story, not just this one.

What drew you to the 1980s as the setting for this story?

I was twelve in 1987 which was the year The Lost Boys came out. That summer felt a little spooky and too hot and since I was actually in California where the story happens, it’s a time and place I remember very well. I wanted to explore it for my own nostalgic purposes but also because it was RAD! Also, this story couldn’t work with technology as it is today, so it had to be sometime pre-cell. Why not the age of rampant serial killers and total chaos, as well a big hair?

The description of this book talks about exploring “the price of vigilante justice.” How do you explore the idea of what justice means to each of your characters, and the topic of possible consequences while trying to seek it?

I’m really in conversation with myself in this respect. The truth is I think if someone hurt one of my kids I would want them hurt in equal measure and would have a very hard time being patient with the judicial process. BUT I also realize we can’t have a justice system that metes out physical punishment because it’s a fallible system. The question here is what if your own internal system was capable of accurately determining someone’s potential for violence or history with it? Should you then be the deliverer of vengeance? Should you be an angel of death? That’s really what Mayhem and all the characters who share this potential power are grappling with. They all fall somewhere along the spectrum of what they’re willing to pay in exchange for that power and where they fall in terms of its ethics. One thing is sure: nothing comes for free, especially not the taking of a life.

Review:

[ Due to unforeseen difficulties in my life, I have not yet finished this book. Unfortunately, life happens! My full review will be added here as soon as I have finished reading the book. Thank you so much for your patience! ]

About the Author:

Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.

Link to Buy on Amazon:

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The Player Next Door by K. A. Tucker

Blog Tour: Courtesy of Valentine PR

Thanks so much to the author and Valentine PR for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, and blog tour participation. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads

Book Description from Goodreads:

Scarlet Reed has returned to Polson Falls, convinced that twelve years away is long enough to shed her humiliating childhood identity as the town harlot’s daughter. With a teaching job secured and an adorable fixer-upper to call home, things in her life are finally looking up.

That is, until she finds out that Shane Beckett lives next door.

Shane Beckett, the handsome and charismatic high school star quarterback who smashed her heart. The lying, cheating player who was supposed to be long gone, living the pro football dream and fooling women into thinking he’s Prince Charming. Shane Beckett, who is as attractive as ever and flashing his dimples at her as if he has done no wrong.

Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that old wounds have not been forgotten. Neighbors they may be, but friends they most certainly are not. She won’t allow herself to fall for the single father and firefighter again, no matter how many apologies he offers, how many times he rushes to her aid, or how hard he makes her heart pound.

But as she spends more time with him, she begins to fear that maybe she’s wrong. Maybe Shane has changed.

And maybe this time she’s the one playing herself—out of a chance at true happiness.

Review: (4 Stars)

TW : childhood trauma, mention of infidelity, mention of bullying, injury to a minor

Despite what my “Dates Read” will say (I started this book and then put it down to finish another current read), I DEVOURED this book! The Player Next Door is a brand new second-chance romance from author K. A. Tucker. It was fairly lighthearted compared to some of her other work (though there were definitely some more intense scenes), a good middle-of-the-road steamy, and overall a delicious binge read during this continued quarantine.

Much like many others, I am a huge sucker for second-chance romances. Doesn’t everyone have that fantasy at least once or twice that their big ex, possibly love of their life, turns around and realizes that you’re the best thing that ever happened to a fool like them? Or maybe that they come back into your life just to see how you’re #thriving? I definitely have been known to. So what better type of story to throw yourself into and read over the course of about 48 hours! I loved getting to dive into all of the backstory of Scarlet and Shane’s past, and sort of getting to see both timelines (through Scarlet’s memories). It really helped me to feel invested in their story right from the word go.

As far as characters go, I thought both of our leads were extremely likable, while not immune from annoying characteristics or dumb decisions. But again, I think that getting to hear so much of their backstory really helped with falling in love with not only the characters, but also their love story in general. I found myself really aching for them when things weren’t going their way. I wanted them to succeed, and to be happy. Which I always think goes a long way! Although I will say that a few of the other characters, while more minor players in the story, really shone through for me in a way that almost stole the show for a few of the scenes! Characters like Justine specifically had me laughing right out loud at how ridiculous she could be, but how I could see myself being friends with her too. And if down the line a sequel were to come out putting my girl Justine in the spotlight, I would definitely not turn it away!

One of my favorite parts of this story was the setting – at the beginning of the book Scarlet is moving back to her small town that she grew up in. That’s another thing that always seemed so idyllic and charming to me – small town living, where you have fun town events and everyone knows everyone else. (Or maybe I just watched too much Gilmore Girls growing up?) But my favorite thing about it as a setting for this type of story that while it is a charming town, and she is getting all of that “new beginning” excitement by moving into her childhood dream house, the small town is also the catalyst for a good number of the mix-ups and challenges as well. Yes, everyone knows everyone, but that means that they also know everyone’s private business, and that is always an angle that I find really fun to read about.

Overall, I really, thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have already recommended it to more than one friend who I know will tear through it as quickly as I did, and I’m sure it will continue to come up for me in those conversations with girlfriends. As I said in the beginning, I think it is close to the perfect story to lose yourself in during what is still a fairly uncertain time. Because, much like those pesky neighbors in the book – it’s much better to get to focus on other people’s drama than on your own, right? At least, it’s certainly more fun!

About the Author:

K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge. She is the USA Today bestselling author of 17 books, including the Causal Enchantment, Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, He Will Be My Ruin, Until It Fades, Keep Her Safe, and The Simple Wild. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, First for Women, and Publisher’s Weekly. She has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance 2013 for TEN TINY BREATHS and Best Romance 2018 for THE SIMPLE WILD. Her novels have been translated into 16 languages.K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her family.

Connect with K.A. Tucker:

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2MYEDhK
Instagram: http://bit.ly/2MZEk6A
Twitter: http://bit.ly/2FqzR8K
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QPwJZs
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/36Ga0W8
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2MXBLSf
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2rZkYXP
Website: https://www.katuckerbooks.com/

Link to buy on Amazon:

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Four Faces of Femininity: Heroic Women Throughout History by Barbara McNally

Spring Pop-Up Tour: Booksparks courtesy of She Writes Press

Thanks so much to the author, Booksparks, and She Writes Press for the gifted advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts, and participation in this pop-up blog tour. { partner } All of my posts and reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads.

Book Description from Goodreads:

Four Faces of Femininity tells the story of remarkable women who, through their creativity, passion, intelligence, and sheer determination, have left an indelible mark on the history of mankind. The book is divided into four sections, with figures placed in Mother, Lover, Warrior, or Sage. Accessible, informative, and uplifting, Four Faces of Femininity explores the many ways in which women have changed the course of history – and demonstrates how crucial it is that women from every background be provided with role models that inspire. The book includes questions for exploration to help modern multifaceted women see these qualities in themselves and balance them to lead a fuller life.

Mt Thoughts/Mini Review (5 Stars):

You guys, I am so excited to be a small part of the #SpringPopUp with Booksparks, but I’m even more excited that this was the book that I was chosen for! First of all, the illustrations are GORGEOUS! And I love getting to read about all different types of women and their contributions – I think that is one of my favorite parts of this book, getting to see all of the different sides of strong women. Not every women is going to be a warrior in the traditional sense, but being a motherly soul is just as important, and strong, and empowering!

My fiancé and I have loved going through this book, and I think it will probably be one of our go to coffee table books, so that we can share it with everybody else!

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Life on Loan by Ashley Farley

Blog Tour Stop: Kate Rock Book Tours courtesy of Lake Union Publishing

Thanks so much to the author, Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, and Lake Union Publishing for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts, and participation in this blog tour. { partner }

BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS :

It’s a surprising second act for two women who decide to rewrite their lives in this enriching novel of friendship and starting over from the bestselling author of Only One Life.

After thirty years, college friends Lena Browder and Olivia Westcoat have met again by chance at an unexpected crossroads: an airport lounge in Atlanta. Lena is running away from her home and demanding family. Olivia is trying to find her way after a painful divorce.

With their old selves in the rearview, they toast to a new beginning – and it starts with a spontaneous dare. Lena will stay in Olivia’s Charleston condo. Olivia’s retreat? Lena’s isolated river cottage in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Two perfect getaways. Thirty-four days to reset. With fresh new perspectives and the renewal of a heartening friendship, Lena and Olivia find their passions, reinvent themselves, and reclaim what they’ve lost.

When unexpected romance blooms and careers take detours, it’s also a time for courage and risk. Now they’ll have to make hard choices to follow through on their promise for a second chance and finally have the lives they dream of.

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW (4 STARS) :

I think at some point in their lives everyone has wanted to run away from their every day realities. Whether you’re a kid wanting to go away to Neverland, or an adult wanting to run and hide from the stresses of every day life and work. I know that I have. If my fiancé and I could run away from life for a couple of weeks and do nothing but read and write in a secluded cabin on a mountain and ignore the rest of the world? We would. In a heartbeat. Like, our bags are probably already packed for it. So I was already on the side of our two leads in this book, before I even started reading it.

On that note, I loved the characters that this story centered around.

Story time – I knew the general plot of this book when I started reading it, but I hadn’t read the full description, so I didn’t know any of the character names or specifics going in. And the very first chapter starts with Lena having issues with her daughter, Kayla, and my automatic assumption was that Kayla was going to be one of the two friends running away from responsibilities. So when I kept reading and it was actually Lena who took off and had a self-discovery adventure, I fell even more in love with her character and with the book. After that she automatically became a favorite character for me, without even thinking about it.

I loved Olivia as well, but I didn’t have the same automatic attraction to her character that I had for Lena. You sympathize with her from the beginning of her story, but in a way it took me a little bit longer to really fall into her part of the story, which then became some of my favorite parts later in the book. Where Lena is leaving behind the responsibilities of her home life, and a family taking her for granted, Olivia is a hip and fashionable blogger living what might seem like the perfect life in a gorgeous city, and she is running from the stresses of that life and those expectations that are being placed on her. Which, again, is incredibly relatable for people in all stages of life.

I tend to pay more attention to the characters in a novel than other aspects, sometimes even over some of the smaller details in the story itself, because the characters are what will make or break the book for me. Hands down. And I really enjoyed the story of this book – anyone who enjoyed the movie The Holiday would enjoy this, since it is the same type of story, but in the next stage of life, which made it really interesting and different from a lot of the other books that I read frequently. And since I loved the characters so much, I was able to fully dive head first into the story and enjoy that to it’s fullest as well.

Overall, I really did love this book. It wasn’t one that I absolutely couldn’t put down, and finished in a day because it consumed me heart and soul. But it was so much fun and enjoyable, and I loved getting to read about women on self discovery journeys that you don’t necessarily see in that light all of the time (most of those types of stories, in my experience, tend to center around characters in their early twenties or even early thirties). I would absolutely recommend this book to my friends and family, and anyone looking for a classic type of story with a fun twist in a truly character-driven novel.

LINK TO BUY ON AMAZON :

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Legacy of Fear by A. J. McCarthy

Blog Tour Stop : Kate Rock Book Tours courtesy of Black Rose Writing

Thanks so much to the author, Kate Rock Book Tours, and Black Rose Writing for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts, and participation in this blog tour. { partner }

BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS :

What dark secret is hidden in her past? What evil has been handed down through the generations?

Emily Burton found happiness in a small, picturesque town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Her sense of peace and security is shattered when she’s brutally attacked, and an innocent person is murdered. The authorities believe the incident is random, until Emily becomes the target of further violence and threats.

With the help of her enigmatic neighbor, she uncovers an eerily similar crime that dates back sixty years. Could there be a connection between the two attacks? Did malevolence stretch it’s deadly arm across generations?

Emily is convinced there’s a link, but she needs to find it before it finds her.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

The Three Rs – Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic – are the cornerstones of A.J. McCarthy’s life. The first began at a young age when she devoured novels by Agatha Christie, Sidney Sheldon, and other masters of mystery and suspense. The second was a passion born later in life, and the third was a major part of her full-time career. The author of the three published novels, Sins of the Fathers, Cold Betrayal, and Legacy of Fear (to be released November 2019), A.J. is working on another manuscript in the suspense thriller genre, while juggling ideas for a couple of others.

LINK TO BUY ON AMAZON :

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The Magic of the Season (Christmas in Silver Falls #2) by Tammy L. Grace

Blog Tour Stop: Kate Rock Book Tours Courtesy of Lone Mountain Press

Thanks so much to the author, Kate Rock Book Tours and Lone Mountain Press for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts, and participation in this blog tour. { partner }

BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS :

Will a city girl forced to spend the holidays in her small hometown recapture the magic of the season?

Madison hasn’t visited Silver Falls since she left the snowy mountain winters behind for the beaches of California twenty years ago. In the midst of the annual Christmas festival, an accident forces her to return and manage her mom’s candy business at the Sugar Shop.

Grant hasn’t seen her since she left for college, but he remembers spending summers at the lake with the skinny, plain girl he and everyone used to know as Sugar. The contemporary advertising executive he encounters now is anything but plain. Will Grant’s kindness, the charm of Silver Falls, and the caring community open Sugar’s heart to all she’s been missing?

The best-selling author of A Season for Hope, the tale readers described as the perfect Christmas story, delivers a touching sequel with the second in her Christmas in Silver Falls series in this new festive novella that pairs perfectly with a cup of cocoa in front of a blazing fire.

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW (4 STARS) :

Anyone who knows basically anything about me, or has spoken to me even once, knows that I love the Christmas season and all slightly or fully-cheesy holiday romcoms. Even if you just saw me on the street and someone said “That’s Jennifer, and she loves Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies,” you would probably look at me and say “Yeah, that checks out.” I am the girl that put on my Christmas pajamas as soon as the last trick or treaters had left our porch (I wish I was kidding about that. I did.)

So when this tour came up, I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. Holiday magic? Sweet love story? Easy, quick read novella? Yes please! And I will say that this is a second in a series (mentioned in the description above). I was also given a copy of the first story, A Season for Hope, in order to read it before this tour as well, so I was able to read both! I will include an amazon link for both novellas below, in case you do want to read both stories – but I will not be including the first in this review, as while they are in the same series and they both have the same beautiful setting, they follow two separate characters and therefore are stand-alone stories. Just FYI!

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to this review! This story was so charming! By the time I was a few chapters in, I knew that if possible I would move to Silver Falls in a heartbeat. If you are someone who has seen Gilmore Girls, Silver Falls is like Stars Hollow but a step up still. It is a small town where everyone is willing to step in and help anyone around them who needs it, and where everybody in town knows everybody else, and you can’t walk down the street without someone stopping you to say hello and ask how you are. I love those settings in stories, because I think deep in my soul that is the type of town that I would belong in.

The characters are also so sweet and genuine, and while sometimes they seem sweet enough to give you a cavity, overall they seem like people that you could really meet in a town like this. I do think, though, that our female lead Madison (better known to all as Sugar) is the most realistic and relatable character in this particular novella. I think everyone can relate to trying (and failing) to get rid of a childhood nickname, and being in a time in your life that you want to escape your hometown and go have adventures. But I also love that she is able to come back home and still see the magic in the relationships around her, and getting to see in the long run that she still has that small town magic and love inside of herself as well.

I will say that this probably wouldn’t be a perfect story for everyone for a few specific reasons. Mainly because this is a love story and, as it is a novella rather than a full length novel, the love story is not as long and fully realized as it would be in a different format. The two leads spend a lot of time together throughout the story, so it isn’t a Disney princess love at first sight situation, but you don’t blatantly see them falling in love over the course of ten chapters before the happily ever after. As someone who, again, watches just about one holiday romcom per day in the holiday season, this didn’t necessarily bother me. The two characters knew each other from childhood, so even at the beginning of the novella they knew each other, they weren’t meeting for the first time. And there isn’t anything about them as characters that makes them falling in love quickly seem unrealistic – it is something that can happen in real life too, as long as both of the people involved are open to that possibility. These are two adults, I believe they are both in their thirties, who knew each other from childhood through high school graduation, and I think that if this situation were to happen in the real world, I think that they honestly could fall in love in the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s a romantic time!

All of this to say, if you are bothered by love stories that happen quickly or that you, as the reader, aren’t fully privy to, then this may not be the story for you. But I, myself, thought that the love story was really sweet and fit the format that the story was in, so it didn’t bother me in the slightest.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed both of these stories, and would recommend them to the people around me who are ready to skip right to the holiday season. And as stated above, both are able to stand alone and reading them both in order is not necessary to enjoy the story, I did enjoy both of them quite a bit. So if you’re up for it, then go for it! Read them both! I ended up reading these right as our Texas weather was starting to take a turn for the cooler temperatures, and it really helped me by setting the mood. The description on Goodreads really says it best, and I couldn’t agree more – they pair perfectly with a cup of cocoa in front of a blazing fire!

LINKS TO BUY ON AMAZON :

Christmas in Silver Falls #1 :

Christmas in Silver Falls #2 :

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Against the Rules (Gamer Girls #2) by Laura Heffernan

Blog Tour Stop : Kate Rock Book Tours courtesy of Kensington Books

Thanks so much to the author, Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, and Kensington Books for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for honest thoughts, and participation in this book tour. { partner }

BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS :

RISK EVERYTHING … Holly has taken herself out of the dating game since breaking up with her cheating, thieving ex. She barely notices Marc, who comes into the game store every week, hoping to get her attention. Her friends insist it’s time to take on a new role, to leave Quiet Holly behind and embrace her inner flirt. And on paper, Marc’s great: cute, funny, and a hardcore gamer just like Holly is.

Then there’s Nathan. He’s everything twenty-eight-year-old Holly wants…except he’s also her friend’s father. Absolutely off-limits. But as she and Nathan playtest a new legacy game together, they’re growing closer.

The game is complex and intriguing, and there’s no wat to know how choices will pan out. What seems like a good idea could lead to disaster…or sweet victory. But in gaming, as in love, sometimes you have to roll the dice to take your chance . . .

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW (4 STARS) :

Once again I am writing a review on a second book in a series without having read the first book. Come on, Jennifer, get it together. Right? Right. But, like with my last tour book, the description comes along and it just sounds too fun to pass up, even if I did miss the first part of the story! And once again, I was not disappointed.

Holly is an incredibly fun character, and I really enjoyed getting to spend this time with her. She is nerdy and game-minded, yes, but she is also really smart, and strong-willed, feisty, and she has a fierce love for the people around her. When we first meet her she is in the last few months of reclaiming her life from issues caused by and related to her ex, who is in trouble with the law due to his part in their new business was revealed to be less than upstanding. She’s been having a hard time while trying to get back on her feet, working at her local game shop and having weekly game nights with her friends, and is inspired to start putting herself out there more in the world of dating.

While none of the first few dates go very far, some not even making it through the salad course, I had a really good time getting to read about the dates, especially the really cringe-worthy ones whom she had met online. It felt a little bit like gossiping and sharing bad dating stories with your girlfriends, and let me just say that I was all about it. And while we are on the topic, I loved her whole group of friends at the game nights. They are such a tight knit group, and all getting to share in a mutual love of the game and the competition. Also the game that they are playing throughout the whole story sounds really cool. I am not always a huge gamer myself (I had older brothers, so I can play sometimes, but I grew up mostly watching the games instead), but I wanted to try and join in the game too. Take out? Check. Good friends? Check. Awesome sounding board game? Check. All I’m saying is that I’m upset I don’t get to have game nights anymore.

And yes, we couldn’t talk about this book without talking about the love story. Throughout the story Holly has two main love interests that she focuses on – Marc, who stops by the game shop during her shifts, and sweetly plans dream dates to try and woo our lead; and Nathan, who she has had a crush on for years and gives her enough butterflies to fill her stomach twice over every time they brush hands. He seems perfect (hey, they even already live together) except that he is the father of one of her best friends. Yikes. Her whole internal debate between the two men revolves around how her friend, Gwen, would react if she chose Nathan, worrying she’s breaking some girl-code and that her friend may never forgive her. While I’ve never been in this particular situation I think we’ve all had moments where we worried we might hurt or even lose a friend depending on a choice that we made, and so I found that part of the story really easy to follow and found that I could fairly easily relate to the character. And plus, there’s something about a forbidden romance that just makes it that much more fun to read, right?

Overall this book was really enjoyable, and I wanted to jump right into the middle of this friend group. None of the characters were perfect, which I always think makes for a better and more enjoyable reading experience. And while, yes, the central gaming theme may not be for everybody, I found it different and new and thoroughly entertaining. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series, Make Your Move, which publishes in December and follows another member of this same group.

This book is publishing tomorrow, October 15, 2019!

LINK TO BUY ON AMAZON :