Review: The Spirit of Love by Lauren Kate

 

The Spirit of Love by Lauren Kate

Publication Date: July 1st 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Fenny travels to Catalina Island to prepare for her directorial debut on Zombie Hospital, the show she’s been writing for the last ten years, where she meets Sam as he rescues her in a storm. Instead of brainstorming alone, Fenny spends a passionate weekend with Sam while embarking on adventure after adventure.

 

Coming back to Hollywood Fenny’s blindsided when she finds out that instead of directing like she was promised, they’ve brought in a famous director Jude DeSilva, a man who resembles Sam in an uncanny way. She’s livid, at her network boss and Jude, and I was enraged for her, but Jude wasn’t the bad guy here and they began to form a connection as they work together.

 

I’ve seen a few reviews that recommend not reading the book description before reading, but I’m glad I did because it would’ve soured the romance for me if I didn’t have an idea of what was going on. I absolutely loved this romance! It was witty and fun but also explored deeper topics.

 

The setting was fun and featured places I love in Southern California, like the Huntington Library, Museum and Gardens. Despite having lived in SoCal for years, I didn’t know that there are really canals in Venice, California!

 

I would’ve loved an epilogue but was thrilled with how it all worked out!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate comes a magical time-slip love triangle about a man split into two—one version young and carefree, the other suave but jaded—and one woman’s quest to reunite his broken pieces.

Two loves. One soul. One choice.

Fenny’s got that boss glow. Not only did she just have the best sex of her life, but she’s finally about to direct the TV show she’s been a screenwriter on for ten years. Only one thing could floor her—finding out she’s been replaced by a hotshot director named Jude. Wait, no. Two things. Jude looks exactly like the guy who just turned her bones to jelly. Same dimples, same eyes, but he looks older and has a sadness Fenny wants to fix.

Last weekend, Fenny met Sam when he movie-style rescued her from a storm on Catalina Island. Here he is again, just…different. Can Sam and Jude be the same man? And if they are, will Fenny’s love be enough to put him back together?

Review: South of Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver

 

South of Nowhere (Colter Shaw #5) by Jeffrey Deaver

Publication Date: May 6th 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 414

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Colter Shaw is a “reward-seeker” traveling all over to find missing persons or things and then collects the reward money when successful. His unusual upbringing by a paranoid survivalist father prepared him for a multitude of dangerous situations, which makes him good at his job.

 

Colter gets called out, by his sister Dorian, to Northern California when a levee starts to wash out and threatens the small town of Hinowah. Dorian, a disaster specialist, was already close by when she heard what happened and offered to help since the town leaders didn’t seem equipped to handle a situation of this magnitude. Is the impending collapse the result of poor construction or something more sinister?

 

There’s also the mystery of a woman asking to find the location of the Shaw’s family compound and Colter finds some disturbing information while searching through his father’s papers.

 

South of Nowhere was a thrilling, action-packed story with several riveting subplots and I was hooked from the start! A few revelations took me by surprise.

 

Even though I’ve only read the prequel novella, Captivated in this series, I feel like you could read South of Nowhere as a standalone.  I did watch a few episodes of Tracker, which are based on these books. I’ll be adding the previous installments to my TBR since I enjoyed this one so much.

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

The New York Times bestselling master of suspense returns to his beloved series, adapted for TV (CBS's Tracker, starring Justin Hartley) as reward seeker Colter Shaw races against the clock to save a flooding town from a full-fledged disaster, where the culprit lurks in the plain sight.

When a levee collapses in Hinowah, a small town in Northern California, Colter Shaw is brought on by his sister, Dorion, a disaster response specialist, to help locate a family swept away by the raging water, with mere hours to survive. 

But after a surprise attack along the river obstructs Colter's urgent search, the siblings are forced to consider a new Is the levee at risk of failing from natural causes, or is someone sabotaging it? Colter and Dorion must race against a ticking clock to uncover the truth and save the citizens before the village washes out completely, destroying everything and everyone in its path.

Review: The Eights by Joanna Miller

 

The Eights by Joanna Miller

Publication Date: April 15th 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

What a brilliant and moving debut! I find the events around the time of WWI very interesting, but the personal aspects brought The Eights to life for me!

 

The story alternates between Otto, Beatrice, Dora and Marianne’s POV, all touched by the war and the struggles women faced at that time. So many challenges being part of the first group of women to potentially earn a degree from Oxford in 1920. Nicknamed “The Eights” because of their residence building, they bond over their experiences drawing close. Their friendship and support of each other was moving. There was a little bit of romance, but it was a small, but wonderful part of the story!

 

Otto is haunted by her memories of volunteering during the war. Dora deals with the loss of her brother and fiancé. Beatrice’s mother loved fighting for women’s rights more than her daughter. Beatrice’s mother was awful!  Then there’s the pastor’s daughter, Marianne, carrying a secret. At first, I thought she was the least interesting, but she ended up being my favorite by the end! I loved them all, though!

5 Stars

Book Description:

They knew they were changing history.
They didn't know they would change each other.

Following the unlikely friendship of four of the first ever women to matriculate at Oxford University in the aftermath of the First World War, a captivating debut novel about sisterhood, self-determination and the many forms courage can take.

Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the world's most famous university has admitted female students. Giddy with dreams of equality, education and emancipation, four young women move into neighbouring rooms. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne and Otto (collectively known as The Eights) have come here from all walks of life, and they are thrown into an unlikely, life-affirming friendship.

Dora was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and her fiancé on the battlefield, has arrived in their place. Politically-minded Beatrice, daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way - and some friends her own age. Otto was a nurse during the war but is excited to return to her socialite lifestyle in Oxford - where she hopes to find distraction from the memories that haunt her. And finally Marianne, the quiet, clever daughter of a village pastor, who has a shocking secret she must hide from everyone, even her new friends, if she is to succeed.

But Oxford's dreaming spires cast a dark shadow: in 1920, misogyny is still rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War are still very real indeed. And as the group navigate this tumultuous moment in time, their friendship will become more important than ever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Joanna Miller studied English at Exeter College, Oxford, and later returned to complete an English teaching degree at the Department of Educational Studies. After ten years as a teacher and literacy adviser, she set up an award-winning poetry gift business. Miller's rhyming verse has been filmed twice by the BBC, and in 2015 she won the Poetry Prize, run by Bloomsbury Publishing and the National Literacy Trust. In 2021, Miller graduated from the Faber Academy, after which she was accepted on the Escalator Talent Development Scheme at The National Centre for Writing. She has recently returned to Oxford to study part-time for a diploma in creative writing. 

Review: The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay

 

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay

Publication Date: October 8th 2024 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 352

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Librofm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch was a sweet romance with two best friends, Holly and Ivy switching vacations when Holly’s fiancé dumps her the night before their wedding.

 

Ivy goes on Holly’s honeymoon trip to paint picturesque scenery in Kauai, which doesn’t go exactly as planned and instead of painting and drawing alone, she ends up making friends with a sexy bartender and his bestie.

 

Holly takes Ivy’s artist retreat vacation in the Hudson Valley mountains in an idyllic, small winter-wonderland-of-a-town. She intends to heal and binge watch Christmas movies, but her plans change when an old high school academic rival shows up, all grown up and gorgeous.

The story is reminiscent of the movie The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, a movie I now want to watch all over again!

4 Stars

Book Description:

When doppelgänger best friends trade one’s cabin Christmas vacation for the other’s Hawaiian would’ve-been-honeymoon, both might just find love they weren’t expecting.

Holly Beech and Ivy Casey are bury-the-body besties. They’re so in sync, they even look alike. So when Holly’s fiancé jilts her, leaving her in shock and with a nonrefundable honeymoon, Holly convinces Ivy to switch places. Ivy will go on the Hawaiian honeymoon her best friend can’t bear to take alone, while Holly escapes to Ivy’s rented Hudson Valley cabin to binge-watch holiday movies and heal.

But Holly’s wallowing is interrupted when her rugged Airbnb host turns out to be her high school academic rival who’s had a major glow-up. Meanwhile, Ivy’s (now Hawaiian) annual solo art retreat is upended when Holly’s ex-fiancé checks into the honeymoon suite—with a new woman. Raging and bedless, the last thing Ivy expects is for the hot hotel bartender to come to her rescue. Against all odds, this Christmas might prove the most magical yet.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Julia McKay is the pen name of Marissa Stapley, a former magazine editor and New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club Pick Lucky, as well as international bestsellers Mating for Life, Things to Do When It’s Raining, and The Last Resort. She is also one half of the writing duo behind The Holiday Swap and All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox, and co-author of Three Holidays and a Wedding. Many of her novels have been optioned for television and her journalism has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Elle, Today’s Parent, and Reader’s Digest. She lives in Toronto with her family and a pre­cocious black cat named Oscar.

Review: The Best Lies by David Ellis

 

The Best Lies by David Ellis

Publication Date: July 23rd 2024 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 373

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Libro.fm | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I was a little hesitant to pick this up when I read Leo was a pathological liar, which was a label stuck on him that may or may not have fit. Not a fan of someone who lies all the time, but if/when he lied it was for the best of reasons and I loved how Leo’s clever manipulations of the truth kept him one step ahead of the bad guys! So many things were not as they seemed. I completely rooted for Leo, especially after that backstory.

I hit the 40% mark, and the story really took off, surprising twist and revelation at every turn! I stayed up into the wee hours to finish and see how it all turned out. The Best Lies was so good!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Bestselling and award-winning author David Ellis delivers a fast-paced, twisty thriller that will surprise readers at every turn.

Leo Balanoff is a diagnosed pathological liar with unthinkable skeletons in his family's closet. He's also a crusading attorney who seeks justice at all costs. When a ruthless drug dealer is found dead and Leo’s fingerprints show up on the murder weapon, no one believes a word he says. But he might be the FBI’s only shot at taking down the dealer’s brutal syndicate.

Risk his life going undercover for the feds or head straight to prison for murder? Leo accepts the FBI’s offer—but it comes with a price, including a collision course with his ex, Andi Piotrowski, a former cop and “the one who got away.” Forced to walk a tightrope between an ambitious FBI agent and a cruel, calculating crime boss, Leo’s trapped in a corner. But he has more secrets than anyone realizes, and a few more cards left to play.

AUTHOR BIO: David Ellis is a judge and a #1 New York Times-bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author of eleven novels of crime fiction, as well as nine books co-authored with James Patterson. In December 2014, Ellis was sworn in as the youngest-serving Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District. He lives outside Chicago with his wife and three children.