Review: The Geographer's Map to Romance by India Holton

 

The Geographer's Map to Romance (Love's Academic #2) by India Holton

Publication Date: April 8th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

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

My Thoughts:

Elodie and Gabriel are both professors at Oxford 1890s, in this alternate magical reality. They’re also married, but it was a marriage of convenience when it should’ve been the real thing, because they were both actually besotted. A misunderstanding had them estranged shortly after a couple of passion-filled nights.

 

Now Elodie and Gabriel are both sent to the same location to manage a magical disaster in the making, determine its source and prevent a full-on catastrophe.  This was fortuitous as it forced them together to work things out in between investigating and managing the locals.

 

The Geographer’s Map to Romance was a fun magical mystery/romance. Elodie was a hoot, a brilliant scatterbrain always seeing the positives in things. Gabriel was the broody, silent type but so devoted and protective of Elodie. They both needed to get out of their own way to realize the obvious: they were so in love! There were a lot of clever banter and laugh-out-loud moments. A pure delight!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission in this swoony historical-fantasy rom-com.

Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her--except her own personal disaster, that is: Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves.

Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either--except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They've been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn't stopped him from stoically pining for her.

When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of England, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there's no navigational guide for the geography of the heart.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books with "Dead" in the Title

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

The topic this week: Ten Books with "Dead" in the Title. 

It was a little harder than I thought to chose the one word because I wanted them all to be books I read and enjoyed. 

Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot #35) by Agatha Christie

Dead Man's List (San Diego #3) by Karen Rose

Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Dead Man's Wake (Mike Bowditch #14) by Paul Doiron

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates

Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James

Dead Heat (Alpha & Omega #4) by Patricia Briggs

Donners of the Dead by Karina Halle

Deeper Than the Dead (Oak Knoll #1) by Tami Hoag

Deadline by Sandra Brown

Have you read any of these? What word did you choose for your TTT? 

Sunday Post #292

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday!

Nothing exciting to report this week. We had my sister and her husband over for dinner and enjoyed catching up. I made comfort food, a chicken casserole with carrots, celery, onion in a cheesy sauce topped with cream cheese and chive rolled biscuits and apple pie for dessert. 

I watched the new film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Towards Zero with Matthew Rhys. It was good with a beautiful setting and costumes. Better than some of the more recent adaptations. Almost down with Downton Abbey and will start in on the movies as soon as we finish.

It's been cold and rainy today will be the same for tomorrow. It's so green and so many things are blooming: dogwood, lilac and our front field is full of yellow flowers. I did chores and a puzzle while listening to an audiobook. 

Lilacs

Cold and rainy but so green!

Puzzle: Pinch Penny Square by Charles Wysocki

Puzzle from Filoli Gardens: Wildflowers

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads listing)

Fate's Edge (The Edge #3) by Ilona Andrews 4.5 Stars

The Geographer's Map to Romance (Love's Academic #2) by India Holton 3.5 Stars

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler 4 Stars

Received:

Thank you to Berkley!

Instagram:

Had to use my flowering dogwood for a backdrop!

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How was your week?

Review: A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper

 

A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper

Publication Date: April 8th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 343

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★½

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

My Thoughts:

Jessamine Bricker organizes unique proposals, and her business is doing well. However, her apartment along with its office space is about to be sold and rent in Nashville could put her under. So, when Diana, an acquaintance from high school, wants to hire her so that her boyfriend, Trenton Tillard the Fourth, can get his proposal right she reluctantly agrees. Jess would rather have said no since Diana was part of the mean-girl crowd, but the money could give her the down payment she needs to buy the building.

 

Trenton decides he wants a destination proposal and so they head up to the Golden Ash, a remote Appalachia spa. The place is beautiful and luxurious with private villas and spa treatments, but Diana and her wedding planner are less than desirable company. Diana is a lot of drama and then to add to Jess’s troubles, she discovers one of the guests dead on the property. Was it an accident or murder? Is Jess or her party in danger?

 

Jess sets about doing some amateur sleuthing while tending to Diana’s never-ending drama. Along the way she makes friends with the Osbournes, the family that runs the spa. Jess ends up running into Dean Osbourne, the brilliant but prickly chef over and over.

 

A Proposal to Die For was an entertaining cozy mystery with Molly Harper’s signature fun shenanigans, but I was a little frustrated with Jess in parts. I wish she would’ve stood up for herself with Diana more, taken less risks and been less dense in the end. Still, things wrap up satisfyingly and there was even a bit of romance that made me smile. 

3.5 Stars

Book Description:

A fast-paced, witty, and delightful new mystery about a marriage proposal planner whose biggest job yet is threatened by a dead body (or two).

Jessamine Bricker loves a plan. Contingency plans and pros-and-cons lists are her love language, and because of that, her proposal planning business is thriving. But with rent costs rising at her office building, Jess jumps at the chance to plan a proposal between her snobby high school classmate, Diana, and her very wealthy boyfriend, Trenton Tillard…the Fourth.

Roped into joining Diana’s ”pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort, Jess hopes to fade into the background, get some work done, and maybe find some time to unwind. Their first day is anything but relaxing: Diana is furious about the mountain spa’s lack of cell phone reception, the couple next door argues constantly, and Jess swears she just saw a drug deal go down. To top it all off, she’s warned to stay out of the woods by the gruff and sexy chef, Dean Osbourne. Is this a retreat or a horror movie?

As Jess tries to do her job while placating the bride-to-be and her increasingly over-the-top demands, she spends more and more time with the resort owners, finding herself much more in tune with the laid-back Osbourne family than her social climbing “boss.” Between a meditation garden-related drowning and Jess’s discovery of a body in a sauna, it's clear that deadly secrets abound at the Golden Ash. Now it’s up to Jess to unravel the mysteries here in the mountains—before all her plans are cancelled…permanently.

Giveaway: 6 Books from Addicted & Calloway Series by Krista & Becca Ritchie

 As usual my bookshelves are bursting at the seams so I'm running another giveaway:

These are the special editions with bonus material:

Addicted to You

Ricochet

Addicted for Now

Addicted After All

Kiss the Sky

Hothouse Flower

 

The giveaway is open to US Residents only. Fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland

 

The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland

Publication Date: April 15th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

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

My Thoughts:

Four strangers having trouble dealing with their grief and moving forward are brought together as a group to try out a new way of therapy. All are reluctant.  

 

Callum, a famous musician, has been forced into this odd arrangement by his record label. Misha was in college but dropped out to be a caregiver. Freya, a successful interior decorator and happy wife before her tragedy; she now finds it hard to function. Victoria, a high-powered attorney, swears she’s not grieving but goes to appease her husband.

 

I was glued to the pages, eager to hear each of the characters’ stories! I was invested in all of them. Their stories were heartbreaking, mixed with anger, pain and regret. Callum and Freya’s stories grabbed me the most. I will say that even though the characters were dealing with grief it wasn’t a depressing story at all. There were lighthearted and heartwarming bits to balance it all out.

 

There’s a paranormal/magical twist to the story and I did wonder. I had a few guesses of what was going on. The ending was a bit different, but still a happy one!

 

The Seven O’clock Club was a touching and captivating debut! A definite recommend!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Four strangers are brought together to participate in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts in this surprising and heartfelt debut novel from author Amelia Ireland.

In a perfectly ordinary building, four strangers who couldn't be more different meet for the first time. Their skepticism of this new kind of grief therapy—and the unnervingly perceptive group leader—means they're all wary, but as the weeks go by, they find themselves returning again and again, pulled to work toward healing, even if it means first facing the pain head-on.

A sharp-tongued lawyer who has no intention of letting down her walls, a fragile young woman looking for a place to belong, a musician at the top of his game who's one drink away from losing it all, and an interior designer facing the crumbling of her picture-perfect life—this unlikely group slowly opens up, not only to the possibility of a happier future but to friendship, change, and even romance.

When a shocking revelation reveals the real reason they were chosen for this group, it shakes the very foundation of what they thought they knew. What began as a journey designed to heal turns out to be a much greater test of friendship, strength, and love as they realize happiness is just outside the door...if they're brave enough to seek it.

About the Author

Amelia Ireland lives in London but travels extensively to far flung places. She likes to rock climb, kite surf, and ride horses. She is also a mother to two very dramatic children.

Sunday Post #291

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday! 

It's been a beautiful week, a little cold here, but sunny. We went to Filoli in Woodside, California, which is a botanical garden/historic house built by the Bourne's, the family that owned the Empire Gold Mine out here. It was a long drive almost 3 hours, but it was worth it! The weather was sunny and warm, but not too warm. 

Filoli back gardens

Tulips were in bloom everywhere

Tea room

Rhododendron 

Wisteria was blooming everywhere!

Of course, the most important room in the house: The Library!

The photos I took didn't do it justice. It was gorgeous!

I subscribed to Britbox to watch the film adaptations of Agatha Christie. I've been re-reading her books by audio and watched A Murder is Announced (Miss Marple) and Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot). I have to say Hercule with David Suchet is my favorite. He narrates a few of the audio books too, which is a treat. There's a new film adaptation on Britbox of Towards Zero with Matthew Rhys. I haven't been a fan of the newer adaptations which have tried to "modernize" the stories. I hope Towards Zero is better.

Do you have any favorite book to film adaptations? I should do up a post with some of my favorites.

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland 4.5 Stars

The Eights by Joanna Miller 5 Stars

Heartwood by Amity Gage 3 Stars

I had a pretty good reading week. Loved The Eights and The Seven O'Clock Club, both by debut authors. I was hoping to love Heartwood, it really sounded like my kind of book, but it ended up being a mixed bag for me. 

Received:

Thank you to Minotaur Books!

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How was your week?

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. 

Top Ten Tuesday & TMST: Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List

 

This week I'm combining two weekly Tuesday memes:

I missed TMST and TTT's 2/25/25 topic. Both were Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List. I'm posting it now. Yep, I'm behind!

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. For info on TMST click HERE.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

(Click on cover to take you to Goodreads listing)

How to Seal Your Own Fate (Castle Knoll Files #2) by Kristen Perrin

Death at a Highland Wedding (A Rip Through Time #4) by Kelley Armstrong

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

Cold Burn (National Parks #2) by A. J. Landau

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson

Other People's Summers by Sarah Morgan

The Summer That Changed Everything by Brenda Novak

What is on your Spring TBR?