Author: veritywilde

It’s the first Wednesday of a new month, which means it’s time for another batch of quick reviews of some of the stuff I read last month that I haven’t already told you about. I’ve got another three for you this month – covering essays, Young Adult and romance.

Fence: Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan

I’ve mentioned the Fence graphic novel series before – the first one was a BotW back in 2019 in fact – and this is the first novelisation to go with the series. If you haven’t come across the graphic novels, it’s about a fencing team at an all boys boarding school some where in America (I want to say New England, but I’m not 100% sure about that!) and the rivalries and romances that ensue. This follows the members of the team (switching point of view between them) as they complete a team building exercise set by their coach to try and bring the very different personalities on the squad together and make them a closer unit. I really enjoyed it – and liked getting a glimpse what is going on with each of the team members beyond what you can see in the panels of a graphic novel.

Crane Wife by C J Hauser*

I still can’t quite work out what I think of this. Yes, it took me a while to read it, but I did go back and start again at one point so I don’t think you can really count that. There are some essays that I found really powerful, but as a whole I wasn’t sure it quite worked. I found that I was left a little frustrated at the end by a lack of conclusion. But perhaps that is what the author wanted. I also didn’t really like the author – or at least the way she portrayed herself – so maybe that played a part in it all. Still there are some really good high points in this – not just the Crane Wife essay that people may have encountered before.

I Like You Like That by Kayla Grosse

Our heroine is Birdie, a plus sized woman and successful musician – complete with industry accolades like Grammys – who has a problem: it seems someone is stalking her. When her record company and team insists she gets a body guard she is not enthusiastic – but when the guard in question turns out to be her former school friend, Liam, she’s outright angry. They haven’t spoke in a decade – after Liam rejected her. Can they find a way forward together? So firstly: do not let the cover fool you, the stalker in the blurb is not an idle threat, this does have a strong element of romantic suspense running through it, despite the drawn cover and the pastels. That’s not a reservation- that’s just a note to expect peril! My reservations on this were revolved around Liam’s rejection of Birdie back in the day, which for reasons I can’t really explain without spoilers was either completely un fixable or something that should have been solved immediately by having a simple conversation. In any event: don’t confess your love via DM/IM.

And that’s your lot for this month – a reminder that the Books of the Week in August were Chef’s Kiss, Small Miracles, Dating Dr Dil and Forget Me Not.

Happy Wednesday

On Sunday I wrote about The Wedding Singer on one of the biggest wedding weekends of the year, so for Recommendsday today, I thought I would recommend some romance novels set in or around weddings, because there are a lot of them – including a few that have come out recently.

I’m going to start with a new release – Jackie Lau’s Four Weddings to Fall in Love, which came out at the end of July and I read in early August. Max and Kim have a one night stand at a wedding – it doesn’t go brilliantly, but both of them think they’ll never have to see the other again. The universe is against them though and they then proceed to run into each other at more weddings. But it gives Ma a chance to redeem himself and over the course of the book it turns out that they may be a better fit for each other than that first encounter suggested. This is the steamiest Jackie Lau yet, but it still feels like her if that makes sense. I didn’t love the lack of resolution of Kim’s problems with her mum, but this is the first in a series, so I’m hoping that maybe her mum’s comeuppance is going to come later. I mentioned A Piece of Cake in the June quick reviews, but Mary Hollis Huddleston and Asher Fogle Paul’s previous book Without a Hitch is also set in the wedding industry – so if you liked the new one, go back and read the previous one to see why I struggled with the redemption of Claire so much!

A few years old now is Mia Sosa’s The Worst Best Man, where a wedding planner who was left at the altar has to work with her ex-fiancé’s brother for Romance Novel Reasons. I think you can see where that is going. This was on a bunch of the best romances of the year lists when it came out in 2020, and although I didn’t find it as funny as some of the write ups suggested I did like it, and made a note to read Sosa’s next book when it came my way (which it hasn’t yet). I really liked the Washington DC setting though – as I recognised a lot of the places that were mentioned from my time there!

Christina Lauren’s Unhoneymooners was a BotW back in 2019, so it’s out of the statute of limitations – although Christina Lauren as an author isn’t – you can read a full review if you click the link, but it’s a forced proximity, enemies to lovers romance, where the hero and heroine are the only two people from a bridal party not to go down with food poisoning after the reception and go on the honeymoon instead of the bride and groom.

Older Again is Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date. This was her debut romance back in 2018 and features a meet cute when a lift breaks down and a fake date to a wedding type scenario. I enjoyed it back when I read it – although her subsequent books haven’t always worked for me – but it should also be fairly easy to get hold of, I think I’ve even seen it in paperback relatively recently!

And that’s your lot! I’ve found a bunch more wedding-y books on my tbr while writing this, so you never know – there may yet be a follow up…