Book of the Week, books, romance, romantic comedy

Book of the Week: Dating Dr Dil

So. Quite a difficult choice this week because there wasn’t anything that I finished that I didn’t have a few reservations about. I actually wrote another book up as BotW before I wrote this one because that first one just didn’t feel right because I didn’t like it enough. But – I had less issues with this than I did with the other options, and I read it really quite quickly which is always a positive sign with me. Plus the next book in the series came out last week (which I had forgotten I had preordered, hurrah for Past Verity sending a nice suprise) so it’s sort of timely. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it anyway.

Cover of Dating Dr Dil

Our heroine is Kareena, who dreams of a big love story, but at the start of Dating Dr Dil it’s the morning of her 30th birthday and it hasn’t happened for her so she’s about to hit the dating apps. Then her family forget her birthday and drop the bombshell that her dad is selling the family home that her mum had renovated and poured her heart into. Kareena and her dad strike a deal: if she can find her soulmate before her sister’s engagement party, he’ll give her the house. Our hero is Prem, a cardiologist who doesn’t believe in love and who has a TV talk show that he’s using to boost his profile to try and fund the medical centre he wants to set up. When he and Kareena first meet it turns into an argument that goes viral and his donors start to pull out. So he proposes a plan: they should date – to restore his image, but also so her dad will follow through on his deal about the house. But how does that fit with Kareena wanting true love?

This is a reimagining of the main plot strand of The Taming of the Shrew – the Petruchio and Katherina bit (not the Bianca bit) or alternatively if you’re a musical fan the Fred/Lili bit of Kiss Me, Kate. And if you’re feeling frustrated with how some of the characters are behaving, remind yourself of that fact and use it to channel your annoyance to the source material. I wanted the two of them to come to their senses a bit earlier, but: plots need conflict, even if Verity wants every one to be happy all the time. But this is basically an enemies to lovers romance with a side order of meddling friends and family and that makes it a lot of fun really.

My copy was on Kindle – bought when it was on a really good offer a while back- but it’s also on Kobo is £2.99 on both at the moment which is quite a good deal really. It’s also in a paperback edition that I’ve even seen in stores. And the next in the series is out now – this time it’s retelling Much Ado About Nothing.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 7 – August 13

Well. After my busy week at work last week, this week was equally busy at work. And now I’m tired. So tired. And I think my brain is tired too, because by the end of the week I was really struggling to concentrate on a book or settle into reading. At least I’m blaming tiredness because I can’t think of anything else it might be! Anyway, the two on the started list are the two I got to at least 50 pages on and I’m ignoring the pile of discards by my end of the sofa! At least I finished one of the long runners though so that’s something.

Read:

Dating Dr Dil by Nisha Sharma

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

Deadly Company by Ann Granger

The Problem with Perfect by Philip William Stover

I Like You Like That by Kayla Grosse

The Crane Wife by C J Hauser*

Started:

The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden by Kate Saunders

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Still reading:

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes by Kate Strasdin*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker*

Four books on trip into town to do something else on Sunday, where I accidentally ended up in both Waterstones and The Works. Whoops

Bonus photo: another Morph! This time at Cannon Street Station on Saturday night.

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, Forgotten books, series

Mystery Series: Nancy Spain

I’ve actually named this post for the author of the series because it feels too complicated to do anything else. Today I’m talking about Nancy Spain’s post-WW2 detective (well sort of) novels that feature Natasha DuVivien and Miriam Birdseye – particularly the four that have been republished by Virago in the last couple of years.

Written in the late 1940s and early 1950s the books follow a madcap theatrical duo who stumble across murders in the course of their (more or less) glamorous lives. Miriam is an actress and Natasha is a dancer and as I said in my BotW post about Death Goes on Skis it’s more about the satire and the black humour than it is about solving the actual mysteries. Depending on your reading tastes there’s a lot that she’s satirising here – school stories, mysteries set in theatres, etc. But there’s also a lot of hiding in plain sight queer representation that Nancy Spain snuck in there.

I think they’re going to divide opinion – I enjoyed them, but mum gave up on them I think because they were too much of a mishmash of mystery and also Evelyn Waugh-y satire. And your reaction to that sentence may determine whether these are going to work for you at all!

Virago have done reissues of but there are others in secondhand/collectible only that I haven’t read. You should be able to get hold of the Viragos in bookshops with a reasonable sized fiction section.

Happy Reading!

books

Rec Me: Romances with musicians

I was at the Proms earlier this week, and at The Chicks last month and it’s given me a yearning for some romances with musicians. The Chicks made me want one with backing musician who is secretly in love with his lead singer, who only sees him as a friend, and the Proms made me wonder about whether there are any orchestra-y ones – but I’m not sure what that would involve. I read one the other month with a concert pianist, but it took a turn into romantic suspense that wasn’t what I wanted it to do! So maybe it’s a soloist and the conductor of the orchestra they’re guest performing with? A bit like Sebastian and Veronica from Sadlers Wells but without the ballet or the bit where he ignores her for years because he doesn’t think she should have put her career over his performance. Even though he would have done the same if the situation was reversed. Not that I’m averse to ballet related romances either if that’s all I can get. Or opera. But no eating disorders or fat shaming. That’s all I ask.

Hit me with your suggestions in the comments pretty please!

books, books on offer

Recommendsday: August Kindle Offers

It’s the second Wednesday of the month again – so you know what that means! Yes, hide your wallets, I’m about to tempt you into some serious buying action with the current crop of Kindle offers. After all, given that I end up buying stuff when I write it, it’s only fair that you buy some too…

First up – one of last month’s BotWs and also very new release Business or Pleasure is 99p as is You with a View (which was in last month’s Quick Reviews) and Annabel Monaghan’s latest book Same Time Next Summer (as mentioned in the Summer Romances post). Another recent BotW Christina Lauren’s The True Love Experiment is 99p as is Elissa Sussman‘s Funny You Should Ask

If you’re after Murder mysteries rather than romance, then The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz from his Hawthorne series 99p and Rev Richard Coles’s Murder before Evensong still 99p. The Murder Game – Tom Hindle’s second book after Fatal Crossing – is 99p as well and I really must get around to reading it!

Another one I need to get around to reading (but not crime as far as I know) is Small Miracles, which is 99p, I presume because it has arrived in paperback but there is also a sequel is arriving in the autumn, because I saw a proof copy in the office last week. I have Meryl Wilsner’s debut Something to Talk about somewhere in the backlog – Mistakes Were Made ahead of her next one, which is out in September. Also in romances on offer presumably ahead of the next release is Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, which I read recently along with the next in the series, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail.

In authors I have recently enjoyed, The Storied Life of A J Fikry – from Gabrielle Zevens who wrote Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – is 99p. I’m still waiting for news on what Brit Bennett is going to write next, but I’ve seen Vanishing Half around a fair bit recently and that’s also 99p.

I wrote about Mary Balogh’s Survivors Club series not that long ago and this month Remember Me from her Ravenswood series is on offer. It only came out in June and is book two in the series. I of course still need to read book one! As you may have noticed in the weekly posts; I still need to finish The Other Side of Mrs Wood, but its £1.99 at the moment and I think if you liked

If you want some none fiction, Adrian Tinniswood’s The Long Weekend is 99p – I read it back in the pre blog era but if you like history this is the story of the aristocracy and their house parties through the years.

This month we have an increasing number of weird looking Peter Wimsey editions so I don’t even know if I can recommend them at the moment. Oh copyright expiry, how you confuse things! But Cotillion is the 99p Georgette Heyer this month,

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 31 – August 6

I said last week that this week was going to be a busy one, and it really was. So very, very busy. But mostly in a good way so that’s positive. Anyway, we’re into August now, and the height of British Summer – which for me last week meant getting rained on *and* bitten to death by an unknown insect, but probably mozzies. I have a really strong reaction to bites, so I spent the second half of the week looking like a plague victim with oozing welts on my arms. Delightful. Fingers crossed this week is better!

Read:

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer

Four Weddings to Fall in Love by Jackie Lau

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

The Chopping Spree by Diane Mott Davidson

A Fire at the Exhibition by T E Kinsey*

Started:

Dating Dr Dil by Nisha Sharma

The Problem with Perfect by Philip William Stover

Still reading:

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes by Kate Strasdin*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker*

The Crane Wife by C J Hauser*

One preorder arrived and that was it. A positive start to the month, but I still have the Kindle offer post to write so it probably won’t last!

Bonus photo: Sunday afternoon ironing with one of my favourite classic films on the TV. Yes there are some issues with Pillow Talk but I still love it to bits.

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats

July Stats

Books read this month: 30*

New books: 21

Re-reads: 7 (all audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 11

NetGalley books read: 7

Kindle Unlimited read: 3

Ebooks: 2

Audiobooks: 7

Non-fiction books: 0

Favourite book this month: Really hard to chose – either Seven Year Slip or Business or Pleasure

Most read author: if you don’t count the Georgette Heyers in the audiobook re-reads, then it’s Kate Carlisle – with the latest Fixer-Upper mystery and one of her Bibliophile mysteries

Books bought: 11 ebooks, 10 books and two pre-orders arriving. Oops

Books read in 2023: 221

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 699

I need to do better on the non-fiction front, but apart from that, I’m doing ok on the variety front but perhaps not so much on the purchasing one…

Bonus picture: the Albert Memorial after the Proms the other night. What a sunset. And so much gold leaf…

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 1 this month

books

Series Redux: Meg Langslow

The latest book in the series is out this week – the brilliantly titled Birder, She Wrote so considering I did a complete reread of the series finishing earlier this great, how could I not point you at my series post for Donna Andrews’ brilliant Meg Langslow series today? Exactly. It would be criminal. Nb The Good, The Bad and the Emu may still be the best title.

Happy Friday everyone!

books, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: July Quick Reviews

The Bodyguard by Katherine Centre

I’d been waiting a while for this one to come out in the UK so I was excited to read it – it’s another famous person and normal person type romance, this time the hero is a film star and the heroine is a personal protection agent aka a bodyguard. She’s hired to protect him from a potential stalker and finds herself in Texas after he goes back to his family ranch to see his sick mum. I wasn’t quite sure what Jack saw in Hannah – and vice versa, but I’ve had that issue with a couple of books recently – so it may be that I’ve just been spoilt by so many really good romances. Anyway, I know that lots of other people have loved this and I liked it enough that I’m still going to be looking out for Center’s latest book, which also just came out here!

My Turn to Make Tea by Monica Dickens

This follows the trials and tribulations of a junior reporter at a local paper in the late 19040s and early 1950s. Poppy’s main issue is not her inexperience but her gender. Her colleagues in the office don’t really think women belong in the newsroom, and her landlady views her with suspicion as well. This is based on Monica Dicken’s own experiences at a provincial newspaper and it has some really witty moments and it is interesting to see how life has changed but – probably because it’s semi autobiographical – not a lot actually happens in terms of an overarching plot. Nice but not spectacular.

You with a View by Jessica Joyce*

This is a new release from this month – and while I didn’t love it, I’m giving it a quick mention because I know that road trip romances are really popular and although I’ve read better ones recently (Mrs Nash’s Ashes for example) if they’re your favourite trope, you’ll probably want to read this. Our heroine is Noelle who has recently lost her grandmother, who she was very close to. In her gran’s paperwork she finds some letters that suggest her grandma had a love affair before her grandfather. Noelle sets out to find out what happened by posting a video including a photo of her gran and the mystery man on Tiktok. And it turns out the man is Paul – still around and who offers to take her on the roadtrip he and her grandma had planned to take together as their honeymoon. Only trouble is Paul wants his grandson to come too – and that grandson turns out to be Noelle’s high school nemesis. I loved this as a premise – but didn’t love the execution. I don’t think there was enough insight into the heroine to understand her properly and their super competitive relationship didn’t feel like a great basis for something long term. But I know that competitive relationships are something that don’t really work for me very well – see also pranking as a love language – but are something that other people really love.

And that’s your lot from me this month. It’s been a very publishing-set books heavy month – with three Books of the Week being romances set in the industry (The Seven Year Slip, Business or Pleasure and The Neighbor Favor) plus a recommendsday. The other BotWs were Acts of Violet and Come as You Are, and I also finally wrote that Marriages of Convenience post I’ve been threatening for actual years!

Happy Humpday everyone.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 24 – July 30

Finally I have got a book off the long running list finished! I was aiming for two, but I’ll take one. Not a bad week in reading all in actually – there are a couple on here that you’ll be hearing about at various points in the future – this week and beyond! I’ve got an incredibly busy week coming at me this week so we’ll see what that does to the list – but it’s also the end of July so there’ll be the stats and quick reviews so you’re all covered here.

Read:

The Empire by Michael Ball*

The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer

Come As You Are by Jess K Hardy

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer

The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead*

The Dating Plan by Sara Desai

Ruined by Sarah Vaughn et al*

Started:

Chopping Spree by Diane Mott Davidson*

Still reading:

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes by Kate Strasdin*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker*

The Crane Wife by C J Hauser*

A couple of ebooks bought and one paperback. The ebooks were beacsue I was catching up on samples that I’d got because they were on offer and I was worried the offers would end at the end of the month. And the paperback was an impulse purchase when buying something else

Bonus photo: another Morph model – this time near Liverpool Street.

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.