Category: books

Book of the Week, books

Book of the Week: The Soulmate Equation

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Oh it’s another contemporary romance book pick. Two weeks in a row. It was Valentine’s Day, it’s allowed. The fact that it’s Christina Lauren again, just a few months after Something Wilder got a mention in a Recommendsday and not a year since Roomies was a BotW pick, is less allowed. But it’s my blog and I make the rules so I can break them too.

This is a sort of enemies to lovers but definitely fake relationship romance featuring single mum Jess. She doesn’t date because she’s too busy keeping all the balls in the air – being a single mom, her business doing data and statistics, keeping a roof over her family’s head and looking after her grandparents. Her best friend Fizzy buys her a kit for a new DNA-based matchmaking services for her birthday and in a moment of weakness she submits her spit sample. Which turns up the highest match the company has ever seen – the trouble is the person the algorithm says is her perfect match is the company’s cofounder, Dr River Peña, who she already knows she can’t stand. But soon the company is offering to to pay her to see if she’s wrong and she finds herself spending more and more time with River and starts to wonder if there is something in this matching thing after all…

This is a delightful treat of a romance. It’s told purely from Jess’s point of view, which I started off by finding frustrating but after about fifty pages I didn’t mind because it meant you really didn’t know what was going on with River and whether he was falling for Jess or just playing along for the sake of the company. Jess’s daughter Juno is just the right side of romance children (and it’s a difficult line to tread) and I loved the set up with the apartment building with Jess’s grandparents in the bungalow in the garden.

I’m not a numbers and figures person (I dropped all maths and science just as soon as I could because I wanted to do languages and history) so I can’t speak to the accuracy of the data and stuff, but it made sense to me without losing me in the technicalities and detail. This is another fake relationship Christina Lauren (like Roomies was) and has no pranks or any of the bits of their novels that sometimes don’t work for me, so if you’re not a humour from embarrassment person, I have good news for you, this is safe to read.

I got this off the pile last week because when I was reading up on the next Christina Lauren for last week’s upcoming books post I discovered that the heroine of that is the aforementioned Fizzy, Jess’s best friend who a romance writer and thought I ought to read Soulmate Equation before that came out. And I’m glad I did because it’s great but I’m also now even more excited about The True Love Experiment than I was before.

I got my copy of The Soulmate Equation from either the supermarket or the Works, I can’t remember which, but it’s all over the place – I saw it in Foyles the other week any everything. And of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo and all the usual ebook outlets too.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 13 – February 19

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Another very busy week including a few nights away from home, but with a bit of excitement as well – like a panel about Eurovision and a trip to the Cotswolds. Oh and Valentine’s Day and even more romance reading because why not!

Read:

A Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh

In Farm’s Way by Amanda Flower*

A Lie for a Lie by Emilie Richards

Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Started:

Murder Served Neat by Michelle Hillen Klump*

The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras by J Michael Orenduff

Still reading:

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

The Empire by Michael Ball*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

One book pre-ordered, but that’s about it. I’m surprised at myself.

Bonus photo: Bourton-on-the-Water on Saturday. Beautiful but jam packed with people, although I think I’ve done quite a good job of disguising that in the picture!

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

Book of the Week, books, romance

Book of the Week: Nora Goes Off Script

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It’s Valentine’s Day today and we have a romance pick this week. Nora Goes Off Script is probably the easiest BotW choice in ages, for reasons which I will explain later in the post and (spoiler alert) are not the fact that it’s a romance and today is February 14th!

The plot: Nora is a scriptwriter for a romance channel, but after her husband leaves her and their two children she uses their breakup to write a script that doesn’t end in a chaste kiss and a happily ever after. And it sells to a movie company who want to film part of it on location at her farmhouse. Along with the film crew comes the film’s star: Leo Vance, former sexiest man alive and playing Nora’s ex. But when the film crew leaves, Leo doesn’t. And what turns into a week for him to clear his head turns into something more, something that can break your heart…

The Goodreads blurb calls this Evvie Drake Starts over meets Beach Read, and although I haven’t read Beach Read (yet) I have read Book Lovers and have been comparing it to Emily Henry to people so let’s call that pretty accurate. It’s romantic and sweet but it’s also relaxing. Yes Leo and Nora’s relationship doesn’t go smoothly but there’s no peril, and actually Nora does that thing I love in books of figuring out who she is and what she wants and the fact that she gets a handsome man by the end is a delightful bonus not the solution to her problems. Did that make any sense? It’s like in Legally Blonde: Elle is successful by the end because of her hard work and brains not because of a relationship. Yes she ends up with Emmett but he’s not the reason why she wins the case and gets voted valedictorian*.

I bought this while writing the Recommendsday post, started it in bed on Tuesday night and read nearly 100 pages without noticing (and definitely not what I meant to do and had finished it before bedtime on Wednesday. And then I read the last 20 percent again on the train to work on Thursday. Yup. I liked it that much. In fact writing this has made me want to go and read it all over again. It’s Annabel Monaghan’s first adult novel and I am already really looking forward to her second one which is due out in June. If it’s anything like as good as this I’ll be a happy girl.

As I said last week – this is 99p on Kindle at the moment and I don’t think you will regret it. I don’t know how easy the paperback will be to find – I couldn’t see it in Foyles on Friday, but that’s not foolproof.

Happy Reading!

* this is the crux of my biggest issue with the stage musical version of the show where Elle definitely succeeds because Emmet helps her and tells her what to do. But I digress.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 6 – February 12

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Well in case you couldn’t tell, I had quite a fun week last week – with a trip to the theatre and a nice meal out with my parents. Work continues a little busy, but I’m hoping this week coming will be better as it is half term week for the people with children. I’m due to be in town a couple of nights again and I’m hoping to have a bit of fun, so we’ll see what they does to next week’s list. As for this week, I finally got a book off the long running list, which is quite the achievement given my recent record. If only I can manage another before the end of the month!

Read:

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan

Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh

Invitation to a Killer by G M Malliet*

Vera Kelly: Lost and Found by Rosalie Knecht

Exes and O’s by Amy Lea*

Started:

A Lie for a Lie by Emilie Richards

In Farm’s Way by Amanda Flower*

Still reading:

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

The Empire by Michael Ball*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen

Well, one book in Foyles (on top of the three in there last week) ahead of Noises Off, and one on kindle while I was writing the Kindle Offers post.

Bonus photo: a frosty morning in Fitzroy Square last week. For once I had a whole week of cold but dry on the commute!

*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, The pile

Books Incoming: mid-February edition

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Well I suppose it’s a smaller selection than the last one, so I should try and be pleased with that. But if you think that these AND everything in the birthday post are all January acquisitions, then you’ll see why I find that not a lot to cheer about. Anyway, to the actual books. The Elizabeth Taylor is Kate Andersen Brower’s new book and given my interest in classic Hollywood and how much I enjoyed her books about the White House and it’s occupants, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that I bought it for myself for my birthday. I also bought myself (or rather preordered myself) the signed Really Good, Actually which I just kept hearing about all over the place. As I mentioned in the post about the Christy Kennedy series, there are a few I haven’t read – and I’ve bought a couple of them after writing the post!

Then there’s the last two Emilie Richards Ministry is Murder books which I’ve been eying for a long time and bought in a week moment and The Foyles Three (as alluded to last weekend) – two romances because they had an offer on and how could I resist and the very, very discounted cosy crime which is from a series that I read several of via NetGalley years ago and haven’t seen around for ages. All in all not a bad haul and if only it wasn’t for the state of the to read bookshelf I would be quite happy. As it is the overspill pile is getting out of control so now I will have to redouble my efforts now I have finished the Meg Langslow reread!

books

Rec me: Historical Romances!

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I’ve noticed that I’m in a bit of historical romance reading slump. I’m reading lots of romances – I finished a great one last night – but they’re pretty much all contemporary ones. A couple of my favourite authors have slowed their pace (or taken a hiatus) and that’s fine – but I haven’t managed to find any replacements for them yet. So please send me your suggestions. I don’t really do anything before the Tudor era (and it has to be pretty special to make me go back far) and I don’t really want highlanders. But apart from that go for it – especially if they’re more recent than regency because I have read so many of them.

To help with what I have read, here are some posts about Sarah MacLean, Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Tessa Dare, Mary Balogh and obvs you know I like Georgette Heyer. Oh and I like historical mysteries like Lady Julia Grey and Lady Emily and Veronica Speedwell so you can factor that sort of thing in too!

Thanking you!

Book of the Week, books, detective, Forgotten books, mystery

Book of the Week: Death of an Author

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Another classic crime reissue from the British Library this week – this is the book I mentioned that I hadn’t finished in time for the Quick Reviews and in the end that’s turned out to be a good thing as it means I can write about it at a greater length here. And I’m also relatively timely for once – as this was one of the BLCC’s January releases.

The author of the title is Vivian Lestrange, the reclusive person behind several bestselling mystery novels. He is reported missing by his secretary – who arrived for work one day and found the house locked up and her boss – and his housekeeper – vanished without a trace. But the investigation is mired in confusion from the start – there is no body and there is even doubt about whether Lestrange really exists. Could the secretary, Eleanor, perhaps be him? Bond and Warner from Scotland Yard have a real job on their hands.

I enjoyed this so much. Lorac has set up a seemingly impossible crime and laid so many red herrings around that you can’t work out what you’re meant to think. And then there’s the humour. As previously mentioned E C R Lorac is a pen name for Carol Carnac, a woman mystery writer. And it’s clear that she’s having a lot of fun at the expense of reviewers and readers of the time who couldn’t believe that a woman could write mysteries the way that she did. It’s just delightful. I read it in about two giant sittings, across 36 hours and if I hadn’t had to get on with my normal life I would have read it even faster! It was first published in 1935 and has been incredibly rare and hard to get hold of until now – which is a bit boggling because it is so good – so thank goodness for the British Library!

I got Death of an Author through my Kindle Unlimited subscription, so that’s the only ebook platform you can get it on at the moment, but you can of course buy it in paperback direct from the British Library shop where they are doing three for two at the moment so you could pick up some of the others that I have recommended recently – or potentially through your local bookshop that carries the BLCC series as it only came out in the middle of January so it may well be in their latest selection.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 30 – February 5

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It is official: I have finished the Meg Langslow re-read and I now have to wait until *checks* August for a new one. But, even though it’s been a blast, it has set me behind some of my other goals for the year. The best the to read page in my journal is looking worryingly empty. And this week hasn’t really helped that much as I was away for four nights and didn’t take a book with me – and I bought three on that trip to Foyles on Friday. Oopsie daisy. Still at least I made some progress on the NetGalley list and a lot of progress on one of the long runners. Maybe this week…

Read:

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

Vermeer to Eternity by Anthony Horowitz

Death of an Author by E C R Lorac

Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross*

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood*

Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews

Crowned and Mouldering by Kate Carlisle

Started:

Vera Kelly: Lost and Found by Rosalie Knecht

Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen

Still reading:

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

The Empire by Michael Ball*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

Exes and O’s by Amy Lea*

Three books bought in Foyles, plus one Kindle book. And the audiobook on CD of the last (chronologically) Amelia Peabody so that Him Indoors can hear how it all ends!

Bonus photo: as I mentioned, I was away for four nights – this time staying near St Paul’s cathedral. So I offer you a lovely nighttime photo of that, that I took on my way back from the theatre on Friday.

*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

January Stats

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Books read this month: 30*

New books: 13

Re-reads: 17

Books from the to-read pile: 4

NetGalley books read: 2

Kindle Unlimited read: 3

Ebooks: 15

Audiobooks: 6

Non-fiction books: 0

Favourite book this month: Of the new stuff, probably The Three Dahlias

Most read author: Donna Andrews – 11 Meg Langslows, only one left in the reread now

Books bought: I mean I’d rather not talk about it to be honest. Probably about 20!

Books read in 2023: 30

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 669

Minor tweaks to the format of the stats for 2023 – taking out library books, for now at least. Aside from that the new year continued as the end of the old – with the Meg Langslow binge. But as I only have one left now, that can’t really continue so I look forward to seeing what I replace it with in February!

Bonus picture: from our day out in Wells as part of our trip. You may recognise this as a location from Hot Fuzz, and yes we were intermittently muttering lines from the movie at each other all day!

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 4 this month

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 23 – January 29

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So I’m realising that the problem with some of the long runners (I’ll let you work out which) is that they are books I need to concentrate on, and also a bit miserable. And this means that I need to be in the right mood for them (and one of them is also a hardback) and my brain is a bit frazzled right now, so it’s been happy to carry on down the Meg Langslow binge reread (only one left now!) as well as romance. I’m working on it though. I’ll get there in the end.

Read:

The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson

Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh

Missing Christmas by Kate Clayborn

Twelve Jays of Christmas by Donna Andrews

Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn*

Round Up the Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews

Started:

Irish Coffee Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross*

Still reading:

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

The Empire by Michael Ball*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

Exes and O’s by Amy Lea*

Well I may have picked up a couple of books (one ebook, one actual book) but that’s much, much better than last week so I’m counting it as a total win!

Bonus photo: A new plant, to soothe my wounded heart after I killed off a couple a few weeks back. Say hi to Fern-mino!

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