All Books Considered

The Crime Brûlée Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly Blurb from Goodreads : An unexpected romance. A haunting mystery. Pastries to die for. The Great British Baking Show meets a cozy mystery with a contemporary romance and a Regency-era twist. Amateur baker Claire Walker is thrilled to be a contestant on Britain’s Battle of the Bakers. She can almost smell the fresh pastries wafting through the air. If she can win the grand prize, she can ditch her teaching job and launch her baking career. The Viscount of Colburn, Jonathan Ainsley, is the custodian of Blackfirth Park and an eligible bachelor. He reluctantly agrees to allow the cooking competition show to film on his estate, but when a contestant is found dead soon after filming begins, Jonathan is forced to get involved. To make matters worse, the baker’s death stirs up rumors of the legendary death of the t...

Hope by Andrew Ridker Blurb from Goodreads : The Greenspan family are the envy of Brookline, Massachusetts. Scott Greenspan is a successful cardiologist. His wife is a pillar of the community, his daughter works at a distinguished New York publishing house and his son is at medical school, preparing to follow in his footsteps. They are an exceptional family, living in exceptional times. But when Scott is caught faking blood test results, he sets in motion a series of scandals that threatens to shatter his family. HOPE is a painfully funny account of the tumultuous year that follows, written by one of the most brilliant young American novelists at work today. My Review: This was billed as funny but I didn't find it funny at all.  Well written?  Yes.  But such a disturbing, messy family that it made me sad.  Although i will say that the book kept taking me places I did not expect!  If you lik...

Too Soon by Betty Shamieh Blurb from Goodreads : Arabella gets an unexpected chance at love when she’s thrust into a conflict and history she’s tried to avoid all her life. Zoya is playing matchmaker for her last unmarried granddaughter and stirring up buried memories. Naya is keeping a secret from her children that will change all their lives. Thirty-five-year-old Arabella, a New York theatre director whose dating and career prospects are drying up, is offered an opportunity to direct a risqué cross-dressing interpretation of a Shakespeare classic—that might garner international attention—in the West Bank. Her mother, Naya, and grandmother, Zoya, hatch a plot to match her with Aziz, a Palestinian American doctor volunteering in Gaza. Arabella agrees to meet Aziz, since her growing feelings for Yoav, a celebrated Israeli American theatre designer, seem destined for disaster... With biting hilarity, Too Soon introduces ...

Comedic Timing by Upasna Barath Blurb from Goodreads : Naina Rao is ready for this to be her She’s entered her mid-twenties, landed a steady job, broken up with her intensely passionate older girlfriend Sofia, and committed to hustling her way into a creative career. But the city doesn’t exactly embrace her with open arms – at least not until she meets David, an aspiring filmmaker and collaborator who makes New York start to feel like home. But is this a professional connection or a romantic one? And does opening herself up to a relationship with David mean compromising her sexual identity and her aspirations? The third book from 831 Stories, a modern romantic fiction company that prioritizes pleasure reading and the genre’s enthusiastic fans. For more pleasure reading, follow @831storieshq. My Review: 831 Stories are quickly becoming must reads.  I've read all the ones that have been released so far and have ...

She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke Blurb from Goodreads : With a colorful cast of characters and a cellar full of wine, anything can happen―from murder to a second chance at love―in Jenny Elder Moke's half mystery, half romance adult debut set at a lavish destination wedding. A high-end wedding on a private island off the coast of Seattle sounds like something out of a magazine. But for bestselling mystery author Kate Valentine, it’s more like a nightmare. Why Kate agreed to attend her ex-fiancé’s wedding is its own enigma, but she’ll plaster on a fake smile for two nights, with the aid of free champagne, naturally. And because the groom happens to be her editor, she’ll try to finish a draft of her latest Loretta Starling mystery as a wedding gift. But when the bride is poisoned and Kate stumbles across a dead body, she finds herself i...

Night of a Thousand Darlas by Brooke Abrams Blurb from Goodreads : Liza Day’s mother isn’t dead, but leave it to Darla Day to throw herself a funeral anyway. It’s the kind of attention grab Liza left behind to build a quiet life for herself and rebellious teenage daughter, Avery. But between her students discovering her old daytime TV show and putting her teaching job at risk to her mother’s unexpected funeral invitation, Liza’s life feels truly like a soap opera. When Liza returns to her family’s historic Day Ranch for her mother’s premature farewell, she’s not sure what to expect. Darla’s always been known for eccentricities, both on-screen and off-screen. Thankfully, Liza has her siblings to help navigate Mom’s antics, which include everyone dressing as one of Darla’s many iconic film characters, a harem of white rabbits, and one surprise Liza’s for...

Something Rotten by Andrew Lipstein Blurb from Goodreads : In his crackling new novel, Andrew Lipstein makes you question everyone, everything, and—above all—the very nature of truth. Cecilie is a fed-up New York Times reporter. Her husband, Reuben, is a disgraced former NPR host and grudging stay-at-home dad. Neither can wait to flee New York and spend the summer in Copenhagen, Denmark, Cecilie’s hometown. But their vacation begins to turn inside out as soon as they Cecilie’s first love, Jonas, has been diagnosed with a rare, fatal illness. All her friends are desperate to get him help—except for Mikkel, a high-powered journalist who happens to be the only one Jonas will listen to. Mikkel’s influence quickly extends to Reuben, who’s not only intoxicated by Mikkel’s charm but discovers in him a new model of masculinity—one he found hopelessly absent in...

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins Blurb from Goodreads : Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One. A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together. As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morga...

Playworld by Adam Ross Blurb from Goodreads : A big and big-hearted novel—one enthralling, transformative year in the life of a child actor coming of age in a bygone Manhattan, from the critically acclaimed author of Mr. Peanut (“A brilliant, powerful, and memorable book” —The New York Times)     Griffin Hurt is in over his head. Between his role as Peter Proton on the hit TV show The Nuclear Family and the pressure of high school at New York's elite Boyd Prep—along with the increasingly compromising demands of his wrestling coach—he's teetering on the edge of collapse.  Then comes Naomi Shah, twenty-two years Griffin’s senior. Unwilling to lay his burdens on his shrink—whom he shares with his father, mother, and younger brother, Oren—Griffin soon finds himself in the back of Naomi’s Mercedes sedan, again and again, confessing all to the one person who might do him the most harm. Less a bildungsroman than...