Adult Fiction

Sandwich

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by Catherine Newman
First sentence: “Picture this: a shorelined peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the adult fiction section of the bookstore.

I usually don’t take my boss’s recommendations when it comes to books; she and I just have too different of reading preferences. She likes deeply literary things (and mysteries) and I prefer character- and plot-driven genre fiction. So, when she told me I really needed to read this one, I kind of brushed it off.

And then I kept seeing it everywhere, from people whose tastes are more similar to mine, and whose opinions I respect. And so I picked up for myself for Christmas.

I hate to say it, but my boss was right: I needed to read this one. It’s the story of one week in summer, a family vacation – mom, dad, two adult children, one partner, grandparents – all coming together. It’s about nothing, really, just snippets of their vacation. But it’s also about everything. It’s about growing older as a woman, watching your kids get older and become adults themselves, about redefining what it means to be a woman, a person who was once needed and now no longer is, really. It made me laugh – Newman’s observations about menopause, abou the barely contained anger and frustration, about the conflicting emotions (rage, gratitude, regret, joy) you constantly feel as a woman, are spot on – and it made me sob.

It’s a slight thing, this novel, but it packs a punch. And I am glad I finally got around to it.

The Bridge Kingdom

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by Danielle L. Jensen
First sentence: “Lara rested her elbows on the low sandstone wall, her eyes fixed on the glowing sun descending over the distant mountain peaks, nothing between here and there but scorching sand dunes, scorpions, and the occasional lizard.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is violence (lots- the body count is high in this one), on-page sex, and swearing including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Lara – along with 19 of her half-sisters – has been trained by her father, the king of Maridrina – with one goal in mind: marry King Aren, the king of the Bridge Kingdom, gain his trust, infiltrate his country, and help her father bring the country to its knees. At first, Lara is all-in on this plan: she has come to believe that Aren and his country are responsible for the starvation and plagues in her own. But, as she comes to know Aren and his people, she’s not so sure. Perhaps, just maybe, things are not quite as they seem.

I had kind of low expectations going into this one, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a solid fantasy – I liked the world-building that Jensen did, which never felt overly expository, and I liked the characters she developed. I didn’t get much of a sense of many of the minor characters (there were so many!), but Lara and Aren were really fully developed, which I liked. I did think the sex was a little bit… performative? If that’s the right word; it just didn’t feel as connected as I feel it could have been. My biggest complaint though was the twist with 40 pages left in the book. I don’t mind reading a sequel, but I do get a bit annoyed when the story is left unfinished and I feel I have to read the sequel to finish it out. That said, though, Jensen is a decent writer, and this was a solid book

Fast & Reckless

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by Amanda Weaver
First sentence: “Will Hawley downshifted, desperately attempting to hang onto his car as the laws of physics tried to rip it off the track.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs, as well as quite a bit of on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Mira Wentworth has been away from the F1 circuit for seven years, when she was exiled in discrace. Will Hawley is back on the F1 circuit after 3 years away, ever since his disastrous rookie season. When both of them show up to the new season – Mira as her father’s personal assistant (he’s the team principal) and Will as a driver – neither of them want a relationship. Mostly because a relationship between them would be disastrous. But, there’s chemistry, and tension, and sparks fly (pun intended!), and yeah… of course there will be drama. It’s F1.

Things I liked: that Mira’s scandal was truly horrifying, and her coming to terms with it was a definite growth arc. Will was very sassy, though I’m not as convinced he’s changed. The spice level was high but not off the charts. I have no idea how accurate the behind-the-scenes F1 stuff was, but it was fun to travel the world to the places I have seen on screen and in the app. None of the people were real, but there were elements; I could guess at who, maybe, that driver could be. It was silly and it was fun, and it was a quick read.

I really don’t want much more out of a romance, especially an F1 one.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal

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by Sarah Adams
First sentence: “I don’t care who you are, when you live in a town the size of your thumb, if you don’t like the way your hair turns out at the salan, you stuff it deep down an never acknowledge it.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: When in Rome
Content: There is a narcissistic parent, swearing, including f-bombs, and a couple of on-screen sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Emily Walker and Jackson Bennett have been bickering and competing since they met (accidentally; he bumped into her and spilled coffee on her shirt) their freshman year of college. So, she should be happy that he’s moved to Nebraska to marry his fiance. But, she’s not, not really. And so when she hears that he’s back in town after breaking his wedding off, and moving in next door, she shouldn’t be as furious as she… kind of is? As the summer goes on, Jack and Emily realize that maybe their bickering and competing is maybe hiding something deeper.

I was looking for something light and fun to read and this absolutely fit the bill. I know there’s another one in the series that I haven’t read (I think I have it on audio) but it doesn’t really matter. I liked the banter between Emily and Jack and I liked that Adams gave them both a darker deeper backstory. It gave the book enough depth to make it have some weight, but honestly, I was there for the fun. And it absolutely delivered.

Maybe I will get around to listening to the other one now.

Audiobook: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales

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by Heather Fawcett
Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
Content: There are some intense moments and a bit of faerie violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first two, obviously.

Emily and Wendell have returned to Wendell’s kingdom, the Silver Loopie, for him to take his place as ruler. It’s not all fun and games, because the former queen, Wendell’s stepmother, isn’t quite dead yet and has put a curse on the land poisoning it. It’s up to Emily, and her immense knowledge of fairy stories, to figure out which story this is playing out as, and how to set the Silver Loopie to rights. And, maybe somewhere along the way, she will figure out how to be the queen of a faerie realm.

I probably guessed somewhere along the way, that this was going to be the end of Emily and Wendell’s adventures, and while I’m sad to see them go, I love the way Fawcett wrapped them up. It had everything I have come to adore about these books: faerie magic, a bit of tension between Emily and Wendell, her dog Shadow (love the dog!), and adventures that she approaches scholarly. It was as charming and as wonderful as the other two.

I do have to admit that I got an advance copy of this book, and tried to read it but couldn’t connect with it. It wasn’t until I picked it up in audio and started listening that I realized that these books, while charming and delightful on their own, are made for audio. Potter does such as wonderful job capturing Emily’s voice and mannerisms, that she makes Emily just jump off the page. They are truly delightful as audiobooks

And, to be honest, I’m okay with the series ending. What I would like, though, is a spin-off series featuring Emily’s niece Ariadnae (not sure of the spelling of that one!). That would be delightful.

A thoroughly charming ending to a thoroughly charming series.

Audiobook: Onyx Storm

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by Rebecca Yarros
Read by Rebecca Soler, Teddy Hamilton, Justis Bolding & Jasmin Walker
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame
Content: It’s super sweary, super violent, and lots of on-screen sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first two books, obviously.

It’s picking up again, where Iron Flame left off – there’s venin (I think that’s how you spell it), Xaden’s turning into one (though he’s trying hard to stop it), the king won’t let refugees in, and they need to find Andara’s (is that spelled right?) dragon family.

And we’re going to spend 500+ (23 hours!) pages doing this.

I started out liking this one – Solner is still delightfully unhinged, I thought the travels around the islands were interesting, and it was nice to have Violet back being a smart badass again. But, as the book went on I lost patience with it. It dragged in the middle. I wanted to punch Xaden in the face on a number of occasions. I hated the “I wanted you but I don’t trust myself” parts and the miscommunication. The last one was a lot, but this was even MORE. And by the end, I was just not interested. (Speaking of the end: I hated it. So much.)

And, after three 500 page books in a five-book series that could have been a solid trilogy, I think I’m done. I have zero interest in where the story is going, in Violet and Xaden’s future, or in all the many plot strings Yarros left undone.

(If I consider reading the fourth when it comes out, remind me that I’m probably going to be annoyed and frustrated with it and that it’s probably not going to be worth my time.)

Black Woods Blue Sky

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by Eowyn Ivey
First sentence: “Birdie knew her mistake as soon as she cracked open her eyes.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: February 4, 2025
Content: There is animal-based violence, swearing (including multiple f-bombs) and death. It will be in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Birdie is a 26-year-old single mother in a remote Alaskan town, and is trying to get her life together. She’s got a job at the local lodge, and while it kinda-sorta pays the bills, it does mean she has to leave 6-year-old Emaleen on her own or with Birdie’s grandmother much too often. But then Arthur wanders down from his cabin on the other side of the North Fork River, and Birdie takes a liking to him. Sure, he’s odd: he doesn’t eat much or talk much, but he lives a wild and free life in nature, something that Birdie craves. So, she arranges for her and Emmaleen to go with Arthur (against the advice of other townsfolk, including Arthur’s dad) out to his cabin. Where everything is perfect, until it isn’t.

Ivey’s writing is so spare and so beautiful that you don’t really notice the impending doom, though the clues are there. And while this wasn’t a book to tug at my heartstrings, I did find it hard to put down. I kept wanting to know what would happen next. And Emaleen becomes more central to the story as it goes on, which I thought was a fascinating way to tie everything together. It’s a love letter to the Alaskan wilderness, to the harsh unforgiving beauty and wildness of nature and the epic scale you can find both beauty and horror there. The people who live and thrive in Alaska are a unique sort, and Ivey pays testament to that spirit.

It’s a remarkable book, and one where the characters and the haunting beauty of it all will stay with me for a while.

Audio Book: The Broposal

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by Sonora Reyes
Read by André Santana & Alejandro Antonio Ruiz
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is domestic abuse, swearing (including multiple f-bombs), threats of ICE reads, talk of drug abuse, and on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Alejandro – Han for short – and Kenny have been best friends since second grade. Han’s an undocumented immigrant, and Kenny has been in a long-term on-and-off again relationship. When Kenny breaks up with his girlfriend (she was making him choose between her and Han) and then witnesses some of the discrimination and uncertainty that Han goes through as an undocumented person, he gets this idea: why don’t he and Han get married? It’ll help Han get his green card and head toward citizenship, and no one ever needs to know it’s fake, right?

Except, as they get more into it, they discover that they have deeper feelings than “just” best friends. But a conniving boss and a desperate ex-girlfriend threaten to throw a huge wrench in their plan. Will they be able to get to their wedding day with their relationship still intact?

I liked this one a lot. I liked how Reyes tackled tough subjects like abuse and discrimination against undocumented people. I liked the support of both Han’s and Kenny’s families. I liked that these men were 23 and still trying to figure everything out. I really liked the narrators; they probably made the book for me. It was sweet and charming, hitting the tropes without being overly fluffy, which I also appreciated.

Definitely a good one to pick up.

Audiobok: The Honey Witch

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by Sydney J. Sheilds
Read by Mia Hutchinson Shaw
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including a couple f-bombs, and some attempts at on-page sex (long story). It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Marigold Claude has never fit in in her early 19th-century upper class home. She doesn’t really have talents, she has no interest in marrying, and after a botched relationship with George, she’s convinced she’s never even going to fall in love. She’s convinced she has no purpose. That is, until her grandmother comes and tells her that she’s actually a Honey Witch and she’s destined to take over the isle of Innisfree. Once there, she re-meets her childhood friend, August, and his best friend, Lottie, whom she’s attracted to. Except there’s a problem: as the Honey Witch of Innisfree, she’s been cursed to never fall in love.

That’s basically a plot – I told someone earlier that it’s a sapphic love story where they’re battling against an evil witch (which they do, but not until the last 5 chapters of the book). There is no historical accuracy – if it’s not the magic that gives it away, no one seems to have any issue with queer romance and there’s even queer marriage. Go figure. That said, I really enjoyed this one. I think a lot of it was the narrator. Shaw was fantastic. I adored her accents, and she kept me interested and engaged the whole way through. I did feel that the end dragged out a bit, but other than that, it was good fun.

Back After This

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by Linda Holmes
First sentence: “The trick was not to be noisy.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: Feb 25, 2025
Review copy sent by the publisher and given to me by a coworker who knows I like Linda Holmes’s books.
Content: There is some swearing, including a couple f-bombs, and some off-screen, mostly fade-to-black sex. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Cecily is a podcast producer and mostly likes her job. She’s not really valued at the company she works for – her ex took the only successful show she ever worked on and that was four years ago and she’s stuck doing mostly the jobs no one wants to do. That is, until the bosses decide to create a dating podcast, the premise is that the dating influencer Eliza will set Cecily up with her perfect mate using Logic and Data and not her gut. Cecily has no interest in a relationship, but she agrees to the premise, if only to protect her job and that of some of her co-workers.

The problem comes when Cecily accidentally meets a guy – Will – who is nothing like the men that Cecily wants her to date. And even though she’s trying to give the podcast her all, she keeps bumping into Will, and they seem to have that undeniable Chemistry. But, will she give in to her heart? Or what Eliza and the demands of the podcast?

In many ways, this is a lot like Is She Really Going Out With Him? – similar enough to be notable. But, even though it’s similar, it’s not the same. I liked Holmes’ take on podcasts (she should know, being on the long-running NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour) and it was interesting to see the work that goes into producing a successful podcast. I did like the logic vs. heart aspect of the story (spoiler, though not really: heart wins out) and Cecily’s journey to figure out what she wants in a relationship and how to get it. I liked the banter between Cecily and Will and the way that their relationship developed. Holmes is good with chemistry, though I think she’s just good at writing normal people well. I liked that Cecily would do anything for her sister or her friends, and the female bonds in the story.

In short, it was a good all-around, charming book.