Review: Nora Goes Off Script

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group, Putnam for this free advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Nora writes the cheesy romance made-for-TV movies, but after her husband walks out on her and their 2 children her writing gets a little deeper and a little darker. This leads to a big budget movie being filmed with her screenplay... on her property.

Nora's world is thrown into chaos when an entire movie set, movie stars and all, moves onto her property. At the end of filming, Nora wakes up the next morning to find that the male lead of the movie had stowed away on her property and wants to escape his world for a bit. Leo Vance moves into her "tea house" for a week and spends time learning about small town life, including grocery shopping and kid schedules.

This was a cute story, with the inevitable struggle, but you knew that it was going to end happily. You just had to wait to see how it all ended and what caused the struggles. This book has added a new author to my rotation of books to check out.

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Review: The Dead Romantics

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the story of Florence, a ghostwriter who happens to be able to see actual ghosts, and her editor, the ghost who shows up at the funeral for Florence's father. Florence has recently gone through a really awful breakup, which is unfortunate since she write romance novels. When she meets with her new editor, she is unable to get an extension on the deadline and now has to finish an entire book in the shortest amount of time imaginable. When her father dies after that meeting, she's forced to abandon the attempt at writing the book and head home, somewhere she hasn't been in over 10 years.

I really enjoyed this story. It was light and fun, even though a majority of it was about death, funerals, and grief. I was able to quickly read it and even recommended it to a few friends while still reading it.

If anyone has seen Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, you'll enjoy this book.

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Review: Peril in Paris

Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

In this 16th installment of the Royal Spyness mysteries, we go with Georgie and Darcy to Paris, where Georgie can visit her friend Belinda and Darcy has a mission to accomplish. Belinda is working as an apprentice to Chanel (yes, that Chanel) and when Georgie visits she gets roped into modeling a couture gown for pregnancy designed by Chanel for Georgie's newly expanding figure.

As always, there's a mystery going on, some spying, and, of course, a death that must be solved. This one did manage to keep me intrigued, since there appeared to be two intertwined stories that may or may not actually have been related. It was also fun to experience Paris through the eyes of Georgie, since it was her first visit.

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Review: The Last Dress from Paris

The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the is the story of Lucille in 2017 and Alice in 1952. Lucille is asked by her grandmother Sylvie to go to Paris and retrieve a dress that has been with a friend who recently passed away. Alice is the wife of the British ambassador to France, where she is expected to see and be seen. The story alternates between past and present, telling the story of these two women, and unraveling the mystery that will bring their stories together.

I enjoyed this book, with its descriptions of post-war Paris fashion, expectations, familial relationships, and the fear of putting yourself out there. While I was pretty much able to guess the solutions to the mysteries much earlier than they were revealed, that didn't lessen the enjoyment of the reveal.

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Review: A Sinister Revenge

A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

In this eighth installment of the Veronica Speedwell series, we are whisked away to the country estate of Lord Templeton-Vane. There, Veronica and Stoker are tasked with determining who may have killed two old friends of Tiberius's and sent him a death threat on copies of their obituaries. Tiberius has invited the remaining group of friends from his younger days, known then as the Seven Sinners, who were all present when the group visited and one young man was found dead on the property after a storm.

I do enjoy these books, as they're wonderfully researched for historical accuracy. For instance, the author had the estate gardens designed by John Tradescant the Younger, who I have been learning about in my Museum Origins course. This book actually managed to keep me guessing as to who the killer may be, which always makes me happy. There was not as much interaction between Veronica and Stoker as previous books, which was disappointing. I was happy to see JJ Butterworth included, even if it was in a minor way. We also got to know more about the younger Templeton-Vane brother, Merryweather.

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Review: The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this advanced copy (even if it did take me a bit to actually read it). All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the story of Lolly, a 32-year-old single woman working in her family's diner, as she's been doing her entire life. After the death of her mother, she put aside her hopes and dreams to help her dad and raise her sister. When her sister finds her diary with a list she made when she was 13, she realizes she hasn't accomplished a single goal. She makes it a mission to try to complete at least one before turning 33.

This is a great story about "what if" and how specific decisions or events in your life can change your future path. When Lolly's Aunt Gert gives her magic lemon drops that allow her to live a single day in the life she could have had, the decisions to view that other life come with some realizations. Just because you think another life will be better, doesn't always mean the grass is truly greener on the other side.

I think we've all had that experience of "what if I'd made a different decision when XYZ happened?" and wondered what our life might look like now. Whether it's a regret or just curiosity, we've all been there. This is a great story about how those decisions and regrets don't mean you can't make lemonade (or lemon drop pie) out of the lemons life has given you!

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Review: The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Dynasty

The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Dynasty by Natalie Livingstone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 out of 5 stars - It was ok

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

While this book was extremely interesting, it seemed to be written more like a research paper than a book. I also admit that I kept getting lost as to who was who and in which generation. Reading on Kindle, I was unable to utilize the family trees provided in the beginning of the book. They were just too small.

Before reading this book, I had never heard of the Rothschild family. Whether it's because I'm not European or Jewish, or for some other reason, There was a lot of new information for me to learn. I had no idea that the reason so many Jewish families got into banking was because the Christians could not loan money with interest.

Perhaps I'll look more into this family after reading this book, but I'm not sure I'd recommend this particular book to someone with no background of the family.

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