Review: The Nanny

The Nanny by Lana Ferguson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

This is the story of Cassie, a struggling student who used to have an OnlyFans account, and Aiden, a chef who suddenly became a single dad in need of a nanny. Cassie applies for the job and Aiden is only too happy to hire her, considering her amazing resume and his desperation. The only problem? They've met before... through cameras, disguises, and videos.... they just don't realize it right away.

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, the interactions between them all, and how the struggles they face are overcome in the end. Being a romance novel, you just know they're going to end up together, you just don't know how it will all shake out. I fully admit that I stayed up way too late on a weeknight just to find out the end of the story.

I hadn't read anything about the author before reading this book, so I was a little taken aback at the graphic nature of some of the scenes (I'm not offended, it just surprised me). If anyone is offended by sex scenes, please avoid this book! I love that the author describes herself as a "sex-positive nerd".

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Review: The Italian Ballerina

The Italian Ballerina by Kristy Cambron
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 Thomas Nelson Publishers for this advanced copy (even if it did take me much longer to get to it than I intended!)

This book taught me so many new things about WWII that I never knew. So many historical fiction books are focused on Germany or France during the war, but this one is set mostly in Italy. With converging storylines, this book jumps between present day and various years between 1939 and 1945. It follows two American medics, a British ballerina, and a young Jewish girl, as well as the grandchildren of one of the medics and the child in present time.

Before this book I had never heard of Syndrome K or the hospital at Fatebenefratelli in Rome. A fake contagion was invented to hide Jewish people from the Nazis in plain sight. The Jewish people were diagnosed with Syndrome K and the Nazis wanted no part in catching a potentially deadly contagion. While the main characters are fictional, many of the people mentioned in the historical timeline were real. I really enjoyed the "extra information" at the end of the book with more details about the war in Italy.

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Review: If You Ask Me

If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher
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 Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this free copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Before even starting the book, there was a section detailing the topics within the book that could be triggers for people. I found that interesting, as I had never seen that before.

This is the story of Violet, an advice columnist who doesn't have it all together. When she comes home early from work and finds her husband in bed with another woman, she starts looking at herself and evaluating her life but not without several bumps in the road, derailments, and unfiltered responses to advice letters.

This book had a lot of good moments of a woman feeling less than and then being built back up by another character. While there is a new romance that buds in this book, I don't think I would categorize this as a romance novel. This is more of a book about women taking control of their lives and not being the "good, quiet, subservient housewife whose only job is to make life easier for others".

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Review: Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

I really enjoyed this book. It was science, aliens, friendship, and intrigue all rolled into one!

The book is written in two different story lines that mostly alternate. There's the "before liftoff" memories and the "after awakening from a coma" story lines. Eventually they come together to learn about how it all came to be. Something is happening in space, and if Dr. Ryland Grace doesn't come through on this Hail Mary journey, Earth will enter another ice age and all life will probably perish.

The book kept me entertained and intrigued throughout. I got close to the end and I really wanted to know how it ended. I read through lunch and dinner just to finish and see how it ended. It didn't end how I expected at all, but that wasn't a good or bad thing (it was just different).

I also can say I learned some new science terms while reading this book. Thank you Kindle for having a dictionary built in!

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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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