The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

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The Kiss Quotient book coverThe Kiss Quotient is an unusual romance with its heroine being on the autism spectrum and a hero who’s half Swedish and half Vietnamese (though culturally more Vietnamese-American since his Swedish father is out of the picture and his entire extended family is through his mom). So double bonus points for diversity. But does it work?

Yep, it does. They’re both great characters, though Stella’s my favorite. The premise is that Stella’s mom is pressuring her to get married and start having kids since she’s at the ripe old age of thirty (I hate biology). Stella isn’t opposed to the idea of kids, but relationships terrify her. She has mild touch aversion and sex is nothing but torture for her. But she decides her mom is right and the only way she can possibly have a relationship is if she gets better at sex. She needs practice. So she hires an escort. Obviously.

Okay, ignoring the fact that I don’t think it’s that easy to hire one who will assume sleeping with you is the primary purpose (though maybe it is—I wouldn’t know), this is a great premise. So Stella finds Michael and she explains her situation, which weirds him out at first, but then he goes along with it. Still, he’s baffled that she can’t just find a guy the normal way because she’s beautiful. But things don’t go well on their first practice session because Stella freezes up.

Michael usually has a limit of one night with a client, but he ultimately agrees to more lessons with Stella because he’s worried about how other escorts might treat her. They might not be as gentle and understanding as he is. Because although he doesn’t know she’s on the spectrum, he instinctively senses how to deal with her due to have an autistic cousin.

Michael breaks more of his own rules with her and soon enough they’re in an actual practice relationship because that made more sense to both of them in terms of useful lessons. She meets his family and that doesn’t go well at all due to her lack of social awareness and certain other concerns she has (it’s one of those things that’s funny and sad at the same time).

The problem is that each of them knows this is practice and even though they’ve fallen for each other, they assume everything’s fake (except their own feelings, of course). Stella knows Michael will not want her when he finds out she’s autistic and he is convinced that she won’t want him when he founds out what a douche his father is (assuming she’ll guess he’ll end up being the same).

The resolution is interesting and satisfying to watch as the book is well-plotted. The characters are complex and surprise you at times, but in ways that make sense. There is quite a bit of steam (this is the point of the practice, after all), but most of the encounters go awry in ways that are again a little funny and a little sad. It’s just that you know Stella is into it but her issues keep her from letting go. Fortunately, Michael’s a good guy. And ultimately, things do get better.

Overall, I really liked this book. It’s great to see the kind of characters that don’t populate many romances presented as real, complex people. I’m looking forward to Hoang’s next book.

Fireworks (True North #6) by Sarina Bowen

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Fireworks book coverEven though I’m swamped by my MFA program, I started this book (which of course I pre-ordered) as soon as it arrived on my doorstep. I’m such a Bowen fan and this is my favorite series of hers. It certainly didn’t disappoint.

This story features Benito Rossi, Zara’s and Alec’s brother. As great a character as he is, the star of the book for me was Skye, who’s a very tall and damaged from a crappy childhood, but she’s made good with her life. She got herself through college (at an elite university, no less) and has a coveted job at a news station in NYC. Things aren’t perfect though, due to an on-screen gaffe Skye made. She’s on a forced vacation and has ended up traveling to Vermont to do a favor for her slightly wild stepsister. Going back to Vermont is a bit of a nightmare for her for one primary reason: Benito.

Twelve years earlier, Skye had been sixteen and Benito eighteen when she was stuck living in a trailer with a dirty and mean cop her mom was shacking up with (Jimmy Gage). Benito was her solace and tried to keep her safe from Gage, even though he wasn’t able to do much. She spent as much time as possible outside the trailer and sitting in a clearing in the woods with Benito and his ukulele. They kept things chaste until right before prom, when he finally asked her to the dance, making her beyond happy. But then he didn’t show and Gage told her he’d abandoned her for another girl. Skye packed a bag and fled to live with her aunt in New York. But what she doesn’t know is the real reason he didn’t pick her up that night.

Benito has never been the same since the day she disappeared without explanation. For him, she was the one. But still, he’s made good with his life, too. He spent time in the military and is now a narcotics officer for the state (I think; I might not have his employer right). He’s in the middle of a case involving Gage and others that will hopefully result in a huge drug bust. And then Skye shows up, with some almost-cockamamie story about her stepsister.

Skye has to stay with Benito because she was going to stay in her stepsister’s house, but it’s been tossed. The sparks are still there. But there’s still the problem of trust on Skye’s part, given that she doesn’t know the real reason Benito didn’t show up that night—he was in jail for punching Gage after he’d threatened Zara. Nobody knows that she doesn’t know, either, so it’s an old sore that won’t go away. Benito can tell that Skye’s a little fragile, but he’s not sure why and it takes a while for him to suss it out and help her get over it.

The book has the expected sexytimes, which are good and a little different because Skye isn’t exactly (at first) an enthusiastic seductress. Benito helps bring her out of her shell and discover who she is. Overall, Bowen takes us on the emotional journey you’d expect from her. I sincerely hope this series never ends.

A must for True North fans and highly recommended for everyone who loves a good contemporary romance.

A Bogie in the Boat (Linx & Bogie Mysteries #2) by Elizabeth Hunter

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A Bogie in the Boat book coverElizabeth Hunter was one of the keynote speakers at Emerald City Writers Conference a couple weeks ago. I posted previously a little about her speech, which I enjoyed, but now I’m going to review the free book we all got from her (yay, free book!). A Bogie in the Boat is the second in a series that’s not really a romance, thought there is a romance in it. (I’m still including it here because Hunter does write romance, too.) Linx is a young urban artist in the LA area (she does large murals and got in trouble in the past for graffiti). She also is a medium and has one ghost named Frank attached to her, a detective who was killed on the job in the 1950s. Her mom and grandma (nan) are both also mediums. Otherwise everything’s normal. So that’s the basic world setup.

In this book, a neighbor discovers a dead body and comes to tell Linx’s nan about it, but she’s out so Linx herself goes to see the body and call the police. This is how she ends up with another ghost attached to her, something that hasn’t happened before. It’s always just been Frank. She doesn’t particularly want this new ghost, who doesn’t remember how he died, so now she has to help solve his murder. Enter (the living) Detective Lee, who turns out to be a very attractive Korean-American guy with impressive arms. Intrigue and mild romance ensue.

I should mention that Linx’s best friend is Raul, whose grandmother is Haitian if I remember correctly. Hunter was brought to the conference this year (theme: diversity) because her books are full of people of color, just like they should be when they’re set in LA. Of course, this isn’t an issue book by any means—it’s just a fun little novella about a crime-solving medium/artist in a realistic setting.

I enjoyed it and will be looking for Hunter’s other books.

ECWC 2018

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I got home a couple hours ago from this year’s Emerald City Writers Conference run by the Greater Seattle chapter of the Romance Writers of America. This year’s theme was that hot topic, diversity, which meant there were some interesting speakers. It was, like conferences are, intense.

It started Friday morning with Damon Suede’s master class on using verbs to create powerful characters. Damon’s a really great speaker and very entertaining, but he’s also very sharp, observant, and quick. (I took classes from him at the RT boot camp back in 2017). His master class focused on the idea that the traditional approach of character building by making a list of characteristics (name, height, eye color, religion, etc.) is not the right way to create vibrant and memorable characters. Since actions speak louder than words, focusing on actions (i.e. verbs) instead of other boring words to convey character attributes from the beginning leads you to deeper characterization throughout. There was a lot more to it—if you ever get a chance to do a master class or workshop with him, do it.

There were a couple of sessions Friday afternoon, but I have to guiltily admit that I skipped them because I got the results from the second of two beta reads on my most recent YA book back Thursday night and I was desperate to get started revising it. So that’s what I did Friday afternoon. I went to all four available sessions on Saturday, including one on product description (mostly back cover copy), one on neurodiversity (focusing on autism, AD(H)D, Tourette’s, and learning disabilities), one on human trafficking, and a panel on “seasoned” romance (i.e., anything with heroines/heroes over 35 (eye roll)). Sunday morning I went to a session about story structure.

All the keynotes (Damon Suede, Beverly Jenkins, and Elizabeth Hunter) praised romance as an important genre and also talked about the importance of reading and writing in the world, but especially in a country that’s as divided as ours is now. Damon talked about books that really have changed history, like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as did Beverly. He said to “write books that create the world you want to live in.” He also talked about praising and bragging about other people’s books and how that usually comes back to help you in the end, and how we have to challenge ourselves to improve as writers. He riled up the room when he told us he was once asked by an interviewer how he felt about making people want what they can’t have—and he responded that that wasn’t what he was doing—he was teaching them to ask for what they deserve. Beverly told a hilarious story about an editor who told her that “on the down low” was incorrect grammar since she clearly meant “on the lower shelf” (which she did not). She pointed out that that was reason 657 that we need more diversity in publishing. She also talked about the dismissive media, with phrases like “bodice ripper,” “nasty books,” and the question, “Do you actually do all the stuff you write?” (always say yes because that’s what they’ll assume whatever you say). Beverly also talked about being a good community member—“Karma’s only a bitch if you are.” The last keynote was Elizabeth’s. She was new to me but I’m excited to read her book (they always give everyone one) because she seems interesting. She grew up white and middle-class but when she started writing wrote a very diverse cast of characters, which got her some attention and a fan base. She pointed out that “White middle class American girls haven’t been around long enough to make much impact in the immortal world” (that’s probably not a perfect quote), which is funny and very true. She also talked about the importance of empathy in writing and gave some steps to take if you want to improve diversity in romance. Overall, they were good talks.

Saturday morning, I also had the weirdest pitching experience of my life. Mine was the first pitch session of the conference, at 8:30. I went in, introduced myself to the editor and we shook hands, then I started my pitch for my first YA book, which is pretty short (the pitch). She asked a bit more about the book, then what inspired me to write it, and some comp titles. We talked a little more and everything seemed fine. She asked what else I worked on and I mentioned that I did both romance and YA but was focusing on YA while working on the MFA. I wasn’t sure if she was interested or not, but she definitely didn’t seem disengaged. Then they gave the two-minute warning and we kept talking. I was wondering if she was going to ask for pages or what, but I thought maybe she was still trying to decide while we continued to talk. Then they called time and the editor said, “Whoop,” and looked at me without expression. Like, oops, we ran out of time, nothing we can do about that. I awkwardly stood up and left. I mean, obviously she didn’t want it, but why didn’t she say so? Was she afraid? Did I look dangerous or something? Normally they tell you they’re not interested with actual words. Later, I met someone else who’d pitched to her and had a clearer negative response, but it also lacked good closure.

Anyway, that was my weekend. Back to the real world tomorrow.

Ninja at First Sight (Knitting in the City #4.75) by Penny Reid

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Ninja at First Sight book coverSince I’m having so much trouble keeping up with my romance reading (not to mention my own novels… sigh), I thought I’d pick the shortest romance on my shelf. Ninja at First Sight seemed perfect, even if it could be read after the book it’s a prequel for (which I haven’t read yet). I still prefer reading books in chronological story order.

This novella was, of course, cute and entertaining (it is Penny Reid, after all). Fiona is a college freshman with an unusual past—she was formerly an up-and-coming Olympic gymnast, had cancer at fourteen, and didn’t go to high school but is in advanced classes. Greg is a British 23-year-old who served in the US Marines (it’s complicated). They meet in the dorms and although there’s clear chemistry at first, it seems impossible—Greg’s got a girlfriend and is desired by all girls and women in his vicinity and Fiona is a totally inexperienced hermit. She wouldn’t seem to have a chance even if she was interested in him. She tells herself she’s not.

I would calibrate my smiles and interactions to friendship or acquaintance level. No big deal.

Fiona is really cool. I always like a smart heroine, but she’s also a little quirky. She’s not shy even though she spends most her time in her room. She’s just inexperienced with all social situations, not only romantic ones. Greg is less obviously appealing at first, but he’s clever and funny and the two of them engage in several loaded debates, at least one witnessed by half the floor (which she wins).

Greg’s pretty cocky but he’s adorable when he gets drunk and goes to Fiona’s door and gives her the first real clue that he’s interested in her. Knowing that she’s never been kissed, he tells her he wants to be her first everything. And he really sees her, one of the few people to do so.

“I can’t stop thinking about you. I saw you during the first week of class last semester, and, Christ, you’re gorgeous, but you’re so… different, sad… ethereal. You walked right past me for months, but I saw you every time. I see the sorrow in you… or maybe you don’t even know…”

When Fiona thinks about what she loves about him, it shows how complex they both are:

I loved his goodness and wrongness, his unwavering priorities and mulishness. I loved his patience—granted, I also hated his patience—and I loved his wit.

This book isn’t as steamy as some of Reid’s others, but that doesn’t take away from its appeal. Even though there’s just some pretty heavy-duty kissing, Fiona’s experience of it is worth reading. The story’s simple as it’s short, but the characters are multi-dimensional and compelling and dialogue is as entertaining as ever. This is a definite must for fans of Reid.

Fools Rush In by Kristan Higgins

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Fools Rush In book coverFools Rush In is one of Higgins’ earlier books and it definitely feels that way to me. Still, it is a cute story overall. 

Millie has just returned to her native Cape Cod after completing all the arduous steps to become a doctor. She’s about to start a job at a summer clinic as one of two doctors and has the possibility of joining an older, more established doctor in private practice after the summer. Everything career-wise looks good, but Millie’s main concern seems to be her love life. Specifically, she has had a crush on Joe Carpenter for half her life and now that she’s back, she wants to try to get him to really see her. She’s convinced he’s a great guy with all these amazing personality traits nobody else really sees. Because she semi-stalked him while she lived there and now that she’s returned, she’s back to her old tricks. Spying on his house to see when he leaves so she can put herself in his path, stuff like that. The only problem is that he doesn’t seem to know she exists. 

There are several people in her life. One is Sam, her sister’s new ex-husband. She’s also got her nephew Danny, who’s amazingly friendly for a 17-year-old. Her best friend Katie is a supportive voice of reason. There’s the stereotypical gay couple who are there to give fashion advice. And of course there’s Joe, who does eventually see her. But then she comes to learn more about the real Joe, and he’s not exactly what she’s built him up to be in her mind over the last 15 years. But the thing is, there is a man in Millie’s life who does live up to her expectations of Joe, if only she can see him. 

The book is told entirely in first person from Millie’s point of view. It is, of course, funny. But Millie is one of Higgins’ silly girls, something that always has bothered me a little (see my earlier reviews of her books). The pseudo-stalking is the main thing. Millie’s of course self-effacing, which I generally like, but sometimes it goes too far into silliness. It’s very low on the spice scale, lower than most of Higgins’ other books. Still, she goes pretty deep into Millie’s emotional state and we can really feel her pain when she deals with heartbreak. 

There were a couple things that bugged me, one more so than the other. First, I mentioned the gay couple. They are so stereotypical it’s kind of embarrassing. But the other, more important, thing is this incident that happens at the nursing home she works at once a week. Millie is basically sexually assaulted by an old guy (he captures her and rubs himself against her until she can get away) and this is largely set up by another woman, who doesn’t warn Millie even though she knows what he’s like. And the thing is, they all totally laugh this off. Because he’s an old guy it’s presented as just funny. It bugged me. 

Anyway, die hard Higgins fans will probably have already read this one. I have sort of mixed feelings about it because of the things mentioned in the last paragraph, even if Millie is kind of cool as a successful doctor. If the other things won’t bother you, maybe give it a go. 

The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan

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The Cafe by the Sea book coverFlora is a paralegal living the life in London. She’s convinced she loves it and doesn’t regret leaving where she grew up, the (fictional) island of Mure north of Scotland. She hasn’t been back for several years after leaving under a dark cloud of some sort. When a very odd work assignment sends her back—still against her wishes—she’s reacquainted with her dad and brothers. We learn pretty quick that her mom died earlier and it was after her funeral when Flora had left.

The island cast is full—there’s Flora’s gruff dad, her teasing brothers, her young niece who yells all her words, an old friend to commiserate with about men, the uber-rich American who’s bought a chunk of the island and pissed everyone off in the process, a giant and cuddly love interest. And of course Joel, Flora’s boss in London who she’s had a hopeless crush on since she started working there, visits on several occasions. There’s ceilidh dancing, mountain hiking, a thing with a whale. If you like things Scottish, all this will appeal to you.

Flora’s cool and I liked her brothers and the rich American. I wasn’t as big on Joel, but I guess a lot of women find jerky men attractive if they have some vulnerability, which he does. We eventually find out what terrible thing Flora did before she left Mure the last time. She finally really makes amends with her family in a satisfying way.

So overall, it was an enjoyable read. There were some things that bugged me about the book, however. The first was a stylistic choice that surprised me because it wasn’t there in The Little Bookshop on the Corner, another of Colgan’s novels that I really liked. Specifically, I’m talking about head-hopping—shifting points of view from one character’s to another within the same scene. Now, there are some popular authors who do this (I can think of Nora Roberts and Beverly Jenkins), but it personally drives me crazy. I like deep point of view and generally prefer only one character’s perspective, though I can handle switching between characters if we’re talking about the entire scene. She switches not only in the same scene, but sometimes in the same sentence:

Obediently they breathed, Joel thinking crossly about money, Flora enjoying the fresh air but wondering why Colton appeared to think it all belonged to him.

I know there is omniscient point of view, where the author can get in anybody’s head, but that needs to be established early on, in my view. This book is solidly in Flora’s point of view about 97% of the time.

The other thing has to do with the island culture. I understood that the island was far to the north of Scotland. At one point they make a reference to Reykjavik being closer than London, which means it’s pretty far out there. But Colgan has the island fully Gaelic, with people speaking the language and living the culture just as they do on the Western Isles. But the northern islands off Scotland aren’t Gaelic—they’re more influenced by Norwegian culture and have a language called Norn that came from Norse. So then I thought, okay, maybe it’s way to the north of the Western Isles rather than the mainland of Scotland… but then near the end of the book she mentions people speaking Norn. Gaelic and Norn don’t coexist naturally (there are efforts to bring back Gaelic all over the country, so maybe now there’s some of that).

Anyway, enough complaining. If head-hopping or weird cultural mash-ups bug you, maybe skip this one. But if they don’t, it’s a sweet story.

Too Good to Be True by Kristan Higgins

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Too Good to Be True book coverToo Good to Be True is a standalone from Higgins. It features Grace Emerson, whose fiancé dumped her weeks before their wedding and later starting dating her younger sister (technically with Grace’s blessing, but she didn’t like it). The book opens with a wedding, a favorite setting for Higgins, where Grace is dateless and ashamed of the way her family pities her and worries over the whole ex-fiancé-dating-the-sister thing. She invents a boyfriend to make everyone (and herself) feel better.

Then, when she gets home that evening, she sees what she thinks is a burglar at the empty house next door. After a series of humorous (but a little overly silly, in my view) incidents involving the presumed robber, she meets Callahan O’Shea and gets him hauled into the police station overnight. Unfortunately for her (in those moments, anyway), he’s her new neighbor and not a burglar. And he’s seriously attractive and so not her type. Her type is a little nerdy and maybe a little scrawny, and definitely not brawny and strong like Callahan is.

The book is full of Higgins’ trademark humor and depth of emotion. But I have to admit that (especially at the beginning), Callahan felt a little flat to me. I mean, he’s a guy and doesn’t say much (which is fine), but when he does speak it felt a little like filler. As Grace gets to know him better, he livens up quite a bit, so perhaps it’s just his character. Grace is entertaining throughout, even if she is kind of silly and even ridiculous at times. I loved that she was a history teacher and did Civil War reenactment battles. So nerdy. And great.

I wouldn’t normally give away the black moment, but I actually felt like this was a little weak spot in the book. It has to do with Grace’s made-up boyfriend. Callahan freaks out when he realizes that she lied to him—and her whole family—about it. And I just didn’t know why he reacted like that, as I felt we didn’t really have the buildup of an aversion to lying like I would have expected.

Regardless, overall, I did enjoy this book even if I felt it wasn’t Higgins’ best. Fans of hers will still like it.

Dr. Strange Beard (Winston Brothers #5) by Penny Reid

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Dr. Strange Beard book coverAt 26, Roscoe Winston is the youngest of the Winston clan and a vet(erinarian) in Nashville. We’ve also seen him to be a bit of a flirt in previous books. We come to learn why he’s that way, and how he’d had his heart broken in high school by Simone Payton.

Simone’s a cool chick—she’s currently working as an undercover FBI agent even though that’s not really her calling (which is in a research lab). It’s a temporary assignment. There’s been a string of murders in East Tennessee that the FBI knows are being perpetrated by the president of the biker club the Winstons’ father is in. The fact that Simone’s from there gets her assigned to the case. She’s working at the diner her mom runs in Green Valley. Simone is focused on her career and believes that the whole idea of love is stupid. She doesn’t like feelings and never has. But unfortunately for her feelings, her assignment brings her in contact with Roscoe.

Roscoe, for his part, isn’t happy to see her because she rejected him in high school after they’d been best friends forever, and the memories still pain him. He has a fantastic memory, so he relives the whole rejection any time he sees her. And he keeps seeing her pop up inexplicably everywhere he goes.

What Roscoe doesn’t know is that she’s trying to protect him and break the case at the same time. He’s become important because his father wants to talk to him for some reason. And Simone can’t let that just happen without inserting herself.

Dr. Strange Beard does start off a little slow, I have to admit. Simone in particular was hard to get into because she’s very logical and tries to deny emotion. But by a quarter in, it started to pick up more and then got good—and Simone is great. Roscoe’s sweet and different from his brothers. The book leans a bit toward romantic suspense, especially in the second half, which isn’t surprising given Simone’s profession. The build-up with the suspense delivers with an emotional and riveting grand finale in the diner.

My recommendation is pretty much the same as it is for all of Reid’s books: read it if you’re a fan or if you like quirky and smart heroines.

Beauty and the Mustache (Knitting in the City #4) by Penny Reid

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Beauty and the Mustache book coverBeauty and the Mustache is the fourth in the Knitting in the City series and effectively book 0 in the Winston Brothers series. For those of you familiar with the Winston Brothers brothers series, this book feels more a part of that one than Knitting in the City, even though the knitting group makes multiple appearances, as do Nico and Quinn.

So this book is about Ashley, the sole Winston sister. Ashley left Green Valley, Tennessee eight years ago to go to college and then take up life in Chicago, and she’s never regretted that choice. Especially since she’s kept in touch with the one family member she really liked, her mom. But when her mom disappears into the hospital and won’t see anybody, Ashley braves the journey there to find that her mom will see her. (I admit, I never got the reason for this, but whatever, people do weird things.) And she has late-stage cancer and mere weeks to live.

So now Ashley has to settle in with her brothers and a broody mystery man named Drew Runous who seems to just always be there at the house. Eventually, they find out Drew is the executor of Ashley’s mom’s estate, which matters because she actually has quite a bit of money and never managed to get a divorce from Ashley’s horrible father. The Winstons bring their mom home and two hospice nurses come in to help, with Ashley or one of the brothers constantly sitting with her.

But Drew. For Ashley, she can’t get him out of her head because he’s broody, unfairly good-looking, and a fan of poetry. He’s always quoting his favorite philosopher—Nietzche, who Ashley can’t stand even though she’s as familiar with him as Drew is. He’s also got some nice hands and lips which she keeps accidentally coming into contact with. But still, he seems to dislike her and she can’t figure him out. Plus, she’s there for her mom, not some fling.

Drew is definitely committed to her brothers and her mom as if he were part of the family and he keeps helping the family, so Ashley’s confused. And he keeps doing little things for her, until finally she thinks she sees him for who he is.

The book is told entirely in first person and is full of Reid’s customary humor despite the dark topics of the book.

If anyone had told me just a week ago that I would be kissing Drew on the back porch of my momma’s house as though his lips and body were my only source of nourishment, and I would be left with a lingering craving that could not be satiated, I would have told that person about the alien invasion happening in Poughkeepsie.

Drew’s pretty appealing, nice and swoon-worthy with his soft side contrasted by the fact that he casually wrestles bears when the need arises. And of course like all the books in the Winston Brothers series, this one is full of family and heart, because Ashley realizes her brothers have grown into decent people, despite being total buttwads while she was growing up.

Recommended for fans of Reids and also humans.

The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen

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The Accidentals book coverThis will only be the second time I’ve reviewed a young adult title on here, but I couldn’t not review Bowen’s first foray into YA. And The Accidentals is a romance, after all. Just like all of Bowen’s books, there’s more going on than the romance.

17-year-old Rachel’s mom just died from cancer and she’s still in a group home while social services tries to sort out where she’ll go. Things are really in upheaval because although she’s never met him, her father is a world-famous rock star named Freddy Ricks. And he seems interested in finally being a father, nearly 18 years too late. She isn’t too keen on him because of her mom’s opinions, but she also always secretly wished he’d come into her life.

She spends the summer with him in California, where she gets to know him (a little) and also meets his bandmates. His lifestyle is pretty much like what you’d expect—he’s a man-child. Even his parents don’t know he had a child. Rachel wants to ask him about what happened between him and her mom, but she’s too afraid to say much. She just kind of floats along until it’s time to go to the boarding school in the fall.

The best thing that happens over the summer is virtually meeting Jake, another senior-to-be at the boarding school. They talk via email, then by text, then on the phone all before school starts. When she gets there and finds out he’s really cute, too, her little crush develops into something more.

While at the school, she joins an a cappella group, befriends her roommate, and deepens her friendship with Jake. Her father has moved to the same town so she tries to maintain their relationship, even though it’s very much up and down, because she’s so ambivalent about him. He keeps doing things to let her down. They have a long way to go before everything’s good between them. But he is trying, even if he’s got more growing up to do than she does.

It’s really sweet when Rachel and Jake finally get together. We don’t get typical Bowen heat here (that would just be weird in a YA title). And, Rachel discovers that despite what she sort of wants, when things get too heated with Jake, she shuts down and pushes him away. She has to figure out what’s getting in her way before they can really be happy.

I’ll admit it—I didn’t love this as much as I love Bowen’s True North series. However, it’s a good book with a subplot that’s almost as important as the romance. If you like that sort of thing, or even if you just like YA romance, check this one out.

In Your Dreams (Blue Heron #4) by Kristan Higgins

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In Your Dreams book coverHere’s another Blue Heron book with a dog (the heroine’s)—and a cat (the hero’s) this time, which made me extra happy, as I’m more of a cat person. This is Jack’s book—the brother of all the Holland women paired off in the first three books of the series. With this one I finish off the series (I read them out of order), and I’m sad it’s ending. Higgins is as funny and real as she normally is.

Jack’s a fairly happy and chill guy, but things have gotten complicated. First, a while back his wife of only a few months cheated on him and now she’s back in town, wanting to get back together. But even more significant is the fact that a couple weeks before the book opens, he rescued four teenagers from a car in a freezing lake. All but one of them are fine, but the fourth is in a coma and Jack is pretty distraught about his failure to save them all. On top of that, the entire town of Manningsport, New York is treating him like a major hero, when all he feels is haunted by the last kid not being okay.

Emmaline Neal’s got a big problem, even if it isn’t in the same class as Jack’s. Her ex, who dumped her in a fairly unpleasant way, is getting married and has invited her to the wedding. She needs a date and everyone knows Jack’s always up for that sort of thing—doing a lady a favor. What she doesn’t know is how perfect the timing is, because Jack would do almost anything to get away from the hero-worshipping town. He’s even up for playing her pretend boyfriend.

So off they go. They behave like perfectly platonic friends until the last night there, when they end up in her bed. After they get back, Jack wants to date her. She is like a salve for his current heartache over the fourth kid. But Emmaline, having just been reminded of her own painful experience, doesn’t want to risk having her heart broken again. Eventually he wears her down with his charm and they start dating. They seem really good for each other, even if Jack probably is using her a little (as a distraction from his newly-stressful life) and she’s falling in love with him a bit too fast.

Add to this equation Jack’s ex-wife, Hadley. She insinuates herself into almost every date he and Emmaline have. Em is pissed off by how willing he is to accommodate Hadley, helping her out when she’s injured and so on, when Hadley’s obviously playing him to try to get him back. Emmaline doesn’t quite trust him with Hadley, given her past experience. Jack’s got to figure out a way to get rid of Hadley before Em is done with him.

This relationship was fun to watch developing. I really liked both Emmaline and Jack. Em is a strong character—she’s a cop, after all—but she’s got her own complicated history to deal with. Jack’s main challenge in the book, other than Hadley, is how to deal with the aftermath of the rescue. That is handled nicely, I thought. So I recommend this one if you want to laugh as well as see some people deal with some difficult issues.

A Status Update for August 2018

katvinson,

So I’ve been posting here for a year or so, and those posts have been mostly book reviews. However, this is supposed to be my writer site because what I’m really doing is trying to learn to write better and to write romance novels. Reading books and writing reviews are both good for learning the craft, but they’re not the only ways. I started an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in creative writing in July and it’s a lot of work but looks to be great. So I probably am not going to be able to keep up my once-a-week reviews, because I have a lot to do besides reading a romance novel every week. So I’m going to do my best to continue posting weekly, but some of those posts may not be reviews (and if I slip a bit, you’ll know why).

The MFA is a low-residency program through Oklahoma City University. I go to Oklahoma for ten days twice a year, right before each semester starts, to attend workshops and plan out the semester. I’m pretty excited about this semester. For the degree, I’m actually focusing on young adult fiction (though most of it applies to romance, too) and I’m getting to read and study twelve good YA books this semester plus White Oleander by Janet Fitch and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, two books I’ve read and enjoyed before. This semester I’m focusing on two things: plot/structure and short story form. So I’m also reading loads of craft books and several short story collections (I’m currently reading Chekhov and I feel confused most of the time, unfortunately—hopefully the others will go better).  The way the program goes is I work with a specific mentor (this semester, Kerry Cohen—she’s interesting) one-on-one throughout the semester, writing both about the books I’ve read as well as working on several short stories. On top of all that, I’m taking an elective in pedagogy, because teaching writing is my retirement plan.

So, I’ll be busy for the next 2.5 years, but I’ll come out a better writer.

Shooting for the Stars (Gravity #3) by Sarina Bowen

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Shooting for the Stars book coverIn this third and final installment of the Gravity series, Bowen gives us Stella Lazarus and Bear Barry. Anyone who’s read the second book will already know these characters because Stella is Hank’s sister and Bear is his best friend who has stuck around while Hank’s adjusting to his new life in a wheelchair. This book runs in parallel to book 2.

Stella’s cool—she’s a successful snowboarder, competing on the circuit with a few sponsorships, even though they don’t quite cover all her expenses. The Lazaruses are well-off, though, so she’s still out there. She wins a competition just after the book opens and is really happy. Bear is a fellow snowboarder but his career seems to be taking a nosedive—just as Stella’s winning, he’s being told that he’s being dropped from the tour. He’s pretty devastated but tries to keep his spirits up for Stella. Hank goes back to Vermont that night and leaves Stella and Bear to party.

Stella and Bear both have good reasons for getting their drinking on, and they do just that. The only catch is that they each have long had the hots for each other, even though Stella thinks Bear isn’t interested and Bear thinks she’s off-limits as his best friend’s little sister. However, the drinking muddies the water a bit and they end up having a whole lot of fun in the fancy suite Hank left for Stella to use.

But the morning brings the horrible news about Hank’s accident. They fly to Vermont immediately, their tryst sort of forgotten (but not really, of course) over the next few days. But then Stella tries to talk to him about it and he pulls the classic “just sex” excuse. They start avoiding each other even though living and working in the same town/space means that takes some real effort.

But they’ve both got other things to worry about. For one thing, Hank. But as Hank gets himself sorted out, Stella’s frustrated by her parents, who are refusing to continue to fund her career and instead expect her to work for their nonprofit. And Bear’s career is over so he needs a new one. He has an interest in filmmaking and a talent for camera work, and he strives to turn that into something that can sustain him. On the personal front, Bear also has some growing to do. He can’t seem to say the right thing—sometimes he can’t say anything at all. He’s also got to learn some self-respect along the way in order to realize that he can, actually, be with Stella.

This is another winner from Bowen, even if it doesn’t dig as deep as some of her later books do. It’s still really entertaining and has several good and long love scenes. It’s a must for any Bowen fan and especially if you’ve read Gravity #2.

Hate to Want You (Forbidden Hearts #1) by Alisha Rai

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Hate to Want You book coverHate to Want You is a complex novel with a bucketful of family secrets.

The grandfathers of Olivia (Livvy) Kane and Nicholas Chandler were best friends and started a grocery store together that became very successful. Livvy’s was even in a Japanese internment camp during WW II and Nicholas’s didn’t take advantage of that situation. They continued managing it once he was back out.

Livvy and Nicholas grew up together and dated for years, all until a tragic and fatal car accident involving Livvy’s father and Nicholas’s mother. Then, somehow (how was never entirely clear to me), Nicholas’s father bought/cheated the Kanes out of their share of the company. After that, Nicholas and Livvy broke up. They each have a different story about how that went down, however. Livvy left town afterward and hasn’t been back except for a couple exceptions.

It’s been about a decade since the accident and Livvy is back in town. Nicholas goes to visit her at the tattoo parlor she works at in the opening scene. This is breaking all their rules. They’ve been seeing each other once a year (on Livvy’s birthday) for casual sex and Livvy skipped the last one. The sexual tension between them is off the charts the second they’re together. This isn’t a good thing for either of them, really, and just highlights the unhealthy approach they’ve taken to their relationship. Neither of them has really gotten over the other but each of them has reasons to stay away. But with them back in the same town it’s hard to keep them apart. They try to keep it casual, but that’s as unhealthy as it was over the past decade. There’s a lot of work for them to do before they can be together in a meaningful way.

There are many things that set this book apart from other second chance romances. First, one of the characters isn’t white and this is totally normalized, doesn’t even come up as worthy of mentioning. I think the only thing that made it certain to me was the mention of the internment camp. Second, Livvy (and probably her mother) has clinical depression. The way Rai dealt with this was nice—very realistic. She addresses the fact that it’s always there, but the severity of the current state can vary depending on certain triggers. Nicholas also has his own issues even though they’re not as significant as Livvy’s. He’s very closed off mostly because of the way his father has always treated him. He has to learn to overcome that before he and Livvy can really go anywhere. Still before and after that, there’s plenty of sexytimes for the reader to enjoy.

Another thing that sets this book apart is that we get a healthy dose of Rai’s feminist observation:

The world was unkind to women. It was devastating to women who didn’t believe in themselves.

and

The quickest way to get a dude to stop hitting on you was to say you’re with another guy, because men respect other men more than they respect a woman saying no.

If you enjoy complicated romances between characters with lots of painful history, this one might just be for you.