Review: Hate Follow

Hate Follow by Erin Quinn-Kong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publication date -October 8th 4.5 stars rounded up.

If you belong to a book club, be sure to get this book for discussion. This is a powerful look into internet privacy, influencers, and the first generation of kids to have their whole lives spread out on the 'net for strangers to follow...whether the kids want it out there or not.

Although sometimes clumsily written with secondary and tertiary storylines that aren't always necessary, it is worth the read.

This story tells us about one family ( a widowed mother, twins, a teenager, and a boy who never knew his father) who is in the social media spotlight. The mom is an influencer who lays it all out there for the world to see, even pictures of her dead husband in his coffin. The mom makes a great living off of her posts etc. But this also tells the story of her teenage daughter, who has had enough of her privacy being invaded. And the daughter takes some drastic steps to get her mother to stop.

I have to say that at first, I was against what the daughter was trying to do; after all, the mom was trying her best to keep her family afloat. I'm from that nasty generation who sometimes still feels that children should be seen and not heard!

This is definitely one book that will be discussed...a lot.


*ARC was supplied by the publisher William Morrow Paperbacks, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS:"To her one million Instagram followers, influencer Whitney Golden’s life looks just about perfect. But her curated existence explodes when her teenage daughter Mia sues her for invasion of privacy. The monumental case throws their relationship into a tailspin and has mother and daughter grappling with what it truly means to be in the public eye.

Influencer Whitney Golden has it all: beautiful, photogenic children; a handsome new boyfriend; a gorgeous house; and designer clothes and beauty products that arrive on her doorstep every day. After spending years building her brand as a widowed mother of four (including twins!) to over a million followers, the thirty-seven-year-old is at the peak of her career.

But it all comes to a screeching halt when Mia, her teenaged daughter, announces she’s tired of the social media life. She wants nothing more to do with her mother’s online brand—and demands that not just she, but her siblings and their deceased father be removed from Whitney’s Instagram, blog, and just about everywhere else on the internet.

When Whitney doesn’t agree, Mia does the unthinkable: She sues her mother. What started as a family spat turns into a monumental case about child privacy, individual agency, and modern parenting that shatters Mia and Whitney’s relationship and wreaks havoc on both their lives. As the case ignites a media firestorm and unrelenting online bashing from a Greek chorus of internet snarkers, Whitney has to decide whether she’s willing to risk everything she’s built to win back her daughter.

For fans of Emily Giffin and Kathleen West, Hate Follow is a sparkling and engaging debut novel that explores whose story parents are allowed to tell and how this generation of kids may revolt when they realize their entire lives have been shared online without their consent."

Review: The Colony Club

The Colony Club by Shelley Noble
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love historical fiction, and what better era to choose than the Gilded Age? This was a time when women were starting to realize their worth, yearning for equality, and fighting for the rights of all. This was a very liberal era in certain circles. Of course, it sure helped if you had money!

Ms. Noble was certainly able to blend fact with just a touch of fiction and did it with elegance. She chose a complex subject, spun a tale (most of it historically factual), and pulled the reader into the era in a way that made me feel as if I were making history.

It is a perfect blending of fact and fiction.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher William Morrow Paperbacks, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS:"When young Gilded Age society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because they don’t cater to unaccompanied females, she takes matters into her own hands. She establishes the Colony Club, the first women’s club in Manhattan, where visiting women can stay overnight and dine with their friends; where they can discuss new ideas, take on social issues, and make their voices heard. She hires the most sought-after architect in New York, Stanford White, to design the clubhouse.

As “the best dressed actress on the Rialto” Elsie de Wolfe has an eye for décor, but her career is stagnating. So when White asks her to design the clubhouse interiors, she jumps at the chance and the opportunity to add a woman’s touch. He promises to send her an assistant, a young woman he’s hired as a draftsman.

Raised in the Lower East Side tenements, Nora Bromely is determined to become an architect in spite of hostility and sabotage from her male colleagues. She is disappointed and angry when White “foists” her off on this new women’s club project.

But when White is murdered and the ensuing Trial of the Century discloses the architect’s scandalous personal life, fearful backers begin to withdraw their support. It’s questionable whether the club will survive long enough to open.

Daisy, Elsie, and Nora have nothing in common but their determination to carry on. But to do so, they must overcome not only society’s mores but their own prejudices about women, wealth, and each other. Together they strive to transform Daisy’s dream of the Colony Club into a reality, a place that will nurture social justice and ensure the work of the women who earned the nickname “Mink Brigade” far into the future."

Review: The Christmas Cookie Wars

The Christmas Cookie Wars by Eliza Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5

This was a charming, fast-paced read appropriate for all ages. It is perfect for Christmas when you have so much else to do that you may try to skip the pleasures of reading about the holidays.


It has lovely Christmas themes and an interesting tiny mystery added to keep you on your toes. The romance is adorable and wholesome. I must say that I would have loved to see their romance evolve and, of course, end in marriage, but it wasn't to be. Maybe there will be a part 2!

*ARC was supplied by the publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: "From the author of The Christmas Café, a romantic comedy about a woman who’s determined to save Christmas for her sons, even if it means waging a holiday cookie war with their handsome principal…if she can resist falling in love with him.Melody Monroe will do anything to help her nine-year-old twin boys muster up the holiday spirit. Especially since they lost their father, the boys have started questioning the point of Christmas at all. So, when Melody learns the school’s Yuletide Cookie Club has disbanded due to dissension in the top ranks, she knows she must take over the cookie club herself, even if it means dealing with the infuriating school principal, Jonathan Braxton.But when a small argument turns into a town-wide bake-off between her and Jonathan, Melody finds that her competitive spirits have turned romantic. Love can't be in the cards. Her focus is on her boys, and saving Christmas. This year, will Melody be willing to let go of the past and embrace the magic of the holidays for herself?"

Review: The Bookstore Wedding

The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can you say about a short story without giving it all away? Yes, this would have made a GREAT novella so that it could have given us a little more information, but that aside, this was a very charming story of true love, family, and ones roots.

This story is part of three short stories by Alice Hoffman and the second in this trilogy of stories. The next and last one will be out on February 4, 2025. I had no problems reading this without reading the first story, but since this is free if you have KindleUnlimited, I will be making sure to go and read the first one.

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SYNOPSIS:"In this star-crossed short story from New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman, timing is everything as two sisters learn to let love follow its own path.

Isabel, the long-lost Gibson sister, is finally back home on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. With Sophie and Violet, her sister and her niece, she’s got the family bookstore—and with Johnny Lenox, she’s got something even more special.

But even as life settles, not everything is falling into place. Isabel and Johnny have set the date three times, baked three wedding cakes, invited the whole island to three parties, only to have each attempt at matrimony fall apart at the last minute. Disasters seem to be conspiring against their happy ending, and Isabel is starting to wonder if their love is meant to be.

When family history comes back to haunt the Gibson sisters, Isabel knows that if she wants to make it down the aisle with Johnny, first she and Sophie will have to face the pain of their past and their present, and decide what it means for their future."

Review: Bad Liar

Bad Liar by Tami Hoag
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book, at times, was as slow as a well-fed gator in a Louisianna bayou! It is not until you get to the last 30 percent or so that the story picks up, and you can see where all the twists and turns are leading. This was a very descriptive novel that has you almost smelling the bayou yet, at times, was over-filled with description.

While this book was not my glass of wine, I think many people looking for a gentle escape will love this novel.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Penguin Publishing Group/Dutton, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS:" Masterful #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag is back with a riveting, emotionally powerful new thriller! Small town labels are hard to shake. Hometown hero. Fallen angel. Can anyone ever escape their past?   A murder victim dumped at the dead end of a lonely country road, face and hands obliterated by a shotgun blast, is not the way sheriff’s detective Nick Fourcade wants to start his week. His only lead takes him to the family of a hometown hero suddenly gone missing. Marc Mercier left his home for a weekend hunting trip and hasn’t been seen since. Meanwhile, sheriff’s detective Annie Broussard begins her first day back on the job after suffering a brutal attack by taking on the case of B’Lynn Fontenot, a mother desperate to find her grown son, a recovering drug addict. Robbie Fontenot has been missing for eight days, but the local police have no interest in the case, telling B’Lynn that an adult has the right to disappear, and a missing addict is no big surprise. But B’Lynn swears her son was turning his life around. Sympathetic to a mother’s anguish, Annie agrees to help B’Lynn, knowing she’s about to start a turf war with the city police. As Annie searches for Robbie Fontenot and Nick investigates the disappearance of Marc Mercier, it quickly becomes apparent that nothing is as it seems in the lives of either man. And it’s still not clear whether either of them – or neither – might be the unidentified murder victim. Old jealousies and fresh deceits, family loyalties gone wrong and love turned sour, all lay a twisting trail that leads deep into the Louisiana swamp, endangering all who cross the path of a bad liar.

Review: Mademoiselle Eiffel: A Novel

Mademoiselle Eiffel: A Novel by Aimie K. Runyan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book will be on the shelves as of September 10, 2024.

This was an interesting novel that delved into the life of Claire Eiffel, daughter of Gustave Eiffel, the Architect of the world-renowned Eiffel Tower. The book starts shortly after Claire's mother dies and deals with how Claire stepped into her mother's shoes and became her father's sounding board and part-time secretary.

This book gives us a rich look into the time period of Belle Époque and just slightly beyond. A lot of history went into the making of this novel, and I enjoyed learning what it took to run a family such as this one along with Claire.

Also, learning how the Eiffel Tower came to be and why it did was quite a history lesson for me.

This book will be perfect for those looking to learn more about this time period, have a smattering romance, and those who want to immerse themselves in the Parisian culture of that era.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley.


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SYNOPSIS: "Claire Eiffel, the beautiful, brilliant eldest daughter of the illustrious architect Gustave Eiffel, is doted upon with an education envied by many sons of the upper classes, and entirely out of the reach of most daughters. Claire’s idyllic childhood ends abruptly when, at fourteen, her mother passes away. It’s soon made clear that Gustave expects Claire to fill her mother’s place as caregiver to the younger children and as manager of their home.

As she proves her competence, Claire’s importance to her father grows. She accompanies him on his travels and becomes his confidante and private secretary. She learns her father’s architectural trade and becomes indispensable to his work. But when his bright young protégé, Adolphe Salles, takes up more of Gustave’s time, Claire resents being pushed aside.

Slowly, the animosity between Claire and Adolphe turns to friendship…and then to something more. After their marriage in 1885 preserves the Eiffel legacy, they are privileged by the biggest commission of Eiffel’s career: a great iron tower dominating the 1889 World’s Fair to demonstrate the leading role of Paris in the world of art and architecture. Now hostess to the scientific elite, such as Thomas Edison, Claire is under the watchful eye not only of her family and father’s circle, but also the world.

When Gustave Eiffel’s involvement in a disastrous endeavor to build a canal in Panama ends in his imprisonment, it is up to Claire to secure her father’s freedom but also preserve the hard-won family legacy.

Claire Eiffel’s story of love, devotion, and the frantic pursuit to preserve her family’s legacy is not only an inspired reflection of real personages and historical events, but a hymn to the iconic tower that dominates the City of Lights."

Review: Rocky Start

Rocky Start by Jennifer Crusie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I thought that nothing would ever be as amusing and as comforting a read as was, but I was wrong!

This book takes the cake. What do you get when you fill a town with retired CIA specialists? And I do mean specialists! You get one of the safest towns to live in, don't you...well, as long as they like you!
And what happens to that town when the 'head' or sheriff dies? Do you sneak someone else in, or is that a bad thing?

At any rate, this was a great mystery (sort of) with some nooky stuck-in, and it looks like there may be a couple more books based in this town, hopefully with the same people!

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SYNOPSIS: "Rose Malone’s landlord and employer has just died and now she has no idea if she has a job or if she and her daughter, Poppy, have a place to live, and that’s on top of the arrest warrant that’s been out for her for nineteen years. Then a stranger shows up and tries to throw her out. It just isn’t the week to do that. She smacks him with a reproduction of the Maltese Falcon and then somebody grabs him and throws him into the street.

Max Reddy just wants his boots. He’s walking the Appalachian trail with his dog, Maggs, trying to leave behind a life as an elite covert operative, and stopping in Rocky Start to pick up supplies, when he sees a feisty middle-aged woman get backhanded by a guy in a suit. Max throws the jerk into the street and continues on his way, determined to get his boots and get out of town, even if Feisty was pretty cute. He’s been alone on the trail a long time. Some trees are looking good to him.

Rose needs to know what’s going on, so she follows Max to the post office, no ulterior motive, honest. Except to pick his pocket to find out who he is, then he can go. But by nightfall, she’s invited him under her roof for her own protection since they're dealing with a town full of retired spies, including a suspicious sheriff, a sly-eyed moocher, a knife-wielding bakery owner, a stranger who looks like she drinks the blood of the damned, a conniving teenager, and a dog who's decided she's done with the Appalachian Trail.

And Max is starting to think his dog is right.

Rocky This could be the start of something dangerous.

From the authors who brought you Agnes and the Hitman and the Liz Danger series, a new series in a similar vein.
To be followed by
Very Nice Funerals
The Honey Pot Plot"

Review: This Will Be Fun: A Novel

This Will Be Fun: A Novel by E.B. Asher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, this book certainly did not live up to its title! I admit, though, that it follows loosely, vaguely "The Princess Bride," and those parts were interesting to figure out. (I loved the movie!). I have to say that adding a modern twist to this sort of novel was intriguing and kept me on my toes. For instance, having an ancient type of Uber or Lyft, using a tapestry as a cell phone, and various other technological/magical instances of modern meets magic.

Now comes the complaining part - If you don't mind that over 50% of the book is the three main characters bemoaning about how they hate themselves or angsting about their love lives or lack thereof, then jump right in. Even when a couple of them do finally get together for some nookie, they are still miserable. And that "quest" that the Queen asks them to go on seemed to be just haphazardly thrown in to keep us reading. Although, in the end, the fighting and the magic bits were quite interesting.

I would have given up on this very frustrating and, dare I say, sometimes boring novel if it wasn't for a hint I got in another reviewer's spoiler.

It is interesting to note that E.B. Asher is really three different author's, and it does show.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Avon/HarperCollins, the author, and NetGalley. My thanks to all.

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SYNOPSIS: "

The Princess Bride meets People We Meet on Vacation in this cozy romantasy about a group of friends who once saved their magical land together but haven’t spoken in ten years, reuniting to attend a royal wedding then ending up on a new quest to defend the realm, for readers of Legends and Lattes and lovers of Shrek.

Ten years ago, they saved the realm. It ruined their lives.

In the magical realm of Mythria, everyone remembers how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, ex-bandit Clare, and their heroic leader Galwell the Great defended the queendom from darkness. Ten years later, the former heroes have never recovered from what their famous quest cost them—including the life of Galwell. None ever planned on speaking to the others again. Until, that is, they receive an invitation they cannot ignore—the wedding of the Queen of Mythria, whose life they saved when she was princess.

Reunited on the road, retracing their original heroic quest, is no fun whatsoever for Beatrice and Clare—Clare not over the one-night-stand in their past, Beatrice unable to forget the man who once had her heart—nor for Elowen, unprepared for the return of her former flame, the charming and cunning Vandra. While reuniting with ex-friends and ex-lovers is challenging enough, their new journey grows perilous when the kidnapping of the groom reveals the resurgence of the dark forces from the heroes’ past, plotting domination only Mythria’s onetime defenders could maybe—just maybe—defeat.

Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, they face undead nemeses, unquenchable passions, crystal caves, coffee shops, enchanted swords, games of magical Truth or Dare—and hardest of all, their past, rife with wounds never healed and romances never forgotten.

With companions like theirs, every love story is a quest for happily ever after."

Review: The Wind that Sweeps the Stars

The Wind that Sweeps the Stars by Greg Keyes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was one of the most confusing and chaotic books I have ever read. What I disliked, deep fantasy lovers will find fascinating, so I do recommend this book to them. 

It also seems that there may be another book coming out based on this world with Yash and Chej.

Our female protagonist, Yash, changes—well, she changes sex, and I think she changes her shape, too, but because of the way this book is written, I can't be sure of that. Her 'husband' Chej, is the complete opposite of of Yash. Yash is a fighter, and I admire the fact that she is a strong female/male, but that is about all I admired in this novel.

We have time jumps galore, and some of them are interesting because they explain evolution. Mostly, though, the time jumps are annoying becuase they happen just as you really get into what is happening with Yash and Chej.

There are plenty of fight scenes and enough magic to keep those who are into deep fantasy happy.

There are so many characters that I couldn't keep straight who was a good guy and who wasn't. I stuck with this book, though, because some of it was interesting enough to keep my attention.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Titan Books, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: "A taut high fantasy as an assassin must destroy an empire from within, eliminating wizards, their demons, and even the emperor. For the lives—for the very souls—of her people, she must succeed within a single day, or her homeland will be destroyed.

ALONE AGAINST AN EMPIRE.

When Yash of Zeltah arrives in the fortress city of Honaq she is greeted as a barbarian, a simple pawn. Her marriage to prince Chej has been arranged, they say, to avert war. Yet she knows the truth, for the armies already ravage the land. A skilled and deadly assassin, there is more to Yash than any might suspect. Before another day can pass, she must defeat the masters of the nine towers—the plagues, magics, and monsters they control, the soldiers they command. Without raising an alarm, she must kill all who oppose her—even the immortal emperor. The lives and souls of Zeltah, the people and the land upon which they live, all depend on it."

Review: The Group Trip

The Group Trip by Audrey Ingram
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A good book, but not a fantastic one.

I'm not sure, but I think that I have never read a book with so many unlikeable characters before. We have wishy-washy Chloe and a selfish Luke, Sloane, who forces everyone to do what she wants, and Wyatt, who is hiding the biggest secret of all.

I DO understand that this is a novel about growing up and personality growth, but still. Another problem I had with this book is that it had so many characters that most of them got lost in the background. They never get fully fleshed out. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for me, as every book needs secondary and tertiary characters. However, the problem here is that this book is about six people who are friends during college and remain so after college, right into mature adulthood - they ALL should have gotten their tales told. But they didn't. That is, of course, just my opinion, and many other readers will see it another way.

This story is told in split timelines, starting in the present and then interspersing each 'present' chapter with past years and how things came to be. It works its way to the end when we finally get to understand why and what was happening in the prologue.


This book mostly centers on Chloe and her relationship with Luke. It then throws in other people who are all holding on to secrets (the biggest one is really easy to guess), and some are even telling lies.

*This ARC was provided by the publisher Alcove Press, the author, and NetGalley.




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SYNOPSIS: "Firefly Lane meets Happy Place in this touching southern-set novel about what it means to grow up together–hopefully without growing apart.

Told through dual timelines, Ingram paints a stunning portrait of friendship for fans of Kristy Woodson Harvey.

Sloane and Alden. Chloe and sometimes Luke. Steady Marianne. Reserved Wyatt. The six friends meet in their freshman year of college and quickly become inseparable as they navigate the bumpy road into adulthood. Over the next decade, they support each other through love and heartbreak, promotions and burnouts, stupid mistakes and epic dance parties.

But when Chloe inexplicably refuses Luke’s long-awaited proposal, their breakup fractures the close-knit group. Uncertain about the future of their friendship, they all reluctantly agree to gather for a luxury getaway on Florida’s Emerald Coast. As Chloe struggles to mend what she broke, the friends discover they’ve all kept secrets from the people who are supposed to know them best. Between beach bonfires and fried seafood dinners, the friends confront who they’ve become while longing for their carefree past.

For everyone who has felt both the joy and pain of changing friendships, The Group Trip offers a poignant exploration into matters of the heart.

Expected publication August 6, 2024"