Hey lovelies! I had a restless night so figured it was time to catch up on some reviews of books that I have read here and there over the last couple months! Also there release dates are coming soon so figured it was the time to post!
All four of these books involve books in some sort of way or fashion. If you are a bibliophile you know how it is when you see a book that mentions ‘book’ or has a premise with a book worm! I just can’t help myself from wanting to read them all! Well anywho, let’s get down to business!😉
I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate this opportunity and all views and opinions expressed are my own.
Title: By the Book
Author: Julia Sonneborn
Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis: An English professor struggling for tenure discovers that her ex-fiancé has just become the president of her college—and her new boss—in this whip-smart modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic Persuasion.
Anne Corey is about to get schooled.
An English professor in California, she’s determined to score a position on the coveted tenure track at her college. All she’s got to do is get a book deal, snag a promotion, and boom! She’s in. But then Adam Martinez—her first love and ex-fiancé—shows up as the college’s new president.
Anne should be able to keep herself distracted. After all, she’s got a book to write, an aging father to take care of, and a new romance developing with the college’s insanely hot writer-in-residence. But no matter where she turns, there’s Adam, as smart and sexy as ever. As the school year advances and her long-buried feelings begin to resurface, Anne begins to wonder whether she just might get a second chance at love.
Funny, smart, and full of heart, this modern ode to Jane Austen’s classic explores what happens when we run into the demons of our past…and when they turn out not to be so bad, after all.
Review: I LOVED this loosely based modern take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion. This was a sweet and fun second chance novel that made me smile. I really liked the characters especially gay best friend and side kick, Larry! This story even gave me a happy tear at the ending! I recommend this book for anyone who likes a great women’s lit novel and second chance romance!
Title: Claws for Concern
Author: Miranda James
Rating: 4 Stars
Synopsis: Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, are embroiled in a new mystery when a cold case suddenly heats up in the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.
Charlie Harris has been enjoying some peace and quiet with his new grandson when a mysterious man with a connection to an unsolved murder starts visiting the library…
Review: This book was a cozy treat and highly enjoyable. I LOVED Charlie and Diesel and their bond. I am a crazy cat lady so love books featuring cats! When I saw this cover I fell in LOVE! Cats and Books!!! Well silly me, I didn’t pay attention to the fact it was the 9th installment so I felt I missed out a tad. This book can still be read as a standalone and was a fun mystery! I always love a mystery with a cold case so was pleased with this title and definitely will be checking out the previous books in this series!
Synopsis:Why did Hitler chose not to invade England when he had the chance?
Europe, 1940: It’s late summer and Belgium has been overrun by the German army. Posing as a friar, a British operative talks his way into the monastery at Villers-devant-Orval just before Nazi art thieves plan to sweep through the area and whisk everything of value back to Berlin. But the ersatz man of the cloth is no thief. Instead, that night he adds an old leather Bible to the monastery’s library and then escapes.
London, 2017: A construction worker operating a backhoe makes a grisly discovery—a skeletal arm-bone with a rusty handcuff attached to the wrist. Was this the site, as a BBC newsreader speculates, of “a long-forgotten prison, uncharted on any map?” One viewer knows better: it’s all that remains of a courier who died in a V-2 rocket attack. The woman who will put these two disparate events together—and understand the looming tragedy she must hurry to prevent—is Russian historian and former Soviet chess champion Larissa Mendelovg Klimt, “Lara the Bookworm,” to her friends. She’s also experiencing some woeful marital troubles.
In the course of this riveting thriller, Lara will learn the significance of six musty Dictaphone cylinders recorded after D-Day by Noel Coward—actor, playwright and, secretly, a British agent reporting directly to Winston Churchill. She will understand precisely why that leather Bible, scooped up by the Nazis and deposited on the desk of Adolf Hitler days before he planned to attack Britain, played such a pivotal role in turning his guns to the East. And she will discover the new secret pact negotiated by the nefarious Russian president and his newly elected American counterpart—maverick and dealmaker—and the evil it portends.
Oh, and she’ll reconcile with her husband.
Review: I liked this book! This book definitely made me think about things with history and our current political situation but this was not what I expected. I enjoyed how this story mixes things up and ties WW2 with the current Russia/Trump situation. The main issue I had was that this book was so slowwwww….especially the first half. I mean this novel was unique and I love something out there! This story brings to the table a mix of historical figures like The Kennedys and Nostradamus and throws it in with WW2. If it wasn’t slow, I’m sure I would have loved this book but for now I am settling for an overall, ‘I liked this book but don’t know if I would read it again.’
Title: Check Me Out
Author: Becca Wilhite
Rating: 1 Star
Greta loves her job as assistant librarian. She loves her best friend, Will, the high school civics teacher and debate coach. She even loves her mother despite her obvious disappointment that Greta is still single.
Then she meets Mac in the poetry section of the library, and she is smitten. Mac is heart-stoppingly gorgeous and showers her with affection, poetic text messages, and free hot chocolate at the local café where he works. The only problem is that he seems to be a different person in his texts than in his face-to-face conversation.
When the Franklin Library is threatened with closure, Greta leaps into action. She arranges for a “battle of the bands” book jam, hosts a book signing by a famous author, and finally, stages a protest that raises more than a few eyebrows.
Through it all, she slowly realizes that it is Will, not Mac, who she turns to for support and encouragement. Mac has the looks; Will has the heart. How can she choose between them?
Check Me Out is a contemporary romance–with just a hint of Cyrano de Bergerac–that reminds us that it is what’s on the inside that matters most.
Review: Damn, do I ever hate writing negative reviews especially a 1 Starred review! It sort of sucks something out of me and brings positive Dani down…😓
I appreciate that the publishers allowed me to review this book but it was not for me at ALL! I loved the cover and the concept but I will get straight to the point of what killed this story for me.
The main character and the story drove me insane with her shallowness! It seemed every moment that it was possible that she couldn’t get over how “big” aka overweight someone was! It was ridiculous that this was made in too such a big of a deal. As a woman who has struggled with weight problems because of health issues it made me very uncomfortable to read this book.
I’m not going to leave on that note! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and know I love your faces! Have fun and do whatever the hell you want to do!
Over and out! Xoxo
Touch My Spine Book Reviews 
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