The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell
Goodreads blurb:Two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era in this delightfully clever and riotously funny debut.
Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It’s not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way—well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.
A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry—and Tess’s career depends on it.
Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.
A wickedly funny, delightfully charming story, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, second chances, and love across the space-time continuum
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher.
my take: 4.25 out of 5. The story was absurd but Oh how I enjoyed it. This is really how an Austen interpretation should happen, not just reinvent for the modern world, be inspired by the feel of Austen and do something different (although its a tad similar to a Hallmark movie last year, but I digress). This is how regency should meet the modern world and I wanted so much more of the book by the end.
Once and Again by Rebecca Serle
Goodreads blurb:The women of the Novak family were each born with a gift: they can, just once, turn back time.
Lauren has known since she was fifteen that her mother Marcella saved Lauren’s father from a deadly car accident. Dave is alive and happy, and out on the Malibu waves. But ever since, Marcella, her power spent, has lived in fear of what she won’t be able to reverse. Her own mother, Sylvia, is her polar opposite: a free-spirited iconoclast with a glamorous past she only hints at. Lauren has spent her life between these two role models—and waiting for her own catastrophe to strike.
Then one summer, Lauren’s husband takes a job in New York and she moves back to Broad Beach Road, back into her childhood home on the shores of Malibu. Lauren looks forward to surfing with her dad again and perhaps repairing an unspoken fracture in her relationship with her mother. What she doesn’t expect is for the boy next to door to return home as well: Stone, Lauren’s first love, who broke her heart nearly a decade before.
As Lauren falls into familiar patterns, with her family and, more dangerously, Stone, she finds herself thinking about all the choices, large and small, that have brought her to this moment. And wondering, finally, if one of them should be undone.
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher.
My take: 3 out of 5. Interesting concept but the execution just didn’t fully do it for me. I think it was a huge buildup that didn’t have a payoff at the end. The overall feeling is weird, with a really strange ending, but some points for a cool twist. Marcella as a character I really couldn’t understand, and I would have loved to hear Silvia earlier on, not just in the ending. Leo is a bit lackluster to be honest, and I feel we should have stronger opinions about him.
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
Goodreads blurb: Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. Winner takes all.
Lily—a bored, beautiful twentysomething—wakes up on a remote desert compound alongside nineteen other contestants on a popular reality TV show. To win, she must outlast her housemates while competing in challenges for luxury rewards, such as champagne and lipstick, and communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door.
The cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: Why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between desire and desperation. When the producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. If Lily makes it to the end, she’ll receive prizes beyond her wildest dreams—but what will she have to do to win?
Addictive and prescient, The Compound is an explosive debut from a major new voice in fiction and will linger in your mind long after the game ends.
My take: 2 out of 5. I really do not know why I read this book, or why did I finish it. I think I kept going on expecting that something had to happen and that there had to be a payoff at the end, but really there was none. Lilli says she’s shallow and not smart and really she truly is, at least she is super self aware. As bland as a main character as you can get. I don’t really understand why we’re following her. Well no maybe I do know, is this just a critique of the emptiness and materialism of our society? probably, but I still don’t need to read a whole novel about it. And did she learn or grow? actually you don’t really know, its a maybe with a chance of boring. Also Im not a fan of love island or survivor, so I might not have been the target audience for this book.
If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia
Goodreads blurb: My new next-door neighbor seems to have everything figured out. Small town golden boy? Check. Single dad extraordinaire? Check. Hot baker forearms? I didn’t notice them, I swear.
I, on the other hand, don’t–at all–have anything figured out.
Trust me, I didn’t think taking over my mom’s dream bed and breakfast in Copper Run Vermont was going to be easy. It should be a good place to heal after my divorce. But apparently my scones belong in the garbage with my small talk skills. As pointed out by none other than Cliff.
Cliff is inescapable. He knows exactly what people need–always. His charm, the way he wears flannel, and even his pastries, make not wanting to be friends with Cliff and his daughters pretty hard.
Friends? I can make friends. That’s safe.
Except I’m leaving in three months to pass the inn off to my little sister and get the promotion in Seattle I’ve been working towards.
So ask me why I’m thinking about kissing my hot neighbor.
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher.
my take: 3.75 out of 5. This is a super cute, perfect fall book. It gave me all the Gilmore girl vibes, with the teenagers but mostly with the fall, small town and the 90s settings. IT makes you realize how easier it was to make storylines when you didn’t have a phone that could solve many plot lines. I really enjoyed that even though there is quote a bit of conflict and drama, there is no third act breakup. It was a bit weird that she was speaking to the dog (and the epilogue narrated by the dog was definitely too much for me)
The Bell Witches by Lindsey Kelk
Goodreads blurb: YOU’LL WANT TO BE ONE. UNTIL YOU KNOW THEIR SECRETS.
After Emily’s father tragically dies, she is forced to live with the only family she has left, an aunt and grandmother in the heart of Savannah, Georgia in a house as beautiful as it is mysterious.
But all is not what it seems with the Bell family; they’re hiding a magical secret.
When Emily meets the alluring Wyn, she forms a connection that feels like it was always meant to be. As the spark between them grows more powerful, her life takes an exhilarating and terrifying turn; but every step closer to him, takes her a step further away from her family.
Emily will find out that blood is always thicker than water…
THERE’S NO BOND GREATER THAN MAGIC
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher.
My take: 3.25 out of 5. The best part of this book is how much Savannah is a main character. I love that city and its truly an integral part of the story. If you like magical stories and Savannah this is the book for you. It was also a great book for the season. I love a good witch story and I really enjoyed this one, but I was a bit taken aback with the insta love, it was what made me feel less invested into the story. I did love the spins and how you really don’t know what i what, who is good and what is going to happen. I will be happily reading part 2.
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