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Believe it or not, I have taken a short break from my dark and crazy mystery/thrillers and have been working my way through my unread contemporary romance novels! Although I claim that my favourite genre is mystery/thriller, contemporary romance novels always seem to take up a good chunk of my favourite books at the end of every year. Last year, I read Beth O’Leary’s debut novel, The Flatshare, and while it did not make my favourite books list, there is no doubt that her most recent publication, The Switch, will!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.
Once Leena learns of Eileen’s romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.
Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn’t as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?

This book was the equivalent of a chef’s kiss. It was perfection in every sense, and ever since I have finished the novel, I have been contemplating whether it is currently my #1 favourite book of the year!

What made this novel so great was the quirky, unique, and overall wonderful cast of characters. There were quite a few characters in this novel, but I never found them hard to keep track or remember. I became so emotionally attached to almost all of the characters, and found myself caring for them so much. I specifically loved Arnold, Martha, and Fitz’s characters, as they were side characters that added so much to the novel.

The writing in this novel really stood out to me while I was reading it. Like The Flatshare, this novel was written in dual perspective. Both points of view were written with very distinct voices, and I never had aa problem remembering which perspective I was reading from. The characters voices were established very well from the very beginning of the novel, which I enjoyed and appreciated immensely. In most cases of dual POV stories, often times one voice will stick out more than the other, and in this case, that voice was Eileen, the 79-year-old grandmother to Leena. Her voice was incredibly witty and humours, and it was such a joy reading all of her chapters!

I also really appreciated the way Beth O’Leary wrote both of the settings in this novel. Leena lives in a small village a couple of hours away from London. O’Leary wrote the town to perfection, and it really felt like I was in a small town when reading from her perspective.

Typically, I am not a huge fan of character driven novels, because I love plots with a clear problem and solution. However, this one was spectacular. Overall, I absolutely loved this novel and gave it 5/5 stars. And although I gave The Flatshare 5/5 stars as well, I somehow liked this novel 10x more! If you are a fan of character driven contemporary novels, I would highly suggest giving this one a try!

Good Night Book Owls!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

After reading so many mystery/thrillers over the past few months, I was in need of a good romance “palette cleanser” novel. I had a few of them to chose from, so I decided to read through the first page to see which one intrigued me the most. When I picked up the  novel, The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon, I read the first line – “Alexa, play Drake.” and I knew this was the one for me! {Also, NEW DRAKE TODAY!}

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor-have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status . . .
For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?

This was the PERFECT romance for me. Since both of the main characters, Samiah and Daniel, work at a huge tech company, I really loved the tech elements presented in this book. I really loved reading about all of the projects they were tasked with and all of the extra tech-talk that was written in this novel.

Of course, one of the best elements of their workplace was the fact that Samiah was a women in a powerful position. In the male-dominated tech-world, it was so nice to read about a women of colour in a high-up position, who was respected and appreciated for by her employees and employers. I never enjoy reading the trope of the “unappreciated female employee”, so I was very happy that that was not included in this novel. Since Samiah is an important asset to her male-dominated company, there is a lot of great commentary about women – specifically women of colour – working in the tech industry and trying their best to succeed in order to keep doorways open for other women like them. A lot of the commentary was not something that I had ever read before or thought about, so I was incredibly grateful to have been opened up to those conversations.

One of my favourite aspects of this novel was reading about the strong female friendships between Samiah, London, and Taylor. Although they are brought together by an unfortunate event, their friendship blossomed throughout the story and was simply a joy to read. I have a strong group of friends like the one written about in this novel, and it made me appreciate them even more!

And of course, I LOVED Daniel! He was definitely my favourite character in this novel. Without spoiling anything, he does some questionable things in this novel, but they are all for a purpose and easy to understand. He is put in some hard situations, and even Samiah comes to understand why he did what he did. I loved Daniel and Samiah’s relationship from the very beginning of this novel, as they liked each other right away. I know the hate-to-love relationship trope is very popular, but I find it to be a tad overdone. I really enjoyed the pace of their relationship, and I enjoyed reading about every aspect of it!

The writing in this novel is nothing special, but I appreciated that the synopsis began and ended within the first 50 pages of the novel, and truthfully, most of what occurs in the novel, is not even mentioned in the synopsis at all! As for the “steamy scenes” (as I like to call them!), they were the perfect amount of sweet and steamy, and were not to overly descriptive. In my opinion, it was the perfect amount for a contemporary romance.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and gave it 5/5 stars. Thanks to HBG Canada for providing me with a finished copy to read and review!

Good Night Book Owls!

P.S. I’m low-key convinced the Farrah Rochon and myself are the same person based on her author-bio on the bag of the novel! We both love reading, travelling, Walt Disney World and Broadway shows!!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

As you may know by now, I have recently been reading new Mystery/Thriller novels like it is nobody’s business! The mystery/thriller genre has been my favourite since 2018, but I think I have read more books from that genre this year than I did all of last year! In 2019, I read J.P. Delaney’s The Perfect Wife, and while I really enjoyed it, I did not find to be very memorable. However, with her newest mystery/thriller Playing Nice, I don’t think I will be able to forget this story or these characters for a very long time.

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Pete Riley answers the door one morning and lets in a parent’s worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, a stranger who breaks the devastating news that Pete’s son, Theo, isn’t actually his son–he is the Lamberts’, switched at birth by an understaffed hospital while their real son was sent home with Miles and his wife, Lucy. For Pete, his partner Maddie, and the little boy they’ve been raising for the past two years, life will never be the same again.
The two families, reeling from the shock, take comfort in shared good intentions, eagerly entwining their very different lives in the hope of becoming one unconventional modern family. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an official investigation that unearths some disturbing questions about the night their children were switched. How much can they trust the other parents–or even each other? What secrets are hidden behind the Lamberts’ glossy front door? Stretched to the breaking point, Pete and Maddie discover they will each stop at nothing to keep their family safe.
They are done playing nice.

There are two word I would use to describe this book: simply stellar. Everything about this book was so simple, but done to such a high degree of effectiveness. The overall concept of this novel is unique, but done so simply with such intricate emphasis on the plot. As I previously shared, I have read one other J.P. Delaney book, The Perfect Wife (click here to read my review), and while I enjoyed that one, I enjoyed this novel so much more. I found as the story in The Perfect Wife developed, it became less and less realistic, whereas that never happened with this one. I truly think what makes this book so thrilling, is not due to any specific detail in the novel itself, but rather the plot seems so horrifyingly realistic.

In the past, I’ve had issues with the pacing and longevity of thrillers—especially those that are around the 400 page mark. Some seem to drag on for ages, and not everything in them tends to be necessary for the overall development of the plot. However, this book felt like one of the shortest thrillers I have ever read—even though it is over 400 pages! The pacing of this novel was impeccable, and since this book has small twists or conversations that lead you to want to continue reading at the end of each chapter, I read the book so quickly, which in this case, I did unintentionally. Sometimes, especially in readathons, I will read quickly for a purpose, but this book was so engrossing and captivating that it pushed me to read it at an unusually quick speed.

The POV style of this book was very surprising, and immediately caught me off guard. You would think that a novel that centres around a pair of couples whose children were accidentally swapped at the NICU upon birth would be written in two POVS—one person from each respective couple. However, in this novel, the book is written from two POVs—the man and woman who have a partnership together (they are not married). As the plot line develops, it is unknown as to why the author made this choice, but when you get to the last few chapters, it suddenly becomes clear.

The writing itself was very simple, but incredibly enjoyable. I find that in thrillers, I appreciate simple yet clear writing, as it makes the story easy to read and helps to pick the pace of the book up, even if it is a little bit slow, unlike this particular novel.

The characters were very, very interesting. Immediately upon reading this book, I felt attached to Pete, the father of Theo. He is a stay-at-home father, a profession that is not typically amplified enough in many adult novels. He is a very kind and sensitive person, and takes passion in taking care of his son while his wife is at work. Because I liked him so much, it was easy to care deeply about his emotions and thoughts while the story developed. I also really enjoyed reading from Maddie’s perspective, Pete’s partner and Theo’s mother. She has a very distinct and ominous voice throughout the book, and her character developed into something unexpected but very appreciated as the novel concluded.

This book was an amazing mystery/thriller, that embodied everything I love about and in mystery/thriller novels. I rated this book 5/5 stars, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys novels centred around family dynamics, children, or court room dramas.

Good Night Book Owls!

Welcome to Reading, Reading, Reading!

As you may know, John Marrs has quickly become one of my new favourite authors of all time. His mystery/thriller novels are practically perfect in every way (movie reference, anybody?)! For the second half of 2020, I am going to try to get through all of John Marrs backlist publications, making this one the second Marrs book I have read this year. And boy oh boy, it did NOT disappoint!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide.
When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course.
The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife – and parents of two – who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem?

This book was UNREAL. With every John Marrs book I read, I am more and more impressed by his writing and unpredictable plot twists. He seems to have gotten the thrilling aspect down to a tee, and his plot twists for exceptional mysterious aspects.

The Passengers features a very interesting cast of characters. Quickly, readers realize that everyone involved in this event has a secret to hide, and while I was expecting the secrets to be very basic (murder, money laundering, etc.), these ones were actually very complex and unexpected. Each of the secrets helped to further develop the characters, and they added to the uniqueness of this book.

Within this story, I found so many tropes that I love to read in novels, including an element of tech, majority of the story taking place over a small period of time, and a romance element that does not take over the whole story, just to name a few. Since this story was so plot driven, it was necessary for Marrs to include a lot of different tropes to help advance the plot of the story, and I thought that the ones he chose were not only interesting, but also executed so well.

I think this book would make a phenomenal movie adaptation, as the majority of the story takes place over only a few hours during one day. The technological aspect would be so interesting to see play out on TV, and I know the characters could easily be cast. I hope that after The One gets put on Netflix, Netflix will think about creating The Passengers into a movie!

And of course, I ended up giving this book 5/5 stars. Out all of the John Marrs books I have read so far, this one was my favourite!

Good Night Book Owls!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

If you are a frequent reader of my book blog, you will notice that I rarely read Sci-Fi novels. That being said, when I was first approached by Raquel to read her novel, Hamartia, I thought that the premise sounded very different from most Sci-Fi novels. Since the synopsis peaked my interest, I accepted to read and review it… and I am so glad I did!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Grace’s nine-year-old son, Jordan, is dying. First, the Metagenesis disease will tear his soul from his body, and then it will kill him. Desperate for a cure, Grace agrees to take part in an illegal clinical trial cloning souls. Supported by her best friend Kay, the two embark on the ultimate “Vegas Vacation” to the past in search of the right soul to clone, racing against time to save Jordan’s life. But someone is trying to stop them and when they discover why Grace must make a choice: let her son die or kill her husband. If she kills her husband, she triggers widespread Metagenesis, sealing the fate of the human race with a new plague.
Humanity is counting on Grace choosing to let her son die.

Right off the bat, the story takes place starting in Toronto travelling to Las Vegas 80-years in the past (Las Vegas circa 2000). This was so coincidental, as the last trip I took before COVID was to Las Vegas from Toronto! The overall world building was one of my favourite things to read in this story, which stemmed from Rich’s stupendous writing.

Rich’s writing is fantastic, especially for a debut novel. At times, I thought that the writing was a little ramble. Rich includes a lot of detail in this story, which is appreciated, however I didn’t think that all of it was absolutely necessary. This also goes for some of the character dialogue. However, her word choice and overall writing devices were written incredibly well.

In my opinion, the best part of this novel were the characters and character development. As readers, we see the characters go through a lot in this story, and I really enjoyed reading them develop. I especially enjoyed Grace’s character and all of the emotions she goes through throughout this story. I felt really invested in Grace’s story while reading this novel, which helped me read this story very quickly.

Since I was a bit nervous to read a Sci-Fi novel, I was incredibly impressed by how thrilling it was! There are quite a few plot twists in this novel that I did not see coming at all, which added to my overall enjoyment of the novel. Rich did a great job of incorporating an equal amount of sci-fi elements – especially time travelling – along with both emotional and thrilling elements.

Overall, I was incredibly surprised by this novel (in the best way!), and rated it 4/5 stars! Thanks very much to Raquel Rich for giving me a copy of Hamartia to read and review, I apologize for how long it took me to finally read it!

Good Night Book Owls!