TBRChallenge Review: Evvie Drake Starts Over

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After all this time, he would wonder, why now? He wouldn’t know that, today exactly, Evvie had been with him for half her life. 

In continuing to limp my way to completing SuperWendy's TBRChallenge, I finally finished May's Older Couple theme book. Now, when I was looking for a book for this theme Evvie Drake was on numerous lists for older couples, it was at my local library, so I could use it for a bingo square for another game I'm playing, and it has been on my tbr for more than five years. Y'all, I think Evvie is in her early to late thirties and I'm guessing Dean is in the mid to late thirties range. Older couple. I feel like dust. Anywhooooooooo 

“I do think we should have a deal.” 

She looked at him expectantly. 

“You don’t ask me about baseball,” he said, “and I don’t ask you about your husband.” 

On the day that Evvie is packing her car to leave her highschool sweetheart husband, he gets into a car accident and dies. This leaves her as the “grieving” widow, stuck in a role that doesn't fit. I'd put this in the women's fiction with romance category and while I enjoyed Evvie and Dean's interactions and chemistry, it was all about that living in quiet desperation with a supposed golden boy who is emotionally and physically abusive. Exploring Evvie's character as she goes through life and interactions trying to maintain her composure, keeping up a facade that she not only can't physically or emotionally do anymore, she's learning that she doesn't need or should have to. I liked how the author showed the nefarious ways it's easy to slip into this role and dynamic, Evvie met her husband while still in highschool and felt “lucky” to be noticed by him, all the while learning (emotional abused) how to keep him happy at the expense of herself (She was the one, after all, who had graduated second in her class, right behind him, after tanking her math final because she knew how much it meant to him to be valedictorian.). Along with emotional abuse there are physical abuse content warnings, this shows how as their relationship went on and her husband felt more comfortable, the abuse was ramping up. Evvie didn't have the language or emotional maturity to fully understand what was happening to her, especially since her abuser was so apt at keeping it hidden and the culture of shame kept her quiet. It's what makes this story/book so important, giving space to talk out and name these abuses. 

They wouldn’t have believed that the reasons she rarely felt like dancing with him had to do with the way he was at home. She knew the way he sort of glowed for most people. She probably knew it better than anybody, because she’d traded away more than anybody in return for it. 

Dean did have his own issues, he got the yips during his major league pitching career, which ultimately ended it. Evvie's bestfriend Andy is friends with Dean and he pairs them together with Dean renting out an apartment in Evvie's house so he can get away from the spotlight. It's summer so I loved the baseball additive and enjoyed some of the baseball history and lore but the ending to this thread of his was kind of meh, which I guess is another life lesson but meh all the same. This took place over a year, so you could say their relationship was a slow burn and again, I enjoyed them together but not the main reason I gave this four stars. 

“Who knows you?” he asked. 

The other main relationship was Evvie and her bestfriend Andy and how by her not telling him the truth about her marriage made Andy feel not as close or as important to her as he felt she was to him. It's a great look/discussion in all the ways people work to hide themselves and keep up an image by trying to protect themselves emotionally but end up only hurting themselves more. Also, a great look at how friendships can change over time as romances enter the picture. This was languid at times, insightful, emotional, funny, sweet, and hurt so good. The way it showed and called out a particular form of hidden abuse and how Evvie eventually built up the strength to call it so and work to emotionally navigate through it, will make you want to donate a copy to every library.

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Review: Slipstream

Slipstream by Madge Maril
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

2 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

It was already over. I just hadn’t known it. 

Lilah has moved down to Texas from Washington D.C. to film a documentary paid for by a Formula 1 team about their drivers. She films with her bestfriend turned boyfriend Max and they're coming off doing an award winning doc about a congressman. Lilah knows nothing about Formula 1 and wants to do important film making, not a puff piece, but as someone diagnosed with ADHD and neurodivergent, she has let Max lead her in things she should like and how she should act. Her plan is to get down to Texas and convince him that they shouldn't do the film but instead he promptly breaks up with her and tells her he's kicking her out of the company that has both their names on it. Fortunately, the driver Lilah was assigned to film, Arthur, has his own grievances and agenda. He'll help her get the doc tanked if she'll help him get his uncle to fire him off the team. The fake dating plan they come up with sounds great, until real feelings get involved. 

The enemy of my enemy is a Formula 1 reserve driver trying to break his contract, as the saying goes. 

I had just read a Formula 1 book and a very similar dynamic between the main characters a little before I read this and I think that may have lead to me not enjoying this as much. The plan Lilah and Max come up with never quite made sense to me, they're going to fake date but not so much that people can really realize and that is supposed to get his uncle to fire him and get them to trash the doc? Until the end when this plan comes into play, I just ignored it instead of trying to figure it out. 

“You know what you remind me of? We used to feed this angry stray cat out in Rome. Micetta, we called her. She bit me every time I pet her.” 

“Masochist,” I mumble. 

“You wish.” 

This was told all from Lilah's point-of-view and she spends a lot of time pointing out how feeling so different from everyone else, which she puts down to her ADHD, has her constantly at odds with people and wanting to hide away from the world. Of course, there wasn't really any awkwardness with Arthur, he, covertly to Lilah but obvious to readers, clicks with and falls for her immediately. I honestly thought there was going to be messaging at the end how everyone feels weird and awkward and Lilah really wasn't that different but this was more of a women's/lit fiction story where Lilah's issues felt dragged out (352 pages) and rehashed to death. Arthur gets some focus on his family issues and PTSD but his character was not focused on in that a male main character in a romance but women's fiction vibe story. There was an open door scene where Arthur just decided to suddenly verbalize his love, spouting “wife” and the like, for some good pull quote scenes, but Lilah, of course, just passed it all off as “in the moment”. 

But when Arthur looks at me like this, I realize maybe being unique isn’t a tragedy if it’s the reason he keeps smiling at me. 

Again, if I hadn't just read some similar vibe stories and characters, maybe I would have enjoyed this more but this just felt long, rehashing, and more of Lilah's story than a total romance. She has self-esteem issues to work through, her thinking her ADHD makes her so different from everyone else and how her birth mother gave her up (she got adopted at sixteen and has a great relationship with her adopted parents). She says blunt things to Arthur that he delights in and he's just so immediately interested and into her but she has no idea! There was some Formula 1 world-setting, Lilah (readers) getting explanations from Arthur's team about the sport and some race scenes. Arthur's racing team members gave us some pretty good secondary characters and Lilah getting her place in the “family” was a favorite aspect of this book. Overall, too much of that lit fic internal thoughts focus with Lilah and not enough romantic relationship development with Arthur.

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Review: Too Hot to Handle

Too Hot to Handle by Portia MacIntosh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

The boys won’t leave. We can’t leave. We have to share the space. 

Too Hot to Handle was a first person point-of-view story that loved to misdirect and had a zany tone. Molly has just left a celebration where she helped her bestfriend's boyfriend surprise her with an engagement. High on love, she goes to dinner with her boyfriend of two years and has a moment where she thinks they're going to get engaged, instead he goes on about how he said he never wanted to get married. With a moment of clarity, Molly breaks up with him and then gets depressed with trying to date from apps. After eight months, she's ready to swear off guys and when a mix-up leads to her getting a two week vacation in Spain with her bride bestie and the other bridesmaids, relaxation and time with the girls is the only thing on her mind. Instead, she finds herself stuck in a villa with an all male groomsmen group. A standoff where no one wants to leave creates hijinks, battles, and Molly wanting to fraternize with the enemy. 

Honestly, he’s going to have to stop being so perfect, or I might be in serious trouble.

This had a chik-lit and women's fiction feel with a humorous bent that didn't quite jive with my funny bone, so your mileage may vary. Everyone was in their early/mid thirties and the way these adults acted finding themselves in a situation where the villa they were supposed to stay at was double booked, just didn't entertain me, rather, their attitudes and actions grated. If you're not bothered by the vibe, you'll get a story with four men and four women trying to convince the other group to leave the villa when there really isn't another option for them. They have one week until each wedding and then one week after the wedding for the wedding party members to enjoy the villa. With no side leaving, they agree to share it, the women get the bedrooms with attached bathrooms, the men get the downstairs with the kitchen, and the backyard with pool and fire pit is communal space. That's right, the men can't shower and the women can't cook food for a week. They come to a conclusion to play a series of competitions where each side picks an activity and whoever wins it, gets a point. After a few competitions whoever has the most points, gets the villa for the second week. The competitions are shown but ran through quickly and then the characters themselves kind of forget about them towards the end. 

It’s time to go for what I want, instead of being sad and scared all the time. 

As this is only told from Molly's pov, we only get a look at her budding connection with one of the men, Travis, from the other side, but there are hints that the other two bridesmaids might be having connections with the other two groomsmen. The romance doesn't really get focused on until halfway through and you won't be too certain where Travis stands. There's a misdirection moment meant to third act breakup bamboozle you but it doesn't last too long and I felt more annoyed than emotional that such a wrench was flashed in. After spending time with the group and some of their immature antics we do get a HEA for Molly but I can't say I believed wholeheartedly in it as I never really felt I knew Travis. This was a quick and snappy story and if you don't mind some immature madcap, this might be the beach read for you.

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Review: I'll Be Gone for Christmas

I'll Be Gone for Christmas by Georgia K. Boone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

What did it mean to feel content? 

I'll Be Gone for Christmas was a story told in two alternating povs about can you be someone different in a different place. With some The Holiday movie feel, Bee and Clover switch homes for December. Bee lives in San Francisco and is feeling major burnout, she works with her high powered, feels like favored twin sister and has cost them two accounts over the last few months. She's a writer who can't seem to find any inspiration anymore for the copy edits she's supposed to write. Clover has had a rough year in her Ohio small-town, her mother died and she broke things off with her bestfriend since childhood, now, ex-fiancé. Bee wants to slow things down and thinks a farm in small town America will do it and Clover wants to test some boundaries after feeling completely shut-down by her mother before she died. 

This was more a women's fiction, finding yourself story to me than romance. While both women meet their eventual love interest as soon as they get to their destinations, that aspect kind of disappears as they do some soul searching about who they are and who they want to be. Bee is instantly attracted to Clover's ex-fiance, Knox, who works and lives on the farm but he seems to still be trying to get over Clover and Clover can't help but be attracted to Bee's twin sister Beth, but her mother's comment when Clover tried to come out to her, still rings loudly in her head. I liked how Clover's journey showed how representation matters, the environment and social circle she finds in San Francisco opens her eyes to possibilities and what is “normal”, helping her feel comfortable with her authentic self. There's a thread of Clover reuniting with an old friend and if you hadn't read the back synopsis, you'd be forgiven thinking that is going to be her love interest. It really wasn't until around 70% that Clover and Beth get romance genre going, leaving it to feel rushed and me not feeling a strong connection between them. 

Bee and Knox have some cute moments (a chopping wood scene!) but their romance also doesn't really start going until around 60% and even then there was still the hangover of Know still not completely moved on from Clover. I wouldn't go into this for the romance (closed door and some kisses), more of a finding yourself with some holiday vibes and start of relationships.

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Review: Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

Can I really turn this fake relationship into a real one? 

Emily is now the only unmarried daughter in her family and at thirty-three, she's feeling the pressure from her mother. After going along with her mother's first disastrous matchmaking scheme, Emily wants nothing to do with her mother's latest pick, Mark Chan. Especially after feeling like he was judging her and wouldn't stay off his phone when she first meets him at her younger sister's wedding. However, Emily's mother is caring and devious, tricking Emily into a date with him and there, Emily comes up with a plan to fake date for three months to get her mother off her back, a plan Mark surprisingly goes along with. 

But I concede— in my own mind, not out loud— that Mark has grown on me, and the juxtaposition of his neat clothes and cat named Ms. Muffins is weirdly delightful. 

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie was a cute fake dating story where, oops, my mom was right and I do have chemistry with this guy, that had a lot of women's fiction/chik-lit to it but came in with a surprising second half (truly, I gasped) introducing some chapters with Mark's point-of-view. The first half is all from Emily's pov and focused on how she feels like her mother is disappointed in life choices and job of being a writer and her sisters all sneer at her “I don't have my life together because I don't have a husband, kids, and white picket fence”. If you're a writer and disillusioned by the publishing business, you'd probably do a lot of cathartic commiserating with Emily. I'm not in the business and as a reader, I liked how it gave some life to her character, filling out her make-up and world, but there was a lot repeated and bemoaned over and over, to the point it started to make me want to say, “No career is a picnic”'; but, again, not the target for this aspect. 

Mark Chan is more than a little handsome. 

I lean this more towards women's fiction/chik-lit because it did feel more like Emily's life and getting herself together, with a romance. Along with the job woes, there was also a lot of family dynamics and Emily being comfortable and standing up for herself. There did feel like some chip-on-the-shoulder misunderstanding from Emily, constantly saying/thinking her mother isn't proud of her when there is a good amount of evidence to the contrary and this also carried over to the beginning of the romance with Mark. When Emily first meets Mark, she constantly railroads over him and decides what he means or thinks instead of listening to him. It's a little before the midway point when Emily finally gets out of her own head and then apologizes to Mark for misconceptions and they start to date for real. 

But how, exactly, does he feel about me? 

As I said, the second half brings in Mark pov's, I had a misconception of my own and thought the whole second half was going to be from his take but we only got a few chapters through his eyes. It did help on the romance front some, though, because we see why he went along with Emily's fake dating scheme, and get some of his family dynamic, giving readers an insight into his character and why he's more a little straitlaced. I liked some of the chemistry that developed between the two when Mark got to teasing, taking Emily by surprise because of her thinking he's uptight. The few povs we got from Mark centered around physical attraction a bit more than I would have liked, giving more lust than emotional to me, but I did enjoy the open-door scenes we got (feeling a little forced at times with the du jour “good girl” vibes). So, while this had a stronger romance plot, I still felt it was more Emily's life/romance journey than Emily and Mark's romance genre story. 

And then the unthinkable happens. Mark winks at me. 

The ending had Emily talking things out with her mom and sister for some family resolution, which I liked but then hardly left any time for Emily and Mark to have their own, again, the romance getting a little shafted in favor of chik-lit, in my eyes, but the epilogue padded the HEA, which I enjoyed. Along with if you're a writer struggling in the business, if you're a more heavily online social media person, you'd probably enjoy the many, many references to various dramas and news stories (I feel like this is going to age the book very quickly??). I would have liked some of the writer's business and headline dramas taken out in favor of strengthening the romance but if you're a struggling writer bemoaning work, family issues, and misconstruing what a cute guy in a sweater is saying, this could be enjoyable (and eye-opening!) for you.

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Review: The Summer Book Club

The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

The Summer Book Club follows three women navigating life after losing love and working to keep avoiding it but getting their second chances anyway. Friends since childhood, Laurel and Paris, are in their late thirties, divorced, and trying to keep their businesses running and successful, while late twenties newcomer from the East Coast, Cassie, is fighting being thrown out of the nest for the first time. This leaned a little more towards women's fiction but the romance interests make their appearances around the 25% mark (a little later for Cassie) and flutter in and out enough to give a secondary tag of romance. This was all closed door scenes, they passionately kiss but then are “waking” up in bed after having their world rocked ten/twenty minutes later. I also thought there was an underlying tone of conservative intimacy, the “save it for someone special” idealism that felt a little icky to me but your mileage may vary. The book club aspect wasn't really included, worked to get Cassie in the group and the men later join but it really only added some fun little shout-outs to books of yore, MacKenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard; Knight of Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux; The Endearment by LaVyrle Spencer; and Night into Day by Sandra Canfield.

No more guys, she vowed. No more love. No more being stupid. 

Laurel has been divorced for a year after her husband drained their bank accounts and left to start a rafting company in Jamaica. She's been stressed to say the least as she tries to keep her thrifting business, searching for low priced items at Goodwill, estate sales, etc. to up-sale on Ebay, and raise her two pre-teen daughters. She's called into the school where a teacher tells her that her oldest daughter has been saying man hating comments and Laurel realizes that her bitterness has bled over into her daughter and it's time to find some positive male role models for her girls. With some serendipitous help, she keeps running into a sound engineer named Colton and dumps her story on him and he agrees to be “just” friends with her. They, oops, have some of that not shown bedroom mind-blowing but it's back to “just” friends, until Colton's parents are visiting and then a fake-dating situationship happens. 

This was probably the most emotional story, but it wasn't to do with the romance, one of Laurel's daughters is hurt and angry about their father abandoning them and them being extremely flaky while the younger daughter loves him and begs and cries for any crumbs from him. It was hurtful to see how this kind of dynamic can hurt family members individually and the family unit. 

She wasn’t who she had been. 

Paris' story will probably be the one most people have the hardest connecting with, she's been divorced for a little under ten years after her husband walked out without saying a word to her. Paris grew-up with an abusive mom and carried those learned traits into her marriage, letting her anger control her and was not only emotionally abusive, yelling constantly at her husband, but also physical, throwing things at him and slapping him. It was great that Paris didn't excuse her behavior before she got therapy but the keeping of bringing up scenes where she was physically abusive to her husband did kill a lot of the romance genre feelings trying to come through. Her ex comes back to town to help his mother recover from knee surgery and she learns that his wife and mother to his son died of cancer a year ago. 

I probably could have made an effort to connect with this story more if the ex-husband had shown any strength in being hurt or mad over how Paris treated him during their marriage, but he pretty much shrugs it all off and thinks more about how it was wrong of him to just walk away and not speak to her. He also shows no concern over leaving his son with her to babysit, saying he “trusts” her. Good, great but she was physically abusive with you and even though she says she went to therapy and seems calm in the two/three limited times you've been around her, should you immediately trust her around a child? This is where the focus on women's fiction hurt this story, the ex was pretty much an empty vessel to just be Paris' second chance and without his character depth, the redemption after she dealt with her anger issues did not feel satisfactory. 

Why did she pick loser guys she helped get back on their feet who then left her? 

Cassie's story was the most interesting to me but there was some thrown out there little wildness to it. Her parents died when she was fourteen and even though she had two older siblings, her uncle came and took care of her until she was eighteen. She never got to really deal with her grief and as a consequence, she is always focused on keeping everyone around her happy and keeps her relationships light because she thinks they're going to end anyway. Her siblings see that she is stalling her life to help them out and decide to kick her out and get her to go visit the land in California her uncle left her. Cassie's hurt and doesn't want to go but when she arrives, she gets a job at a bookstore and starts to fall in love with the land and small orchard her uncle left her. 

This story has a, brought up over and over again, insanely handsome archaeologist that is excavating on Cassie's land because a matriarchal society lived there long ago, cave drawings newly discovered by Cassie (brought up once and never again), gold mine find of hidden cognac barrels, and a random old guy neighbor that knows all about orchards and wants nothing in life more than to help Cassie learn how to bring back to life and take care of her newly inherited one. The insanely handsome archaeologist also has some love of first sight but when he asks out Cassie, she laughs and leaves, thinking there's no way he'd actually be interested in her. Anyway, Cassie learns to live life for herself, not be afraid of some impending doom, and accept love from an insanely handsome archaeologist. 

I liked how the women's lives all intertwined with each other but the romances were definitely weaker as the men were all pretty empty vessels who only seemed capable of spouting therapy perfect emotions and relationship conversations.

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Review: Christmas at Corgi Cove: A Novel

Christmas at Corgi Cove: A Novel by Annie England Noblin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“What if I could save it?” Rosie asked, her voice just above a whisper. “What if I could save the Cove?” 

When Rosie was a troubled teen, her mother brought her to her half-sister's place in a small town outside of Austin, TX to live. Rosie hated it at first but then grew to love her aunt, uncle, and the town. Now, twelve years later, Corgi Cove Inn is barely keeping it's head above water. When a representative for Lake Queen company, a resort built a town over that has taken their business, shows up, Rosie can't help but see him as the enemy. 

Everett knows it's a punishment from an argument with his boss when he gets sent down from New York to small town Texas to close a deal with a property they are trying to buy. He wants to be in and out but when he meets the niece of the people he's trying to buy from, spending more time down south is starting to change his views on a lot of things.

Even if making friends, or anything more than that with her, was out of his reach, the least he could do was enjoy what was right in front of him in the moment. It was just one night. There was no harm in that. 

Christmas at Corgi Cove started with a highly emotional scene where Everett comes to talk to the family about selling and then Rosie's uncle has a heart attack. This sets-up Everett having to stay longer in TX and gives Rosie time to try and come up with a way to save the Inn. This was a blend of women's fiction, contemporary, and romance, with the first half focusing more on Rosie as she relays to the reader issues she's had/has with her mother, sad and anxious about not wanting to sell the Inn, her place in the small town community, and a little bit of beginning attraction to Everett. It wasn't until the second half that she finds an answer to trying to save the Inn with entering a contest and then it plays a fairly quick but important part. 

She'd nearly kissed Everett. Rather, he'd nearly kissed her, but it was hard to see it that way when she just stood there, wanting him to kiss her. 

This was told in alternating povs from Rosie and Everett and we do get some background on Everett. He moved around a lot as his dad was in the military and therefore is not used to making long lasting connections with anyone, making him a workaholic. So, while being in TX gives him time to slow down and he's attracted to Rosie, the conflicting interest and his fear of actual connection with someone, keeps them a little apart. Rosie has the conflicting interest too and her not being able to fully trust Everett's motives keeps her from wanting to dive into their attraction with both feet, even when he does a couple things that works against his own company's interest and helps her and the Inn out. 

He was caught somewhere between wanting what he knew he shouldn't and wanting to do his job. 

Since this was TX, you're not going to get a snowy wonderland but there was still some holiday atmosphere goodies, a Christmas carnival, play, and decorations. The adorable Corgis on the front cover (Bonnie and Clyde) get a good amount of page time and definitely brought the cute factor and livened up a story that at times dragged in pace. There was also Rosie being a sort of amateur beekeeper who gets a windfall when an influencer highlights her products, but then oddly felt like she was brushing off the great money she was going to make from the ordeal, so not sure why that whole segment was added. The ending gave a Christmas miracle for the Inn and our third act break-up didn't last long as Everett shows back up towards the very end. The romance in this wasn't as strong as I usually like, the focus seemed more on women's fiction for a lot of the page count but there was a, shorter, open door scene. Rosie and Everett didn't spend a huge amount of time together and when they did, the relationship development depth wasn't there. The ending resolving went a bit more to Rosie and her mother's relationship but an epilogue showed a HEA for Rosie and Everett. I do highly recommend this if you have corgi dogs because this would be a treat read!

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