Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson | Book Review

Posted May 18, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 3 Comments

Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson | Book ReviewFamous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson
Published by Thomas Nelson on May 16, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Mail)
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From Park Avenue to the Parks Department—the world’s most beloved social media star is about to get a rude awakening.

With her millions of followers, Cat Cranwell is adored around the world. But when an app partnership goes very, very wrong, Cat suddenly finds herself shunned from the community that not only fed her soul all these years but paid her bills. When Cat’s closest living relative, Uncle Terry, offers her a position on his staff at a small national park in Montana to get away from the city, Cat hesitantly accepts the opportunity.

What she doesn’t realize is that as the new social media strategist her goal is to save Kannery National Park from being absorbed into Glacier National Park by boosting the number of visitors. And at least one of her new colleagues—namely, handsome and rugged ranger Zaiah Hudson—thinks social media is the root of everything that’s wrong with the world. Written with bestselling author Melissa Ferguson’s signature wit and charm, this romantic comedy of opposites attract is full of hilarious romp and a romance that will melt readers’ hearts.

As soon as I read the back cover synopsis for Famous for a Living, I knew it had the potential to be a book I would love. I loved the idea of a heroine who runs away to a small national park and finds love along the way. Outdoorsy settings are some of my favorites, and I was eager to jump in. While I enjoyed parts, Famous for a Living fell short for me and my overall feelings upon finishing were of disappointment.

This is a not the national park rom-com I was looking for. There’s a little wit and a little romance, but I think it would better serve the author and the book itself if Famous for a Living were marketed as women’s fiction. People looking for a romance will be disappointed. There’s inklings of a romance and some small flirtations here and there, but the romance doesn’t have much of a focus until the last 20ish% of the book. Because of this, I didn’t feel any chemistry with the main couple once they did finally decide to pursue a relationship. There was no time spent developing the romantic aspects of the story or even really allowing the characters time to get to know one another. More focus is placed on Cat’s journey of discovering that there’s more to life than social media, setting your phone aside, and living life in the moment. This is a great lesson to learn, but it’s one I didn’t personally need. I’m not on social media much and have never bought into the idea of influencers, social media celebrities, viral videos, sponsored posts, etc. I just follow my friends. I’ve never felt a person’s follower count determines how important their views and opinions are, and I’m not more likely to believe in something or buy something because a stranger on the Internet told me to. When I was first pitched Famous for a Living, I didn’t realize how much of an emphasis would be placed on social media so that was disappointing. It felt ranty and preachy at times.

I loved the idea of the setting, but I wanted so much more from it. I wanted more descriptions and for the place to feel special. I really liked Mina (Cat’s roommate), but I think she’s the only character I cared about. I appreciated Cat’s willingness to try and find balance in her life, but I didn’t like her from the moment I met her. She is devoted to social media, something that I cannot understand, is completely out of touch with reality, and I feel like she only learned something because she was put in the most ideal situation to do so. She went from being a famous social media influencer to… still being on social media. She’s super insecure and I just never connected with or felt bad for her. Her development throughout the book was weak as well. Zaiah never felt like a main character to me, and his backstory was meh. He’s pretty bland and boring, and faded into the background of the rest of the characters for me. I also didn’t love the writing style. There’s lots of short, choppy sentences and nothing was written in a way that grabbed me and made me want to continue flowing through the pages. Reading this was a chore.

All in all, this was a miss for me. I enjoyed Mina’s character, but other than that I didn’t enjoy Famous for a Living and will not be recommending it as a romance. If you’re looking for a women’s fiction title about an influencer on a journey of self-discovery you might like this, but be prepared to be inundated with a lot talk of social media.


The Layover by Lacie Waldon | DNF Book Thoughts

Posted February 17, 2022 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 1 Comment

The Layover by Lacie Waldon | DNF Book ThoughtsThe Layover by Lacie Waldon
Published by Putnam on June 15, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She's got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, and she plans to enjoy every second of it. But then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone -- the absurdly gorgeous, ridiculously cocky man she's held a secret grudge against for years -- is on her flight. And he has the nerve to flirt with her, as if he doesn't remember the role he played in the most humiliating night of her life. Good thing she never has to see him again after they land....

But when their plane encounters mechanical problems, what should have been a quick stop at the Belize airport suddenly becomes a weekend layover. Getting stuck on a three-hour flight with her nemesis was bad enough. Being stranded with him at a luxury resort in paradise? Even with the sultry breeze and white sand to distract her, it will take all the rum punch in the country to drown out his larger-than-life presence.

Yet the more time Ava spends with him under the hot Caribbean sun, the more she begins to second-guess everything she thought she knew about him... and everything she thought she wanted from her life. And all too soon, she might have to choose between keeping her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds....

An unexpected tropical layover with her nemesis turns a flight attendant's life upside down in this witty, breezy debut romantic comedy about life -- and love -- 30,000 feet above the ground.

I was so, so excited to read The Layover by Lacie Waldon. I love anything that involves travel (especially right now when traveling isn’t very safe), so reading about a flight attendant’s adventures was extremely appealing to me. And I really liked parts of it! The writing is very well done, and I loved the descriptions of the views from the cockpit of the plans and of. the scenery in Belize. The discussions about Ava’s passion for her career were also very nice to read. I made it about halfway through, though, and looked at how far I had come and realized I still had so much left to read. Essentially, I felt as though I had been reading forEVER. The book was seriously dragging for me. For the most part, Ava is extremely rude and judgmental and I decided I was done with her once I realized how much left I had to read. The things she says to Jack and the way she treats him were horrible. I’m assuming there will eventually be some kind of reveal that will try to justify her behavior and her attitude, but I already know it won’t work for me. Ava is an adult, and by this point in her life I’m sure she has learned how to fake being civil to people. I felt really bad for Jack. Plus, at the halfway point there had been no romance and had also only been mildly funny a couple times. So a romantic comedy this is not, just fair warning. The focus is really on the changes in Ava‘s life and her journey to figure out who and what she wants to be. There’s nothing wrong with that, but when I don’t even like her I don’t care to read about her journey. And once the romance begins all I’m going to think is that Jack doesn’t deserve having to put up with someone like Ava. I’m so disappointed.


An Accidental Odyssey by K.C. Dyer | DNF Book Thoughts

Posted January 24, 2022 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 2 Comments

An Accidental Odyssey by K.C. Dyer | DNF Book ThoughtsAn Accidental Odyssey by K.C. Dyer
Series: ExLibris Adventure #2
Also in this series: Eighty Days to Elsewhere
Published by Berkley on December 14, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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When an unexpected phone call derails a young woman's wedding plans, it sparks an epic adventure around the modern-day Mediterranean.

Gianna Kostas is on the cusp of a fairy-tale life. Sure, she's just lost her job, but she's about to marry one of New York's most eligible bachelors. On her way to taste wedding cakes, though, things go sideways. Shocking news sends Gia off on a wild journey halfway around the world in pursuit of her ailing--and nearly estranged--father.

In Athens, she learns Dr. Kostas, a classics professor, is determined to retrace Odysseus's famous voyage. This is a journey her father is in no condition to take alone, so Gia faces a tough decision. When an unexpected job offer helps seal the deal and quash the guilt Gia feels from her disapproving groom-to-be, the journey is on. But as Gia adventures--and eats--her way around the Mediterranean, she discovers that confronting epic storms and ripped surfer dudes might be the easy part.

Along the way, as she uncovers family secrets, finds heartbreak, and learns more about a certain archaeologist with a mysterious past of his own, Gia discovers that fairy-tale endings might be messy and complicated, but they can happen anywhere.

This pains me to write. I just read and LOVED Eighty Days to Elsewhere (click here to see my review), the first book in this series. I was hungover and mourning the end of that amazing journey around the world with two characters I fell head over heals for, so I immediately started this second book in the series in the hopes of jumping right back into another adventure. It felt completely different and I ended up DNFing at 39%.

First of all, I did not love being reminded of the pandemic every other page. In this book, the pandemic is mostly over but not quite. I kept hearing about masks and social distancing (or lack thereof). The main character, Gianna (Gia), kept referring to the “Before Times”. I read for an escape, and since we’re still so fully entrenched in the covid-19 pandemic (hi, omicron!) I’m just not ready to have it in my books yet. I’d like my books to pretend this virus doesn’t exist right now.

I also found Gia to be a very unlikeable character. Mere hours after an argument with her fiancé, she goes out and cheats on him. I mean yes, I hated the fiancé. He’s horrible. But the argument ends with him saying, “we’re done, we’ll sort it out when you get home”. To me, sorting it out doesn’t mean they’re done. I know I would want some clarity on that before becoming involved with another man. Her fiancé apologizes and everything is fine between them the next day. I’m all for vacation flings (and love vacation fling romances), but this really sounds like cheating to me. And the fact that she feels so guilty and decides to pretend it never happened means she also thinks it is. I should have just quit right there.

But I kept going and then I started to hate Gia even more. The way she speaks to her dad, her voice dripping in condescension and judgment regarding his trip following in Odysseus’s footsteps grated on me. He’s a grown man. He’s happy and vibrant and excited about this and she’s being a total helicopter daughter, running along behind him picking apart his every choice and sharing way too many unsolicited negative opinions about everything he’s excited about. I wanted to throw her into the ocean, quite truthfully. She’s in beautiful Greece, for crying out loud. Either enjoy it or go home.

I can see tiny hints of a romance forming (with the guy she cheated on her fiancé with, no less, so that does not look promising to me), so I went and read some reviews and the focus of this story is definitely her babysitting her dad and nothing else. This is definitely not a romance novel.

Content Warning: Death of a parent. Highlight the text between the brackets below for more information.
[

I read another reviewer state that Gia’s father dies at the end of this book. I don’t know how he dies, or the circumstances surrounding his death, but the reviewer said it was upsetting and they didn’t see it coming.

]


The Bromantic Comedies by Erin Mallon | Mini Audiobook Review

Posted February 18, 2021 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 3 Comments

The Bromantic Comedies by Erin Mallon | Mini Audiobook ReviewThe Bromantic Comedies by Erin Mallon
Published by Self on January 27, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Humor
Length: 1 hour and 22 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
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A paintball battleground. A wrestling mat for sleep-deprived new daddies. A feminine product aisle in the local drugstore. These are some of the places where men connect...at least in The Bromantic Comedies.

A compilation of humorous and heartfelt plays exploring what it means to be "masculine" in a world where men are supposed to be tough.

I love listening to audiobooks, and Erin Mallon is one of my favorite narrators so I was very excited to be offered an audiobook copy to review! And the narrators who perform these plays? I LOVE them all, too: Joe Arden, Jason Clarke, Shane East, Lance Greenfield, Teddy Hamilton, and PJ Ochlan. Unfortunately, this really didn’t work for me and I ended up not finishing it. I don’t usually write DNF reviews, but I took notes during each individual play and figure I wouldn’t let them go to waste. And honestly, I don’t think finishing this would have changed my overall opinion anyway. So here we go!

1. Invasion At Man Camp (narrated by Joe Arden and Jason Clarke) – I actually found this to be offensive and sacrilegious. There were some fun sound effects from the paintball range and the narrators were good. As a religious person, however, the satire made me very uncomfortable. 

 


The Marriage Game by Sara Desai | Book Review

Posted June 26, 2020 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 0 Comments

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai | Book ReviewThe Marriage Game by Sara Desai
Published by Berkley on June 9, 2020
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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A high stakes wager pits an aspiring entrepreneur against a ruthless CEO in this sexy romantic comedy.

After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn’t know he’s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door…

As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he's forced to share his space with the owner's beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.

As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.


Today I’m posting my book review of The Marriage Game by Sara Desai as part of the official blog tour hosted by Berkley! The synopsis sold me early on, and I was even more eager to jump in and read this diverse, sexy, romantic comedy as soon as I laid my eyes on that beautiful cover! As always, my main points are bolded.

1. First off, I loved the pieces of Indian culture throughout the story. There was so much talk of food, especially, which is always a plus for me. I also found the practice of arranged marriages fascinating. It’s not like I’d never heard of this concept before, but Sara Desai explained it and outlined it in a way that made sense to me in a way it hadn’t before.

2. The humor was spot on, and the banter between Layla and Sam as they duke it out for ownership of their shared office was my favorite part of the book. 

3. Layla was a very fun character to read about! She’s confident and really loves herself. She’s also got big dreams and isn’t afraid to try hard things, even when she’s just been knocked down a peg or two.

4. I loved Layla’s family, but especially her dad. He’s adorable. In an effort to heal her heart, he sets up a secret online dating profile for her and then spends who knows how long surfing through hundreds of profiles and curating a list of 10 men for her that he approves of. He even set up all the meetings with them. What a sweet, caring dad! I mean… I suppose it was a total overstep, but I could see how much he cared and that warmed my heart.

5. Sam’s great, too. He’s got quite a back story that involves some darker issues and a lot of guilt on his part. I loved reading as he worked through these past experiences and it gave me a better understanding of why he was the way he was. His master plan was to get Layla married off so he would win the office by default, so he accompanies her on all these dates to try and make things happen. But he hates all of the guys and his conscience can’t handle talking her into dating any of them. lol.

6. And seriously. Some of these dates and the men on them were hilarious. 

7. The romance was sweet and slow-burning, just like I like them to be. I’ve always been a fan of enemies to lovers romances as well, and this one is a fiery one for sure!

All in all, this was lovely! I really enjoyed reading about a culture I’m not at all familia with, and such memorable and fun characters. I’ll be keeping my eye on Sara Desai!