Category: B reviews (Page 7 of 74)

REVIEW: Social Queue by Kay Kerr

September 28, 2021 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I was provided with a review copy by the publisher. The book is currently only available in/from Australia and New Zealand.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) ‘I thought I was nobody’s teen crush, but turns out I was just missing the signs.’

Zoe Kelly is starting a new phase of her life. High school was a mess of bullying and autistic masking that left her burnt out and shut down. Now, with an internship at an online media company—the first step on the road to her dream writing career—she is ready to reinvent herself. But she didn’t count on returning to her awkward and all-too-recent high-school experiences for her first writing assignment.

When her piece, about her non-existent dating life, goes viral, eighteen-year-old Zoe is overwhelmed and more than a little surprised by the response. But, with a deadline and a list of romantic contenders from the past to reconnect with for her piece on dating, she is hoping one of her old sparks will turn into a new flame.

Social Queue is a funny and heart-warming autistic story about deciphering the confusing signals of attraction and navigating a path to love.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I don’t read a lot of YA – let’s face it, I’m in it for the romance. Zoe is 18 and so technically an adult but the book is very much a YA, not least because while there is a romance with a hopeful HFN ending, the main story is of Zoe’s own self-discovery and coming of age.

In her first year of university studying journalism, she wins one of three coveted four-week internships at “Bubble” an online media outlet which seemed something like a small Buzzfeed, based in her hometown of Brisbane. She’s also recently dipped her toe into the murky waters of online dating (something I have no experience with because I’m old and married) and it hasn’t gone so well. So she pitches an article for Bubble about her experiences as an autistic young woman navigating the apps. After the first article goes live, there are a five comments which seem to indicate that she’d missed prior signs from people she’d gone to school or worked a part time job with and that spurs a series where Zoe gets in contact with each of the five to find out what she missed and see if there’s a spark of something now.

Romance readers will not be surprised by who the eventual HFN is with but I will not name names here. Continue reading

Review at Dear Author

September 24, 2021 / Kaetrin

I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Walk on the Wilder Side by Serena Bell. Fun and sexy small town contemporary featuring the best friend’s little sister trope.

July Round Up

August 2, 2021 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

One Fine Fae by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi & Jonathan Davis – B- I listened to the most recent full length book in this series recently, Shifters in the Night, and realised I’d missed this novella where Jillian and Bael’s baby is born. So I backtracked, naturally. Charlotte is a fae-human midwife who uses her magic to bless the babies she assists into the world. Leonard is the hapless assistant to Sonya and Jillian at the League, living under a longstanding family curse which makes him clumsy when stressed. The more stressed he is, the more clumsy. Charlotte is instantly drawn to the sweet-natured Leonard and discovers that she may be able to break the curse.

And, of course, Jillian’s baby arrives. Given she is carrying a “giant metal egg” inside her I was interested in how she was going to manage quite apart from just wanting to listen to how the happy event occurs for Jillian and Bael’s benefit.

One Fine Fae is novella-length and does not have a suspense plot like the other books. I kept waiting for it but it never arrived. Continue reading

June Round Up

July 6, 2021 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

A Rogue’s Downfall by Mary Balogh – C+/B- I pick up Mary Balogh’s old Signet Regencies as they become available electronically. Some are better than others. A Rogue’s Downfall is a collection of three novellas which were originally published in multi-author anthologies between 1993 and 1995 and falls somewhere in the middling range overall.

The Anniversary tells the story of a rake who compromised a debutante and ended up married with a baby. Hugh Reardon, Earl of Richmond, feels guilty for his conduct and stays away for most of a year. In fact, he thinks of what he did as rape but it is clear to readers that Amy was entirely willing. I did not find any dubious consent in the story but I did appreciate that he wondered about his conduct and felt guilty and actually named it in his mind as rape. Perversely, if he was as bad as he thought he might have been he’d never have considered the term as applying to him. In any event, he had loved her from afar and has been true to his marriage vows. He longs fro his wife and son and tries to woo her of the course of the day of their “anniversary” (ie the anniversary of sex, not the wedding). While he does not regret their marriage he wishes what led to it had been different and so he tries a version of a do-over. Amy is, understandably, initially suspicious but as she loved him prior to their encounter too, she’s by no means immune to his charms. The story is sweet, full of inappropriate servants and could have been longer but I liked it well enough. Continue reading

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney

April 26, 2021 / Kaetrin

Narrated by Christine Lakin, Maxwell Hamilton, Zach Villa & Jake Abel

Why I listened to it: It was recommended to me by a friend and I’ve enjoyed other books from this author too.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) In 1982, two teenagers—serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell—are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases. From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can’t crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case—a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers—things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country’s most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson.

Despite Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s an expert manipulator playing a very long game…and he has his sights set on Emma.

Captivating, harrowing, and chilling, None Shall Sleep is an all-too-timely exploration of not only the monsters that live among us, but also the monsters that live inside us.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): None Shall Sleep is a YA crime thriller set in the 1980s – a mix between a kind of Mindhunters and Silence of the Lambs with teenage main characters. The primary POV character is Emma Lewis. She’s 18 now but when she was 16, she was abducted and held by a serial killer. She was the only one who escaped. She is approached by Agent Cooper from the FBI for help in researching serial killers for the fledgling Behavioural Analysis Unit. There are some teen serial killers who won’t talk to the FBI; will Emma be perhaps able to get through as a fellow teen? Continue reading

March Round Up

April 1, 2021 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Present Tense by Jordan Castillo Price – B At only around 30 pages, this short story is a cute palate-cleanser and another fun entry in The ABCs of Spellcraft series. I don’t expect it will make any sense to those who have not read the earlier stories but for fans of the series (like me) it was a delightful little snippet. There’s no mystery to be solved in this one; it’s a short set at Christmas, focused on the last minute Christmas gift dilemma people who suddenly find out they are expected to give a gift to someone (when they didn’t know beforehand for good reason) and it has the usual quirky whimsical humour of the series. It was cute and sweet and I enjoyed checking in on Dixon and Yuri. It’s only 99c so those who have read the earlier books can pick this one up cheap.