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Whiskey With My Book

~ And a cozy spot to enjoy them both.

Whiskey With My Book

Tag Archives: Contemporary Romance

Weekend Tales

10 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by WWMB in On the Bookshelf

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Art, Contemporary Romance, currently reading, Emily Henry, historical, M. Verant, magic, Monica Fairview, Regency, romance, Whelan Galleries

Today I am sharing the books I am currently reading or listening to. If you feel so inclined, do the same by posting in the comments at the end.

Pride and Prejudice from Whelan Galleries

Clicking on the book covers below will take you to Amazon. Use of these links supports this blog and is very much appreciated. I also recommended checking with your library (if you want to save some $$$).

On Sunday, when I finished one of the books I was reading last week, I realized that both of last week’s books took place during wartime. Both made me think too much of modern day politics. So, this week, I really needed something a little lighter!

On my Kindle, I am reading Dangerous Magic (Mr. Darcy’s Magic, #1) by Monica Fairview. This book is a A Pride and Prejudice variation that I picked up because my library’s book club is going to read Jane Austin’s original and variations next month. Yes, England is at war with Napoleon during this time, but so far, the war is in the background. I’m going to try to read at least one other variation before book club. I should probably also read the original since, so far, I have not read it. If you like to read variations on this classic, you might also check out Miss Bennett’s Dragon by M. Verant or the 2016 movie Pride and Prejudice Zombies.

About Dangerous Magic

A sparkling tale of Regency England, a forced marriage, and two mages who must work together to save the Kingdom.

Elizabeth Bennet is stunned when the Royal Mages come to her peaceful country home of Longbourn to take her away. She is even more bewildered when she is commanded to marry a powerful mage by the name of Fitzwilliam Darcy. She has always dreamed of marrying for love, and an arranged marriage with an arrogant stranger was never part of her plans.

But Darcy and Elizabeth have no choice in the matter. Uniting their two forms of magic is essential if the Kingdom is to defeat Napoleon’s mages. They may dislike each other on sight, but Darcy and Elizabeth have to overcome their differences and find common ground before it is too late. Fortunately, it is not long before the sparks begin to fly between them.

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My current audiobook is Book Lovers by Emily Henry, which I downloaded from my library. The setting is not even close to wartime, but that is not to say that there won’t be a few verbal battles before the story is over. The narrator starts off with a description of a Hallmark movie plot where the hero leaves a girlfriend in the big city to move to a quiet town to where he met a new woman. Book Lovers is about the city girlfriend who got left behind.

About Book Lovers

Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

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Tell me! What are you reading?

Another Year!

16 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

5 stars, academia, Ahsley Poston, Blake Crouch, books, cartography, Contemporary Romance, fairies, genetic engineering, ghosts, Heather Fawcett, historical, historical romance, humor, India Holton, Madeline Martin, magical realism, maps, Mimi Matthews, paranormal romance, Patricia Briggs, Peng Shepherd, romance, scifi, series, urban fantasy, witches, WWII

7 years ago today, I shared my first book review on Whiskey With My Book.  To mark this occasion, I thought I’d recap last year by listing my 10 favorite 5-star books of 2022.  It is really hard to choose only 10, but for your sake and mine, I did.  It is even harder to rank them, but I managed.  Note: If I reviewed the book, I included the link. Clicking on the cover will take you to Amazon. Use of these links supports this blog and is very much appreciated. I also recommended checking with your library (if you want to save some $$$)!

10 and 9 – The Bell of Belgrave Square and The Siren of Sussex.  These are the first two books in The Belles of London series by Mimi Matthews.  The historical romances are about women and men who find love outside society’s expected boundaries. 

8 – Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13) by Patricia Briggs.  Between 2021 and 2022, I read (or listened to) the entire Mercy Thompson series.  Binging the urban fantasy series was a great way to soak it up. I reviewed 1-12 before I read #13.

7 – The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin.  Wartime in London is fraught with danger and heartbreak.  This was a moving story enriched by historical detail, complex characters, and books.

6 – The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd.  An absolutely fascinating bit of magical realism, secrets, maps, mapmakers, and intrigue. 

5 – Upgrade by Blake Crouch.  This was one of two Blake Crouch books I read last year.  Upgrade examines the ethics of scientific advancements.

4 and 3 – The League of Gentlewomen Witches and the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton.  The first two books in the Dangerous Damsels series are highly entertaining.  Crammed full with humor, romance and flying battlehouses, what’s not to love?

2 – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.  I was completely charmed by this tale of two academics whose study of faeries becomes an adventure you will never forget.

1 – The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston.  I don’t read a lot of fiction set in current times, so I was quite surprised that this contemporary romance turned out to appeal to me so much!  I even recommended it to my library’s book club.  I hope they love it as much as I did.  I plan to share a review of this book eventually.  I might save it for Valentine’s week.

Thank you for following my blog. I hope, if you are looking for a good book to read, you will find something great here! 

The Suite Spot by Trish Doller – Review

22 Tuesday Feb 2022

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, cats, Contemporary Romance, romance, Trish Doller

Review of The Suite Spot

Upon being falsely accused of making a sexual advance toward the customer who groped her, Rachel is fired from her night concierge job in Ft. Lauderdale.  She finds a new job at a brewery hotel on Kelleys Island, Ohio.  After driving cross country with her daughter Maisie, Rachel meets owner Mason who informs her that the hotel does not yet exist.  But if she wants the job of building the hotel from the ground up, it is hers.

Unable to resist the opportunity, Rachel takes the job. She finds her boss sometimes gruff and moody, sometimes kind.  And Mason is always willing to talk about brewing.  I enjoyed reading about Rachel becoming a part of the small island community – making friends and making impressions, all while trying to get to know her boss.  While she is building her new life, Maisie’s father challenges Rachel, adding complications to the budding romance. 

Maisie is adorable.  She immediately charms Mason by agreeing that Woodstock beats Snoopy and informing him that their names are kind of alike.  But Mason is reluctant to get too close to Maisie because she stirs sad memories. 

Rachel’s new BFF, Avery, is also a great character.  As the island insider, she provides guidance and balance as well as introductions to the rest of the island characters.  There is a great cat who doesn’t like anybody, but immediately hits it off with Maisie. 

I liked that both Rachel and Mason are family-oriented.  Even though Rachel left her mom in Ft. Lauderdale, Mom continues to be a part of the story.  And Mason’s family are not to be left out.  His Japanese mother had a big influence on Mason’s life, taste and even on the beer he brews. 

The story of building a hotel from the ground up was fun.  Floorplans, antiques, art, and beer menus keep the reader interested in what could be a dull construction project.  As the hotel comes together, so too do Rachel and Mason.  Which was pretty predictable, but so much fun to read about!

This book is a charming, refreshing contemporary romance that made me want to visit Kelleys Island in Ohio.  The Suite Spot is the warmest thing I’ve read all winter. 

I won an early copy of this book from the publisher. My review is my honest opinion.

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About The Suite Spot by Trish Doller

Rachel Beck has hit a brick wall. She’s a single mom, still living at home and trying to keep a dying relationship alive. Aside from her daughter, the one bright light in Rachel’s life is her job as the night reservations manager at a luxury hotel in Miami Beach—until the night she is fired for something she didn’t do.

On impulse, Rachel inquires about a management position at a brewery hotel on an island in Lake Erie called Kelleys Island. When she’s offered the job, Rachel packs up her daughter and makes the cross country move.

What she finds on Kelleys Island is Mason, a handsome, moody man who knows everything about brewing beer and nothing about running a hotel. Especially one that’s barely more than foundation and studs. It’s not the job Rachel was looking for, but Mason offers her a chance to help build a hotel—and rebuild her own life—from the ground up.

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