It’s time for my first half of December book review! I am sharing what I read in December so far, although I am skipping a few 5 star reads to share later in the month. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Arsenic and Adobo
Author: Mia P Manansala
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Berkley, 5/4/21
Source: Book of the Month
Why I Read It: TBR / Buddy Read and Book Tour
My Rating: 4 Stars
This was a cozy mystery, a genre I have only read a bit of so far. When Lila moves home to help with her family’s restaurant, she reunites with her ex Derek, who is a tough food critic causing issues for the local restaurant owners. Then he dies while eating at Lila’s restaurant and leaves her as a suspect.
“When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case. With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…”
The book is full of Filipino culture and food and the mystery was fun to try to unravel.
Title: Eight Perfect Hours
Author: Lia Louis
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Atria, 9/28/21
Source: Giveaway win – Thank you Lauren!
Why I Read It: TBR / Loved her previous book
My Rating: 4 Stars
Although this cover screams winter romance, it didn’t even mostly take place in the snow! I loved Dear Emmie Blue by this author and did not love this one quite as much.
“On a snowy evening in March, thirty-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence.”
I enjoyed reading this story of the repeated connections between Noelle and Sam which made them wonder whether they were meeting by coincidence or fate. Even if they had not been stuck on the highway in a snowstorm, they may have met anyway.
Title: A Place To Hang The Moon
Author: Kate Albus
Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fiction
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson Books, 2/2/21
Source: Library Audio App
Why I Read It: Heard about it on a podcast
My Rating: 4 Stars
When I heard that this book was similar to The War That Saved My Life, a book that I really enjoyed, I added it to my library holds list and listened to it when it became available. The story line was similar to that book and this one was sweet and cute as well.
“It is 1940 and William, 12, Edmund, 11, and Anna, 9, aren’t terribly upset by the death of the not-so-grandmotherly grandmother who has taken care of them since their parents died. But the children do need a guardian, and in the dark days of World War II London, those are in short supply, especially if they hope to stay together. Could the mass wartime evacuation of children from London to the countryside be the answer? It’s a preposterous plan, but off they go– keeping their predicament a secret, and hoping to be placed in a temporary home that ends up lasting forever. Moving from one billet to another, the children suffer the cruel trickery of foster brothers, the cold realities of outdoor toilets and the hollowness of empty stomachs. They find comfort in the village lending library, whose kind librarian, Nora Müller, seems an excellent choice of billet, except that her German husband’s whereabouts are currently unknown, and some of the villagers consider her unsuitable.”
The children were lovable, as was the librarian who showed them love and care. They were all book lovers and there were many book references inside as well. The ending was very sweet!
Title: Duke, Actually
Author: Jenny Holiday
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Avon, 11/16/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review / TBR
My Rating: 4 Stars
Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday was a friends to lovers story, but mostly friends because it was the slowest of slow burns. Leo and Marie from A Princess For Christmas have united their best friends – Leo’s Best Woman Dani and Marie’s Man of Honor Max, the Baron of Lauden. He’s in line to be a Duke, but he’s actually a Baron. Dani has sworn off relationships although she is kind of looking for a one off, and while Max’s parents want him to marry for royal reasons, he finds he only has eyes for Dani. Max’s parents are the worst, by the way!
“There’s a royal wedding on, and things are about to get interesting. Meet the man of honor – Maximillian von Hansburg, Baron of Laudon and heir to the Duke of Aquilla, is not having a merry Christmas. He’s been dumped by a princess, he’s unemployed, and his domineering father has sent him to New York to meet a prospective bride he has no interest in. In the city, he meets Dani Martinez, a smart (and gorgeous) professor he’s determined to befriend before their best friends marry in the Eldovian wedding of the century. Meet the best woman – Newly single, no-nonsense New Yorker Dani is done with love—she even has a list entitled “Things I Will Never Again Do for a Man”—which is why she hits it off with notorious rake Max. He’s the perfect partner for snow angels in Central Park and deep conversations about the futility of love. It’s all fun and games until their friendship deepens into attraction and, oops…Falling in love was never part of the plan.”
Max’s brother Seb was my favorite side character and I was cracking up when Max thought Seb was with someone that he wasn’t. Oh, I also loved Max Minimus, the Yorkie. While Christmas is a theme in this book, it takes place over the year, so it isn’t only Christmas related. It also has a Love, Actually inspired scene.
Title: Dreidels On The Brain
Author: Joel ben Izzy
Genre: Middle Grade Memoir
Publisher: Listening Library, 10/4/16
Source: Library Audio App
Why I Read It: Buddy Read
My Rating: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed listening to Dreidels On The Brain by Joel ben Izzy. It was narrated by the author and it was very humorous!
“One lousy miracle. Is that too much to ask? Evidently so for Joel, as he tries to survive Hannukah, 1971 in the suburbs of the suburbs of Los Angeles (or, as he calls it, ‘The Land of Shriveled Dreams’). That’s no small task when you’re a ‘seriously funny-looking’ twelve-year-old magician who dreams of being his own superhero: Normalman. And Joel’s a long way from that as the only Jew at Bixby School, where his attempts to make himself disappear fail spectacularly. Home is no better, with a family that’s not just mortifyingly embarrassing but flat-out broke. That’s why Joel’s betting everything on these eight nights, to see whether it’s worth believing in God or miracles or anything at all. Armed with his favorite jokes, some choice Yiddish words, and a suitcase full of magic tricks, he’s scrambling to come to terms with the world he lives in—from hospitals to Houdini to the Holocaust—before the last of the candles burns out. No wonder his head is spinning: He’s got dreidels on the brain. And little does he know that what’s actually about to happen to him and his family this Hanukkah will be worse than he’d feared . . . And better than he could have imagined.”
Joel tells the story of a 12 year old Joel – based on his own childhood but not completely time line organized – living in 1971 and celebrating Hanukkah with his family. He is the only Jewish kid in his school and is often asked to explain Hanukkah to everyone. So he’s kind of an expert, and in this book he explains everything from the spelling of Hanukkah to how to play Dreidel to various Yiddish words, to eating matzah on Passover, etc. Although it is a Hanukkah book as it takes place over the holiday, he explains many other holidays as well. Meanwhile, his dad is suffering from a debilitating form of arthritis, his mom is losing her hearing, and his grandmother often screams about how people are trying to throw gas on her. Joel copes with all of this through humor and magic as an aspiring magician. I’ve already told my kids about parts of this book and would love a print copy to read to them! It does contain references to the Holocaust and therefore a young child should read only with a trusted adult if the child doesn’t know about it yet.
Title: The Replacement Wife
Author: Darby Kane
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: William Morrow, 12/28/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
I don’t know if I was spoiled by reading a review of this book, but I found it very predictable. Also, it relies on the trope of a woman suffering after a trauma and being made to feel as if she isn’t well, when the truth lies elsewhere.
“Elisa Wright is a mom and wife, living a nice, quiet life in a nice, quiet town. She’s also convinced her brother-in-law is a murderer. Josh has one dead wife and one missing fiancée, and though he grieved for them he starts dating someone new. Elisa fears for that woman’s safety, and she desperately wants to know what happened to her friend, Josh’s missing fiancée. Searching for clues means investigating her own family. And she doesn’t like what she finds. A laptop filled with incriminating information. Other women. But when Elisa becomes friends with Josh’s new girlfriend and starts to question things she thinks are true, Elisa wonders if the memories of a horrible incident a year ago have finally pushed her over the edge and Josh is really innocent. With so much at stake, Elisa fights off panic attacks and a strange illness. Is it a breakdown or something more? The race is on to get to the truth before another disappearance because there’s a killer in the family…or is there?”
I don’t really like gaslighting, which is prominent in this book, and I was able to figure out parts of what was happening. I thought there were some plot holes as well, like one character knowing that the other would understand something she said when she shouldn’t have known about it. It also contains the use of drugging, which I find I don’t enjoy. I have heard that the author’s previous book is much better, and will probably read that one at some point.
Title: Always, In December
Author: Emily Stone
Genre: Rom Com / Contemporary
Publisher: Dell, 10/12/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This book has the same concept as Eight Perfect Hours – a couple meets accidentally and then keeps crossing paths with each other. I liked the writing in this one more, and was set to give it 5 stars, until I realized what was actually happening in the story.
“Every December, Josie posts a letter from her home in London to the parents she lost on Christmas night many years ago. Each year, she writes the same three words: Missing you, always. But this year, her annual trip to the postbox is knocked off course by a bicycle collision with a handsome stranger–a stranger who will change the course of Josie’s life. Josie always thought she was the only one who avoided the Christmas season, but this year, Max has his own reasons for doing the same—and coincidence leads them to spending the holiday together. Aglow with new love, Josie thinks this might be the start of something special. Only for Max to disappear without saying goodbye. Over the course of the next year, Max and Josie will find that fate continues to bring them together in places they’d never expect. New York City. Edinburgh. The quiet English countryside. And it turns out, Max had every reason to leave and every reason to stay. But what does fate hold for Josie and Max as Christmas approaches again?”
There were times when Josie didn’t let Max talk and I wanted to scream at her to just let him tell her whatever was happening with him. But she didn’t. And I didn’t love the end of the book! I only kind of knew what might be coming based on a reference to another book with a similar ending! I did still like the writing and most of the story.
Title: So, This Is Christmas
Author: Tracy Andreen
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Listening Library, 10/12/21
Source: Audio Publisher
Why I Read It: Buddy Read
My Rating: 4 Stars
I listened to this book in order to take part in the YA buddy read I am in on Instagram. I probably wouldn’t have chosen it otherwise! The story takes place in a town called Christmas, in OK. Finley is awkward and struggling to fit in at her boarding school, so she makes her town appear more fun and festive than it actually is, leading Arthur to show up at her family’s inn for Christmas.
“When Finley Brown returned to her hometown of Christmas, Oklahoma, from boarding school, she expected to find it just as she left it. Christmas hasn’t changed much in her sixteen years. But instead she returns to find that her best friend is dating her ex-boyfriend, her parents have separated, and her archnemesis got a job working at her grandmother’s inn. And she certainly didn’t expect to find the boy she may or may not have tricked into believing that Christmas was an idyllic holiday paradise on her grandmother’s doorstep. It’s up to Finley to make sure he gets the Christmas he was promised. This is Finley’s Christmas. It’s about home and family and friends and finding her place, and along the way she also finds the best Christmas present of all: love.”
This was a cute story with some funny moments. I was between 3 and 4 stars on it, only because it wasn’t really holding my attention at some points. Finley’s family issues were more a part of the story than the romance, and it contained a lot of angst. I would also say there were instances of homophobia included.
There you have it – 8 of the books I read this month. Of these books, 5 were print and 3 were audio books. 5 were adult, 1 was YA, and 2 were middle grade. Genres included mystery, rom com, historical fiction, memoir, and thriller.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?