By The Book: A Meant to Be Novel by Jasmine Guillory

 

About

A tale as old as time—for a new generation…

Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves.

All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be?

But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn't there before.

My Thoughts 

A nice light romance, a feel good novel.

In this Beauty and The Beast retelling we meet Isabelle (Izzy) a young writer trying to make it in the publishing industry. When she lands a job at TAOAT publishing company, she thinks her career dreams are finally coming true. But working in publishing is proving harder than Izzy realised. She finally gets her chance, when she volunteers to stay at the home of former child star, now author Beau Towers in order to get him to write his highly anticipated novel.

Izzy soon finds out that Beau Towers is no easy person to deal with. But as the weeks go by they began to connect on levels they never imagined would have been possible.

A great love story and a wonderful retelling of a timeless classic.

Skin and Bones by Renee Watson

 

ABOUT

From the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a soulful and lyrical novel exploring sisterhood, motherhood, faith, love, and ultimately what gets passed down from one generation to the next   At 40, Lena Baker is at a steady and stable moment in life—between wine nights with her two best friends and her wedding just weeks away, she’s happy in love and in friendship until a confession on her wedding day shifts her world. Unmoored and grieving a major loss, Lena finds herself trying to teach her daughter self-love while struggling to do so herself. Lena questions everything she’s learned about dating, friendship, and motherhood, and through it all, she works tirelessly to bring the oft-forgotten Black history of Oregon to the masses, sidestepping her well-meaning co-workers that don’t understand that their good intentions are often offensive and hurtful. Through Watson’s poetic voice, skin & bones is a stirring exploration of who society makes space for and is ultimately a story of heartbreak and healing.

MY THOUGHTS

A poetic and beautifully written novel.

In Skin and Bones we follow 40 year old Lena as she deals with family, identity and even loss.

Lena's story takes us on a journey of understanding what life is like as a plus size black woman in the US. This story has deepened my appreciation for the importance of self love. Lena would not have been able to face her trials unless she accepted and loved herself.

I love how the author managed also to include some black history in the book. She was clever to weave it into a project that Lena was working on. That part was excellent skillful writing. I really enjoyed this one.

Book Review: The Housemaid by Freida Mc Fadden

 ABOUT

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…

An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!

MY THOUGHTS

Finally finished this one. What a story this was!!!

Freida Mc Fadden is definitely my go to author because I haven't read a bad book from her yet.

In The Housemaid we meet Millie a young woman recently released from prison, who is down on her luck as she had been getting trouble finding stable employment. Imagine her excitement to get a job offer as a live in maid for the wealthy Winchester family.

Nina Winchester was a boss from hell. Her erratic behaviour was indeed strange her daughter Cecelia a brat. Her husband Andrew appeared to Millie to be dealing with a lot.

As Millie and Andrew becomes close, Millie has no idea how many secrets are about to be revealed....dangerous secrets.

This story is one that will keep you up late at night. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Book Review: Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen

 

About:

Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Survival of the Thickest in Danielle Allen’s CURVY GIRL SUMMER, a smoking-hot, hilarious novel about the perils of online dating.

Aaliyah is determined to celebrate her thirtieth birthday with a boyfriend. And after a failed blind date, the local bartender, Ahmad, suggests she joins a dating app.

Filled with lies, catfish, and fetishizing, the wild world of online dating makes Aaliyah think she’s in over her head.

And she is. But with her two best friends and a protective bartender by her side, what could go wrong?

Everything.

Everything could go wrong.

And that’s the problem.

Because as Aaliyah is set on finding exactly what she’s looking for, she ends up finding something she never expects.

MY THOUGHTS

Well guys. I finally finished this one.

Aaliyah was turning 30 but she didn't want her thirtieth birthday to come without having a date for her birthday party. Her family wanted her to get a life partner, her uncle even expressed concerns that the reason for not having a person was that she was a few pounds to heavy.

While navigating the dating Apps and going on numerous dates, Aaliyah befriends bartender Ahmad, who is handsome but "married" at least that is what she thinks. Their relationship takes us on an interesting ride throughout the book.

I liked this book because it is not often that you get to see a plus size main character in a romance. It was interesting to get the perspective of how curvier girls get viewed by men. The only minor thing is that I felt it should have been a bit shorter in the middle. The birthday party scene at the end made up for that though.

Fun and romantic. You can give this one a try.