Book Review: Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

About

Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon.

Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.

My Thoughts

This book can be described in one word, ENTERTAINING!!! I loved it. I saw mixed reviews about this series and went into it unsure, especially since I never read this author before.

In Things We Never Got Over we meet Naomi as she arrives in the town of Knockemout to a less than warm welcome. Apparently, her twin sister Tina has been leaving a trail of destruction in the town. In walks Knox, dangerously handsome, who upon getting over the fact that Naomi is NOT TINA, decides to welcome her to town.

Naomi was shocked to hear she had a niece named Waylay, who Tina abandoned. The story takes us through Naomi's adjusting to her new situation and Knox...I loved the book and cannot wait to read the rest of this series.

Book Review: James by Percival Everett

 

About

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

My Thoughts

Excellent book. A page turner indeed.

James captured my interest from beginning to end, the adventures kept me wanting to know what would happen next. In this novel we meet Jim, a slave who upon hearing that he was about to be sold decides to run away so that he can find a way to purchase his family's freedom later on. Jim and his friend Huck, a boy with whom Jim has a close bond
set off to find a path to freedom.

While Jim was escaping bondage, Huck was escaping an abusive father. Their travels wouĺd have some extremely dangerous situations. Jim's account of the horrors of enslavement was crafted expertly that the reader could visualize and feel every emotion. This book is a MUST read.

Book Review: Reel by Kennedy Ryan

 

About

For months I stood by, an understudy waiting in the wings, preparing for my time to shine. I never imagined he would watch in the audience that night.

Canon Holt. Famous film director. Fascinating. Talented. Fine.

Before I could catch my breath, everything changed. I went from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood. From being unknown, to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone's lips when Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic.

But stars shine brightest in the dead of night. Forbidden attraction, scandal and circumstances beyond my control jeopardize my dream. Could this one shot—the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime—cost me everything?

My Thoughts

Have you ever read a book and already you miss the characters? This is how I feel about Canon and Neevah. Their love story was controversial at times, challenging but very real although this was a work of fiction.

Kennedy Ryan writes romance like no other, just like in the Skyland series she always intertwines her stories with real life situations. I love that in this book through the character played by Neevah, Desi Blue that she highlighted the performers of colour from a bygone era that had to leave the US to get appreciation for their craft.

Neevah's challenges with lupus and Canon's reaction to it taught us that true love extends beyond the physical. Theirs was a relationship that was not a good idea for all the right reasons, director? lead actress? But it somehow worked.

I cant wait for Score....which will continue the series.