Love Felt Like This by Julie Olivia

Love Felt Like This by Julie Olivia
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Griffin Harvey lives his life in the spotlight. Reluctantly. The brooding famous singer-songwriter is on the cusp of composing his sophomore album . . . if only he could find the notes. But after gaining custody of his two-year-old daughter, the only music he’s writing is about shapes and counting to ten.

Enter Beverly, who lives her life in the background producing children’s television and laughter. Except joy is hard to find when her nonprofit loses funding. She sinks all of her savings to revive the children’s show by herself, but when her variety show appearance collides with Griffin’s, their banter and chemistry is caught on live television.

Suddenly, Griffin is singing a new tune. He needs a muse, and Beverly needs all the help she can get. With his secret daughter in tow, they hide out in her cozy mountain hometown, attempting to script, compose, and revive television magic. Their dynamic shouldn’t work. He’s all harsh tattoos and rough hands while she’s bright colors and gentle touches. Once their three months of work are done, they’ll return to their separate worlds. But what happens when it seems the true magic might be found in each other?
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This. Book. Y'all. I have no notes.

Except this is a book review, so of course I have notes.

I was pretty sure within the first maybe 15% of this book that it was going to be an easy five star rating for me. It just gave me that kind of vibe. I loved the FMC, Beverly. I was getting ALL KINDS OF green flags from the MMC, Griffin. The setting was perfection. The cast of supporting characters was delightful. I could quickly surmise that I was getting nothing done today because this was the kind of book that I would not be putting down until I was done with it.

This was, in fact, an all-in-one-day read for me. I did have to take a couple of breaks because Real Life got in the way, but I spent the majority of my day curled up on my couch absolutely devouring this amazing love story. There were times that I was sitting here grinning to a room that was empty of other people because I enjoyed reading this so much. From the meet-cute at the very beginning to the HEA that was waiting for me at the end, this was just a really good one. It makes me want to read everything this author has ever written.

Anyway, just in case I have not made myself clear, I really, really enjoyed this book.

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Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen

Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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For decades, the women of Wester House have unsettled and fascinated their small, timeless North Carolina town. Their home is full of whispers, old griefs, and uncanny knowing. But when Willamena Wester reaches out to the granddaughter she once pushed away, long-buried truths begin to stir.

1976: Restless young Willamena falls for a stranded musician who brings freedom and the promise of another life to her carefully controlled world. Their brief, incandescent love story promises to escape the pull of the Wester legacy until Willamena makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever.

Present day: Returning home is the last thing Bailey Wester wants. Yet as she reconnects with Willamena, the grandmother she feared, Bailey begins to understand the love, heartbreak, and impossible choices that shaped the women in her family and realizes the past may not have been trying to haunt them after all. A luminous novel filled with Sarah Addison Allen’s stunning prose and signature blend of romance, Southern charm, and wonder, Paper Ghosts reminds us that in order to have the future we really want, sometimes we need to live with the past, and not let go of it.
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The knowledge that there is a new novel by Sarah Addison Allen on its way into the world is always a cause for celebration, and the fact that I got to read this one ahead of everyone else was just the icing on the cake. Her books were my first introduction to the specific type of magical realism I have really come to enjoy from authors like Heather Webber and Rebecca Serle, and there is something haunting and compelling about the stories she weaves. Here again, we are introduced to complex characters who are carrying the trauma of their ancestors forward as they try to heal the past and move ahead toward a better future.

While her books often have romance in them, romance is usually just a supporting player, and this is the case once again in Paper Ghosts. Plenty of the plot is focused around relationships, but there is heartbreak and sorrow, deep regret, tragedy, and self-imposed exile at the center of these relationships, which is far from the HEA of a traditional romance novel. However, while the author visits some dark themes in this book, her gift for lyrical prose makes this a must-read for fans of her other works, as well as an excellent introduction to the magical world of Sarah Addison Allen.

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Ideal Life by Evelyn Skye

Ideal Life: A Novel by Evelyn Skye
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to Atria, via NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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What if you could rewind the last twenty-four hours and perfect your life?

Embarrassing email typo? Corrected and perfected.

Missed workout? Rescheduled and crushed.

Awkward conversation? Smoothed out and charmed.

On the eve of Talia Morgan’s neuroscience startup’s major acquisition, a glitch in her app leads to catastrophe, and everything she’s worked for crumbles in a single night.

Then Talia wakes up with a mysterious watch that lets her rewind the last twenty-four hours. Suddenly, she can prevent the glitch, ace that crucial meeting, and savor perfect Sunday afternoons with Sam, her brilliant best friend who’s quietly loved her for nearly two decades.

But what starts as a tool for good soon becomes a dangerous temptation to turn back every messy moment and optimize her life until it’s flawless. When one rewind goes too far, though, Talia begins to see that the imperfect version of her life might be the only one worth living.

From New York Times bestselling author Evelyn Skye comes a story that asks whether our relentless pursuit of an ideal life might be keeping us from truly living at all.
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I had never read a book by Evelyn Skye when I was offered this one, but it sounded a little nerdy, which I am, and it was recommended to readers of Rebecca Serle, and I love her books, so I decided to give it a try. I have to say that I really enjoyed it! I am definitely addicted to my smart phone, but I am also a little suspicious about some of the newer technological advances happening right now, so I was not sure how I would feel about Talia's major life's work. However, I appreciated the topics of the book and how applicable they were to what is happening in the world today. I found the characters to be likable and the storyline to be well-developed, and I enjoyed the little subplots and how they came back around to contribute to the overall themes of the novel. I am glad I took a chance on a new-to-me author because this book both entertained me and gave me something to think about, and to me that is the perfect combination for a good reading experience.

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Camp People by Liz Vidulich

Camp People by Liz Vidulich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Prism for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Most 27-year-olds don't live full-time at summer camp, but in the years since tragedy left Paige Schilsky alone in the world, Mirror Lake has become her home, from the climbing tower she can scale blindfolded to the renovated boathouse she's decorated as most would their first apartment. When her boss tells her she's overstayed her welcome, Paige resolves to make the most of her last season as camp director-until the arrival of an old colleague threatens to ruin her summer before it begins.

Handsome and cocky, Oliver Trevenen earned Paige's ire from their first meeting, and nothing in the five years they worked together as counselors convinced her he was more than a loud mouth and pretty face. Now that he's back-cute as ever and living in the spare room of her boathouse-Paige is determined to keep her distance, but it's easier said than done in the bubble of summer camp. As they bring old camp traditions to a new generation and share late nights musing over the past, Paige discovers a sensitive person healing beneath Oliver's irreverent facade-and reveals a side of her heart she's long kept hidden.

But September is just around the corner, and with it the perils of adult life Paige has been avoiding. When camp ends, Paige must figure out whether a relationship nurtured by summer and nostalgia-and a life defined by it-can make it in the real world.
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This book called to me because I am a Camp Person. Some of my best days were spent in the great outdoors, having the same kind of experiences that campers go back to Mirror Lake for year after year. My camp was a Girl Scout camp, so it wasn't quite the same, but anyone who is a Camp Person knows the unique joy of spending a summer with all your belongings packed in a foot locker, working with coworkers who become family, leading kids on great adventures, and challenging yourself in ways that make your adult self sometimes wonder just what you were thinking. It's clear that the author of this book is also a Camp Person because she captured the magic of summer camp in this novel perfectly.

Beyond the memories that reading this brought up for me, this book contained within it a sweet frenemies-to-lovers romance that I really enjoyed. It also explores themes of grief, growing up and moving on, and making a brave leap into the unknown of adulthood outside the safety of camp. There were plenty of moments that were little emotional landmines for me, and I found myself shedding a tear or two more than once. And at the end of the book, I felt like I always did after a good summer at camp...a little sad that it was over but loving the experience. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has fond memories of their summer camp days, but it is also perfect for those who are looking for a romance novel with some emotional depth and a beautiful setting that is perfect for these late summer days.

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Return to Sender by Stephanie Parente

Return to Sender by Stephanie Parente
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Violet is usually an optimist. But between her father’s sudden death and the overnight responsibility of caring for her rebellious teenage sister, Phoebe, she’s barely holding it together. Then Phoebe discovers a love letter, never delivered and returned to the sisters’ address, begging its recipient to give him another chance. Phoebe seems excited for the first time since their dad died, and Violet will do anything to keep that smile on her face. Together, they set out to find the letter’s author, hoping to rectify a derailed happily-ever-after.

Despite Dex being rather abrasive (valid) and more than a little enigmatic (intriguing?), Phoebe talks him into a cross-country road trip to put the letter in the right hands. Violet is thrilled to see Phoebe thriving again. With every pit stop, they chip away at Dex’s moody exterior, and Violet realizes she might like what lies beneath . . . a lot. But what happens when they finally reach their destination—and Dex’s ex-girlfriend? Is what they’ve discovered on the road strong enough to make it back home?
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I have to be honest and admit that this book started out a little slow for me. However. Once I was into it, I was REALLY into it, and I could not put it down. Going along as Violet, Phoebe, and Dex set off on their cross-country adventure felt like I was on my own adventure. And the grumpy-sunshine-ness of the whole thing combined with the experience of witnessing Phoebe's evolution as they made their way across the map...I had a lot of feelings. I am actually writing this review several days after I finished reading the book, and I can still conjure up the feelings. It was heartwarming. There was a strong theme of grief throughout the entire book, but it was handled with sensitivity. I did cry, several times. And despite all that, it made me so, so happy.

I also have to say that I felt the perfect amount of anxiety (which is why I could not book the down...I do love a little bit of angst) as the characters got closer to the end of their road trip because I could not figure out how there was going to be a resolution that I could possibly be satisfied with. After all, there was what I wanted to happen, and there was what I thought was going to happen, and there was what I thought would be best for everyone in the end, and those were not always the same thing. This is not easy to do in a contemporary romance, as sometimes they can get a little predictable. I am happy to say that I did not find this predictable.

I have already added Parente to my auto-buy authors list.

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The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane

The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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Julia Schaeffer might run the most romantic little bed-and-breakfast in Upstate New York, but as far as that infuriating Ethan Duchamp is concerned, this older, wiser Julia has a strict “no vacancy” policy. Sure, she’s teetering on the edge of a financial cliff, and his half-baked plan to pair up his celebrity clients at her inn will undoubtedly be good for business…but how much forced proximity with the man who abandoned her is she supposed to take?

Ethan needs this to work. The dreamy, autumnal—and blissfully secluded—cottage from his childhood summers is the ideal setting for playing matchmaker to Hollywood’s next power couple. It’s the only way to save his PR career from the tabloid toilet. He knew that the inn and Julia’s warm, comforting homemade touch would inspire real feelings—he just didn’t expect them to be his. Again.

But as old wounds reopen, and their connection rekindles, Julia and Ethan are forced to confront the truths they’ve both tried to bury. In a town where nothing stays hidden for long, they’ll have to decide if they can rebuild what was lost—or if their second chance will be derailed by scars that have yet to heal.
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There were some things about this book that were really fun. It had a dual-timeline/dual-POV storyline that really worked. I liked learning about the history of the friendship between Ethan and Julia and how it had shaped them into the people they are in the present day. I loved the lakeside setting and the bed-and-breakfast, and I am a sucker for any book that has a food component included in it. I also really liked the entire cast of supporting characters (except for the "villain," but you're not supposed to like the villain, right?).

However, there were a couple of things that fell a little flat for me. There were a few plot points that were a little too unrealistic/coincidental, and there was one thread that felt like it was inserted just to add a little bit of friction but could have been omitted. However, I still really enjoyed the overall experience of reading about Ethan and Julia and their story, and I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a fun fall romance with a little bit of spice, a second-chance romance, and a couple of plot twists to keep them guessing.

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The Top of the World by Ethan Joella

The Top of the World by Ethan Joella
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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June 1975. Maggie Bishop has just graduated high school, the future hers to embrace—but she’s still reeling from the death of her older brother, Chip. A devastating diagnosis the summer before prompted Chip to leave home for a few months, never revealing where he went. Maggie’s search for clues leads her to The Red Maple Inn, a mountaintop resort in the Poconos.

At the Red Maple, Maggie is welcomed into a tight-knit community. As she unravels secrets about her brother’s final days, she begins to connect with the people he loved, and whose lives he touched. Through the warmth of strangers, Maggie begins to heal and is able to help others cope with loss.

Set in a nostalgic resort town over two transformative summers, this dual-narrative novel explores sibling relationships, coming of age, and the quiet power of human connection. Perfect for fans of emotional storytelling and small-town summer books, The Top of the World is a timeless story about memory, grief, second chances, and hope.
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Fun fact: My parents honeymooned at a resort in the Poconos in 1975.

Moving on...I don't think there are enough words to use to explain to you how much I love the way Ethan Joella writes books. I was first introduced to his writing with his debut novel, and I have loved everything he has written since then. I live in the Lehigh Valley in PA, so it is fun to read references to places that are very real to me, but that is not what makes his books special. There is just a quality that I can't really put my finger on that makes them all lovely, lovely books.

Now, specific to this book...I think we all want to believe that we are living our lives to the fullest. However, especially in these days of hustle culture, it is easy to spend too much time scrolling on social media and not enough time out there living. In the summers or 1974 and 1975, social media is not in play, so first Chip and then Maggie are able to set out and really explore what it's like to throw yourself into finding yourself in a new place, but without quite being able to leave behind the tragedy that has shaped them. There was something comforting about taking this trip to The Red Maple Inn with them and seeing first Chip then Maggie reconcile with what his summer away from his family meant to him and for her future. I expect to remember them both for a long time to come.

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