I needed a fun and fluffy palate cleanser so I decided to pick up these young adult novels by the women behind the Go Fug Yourself blog. They were just what I needed—a few hours of enjoyable escapism. In Spoiled, sixteen-year-old Molly Dix finds out right before her mother dies that she’s the daughter of famous actor Brick Berlin. In an attempt to connect with her movie star dad and spoiled half-sister, Brooke Berlin, she leaves Indiana for Beverly Hills. Things don’t go as smoothly […]
It Is What It Is
This novel is short and told in what I might call an impressionist manner, its form occasionally reminiscent of entries that you could find in Twitter or FaceBook updates. And yet in the end, it is a very rich story of a marriage and motherhood, with poetry, philosophy and some wry commentary on both institutions along the way. The narrator, who refers to herself as “the wife,” takes us through the highlights and lowlights of her adult life: dating, yoga, work, colic, bedbugs, infidelity, and […]
Very Good Historical Romances Set Against the Napoleonic Wars
Title Discrimination Aid: Marrying the Captain: He’s sick, she’s pretty. Marrying the Royal Marine: He’s pretty, she’s sick. The Surgeon’s Lady: Everyone’s sick, she’s pretty, his bedside manner is excellent. I love a back catalogue to make my way through and Carla Kelly does not disappoint. The Sisters Trilogy focuses on the three born-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-blanket daughters of Earl Ratcliff. Each of the women – Nana, Laura, and Polly – finds herself involved with a member of the Royal Marines during the Napoleonic Wars. Not just a […]
Bright, Flirty Contemporary Romance
Falling first in her L’Amour et Chocolat Series, this novella was breezy, romantic, and had some excellent smolder. I’m not sure which fairy tale All’s Fair in Love and Chocolate is supposed to be or if, indeed, all of Laura Florand’s works have allusive story lines, but I don’t care, although I kind of do, so I’m going see if I can figure it out. BRB. [muzak intermission] After a year of planning, Ellie has just moved herself and her art blog to Paris to […]