My reaction to Happily Ever Ninja is why Penny Reid continues to be on double-secret probation with me, a situation that started with The Hooker and the Hermit, deepened with Elements of Chemistry and was cemented by Truth or Beard. I wasn’t going to buy Happily Ever Ninja. I WASN’T. No matter what joo-joo a couple of earlier books in the Knitting in the City series possessed or how much I liked Beauty and the Mustache. Penny Reid’s status as an autobuy was over. Then […]
The Heroine Actually Says, “Take Me Now”
My original plan for this review was to lay my head down on the keyboard as though I’d fallen asleep and let the random characters speak for me, like this: vgftbzxdfh dskjfsuir eso9=-fsdklasejl;. The Doctor Wears A Stetson hit all of my romance novel reading choice shame buttons. It was tedious and humdrum, but I still read it and was disappointed in myself for doing so. Technically, I read most of it, but not all, as I was not hopeful for improvement and if I […]
Read Sarina Bowen’s Other Ivy Years Books Instead
The final book in Sarina Bowen’s Ivy Series is a bit of a head scratcher and one in which the author’s intent seemed clear, but I don’t think she managed the very delicate balancing act she had decided to undertake, but first let me praise the other five books in the Ivy Years series and emphatically recommend buying all of them immediately: The Year We Fell Down – BAM! This book got me right in the feels. The Year We Hid Away – That’s a […]
Not New Adult So Much as Latent Adult
I’ve read enough Penny Reid now that I can tell you what I like about her books. She’s very funny and she uses first person narration incredibly effectively. Often one’s inner life can be so different from one’s public persona and that juxtaposition, when done well, greatly adds to the characterization. That said, Elements of Chemistry also got this response from me, spoken out loud and with a great deal volume: She needs to be punched in the head. But more on that later. Kaitlyn […]