emileereadsbooks's reviews
1113 reviews

1940- War is raging throughout Europe and Daisy marries her sweetheart before he heads into the fight. She is distressed at the thought of losing him, but her mother, Ivy, who worked at Kew Gardens during the last war, encourages her to find a job there to occupy her mind.

Joined there by Beth, a nurse who aspires to be a doctor, and Louisa, her godmother who was a Kew Gardens Girl with her mother, these women dig their own roots into the soil of Kew and hope that they are deep and strong enough to hold them steady through all that life throws their way.
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I wasn't sure how this book would feel after reading the first since there is such a large time gap, but really the time gap worked so nicely in making this feel like a standalone and giving these characters room to make their own arcs. 

Each of these characters is flawed and makes poor decisions, but also you are invested in their humanity and cheering them on to better and brighter futures. 

Because this book deals closely with post partum depression, it was very difficult to read at times, but I think the topic was handled with care and gentleness. 

If you enjoy historical fiction set on the Homefront, this is worth a read. 
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Content Note: This is a historical fiction book set during the air raids of London during WWII. Therefore, violence and death are common but not graphic. There is also an involved storyline with post partum depression and a suicide attempt. Prejudice is also prevalent.

Thanks to Netgalley and Putnam Books for the book. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this book and it had a lot of great elements for it was trying to do too many things that it sacrificed doing any of them very well. There are 5 major plot points here and I feel like I got a bit cheated out of getting the full story of all of them. I still liked the book, but I don't feel like I can recommend it. 

The pacing also is very odd in this book. We fly through certain scenes and miss any grounding details but then sit in scenes that don't add much to the plot. 

Also, this book does touch on faith but in an abstract, non- descriptive way that left me wanting more. There was so much opportunity to handle crisises of faith in an honest God honoring way, but it just teased us with this plotline.

My major takeaway from this is I wish this would have been a series of books vs one book so I could have felt more connected to the character and their stories and there would have been more space to let their stories breathe. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Tyndale House for the gifted copy.

Summer is leaving a less than ideal work situation to step into a whole new world as the in-house legal counsel for Tik Tok famous Appies hockey team. 

Nathan is known as the broody member of the Appies. And he has gained quite the fan following, some even want to take it too far to #TameTheBroodingBeast. 

So to protect Nathan from these feral women, the Appies social media manager suggests Summer pose as his girlfriend. After all, they obviously have great chemistry.

Summer starts to fall for Nathan for real, but Nathan has his walls up for reasons he'd rather not hash out. Can Summer get past his gruff exterior and uncover his soft side?
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I love Nathan and Summer. I adore when characters are upfront about who they are and what they want in a relationship and Summer is so forward and I love especially seeing a female main character being so clear in how she communicates. 

Nathan is a complex character, but I love when love makes a grump turn into a bit of a marshmallow. 

One thing I continue to love in this series is the comradery. In this book in particular we get the friendships of the players, the connections the hockey girlfriends/wives have, and we even get a glimpse at the brotherhood of the Hawthornes from Jenny's previous series. 

If you haven't read a Jenny Proctor book yet, jump in here and then you will definitely want to go back and read more! 
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com. It is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone. 

📙Available on Kindle Unlimited

Thanks to the author for the gifted book. A favorable review was not required, all opinions are my own.

Pepper is a high school senior with a lot on the line. She is trying to have the best grades, be the captain of the swim team, post on the baking blog she has with her sister, and secretly run her parents' restaurant corporation, Big League Burger's, massive Twitter account. 

Jack is also a high school senior (and a pain in Pepper's side). He is trying to step out of his identical twins shadow while also managing school, dive team, and working shifts at his family's deli. And when Big League Burger steals his grandma's grilled cheese recipe, he goes to bat for the family on Twitter. 

Quickly there is a viral Twitter war between Pepper and Jack. They are trading barbs in front of the whole internet while behind the scenes they are anonymously chatting and falling for each other on the app Jack created for their school.

How will the resolve the feud? When will they find out who is behind the anonymous handle they have been chatting with? How will they deal with the consequences of both?

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Emma Lord is the only YA writer I consistently read. Her books are fun and don't deal too heavily in teenage angst. They feature teens just trying to find their way in the world and communicating with and dealing with parents don't always make things easy. 

In this book, I loved how these characters got to know one another in oubkic and on the anonymous app. They could see each other in ways no one else could. And as a result of their feud and secret correspondence, they have to navigate their public and private lives in new ways as they also have to contend with who they are and who they want to be. 

I really enjoyed the journey these characters took and I will continue to read whatever Emma Lord writes.

Warning: do not read while hungry. This book will make you more so.

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This is a closed door, kisses only YA rom com. 

Will, an engineer, is always mentally preparing for the worst situations, but he didn't fully anticipate this one. He is flying with his 11-year-old daughter, Shannon,  from Hawaii to San Francisco when six minutes after take off, their flight makes a crash landing in the ocean. And when an engine explodes during evacuation, forcing those still aboard to close the doors on the flooded vessel, Will, Shannon, and 10 others are trapped aboard the flooded vessel as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

On the surface, the real hope for rescue is in the hands of professional diver Chris, who happens to be Shannon's mom, and Will's soon to be ex-wife. She has to fight through politics and protocol to try and save every one aboard, but especially her husband and daughter. 
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Will, an engineer, is always mentally preparing for the worst situations, but he didn't fully anticipate this one. He is flying with his 11-year-old daughter, Shannon,  from Hawaii to San Francisco when six minutes after take off, their flight makes a crash landing in the ocean. And when an engine explodes during evacuation, forcing those still aboard to close the doors on the flooded vessel, Will, Shannon, and 10 others are trapped aboard the flooded vessel as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

On the surface, the real hope for rescue is in the hands of professional diver Chris, who happens to be Shannon's mom, and Will's soon to be ex-wife. She has to fight through politics and protocol to try and save every one aboard, but especially her husband and daughter. 
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I received a complimentary audio version of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is not how Matthew expect this year to go. The world has shut down because of Covid. His journalist dad is stuck overseas and his mom just moved his 100 year old great grandmother in with them to keep her safe. And when his mom takes away his only fun, his video games, he finds a new way to occupy his time, helping GG go through her boxes full of memorabilia. In those boxes he finds clues to a history he does not know, abed her sets it to get GG to share her story.

As GG opens up to Matthew, we get two perspectives from the 1930s. Mila in Kyiv, Ukraine and Helen in Brooklyn, New York. All three perspectives help tell the story of the famine in Ukraine in the 1930s and make a commentary on who and what gets to define the truth.
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I love reading books that open my eyes to parts of history previously unknown to me, and this book does that in a such a carefully crafted way. The way the story was woven through the three perspectives fleshed it out more and made the characters more three dimensional. 

There are some horrific things that happen in this novel, but I think they were presented tactfully where the reader gets the picture without having to experience all the gritty details. 

Overall I enjoyed this book and because it opened my eyes to a new part of history, it will be one that I think about for years to come. 
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Content Note: This book addresses the 1930s famine in Soviet Ukraine, so there are descriptions of abuse and people starving to death. Other things to be aware of are: antisemitism, bullying, execution, classist rhetoric, and descriptions of 2020 Covid pandemic. As such, I highly suggest parents or guardians read this one alongside their children to discuss with them. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

1868- Theodora and her sisters are in mourning after their parents and brother were lost at sea. But whereas her sisters want to go find society husbands, she wishes to stay on the family country estate pursuing her aspirations as a nature illustrator. And her dreams begin to come true when she discovers a butterfly never seen before in Australia.

1868- Clarrie is pregnant out of wedlock with few options. She loses her job, and once her baby is born, has to trust someone to take care of him while she goes and works as a maid for Theodora searching for that rare butterfly. But then her son goes missing and everything is up in the air.

1922- Verity desires to become a journalist, but losing her job at the paper so they can open jobs for more men. But the same day she is canned, things take an interesting turn when she is sent an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball along with an elaborate butterfly costume. She doesn't know who sent them, but she is willing to go to the ball and try and find out. There, she makes a connection and lands a commission to write the history of a charity that supports disgraced young women and their babies. But as Verity digs, she begins to uncover a complex mystery that goes back decades. What will she uncover, and who will the truth effect?
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Although the title makes it seem like butterflies are central to the story, they are only a subplot in this book that is much more about family and how families are made and maintained. This book has a lot happening in it and little has to do with butterflies.

The first half of this book is slow. It has a lot to set up in both of the timelines to get us to the second half which moves pretty quickly. A lot happens in the second half that you have to really pay attention to get all the layers of the stories. Then the ending is a bit of a let down because there is no grand conclusion. Everything just kinds of wraps up and ends. The pay off wasn't worth it. 

That being said, even though the pacing of this book is a bit of a mess, I still found it interesting. There was a lot happening and I would have liked much more information about the butterflies, but I was engaged and wanted to get to the conclusion (even though it wasn't as satisfying as I would have hoped). 

This was my IRL book club's book for March. It definitely led to some robust discussions and made the book more multifaceted for us as readers. This is a good pick for a buddy read or a book club read. 
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Eli's life is going pretty great. He has a position on a wildly popular hockey team he loves with a great group of teammates. His mom is getting the best care possible for her health. He is volunteering at an animal shelter in his free time. But, due to some incorrectly filed paperwork, his visa is expiring and to keep this great life he has built, he needs to get married in the next 30 days. He hates the idea though of just getting married, he's a closet romantic after all, he wants to be in love! 

Bailey is an aspiring vet, putting in her time working at the animal shelter to get the experience and references needed to go to vet school. A highlight of her time at work is running into the very sweet and attractive Eli. But what's he doesn't know is that he's a big deal hockey player. And when he asks her for a favor in exchange for making her life a bit easier, she would be foolish to pass up the opportunity.
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Golden Retriever MMCs are my favorite! I just want to squish them in a hug. (Perhaps because I married this type of man☺️). Eli isn't afraid to share his feeling or make Bailey feel special. I loved their back and forth and nicknames for one another. They dive in deep from the start and begin to share their real life struggles even amidst this marriage of convenience situation. Which, when a rom com can balance humor and heart with real life gravity like Emma St Clair does so well, I will fly through it at lightening speed every time.

I am so pumped for the rest of this Appies series, partially because I need more Eli and Bailey! 
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com. It is the opening book of a spin-off series, but can be read as a stand alone. 

Content warnings (from the author):
-parents passing away due to car wreck (past)
-parental abandonment (past)
-older relative with dementia (current)
-parent with chronic illness (current)

Thanks to the author for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.  

Bodhi and Kalaine were surfing's "it couple." Their love was palpable to their fans and it was all such a fairytale. Until it wasn't. 

Two years post break-up, Kalaine is coming to her brother's house with a bruised ego and broken body needing a place to recover. She doesn't expect to find that her brother's roommate is her ex-boyfriend. And she certainly doesn't have the capacity to deal with all these feelings bubbling up right now! 

Bodhi has moved on from the life he had 2 years ago. But when Kalaine literally moves into his house, he realizes she might have never moved out of his heart.

Do Bodhi and Kalaine really want to face what tore them apart before? Can they find it in themselves to give their relationship a second chance?
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Savannah Scott keeps adding more and more depth to her books.  And once again she manages to hit the right balance of sweet, funny, and real. 

I am so far removed from the surfing world, but thanks to the writing, I was on board with these two conquering the waves (both oceanic and emotional).

I loved Bodhi and Kalaine and how they were both so upfront about their feelings. They didn't play games, they went after the relationship they wanted in a forward but respectful way.

I am so excited for the next book and what it holds for Kai and what glimpses we will get to see of the characters we have grown to love over the series! 
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com. It is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone. 

Thank you to the author for the book to review. All opinions are my own. 

Eloise has been flailing as of late in the career department. So when her sister's boyfriend sets her up with a job as an assistant to his hockey team's new star player, things seem to be looking up.

But, that player, Grayson Hawke, is more than she bargained for. He is grumpy, rude, and super reclusive. And he is also the stranger she kissed at midnight on New Year's Eve.

As she works to prove herself capable in this new job, she has to work to chip away Gray's hard outer shell to try and find the real man hiding underneath. And in the process has to deal with her attraction to this porcupine of a human.

And when she finally gets a good glimpse into the man behind all the walls he throws up, things may change for both of them.
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In the dedication Courtney says in this one that she wrote the grumpiest hero she could, and I think she succeeded. In the beginning I wasn't sure how she would redeem him and make him loveable, but oh boy did she! Gray is just a hard candy with a squishy inside. That coating is just very hard to crack!

I loved the character arcs in this one. Both Eloise and Gray had some soul searching to do to figure out what they wanted out of life. I love how they balanced each other out. They had to come into their own identities apart from wanting a relationship with one another. Sometimes romance book couples feel a little too interdependent, but this couple complimented each other without being overpowering.

I desire to be a Courtney Walsh completist now and need to go read her whole backlist! She hasn't done me wrong yet.
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com.

Thank you to the author for the ARC of this title! All opinions are my own.