emileereadsbooks's reviews
1113 reviews

Reginald and Millie are concerned about the war's impact on their eleven-year-old daughter Beatrix, so in 1940, they make the choice to send to her America, out of harm's way. There, in Boston, she is placed with the Gregorys. Before she knows it, she is part of the family with Mr. and Mrs. G, fitting perfectly into their life and between their two boys, William and Gerald. But when the war is over and she is called back to London, she has to wrestle with what home is to her and how to move forward. 
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This is a book about relationships. Mothers and children, friends and siblings, over an ocean and through walls. 

A book about choices and regret, following expectations or your heart.  

A book about home and the places and people that are a composition of who you are and where you've been. 

A novel about what could have been, the choices that alter the trajectories of our lives. 

A book about what love is. How we can love the idea of somewhere or someone but living the day to day of love is in the details and intentionality. Love is a choice. Real love matures and grows with us. 

I was entranced by this story. Pulled into the kaleidoscope of points of view as they were constantly shifting to alter my perception of the timeline of events. Much more melancholy than my usual reading fare, I felt like my heart was being wrung out to feel every desire and sorrow of these characters. Also, many of the characters were unlikable to me. I could not justify their choices which led to me having complicated feelings about this book as a whole.

But, if you like emotionally wrought family sagas, then add this one to your TBR.
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Content Warning: Death, infidelity, slight open door sexual content, WWII bombings

Thank you for the gifted book Macmillan Audio and Celadon Books. All opinions are my own. 

Ross was trained by her mom and aunt to be elite. To execute flawlessly. To be there perfect thief. She is a Quest after all. And the Quests are one of the world's most notorious crime families.

But when a heist goes bad, and her mom is kidnapped, Ross finds herself accepting the clandestine invitation she received to the Thieves Gambit, a competition involving a series of international heists. Because the only way to get the 1 Billion dollars for her mom's random is to win.

But dropping into the gambit she not only has to trust her lifetime of training, but she has to decide whether to trust her competitors and the game organizers, which is starkly against the "don't trust anyone whose name isn't Quest" mantra that her mom has drilled into her.

This isn't just a high stakes game to save her mom, this competition had the potential to reshape her whole life. 

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I am a BIG fan of heist books and this one did not disappoint. I was sucked into the story and was entertained the whole way through. 

I appreciated the push and pull of trusting your gut vs trusting your training that Ross experienced. Her mistakes and triumphs really served her character arc and I can't wait to see what lies ahead in book 2.

This is YA and while the characters seem more mature than teens, the content of this book is appropriate for YA audience. Little to no language and no sexual content. There is a lot of moral ambiguity around the nature of the thefts of course, but this book could have been much darker and more violent and I appreciate that it didn't take that turn. 

Emma and Finn were debate partners in high school and won state together their junior year. They made a good team. But when something drives a wedge between them, their friendship fractures, and over the next 10 years they have a push and pull of friendship and hate as they keep almost making mistakes together.

Well, now their high school friend Sybil is tying the knot, or is she? Sybil is in the wind and Emma and Finn set off on a road trip to get her back. But this is more than just a trip to get Sybil back, it's also a trip down memory lane, and the memories may have some ripple effects in here and now.
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Um. What? That ending. The stupid unnecessary cliffhanger of a side characters' story (actually two cliff hangers). Why? No. Do not like. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. 

Also, Finn and Emma are not lasting as a couple. They are not meant for each other. This is not a love story, but a lust story. And I'm not just saying that because I prefer overall to read closed door kisses only rom coms. Their only connection is based on their physical chemistry with a dash of their shared history. If they met as strangers at their current age they would hook up and be done. 

This couple has been bickering since high school and resolves their fighting long enough to finally 10 years later get together, but as much as they try and change, the hurts they caused each other prior to getting together are going to worm their way to the surface and choke out their relationship. You can't take back hurtful things you say and they intentionally lobbed grenades at each other in the past... There is no coming back from that. 

Plus they are not likeable. The intense bickering made me want to crawl in a hole and hide while reading. It was not enjoyable. And Finn seems manipulative and secretive and just very slimy.

Reading this was somehow entertaining though despite me disliking it, and I chalk that up to buddy reading it with a great group of ladies. It also wasn't horribly written as far as plot structure and such. And it had funny and charming moments. It was slow to start, and dragged in places which made it hard to want to pick up. And of course as outlined above, the content just was not at all to my liking. 
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This is a open door rom com.
 

Content warnings for language, parental abandonment, parental death

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I like the premise of the story but the conclusion of the book when the moral of this story is laid out felt forced and like it was missing some of the magic the book touts as so important. Plus Cal, the main character is so unlikable. She grated on my nerves. Which, I know she is a kid dealing with trauma, but in the arc of the story she was never really redeemed for me.

The main characters don't have a ton of parental supervision because of life circumstances, and because of that they are enabled to make extremely unsafe decisions that could have easily killed them or gotten them seriously injured and they don't suffer any significant consequences. And for that matter, neither do the parents for allowing harmful situations. Therefore, I would not recommend this book to middle grade readers. 
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This is a middle grade novel that deals with death of a parent, war and becoming refugees, parental cancer, an incarcerated parent, alcoholism, a car accident, and theft. 

Thank you to Netgalley and FSG Young Readers for the ARC. I read it in conjunction with the library audiobook. All opinions are my own.

It's London, 1916, and as the men are off at war, Kew Gardens, the Royal Botanic Gardens, is having to take on women in the role of gardeners. 

Ivy and Louisa. Two women from very different circumstances. But at Kew they find that plants aren't the only thing they have in common.

Kew becomes a haven for those who need a soft place to land as the tensions of WWI threaten to upend the Homefront and the lives that everyone once knew.
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A book about found family and doing what is right even when it's not popular. With a wide array of charming characters this book gives a niche view of the WWI Homefront that was engrossing and endearing.

I loved how these characters supported one another more and more and their lives became more interwoven. And how they easily brought new people into the fold. 

This isn't a book full of shocking twists or elaborate plot orchestrations. It's a gentle stream of a story that flows and sometimes there is a ripple, but overall it's a story where you know what you are going to get and it leaves you with a warm fuzzy glow.  
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Content Note: This is a historical fiction book with one fade to black scene. There are brief descriptions of war violence, domestic abuse, alcoholism, and bullying. 

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

If you are fan of The Office Ladies Podcast this won't be a ton of new content for you, but still a fun little read. Having the behind the scenes stories in a linear fashion in one place is a fun experience. 

I recommend doing this one on audio. 

What would you do if your spouse came to you and said, "I want a divorce, I'm in love with someone else"? This memoir shows what Harrison Scott Key did when it happened to him. 

In one day, his whole perception of his life changed and he had to change along with it to be able to navigate what lay ahead. 

Told with humor, heart, and a whole ton of vulnerability, this memoir will entertain you while also helping you examine your own motivations and beliefs.
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Harrison Scott Key doesn't pull any punches. And that includes punching himself. As he tells the story of his marriage and the bombs that threatened time and time again to implode the whole thing, he gives an honest examination of his exploration of what it means to be a good husband, father, and human.

He pours his unfettered emotions onto the page, processing God, love, community, and living an honest life. Not externally honest per se, but internally true to one's self. 

There were many times listening to this audiobook that I thought, how gutsy to share that. And really, this whole book is a beautiful display of vulnerability paired with the most lovely prose. A true southern gem of a writer, I will be going and reading his backlist because I need more of his writing in my life. 
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Content Warning: This book discusses an affair, as well as married sex. Nothing is graphic. Child abuse, as well as child abandonment, miscarriage, and cancer are also referenced.

Phillip has realized that all work and no love has made for a very full wife. So he devises the perfect methodical plan to find a wife. The catch is that he is a prince on the verge of becoming King, so whoever he finds will need to be okay with becoming a queen.

He sets off to a small Italian village to pursue the woman fitting his criteria while his brother covers for him back at court. But when he arrives, Alessia is more than he bargained for and he scraps his plan and sets a new plan in motion to win her heart. 

When the inevitable happens and Phillip has to return to court, he wants to have Alessia by his side. There is only one issue, he hasn't told her he's a Crown Prince...
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Reading this book I wanted to be transported to this Italian village and work in Alessia's grandfather's restaurant. I wanted to walk the cobblestone streets hand and hand with someone I love and kiss in secluded alleyways. 

This book is atmospheric to the highest degree and the love story is so tender that I wanted to just gather up the whole cast of charming characters (and there are a lot of charming characters here) and give them a good squeeze☺️.

The through line of love being about choosing someone over and over and over again plucked my heart strings and proved to me once again that Emma St Clair can write any trope, even ones I don't normally love (royals), and I will devour it. 
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com.

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

Serafina is a princess on the verge of losing her kingdom because of a silly clause in her country's charter. She must be married to someone titled by the time she takes the throne as queen, which is in two months. But not to worry, her parents arranged a marriage to a prince for her long ago. And she has had a crush on her intended groom for years. But when instead of proposing, her would have been groom introduces her to his new American arm candy, she is a bit desperate.

Enter Rafe. A Duke who is her prince's rival and has a devilish manner about him. He is a bad boy and she is not interested in associating with him. Until they strike up a deal to help her win back her prince. 

But as time passes, she is seeing a different side of both the prince and the duke and now she has a choice to make. With her heart, her throne, and her identity on the line, how and who will she choose?

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If I were to rank tropes for sweet rom coms, royals would be low on my list. But when Emma St Clair writes a book, you gotta give it a chance, and boy am I glad I did! I adored Serafina and Rafe.

Serafina is very relatable to me. She likes to get stuff done, and do it well. She is focused, she has a mission, she will not be deterred.

Rafe is the flirty bad boy with a heart of gold. He knows he has made mistakes in the past but he is growing and changing and doing what is required to be a better man.

Rafe falls first, and the way he serves Serafina without crossing any lines is so swoony worthy! Sometimes in romance books if the couple didn't end up together you would look back on the man's actions and find them quite creepy. I think the way Rafe handled himself was very admirable and gentlemanly while still being flirty and fun to read! I saw someone call him a "cinnamon roll with swagger" and yes ma'am! She nailed it.

My favorite part of this book is when outside forces are threatening to pull this possible couple apart they are mature and go to each other and have an honest conversation. All the applause for that!
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com.

Sadie is a brilliant computer hacker that sometimes freelances for the FBI. And when she gets herself into some hot water, she heads to Oakley Island where her sister's reside to get off the radar. 

Housing options are limited in the island, but her sisters are friends with Benedict King, a billionaire she's been frenemies with since they met. And Benedict just so happens to have a very fancy yacht.

And when Sadie finds herself out at sea on that yacht, with two government agents babysitting her, and Benedict pretending to be her boyfriend... Well, this whole emotional situation maybe more dangerous than the one her hacking got her into.
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What a perfect punctuation that this book is to the Oakley Island series.

I loved Sadie and Ben and their frenemies banter. And frenemies is the perfect descriptor. They argue and tease and poke but it's never malicious. Both Proctor and St. Clair do this kinder version of enemies to lovers so we'll, so it's no surprise that they nail it here together.

This book so well features the concept that falling in love isn't always easy. We have to overcome our own hang ups and road blocks we put in our own path. This nugget of real life add such good levity to this bright and frothy story. A great balance.

Plus the kisses in this book... This book will be in my bibliography for my theoretical research paper on why romances are perfect being closed door and kisses only. It's all you need😘. 
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com. It is the third in a series and can be read as a stand alone, but I think you are missing out on lots of fun by not reading all 3!