Nicole Ellement

Synopsis: After a particularly devastating breakup, Molly needs a break, a real break. She books two weeks camping in the wilderness away from the city. When a seemingly abandoned pup shows up on her campground followed by a handsome, rugged owner, Molly finds herself wondering if she’ll be able to have faith in love again. Review: This was such a sweet read. I really enjoyed Heather Pine’s writing style. The description of everything from the campground to the little town to the coffee shop’s ambiance was really enjoyable and well fleshed out. Molly and Rick are such likeable characters and I was really really rooting for them. Hudson is also a huge plus!! A true, wholesome, Hallmark read jam packed with emotion, a slow burn, and a little bit of drama.

I’ll start by saying that if you haven’t watched the movie or read the book, read the book first!!! The surprise and the suspense is absolutely the best part and I had to pretend I hadn’t watched the movie. Usually I love a book because the characters (or at least some of them!) are so loveable and you want whats best for them. I loved this book because I hated the characters so much. Amy and Nick are so hateable. I hate them, I hate them! The two could be used as textbook examples of some type of ____paths in some university psych class. So at first, I struggled with this, was I going to absolutely despise reading this whole book because I can’t find a single redeeming quality for Amy or Nick? But hating them and all of the qualities that make them so easy to hate, that’s what makes this book. Gone Girl isn’t a sad, heartbreaking story of a missing wife and her guilty or not guilty husband. Gone Girl is twists, Gone Girl is toxic, Gone is suspense, Gone Girl is anger and hatred and revenge all piled into 415 pages. This story is absolutely addictive and page turning. It’s a little slow paced in the beginning but one the twists start come, they do not stop coming. Favourite favourite favourite quote: “My gosh, Nick, why are you so wonderful to me?' He was supposed to say: You deserve it. I love you. But he said, 'Because I feel sorry for you.' 'Why?' 'Because every morning you have to wake up and be you.”

I love this book, I love Emily Henry, I love the cover art, I love travel, I love nerds, I love khakis, I love travel, and I also love plastic tarps apparently. This book was so so so easy for me to love. This book made me laugh so hard, it also had me swooning and needing to fan myself with a lettuce leaf, at parts it even had me teary eyed. Poppy is such an incredible and dynamic female lead and Alex is such a sweet, quiet, genuine counterpart. I love when characters have complex, messy, honest lives. Poppy’s dissatisfaction with where she’s ended up in life, her yearning for friendship lost, her fears and hopes, they're all palpable and relatable. Poppy and Alex also have a complex, incredible best friendship. Their chemistry is second to none and their witty batter had me laughing out loud. The writing was also so incredible. The descriptions of their vacations past were particularly engaging, it genuinely felt like I was in New Orleans in that scene. Emily Henry absolutely knows how to set the scene and it makes every aspect of the story stronger. I loved this read, this is one of those books that you always wish you could read for the first time again because the feeling was so good. Such feel good book that I will absolutely be re-reading whenever I need a pick me up!

Synopsis: Brendan is a widowed, steady sea captain content to live out the rest of his life in peace in Westport. Until Piper stumbles in that is. Piper is an LA wild child of the influencer variety serving out her sentence in her father’s hometown. The two are polar opposites, but sometimes opposites attract. Review: Okay. I don’t even know where to start. It took me like a month to write this review because I don’t even know how to do Piper and Brendan justice and I don’t even know how to phrase my adoration, honestly. I picked this up because of a tiktok that I saw and at risk of sounding even more dramatic than I already do, this book genuinely helped me realize that I still love reading and helped end a VERY long reading slump. If you love grumpy x sunshine, if you love forced proximity, if you love gruff, wild men, if you love spice (!!!!!!), you will love this book. Now if you haven’t read this yet, be aware, some spoilers ahead! Piper and Brendan are just TO DIE FOR. I love them, I love them, I love them. I was genuinely rooting for their relationship so hard (while simultaneously also wanting Brendan to be mine???And to spoil me rotten???). The character development of each of them individually and also together was so satisfying. Piper is introduced as this ditzy, bratty, stuck-up LA wild child but almost immediately, you start to see layers of her that are so much more than that. Her relationship with Hannah sets the scene for what you’ll be able to see for the rest of the book. She’s fiercely protective of Hannah and loves her completely. The scene where she tries to cook Hannah dinner is such a sweet scene, even if it doesn’t necessarily pan (HA!) out. When you find out that she made space in her luggage, which one can only imagine to be a huge deal for someone as fashionable as Piper, for Hannah’s records, my heart. I’m such a softie for a good sibling relationship. You get to see her develop to so much more and learn so much about her. On the other hand, Brendan is introduced as a total douche (thanks Pipes!). But again, almost immediately you start to see more of him. Brendan helping Piper with the ingredients and instructions for Bolognese, wholesome, my heart. When you learn about his marriage and his wife, so much more comes into view for why Brendan is the way he is. Their relationship is chemistry-ridden, adorable, fiery, incredible, loving, magical, SPICY SPICY SPICY (shall I go on?). I loved, loved, loved reading about these two and I love, love, love how everything turned out. I can’t wait to read about Hannah and Fox in the next book and I also can’t wait to re-read this book a million and one times every time I need a pick me up.

OH MY GOD TESSA BAILEY! OH MY GOD AIDEN! Okay. Calm. Collect. Where to start? Let’s start with this, does Tessa Bailey ever miss? Actually asking because I think that I’ve gone from like “likes her books” to absolutely obsessed and I’m in awe. Now to start on Window Shopping itself instead of fan-girling over Tessa Bailey for another 500 words. Conceptually, this book had me hooked. If you love grumpy/sunshine, this reverse grumpy/sunshine is like the crème de la crème, Aiden is pure bow-tie wearing sunshine, Aiden is the spirit of Christmas itself, Aiden is the present I want under my Christmas tree this year. In contrast, Stella is brooding and dark and she has a deep, tragic backstory and it just all works together to make them the perfect grumpy/sunshine pair!! Now if you don’t want any spoilers, quit here, turn back! Last warning! Watching Aiden transform from this bow-tie wearing, wholesome, rule-following dork to an absolute dirty-talking, possessive, protective HUNK without giving up any of the innate goodness of himself was honestly my favourite part of this book. I also loved that Stella didn’t just become this ray of sunshine, she still had her difficulties, she still had her background, she still had to work through her own issues and a man didn’t just up and solve that for her! However, their relationship is so meaningful and passionate and perfect. You know when you’re working on a puzzle and you look at a piece that doesn’t seem like its going to fit and then lo and behold that’s the piece! And then it’s so obvious, of course that was the piece, how did I not see that?? That’s Aiden and Stella. PLUS, in between being absolutely HOT and also so wholesome (because Aiden is Aiden of COURSE), this book was so funny. When Stella catches Aiden getting drunk in the store after hours??? Their banter is incredible and so funny. I was fully laughing out loud at parts. Tessa Bailey has me fully in the Christmas spirit and it’s not even Halloween yet (which is usually a crime for me!) but because I love Aiden and Stella so much, I’ll let it go this time.

Synopsis: A group of old Oxford friends chooses a remote lodge in the Scottish Highlands for their annual New Years get together. By New Year’s Day, one of them is dead. Review: This was a delightful, fast-paced, thrilling murder-mystery. Unlike a traditional or classic murder mystery, the murdered individual isn’t revealed until very late in the story which gives another element of mystery to the story. This point also kept me reading at like a hundred miles a minute because I was so curious and intrigued! I really enjoyed the twists and the reveals at the end and I personally was surprised, but it’s also not altogether shocking, mostly because of the background and all of the detail of the character’s pasts. One of the downsides of having 9 main characters is that there is A LOT of background to sift through. Much of the novel is dedicated to setting the scene and it is important in order to understand everything that happens over the three days of the main portion of the novel, but it means that certain parts drag. Additionally, the characters of the group were very easy to hate. I think that is mostly intended. No one seems to have any redeeming qualities. They all have heavy, dark, dirty secrets and for the most part, no one even really seems to show remorse for any of those dark secrets. Doug and Heather are really the only two likeable characters in the entire book. I found the writing style really engaging and it was a huge part of why I liked the book so much. Despite having four different perspectives and two different time periods, it was really easy to follow what was happening. Overall, I really enjoyed this! Solid 4/5 stars!

The premise of this book is so good, the enemies to lovers trope, the delicious food descriptions, and Maui as the backdrop??? But honestly, it took me a little longer than I expected to really get invested (mostly because I could NOT STAND Callum, I know they're enemies to lovers but there were zero redeeming qualities about him) but once I did, man did I ever get invested. The chemistry between Nikki and Callum ended up being so fiery and I loved it. There was also so much more to the story than just the two main characters that I was so endeared by. There were emotional storylines relating to family and friends that were so meaningful and genuine. There was so much more to connect to once the two of them actually started to communicate. That's a big downside I find when the POV is always from on character. Because we only ever got Nikki's POV, Callum seemed genuinely horrible, nothing redeemable until Nikki herself starts to find those qualities. Sarah Smith’s writing was so captivating and engaging. I really really enjoyed reading this book for that alone. However, the last 20% of the book was quite repetitive and I just wanted to yell at Callum and Nikki to communicate and then the very end felt a little rushed. Overall, I’m really glad I grabbed this off the shelf and it was a nice, feel-good, summery read! I’ll definitely keep my eye out for more Sarah Smith.

“You had to be exactly what I need, didn’t you” Georgie Castle, the youngest of the Castle family and the only one not involved in their family renovation company. Instead, Georgie has forged her own path and started a business as a clown for kids parties. Georgie dreams of expanding her clown business but she’s still treated like the kid sister in her family, in her town of Port Jefferson, and in her business ventures. Travis Ford is a former MLB star, retired much too early due to injury. Returning home to Port Jefferson to figure out his next steps, Travis finds that his reckless actions as a rising MLB star have also painted others’ opinion of him. I want to start by saying that my absolute favourite part of Fix Her Up is Georgie. Georgie is vivacious and free-spirited and so unapologetic in what she wants. This girl runs a CLOWN business and this is genuinely exactly what she wants and she just went for it and keeps going for it! The girl owns her own house!! When her home reno plans were bailed on, she scheduled someone else! She was the bigger person and she apologized to a girl she was kind of rude to and made friends with her! I love Georgie, genuinely and I think the best part of this book was watching Georgie come into herself and become a person that she’s proud of. A lot of negative reviews I’ve seen get stuck on her makeover but she does that completely of her own volition because that’s what she wants to be seen as a more professional business woman. It also doesn’t mean that Georgie never wears dungarees or big sweaters again. I was so happy that this was a dual perspective book because I think understanding Travis’s background made it easier for me to love him too. I wish that his backstory was explained earlier in the book so that we don’t spend so much of it just thinking all of the bad things that are already in place about Travis. But Travis standing up for Georgie at family dinner??? YES PLEASE. I would like to reread that scene eight million times. For the record, I think Travis is falling in love with her before the makeover but he’s not admitting it to himself! Prepare yourself for plenty of steam as with any Tessa Bailey! Also prepare yourself for the fact that Travis is very protective/possessive, so if you’re not into that type of man, you might not love this. But if you love brother’s best friend, sunshine/grumpy, second-chance/redemption, then you’ll probably love this! “You . . . accept me. Exactly as I am. But you still change me for the better.”