Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.6.25)

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Spotify • Thriller • 2024 

Short synopsis: Meredith Lee helped Aspen Palmer rise to social media fame, but after being cast aside, Meredith starts stalking Aspen. But when Meredith goes missing and threats emerge, Aspen must protect her perfect image before everything comes crashing down.

This was an excellent audiobook read, and it was one of those books that I could hardly stop listening to because I was so curious about where it was going. At times, these characters could be so frustrating because, well, they’re influencers and as such, they live a life I do not want to live in a million years. Documenting so much of their lives and making video after video, taking photo after photo, all to project a certain image to their followers… what an exhausting way to live. And yet… being an influencer gives women agency in their lives. Some of these women are making six figures! It is a legitimate business and as social creatures, we buy into what they’re selling. Anyway, this book was both an interesting look into the life of an influencer and a thriller filled with twists and turns I really wasn’t expecting. I loved the way I was constantly going back and forth between what I thought was happening, and how the two timelines in the book converged. It was truly a one-of-a-kind thriller that was really enjoyable for me to read.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: When Phoebe Stone arrives alone at Newport’s grand Cornwall Inn, she’s mistaken for a wedding guest but is actually there to kill herself. As the bride navigates her meticulously planned weekend, an unexpected bond forms between the two women, reshaping both their lives.

I have heard so many rave reviews of this book so my expectations were super high. And wouldn’t you know it? This book met every single expectation! It’s the kind of book I was immediately drawn into and could hardly put down. The author has such an easy writing style and the characters were so well-developed. Phoebe was a woman who was at rock bottom and didn’t see a way out… until she meets Lila, a bride who has a week-long wedding planned at this hotel. I loved the scenes between Phoebe and Lila so much. They were so honest and raw and real. There’s a message throughout the novel about happiness and what we owe to ourselves. Why do we constantly strive for happiness and what happens when we get the thing we so desperately wanted? Because of course when we get the thing, we zip along to the next thing that we think will make us even happier. There are trigger warnings for this book, of course. Suicidal ideation, miscarriage, infertility, depression, and death/grief are some of them. It is a very sad book at times, but it is such an intimate look at the way life circumstances can so vastly affect our mental health. Life just sometimes really sucks, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Anyway, I really loved this book and I think it’ll be sneaking its way into my favorites list for 2024!

Suddenly One Summer by Julie James (★★★☆☆)

E-Book • Library • Contemporary Romance • 2015

Short synopsis: Divorce lawyer Victoria Slade and investigative journalist Ford Dixon team up to solve his sister’s case, but their sizzling chemistry forces them to confront their doubts about love—and each other.

This is a reread for me and I really have to condition myself to read this book through the lens of 2015. First of all, there was a reference to one of the characters moving into an apartment in Trump Tower, which was very triggering! But this book was written before his run for president so… deep breaths, Steph. There was a bit of toxic masculinity on the part of Ford, but I wonder how differently he would have been written today. (It wasn’t anything too troubling, but just some scenes that made me cringe a little.) I don’t think I loved this book as much the second time around; I found it really hard to get into Victoria’s head and root for her. But it was an easy romance to zip through around Christmas.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.30.24)

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Library • Historical Fiction • 2022

Short synopsis: In the summer of 1922, Jay Gatsby is found dead in his swimming pool, seemingly the victim of a murder-suicide. But when a diamond hairpin is discovered nearby, three women—Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Catherine McCoy—become entangled in the mystery. 

I loved this fun reimagining of The Great Gatsby. Instead of focusing on Jay and his friend Nick Carraway, we’re drawn into the lives of three women with their own roles to play in Gatsby’s murder. The chapters alternate between each woman (with separate narrators for each, which was great!) and a detective trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Gatsby. I thought the story flowed so seamlessly. There are so many themes at play in this story: the realities of being a woman in the 1920s and the limited choices women had, the strength and resilience of women, and the sweetness of supportive female friendship. I love that this book focused on the women surrounding Jay Gatsby and not on the terrible men. It was an excellent story that I highly recommend!

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (★★☆☆☆)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2007

Short synopsis: Led by her yapping corgis to the Westminster traveling library outside Buckingham Palace, the Queen finds herself taking out a novel. This awakens in Her Majesty a passion for reading so great that her public duties begin to suffer. 

This was a quick read (120 pages!) and if it wasn’t such a short book, I would have definitely abandoned it. Mostly, this book made me sad. It’s about the love of reading but at every turn, the Queen is stymied by her quest to read more. The traveling library disappears, her books are misplaced, and people just do not want to hear about what she is reading. This isn’t a book about the love of reading. It’s about how weird our hobby might seem to people who don’t read. So… blah.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Romance/Mystery • 2024

Short synopsis: Three days before Christmas, famed author Eleanor Ashley vanishes from a locked room during a snowbound house party. Cozy mystery writer Maggie Chase and thriller author Ethan Wyatt—rivals who can’t stand each other—must join forces to uncover the truth. As tensions rise and secrets unfold, they race to solve the mystery before the storm traps them with a killer—or drives them to kill each other first.

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS! This book was perfection from beginning to end. I could not get enough of this sweet love story—or the excellent mystery at the heart of this novel. Maggie is still healing from her bitter divorce a year ago and Ethan is the publishing world’s golden child who can do no wrong, but together they have to team up to figure out what happened Eleanor and to make sure they’re not next on the list. If you love enemies-to-lovers, you’re going to love this book because Ally Carter does a great job with this trope. I actually got butterflies in my stomach when the characters kissed for the first time; this is how invested I was in them! I did not want this book to end and I’m going to be shoving it into the hands of everyone I know. Read this book!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.24.24)

It’s Christmas Eve and I have three very meh book reviews for you. I didn’t plan this! It’s just how things happened.

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2022

Short synopsis: An indie musician reeling from her mother’s sudden death a few months ago reconnects with her estranged father on a week-long cruise in this tale of grief, fame, and love.

I started this audiobook on the drive down to Miami for my cruise. It’s narrated by Mae Whitman so the performance was spot-on, but the actual novel itself didn’t totally work for me. For one, Greta’s father was a straight-up asshole. Of course, he’s dealing with the grief over unexpectedly losing his wife (and being on a cruise that they planned together to celebrate their anniversary). But he was an asshole before Greta’s mom died so that’s no excuse. As someone who is currently estranged from my father because he’s also an asshole who never treated me well, I found it really troubling to read this story and realize that the author wanted these two people to reconcile. Sure, reconciliation is great and I would love to be able to have my dad in my life again, but it’s not always the best thing. And I don’t know if Greta’s father made the type of amends he needed to make. He belittled her career and her relationships, and Greta deserved better. There’s also a weird romance side plot in this novel that didn’t really need to be there, and I found its conclusion to be pretty unbelievable. What I did love about this novel were the explorations of grief and the mentorship Greta gave to a young girl on the cruise who was a fan of hers. All in all, an uneven novel that I’m not likely to recommend.

The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley (★★★☆☆)

E-Book • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Five years after caring for his niece and nephew following their mother’s death, Patrick O’Hara is back in their lives as they face another major transition—their father’s remarriage in Italy. As family tensions, a cold-footed groom, and chaotic wedding plans unfold, Patrick must balance his role as protector, peacemaker, and fun uncle amidst the mayhem.

I really liked The Guncle by Steven Rowley, so when I heard he had written a follow-up novel, I excitedly added it to my Goodreads TBR. I downloaded the e-book for my cruise, although I didn’t start reading it until I got home. (I always think I’m going to read so much more than I do!) And I’ll be honest: I wanted to abandon this book. It was so boring with very little tension and very long descriptions of the places they were visiting in Europe. It felt pedantic and overwrought. But when I went on Goodreads to see how other people felt about the book, I saw a sea of 4-star reviews and I thought that maybe I was being too hard on the book, so I kept going. While the book got marginally better, I still found it a bit of a slog. I was frustrated by the ornery guncle schtick and annoyed by the writing. It just wasn’t the book for me and I think I can safely say goodbye to these characters for good. (However, if the author does end up writing a book about the lesbian aunt, Palmina, I am here for that.)

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams (★★☆☆☆)

E-Book • Owned (Amazon) • Contemporary Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: Annie Walker, a small-town florist in Rome, Kentucky, is determined to transform herself into the confident leading lady of her favorite romance movies to find her perfect match. Enlisting the help of Will Griffin—a rugged, tattooed bodyguard temporarily in town—Annie embarks on practice dates and flirting lessons. But as their chemistry heats up and friendship blurs into something more, Annie starts to wonder if her dream guy isn’t the polished romantic hero she imagined—but the real, imperfect man right in front of her.

I recently read and loved When in Rome by Sarah Adams and was excited to read the next book in the series. I don’t know if I just didn’t notice the bad writing in the first book, but in this one, hoo boy. It was so very bad. This is another example of a book that I should have abandoned. In this case, I kept going because it was an easy romance that I could read quickly (even if I did roll my eyes so many times). I didn’t feel like Annie and Will were full people in their own rights. Annie was the trope of the virgin, small-town girl whose only goals in life were to be a wife and mother (snooze). And Will was the “guy from the wrong side of the tracks.” Because did you know? He has tattoos! And he’s a bodyguard! So he’s totally a bad boy. There were so many plot holes in this novel and I just felt like I was reading a book by an entirely different author than the one who wrote When in Rome. What a disappointment.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.18.24)

Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman (★★★★★)

E-Book • Library • Thriller • 2024

Short synopsis: When a pilot suffers a heart attack mid-flight, a commercial airliner crashes into a nuclear power plant in Waketa, Minnesota, triggering the world’s first Level 8 nuclear disaster.

T.J. Newman really knows how to write a terrifying thriller. I read this on my cruise (I know), and I made sure to find out where the nuclear power plants are located in Florida. Luckily, none close to me! This book got a bit more technical than her other novels as she really got into the nitty-gritty of what happens when something destroys parts of a nuclear power plant. It was a bit like reading an Andy Weir novel. The important parts of the story are the characters and it’s okay to skim some of the more science-y sections. There were a lot of characters and sub-plots in this book but I felt like I could keep track of everyone easily (probably because all of the storylines were so different from each other!). The novel definitely had me on the edge of my seat and I just can’t believe T.J. Newman keeps knocking it out of the park again and again!

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake (★★☆☆☆)

E-Book • Library • Contemporary Romance • 2024

Short synopsis: Five years after being left at the altar, Charlotte Donovan is thriving in New York with her string quartet, the Rosalind Quartet. But when she agrees to spend Christmas with a bandmate’s family in Colorado, she’s blindsided to find her ex, Brighton, also there.

This is the first time I’ve read a book by Ashley Herring Blake that ended up being a major disappointment. This book was rather boring. It’s a second-chance romance, which isn’t my favorite trope, and it was hard for me to get on board for this one. Leaving someone at the altar is such a dick move, and I don’t think Brighton’s excuses were enough to warrant a second chance. I also didn’t really feel any sort of chemistry between the characters and I felt like I never really knew Brighton and Charlotte. They were one-dimensional. It was hard for me to believe that these two people were going to move from not speaking at all to suddenly putting their past behind them and falling in love in the space of a few days. It just didn’t work for me. I needed more of a build-up and more of a reason to root for these women.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Owned (Amazon) • Mystery • 1938

Short synopsis: In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, the holiday turns deadly when wealthy patriarch Simeon Lee gathers his family for a tense reunion, only to announce he’s cutting their allowances and changing his will. When Simeon is murdered, Poirot must unravel the web of family secrets and rivalries to catch the killer.

Oh, how I love a locked-room mystery and Agatha Christie seems to do a lot of these. For the first time when reading a Christie mystery, I kept a list in my Notes app about the characters so I could keep everyone straight since I always seem to get lost in the sea of characters and forget who is who. (Of course, this time, there weren’t too many characters to keep track of and everything was pretty straightforward.) I liked this mystery a lot, though! I was super surprised by the “whodunit” and this is one of the first times I couldn’t figure out who it could be. Everyone had a motive and I love when an author can hide the murderer in plain sight, like she did for this one. This is a quick, fun holiday mystery that I would definitely recommend!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.9.24)

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Thriller • 2024

Short synopsis: Frank Szatowski is stunned when his estranged daughter invites him to her wedding, only to discover she’s marrying into a wealthy tech family, and he must navigate his discomfort and uncover unsettling secrets while trying to reconnect with her. 

I’ve been on the record that Jason Rekulak’s novel, Hidden Pictures, is one of the worst thrillers I’ve read (although everyone raves about it). But I wanted to give him a second chance when everyone was raving about this novel. And I just need to accept that Rekulak’s writing is not for me. While this novel wasn’t quite as bad as Hidden Pictures, it still wasn’t very good with a deeply unsatisfying ending. Parts of this novel were appropriately creepy (as anything involving a billionaire family and a destination wedding at their property would be!) and I was definitely turning pages quickly to find out what was really happening with this odd family. And it was a shocking reveal, so I’ll give the author props for that! But once the reveal happened, the plot fizzled for me. The pacing of the novel slowed down and I couldn’t see where the author was going with the ending. I also found just about everyone in the novel (even Frank) to be wholly unlikable and that made it hard to find anyone to root for. A lackluster thriller, in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Little Free Library) • Contemporary Romance • 2021

Short synopsis: Olive Smith, a Ph.D. candidate who doesn’t believe in love, pretends to date her arrogant professor, Adam Carlsen, so that her best friend Anh will feel comfortable dating Jeremy, a guy Olive dated for a few weeks. (Anh doesn’t want to break girlcode to date Jeremy, but Olive has zero feelings for him.) But as their fake relationship deepens, Olive unexpectedly falls for Adam, complicating her career and heart.

For some reason, this very popular romance hasn’t been on my TBR list because I thought it had very mixed reviews. (It has a 4.1 star rating with 1.5 million reviews, so I was mistaken!) I saw it in a Little Free Library earlier this year so I picked it up for myself. And I was delighted by it! It was so much fun and smart and I just adored the relationship between Olive and Adam. It was a bit of the grumpy/sunshine trope because, as a professor, Adam is not very well-liked by his students because he’s a bit brusque in his critiques. And Olive is a happy-go-lucky Ph.D. student who breaks down his walls. I loved the friendships in this novel (including the male friendships!) and also really enjoyed how the author explored demisexuality and how everyone’s sex drives can be different. I just really enjoyed this novel. It was a satisfying romance.

Humor Me by Cat Shook (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Presley Fry, a jaded assistant at the Late Night Show, finds solace in the stand-up comedy world but struggles with her mother’s loss. When her late mother’s best friend, Susan, introduces her to her son Lawrence, Presley is forced to confront her emotional walls, discovering that laughter and unexpected connections may offer healing and new possibilities.

This book is essentially a love letter to New York City. It should also be a love letter for therapy because omg does Presley Fry need therapy more than any character I’ve ever met. This girl is depressed to the max, and she needs to deal with her grief, her avoidant attachment style, and her traumatic childhood with a licensed therapist. Instead, Presley does not get therapy. She deals with her grief with an unhealthy attachment to a coworker, throwing herself into her work, and avoiding any semblance of healthy friendship. I wanted so much more from Presley, but she was very hard to like and I think the author did a disservice with her character. Read this book if you love NYC and stand-up comedy, but not if you’re looking for character growth. (2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.)

What are you reading?