I’m not usually a big seasonal reader - and I'm reading the wrong season lol - but give me all the sweet, Hallmark holiday, HEA, romance vibes right now!
These two check all those boxes and were pretty flipping adorable.
First up…
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (Pine hollow #1) by Lizzie Shane ~ Goodreads Ben, an overwhelmed single dad (Uncle to his orphaned niece) has a meet cute with Ally Gilmore, a photographer who heads back to her small hometown to take care of her aging grandparents and to help save their animal shelter of misfit canines after funding is cut off right before Christmas.
This book was just adorable and heartwarming. Ally and Ben get off on the wrong foot (& he’s quite the grumpster at first) but end up having this slow burn friendship/romance while they both learn to put their trust in community, friends, family and each other. It was just the sweetest but also had a lot of great life messages. And puppies!!
This seriously needs to be made into a Hallmark movie!
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren ~ Goodreads“One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners.”
That summary suggest a love triangle vibe but that’s a bit misleading so no worries there.
Mae Jones always spends Christmas with her (divorced) parents with their family friends in a cabin in Utah. Her best friend is Theo while she secretly pines for his brother Andrew, who sees her as a little sister.
After a drunken kiss with one of the brothers, Mae’s life is thrown into a tailspin – and a Groundhog Day scenario where she keeps reliving the trip until she can figure out exactly what the universe is trying to get her to do to make things right.
This was pretty hilarious. Each restart produces a different set of problems for Mae but she does her best to heal her friendship with Theo, get the man of her dreams and save the cabin and figure out what to do with her life.
The whole cast was great, the setting was fun and Chistmasy with a touch of magic.
My one teeny-tiny complaint would be that I didn’t think one character was given enough depth and it weakened the story a bit but otherwise it was absolutely delightful and fun!
Are you reading holiday stories yet? Or is it #TooSoon?
Two teens who have nothing in common work together at a record store in All Our Worst Ideas, a powerful and voice-driven YA novel from Vicky Skinner.
When Amy, on her way to becoming valedictorian of her graduating class and getting accepted to her dream school, gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, she takes a job at a record store to ease the pain. She needs a distraction, badly.
Oliver, Amy’s record store co-worker, isn’t so sure about Amy—his complete opposite—but what he is sure of is his decision not to go to college. He just can’t figure out how to tell his mother.
As they work late-night shifts at the record store, Amy and Oliver become friends and then confidantes and then something more, but when Amy has a hard time letting go of what she thought was her perfect future with her ex, she risks losing the future she didn’t even know she wanted with Oliver. ~ Goodreads
Source: arc provided by Swoon Reads in exchange for an honest review
Review: Amy is driven to her single minded goal of becoming valedictorian of her class and winning a scholarship to her dream school, Stanford.
Unfortunately, her drive comes at a cost. Her boyfriend feels ignored and dumps her and her arch nemesis and main competition for valedictorian, Petra, is pulling ahead of her. To add to her stress, she needs to get a job because her family has hit a rough financial patch. She decides to apply to Spirits, a local record store even if it proves to be distracting to her studies.
Oliver is in charge of training Amy and is not thrilled about it. She’s uptight, smart & driven – things that Oliver can’t relate to. He’s taking a gap year while telling his mom that he’s applying to colleges but isn’t sure if that’s the right path for him.
Oliver’s mom is dead set on him going to college to avoid the fate of his alcoholic father – a man that Oliver is still taking care of and picking up after. On the flip side, Amy’s mom wants her to aim lower, thinking she might not be able to get into Stanford. This hurts Amy terribly.
Amy & Oliver’s growing friendship, the record store, the playlist (& the entire awesome crew there) were a lot of fun but that was tempered by the very real issues both had to confront.
I really loved watching them break down each others walls – Oliver is SO grumpy at first lol and Amy so hyper focused on school and winning her ex back – but more importantly, how they stand up for each other when it counts.
There are definitely mistakes and drama going on but they were both such good kids struggling to do the right thing that it didn’t bother me.
One thing that sort of set off my red flag warnings is how much Oliver relied on Amy to make his life worthwhile. That’s never healthy in a relationship but it was, thankfully, addressed.
And added points for making Petra more than Amy’s cliché nemesis!
The epic debut YA fantasy from an incredible new talent--perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi and Sabaa Tahir
Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you've sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as the Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince's Council of Eleven. If she's picked, she'll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But the Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won't stand by and become someone's pawn--but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?
With extraordinary world-building and breathtaking prose, Raybearer is the story of loyalty, fate, and the lengths we're willing to go for the ones we love. ~ Goodreads
Source: audiobook copy received from libro.fm & the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Review: If you have followed the blog for any length of time, you’ll know that fantasy has always been a genre I struggle with. I’m not sure if it’s because I listened to Raybearer on audio or because it so heavily character driven, but this book was a winner for me.
Tarisai was born of magic and raised in isolation with caregivers who were instructed to train her to be the best. Once ready, she is to be sent to the empire of Aristar to be selected to join the Crown Prince’s Council of Eleven and kill him. Dun…dun…dun…
Tarisai only vaguely gives thought to the killing part, instead focused on her training and earning a small crumb of affection from her mother – the Lady – who rarely visits, never calls her by her given name (instead calling her “Made of Mine”), and often finds Tarisai's training lacking and a huge disappointment.
When it’s finally time for Tarisai to leave, she is determined to win a spot on the council and get close enough to kill the Crown Prince Dayo.
Instead she finds herself bonded to the council members by something called the Ray and truly cares for Dayo as they grow over their years together at the palace. There are time jumps (she arrives in Aristar at 11years old I believe?) so you get to see how she goes from longing for love from the Lady to forming a real bond and friendships with the council and Dayo who she is sworn to protect now.
But fate and the Lady’s third wish (for Tarisai to kill Dayo) still need to be fulfilled and Tarisai is torn between her (platonic) love for and desire to kill Dayo.
I don’t want to go into too much detail because of spoilers but Raybearer is rich in character development, magic and complicated choices/relationships. The friendships are wonderful and sometimes fraught with tension.
On the surface, this is a traditional – chosen teens from various areas join to try to overthrow the adults kind of deal. But Ifueko has interwoven a beautiful tale rich in culture, fate, found family, and triumphing over and changing destiny. The council originally goes into their duty without question – considering it an honor. Over time though, they begin to see the stories they have been told aren’t necessarily the whole story and begin questioning things and have to decide what and to who their true duty is to.
This is not an action packed story. Things do happen but I found it to be more about the journey than non stop action. Personally, I loved that. I’m a big fan of exploring ethics and morality and Raybearer tackles so much of that, especially colonialism, erasing history and customs in the name of unifying and peace. It also explores patriarchy, trauma, gaslighting, and there is one ace character.
The side characters are so special and important to the story and Tarisai’s growth. The villains are properly villainess. There’s a touch of romance – probably not who you’re thinking if you go by the summary and it was very sweet and low key.
As with most fantasy/dystopian stories, there tend to be lulls and most of the big reveals and action is packed into the last third but there’s an interesting set up for future books.
I absolutely ADORED this one on audio. Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt actually gave me chills when she voiced the Lady with a soft almost cat about to kill the canary like purr - Daugh-ter…me of mine – creeptastic! And I can still here Dayo saying to Tarisai – Do you love me now? and her renditions of the songs relating the history of the various lands and cultures. Her voice for Tarisai was pitch perfect - she conveyed the sadness, fierceness and wonder perfectly.
As I said, I’m not a big fantasy reader, so I’m not sure how it compares or holds up to other fantasy but I really enjoyed this one and especially the characters, who are still in my thoughts a week later.
Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six: The band's album Aurora came to define the rock 'n' roll era of the late seventies, and an entire generation of girls wanted to grow up to be Daisy. But no one knows the reason behind the group's split on the night of their final concert at Chicago Stadium on July 12, 1979 . . . until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock 'n' roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice. ~ Goodreads
Source: Library | Audiobook (I HIGHLY recommend this on audio)
Review: First of all – it’s a blogging miracle - A REVIEW!!! lol
This book was SO hyped so I had been avoiding it. But, honestly, I didn’t know much about it. I knew it was about a band but I thought Daisy was murdered and it was a thriller lol I just kept hearing that I MUST listen to this on audio and I was looking for my next audiobook and put it on hold at my library.
Daisy Jones & the Six is NOT a thriller – Daisy isn’t dead but if you were a fan of VH1’s Behind the Music docuseries or 70’s rock bands this might be the book for you. The story of the rise and fall of the band is told documentary style through interviews with the band members and those surrounding them (spouses, photographers, managers, etc.).
I wasn’t sure I could get past that this wasn’t a real band and that these weren’t real people. I also imagine the documentary style format comes off very dry in print – hence the audio recommendation. This is a full production with a full cast so it truly feels like a documentary and I quickly fell down the rabbit hole and was hooked. It’s rare for me to forget I’m reading these days and to get totally lost in the book and wonder with baited breath what’s going to happen next. But I did with Daisy Jones & the Six.
The story is exactly what you expect. Two brothers round out their band with new members and try to make it big. They're plodding along until lightening strikes with the addition of Daisy and her connection to lead singer Billy. It’s a cliché but they butt heads and then make beautiful music together. The band has a meteoric rise which always comes with the fall. Love, sex, drugs, rock & roll – this story hits all the notes & I won’t say too much more because of spoilers.
What makes this book stand out from your typical rock & roll tale is the agency it gives the women. In any other story, gorgeous Daisy would enter the story – every guy would want to fuck her, she would be taken advantage of, abused, spiral and be the catalyst for Billy’s story.
These things are true but Daisy isn’t anyone’s manic pixie dream girl…
Daisy
“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else's muse. I am not a muse. I am the somebody. End of fucking story.”
She learns early on what the industry can do to woman and asks – no – demands – what she deserves before joining the band. Daisy is many things – beautiful, talented, self absorbed, a drug addict but she’s no pushover.
Nor is Karen, a band member having an affair with Billy’s brother and fellow band member Graham (voiced by Benjamin Bratt). She doesn’t want to follow the traditional path for women of those times and a lot of great heartbreaking and female bonding moments come from that conflict.
The rest of the band isn't nearly as interesting but the dynamics and resentments still are. This is Billy and Daisy's world - everyone else just lives in it. Their opinion only seems to matter if Billy or Daisy need them on their side. Otherwise both Billy and Daisy are pretty clueless and not so great band mates.
Billy and his wife Camilla were the most intriguing to me. They’re marriage is both rock solid and as fragile as glass. Camilla is understanding of what it means to be married to a rock star and recovered addict. Billy is always trying to be the man Camilla sees him as while being constantly pulled into Daisy’s orbit and on the edge of relapse while on the road.
Camilla makes so many interesting choices. I’m not sure I could have made the same ones or that I always agreed with her, but it takes a mature woman to understand her own worth, lay down her rules and then…trust in them, trust in Billy. She was pragmatic, empathetic and maybe a tad unrealistic as a character but it’s something not often seen of women in literature and something to aspire to.
Love them or hate them - the characters of Daisy Jones & the Six made their choices and were willing to live with the consequences.
This is getting long and rambly – which is why I hate writing reviews for books I really enjoy – so I’ll just wrap this up.
The book is not without flaws. Some pov’s are more interesting than others, there are lulls, and there are often abrupt shifts in pov just to add one or two lines of information that felt off, it is a cliché story you’ve probably heard a thousand times but the audiobook and the way the characters can’t be pigeonholed really elevated this for me. Even if you don't like audiobooks - give it a try. It's more like listening to a podcast.
While reading this all I could think of was Fleetwood Mac & that bands tumultuous history, so I googled it and the book was inspired by the band and one particular moment which you can read about in this article by Jenkins on Hello Sunshine. I remember that moment between Stevie and Lindsey that Jenkins is talking about and the obvious chemistry they have whenever they played Landslide together.
I also have a few spoiler thoughts for those of you that read the book – if you reply back make sure to add a SPOILER tag in the comments or DM me on twitter/instagram/email.
SPOILER –>What did you think of Camilla’s choice to stand by Billy even though he was in love with Daisy? I felt like she was more of his anchor to sobriety than the love of his life but – I can’t discount how important that is in a long term relationship. She believed in him and, for the most part, he lived up to that for her. At the point she realized his feelings for Daisy they had 3 kids and a family to protect. And it seems like maybe she had a one day fling??
Daisy was, by her own admission, selfish back then. And didn’t care if she wrecked their marriage – and I think Daisy and Billy would have went down in flames pretty quickly with that level of passion and probably drugs/alcohol. I think they were closer in temperament but that’s not necessarily love – or the kind that lasts anyway.
Do you think they can make it now that they’re so much older and learned to love themselves (mainly Daisy) or would they just be good friends?<- END SPOLIER
Have you read this book? Do you love music bio's. Dating myself - did you watch Behind the Music on VH1? Does VH1 still exist?? lol
Welcome to the random ramblings of a reader, armature baker, & inflexible yogi. I'm a lover of good food, TV, music & all things nature. My favorite thing is being a dog mom to @Ripley_kai_yay
