Love is a War Song by Danica Nava Singer sensation Avery Fox is on the verge of being cancelled after an inappropriate cover photo hits the stands. So that she can lay low for a bit, Avery is sent to live with on her Muscogee grandmother's ranch. There she meets Lucas, who makes no secret of his dislike for her. Avery is determined to prove herself to everyone - Lucas especially. But how can they start something that's inevitably doomed?
Ahh. This was exactly what I was hoping for from Nava. Her previous book wasn't quite as polished, but this one hits it out of the park. I loved it. But this was never in doubt when the plot involved a city girl having to prove her worth on a farm. I'm such a sucker for these kinds of stories. The only issue is that Avery's "voice" is much younger than her apparent age. She reads as a YA heroine and so it was jarring when it was revealed that she was a Millennial. This aspect was, unfortunately, unconvincing for me.
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The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava Ember is struggling to find a job and discovers that a little lying can go a long way - she embellishes her education and ticks the box for Caucasian instead of Native American, a scheme that quickly scores her a job. Unfortunately, the lies start stacking up. Now Ember's new success is in danger of imploding... and so is the burgeoning relationship with Danuwoa, the hot IT guy.
There's a lot to like about this novel. But it's hard to focus on that when the main character is so unlikeable. I know heroines in these books need to make mistakes for Plot Reasons, but Ember's mistreatment of the hero and chronic lying really grated on me (and it made me anxious during much of the book!). Nava's writing is not yet polished (most debuts tend to have this issue) but shows a lot of promise. I'll be checking out her next book. Happily Never After by Lynn Painter When Sophie met Max, it was just after he'd been hired to object at her wedding. He got her out of a particularly sticky situation. She never expected to see him again, but now he needs her help with objecting at other weddings. Sophie, who doesn't believe in love, agrees. There's no chance of her catching feelings for Max, no way, no matter how electric their chemistry is...!
This was a fun one. The premise was great and I enjoyed Sophie and Max's banter, which felt genuine - and happily, there were many, many, many pages of it (although I'm sure other readers may not like this as much as I did lol). However, there were aspects of this book that needed to be fleshed out more (mostly? the other characters and their jobs). It really should have been longer. Still fun, though. Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong Daphne McFadden wrote a novel and didn't get anywhere with submissions... until she invented a male writer named Zane Remington and slapped his name on her query. Suddenly, her book is being published to much fanfare - except now she needs a Zane. She hires Chris Ainsworth to act the part. He immediately riles her up, but that's just his facade... and she might like what's underneath it.
A romcom that's also a witty criticism of the publishing industry? Heck yeah, count me in! And as a nice surprise, it's written by Kelley Armstrong, who is better known for her PNR titles. I did find it a little hard to get into at the start, but Chris and Daphne both won me over. This book is flirty, fun and funny - so basically, it's a great holiday read. I hope Armstrong returns to this genre. Not Like the Movies (Waiting for Tom Hanks #2) |
AboutAlyce Caswell, when she isn't drinking her way through a giant pot of tea, can be found dabbling in multiple genres and writing forms. She has self-published several titles in her space opera family saga, which is divided into two series: The Galactic Pantheon and The Pantheon War. Her most recent book is The Shadow of the Gods. 
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