JayneBook Reviews / C ReviewsHanukkah / holiday novella / Jewish characters / Jewish-faith / New York City / novella / teacher heroine / widowerNo Comments

Benjamin Cohen, widowed father of six-year-old Jessie, is doing his best to hold it together through order and routine. The last thing he needs is his matchmaker mother to set him up with her next door neighbor, no matter how attractive she is. Rachel Schaecter’s dream of becoming a foster ... more >

JayneB Reviews / Book Reviewsdysfunctional family / family relationships / fish-out-of-water / Hillwilla series / older woman / West Virginia / Womens-Fiction3 Comments

Beatrice Desmond, 55, lives on a remote farm nestled in a deep hollow in southern West Virginia. Her troubled past–an alcoholic father, growing up borderline poor, a suicidal husband–along with her loyalty to a deceased friend, drove her to this lonely existence. She soldiers on, accompanied by her wry sense ... more >

JayneBook Reviews / C+ ReviewsContemporary / family relationships / Holiday / Kwanzaa / LGBTQA / m/m / short-storyNo Comments

Coworkers and cubicle mates, Ishmael “Ish” Cutter and Adan Flores might come from different backgrounds but they have a good number of things in common. The biggest one? They each have a secret crush on the other. This holiday season they are both single for the first time in thirteen ... more >

JayneB Reviews / Book ReviewsContemporary / holiday novella / Kwanzaa / LGBTQ fiction / LGBTQA / m/m / short-story5 Comments

Before we get started, let me say that this short story is released by Dreamspinner Press. In lieu of buying it, another (perfectly legal and legitimate) way to read it is by seeing if your local library carries it. If they don’t, then check to see if your library subscribes ... more >

KaetrinB Reviews / Book ReviewsContemporary / hand lettering / New-York9 Comments

Dear Kate Clayborn, I have a feeling I might be a bit of an outlier in this but it took me a little while to get into Love Lettering.  Meg Mackworth, known as “the Planner of Park Slope” hand letters planners and journals for clients. I didn’t even know that ... more >

SiriusA Review Category / A Reviews / A- Reviews / B Reviews / B Reviews Category / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Need A Rec! / Top Ten Listscontemporary m/m romance / dragons / Fantasy / harbor pilot / Hockey Romance / m/m romance / Magic / reporter / vampires / werewolves13 Comments

I thought I had a decent reading year, I don’t usually have a lot of A books and this year was no exception, but I did have several B+ and for me grade between B+ and A may often end up being relative anyway. 1. “The House of the Sundering ... more >

JanineA Reviews / A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Reading Lists / Recommended Reads / Top Ten Lists#metoo / #ownvoices / 1870s / 1920s / 1970s / accountant / Agent/Spies/Undercover / arranged-marriage / Asperger's / audiobook / book editor / California / class differences / Contemporary / custody battle / dragons / enemies to lovers / epistolary / f/f / Fairyland / fake relationship / family / Fantasy / farming / friends-to-lovers / gods / heroine in disguise / high-school / historical romance / Hong Kong based world / illegitimate-child / LGBTQ / Literary fiction / London / look alikes / mafia / magical powers / Malaysia / martial arts / Mexico / nobleman / Northern Ireland / nurse / POC / political intrigue / quest / Reading lists / reformed hero / Regency-based world / romantic-elements / roommates / saga / single dad / streetwise heroine / Time-Travel / Vietnam / waitress / war19 Comments

I was tempted to make a list of my favorites among the 2019-published books I read this year. In the end I decided to focus on my favorite 2019 reads (first time reads; I didn’t include books I had read / reviewed in prior years) without regard to their year ... more >

JayneB- Reviews / Book Reviewsbaker / Brittany / Comic books / Contemporary / estranged family / family relationships / France / graphic novels / Womens-FictionNo Comments

Rose is not a happy young woman; she is closed off and angry and she hates her job. But her life changes drastically when she inherits her father’s bakery in a small town in Brittany. Returning to a place that brought her both joy and grief forces her to confront ... more >

JayneB Reviews / Book Reviews / F ReviewsContemporary / hotelier / Scotland / security / Small-TownNo Comments

It turned out hell was a small town in the Scottish Highlands. Oh, sure, the locals called it Invertary, but Agnes Sinclair knew better—the town even had an old woman everyone called Satan. If that wasn’t a sign she was in hell, she didn’t know what was. All Agnes had ... more >

JayneB Reviews / Book ReviewsChef / holiday novella / novella / Regency / servant romance / shy heroineNo Comments

As the Duchess of Haverford’s companion, Cedrica Grenford is not treated as a poor relation and is encouraged to mingle with Her Grace’s guests. Perhaps among the gentlemen gathered for the duchess’s house party, she will find a suitable husband? Marcel Fournier has only one ambition: to save enough from ... more >