MyTiredBrain

Cherry and Tom’s marriage is over. His star is rising after his webcomic, Thursday, becomes a sensation, resulting in a movie adaptation. The comic includes a character, Baby, who has a striking resemblance to Cherry, including her big hips, stomach, chest, and butt. As Tom spends more time away from home their marriage crumbles to the point where Cherry asks for a divorce.  Now she’s trying to pick up the pieces, and reconnects with an old college crush, Russ. Cherry struggles to navigate dating again while still trying to care for her and Tom’s dog, and still living in the shadow of their life, all while trying to avoid trailers for Tom’s upcoming movie.  At times the book felt slow to me, but I appreciated the unflinching way Rowell writes Cherry’s fatness, and her sister’s use of weight-loss medication. I like how there are hints of Tom’s infidelity. Cherry’s sisters are a bit much but well done. Cherry and Tom work together to pack up his things, and realize they want to ...

This series is cute. Calder prefers one-night-stands. Dakota just got divorced, and she is looking to regain her spark. They have been enemies ever since Calder remodeled her home, and they clashed over everything. She’s his brother’s wife’s best friend, and they are thrown together for his brother’s wedding in Mexico. (Due to some meddling by his niece.) Sparks fly, and when they get back, they decide to be enemies with benefits. She needs to recover her self esteem, and Calder needs to stop being the grunt work guy in the family contracting business. He creates a sex list for them to try to help her feel more comfortable and confident. She encourages him to focus on his furniture building business. (8)

The writing was very strong, but I feel a little conflicted about the story itself. Magic pixie Katie adds glitter and sparkle to everything in part to force herself to see and feel beauty. Her golden-child brother’s life was tragically cut short, and the one person she wants to lean on, the boy next door and her brother’s best friend, Tyler, leaves her in the dust. Her parents seem to have forgotten they had two children, and it was heartbreaking to see her so neglected by their grief.  When Katie and Tyler are forced to work together to ghost write a book for a famous romance author (Meredith), they have to face their pasts and where it all went wrong. They end up staying at the author’s mansion, and all the tropes they weave into the book mirror in real life. The mysterious author has a cat sidekick, and a history tied to Tyler and Katie. Spoiler alert: Tyler’s father was in love with Meredith, but she chickened out and pushed him away, becoming, literally, a ghost of herself. K...

Micah was the lead singer in a successful band as a teenager, until it all fell apart. John and Micah were best friends growing up, and when the band imploded Micah essentially ghosted John. Now they are forced together, along with the three other band members, for a nostalgia cruise.  I like Alicia Thomason’s writing style. It’s told in alternating narratives between Micah and John, which worked for me. At one point Micah is introducing John on stage and he doesn’t hear what she says about him, and the author skillfully adds it later in the book, when Micah reaffirms that John is the heart of the band.  Micah’s previous relationship with another member in the band, Ryder, felt a little shaky and I was happy when he was punched and booted. Micah herself was unlikeable at times, and John was almost too understanding. I read With Love, from Cold World a long time go, so I didn’t remember the characters from the book, but some were John’s roommates. The chemistry was good and it ...

Norah generally prefers to be behind the scenes when it comes to working with her bounty-hunting sisters. She’s more on the computer research and tracking end than fist fights, but she doesn’t want to be the weak link anymore. She starts taking self defense lessons with MMA fighter Dash.  When one of the skips hacks her computer and starts stalking her, Dash and Norah try to find him before he, and others, can hurt Norah. Norah befriends an acquaintance of the skip, named Chloe. She also is almost burned to death when someone sets fire to Dash’s apartment above his gym. The book was a bit fluffy and cavalier, but an ok read. (7)

The third book in the When in Rome series. Emily and Jack have been enemies ever since they met in college. When he got engaged and moved away, Emily should have felt relief, but instead it felt like a piece of her was missing. For a control freak like Emily, it has been disconcerting. So when she discovers Jack broke off the engagement and is moving back, she is ready to give him the cactus treatment to make him stay away.  Jack finds odd pleasure in sparring with Emily, and life without her has felt flat. He buys a house next door to Emily, and their fighting turns into something more. Jack is a secret best-selling author. Emily wrote a romance novel. She drunk sends it to her boss, and Jack helps her delete the email. Jack has a narcissistic father and a too-kind mother, so he struggles to support his mom while dealing with his dad. Emily is struggling with her sisters and brother moving on while she is anxious and stagnated. When her parents died young, Emily was the one who he...

It was cute but not overly memorable. When Lily’s local soccer team decides to move to another town, her family decide to start a new local team. The first few chapters are about her, her father, her sister, and other townsfolk working together to get the team off the ground. One of the players on their new team has a famous soccer player brother, named Ben Pryce. He is currently suspended for an altercation with a fan, so he spends his time cheering on his brother and wooing Lily. The book feels more Ted Lasso and less romance, but Lily and Ben have their moments.  Ben is finally allowed to return to his team, but his publicist insists he be seen dating an up-and-coming actress to help Ben repair his image. This puts a strain on Ben and Lily’s relationship. It also felt very contrived to me. (7.75)