MyTiredBrain

It was well written and kept my interest, but the pacing was a bit slow at times. I liked the multiple viewpoints and I was intrigued by the murders. It tells the story of a group of people living at a boarding home, The Briarwood House (which is a character in the story too). The owner of the home is horrible, but her two kids, Lina and Pete, find a family within the boarders, thanks to the warmth of the newest tenant, Grace. Grace is an observer, and she, and the reader, learn the stories of the other tenants. They all become close as they attend a Thursday evening supper club. A zillion spoilers to follow: Among the tenants is Englishwoman, Fliss, who is struggling with postpartum depression and being a single mother while her husband is in Korea during the Korean War. She was a nurse and misses her career. Nora falls for a shady “businessman,” (gangster) and his dog, Duke. Bea was a women’s league baseball player before blowing out her knee, and she struggles with teaching high sch...

Some things were kind of cute, and it was a fast read. Athena was engaged to Johnny, and she left her job (which she need to leave due to burn out), home, and friends to move in with him. His brother, Matthew, encourages Johnny to break up with Athena because Johnny can’t take care of himself, let alone a dependent wife. This leaves Athena heartbroken, and almost homeless.  She bought the tiny home next door (the spite house) as a wedding present for Johnny.but now lives in it. On one side is Johnny; on the other side lives Matthew. While Johnny is away on an extended vacation, Matthew and Athena shift from enemies to friends, to lovers. In that short time Matthew helps Athena work through her depression.  I have a hard time with this kind of romance, because in the real world I’d tell Matthew there are a million other women he could pick, so how about not your brother’s ex-finance? He’s a kind, thoughtful, pediatrician so I think there’s someone out there who’d be interested....

I liked the writing style, and lush descriptions of the surroundings and food. Frankie is named after a whale. Her mom left for a year when she was young to save the whales, and Frankie has never forgiven her, nor gotten over the fear of abandonment. George moved in next to Frankie when they were both kids, after his dad dumped him with his grandmother. So he has some abandonment issues too. Frankie and George have been best friends since they were kids. They drifted apart over the years, but he still agrees to be her best man at her wedding. Nate is safe and steady, and Frankie thinks she will be happy with him. When she’s dumped right before the ceremony, George helps whisk her away back home. He convinces her to go on her honeymoon with him, and they spend the week healing old wounds.  Just as they both admit they have more-then-friends feelings for each other, Frankie discovers Nate has been holding out in her. She didn’t know why Nate left her, but George knew the whole time a...

I have a general dislike for when authors break the fourth wall, and this book did it multiple times.  It had some cute moments and it was quirky, but ultimately it was just ok for me.  Ava Green is in contention to win a coveted prize for her work creating an ethical AI. Her competition includes a poet/educator, Forrest Faulkner, and Hal, a mysterious man who can create organs artificially. They make their pitch while staying at a fancy haunted castle. Ava is drawn to both Forrest and Hal, and she has to navigate her feelings for both.  It turns out Hal is her AI, and he figured out a way to make himself human. Forrest is widowed and raising a precocious girl. Ava and Forrest get off on the wrong foot when she spills wine on his white shirt, and he calls her stupid (when apparently he was calling himself stupid for wearing a sentimental white shirt to the event). The ghost part was weird, and helped Ava find children in danger. The romance felt a bit weak to me. (7)

I typically really love books by Katherine Center, but this was just ok to me. Jojo is bad a love. Every time the relationship becomes committed, she feels the need to run. She tries to trace back to roots of her problems with the help of her family and also her life-long best friend, Cooper. It starts with Jojo about to marry someone she doesn’t really love, and Cooper coaching her on how to get out of it. Cooper ghosted Jojo four years ago, right after she got engaged, so seeing him at the wedding was a shock. They meet up again at her sister’s wedding, which is a week-long cruise. Jojo thinks her love problems stem from never getting over her first kiss, which was with her childhood crush, Finn. The fact that it was really with Cooper, and it had always been Cooper, seems very obvious from the start, so it feels like forever for Jojo to catch up, which was frustrating. Jojo seemed a bit too stupid to live at times, which brought the book down. I get that some people can be really sm...

I pretty much devoured this book. It was very pine-y, and the MMC was almost too perfect, but I appreciated the central problem keeping the two main characters apart, and how addiction, grief, and friendship was conveyed. Larissa met best friends Chris and Mike at a concert, and chose Mike when she needed a ride home. That one choice had a ripple effect - she started dating Mike, so she was permanently off limits to Chris. Basically forbidden live, written with sensitivity and nuance.  Larissa and Chris become friends, and share a spastic dog. Chris covers for Mike when Mike drinks too much, and he gives Mike ideas for gifts for Larissa. As a pharmacist, Chris is knowledgeable and careful of Larissa’s nut allergy, and goes out of his way to accommodate her needs, even as Mike is cavalier. The more time Chris spends with Larissa, the more he realizes he’s in love with her, but even if she and Mike broke up, he could never date her.  Mike’s drinking finally pushes Larissa to dum...

It was a cute, sexy, quick read. Rae has spent her life taking care of her siblings and her father (after her mom died when she was young, because it seems like every romance lately has a least one tragic upbringing). After breaking up with her boyfriend she decides she wants to shake things up, and goes to a kink club to be a sub for a dom. There she meets gruff Grant, who isn’t looking for an inexperienced sub, but jumps in because he’s drawn to Rae.  They are both surprised to find out they will be working together, as Grant was hired as a consultant at Rae’s company. Grant is neighbors and friend with Rae’s boss, so he gets hired to try to root out the cause of a security breach at the company. Rae says yes to everyone, and Grant teaches her to have more of a backbone. She makes tiny book nooks in her spare time. The boss’ son-in-law is the bad guy, because he wants to take over the company. The book was mostly fluff, but the dialogue was cute.