Blog Tour – A Court of Books and Brews

Blog Tour | The Kindred Spirits Supper Club

Hello friends! It has been a while since we have posted on our blog and we are really hoping to fix that. Just so much going on lately and life has taken over.

With a hope to get back to regular posting, we are so excited to share with you our thoughts on The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert.

Synopsis:

Jobless and forced home to Wisconsin, journalist Sabrina Monroe can tolerate reunions with frenemies and kisses from old boyfriends, but not the literal ghosts that greet her in this heartwarming tale of the power of love and connection from acclaimed author Amy E. Reichert.

For Sabrina Monroe, moving back home to the Wisconsin Dells–the self-described Waterpark Capital of the World–means returning to the Monroe family curse: the women in her family can see spirits who come to them for help with unfinished business. But Sabrina’s always redirected the needy spirits to her mom, who’s much better suited for the job. The one exception has always been Molly, a bubbly rom-com loving ghost, who stuck by Sabrina’s side all through her lonely childhood.

Her personal life starts looking up when Ray, the new local restaurateur, invites Sabrina to his supper club, where he flirts with her over his famous Brandy Old-Fashioneds. He’s charming and handsome, but Sabrina tells herself she doesn’t have time for romance–she needs to focus on finding a job. Except the longer she’s in the Dells, the harder it is to resist her feelings for Ray. Who can turn down a cute guy with a fondness for rescue dogs and an obsession with perfecting his fried cheese curds recipe?

When the Dells starts to feel like home for the first time and with Ray in her corner, Sabrina begins to realize that she can make a difference and help others wherever she is.

First, we would like to thank Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for providing us with our e-ARCs in exchange for our honest review.

If you know anything about us, you will know that we very rarely read the synopsis before we start a book. Or if we do, we tend to forget it by the time we start reading the book. Such is the case with this story, and let us tell you, not reading the synopsis for this one threw us for quite the loop when ghosts began appearing early on.

Though the ghosts might have thrown us off at the beginning, the paranormal touch in this book is woven in so flawlessly that the ghosts started to become some of our favorite aspects of this book.

Let’s talk about the MC for a second! Sabrina struggles with anxiety and is most definitely an introvert, yet all she really wants is to make people happy with her random acts of kindness and plan/organize all the things (did you know there is a specific way to color code with sticky notes and sharpie pen colors?!). Taking into consideration that she has to deal with seeing ghosts that other people can’t see on a daily basis and a mean girl boss, she is definitely an endearing character.

Are we ready to dive into the romance? OF COURSE, that is what we are here for isn’t it 😛 We couldn’t love Sabrina and Ray’s dynamic more if we tried. Ray was always attentive to Sabrina’s needs and truly accepted her as she was. This is a couple we were rooting for and a relationship that just felt authentic in its progression.

Lastly, what is a book without its supporting cast? This book is no exception! As we stated earlier, the supernatural touch became one of our favorite aspects because these ghosts truly made this story so much more enjoyable. Whether you were reading about Molly, Sabrina’s best friend, or Betty, the ghost that just wants to be left alone, there was never a dull moment when the spirits were around.

All in all, we definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good rom-com with talks of food dishes, a touch of magic, and a few cheesy puns. Be sure to check this one out when it releases on Tuesday!

Book Details:

Title: The Kindred Spirits Supper Club
Author: Amy E. Reichert
Publication Date: April 20, 2021
Genre: Romance, Contemporary

What book are you currently reading? Does this sound like a book you would want to read? Let’s have a chat down below!

As always, thank you so much for stopping by our blog. We appreciate all your support!

Float Plan | Blog Tour

Happy Saturday friends!! We hope everyone is having a great start to their weekend! Down here in the south eastern US we are finally having some spring weather and we could not be more excited!

Another thing we are excited about is our tour stop for Float Plan by Trish Doller. We were so excited to read and review this book and we cannot wait to share our thoughts with ya’ll!

SYNOPSIS

Critically acclaimed author Trish Doller’s unforgettable and romantic adult debut about setting sail, starting over, and finding yourself…

Since the loss of her fiancé, Anna has been shipwrecked by grief—until a reminder goes off about a trip they were supposed to take together. Impulsively, Anna goes to sea in their sailboat, intending to complete the voyage alone.

But after a treacherous night’s sail, she realizes she can’t do it by herself and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help. Much like Anna, Keane is struggling with a very different future than the one he had planned. As romance rises with the tide, they discover that it’s never too late to chart a new course.

In Trish Doller’s unforgettable Float Plan, starting over doesn’t mean letting go of your past, it means making room for your future.

As always, we would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing us with e-ARCS in exchange for our honest review.

First and foremost, we would like to say that this book is not your typical rom com. Right from the beginning the story takes you into the debilitating grief of Anna after her fiancé commits suicide. From there, this story hits the open seas when Anna takes the sailing trip that her fiancé had been planning.

It is clear from the start that she is not prepared to take on the waters by herself. So when she stops in to port, she decides to hire someone to help her finish out her journey to Trinidad. Enter Keane, (swoon) an experienced traveler on the seas to lend a hand!

Where do we start with our thoughts on this book? The characters of this book are just so relatable and at times we could truly feel the grief flowing from Anna like it was our own. This is an emotional story about learning who you are after a tragedy and as a person.

Anna and Keane’s dynamic on board the sail boat also moved at a realistic pace. So many times we are thrown into romances and the main characters fall in love within the very first meeting. Luckily this was not one of those books. More than anything this book brings out a realistic view of grieving in the raw form and learning to love yourself and others after the tumult.

Do not go into this book expecting a fluffy read with hearts and butterflies. This book is romance, but as we have mentioned before in many reviews, the things that draw us to these reads are the deeper issues that make it more realistic. This book touches on mental health in a respectable way and sheds light on the topic of suicide.

If you cannot tell from this review, we 100% recommend this book. What are you waiting for? It is in stores now, so why aren’t you there? 😉

Book Details:
Title: Float Plan
Author: Trish Dollar
Publication Date: March 2, 2021
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Does this sound like something you would like to read? What are other hard hitting contemporary romances you would recommend?

As always, thank you so much for stopping by our blog. We really appreciate all of your support!

Everywhere You Don’t Belong | Blog Tour

Happy Monday lovelies! We would like to welcome you all to our stop on the Everywhere You Don’t Belong paperback release blog tour. We would also like to give a big shout out and thank you to Algonquin YA for providing us with our copies in exchange for an honest review!

Synopsis:

In this alternately witty and heartbreaking debut novel, Gabriel Bump gives us an unforgettable protagonist, Claude McKay Love. Claude isn’t dangerous or brilliant—he’s an average kid coping with abandonment, violence, riots, failed love, and societal pressures as he steers his way past the signposts of youth: childhood friendships, basketball tryouts, first love, first heartbreak, picking a college, moving away from home.

Claude just wants a place where he can fit. As a young black man born on the South Side of Chicago, he is raised by his civil rights–era grandmother, who tries to shape him into a principled actor for change; yet when riots consume his neighborhood, he hesitates to take sides, unwilling to let race define his life. He decides to escape Chicago for another place, to go to college, to find a new identity, to leave the pressure cooker of his hometown behind. But as he discovers, he cannot; there is no safe haven for a young black man in this time and place called America.

Percolating with fierceness and originality, attuned to the ironies inherent in our twenty-first-century landscape, Everywhere You Don’t Belong marks the arrival of a brilliant young talent.

This book is a coming of age story set in South Shore Chicago. And the thing that drew us into wanting to read this book was the fact that it tackled important issues on racial injustices with a slew of diverse characters.

Claude McKay Love was abandoned by his parents at the age of five and spent the rest of his childhood being raised by his activist grandmother, who we were quite fond of, and her friend Paul.

Throughout this book we are on a journey with Claude as he tries to find his footing in this world. While he navigates through high school and on to college and gains an understanding of what it means to be black in America.

While this book is short (under 300 pages) and reads fairly quickly, we felt it was a bit disjointed. There are some parts where we couldn’t figure out the point of it being mentioned. Some characters were introduced, never to be brought up again. So we both wished that was all tied together in a more cohesive manner.

With that being said, this book does not shy away from tackling the issues of race, identity, family, friendship, and love. It is definitely a book that we would recommend to those looking for a good YA coming of age book.

Book Details:
Title: Everywhere You Don’t Belong
Author: Gabriel Bump
Publication Date: Paperback release January 12, 2021
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Coming of Age

Thank you again to Algonquin YA for providing us copies for review! And as always, thank you all for stopping by our blog and supporting us!

Furia | Arc review

Happy Sunday book friends! We are back again with another review and would like to welcome you all to our stop on the Furia blog tour. We also would like to thank Algonquin YA for providing us with our arcs in exchange for an honest review!

Synopsis:

An #ownvoices contemporary YA set in Argentina, about a rising soccer star who must put everything on the line—even her blooming love story—to follow her dreams.

In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.

At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.

On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.

But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.

If you are looking for an #ownvoices novel, with a strong, independent, and fierce female MC, look no further! This book had us cheering on Camilla (a.k.a Furia) the whole way through. She is a young woman who’s only goal in life is to be a professional footballer.

Camilla is the kind of MC we live for in stories like these. Her fierce belief that she, and all women, deserve the same opportunities that the men get is something that made this such a strong story. Furia faced many hardships, obstacles, and living in the shadow of her brother, but would never let that stop her.

While this may be a YA novel, it does not shy away from some serious topics that were done with care and consideration and portrayed what many women experience in a male-dominated country.

Mendez has a way of pulling you into this story and making you feel like you are on the side lines cheering on Furia and her team. The story is one that we would recommend again and again.

As we previously stated, pick this book up if you want to read about an indescribably strong MC, with a story that will break your heart and mend it all at the same time. This book is out in just two days and you will definitely want to pick it up!

Book Details:

Title: Furia
Author: Yamile Saied Méndez
Publication Date: September 15, 2020

Thank you again to Algonquin YA for providing us copies for review! And as always, thank you all for stopping by our blog and supporting us!

The White Coat Diaries | Arc Review

Hello friends! Can you believe we are in September already? This year has been the longest year in the history of time, but here’s to hoping there will be less hiccups following the rest of 2020.

Without further ado, we wanted to welcome you to our stop on the White Coat Diaries’ blog tour. We would also like to take a moment to thank Berkley Publishing for providing an e-arc to Christie and me in exchange for an honest review. Christie and I have been looking forward to this book since we saw it on Netgalley!

Synopsis:

Grey’s Anatomy meets Scrubs in this brilliant debut novel about a young doctor’s struggle to survive residency, love, and life.

Having spent the last twenty-something years with her nose in a textbook, brilliant and driven Norah Kapadia has just landed the medical residency of her dreams. But after a disastrous first day, she’s ready to quit. Disgruntled patients, sleep deprivation, and her duty to be the “perfect Indian daughter” have her questioning her future as a doctor.

Enter chief resident Ethan Cantor. He’s everything Norah aspires to be: respected by the attendings, calm during emergencies, and charismatic with the patients. As he morphs from Norah’s mentor to something more, it seems her luck is finally changing.

When a fatal medical mistake is made, pulling Norah into a cover-up, she must decide how far she’s willing to go to protect the secret. What if “doing no harm” means risking her career and the future for which she’s worked so hard?

To be extremely honest with you guys, we had a really hard time deciding whether or not we would do a review of this book because of recent events involving the author, Madi Sinha. She attacked a POC reviewer on Twitter for stating that she DNF’d this book and that the reviewer was white, fishing for sympathy, and was attacking BIPOC authors. Madi Sinha proceeded by issuing a general apology post and that she was stepping away from social media for a mental break. From our understanding, a personal apology never happened.

We understand Madi Sinha is human, and humans make mistakes. Being a debut author, it is understandable that you want your book to be well-received; however, as an author, we believe you should know that not everyone will like or even read your book. This is a profession that does require you to have a bit more tougher skin than some other professions. That being said, we are disappointed in how she chose to handle a reviewer’s comment. We did choose to continue with this blog tour because Berkley Publisher reached out to us, and the unfortunate event was nothing that they could have predicted.

We saw Grey’s Anatomy meets Scrubs and knew we wanted to read this book. One of the things we really enjoyed was because Madi Sinha is a doctor, the language and emotions in the book felt very authentic.

Where do we really begin with this book? It was truly a pleasure to follow Norah Kapadia’s journey through being a young doctor in her internship at a very prestigious hospital, as well as, navigating complex family dynamics.

In this story, the author makes you understand the trials and hardships that happen every day for doctors and nurses in fast paced settings. You feel as if you are on the front lines with them and more than once we found ourselves a little nervous as to what the outcomes would be.

One thing that stood out was just how relatable of a main character Dr. Kapadia was. She was a flawed character, just like the rest of us, learning as she goes and making poor choices and many mistakes. It was a breath of fresh air reading a book that reminds us all that we are human and life is about learning from those mistakes.

Setting aside our thoughts on how the author handled herself, this book really was a solid read and one that we would definitely recommend! From there, it is for you decide if you pick it up or not.

Title: The White Coat Diaries
Author: Madi Sinha
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Adult
Publication Date: September 15, 2020

Thank you again to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing us the opportunity to read and review this book! And as always, thank you all so much for stopping by and supporting our blog!

Impersonation| Blog Tour

We are so excited to bring you another blog tour! Thank you so much to Algonquin for our copies in exchange for our honest review!

This review and blog highlight is for Impersonation by Heidi Pitlor

Synopsis:

Allie Lang is a professional ghostwriter and a perpetually broke single mother to a young boy. Years of navigating her own and America’s cultural definitions of motherhood have left her a lapsed idealist. Lana Breban is a powerhouse lawyer, economist, and advocate for women’s rights with designs on elected office. She also has a son. Lana and her staff have decided she needs help softening her public image and that a memoir about her life as a mother will help.

When Allie lands the job as Lana’s ghostwriter, it seems as if things will finally go Allie’s way. At last, she thinks, there will be enough money not just to pay her bills but to actually buy a house. After years of working as a ghostwriter for other celebrities, Allie believes she knows the drill: she has learned how to inhabit the lives of others and tell their stories better than they can.

But this time, everything becomes more complicated. Allie’s childcare arrangements unravel; she falls behind on her rent; her subject, Lana, is better at critiquing than actually providing material; and Allie’s boyfriend decides to go on a road trip toward self-discovery. But as a writer for hire, Allie has gotten too used to being accommodating. At what point will she speak up for all that she deserves?

A satirical, incisive snapshot of how so many of us now live, Impersonation tells a timely, insightful, and bitingly funny story of ambition, motherhood, and class.

This book takes place starting back in 2016 shortly before the presidential election. The story is told from Allie Lang’s POV as she navigates between being a ghostwriter, landscaping on the side for more income, and raising her son as a single mom.

Allie is given an assignment of writing a feminist memoir for Lana Breban. As she works with Lana, she becomes increasingly frustrated with how little information Lana has provided on her journey of pregnancy and motherhood.

We felt that this book brought forth some important issues that also were excellently tied back to the 2016 election and the roller coaster of emotions that came from it.

The writing in this book was well thought out and beautifully written. However, at times it would have been interesting to hear from a different POV to get a well rounded story. For example, perhaps throwing in a few chapters to get the perspective of Lana Breban. Without that perspective it felt like parts of the plot were a bit slower.

Overall, this is a book that we would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about politics and motherhood. It was really incredible to see a book that tackled such hard topics in a book that was under 350 pages.

Book Details:

Title: Impersonation
Author: Heidi Pitlor
Publication Date: August 18, 2020

Thank you again to the publisher for providing us copies for review! And as always, thank you all so much for stopping by our blog, we really do appreciate you!

Hieroglyphics | Blog Tour

We are back with another blog tour and we could not thank Algonquin enough for our copies in exchange for our honest review!

This review and blog highlight is for Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle!

Synopsis:

Lil and Frank married young, launched into courtship when they bonded over how they both—suddenly, tragically—lost a parent when they were children. Over time, their marriage grew and strengthened, with each still wishing for so much more understanding of the parents they’d lost prematurely.

Now, after many years in Boston, they have retired in North Carolina. There, Lil, determined to leave a history for their children, sifts through letters and notes and diary entries—perhaps revealing more secrets than Frank wants their children to know. Meanwhile, Frank has become obsessed with what might have been left behind at the house he lived in as a boy on the outskirts of town, where a young single mother, Shelley, is just trying to raise her son with some sense of normalcy. Frank’s repeated visits to Shelley’s house begin to trigger memories of her own family, memories that she’d rather forget. Because, after all, not all parents are ones you wish to remember.

Hieroglyphics reveals the difficulty of ever really knowing the intentions and dreams and secrets of the people who raised you. In her deeply layered and masterful novel, Jill McCorkle deconstructs and reconstructs what it means to be a father or a mother, and what it means to be a child piecing together the world all around us, a child learning to make sense of the hieroglyphics of history and memory.

This book takes place across many decades as we follow Lil and Frank, a married couple that share a tragedy of both losing a parent who died too soon. It follows their journey from being young and having kids, living in Massachusetts, to decades later when they move down to North Carolina.

This story weaves together a tale of family, from the perspective of child and parent as they learn to navigate through relationships and heartbreak.

The writing in this book was quite beautiful and at times you could feel completely immersed into the heartbreak of losing a parent.

While the writing was something that brought this story to life, it also felt that the plot line got a bit repetitive. This sometimes made for a slow building story, as you felt like you were just revisiting the same things over and over.

As we have mentioned many times, we absolutely love books that are written with dual or multiple POVs to provide a deeper look into other character’s perspectives. So it will come as no shock that one of the things that we enjoyed about this book, is that it is told from 4 POVs. We get to follow both Lil and Frank on their journeys, as well as, a single mother Shelley and her son, Harvey who happen to live in the house that Frank grew up in.

All in all, this was a well written story that provides a look into family, relationships, heartbreak, and the legacy people would like to leave behind for their family and loved ones.

Book Details:

Title: Hieroglyphics
Author: Jill McCorkle
Publication Date: July 28, 2020 (TODAY!!)

Thanks again to the publisher for providing us copies for review. And as always, thank you so much for stopping by our blog, we really appreciate you all!

In The Neighborhood of True | Blog Tour Review

We are so excited to be taking part in our very first blog tour! Today is the paperback release of In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton and we are happy to provide our thoughts on this story!

A powerful story of love, identity, and the price of fitting in or speaking out.

“The story may be set in the past, but it couldn’t be a more timely reminder that true courage comes not from fitting in, but from purposefully standing out . . . and that to find out who you really are, you have to first figure out what you’re not.” —Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things

After her father’s death, Ruth Robb and her family transplant themselves in the summer of 1958 from New York City to Atlanta—the land of debutantes, sweet tea, and the Ku Klux Klan. In her new hometown, Ruth quickly figures out she can be Jewish or she can be popular, but she can’t be both. Eager to fit in with the blond girls in the “pastel posse,” Ruth decides to hide her religion. Before she knows it, she is falling for the handsome and charming Davis and sipping Cokes with him and his friends at the all-white, all-Christian Club.

Does it matter that Ruth’s mother makes her attend services at the local synagogue every week? Not as long as nobody outside her family knows the truth. At temple Ruth meets Max, who is serious and intense about the fight for social justice, and now she is caught between two worlds, two religions, and two boys. But when a violent hate crime brings the different parts of Ruth’s life into sharp conflict, she will have to choose between all she’s come to love about her new life and standing up for what she believes.

Book Details:

First things first, we want to say thank you to Algonquin Young Readers for our copies in exchange for our honest review! The paperback release for this book is TODAY!

This book takes place during the 1950s in and around Atlanta, GA. To say racism was prevalent would be an understatement. The Klan was in full force during this time period and brought forth a very divided community.

Ruth (who is Jewish), with her mother and younger sister have recently moved to Atlanta from NYC after the unexpected passing of her father.

Ruth’s mother was born and raised in the debutante society of Atlanta, where who you know, how much of a Christian you are, and what crowns you obtain justify your place in society. Ruth wants so badly to fit into this new society she has been thrust into, thanks to the friends she has made, as well as, having a grandmother that craves those things for her.

This story is one of Ruth trying to find her way in a place that does not welcome people being different than a white, God fearing Christian. She struggles with her identity of being Jewish, while also wanting to fit in.

This book tackles many important issues, that are still clearly and sadly prevalent in today society. It started out a bit slow, but once it grabs your attention and you can grasp the true importance of this novel, we think it brings forth many discussions that still need to be had.

The story is told from the perspective of Ruth, who is 16, but sometimes felt like it read like someone much younger than that. While this didn’t detract too much from the story, it did read a little less like a YA and at times more of a middle grade.

Overall, this book tackled the hard issues of identity and accountability, and Ruth as a character finding herself and telling her truth during this difficult time was extremely powerful.

Book Details:

Title: In the Neighborhood of True
Author: Susan Kaplan Carlton
Paperback Release Date: July 7, 2020

Thank you so much again to the publisher for providing us the opportunity to read this timely novel. And as always, thank you for stopping by our blog and supporting us, we truly appreciate it!