ARC Review: Malibu Rising

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult
Published: Doubleday Canada (May 25, 2021)
Print length: 384 pages
Major spoilers: Yes

Goodreads

Malibu 1983. Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of one night, each of their lives will be changed forever.

Malibu is buzzing with anticipation for Nina Riva’s annual party. Everyone wants to be in the company of the famous Rivas: Nina, the surfer and model; her brothers, Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other his renowned photographer; and Kit, the adored baby of the family. As if that picture-perfect family isn’t enough, their father is Mick Riva, the legendary singer.

By morning, the Riva mansion will have burned to the ground. And no one will know how the fire started. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play and the loves and secret yearnings that shaped this family across generations will all come bubbling to the surface to make for a night no one will ever forget.

ARC Review: The Layover

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Published: G.P. Putnam’s Sons (June 15, 2021)
Print length: 320 pages
Major spoilers: No

Goodreads

After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She’s got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, and she plans to enjoy every second of it. But then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone–the absurdly gorgeous, ridiculously cocky man she’s held a secret grudge against for years–is on her flight. And he has the nerve to flirt with her, as if he doesn’t remember the role he played in the most humiliating night of her life. Good thing she never has to see him again after they land….

But when their plane encounters mechanical problems, what should have been a quick stop at the Belize airport suddenly becomes a weekend layover. Getting stuck on a three-hour flight with her nemesis was bad enough. Being stranded with him at a luxury resort in paradise? Even with the sultry breeze and white sand to distract her, it will take all the rum punch in the country to drown out his larger-than-life presence.

Yet the more time Ava spends with him under the hot Caribbean sun, the more she begins to second-guess everything she thought she knew about him…and everything she thought she wanted from her life. And all too soon, she might have to choose between keeping her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds…

ARC Review: Ten Rules for Faking It

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Published: Griffin (December 29, 2020)
Print length: 384 pages
Major spoilers: No

Goodreads

What happens when your love life becomes the talk of the town?

As birthdays go, this year’s for radio producer Everly Dean hit rock-bottom.

Worse than the “tonsillectomy birthday.” Worse than the birthday her parents decided to split (the first time). But catching your boyfriend cheating on you with his assistant?

Even clichés sting.

But this is Everly’s year! She won’t let her anxiety hold her back. She’ll pitch her podcast idea to her boss.

There’s just one problem.

Her boss, Chris, is very cute. (Of course). Also, he’s extremely distant (which means he hates her, right? Or is that the anxiety talking)? And, Stacey the DJ didn’t mute the mic during Everly’s rant about Simon the Snake (syn: Cheating Ex).

That’s three problems.

Suddenly, people are lining up to date her, Bachelorette-style, fans are voting (Reminder: never leave house again), and her interest in Chris might be a two-way street. It’s a lot for a woman who could gold medal in people-avoidance. She’s going to have to fake it ‘till she makes it to get through all of this.

Perhaps she’ll make a list: The Ten Rules for Faking It.

Because sometimes making the rules can find you happiness when you least expect it.

ARC Review: Good Company

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Genre: Domestic Fiction, Contemporary
Published: Ecco (April 6, 2021)
Print length: 320 pages
Major spoilers: No

Goodreads

Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five.

Flora and Julian struggled for years, scraping together just enough acting work to raise Ruby in Manhattan and keep Julian’s small theater company—Good Company—afloat. A move to Los Angeles brought their first real career successes, a chance to breathe easier, and a reunion with Margot, now a bona fide television star. But has their new life been built on lies? What happened that summer all those years ago? And what happens now?

ARC Review: Strange Deaths of the Last Romantic

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Published: Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev (November 17, 2020)
Print length: 259 pages
Major spoilers: No

Goodreads

Adam is cursed. He cannot die.

But one man’s burden is another man’s blessing, and there are people who are out to harness Adam’s special talents.

However, Adam soon discovers that immortality comes at a cost; every time he dies, he loses a little bit of himself. So when Adam meets Lilyanne—his reason for living—he’s forced to choose between life and love.

ARC Review: All Girls

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Genre: Mystery, Fiction
Published: St. Martin’s Press (February 16, 2021)
Print length: 320 pages
Major spoilers: No

Goodreads

All Girls follows nine young women as they navigate their ambitions and fears at a prestigious New England prep school, all pitched against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced.

But as the months unfold, and the school’s efforts to control the ensuing crisis fall short, these extraordinary girls are forced to discover their voices, and their power. A tender and unflinching portrait of modern adolescence told through the shifting perspectives of an unforgettable cast of female students, All Girls explores what it means to grow up in a place that promises you the world—when the world still isn’t yours for the taking.

You grow to love a place… and then you grow up.

ARC Review: Thank You, Next

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Genre: Romance, Humor
Published: Bookouture (November 30, 2020)
Print length: 316 pages
Major spoilers: No

Goodreads

Twenty-eight-year-old Zoe really doesn’t want to end up being a crazy old cat lady. As a chef, she’s used to sharp knives and getting burned, but she didn’t realise that being single was just as dangerous. There are some dates even an extra-large glass of wine can’t fix.

There was the guy who turned up drunk, face planted on the floor, and smelt like he was 90% tequila. He deserves a special mention because she’s sure she spotted an ankle tag beneath his trousers.

Plus the dullest guy in the universe whose idea of sexy talk was droning on about pensions and ‘prudent financial planning’.

Not to mention the one who didn’t even bother to show, leaving her sitting all alone in a bar, staring into her empty glass and dying a bit inside.

After Zoe says ‘thank you, next’ to every dud, her friend Robbie has an idea. He’s a dating machine and he bets that if she takes his love-life advice, her luck will change. Will there ever be a guy who makes her say, ‘thank you, yes’? Or should Zoe just admit defeat and start stockpiling cats?