Susan’s Book Blog

  So This is Christmas   by Jenny Holiday Pub date 10/4/2022   Avon/ Harper Collins 🏔 3.5 stars out of 5 🏔 ✨ 🏰 👑 🎿🛷❄️🎄🎅🏻✨ Matteo Benz has spent his life serving at the pleasure of the Eldovian crown. His work is his life and his life, well…he doesn’t have much of one. When he is tasked to aid a management consultant who has been flown in to help straighten out the king’s affairs, he is instantly disturbed by her brash American manner—as well by an inconvenient attraction to the brainy beauty. Cara Delaney is in Eldovia to help clean up the king’s financial affairs, but soon finds herself at odds with the very proper Mr. Benz. As intrigued by his good looks as she is annoyed by his dedication to tradition for its own sake, she slowly begins to see the real man behind the royal throne. As they work together to return Eldovia to its former glory during the country’s magical Christmas season, Matteo discovers he is falling hopelessly in love with the unconventional A...

  Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade Pub date: Nov 15, 2022 🇸🇪 4.5 stars out of 5 🇸🇪  This one starts out with a bang. (Insert juvenile snickering.) In the very first scene, Peter and Maria are indulging in what she thinks is going to be a one-night stand and what he’s hoping could turn into more. But she takes off before he wakes up. The next day they unexpectedly meet up again when they arrive at their auditions for the TV show Gods of the Gates. And of course they’re both cast for the roles they auditioned for. Roles that will require them to play opposite one another. As a couple. On an island. For a role on a show that’s guaranteed to run for several years. YIKES. That’s awkward. The way this plays out wasn’t at all what I’d expected. The story is told mostly chronologically but with some jumps backward here and there. The six years Peter and Maria spend working together on the show just breeze by in the first 30% of the book. It’s only after that the romance really begins. ...

  🏰🏰🏰🏰✨ 4.5 castles out of 5 I loved this, it was so much fun! This was one of those books where I knew it was going to be a favorite even before the first chapter was over. The writing is sharp and the characters are quickly and fully realized. Max and Dani are amazing and I loved their banter and the rapport they have. Dani’s lack of awe for Max’s position had me cracking up. (And Max liked it too which made me like him even more.) A couple of my favorite things from the book: The Dirty Dancing lifts ‘Max Maximus’ & ‘Max Minimus’ “Dukish casual” The MC’s BFFs who are loving and supportive but don’t let them get away with any bullshit This book surprised me because the premise is super Hallmark fairytale Christmas movie, which is not normally my thing, but somehow it felt thoroughly grounded in real life with plenty of depth. I did feel like a subplot involving Max’s brother was left a little… unresolved. But overall it is fun and funny and delightful and adorable and supe...