Review: Good Joy, Bad Joy

Good Joy, Bad Joy by Mikki Brammer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

”Let us greedily enjoy our friends, because we do not know how long this privilege will be ours.~Seneca the Younger”

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Review: The Midnight Bookshop

The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James My rating: 3 of 5 stars 🌅 A bookshop that only appears when you need it most—what reader could resist that premise? The Midnight Bookshop invites us into the lives of Jo, Adelaide, and Kye, three strangers weighed down by secrets, disappointments, and broken relationships. Each stumbles across a mysterious flyer that leads them to Fay’s bookshop, where the motto is simple but powerful: “You don’t choose the book, the book chooses you.” From there, their paths begin to shift in unexpected ways, suggesting that stories can help us rewrite our own. At its best, this novel is warm, comforting, and steeped in the quiet magic book lovers will immediately recognize. The underlying themes of healing, resilience, and friendship shine through, making this an easy, cozy read for a rainy afternoon or a lazy beach day. That said, the execution didn’t always match the promise of the premise. The multiple points of vi...

Review: Such a Bad Influence: A Novel

Such a Bad Influence: A Novel by Grace Demyan My rating: 4 of 5 stars 🌅Thank you, Grace Demyan, for sending me the advanced reader copy (ARC) of Such a Bad Influence. It is a fantastic debut novel that shows what happens when grief, a blueberry farm, and a troublemaking teen collide. It was an enticing mix of heart, chaos, and small-town drama that, for the most part, kept me turning the pages. At its core, this is Felicity’s story. Still reeling from the loss of her mother, she spends her days running the family farm and leaving voicemails on her mom’s old number. But when that phone number ends up in the hands of Alex, a foster kid recently aged out of the system, Felicity’s solitary routine is disrupted in ways she never expected. A single call for help turns into bail money, an unexpected roommate, and eventually—thanks to Alex’s wild imagination—a side hustle in “revenge consulting.” Toss in Wade, the handsome-but-complicated neighbor wi...

Review: All We Have Is Time: A Novel

All We Have Is Time: A Novel by Amy Tordoff My rating: 4 of 5 stars 🌅 All We Have Is Time by Amy Tordoff is a sweeping, star-crossed romance between Beatrix, an immortal woman cursed never to die, and Oliver, a time traveler who slips through history in twelve-hour bursts. Their paths first crossed in 1605 in London, and from that moment on, their lives intertwined through revolutions, wars, the Apollo 11 liftoff, and beyond. For Beatrix, who has survived the loneliness of eternity, Oliver is a tether; for Oliver, she becomes proof that even borrowed hours can matter. What I loved most was the ambition of this book. The idea of one lover enduring decades before the next meeting while the other only waits a few weeks is hauntingly bittersweet. The scope is vast—covering major historical moments while maintaining a focus on these two fragile, extraordinary lives. The writing often leans lyrical, capturing the ache of love that shouldn’t exist b...

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