Jersey Girl Book Reviews: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Showing posts with label Sourcebooks Casablanca. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore (Book Review)

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Format: Paperback - 353 pages

Kindle - 3065 KB

Audiobook - 11 Hours 7 Minutes

Nook - 2 MB

ISBN: 978-1728256214
ASIN (Kindle): B0B4BQXYNR

ASIN (Audiobook): B0BTB55X75
BNID: 978-1728256238

Genre: Women's Fiction

Buy The Book:

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Audible Audiobook

Barnes & Noble

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Disclaimer: I purchased a copy of the book from Authentic Books.

Book Description:

A young librarian and an old curmudgeon forge the unlikeliest of friendships in this charming, feel-good novel about one misfit book club and the lives (and loves) it changed along the way.

Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely...but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane's day that when Arthur doesn't show up one morning, she's instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.

Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden...and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur's gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart—and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.

Books have a way of bringing even the loneliest of souls together...

My Book Review:

In The Lonely Hearts Book Club, author Lucy Gilmore transports the reader to the lakeside town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to follow a group of misfits who unexpectedly come together and start a book club that ultimately helps them form a bond of friendship.

Librarian Sloane Parker looks forward to her daily banter with crotchety Arthur McLachlan. But after several days of noticing that Arthur hasn't been to the library, Sloane goes against library policy and goes to Arthur's house and finds him in poor health. Sloane's thoughtfulness gets her fired from the library, but what she finds is a group of people who come together to assist Arthur while forming a book club. As they learn that each is dealing with their own individual personal issues, a bond of friendship and support grows among them, and they rediscover themselves, and learn the true meaning of love, friendship, family and moving forward with their lives.

In The Lonely Hearts Book Club, author Lucy Gilmore easily captivates her readers' attention with this beautifully written tale through a seamless and flowing storyline told in the alternating first person narrative from a cast of quirky characters who draw you into their lives with a strong emotional pull, along with their complexities, flaws, fears, heartaches, heartbreaks, longheld secrets, and the love of books. The story has a great mixture of humor and compassion that will engage the reader to follow along as the friends' story unfolds.

The Lonely Hearts Book Club is a heartwarming story that engages the reader to follow along as an unlikely group of misfits form a bond of friendship as they discover that life is full of humor, heartache, family, friendship, books, and second chances.

RATING: 5 STARS

About The Author

Lucy Gilmore is a celebrated novelist in a wide range of genres, including literary fiction, contemporary romance, and cozy mystery. She began her reading (and writing) career as an English literature major and ended as a book lover without all those pesky academic papers attached. She lives in Spokane, WA with her family.

Monday, January 9, 2023

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish (Book Review)

Book Review

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Publication Date: September 6, 2022

Format: Paperback - 432 pages

Audiobook - 12 Hours 22 Minutes

Kindle - 3475 KB

Nook - 2 MB

ISBN: 978-1728256276
ASIN (Audiobook): B0B137N7CP

ASIN (Kindle): B09NCMPZHM

BNID: 978-1728256290

Genre: LBGTQ Holiday Romantic Comedy

Buy The Book:

Amazon

Audiobook

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

Disclaimer: I purchased a copy of the book from my monthly subscription to The Ripped Bodice Book Box.

Book Description:

For fans of Alexandria Bellefleur and Alexis Hall comes a charming, hilarious, and heartwarming LGBTQIA+ romcom about two separate couples finding love over the holidays from acclaimed author Roan Parrish!

Greta Russakoff loves her tight-knit family and tiny Maine hometown, even if they don't always understand what it's like to be a lesbian living in such a small world. She desperately needs space to figure out who she is.

Truman Belvedere has just had his heart crushed into a million pieces when he learned that his boyfriend of almost a year has a secret life that includes a husband and a daughter. Reeling from this discovery, all he wants is a place to lick his wounds far, far away from New Orleans.

Enter Greta and Truman's mutual friend, Ramona, who facilitates a month-long house swap. Over the winter holidays, each of them will have a chance to try on a new life...and maybe fall in love with the perfect partner of their dreams. But all holidays must come to an end, and eventually Greta and Truman will have to decide whether the love they each found so far from home is worth fighting for.

Book Excerpt: https://a.co/4LQJzwV

My Book Review:

In The Holiday Trap, author Roan Parrish weaves an entertaining LGBTQ holiday romantic comedy tale that follows the self-defining journeys of two people who swap houses for the month of December.

Greta Russakoff lives in Owl Island, Maine, and works for her family owned real estate business. Greta feels that her family doesn't understand her LGBTQ lifestyle, and after her older sister Sadie and mom Nell volunteer her for the annual charity auction for a dinner date at the hometown holiday fair, she is so upset and wants to leave town.

Truman Belvedere is an accountant who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. Truman finds out that he is in a secret relationship with his boyfriend Guy, when he stops unannounced at Guy's house to drop off his Christmas gift, only to find that Guy has a husband and an eight year old daughter! Truman is so upset that Guy had a secret family that he wants to leave town.

Greta and Truman's mutual friend Ramona suggest that they swap houses for the month. What ensues over the month of December is a parallel journey of self-discovery, and the chance to make lifestyle choices for both Greta and Truman that will ultimately change their lives.

Author Roan Parrish weaves a sassy tale full of humor and drama that easily draws the reader into Greta and Truman's story as they swap houses for a month, which leads them to discovering a chance to choose to live the life that they want. Along the way, they deal with the challenges in their lives, discover their true passion for the type of work that has in the past been only hobbies, meet supportive new friends, make lifestyle choices and decisions, and a chance at finding love.

The Holiday Trap is the first LGBTQ holiday romantic comedy that I read during the holiday season, and while it is not a usual genre that I read, I did enjoy the story, but I wasn't used to the queer trope or the explicit sex scenes that are usually not included in a generic rom-com story. That being said, I couldn't help but follow along as Greta and Truman's house swap gave them time for self-discovery, and a chance at romance, throughout an angsty and emotional roller coaster ride of a holiday month.

RATING: 4 STARS

About The Author

Roan Parrish lives in Philadelphia, where she is gradually attempting to write love stories in every genre.

When not writing, she can usually be found cutting her friends’ hair, meandering through whatever city she’s in while listening to torch songs and melodic death metal, or cooking overly elaborate meals. She loves bonfires, winter beaches, minor chord harmonies, and self-tattooing. One time she may or may not have baked a six-layer chocolate cake and then thrown it out the window in a fit of pique.