Month: September 2024

Hex and Hexability by Kate Johnson

On By TracyIn Other2 Comments

Hex and HexabilityHex and Hexability by Kate Johnson

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: September 12, 2024

Lady Theophania “Tiffany” Worthington has been raised by her much older half-brother and his wife, she can’t even remember her parents, despite the fact that they are both alive. She spent most of her life not truly understanding who she was or why drawings/paintings seemed to come to life around her. She has no desire to marry and wants nothing more than to live a quiet life. But as determined as she is to remain unwed, her sister-in-law is doubly determined to marry her off. Forced to attend a ball, Tiffany is mortified when the chalked floors seem to come to life, and she tries to escape the ballroom unnoticed, this is when she meets Santiago, a man who clearly belongs in the ballroom even less than she does. After a bit of verbal sparring, they part ways, but it is the beginning of big changes in Tiffany’s life when she learns that she is a witch and soon crosses paths with Santiago again, a man she could fall for, but one who has secrets of his own.

Santiago is actually the Duke of St. James, even though he was born in Chile and spent most of his life fending for himself. His father abandoned him and his mother, and his mother left Santiago when he was a young boy to enter a convent. He survived and worked hard, and after years of work, he is a successful merchant with a fleet of ships. He never planned to come to England, but when his grandfather died, his solicitors found Santiago and convinced him to come to England and claim the title and take over the dukedom. He planned to just find someone to run the estate and leave again, but then he met Tiffany and is caught up in the magic of her and some actual magic, making leaving the last thing on his mind. Too bad she doesn’t want to marry, because she would be the perfect bride for a pirate/merchant/duke. Clearly, the road to their HEA is not going to be easy.

I loved the idea of this book, I liked the characters and appreciated that the author took the time to actually learn about the period and used titles correctly but felt that the book moved too slow. The story just dragged for me and while the author acknowledged the proper etiquette and expectations for the period, a lot of it was ignored in favor of giving the story more of a contemporary edge (but at least she didn’t butcher the titles). And while the book promised to be “oh so spicy” and there were hints about the hero’s sexuality at the beginning, they don’t even kiss until well past the three-quarters mark. Overall, this was just another contemporary in period dress, ultra-feminist story with a little bit of romance and a splash of magic. If that is your thing – give this book a try, you will probably enjoy it. For me, it wasn’t bad, but definitely not a book I would read again.
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*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin

On By TracyIn Historical Fiction, Standalone Title, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, World War II Era (1939-1945)Leave a comment

The Booklover's LibraryThe Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin

Tracy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone Title

Release Date: September 10, 2024

Life has never been easy for single mothers and their children, but late summer of 1939 was especially hard for young widow Emma Taylor and her daughter Olivia. With England on the brink of joining WWII, Emma is doing her best to provide for her child, but with her meager savings running low and prices rising, she is beginning to feel desperate. She would willingly work, but with a marriage bar prohibiting married women and widows with children from working most jobs, she is having a hard time finding a job that will enable her to earn a living, but still care for her daughter. Her luck seems to take a turn for the better when she happens to be in the right place at the right time – in this case, the café in Boot’s the Chemist store. She overhears a librarian resigning her position as she is to be married, and she takes the opportunity to ask about a position and is hired to work in the Boot’s Booklover’s Library – a Lending Library. But with war looming, even having a job, might not be enough to keep her daughter safe, decisions will have to be made about Olivia’s future, decisions that no parent wants to make. Keep your child close and potentially in harm’s way or send them away to live with strangers and hopefully away from air raids?

This story is a heartwarming and at times heartbreaking story of not only a woman struggling to keep her tiny family together during the war but rediscovering her own love of books and sharing that love with her daughter and the patrons of the lending library and maybe even finding a happy ending for herself. The story takes place at the start of England’s involvement in the war and gives the reader a glimpse of life in Nottingham during the terror of the blitz, as well as Emma’s volunteer efforts and her relationship with her young daughter, her friends, coworkers and library patrons. In addition to a fantastic story, fans of Ms. Martin’s novel, The Last Bookshop in London, will be delighted when Emma is sent to London and happens upon Primrose Hill Books and meets Grace and Mr. Evans. If you enjoy well-researched, emotional Homefront WWII fiction with relatable characters and literary references, then look no further, you have found your next read!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *