A Reason to See You Again

 

“Family secrets are such a waste of time,” Shelly tells her niece as they search through their mother’s hidden treasures for the good wine. And this family has secrets and trauma that they desperately need to resolve. Beginning with the patriarch, a holocaust survivor’s death, their mother’s alcoholism and the subsequent distance, physical, philosophical and emotional, that grows between Shelly and her sister Nancy, I Came All This Way to See You is a complex novel told in Jami Attenberg’s fascinating, if sometimes difficult to follow style. This family makes misery itself seem like company.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for the review copy. A Reason to See You Again was released September 24, 2024.

A Winter Wish by Emily Stone

 

Emily Stone has established herself as a dependable and creative author of the Christmas rom com, and A winter wish doesn’t disappoint. When Lexie’s estranged father dies and leaves her half of his successful travel agency, with, of course strings attached, she is confused. To benefit from the value of the company, she must attempt to participate in the business for one year. The catch is, her father left the other half of the company to Theo, a young man who has worked in the company shoulder to shoulder to Lexie’s father. He’s smug and angry and grieving in ways Lexie can’t imagine. In fact, she’s grieving the father she knew before he divorced her mother, and those memories complicate both her ability to accept the gift, and Theo, as she learns more of who her father, Theo—and herself—really are.

There are great settings in lovely cities that will not only make you swoon with romance but want to book tickets with the agency! A Winter Wish was released on October 16, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House/Ballantine for the review copy.

Holiday Books! Christmas is All Around

 

As the holidays approach, I like to get in the mood with many of the holiday books, mostly romances, that show up in the late fall. It’s still in the 90s with no hint of “snow” in Houston, so I needed these books!

The first one, Christmas is All Around by Martha Waters is the story of Charlotte Lane, and accomplished artist, who happened to have appeared in a beloved Christmas rom com as a child, and as an adult, hates Christmas. So much so that she runs away from NYC, which she loves, to spend the holidays with her understanding sister in London. Unlike past years, her sister has given birth, and now wants to experience everything Christmas with her infant. And by default, Charlotte.

Graham Calloway, a serious young man trying to save his family’s ancestral home by capitalizing on every possible occasion he can think of to get guests pay for tickets to see it. It happens that the estate was the set for the very same film in which Charlotte appeared. When her sister takes her, unknowingly, to the tree lighting at Graham’s family’s house, the scene is set for a lovely rom com with all the elements. It’s a fun book, sure to be beloved by fans of Christmas and rom coms. The book will be released October 22, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.