The Life & (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly- Jamie Pacton
MacMillan
Release Date: May 5, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Working as a Wench—i.e. waitress—at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a Knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.

Company policy allows only guys to be Knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place, clobbers the Green Knight, and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But this Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other Wenches and cast members join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval—if they don’t get fired first.

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Kit Sweetly is a medieval history buff, a senior in high school, and a Wench at her local Castle (i.e. a server at a medieval themed restaurant).  But she dreams of being a Knight and jousting like her brother, Chris.  It's cool, it's fun, and it's a better paying job, which would help the family pay bills and college tuition, since Kit just got accepted to a dream college.  But company policy is that only men can be Knights and her boss (also her uncle) is a company man.  Kit takes Chris' place in a joust, beats the Green Knight, and then reveals that she's a girl- a stunt that almost gets her fired but also makes her an internet sensation.  Along with her brother, fellow serving Wenches, and other Castle employees, Kit is determined to change the company culture, challenge gender restrictions, and save the day- if they don't get fired first!

I don't normally read books with a YA label, although I couldn't really tell you why.  I just never really branched out that way.  But when Jen DeLuca (Well Met) tweeted that she was Instagram chatting with Jamie Pacton on all things Ren Faire and mentioned the upcoming Life & (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly, I, of course, needed to know more.  After reading the synopsis, I was hooked.  And good news- the book is just as fun as you think it should be.  Kit Sweetly is full of plans, energy, sass, and the desire for more out of life.  Her dad walked out on the family a few years ago, taking his drug and alcohol addiction with him, but also taking all of their money including college funds.  Now her mom works two jobs and her brother Chris works as a Knight in the Castle- a job he got by training with Kit.  Kit wants to be a Knight too and refuses to accept company policy that only men can be Knights when she knows she's just as capable as any guy.  Kit is known for her plans and when she makes a plan to show Corporate that the public wants equality in the Castle her BFF Layla, BFF/crush Jett, and other members of the Castle join in.  It's a quest of friendship, discovery and empowerment, and if someone doesn't make a movie out of this book they should be slapped.

What I really loved in Kit Sweetly was how the emotions pour off the page without Pacton pushing anything too hard.  You empathize with the characters every step of the way.  You feel Kit's shame and determination as the family has to 'make do' when the power company turns off the electricity over the weekend and she doesn't want her friends to know. You want to shake her over her bad habit of putting off anything bad until later, because she doesn't know how to handle it alone. You share her disgust and fear when the trolls start bashing/threatening her cause.  You want to cry for Kit when the inevitable happens and the group finds out they'll be fired if they go through with their plan and those friendships seem to be broken.  And it's hardly a spoiler to say you'll be cheering as they triumph at the end.  

Kit Sweetly is full of sweet moments, medieval trivia bits, and plenty of humor.  Personal identity to Kit comes down to if you're a decent human being, not how you identify, and that if you work hard and stick together, maybe you can change things.  And that's something everyone should huzzah about.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Heiress for Hire

Heiress for Hire (A Duke's Heiress Book 1)- Madeline Hunter
Zebra Books
Release Date: April 28, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis:  Minerva Hepplewhite has learned the hard way how to take care of herself. When an intruder breaks into her home, she doesn’t swoon or simper. Instead she wallops the rogue over the head and ties him up—only to realize he is Chase Radnor, a gentleman and grandson of a lord, and a man who makes it his business to investigate suspicious matters. Now he’s insisting that Minerva has inherited a fortune from his uncle, a wealthy duke. Only one thing could surprise her more: her sudden attraction to this exasperating man . . .

  Chase can’t decide whether Minerva is a wronged woman or a femme fatale. Either way, he’s intrigued. Maddeningly, with her unexpected inheritance, she has set up a discreet detective business to rival Chase’s own. She may be the perfect person to help him uncover the truth about his uncle’s demise. But as proximity gives way to mutual seduction, Chase realizes he craves a much deeper alliance . . .

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Heiress for Hire starts a new series where three unconnected women receive generous legacies from a duke they never met.  It's Chase Radnor's job to find them and get the inheritances started. But Chase, as both a family member and an inquiry agent for the army and Home Office, wants to know who these women are, why they received inheritances, and if they could have murdered the old duke.  Because Chase believes his uncle was murdered- and much better the villain be a stranger than a family member!

Minerva Heppelwhite has been struggling to survive for years- first with an abusive husband, and after his death, as a woman with little money.  The inheritance would allow her to live comfortably and to establish her dream: an investigation business.  And it makes sense to her that her first official investigation be into the possible murder of the man who left her the money to make it all possible.  She and Chase clash from the beginning- he doesn't want her investigating and thinks she might have done it, she has no intention of being blamed for something she didn't do.  Eventually they have to work together and grow closer as a result.

Heiress for Hire is a bit odd because the theoretical point of the book- discovering a murderer- becomes secondary to the characters.  The end result is officially calling it an accident, and the reader is left to assume that the mystery will in fact be solved only by the end of the last book in the series.  But the character development and growth of both Chase and Minerva are satisfying to watch, and the extended Radnor family is both amusing and opportunistically awful enough to mean lots of fun encounters.  Not quite Knives Out in their reactions when they end up without the expected inheritances, but there are moments!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Mosquito Supper Club

Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou- Melissa M. Martin 
Artisan
Release Date: April 14, 2020


Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: For anyone who loves Cajun food or is interested in American cooking or wants to discover a distinct and engaging new female voice—or just wants to make the very best duck gumbo, shrimp jambalaya, she-crab soup, crawfish étouffée, smothered chicken, fried okra, oyster bisque, and sweet potato pie—comes Mosquito Supper Club.
 
Named after her restaurant in New Orleans, chef Melissa M. Martin’s debut cookbook shares her inspired and reverent interpretations of the traditional Cajun recipes she grew up eating on the Louisiana bayou, with a generous helping of stories about her community and its cooking. Every hour, Louisiana loses a football field’s worth of land to the Gulf of Mexico. Too soon, Martin’s hometown of Chauvin will be gone, along with the way of life it sustained. Before it disappears, Martin wants to document and share the recipes, ingredients, and customs of the Cajun people.
 
Illustrated throughout with dazzling color photographs of food and place, the book is divided into chapters by ingredient—from shrimp and oysters to poultry, rice, and sugarcane. Each begins with an essay explaining the ingredient and its context, including traditions like putting up blackberries each February, shrimping every August, and the many ways to make an authentic Cajun gumbo. Martin is a gifted cook who brings a female perspective to a world we’ve only heard about from men. The stories she tells come straight from her own life, and yet in this age of climate change and erasure of local cultures, they feel universal, moving, and urgent.

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Every hour, Louisiana loses a football field's worth of land to the Gold of Mexico.  Soon, the people and culture of South Louisiana, where chef Melissa Martin was born and raised, will disappear.  In Mosquito Supper Club (named after Martin's restaurant in New Orleans) Martin combines traditional Cajun recipes with explanations of ingredients and the traditions behind them.

This book was a delight from start to finish.  A combination of gorgeous photographs, easy to understand recipes, and stories of the people and traditions behind the food, "Mosquito Supper Club" takes 'cookbook' to a whole new level.  From how to properly clean a crab to shucking oysters, from dancing the shrimp to the story behind gumbo, readers will learn the truth behind the Cajun traditional way of life. Melissa Martin gives readers unfamiliar with the land, culture, and people of South Louisiana a perfect introduction to her home and the ways it has both changed and stayed the same over the generations.  She encourages you- as a reader and a cook- to think about your ingredients and where they come from, to question the impact they have on the farmers, and fishermen.  As a novice cook, I greatly appreciated how her recipes sounded like she was standing right there, talking to me about what to look for in a pot- from the color of the onion to the texture of a dough, these descriptions took the guess work out of what to look for and how to tell when something was ready.  As a native of New Orleans, I greatly appreciated her discussions of the impact humans have had on the environment and how that has changed the resources and culture people experience today.  Anyone who glances as just one photograph in this book will be drawn to discover more, and before you know it you'll be both reading and cooking while enjoying a whole new world.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Honey-Don't List

The Honey-Don't List- Christina Lauren
Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Release Date: March 24, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Carey Douglas has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and—more than anyone would suspect—has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.

James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.

Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along—and start playing for keeps—they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…

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Designer Carey Douglas has worked for Melissa and Rusty Tripp for ten years, from a small town shop to HGTV megastardom.  Her ideas are the heart of the show and she gets no credit, she works 24 hour days for Melissa and gets nothing but stress.  She's looking forward to a well earned weeklong vacation as the married couple travel the West Coast to promote their book on how to have a happy marriage.  The problem? The couple can't be near each other without fighting.  Now Carey is stuck on the tour with engineer/assistant James to try and keep the reno world's favorite couple from killing each other, and their brand.

Remember the movie America's Sweethearts? In public, John Cusak and Catherine Zeta-Jones were the world's perfect couple.  In private, they were a disaster and it was up to Julia Roberts and Billie Crystal to keep the fiction going.  Take that idea and blend it with HGTV renovation shows with cute married couples and you have an idea of The Honey-Don't List.  Only worse.  Poor Carey Douglas has been working for the Tripps since she was 16 and pretty much sees them as her second family.  But now Rusty is an alcoholic womanizer who doesn't seem to care if he gets caught and ruins the brand image, and Melissa is a tightly wound, abusive perfectionist.  Carey is loyal despite the insane hours, the constant stress, and the fact that all the ideas and designs are hers and Melissa is taking all the credit.  That's what you do for family, right?  It takes newcomer James McCann to make her confront the situation as it really is- and to look at the changes she might want to make so she can actually have a life. 

James came onto the show as an engineer and was instantly made Rusty's assistant.  Great job if that means working on projects, lousy job when it means picking up his dry-cleaning.  He resents the role and sees it (and Carey) as beneath him- until he's forced by the show's Powers That Be to join the Tripps' road tour and realizes just how much work Carey does as Melissa's assistant. It's the first time the two have really been around each other and they go from not really liking each other to very definitely liking each other.  I enjoyed how their relationship moved very naturally- there was no insta-lust, no I-hate-you-now-love-you. It was two people locked in a stressful situation working together to contain the complete dumpster fire that is their bosses' marriage, and discovering each other, and themselves along the way.  Having worked in stressful jobs with abusive bosses, I have to say that I thought Christina Lauren hit the nail on the head with Carey's conflicted relationship with her job (and Melissa).  At what time do you have to emotionally disconnect from something you built, knowing the situation will never get better?  When do you acknowledge that you owe yourself something before the job and the people doing nothing but taking from you?  James helps Carey allow herself the confidence to stand up for herself, which was both sweet and empowering.  Of course he messes things up too, and there isn't smooth sailing for Carey and James, but where would be the fun in that?

The Honey-Don't List has the humor, wit, and occasional wackiness I've come to look for from Christina Lauren (The UnHoneymooners).  It's a sparkling, fun read and perfect to lift your mood at any time! A must-read! 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Love Hard

Love Hard (Hard Play #3)- Nalini Singh
TKA Distribution
Release Date: March 10, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Jacob Esera, star rugby player and young single father, has worked hard to create a joyous life for his six-year-old daughter. After the death of his childhood sweetheart soon after their daughter’s birth, all Jake wants is safety and stability. No risks. No wild chances. And especially no Juliet Nelisi, former classmate, scandal magnet, and a woman who is a thorn in his side.


As a lonely teenager, Juliet embraced her bad-girl reputation as a shield against loneliness and rejection. Years later, having kicked a cheating sports-star ex to the curb, she has a prestigious job and loyal friends—and wants nothing to do with sportsmen. The last thing she expects is the fire that ignites between her and the stuffed-shirt golden boy who once loved her best friend.

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Love Hard continues the adventures of the Bishop-Esera clan (Cherish Hard) and gives us a lovely new hero to swoon over in Jake Esera.  Jake had to grow up fast when he got his high school sweetheart pregnant, and then even more when Callie passed away.  Raising a daughter on his own has been tough, but his family have helped make sure he and Esme always had a safety net.  Jake's biggest problem has been trying to contain his overprotectiveness when it comes to keeping Esme safe. He's serious, responsible, and in control of everything. But meeting Juliet again throws him right back into high school, where they sniped at each other constantly.  She was Callie's best friend, but he never knew much about her except that he didn't like her.  Now she's back in his life and driving him crazy.

Juliet never had anything in her life that was stable, and Callie was the only person who loved her.  After a divorce from a slimy, attention-obsessed sports star, she has no intention of dating another athlete- especially Jacob Esera.  But getting to know him at last, she realizes maybe he isn't quite the gearheaded jock she thought him in high school, and that they've both grown up over the years.  She's brave about most things in her life, but terrified of taking the chance on loving Jake.

How can you not love Jake and Juliet? Both are confident in their work lives, but more than a little terrified of taking a chance on love.  Still, both come to the conclusion that the passion between them is worth the risk of trying.  Cherish Hard is all about seeing someone again for the first time, getting to know the person behind the tough exterior, and taking risks on what matters most.  It's two regular people (if being a rugby superstar can be called 'regular') finding each other despite the odds, their own pasts, and their personal hang-ups.  You'll find yourself cheering for them all the way, both as a couple and as individuals finding forgotten parts of themselves, and the love and chemistry between them leaps off the page as only Nalini Singh can make it leap.

Cherish Hard grabbed me from page one and the beautiful wedding (finally!) between Charlotte and Gabriel (Love Hard, one of my all-timel favorite books) where Juliet and Jacob reconnect.  It was a book I didn't want to put down and one I was ready to re-read again right away.  I hope we get to see more members of Jake's rugby team find their happily-ever-after once Danny's taken care of, because Singh gave us glimpses of plenty of potential future couples and heroes in this book!  If you haven't read the rest of the series, you don't feel lost starting here, but warning! You'll instantly fall in love with the characters and want to pick up all the other books. Don't fight the urge!

A beautiful, sexy must-read that will thrill Nalini Singh fans.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

John Adams Under Fire

John Adams Under Fire: The Founding Father's Fight for Justice in the Boston Massacre Murder Trial- Dan Abrams & David Fisher
Hanover Square Press
Release Date: March 3, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: History remembers John Adams as a Founding Father and our country’s second president. But in the tense years before the American Revolution, he was still just a lawyer, fighting for justice in one of the most explosive murder trials of the era.

On the night of March 5, 1770, shots were fired by British soldiers on the streets of Boston, killing five civilians. The Boston Massacre has often been called the first shots of the American Revolution. As John Adams would later remember, “On that night the formation of American independence was born.” Yet when the British soldiers faced trial, the young lawyer Adams was determined that they receive a fair one. He volunteered to represent them, keeping the peace in a powder keg of a colony, and in the process created some of the foundations of what would become United States law.

In this book, New York Times bestselling authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher draw on the trial transcript, using Adams’s own words to transport readers to colonial Boston, a city roiling with rebellion, where British military forces and American colonists lived side by side, waiting for the spark that would start a war.

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250 years after the Boston Massacre, most people couldn't really tell you anything about it.  Maybe they assume it was a battle during the Revolutionary War.  And in a way, it was.  Years before shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, they were fired in Boston's King Street.  When the smoke cleared, five Boston civilians were dead.  But what happened before that has never satisfactorily been explained. And the importance this incident had to the developing country of America and its legal system has not been acknowledged.

In John Adams Under Fire authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher shine new light on the events leading up to the shooting, but also use trial transcripts to bring the reader into the courtroom as "Loyalists' and 'Patriots' are asked to put aside their personal political feelings as well as all of the rhetoric they've heard in newspapers and on the streets.  Instead, the jury is asked to focus only on what they hear in the court to decide if eight British soldiers and their captain committed murder on the night of March 5, 1770 or protected themselves against a rioting mob. In a clear example of everyone having the right to an attorney, the soldiers find themselves defended by lawyers who are 'Patriots', including new lawyer John Adams (who would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence) while the prosecutors were well-known British 'Loyalists.  While social pressure pushed for quick 'guilty' verdicts, the judges, lawyers, and juries were asked to ignore the popular view in favor of the legal view.

 What results is a well-written, fast-paced, and fascinating account of America's longest trial at the time.  I especially appreciated the attention to detail as the trial continued, including explaining new developments in the legal system that made the trials closer to what modern readers are used to than previous court cases.  That by itself makes this book worth reading, but Abrams and Fisher place the case in context in such a way that readers are able to understand exactly the role the case played in the development of the American legal system, and American independence.

A surprisingly fast and smooth read, this is a book history lovers will appreciate, and students of the legal system should read, yet at the same time, everyone else will still enjoy for it's down to earth writing, well-crafted descriptions, and attention to detail.   

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Billionaire in Boots

The Billionaire in Boots (The Princes of Texas #3)- Julia London
Berkley/Penguin Group
Release Date: March 3, 2020 

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: As the firstborn son, it's been drilled into Nick that he is the heir apparent to the Prince family empire. But cattle ranching has never been his true passion. Nick wants to be a pilot.  However, when his father dies, leaving Nick to clean up the mess, he knows he must do his duty before following his heart.

Charlotte Bailey can't believe that Nick is back to run the ranch. As the office manager, she knows it's her responsibility to help him. If only he wasn't so brooding and cranky--and so hot it's a wonder his chaps don't melt right off him. But when sparks fly between them, she's adamant about staying away from a cowboy on his way out the door.

Nick knows the ranch's pretty, smart, and capable office manager is off-limits, but he needs her. And working in such close proximity to Charlotte every day is making Nick crazy. She smells good, she looks good, she makes him laugh, but most of all she makes him want to stay....

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This was a sweet, sort-of-friends to lovers story with a slow burn and plenty of learning along the way.  Charlotte and Nick spent one night together and have tried to ignore their chemistry ever since.  Nick's now her boss at a ranch he doesn't want to run, mired down by debt and poor decisions his father made.  He's trying to do everything for his family and resenting the fact that he's doing nothing for himself and his dreams of flight school have been put on permanent hold.  Charlotte wants a husband and kids and the happy life she imagines others have.  But what she really enjoys is tweaking Nick over his isolationist, grumpy tendencies and his inability to follow her color-coded filing system.

The problem with Nick and Charlotte is that they both have goals for their lives, but haven't quite figured out what they really WANT long term.  And even though they communicate perfectly at work, relationship communicating (especially on Nick's part) doesn't come as easily.  With two loud, nosy, and opinionated families 'helping' them and nosy and opinionated neighbors in a small town wanting all the gossip, they find it hard to have the real conversations needed in any relationship.

Charlotte is a bouncy, fun, stubborn person who needs someone just as stubborn to match her.  I have to say it was Nick who I really connected with in this one.  A slightly withdrawn loner who still wouldn't mind not being alone all the time but doesn't really known how to go about it, Nick is complicated and quiet, sweet and grumpy.  He has an easier time with animals than people and doesn't hesitate to step into his dad's shoes- even though he really doesn't want to.  He has the unfortunate habit of imagining there is only one way something can work and not asking for help or talking out other ideas to look for new options, but also has the delightful (and rare) ability to admit when he is wrong and apologize.

Full of awful first dates, adorable animals, and plenty of humor, "The Billionaire in Boots" is a light, emotional, sparkling story that will make you glad you read it.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review