Jesse J. Thoma

The Town that Built Us by Jesse J. Thoma

Second chances at happily ever sometimes need a nudge from a loving recently deceased parent who just happens to leave a house to two people he believes should be together. Will Grace and Bonnie take advantage of the opportunity they are given or instead guard their hearts and let a life together pass them by?

What I liked:
* Lionel Cook: Grace’s father, loving, kind, wonderful father and husband, good friend to Bonnie, and a wise man with a plan that worked
* Grace Cook: Lionel’s daughter, college scholarship took her to the big city, works in marketing, never really got over her true love, Bonnie, back in town to settle her father’s estate
* Bonnie Whitlock: had a difficult childhood, good friends with Lionel, Grace’s high school love, made a decision at the end of high school that broke both Grace’s and her heart, hardware store owner, part-time handyman
* Mr. Burch: 94, bachelor, an interesting character who grew a lot in his lifetime
* The supporting characters and good friends of Bonnie: Carl – computer website designer; Stumpy/Carl: psychologist; Duck/Ray: married to Candace and father of Avery – friends for life who support and care for one another no matter what
* Maddison: Grace’s best friend, in marketing, wise, outgoing, caring, and there for Grace, loved her decision at the end of the book
* Tanya: in Grace’s pottery class, returned to Garrison to raise her family, wise and a potential good friend to Grace
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing

What I didn’t like:
* Thinking about the time lost by Bonnie and Grace due to the decision made at the end of high school
* Thinking about small-people that treat and speak badly about people who are different from themselves

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars… (altro)

This is the third book in the Holt Lasher (and her team) series. It took me awhile to get back into the flow of the story, not so much because of the characters, but because of the back and forth and rapid dialogue that Holt and her team participate in. Yikes, it makes me tired just reading their back and forths.

In this one we get to meet a new character, Dr. Quinn (*snort* sorry...) Golden. She's a professor at a college where Lola winds up going undercover so she can figure out why Holt and her 'found' family are being threatened. Of course, this does have a romance part to it too, not just a really great thriller, and so Lola and Quinn find themselves falling in love as well.

I liked the change of scenery (most of the book takes place in LA instead of Rhode Island), and the plot is tight and interesting as usual.

We get to see the new relationship as well as the continuation of the older ones, and I thought that the balance between the two was pretty good.

And of course, all the comic book references, from Batman and Superman to Watchmen, was fun fun fun.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.… (altro)

I seem to be stumbling into second books in serieses recently. In the case of this one it meant that I was a little bit lost at first, but once I got into the story and figured out who the characters were and how they related to one another the narrative started flowing. And at times, yikes, it flowed over the page fast and furiously.

The book is about two couples (or more specifically a maybe couple and an established couple. The established couple is Holt, a bounty hunter, and Isabelle. They haven't been together long, but I do believe that the story of their meeting and getting together is in the first book in this series, 'The Chase'. They're interesting characters in this book, but, I do think that reading the first book probably would have helped me appreciate the two characters even more.

The maybe couple is Max and Dubs. Max works for Holt, while Dubs is a former car thief who gets released from prison to help Holt out on a case. They're trying to bust open and put away a new and dangerous car theft ring in Providence. And the two of them wind up literally cuffed to each other for awhile.

While I liked the uniqueness of the characters, the plot, and the writing. I think my favorite part of the novel was how the setting of Rhode Island and more specifically Providence was described/written about. Authors can get the right 'things' about a city/state correct more often than not these days with a little elbow grease and research. But this novel had not just those correct 'things', but also had the feel of Rhode Island and Providence.

It was a good book, in what seems like a very interesting series.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.… (altro)

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this one. A wonderfully written, emotional romance. Two very different women coming together and falling in love. Seneca King survived a traumatic incident which left her with a lame leg and something of an attitude. She keeps mostly to herself, but has a reputation at her Woman's college where she goes to a bar and picks up beautiful women for nothing more than one night stands, no strings. Just sex. Until she meets Dylan.

Dylan has heard of Seneca's reputation and accepts a dance from her but states clearly she doesn't want to be a one night stand. She wants to be "wooed". A tentative friendship develops into a deep relationship helping Seneca come to terms with what happened to her and her past.

Very well written and engrossing, with two fantastic lead characters. I didn't like Seneca much at first, there was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way, but as the novel progressed and she opened up more, she became much more likeable. The relationship develops slowly into a wonderful romance with both characters learning how to be open with each other. A novel full of character growth and very emotional in parts with a nice realistic ending.

A very good read.

Thank you to Negalley and Bold Stroke Books for the chance to read this title.

Also another square crossed off For Book Bingo - Starts with S P R I N or G. This one starts with an S.… (altro)