Otherwise Engaged by Susan Mallery

Otherwise Engaged by Susan Mallery

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778387268

Hardcover, $30, 368 pages

From the publisher:

When Shannon gets engaged, her beloved mom, Cindy, is the first person she wants to tell—and the last. Cindy’s engaged, too, and has already hinted at a double wedding. The image of a synchronized bouquet toss with her mom fills Shannon with horror. She’ll keep her engagement a secret until Cindy’s I-dos are done.

Victoria has never been proper enough for her mother, Ava, so she stopped trying. She lives on her own terms and amuses herself by pushing Ava’s buttons. Ava loves but doesn’t understand her stuntwoman daughter. When a movie-set mishap brings Victoria home, Ava longs to finally connect.

Chance brings the four women together at a wedding venue, where a shocking secret comes tumbling out. Twenty-four years ago, desperate teenager Cindy chose wealthy Ava to adopt her baby—then changed her mind at the very last second. The loss rocked Ava’s world, leaving her unable to open her heart to the daughter she did adopt, Victoria. As Shannon and Victoria deal with the fallout from the decisions their mothers made, they wrestle with whether who they are is different than who they might have become.

My thoughts:

The premise of this novel is intriguing and unique. Victoria has always known she was adopted, but when she discovers that she was not the baby her parents thought they were getting, it knocks her for a loop. It also causes more friction between her and her mother.

Shannon discovers that her mother, who raised her as a single mom, almost gave her up for adoption. She loves her mother even as she feels her mother is a bit too close to her. She works for her mom and is engaged to a great guy, but she feels something is missing in her life.

Victoria now thinks she understands why she and her mother never had a close relationship; she was second choice. It should have been Shannon that her parents raised. 

Running into Cindy after twenty-four years has brought back so many feelings that Ava had buried. She felt that Cindy was like a sister to her, they took her into their home and lives, and then she just disappeared with the baby that thought would be theirs.

There is a lot here for great book club discussions especially about mother-daughter relationships and how fraught they can be. People will see themselves in these characters and wonder if they would react the same way. I know I did. 

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2025 Blog Tours.

National Geographic's The Traveler's Atlas of the World

 The Traveler's Atlas of the World

Published by National Geographic Partners ISBN 9781426223549

Hardcover, $65, 559 pages

Halloween has come and gone and now people will turn their sights to holiday gift shopping. Every year National Geographic publishes a few new titles of coffee table books perfect for gift-giving to your favorite people.

One of the new titles this year is The Traveler's Atlas of the World. It's a beautiful book that combines stunning photos with full color maps that feature drawings of animals, food, and other things found in that country.

The book is divided into six sections- North America & the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, Antartica & the Pacific. 

Each country has an information page featuring a quick overview of the country and a side bar of Fun Facts that give the reader the lowdown on Best Known For, When to Visit, Climate/Weather, Plan Ahead, Best-Kept Secret, and Good To Know. At the top of each page is the capital, area in mileage, official language, and currency.

You will also find full two-page spreads on Cultural Treasures (like Stockholm's Old Town  in Sweden), Must-Do guides (the wine country in Douro Valley in Portugal)  and Top Ten lists (Singapore's Can't Miss Experiences). 

If you are a world traveler (or know someone who is), this is a wonderful book filled with information that will make your trips more enjoyable. It's also fun for armchair travelers or anyone who wants to audition for Jeopardy!

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on this tour.

Julia Song Is Undateable by Susan Lee

Julai Song Is Undateable by Susan Lee

Published by Canary Street Press ISBN 9781335402523

Trade paperback, $17.99, 336 pages

From the publisher:

CEO seeks dating coach

Julia Song, CEO of Starlight Cosmetics, is at the height of her career. Then why does she feel like such a failure? Maybe because she’s thirty and single, with a terrible track record at dating. And in the eyes of her Korean family, that is just unacceptable. It never really bothered her—that is until her beloved grandmother drops the bomb that she is sick and her dying wish is for Julia to get married. Impossible. So in a moment of weakness, Julia asks her family for help. Set her up on three dates to help her find The One. But it will never work—Julia is undateable. If only there was a coach for that…

Tae Kim knows about the weight of familial expectation. He’s currently unemployed, living in his parents’ basement to care for his ill father. Sure, he’s become somewhat of a fix-it man for the Korean community around town, but that’s not a real job. And the pressure to get his life together is getting to be too much. So when the Julia Song—his childhood crush—asks for his help, it may be just the distraction he needs. He’ll do whatever it takes, even coach her for these three dates. Problem is, the more time they spend together and the closer they get, the more Tae wonders if anyone is good enough for Julia…including him.

My Thoughts:

What I liked about Julia Song Is Undateable is that it turns the tables on traditional romance characters. Julia is the powerful CEO while Tae is the caretaker. Tae not only came home to take care of his parents when his father became ill, he also is the go-to guy who helps everyone in the neighborhood. Whenever anyone needs a ride to the market or church, or fixing something in their home, they call Tae.

I also like novels that are set in a community I don't know much about, in this case the Korean community. We learn about Korean customs and foods, and even a little about K-Pop. One thing that seems to be universal though is that families of every culture want their children to find true love and happiness and will do just about anything to see that happen (especially grandmas).

While Julia knows all about her business, she is hopeless when it comes to dating. She blurts out comments that may be better left unsaid. Tae offers to be her dating coach, but he secretly wants to be the one Julia wants to date, and given the three men that Juia's family set her up with, Tae is looking pretty good.

As in every romance, there are a few bumps in the road and misunderstandings along the way to true love.

There are also a few spicy scenes that will heat up the cold weather headed our way.

I truly enjoyed Julia Song is Undateable and look forward to more from Susan Lee in the future.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2025 Blog Tours.

Three Books For Autumn

Reprinted from auburnpub.com:

There’s a chill in the air as autumn has arrived, it’s a good time to stay inside, cuddle under a blanket, and read a good book. This month’s Book Report has two books that are seasonal- one for fall, and one for the upcoming Christmas season.

The cover of Ellen O’Clover’s The Heartbreak Hotel has a lovely autumnal feel to it. Lou is living with her longtime boyfriend Nate, the lead singer for a popular rock band. 

While he has been off touring the world with his band, Lou has been in their beautiful rental home in the mountains of Colorado. She has been studying to get her license in counseling and life seems to be on course for her.

Until Nate is photographed with another woman and he tells her that he is love with this other woman. Lou is devastated not only for the loss of her relationship, but she loves the house they have been living in. She has made it a beautiful home.

In order to keep staying in the house, she meets with the landlord, a handsome veterinarian named Ben. She proposes to Ben that she turn the house into a bed and breakfast that she would manage in lieu of paying rent.

Lou is surprised that Ben agrees so quickly, and even more surprised when he shows up at the house to fix things that need attention. Ben in turn is surprised to learn that Lou is advertising the bed and breakfast as the Comeback Inn, a place for people who have suffered heartbreak to come and stay to get over their loss.

It’s clear that Ben has had heartbreak in his life (word of warning- it’s very sad), and that he and Lou are attracted to each other. But the course of true love does not run smooth as they each have to deal with things the other is holding back that could derail their relationship.

All of the characters in The Heartbreak Hotel are so interesting- from Lou and Ben to Lou’s best friend Mei, to Nan the widow who comes to stay at the inn and doesn’t want to leave.

Lou had a difficult upbringing. Her single mother raised her and her older sister Goldie, although it frequently fell to Goldie to raise Lou as their mother dealt with mental health challenges. 

They moved often, living with whatever boyfriend Mom was with until he tired of her. Now as an adult, it has become Lou’s responsibility to get her mother out the situations she finds herself in. I think many readers may relate to Lou, a person who cares for others before she cares for herself. 

The Heartbreak Hotel is a romance with a serious side to it. I recommend it.

Turning to the Christmas season, Matthew Norman’s new novel, Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon also deals with heartbreak. Henry lost his young wife suddenly nearly a year ago and he is still staying with his parents. 

He can’t bring himself to move back into their apartment, still decorated for Christmas. His wife loved the holidays, and one of their favorite traditions was watching holiday movies together.

Grace lost her young husband after a battle with cancer. Her mourning is different from Henry’s as she has two young children to raise- Ian and Bella. 

Grace and Henry’s mothers decide to play matchmaker. Neither Grace nor Henry are ready for a romantic relationship yet, but to make their mothers happy, they decide to be friends. 

When Henry tells Grace about he and his wife’s holiday movie marathon tradition, Grace agrees to watch the movies with him. (Even if some of them are not her cup of tea- Die Hard is not a Christmas movie).

Each chapter is titled after a holiday movie- Home Alone, Elf, Rudolph- which I find delightful. Grace and Henry help each other through their grief and Henry grows fond of Ian and Bella.

What I like about Matthew Norman’s novels is his sense of humor he imbues in each book. Grace in particular has such witty comments, even with a storyline that is sad, the humor shines though. I loved Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon.

Reading it put me in mind of a great scary psychological thriller that also uses movies in the chapter headings and is perfect for a Halloween read. John Searles’ Her Last Affair is set in a closed drive-in theater and uses movie quotes to open each chapter. It’s a twisty thriller that will keep you turning the pages until you finish. It’s brilliant. (My full review is here.)

The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen O'Clover- A

Published by Berkley

Trade paperback, 352 pages, $17.99

 

Grace and Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman- A+

Published by Dell

Trade paperback, 336 pages, $18

Her Last Affair by John Searles- A+

Published by Mariner

Trade paperback, 336 pages, $18.99

The Photographs-Iconic Images From National Geographic

The Photographs- Iconic Images from National Geographic

Published by National Geographic Partners ISbn 9781426224409

Hardcover, 461 pages, $50

October is almost over and it's time to turn our thoughts to the upcoming holiday season and gift giving.

This year National Geographic has several beutiful coffee table books, perfect for that person on your gift list who is hard to buy for.

The Photographs- Iconic Images from National Geographic is filled some of the most spectacular photos from the pages of the magazine we all grew up in our families. Now when most of us see photos on a screen- our computer or phone- these photos in this book have more of an impact when viewed in the pages of a book we can touch.

The book is divided into five chapters- Discover (featuring adventure and exploration), Protect (wildlife and conservation), Honor (people and culture), Cherish (landscape and environment) and Reveal (science and technology). 

Many of the stunning photos are double-paged and will take your breath away. Stephen Wilkes in 2016 created a composite photo of animals around a watering hole in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania that will appeal to anyone who has ever been on a safari- or who want to go on one.

There are biographies of some of National Geographic most prolific photographers who explain how they became interested in photography and how they honed their craft, like Joel Sartore, whose fascination with endangered animals is shown in the photo below. 

One of my favorite photos is David Yoder's Christmas Day 2014 shot of Pope Francis in the Sistine Chapel. It captures the majesty of Michelangelo's ceiling contrasted with Pope Francis' humility. 

If anyone on your list is an amateur photographer or just curious about the world acround us, 

The Photographs- Iconic Images from National Geographic is a great gift. Families will enjoy looking at it together.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on this tour.

Friday 5ive- September 26, 2025

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a regular post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

It's been a busy September with a lot of traveling, but I'm back. We spent the weekend back home in Auburn, where we spent time with family, ran into old friends, and got to have a Cameron's Bakery long john donut on Donut Sunday at my Mom's house.

1) I was honored to officiate my niece's wedding which took place at Chantelle Marie Lakehouse and Celebration Hall in Auburn, NY. The bride and groom said their vows overlooking Owasco Lake, and it was such a beautiful setting. The bridesmaids and bride (who looked stunning!) processed through a set of doors that added such a special touch. It was a fantastic weekend! 

The beautiful setting for the vows

The doors

2) Two weeks ago I had a craving for a Beef on Weck sandwich and could not find anyone near me in NYC that served it. (I guess it's a Western/Central New York thing.) So I was delighted that when we went to Parker's 129 in downtown Auburn, they had Beef on Weck on the menu! It was my go-to sandwich when we used to take our young sons out to dinner years ago there. The kimmelweck bun with salt and caraway seeds on top make the sandwich. Delicious. And a special bonus- I saw a friend from high school and we chatted about her book club. What could be better?

3) There are a lot of terrific additions to downtown Auburn since we were last there. One such is 

Auburn Bagel Company, where we made three trips in two days to get tasty bagels (they had a huge variety). They make bagels New York style, the owner worked for a time in a bagel shop in New York City.  We know bagels here in New York City and these were fantastic. The highlight for me was their Danish scone- I got the Cranberry White Chocolate and it was incredible. I even got one to take home. 

Where the magic happens- a water bath for the bagels

Bright art for sale lines the walls 

4) Auburn is filled with history, as Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the Women's Right to Vote movement, is close by, and many suffragists lived in Auburn. They have a plaque noting where the headquarters of the Cayuga County Political Equality Club stood in 1914-1916. 

5) We stayed at the Prison City Brewery Loft apartments, around the corner from 

Prison City Pub & Brewery.  As you know of my love for books, I was impressed to find a book about female brewers titled A Woman's Place is in the Brewhouse in the living room of the apartment. How appropriate!

I hope you have a safe, healthy week. Until next time.

Friday 5ive- Five Books I Read and Loved

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. I've been on reading roll and read some excellent books while on a mini-vacation over Labor Day.

1) Michelle Huneven is an author who writes heart-piercing novels (Blame and Off Course were both excellent). Her latest, Bug Hollow, begins with the golden son heading off for a weeklong trip with his friends before he goes to college. When he meets a lovely young lady, he decides to spend the rest of the summer with her. His mother is unhappy about the situation, his father thinks he's sewing oats. When he tragically drowns the first week of college, and his summer girlfriend shows up pregnant, the family is thrown into turmoil. This moving story follows the family for the next twenty years as each member gets their chance to tell their story. It's one of the best books I read this year.

2) Sybil Van Antwerp is an unforgetable character in Virginia Evans' quiet and immersive novel 

The Correspondent, which consists only of letters Sybil writes and receives in return. At the age of 77, Sybil lives alone, divorced from her husband years ago, has a strained relationship with her daughter, and a son who checks in on her. She writes letters to people she knows like her sister, with whom she shares book recommendations, and people she doesn't, like authors Ann Patchett and Joan Didion. She has an interesting correspondence with the young son of a friend, and their relationship is charming. Sybil's neighbor would like to be friends with her, but Sybil seems to have difficulty with relationships not on paper. A tragedy from years ago haunts Sybil sixty years later, and explains much of why she is the way she is. It's a lovely story well told. If you liked Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, you'll like The Correspondent. 

3) Janelle Brown's What Kind of Paradise shares the story of Jane a teenager  who lives in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in Montana in the 1990s. Jane's mom died years earlier and it's just Jane and her father who homeschools Jane and keeps them isolated. Her father doesn't trust technology and believes that the internet will be the destruction of mankind as he writes in increasingly disturbing leaflets that he distributes in the local bookstore. It's a lonely existence for Jane, who isn't allowed to have friends (other than the girl whose mom owns the bookstore). Jane is devoted to her father but when he makes her an accomplice to a devastating crime, she has to decide where her loyalties lie. It's a brilliant novel. 

 

4) There has been a lot of buzz about Patrick Ryan's big novel Buckeye. Set in the small town of Bonhomie Ohio, it follows two families from the end of WWII to the Vietnam War. Cal Jenkins works in his father-in-law's hardware store when on VE Day, a beautiful woman named Margaret comes into his store and kisses him as they hear on the radio that WWII is over in Europe. She leaves as quickly as she arrived and he is flummoxed. Cal's wife Becky has the gift of being able to contact the dead, and brings people into their home to help them contact loved ones who have passed. Cal isn't happy about this, and it causes tension in their marriage. Margaret's husband Felix is serving in the Pacific on a supply ship and she waits for word after his ship is hit. This incredible novel follows the outcome of that kiss that causes ripple effects for years to come, even affecting both couple's sons Skip and Tom. The novel tells the story of what is happening in the United States over the thirty years through these two families. It's Read With Jenna's September pick. 

4) My palate cleanser after all this serious stuff is Taj McCoy's spicy romance The Dating Prohibition. Kendra returns home to her family after years away studying with chefs in hopes of opening up a speakeasy supper club. She has returned to help her brother as he opens up his own restaurant, and is attracted to his best friend BJ, someone she has known all her life. BJ wants to help her realize her dream of opening her speakeasy and although he is attracted to Kendra, he tells her she is off-limits because she is his best friend's little sister. But is she off-limits though? If you liked The Bear as much as I do, you'll love this one. There's something for foodies, people who like family stories, and of course spice. 

  I hope you have a great back-to-school week, until next time.

The Dating Prohibition by Taj McCoy

The Dating Prohibition by Taj McCoy

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778368588

Trade paperback, $18.99, 320 pages

From the publisher:

In this spicy new rom-com, an ambitious entrepreneur working to get her speakeasy supper club off the ground is pushed off balance when her childhood crush turns up, hotter than ever––then tells her she's off-limits.

Now that Kendra’s returned home, she can’t help feeling like a kid again—back in her big brother’s shadow, trying to get her restaurant off the ground while his new venture is flying high right out the gate. It doesn’t help that everyone refuses to stop calling her Keke, the childhood nickname she loathes.

The only bright spot is her longtime crush BJ. He’s been her big brother’s best friend for most of her life, and he’s always been that cool, chill guy who was easy to talk to and made her laugh. Now he’s looking at her like she’s all grown up, and there’s nothing childish about the chemistry brewing between them. Even better, he takes her dreams seriously, and he’s ready to help her make her supper club a reality.

But then BJ extinguishes the sparks flying between them, insisting nothing romantic can ever happen because she’s “off limits.” As her investors fall through and her best chance at fulfilling her professional dreams points toward leaving home again for a fresh start, will BJ be ready for love before Kendra moves on? Or will he sweep her off her feet when she least expects it?

My thoughts:

I truly enjoy a novel where the main character is a driven person trying to make their dream come true. Kendra left her job in tech to travel the world and learn from chefs and cooks with the dream of opening up her own speakeasy supper club in Washington, D.C., following in the footsteps of her brother Logan who just opened up his own restaurant there with his wife.

I loved immersing myself in their foodie world, as Kendra and her family and friends pulled together to make Logan's restaurant a success. Reading about all the work that goes into the preparation- ordering supplies, creating the atmosphere, testing recipes- I found it all fascinating.

Watching Kendra work to make her own dream come true, and seeing how even though she faced so many obstacles she wouldn't give up, was inspiring. The relationships among the characters, especially Kendra and her cousin Lani and Kendra and her Auntie Mack, were wonderful and joyful. 

The story has a lot of spicy scenes between Kendra and her brothers best friend BJ, and I did find myself at times feeling like BJ was not being straightforward with Kendra- saying one thing (we can't be together) and doing another (see spicy scenes above). 

I adored the last part of the book watching Kendra's dreams come true. If you are a fan of TV's The Bear, you will love The Dating Prohibition as much as I did. 

This is the second book I've read by Taj McCoy (Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever After- my review here) and I look forward to many more from her.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on their Fall 2025 Blog Tours.

Friday 5ive- A Trip to Napa Valley

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

It's been a few weeks since my last Friday 5ive, we've been to Boston, Rhode Island and last week we took our semi-annual Napa Valley trip to wine country. The weather was perfect and we had some great wines and delicious meals.

1) We visited one of our favorite wineries Del Dotto where we had the most delicious lunch. The highlight for me was a mini lobster roll that was just the perfect bite. The gardens are just spectacular, with playful statues along the walkway that made me smile. 

2) Old gas stations have been repurposed and turned into takeout pizza joints and wineries. We stopped into Tank winery and it was very cool. 

3) We celebrated a big birthday at Cliff Lede Vineyards, where we had a delightful luncheon in one of the caves. Pat went all out to decorate and we had wonderful time. We even had an impromptu sing along in the cave that was fun and beautiful. Cliff Lede is all about wine, art, and rock and roll, and they have a quite a collection of Beatles memorabilia, paintings by Grace Slick, and a guitar signed by some of the greats like Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, and Edge.

4) It was nearly harvest time and we got to taste grapes right off the vine. We were all surprised at how sweet they tasted, nothing like the grapes you get in the grocery store. 

5) This week's sign comes courtesy of a bar offering free Husband daycare while their spouses shop the cute little stores on Main Street. I'm proud to say we did not have any drop-offs that day but it was early in our trip. If it was towards the end of the trip, we may have lost a few good men.

I hope you enjoy the end of summer and have a safe and healthy Labor Day holiday. Cheers!

End of Summer Reading Roundup

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

End of Summer Reading Roundup

It doesn’t seem possible that the end of summer is fast approaching. it goes by more quickly each year. This month's Book Report features books I recently enjoyed and I hope you will as well.

Many of us have heard about the Magdalene laundries in Ireland where young pregnant teens were sent by their families to give birth, and then forced to give their babies up for adoption. While there, the young girls worked long days in the laundry for no money, and were generally treated poorly as free labor.

In the United States, there were 38 of these facilities. In her novel Wayward Girls, Susan Wiggs sets her story in a fictionalized version of a real-life home for wayward girls in Buffalo in the 1960s. Young girls and teens who were pregnant or whose parents could not care for them or were orphaned or sent by the court system ended up at this home. 

When Marin rebuffs the advances of her alcoholic stepfather, he sends her to Good Shepherd Home, labeled a “reform school". There she bonds with a group of other young girls, and while they try to survive the hardships they faced, they plot a way to escape. It’s a heartbreaking and yet eventually uplifting story.

Kathy Wang’s novel The Satisfaction Cafe opens with Joan, a Chinese immigrant stating she never thought life in America would lead her to stab her husband. How can you not want to read on after that? 

Joan divorces the first husband (the one she stabbed) and ends up married to a much older wealthy American man, and lives what many would call the American dream, even if her husband’s adult children do not trust her. 

It’s a moving story of Joan’s life in America, finding a family, and the clever way she overcame the loneliness that many people face, especially in today’s world. She’s an unforgettable character.

Jess Walter’s new novel, So Far Gone tackles a different kind of loneliness. After he punches his conspiracy theory-spouting son-in-law at Thanksgiving, Rhys Kinnick goes off the grid to a dilapidated family cabin the middle of nowhere in the Northwest.

Seven years later a woman shows up on his doorstep with his two young grandchildren and a note from his daughter asking him to care for them until she returns. He tries to bond with the grandchildren over his love of literature, and when his son-in-law shows up with members of an armed militia to take the children, he is forced into action. 

Rhys rounds up his only friends to rescue his grandchildren and then find his missing daughter. It’s a road trip family story and has a lot to say about where we are as a country. I liked that the characters are not black-and-white (except for one really bad guy), but shades of gray. It’s got humor and heart.

Beck Dorey-Stein’s novel Spectacular Things tells the story of two sisters, Mia and Cricket, who are raised by their single mother. Mom was a high school soccer superstar and headed for big things in college when she became pregnant with Mia.

She gave her girls their love of soccer, and when Cricket shows amazing talent at the game and a tragedy befalls the family, it’s Mia who sacrifices everything to give Cricket a shot at making her Olympic dream come true.

Just as Cricket is on the verge of soccer stardom, it’s Mia who needs her little sister to help her. Cricket has to decide what is more important to her- her sister or her dream. It’s a wonderful story that would make a great book club pick as there is so much to discuss here.

The last book I really liked is an unusual one. Maria Reva’s Endling is about a Ukrainian scientist trying to keep a species of snail from going extinct. To fund this, she secretly works for an organization that matches Ukrainian women with Western men looking for brides.

Two sisters who also work for this organization have an ulterior motive- they plan to kidnap twelve of the men to protest the matchmaking company that they feel exploits these Ukrainian women.

The sisters recruit the scientist so they can use her research van, and when the Russians invade Ukraine, all the plans these women have go out the window, and now it’s just trying to avoid the war and keeping the men alive.

While it sounds crazy, the writing and the characters are impressive, and the tension ratchets up as they try to avoid becoming caught up in the war. It’s unique and brilliant and just nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize.