Sincerely Sicily by Tamika Burgess

Welcome Back, Booklovers! 2023 is almost here! New books will be dropping on Jan 3rd and I don't want any to get lost in the holiday shuffle. I thank Tamika Burgess for sending me a copy of Sincerely Sicily because I'm loving seeing all the Afro-Latinx rep from various authors and this was one I was really looking forward to reading.

Sicily starts a new middle school and is having a hard time because none of her best friends are at this school with her. When he meets a old friend things are finally starting to look up but then her teacher assigns her a project about her heritage. Sicily thinks it will be easy. She's Panamanian and has visited the country a few times so she knows exactly what to say. However when students bombard her with question about how she can be Black and Panamanian she freezes and her presentation turns into a mess. Her identity struggles don't end at school either. At home Abuela is giving her a hard time about her hair and constantly making comments about her braids. Sicily has to learn how to use her gift as her Abuelo always put it and speak up.

One thing that's nice about this story is that there's a lot going on and it doesn't narrow in on one particular issue. Sicily is dealing with everything that comes with middle school including new friends and a first crush. She likes to write and she wants to write for the school newspaper but Erin Masterson is giving her a hard time. 

She learns more about her Panamanian heritage here but I like that it's not written in a heavy handed way. She's doing research so she learns different facts about Black culture and history in Panama everything from the West Indians who worked on the canal to the origins of Reggaetón.  

I really liked how the relationship with her family is written here. She and Abuela were very close prior to Abuelo dying but they become distant after Abuela continuous makes comments calling Sicily's hair bad. But I also loved how the book never shies away from her mother's non nonsense attitude and own conflict with Abuela. It felt very realistic as someone who has been in a similar situation.

There was so much depth here with all the different plots going on and Tamika Burgess takes the time to follow through with a satisfying ending. Overall I think this is a very strong middle grade sure to hold readers attention. 

Someone Had to Do It by Amber and Danielle Brown

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've took a break from reading thrillers for awhile because I was feeling like they were all reading the same. It seemed like every Black thriller was a story about a Black person dealing with a secret society of racists plotting against them. So when HarperCollins offered me this one months ago it was refreshing to see one that was a little bit different.

Brandi is working at prestigious fashion house Simon Van Doren as a intern and is hoping to get an assistant position that includes the trip of a lifetime to accompany CEO and his team in Milan. Her boyfriend Nate used to go to school with the CEO's daughter Taylor and calls in a favor and get's them into one of his charity galas. At the party Brandi overhears Taylor and her friend's plotting to kill Simon Van Doren so she can inherit his fortune.

The authors Amber and Danielle Brown have both worked in fashion and you could tell from the scenes at the fashion house to the mentions of designer duds that they were knowledgeable. There was a period in the 2000s where NY Fashion set stories were very popular and we seem to be cycling back to that with a few upcoming titles. 

It took a little while for me to get into the story because there were way to many sex scenes. And I love a sex scene but these felt so unnecessary and didn't actually push the plot forward. I wouldn't cut all but maybe one of them and used that space to tighten up the mystery a little more and get to the action faster. Plus when they weren't having sex too many convos still turned sexual which was weird. 

While Brandi did annoy me with her naivety and stupid decisions I was still on the edge of my seat turning the pages to hope everything worked out for her. I thought it was ridiculous she caved to Taylor's 10k hush money bribe when that amount just barely covered her tuition with some money left over. Taylor was planning on coming into billions and she took such a small amount plus a couple of dresses and purses from Taylor's friends who she knew not to trust. And Nate was already offering to pay her tuition. And then she was shocked Taylor would actually follow through with the murder after paying her hush money. 

The plot was predictable and a little convenient. But it made for a quick read. Overall I do think Amber and Danielle have promise. If they were to write a sexy fashion set amateur sleuth mystery I would definitely read that. 

Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I wanted to squeeze in one more Christmas romance before December ended and Love in Winter Wonderland looked so cute because we rarely get Black YA romance set at Christmas. Two years ago when I decided to restart this blog I started by covering Love Secret Santa by SA Domingo(also known as Sareeta Domingo) which is also a UK YA. There's definitely a big gap that needs filling here so I was glad to see another entry.

Trey's family owns a bookshop called Wonderland. Sales have been down and his mother is strongly considering selling the shop. A disaster plan to earn money lands them further in debt with Trey scrambling for ideas to save the shop. Ariel is an artist who goes to his college and she needs a seasonal job to make some extra money for a special course. The two of them come up with ways to get the shop more attention and even catch the eye of celebrities like Rihanna. They start vibing but Trey has a longtime girlfriend Blair still in the picture.

Usually when I read books by Black British authors set in the UK the writing style is a little different and there's vernacular they use that I have to get used to. There were words sprinkled in here but it really felt no different than a US YA. Which was interesting because this was published strictly in the UK for a Black British audience. We didn't get any unique to their families or cultural traditions for Christmas. Which I would've liked to see. Most likely the characters have African or Caribbean roots but we never got a mention of that.

I did enjoy that each chapter started with a song from a playlist of Christmas songs by Black artists. And the setting was perfect with Christmas spirit in the air and plenty of mulled wine to go around.

The book starts off very cute and I enjoyed plot of them working together to save the book shop. Though this book was advertised as enemies to lovers they were never enemies or even rivals. They vaguely know each other from school and Trey is in his feeling about the shop and unnecessarily takes out his frustrations on Ariel. That's quickly cleared up!

I  thought that Trey and Ariel had nice chemistry and I would've liked to see them spend some more time together without his girlfriend being the elephant in the room. I could've done with Trey having a girlfriend for the first a few chapters or the first half at most but we were less than 100 pages until the end of the book when he finally broke up with Blair which broke up the momentum on the book.

His emotional cheating lessened the cuter moments in the book and cheapened when they eventually get together because as his parents told him he shouldn't be jumping from girl to girl. I feel like Bello tries to justify Trey's emotional cheating because his girlfriend is a bitch but that says more about him and why he was with her for so long. And he does things like forget his girlfriend's birthday, dance with other girl's at a party for her, and keep secrets from her.

At one point it felt like the drama was dragging out the ending even though there was so much going on with the bookshop, Ariel wanting to get into the art course, Trey getting over his fear of public singing, and Ariel dealing with the mean girls at school and her issues with her weight. More could've been focused on that versus the drama with Blair. Especially since Trey doesn't break up with her until she does something especially heinous.

Cute story overall I just found that the romance was overshadowed because Bello felt Trey needed a  girlfriend for drama and angst.

Breakup from Hell by Ann Dávila Cardinal

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Breakup from Hell intrigued me because it's a Latinx fantasy with a different premise. I received an arc from HarperCollins for review.

Mica lives in cold and snowy small town Vermont and she's desperate to move to sunny California for college. She's tired of her very religious grandmother's strict rules and she thinks she can be so much more outside of their town. One day during church she meets a mysterious newcomer and she quickly finds herself drawn to him. Mica soon discovers her new boyfriend is actually one of Satan's sons.

This book definitely felt very teen friendly which I appreciated because some YA books seem to be targeting a more adult audience. This was funny and poked fun at classic teen fantasy tropes. Mica also is a very sarcastic character and keeps that throughout even in scary situations.

I also liked the way it wove Christianity and the book of Revelation into the magic system. And Mica being Puerto Rican, religion is very tied into the culture. People may have mixed feelings about the portrayal of religion in this story but I thought it was very relatable from the teen perspective. It doesn't condemn or critique Catholicism. Mica felt like a girl I went to Catholic school with. Her grandmother reminded of some of the women I came across in church growing up.

I will say the pacing in this story is a little uneven. It starts out very fast-paced which I didn't mind because she doesn't waste time laying down the foundation for the story. Mica meets Sam and they quickly form a relationship which we find out he used his powers to draw her in so it makes sense why she fell so fast. Once we start getting things revealed the pacing slows down a lot. 

Overall it's a good lighter teen fantasy especially for those who don't read a lot of fantasy and things are left open for a series.

Never Cross a Highlander by Lisa Rayne

Welcome Back, Booklovers! While I'm not normally a historical romance reader when I saw a Black man on the cover I just couldn't resist. I've had this one on my tbr for over a year and I received an arc from Entangled Publishing.

Ailsa Connery is a freeborn biracial woman who was captured and enslaved at Sterling Castle. She's hoping to make her escape to reconnect with her clan during a tournament but her plans get thwarted when she's captured. Her capture is handsome highlander Kallum MacNeill who runs an Underground Railroad of sorts freeing enslaved people. While freeing servants in the palace he grabs her too so she doesn't ruin their plans for freedom. She decides to convince him to help her make her way back to her clan.

This is a slow burn romance and it did take a little time in the beginning for me to really get into the story. It felt like there was a lot of set up at first. It was also very wordy at some parts and lengthy for a romance. It did get better when I stuck with it. Kallum and Ailsa do have great chemistry that kept me engaged.

Ailsa did grate my nerves at times though. While I admired her independent spirit, her need to be a contrarian all the time also got them into trouble. Sometimes I needed her to just shut up and follow Kallum especially when it resulted in her life being in danger. I liked Kallum but I did want to know a little more about him. We did get some insight towards the end from his adopted family of sorts.

This isn't based off any real figures so Lisa Rayne images what life could've been like during that time for a Black highlander in an all white community. Fans of historical romance will appreciate all the familiar tropes sprinkled throughout. 

Counterfeit Courtship by Synithia Williams

Welcome Back, Booklovers! The 3rd book in the Heart and Soul series recently released and if you've been following me this year then it's no surprise to you it was on my must read list. I couldn't wait for Tyrone's story! And I'm thankful to have received a copy from Synithia Williams in exchange for an honest review.

Tyrone is the youngest of the Livingston brothers and he's working hard to make sure their ghost hunting reality show is a success. Tyrone has a reputation for being a player and it's effecting the show. The network is a family network so they need him to be in a stable relationship. After a photo scandal, he convinces makeup artist Kiera Fox to fake a relationship with him to better both of their careers.

I love that the seeds for this plot were planted in book one. I was ready to read Tyrone's story after the glimpses I saw of him in the previous books. I just knew it would be some mess! This was probably the only fake dating romance I read this year where the fake romance actually made sense. It's mutually beneficial to both of them to go along with the plan because it secures Kiera a job and secures Tyrone and his brothers a second season. Tyrone and Kiera had chemistry from the moment they met. And Kiera plays the role of the "perfect" girlfriend who is standing by her man despite what the haters say. Which makes Tyrone comfortable with the idea of making their relationship real.

I liked that Kiera still has some insecurities from her childhood when she used to have bad acne so makeup is her security blanket. And Tyrone being the youngest wants to prove himself. 

Overall it's a story that's definitely worth checking out especially if you've been following this series.

One Snowy Seduction by A.C. Arthur

Welcome Back, Booklovers! It is December which means the holiday season is upon us and I know everyone is in the mood for some Christmas romance. One Snowy Seduction is a part of the Baes of Christmas series of indie published Black Christmas romances.

Teesha has won the trip of a lifetime. She's always wanted to vacation in the French Alps and spend a holiday skiing. Kendrick has decided to get away from it all and has his assistant arrange a private getaway. Due to a mixup, Kendrick and Teesha end up sharing the same chalet. These former best friends end up reconnecting and one sizzling hookup leads to multiple.

If you're looking for a sexy quick read on a cold winter's night this one is worth picking up. Definitely one of my favorites I've read by this author. Teesha and Kendrick sizzled and snowy mountainside is the perfect winter escape. With a Christmas backdrop it's a nice warm up to get into the season.

Jump in by Shadra Strickland

Welcome Back Booklovers! I'm often looking for picture books for my nieces and nephews and when I find them I wanna share them with the world. So Bloomsbury sent me an arc of a new picture book that has officially been nephew approved.

Jump In! is a book that through beautiful illustrations highlights a community at play on a warm summer day. The kids are outside jumping rope like how my friends and I used to as a child. Even some of the elders in the neighborhood jump in to show off their moves! We need more picture books like this one where Black kids can just be.