Welcome Back, Booklovers! If you've been following me for awhile you know I love small town romance. I love the cozy feelings it elicits. I enjoy how everyone in the community knows each other and are close. I love when they do the festivals everyone in town seems to be involved in.
This is actually two holiday short stories in one. They're both sweet romance with a tv movie feel to them. The first story is The Sweetest Valentine which follows famous actor Kelan Hunter who has come to town retracing his grandparent's steps from when they fell in love decades ago. He has their old love letters and wants to get a feel for the town for a new movie he's writing. Sydni Murray is a candy shop owner who he happens to cross paths with on his search. She's reluctant at first since she's busy preparing for the upcoming Wine & Chocolate festival but she agrees to show him around town.
I enjoyed the push and pull between the two. I thought they had great chemistry together and there was just enough tension to keep me invested in their story. Sydni had a bad breakup on Valentine's Day so she's got bitter feelings towards the holiday and is reluctant at love. Meanwhile for Kelan it's love at first sight and he's ready to change her mind.
Continuing in the same small town is Christmas in Sweetland. I love Christmas movies and I love Christmas romance. In this story Savannah is back in Sweetland housesitting for one of her grandmother's old friends and trying to take care of a newly inherited dog. The house decorating contest is a huge deal in town and Savannah needs to convince her Grinch of a new neighbor to join. Luke has plenty of dog training experience and she could certainly use his assistance getting her rowdy puppy under control.
This one had them starting out annoyed by each other before finding common ground. And ot was cute seeing them bond over family and Christmas decor.
So if you're looking for two cute and cheesy love stories with Black couples that give you the same feelings you get when you watch a TV movie I suggest checking this one out.
Welcome Back, Booklovers! I wanted to keep the gothic vibes of October going because I'm just not ready to go fully into Christmas. May latest read is set during the hot Southern summer but it gives plenty of spookiness. There's something so satisfying sometimes about sitting back and reading a middle grade novel.
In Just South of Home, Sarah is finally old enough to stay home by herself with her little brother Ellis during the day instead of spending the summer at her grandmother's house doing chores. However cousin Janie is threatening to ruin that when she joins the family for the summer while her mother runs to California for auditions. Janie is bored of their small Southern town and decides they should visit the remains of a church that was burned down by The Klan. The site is known for being cursed and everyone is warned not to take anything from the old church. Sticky-fingered Janie doesn't listen and ends up unleashing haints onto the town.
I really enjoyed the small town aspect of it where everyone knew each other and the neighbors were looking out for them. I also enjoyed the tight knit Black family in this. While Mrs. Greene is strict, judgmental, uppity, and a little colorist; she's realistic. And it's interesting to see not only how the kids interact with her but how she acts in her element as a deaconess at the church.
I enjoyed seeing Sarah and Janie get to know each other more and form a real friendship. And I thought the way this story tackled their family history was very unique and interesting. We may not always like to tackle the dark past of our country but it's important especially since so much mirrors events happening still to this day. Sarah is free to roam around her town feeling safe now but it's important to acknowledge that wasn't always the case for the Black people in her community. Mrs. Whitney, the town conjure woman goes out of her way to memorialize the victims of lynching even when other townspeople ostracize her.
Sarah is also very interested in astrophysics and it's nice seeing her enthusiasm for learning even if it sometimes makes her the subject of bullying. For anyone looking for positive representation of girl's interested in science this story has plenty.
I would've loved having a book like this when I was younger because of the way it approaches these dark subjects without feeling like a history lesson and while making it interesting and readable for children. I've spoken before with some recent reviews about how sometimes the mere mention of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, etc is enough to send some readers running in the opposite direction of a book. Sometimes it's just a matter of telling these stories in a different way we haven't seen before.
Welcome Back Booklovers! I've been in need of a Black romance to destress and give me all the feels. And Something About You was just that book I needed.
This book is set in small town Kentucky on an organic farm that also runs a bed-and-breakfast. So it was already giving me those Up Tv/Hallmark movie vibes. And it opens talking about strawberry picking on the farm. We used to go strawberry picking every year and last year was actually the last time I went so it brought back great memories of picky juicy berries straight off the vine.
Kyla is working on her PhD and has a passion for organic farming. She teaches workshops at the farm in addition to helping run healthy eating workshops at a local school and assisting with their lunch program. While speaking at the University of Kentucky's World Hunger Day conference she meets former baseball player Miles Parker. Since retiring he has gotten involved in the agriculture industry. The chemistry is instantly there as he and Kyla are both passionate about ending hunger though with different methods in mind.
Miles decides to take Kyla up on her offer of spending a week at the farm learning about organic farming. Though Mile's company specializes on genetically modified food he's up for getting his hands dirty in the fields for a week if it means getting to know Kyla better.
Though Miles is a former baseball player and a subject of tabloid fodder I liked that he really didn't have that cocky athlete persona I often read in romance. He admits he was that man in the spotlight with the supermodels at one point but you can clearly see he has changed for the better.
I liked Kyla because she was just a country girl passionate about her job. She didn't have any trauma she was recovering from and she didn't have to change herself for her love interest.
Keep in mind this is a Kimani Romance which is a backlist line from Harlequin. So if you're looking for a copy of this book you'll be either buying it used or buying the ebook. But if you're looking for a light read with Black people in love in a setting you don't always see I would check this one out.
I know during this time many of you are looking for something light-hearted to take your mind off everything going on in the world right now.
I read this one when it originally released back in 2018. I've already spoken about my love hate relationship with cozy mysteries in the past. Sometimes I crave a light-hearted mystery but I don't like reading a completely white world. And most cozy mysteries are very white. So at the time of this post the Kindle Edition of this story is 99 cents!
https://amzn.to/2RB9686
Romaine Wilder is a medical examiner as opposed to a baker, restaurant owner, or homemaker usually present in cozy mysteries. It adds an interesting element that allows her to have a legitimate reason to work closely with the sheriff on the case and receive key details to the case. She performs the autopsy and helps determine the victim's cause of death. Often in these stories the lead just happens to conveniently overhear details or people around town are so charmed by her they easily spill details. And when you're reading a lot of cozy mystery series in a row like I was at one point it can become a slight annoyance.
But if you want someone who goes around pushing and probing people for details her Auntie Zanne does that in her determination to solve the case and absolve her best friend of a murder charge. Auntie Zanne is that family member you love one minute and then they grate your nerves the next. She's a New Orleans Creole Queen with a touch of Texan Southern Belle. Auntie Zanne is well known around town for being involved in just about every committee and for her business the Ball Funeral Home & Crematorium. Her occupation and natural need to be involved put her right in the middle of the drama. She tends to narrow in on one suspect and convinces herself they are the murder while trying to twist the clues to fit them. This is the opposite of Romaine who is trying not to accuse anyone without the proper facts.
My only complaint about Auntie Zanne that sometimes her big personality and pushiness outshines Romaine as she drags her from place to place determined to solve the mystery in between planning the county's big festival. I haven't had the chance to read the rest of the series to see if that changed.
All in all it's a fun story set down south that will have you craving some sweet tea and crawfish pies.
This post was inspired by a recent discussion. And during Women's History Month I think it's more important than ever to raise this discussion. There are hundreds of Middle Grade books released every year but when it comes to suggestions for books for little black girls in that 10-13 age range I find people don't know what to recommend. Sure they can read the same books as their white peers but what about when they want to see themselves reflected in the stories?
When I was in that age range I read mostly white books if I wanted to read a carefree relatable story or a magical fantasy. The other black girls I grew up around weren't interested in reading. That was something for white girls I was told. Being young and innocent was considered a privileged for white girls. Most of my black girl peers had moved on to adult movies because there were no movies for black girls our age. I had a mother who fostered my love of reading and let me be a carefree child while doing her best to make me feel comfortable in my blackness.
Little black girls don't have enough media marketed towards them. I've seen people make reading suggestions for these young girls more suited for older teens and adults. I've heard my peers state as young girls they were suggested adult reads to relate to. It's pretty much expected for black girls to move on from being little girls to adults. They're not viewed in society as innocent like their peers. There are studies to back this up showing that black girls aged 5-9 are assumed to need less support and protection and know more about adult topics.
Let's keep our girls innocent and not contribute to the adultification of black girls. Let's give them realistic fiction but let's also give them stories where they can see themselves depicted in fantastical worlds. Let's give them their stories of just navigating the life of a young girl going to school and meeting new friends.
We can't just push them towards young adult or adult books where there are themes they may not be able to relate to or are not quite ready emotionally to explore. There are some amazing authors writing contemporary and fantasy stories for our girls. Here's some 2020 release recommendations for the young girls in your lives. Buy or request through your local library.
From the Desk of Zoe Washington
Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?
A crime he says he never committed.
Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge.
But with bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies.
Ways to Make Sunshine
Ryan Hart loves to spend time with her friends, loves to invent recipes, and has a lot on her mind—school, self-image, and family. Her dad finally has a new job, but money is tight. That means changes like selling their second car and moving into a new (old) house. But Ryan is a girl who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. Because Ryan is all about trying to see the best. Even when things aren’t all she would wish for—her brother is infuriating, her parents don’t understand, when her recipes don’t turn out right, and when the unexpected occurs—she can find a way forward, with wit and plenty of sunshine.
Ghost Squad
Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd's witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely's firefly spirits before it's too late.
Something to Say
Eleven-year-old Jenae doesn’t have any friends—and she’s just fine with that. She’s so good at being invisible in school, it’s almost like she has a superpower, like her idol, Astrid Dane. At home, Jenae has plenty of company, like her no-nonsense mama; her older brother, Malcolm, who is home from college after a basketball injury; and her beloved grandpa, Gee.
Then a new student shows up at school—a boy named Aubrey with fiery red hair and a smile that won’t quit. Jenae can’t figure out why he keeps popping up everywhere she goes. The more she tries to push him away, the more he seems determined to be her friend. Despite herself, Jenae starts getting used to having him around.
But when the two are paired up for a class debate about the proposed name change for their school, Jenae knows this new friendship has an expiration date. Aubrey is desperate to win and earn a coveted spot on the debate team.
There’s just one problem: Jenae would do almost anything to avoid speaking up in front of an audience—including risking the first real friendship she’s ever had.
Hide and Seeker
Don't let the Seeker find you!
Twelve-year-old Zee is back now. He disappeared for a year and nobody knows where he went or what happened to him. Not even his best friends Justin, Nia, and Lyric. But ever since Zee has been back, he's been... different. After Zee freaks out at his friends playing hide-and-seek at an odd party in his backyard -- the first time his friends are back together since his reappearance -- strange things begin to occur. Everyone who played in the game has a mark on their wrist. And then they disappear.
The kids are pulled into a shadow world -- the Nowhere -- ruled by the monstrous, shape-shifting Seeker. Justin and his friends will have to band together and face their worst nightmares to defeat the Seeker or lose themselves to the Nowhere forever.
When Life Gives You Mangos
Twelve-year-old Clara lives on an island that visitors call exotic. But there's nothing exotic about it to Clara. She loves eating ripe mangos off the ground, running outside in the rain with her Papa during rainy season, and going to her secret hideout with Gaynah—even though lately she's not acting like a best friend.
The only thing out of the ordinary for Clara is that something happened to her memory that made her forget everything that happened last summer after a hurricane hit. Sometimes things come back to her in drips like a tap that hasn't been turned off properly. Other times her Mama fills in the blanks...only she knows those aren't her memories and it is hard feeling like she is not like everybody else.
But this summer is going to be different for Clara. Everyone is buzzing with excitement over a new girl in the village who is not like other visitors. She is about to make big waves on the island—and give Clara a summer she won't forget.
Maya and the Rising Dark
Twelve-year-old Maya is the only one in her South Side Chicago neighborhood who witnesses weird occurrences like werehyenas stalking the streets at night and a scary man made of shadows plaguing her dreams. Her friends try to find an explanation—perhaps a ghost uprising or a lunchroom experiment gone awry. But to Maya, it sounds like something from one of Papa’s stories or her favorite comics.
When Papa goes missing, Maya is thrust into a world both strange and familiar as she uncovers the truth. Her father is the guardian of the veil between our world and the Dark—where an army led by the Lord of Shadows, the man from Maya’s nightmares, awaits. Maya herself is a godling, half orisha and half human, and her neighborhood is a safe haven. But now that the veil is failing, the Lord of Shadows is determined to destroy the human world and it’s up to Maya to stop him. She just hopes she can do it in time to attend Comic-Con before summer’s over.
Forever This Summer
Georgie has no idea what to expect when she, Mama, and Peaches are plopped down in the middle of nowhere--AKA Bogalusa, Louisiana. G-baby wants to help out at the famous family diner that once served celebrities like the Jackson 5 and the Supremes, but with restaurateur Great Aunt Elvie needing help remembering day-to-day things, everyone is too busy to show G-baby the ropes.G-baby makes friends with Markie, a foster kid under Aunt Elvie's care, who has a short arm caused by something called ULD and a huge singing voice. When G-baby's best friend, Nikki, comes to visit they realize that the kids in town don't have a place to hang out like their Boys & Girls club in Atlanta. G-baby, Nikki, and Markie embark on a mission to start a club of their own: the Bogalusa Summer Club. Since clubs aren't exactly free, they decide to put on a talent show to raise money. Along the way, G-baby will discover an unexpected talent of her own: fighting for what's fair and right even when everything is stacked against you
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My TBR is ever growing. Every time I get halfway through it I'm either gifted a bunch of new books or there's some books on sale for $1.99. Here are all the books on my TBR for January, February and early March.
Daughters of Nri by Reni K Amayo
I actually pre-ordered this last year. I've just been so busy reading other books. But I'm finally starting this one because it's the book on January for the Brown Girls Book Club. Isn't that cover gorgeous?
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
I've heard so many great things about this book. This was a Christmas gift and I just know I'll love it. Egg Drop Dead by Vivien Chen
I want to read more cozy mystery but I get bored of the ones with only white leads. This one has a biracial lead and the lead runs a Noodle shop. I only read one book in the series so far and this is the fifth book of a 6 book series. I received an arc from St. Martin's Press.
A Phoenix First Must Burn Edited by Patrice Caldwell
I won an arc in a giveaway run by Bookish First(use my referral code f2f0690dd0768f611 when you sign up to earn an extra 100 points towards free books) and this is one of my most anticipated books of the year. It's a Black girl magic anthology with 16 black YA fantasy stories by black female authors.
Silverworld by Diana Abu-Jaber
I received an arc of this one from Random House Children's Crown Books for Young Readers. I like reading Middle Grade Fantasy because unlike YA Fantasy there's no romance so they focus more on the action and world building. And there's more diverse MG fantasies being released this year
Lemon Filled Disaster by Tyra Moody
I heard good things about the other books in this series and I love to read mysteries by black authors. So when I saw this for $.99 you know I had to make a purchase.
Since today is the release day I wanted to boost this contemporary romance. I was very luckily to receive an arc from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Sweet Talkin' Lover: A Girls Trip Novel is the first in a new series about a group of girlfriends who each find their own love story.
I do want to point out that despite the series name of Girls Trip the trip was at the very beginning of the story and didn't play a significant part of the plot. It was just a quick introduction of the women you will be seeing in future novels. So if you're expecting something similar to the movies Girl's Trip complete with drunken shenanigans this is not that story. However this is still a great romance. I'm hoping the annual trips will have a larger role in future stories.
The cover though gorgeous is a little misleading because it makes you believe this is a spring or summer romance. The fireworks actually give me 4th of July feels. This is a fall romance.
That being said this was a good story. Once I got into it I devoured it like candy. You know those movies that you see on Hallmark and sometimes Netflix where the big city workaholic woman ends up on assignment in a small town? This is like one of those except with a black women as the lead and plenty of sexy scenes.
Our story opens with Caila experiencing a loss and then struggling to overcome it. She's so concerned with hiding her emotions and covering up her feelings that it starts to affect her work. She is sent to a small town named Bradleton to evaluate a plant that has been producing cosmetics for one of the brands her company recently acquired. I liked that we didn't just hear about what a hard worker Caila is, we were shown. She spends most of the trip with her friends working and is very clear about her career goals.
Bradleton is a small Southern town that's all about family, tradition, and football. The entire town is automatically against her since her mission is to shut down the plant which employs many of the citizens. Caila meets Mayor Wyatt Bradley aka Mayor McHottie who is determined to get her to appreciate what the town has to offer. Cue the friday night lights, pumpkin cheesecake bars, and hayrides.
