Abby Jimenez knows how to layer difficult situations and messy complications into her rom-coms, and her main protagonists must confront and overcome past and present difficulties in order to banter their way through the story and build a sweet life together. I was hooked on the chemistry and fascinated by the significant, heartbreaking obstacles and how they might possibly be addressed to allow for love. Larissa made a split-second decision one night after a concert, when she

This classic memoir is told through letters between Hanff, living a passionate reader and writer's life in New York City, and a group of booksellers across the ocean who are struggling in postwar Great Britain. The structure allows for poignancy and wonderfully frank self-reflection. In interviews about her wonderful book The Correspondent , Virginia Evans mentioned another epistolary book, the 1970 classic memoir 84, Charing Cross Road , and I hadn't ever read it so I decide

This debut cozy novel showcases many of my favorite elements--magic, banter, a grumpy-sunshine hard-won romance, and a quest--within a charming, surprising story that I loved. The powerful dark lord Shadowfade is dead, and Violet Thistlewaite is determined to shed her identity as the Thornwitch, Shadowfade's right-hand woman, and start anew. She decides to settle in the nearby town of Dragon's Rest and open a flower shop, attempting to use her magical powers for good and to c

Newman's second charming novel centering around Rocky and her family demonstrates the characters' quirkiness, concerns, love for each other, and plenty of heart in a heartwarming, often funny, and poignant novel. Catherine Newman's novel Sandwich  focused on a family and its menopausal matriarch Rocky as its members navigated close quarters, health issues, life changes, complicated dynamics, and messy love, all while on vacation. Wreck  picks up with the same family two years

This is gorgeous Niall Williams literary fiction, centering around an Irish country village, a young man searching for his path, and his unofficial mentor, zigzagging his way through life, embracing adventure, and bridging the gap between the old ways and modernity. Quiet connections and reflections make the story, with understated poignancy, humor, and heartbreaking moments that bring the book's world to life. We’re all, all the time, striving, and though that means there’s

I feel Grinch-like panning this widely beloved story, but for me the sweetness was cloying; the tale slowed to a snail's pace as Allen explored every thought, possibility, and detail; and the twist felt jarring and was revealed too late to carry emotional weight. Theo, an elderly stranger, appears in the small town of Golden, Georgia, recognizing and appreciating locals' gifts and making them feel seen, sometimes for the first time. He admires the various portraits of locals