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featuring an oddball cast of characters, satisfying justice, love, chosen family, funny dialogue, and heartwarming This is heartwarming and shies away from being too cute yet is consistently charming.

This quiet, epistolary novel witnesses the creaky, sometimes difficult shifts and realizations that a septuagenarian achieves around her health, children, past secrets, friendship, romantic relationships, and previously unknown blood relatives near the end of her life. I had in my possession a prepublication version of this book in the spring, but it slipped through the cracks until two friends shared their rave reviews of the title this summer, whereupon I fell in love with the idea of the novel and bought the audiobook on Libro.fm because the Libby list was so long at the library. Just recently I realized that I owned that prepublication edition and began reading, until a third friend strongly suggested I listen to my audiobook version, which I then did. Anyhoo, I feel like this book and I have been circling each other since early May, and I was so delighted as I finally dove into this charming novel. Sybil Van Antwerp has written letters her whole life--letters to dear friends and family, letters of complaint, letters of praise and wonder to authors of books she's loved, and more. She reflects, sorts out her thoughts and makes sense of the events of the world. Now Sybil is in her late 70s, she's set in her ways, she's sometimes out of step and old-fashioned, often grumpy--and she's facing immense changes. We find out early on that she faces the impending loss of her sight, that she is somewhat estranged from her daughter, that deep tragedy has shaped her life and closed off her heart, and that she may be stumbling into information about her biological parents. She's never welcomed change before, but maybe, just maybe, she will be able to shift her perspective and open herself up to some pivotal new experiences in the life she has left. It's lovely to witness Sybil's slowly allowing herself to face the past, addressing difficult issues in the present, and allowing for surprising adventures in her life. The Correspondent offers messy, imperfect characters in often difficult situations, and they find their way through having changed and grown. This was charming and I loved both reading this novel and listening to the audio version of this title. The Correspondent was the right book at the right time for me. I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Crown Publishing. More Epistolary Novels This is Virginia Evans's first novel. I do love a novel in letters. To find Bossy reviews of other books I've read, please check out the titles at this link .

This is zany, heartwarming, often funny, and just lovely. This was wryly funny, sometimes zany, and so very heartwarming.

The shadowy, eerie tone of the first title in Gillig's Stonewater Kingdom series gives way to heartwarming gray setting and oppressive corruption and greed surrounding our main characters feel satisfyingly heartwarming

Josie Silver's lovely book is heartwarming and doesn't feel overly sentimental. Josie Silver's lovely book is heartwarming and doesn't feel overly sentimental or emotionally manipulative #alternatereality, #heartwarming, #threestarbookreview

show dog "best" and what happens behind the scenes of dog shows in this intriguing, good-natured, and heartwarming In a fascinating, heartwarming, lovely account, Tomlinson spends three years traveling dog shows across Dogland is often fun, intriguing in its peeks behind the scenes, and heartwarming in the deep dog-human

for the Hills is the most recent Kevin Wilson gem; his quirky characters are irresistible, and his heartwarming

Abby Jimenez layers tough situations and messy complications into her rom-coms, and here, her main protagonists must face and overcome past and present difficulties in order to banter their way through the story and build a sweet life together. Samantha creates zippy social media posts for a local mustard company (I kept feeling surprise, but also joy, that this job seemed to provide a sustainable salary)--and she doesn't take any attitude from anyone. Xavier is a young veterinarian who feels grumpy, exhausted, and as though he may be losing faith in humanity--but he loves the animals he cares for. After one disastrous encounter involving a rescued kitten with a serious congenital disorder, then one magical, extended date, the two are falling for each other. But Xavier's painful past and Samantha's challenging present might make a future for the two impossible. Jimenez never shies away from including heavy themes and tough situations in her rom-coms. Here, childhood abuse, animal abuse, and dementia are all part of Xavier and Samantha's past and present stories, so nothing is too easy on their path to togetherness. Family and business circumstances add realistic chaos and unpredictability to the couple's plans for a melded life together, and when they must wait and delay their combined life, then break up because it's too difficult to cope with forced distance, their reasoning feels sound, if heartbreaking. Jimenez writes irresistible characters, and I loved the weight of the difficulties behind this sweet story of love. I received a prepublication audiobook edition of Say You'll Remember Me  courtesy of Hachette Audio and Libro.fm . More Abby Jimenez love Jimenez is also the author of Just for the Summer   (one of my Favorite Rom-Coms of the Year  last year), Part of Your World , Yours Truly , The Friend Zone , and The Happy-Ever-After Playlist .

This short novel explores an alternate-history, near-future, post-war San Francisco in which robots come online and create a noodle shop that bridges the gaps between themselves and humans. Newitz offers a cozy story of an unlikely safe haven for all. In a San Francisco of the near future, a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned kitchen after a war in which California split from the rest of the United States. Looking for a purpose, they begin to do what they do best: cook. Before they had autonomy or options to decide their fates, they were tasked with cooking food that even they could tell was mediocre--and they can't even eat. But now they work both within and outside an upheaved system, leveraging their ability as robots to access information to figure out who owns the storefront where they've reanimated (and buy it), then optimizing their ability to make objectively delicious, appealing food for humans--while turning profits that buy freedom for those of them stuck in employment serfdom. The robots suffer from prejudice and bear the brunt of fear-mongering from much of society. But they manage to touch the lives of those in their neighborhood looking for reliable, high-quality food by producing the best (robot-) hand-pulled noodles around and offering a charming takeout storefront. When a series of vindictive, one-star reviews threaten their business, they must figure out who has it in for them and why. Being pushed to their limits calls for exceptional sleuthing, creativity, and efficiency. Without fear of ruin, each of them wouldn't so fully embrace their roles and abilities, bond as deeply--nor create the safe haven for humans and robots alike that is a gift to all. I love a science-fiction story in which elements of humanity are explored, I love an alternate-history tale, and I love a chosen-family element. Newitz provides all three in a cozy story that charmed me through both funny and poignant moments. This was sweet and strange, and I really liked it. I received a prepublication edition of this title, published August 5, courtesy of NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group. More about the Author Annalee Newitz is also the author of The Terraformers , Autonomous , The Future of Another Timeline , and other books.

The main male protagonist was off-putting to me in his arrogance at first, but Carley Fortune is the best at developing a lakeside romance story with characters I root for and steamy, poignant, friendship-based relationships I love. This is a great summer read. Is it even summer without a new lake-set summer romance from the wonderful Carley Fortune? My friend Rachel recommended Carley Fortune's newest book, and I'm so glad I pushed it to the top of my to-read list. Alice's career as a photographer really began the summer she spent with her grandmother Nan at family friends' lake house. Shy Alice watched more than she participated in lake life--and she took a photo of three smiling teenagers on a yellow boat, and it seemed to set everything else in motion. Now she's feeling disillusioned with the airbrushing and false scenes she's forced to create in her job rather than capturing something real. So when Nan falls and breaks her hip and needs a pick-me-up, Alice arranges for them to return to the cabin where she spent that pivotal summer. But handsome, mischievous Charlie Florek, one of the subjects of that long-ago photo, seems to be everywhere she turns--and she can't hide behind her lens anymore. The character of Charlie was so very cocky at the start of the book, I found him somewhat irritating and off-putting. But he seems to be beyond confident, so Alice has nothing to lose by being herself. In fact, her shyness begins to disappear altogether as they develop a friendship--with flirting and some poignant moments of vulnerability. Fortune drops some breadcrumbs regarding the Issue Sure to Keep Them Apart, which follows The Desire to Not Ruin the Friendship (a concern that seems heartbreakingly valid). The steamy scenes didn't invite involuntary squealing or cringing on my part--they couple is really drawn to each other, and there's a tantalizing teasing aspect to their slowing down the physical progression of the friends-with-benefits arrangement. I loved the eventual relationship between Charlie and Alice, and I loved their love. One Golden Summer features characters Percy (Persephone) and Sam (Charlie's brother) from Every Summer After , which is the story of their romance. Fortune has said that readers were clamoring for Charlie's happy ever after. She felt that once she developed a strong female character with her own rich backstory, Fortune was able to tell the story she wanted to about Charlie. Love for Author Carley Fortune Carley Fortune is also the author of Meet Me at the Lake  and Every Summer After as well as This Summer Will Be Different.

Much of The Safekeep feels claustrophobic, quiet, and hopeless, but unexpected shifts late in the story turn accepted histories on their heads, opening the door for newly imagined futures of the characters' dreams. It's the summer of 1961 in the rural Dutch province of Overijssel, and rigid Isabel is a spinster in self-prescribed rigidity, adhering to strict schedules and a quiet life in her late mother's home--where she resides at the whim of her brothers, who, as men, own the house (but do not live there). When her playboy brother Louis drops his gauche girlfriend Eva to stay--for at least a month! in their mother's old room!--Isabel is more than a little upset. Isabel is already paranoid that her meek weekly maid is stealing from her. She becomes obsessed with the small items that begin to disappear after Eva's arrival...then she becomes obsessed with wild Eva herself. Eva's curiosity, enthusiasm for the world, and embracing of new experiences begin to seep into Isabel's experience. Isabel is initially annoyed, then inexplicably drawn to Eva--and eventually a torrid love affair begins between the women. Yet most of their feelings and hopes and thoughts are unexpressed. Theirs is largely a halting, unsure, almost silent, sexually driven relationship. A mix of unexplained actions and conflict, Louis's imminent return, and Isabel's discovery of what seems to be Eva's greed (in the form of a detailed hand-written ledger of Isabel's household items) come to a head and cause the women to dramatically split. Isabel is physically ill for a long period as a result, and Eva disappears. But approximately three quarters of the way through the book, the story's perspective changes to Eva's, exploring her past, her reason for having pursued the foolish Louis, the truth of her unexpected but real affections for Isabel, and her deep link to Isabel's family and home. Shocking revelations shifted my thinking about the book's various relationships and made me question the basis for the story's loyalties and for the accepted family histories that drive the characters for much of the novel. Eva's tone as shown in this section was surprisingly chatty, and she is shown to be savvy and determined--whereas for the majority of the book she has presented herself as silly, naive, and guileless. For a resolution to their personal and romantic troubles, both women will need to be more brave and more emotionally open than either has ever dreamed. This felt almost gothic in its initial darkness and hopelessness, then took me by surprise by blooming into a story about coming into one's own and defying expectations to find healing and love. I listened to The Safekeep , which was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, as an audiobook. I'd love to hear your Bossy thoughts about this book! This is Yael van der Wouden's first book.

blow of the main protagonist's early-onset Alzheimer's with a zany romp, lots of love for books, and heartwarming

The story is a fascinating study of relationships, with heartwarming moments and heartbreaking developments

Katherine Center's sweet rom-com about a video producer and her reluctant hero of a subject is set against the colorful backdrop of Key West. The appealingly playful love story incorporates issues of body image, job insecurity, and past tragedy in a lighthearted and charming novel. Katie Vaughn has been single for a year, since her former fianc é , an up-and-coming musician, hit it big and then very publicly cheated on her with a pop star. She's a mid-level video producer on the verge of a layoff--unless she accepts a job in which she documents the life of Coast Guard rescue swimmer Hutch Hutcheson, an everyday hero who rose to fame when he happened to save Jennifer Aniston's golden retriever. And he's not interested in being filmed. He lives in Key West, and much of the footage will be taken in and around the water. Katie doesn't disclose that she can't swim, but surely there will be precautions taken, life vests forthcoming, and she can probably even film from the deck of the boat...right? The banter made me laugh at times, and I bought the attraction between Katie and Hutch, as well as the "reasons" (all solvable, folks!) that they must not be together. Katie's evolution in considering and coping with body image issues felt valuable and compelling. Supporting characters are great, colorful, and add nice layers of interconnectedness to the story. While the roadblock issue of not swimming is easily resolved (in convenient fashion, so that the two main protagonists can spend time together), a bigger, more problematic secret emerges to keep the tension going. The famous ex fades away as an issue as the story goes on. The crisis that forms toward the end felt over the top and drawn out, with a rom-com-easy resolution, but by that point I was ready for anything Center was throwing my way. This is not a racy book, and the attraction and relationship are focused on emotions and wanting to be together without being swoony or angsty. I received a prepublication version of this title (which was published May 20) courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. More Katherine Center and Rom-Com Love Katherine Center is also the author of The Rom-Commers , Hello Stranger , What You Wish For , Things You Save in a Fire , The Bodyguard , and other books.

sweet, funny dialogue; a complicated reunion between old flames; and a hometown return that's both heartwarming

Ishida's offbeat, heartwarming story of unconventional "medicine" in the form of cats explores interconnectedness My book club will be discussing this heartwarming novel next year. If you're looking for more heartwarming stories, you might like my Bossy reviews of books like these

In Kristy Boyce's young-adult charmer, high schoolers Riley and Nathan, coworkers who have nothing in common, end up in a fake-dating drama as they try to win over their love interests. High schooler Riley has a grand plan to become a Broadway director. But the always-epic school musical has been canceled because the school thinks there isn't enough support for it. So first she wants to get the spring musical set, then she'll mastermind her future. But when she borrows her mom's car without permission (to go see Waitress out of town with her best friend, so: worth it) and gets grounded, she suddenly has to spend afternoons working at her father's game store instead. Determined not to give up on the musical, Riley sneaks and works on a master plan for a performance--and talks her unfriendly teen coworker, Nathan, into making his gamer crush jealous by doing some convincing flirting with him. Meanwhile, she agrees to take part in some nerdy game play. But role-playing in Nathan's Dungeons & Dragons game turns out to be...fun. And liking Nathan is starting to feel like less of an act than simply a reality. I love a fake-dating premise, and the Nathan-Riley setup is irresistible. I was hooked on their ups and downs--and the reasons for their "downs" are plausible enough that I loved rolling with them. The supporting characters and their side plots are funny and oddball and cute. This was a sweet world that I loved spending time in, and the fact that absolutely everything works out is immensely satisfying. I received an electronic edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press. More rom-com love! For more Bossy reviews of rom-com stories I've loved, please check out the titles at this link . The second book in this series is Dating and Dragons .

jaunt--and along the way allow long-held vulnerabilities to fall away in this beautiful, heartbreaking, heartwarming

a death and allows for a fresh start--which might push the bounds of realism but offers a hopeful, heartwarming

A Quiet Life was lovely and heartwarming but didn't feel too easy and was never cloying.

Keegan offers a gorgeously wrought Irish story of childhood, hope, love, and loss that is spare, lovely, heartbreaking, and that brought me to tears. “You don’t ever have to say anything," he says. "Always remember that as a thing you need never do. Many’s the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing.” In Claire Keegan's slim novel Foster, a young girl in Ireland is taken by her unreliable, frequently drunk gambler of a father to spend the hot summer with previously unknown-to-her relatives, a couple living on a rural farm. Her bitter mother has just had another baby, and her various other siblings are fighting for resources. Her home life is hectic, hardscrabble, and emotionally cold, but she has never known life to be any other way. It’s a hard feeling but as we walk along I begin to settle and let the difference between my life at home and the one I have here be. The loving, affectionate household in the country allows her to feel more open and secure than she has before. She has plenty to eat, useful work to do, she learns to love books, she finds laughter. She can't help wondering if she might possibly be here to stay of if she'll be thrust back into her rough home, and which she'd prefer. Summer is ending, and there's a mysterious, unspoken, dark undercurrent at the Kinsellas'. I absolutely adored this book. It's beautiful, spare, and powerful. I was brought to tears at the end. I'm in for all Claire Keegan books forever now and just ordered her story collection Antarctica through my local bookstore. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I loved Claire Keegan's novel Small Things Like These, about Irish-small-town coal salesman Bill Furlong. Each of his small choices build to a crescendo of spilled secrets and an upended decades-old system of cruelties and greed. You can check out my Bossy review of Small Things Like These here. Keegan is also the author of the story collections Antarctica and Walk the Blue Fields as well as the novella The Forester's Daughter, all of which I plan to read.

Henry's story-within-a-story adds a historical fiction element to her signature big-hearted, banter-driven, steamy, intriguingly complicated interpersonal dynamic exploration in Great Big Beautiful Life . This is an excellent rom-com with enough weighty themes to offer appealing depth. Alice Scott is a celebrity feature writer for The Scratch in LA. She's got a sunny disposition, wears bright, cheery colors, and is hoping for her first big writing break. Hayden Anderson, from New York, has won a Pulitzer Prize and is humorless, highly scheduled, and work-obsessed. They're both currently on Georgia's tiny Little Crescent Island, vying to become the memoir author for the reclusive former tabloid darling Margaret Ives, whose whereabouts have long been unknown to the general public. But each writer has what feel like the opposite approach, manner, and voice from the other--and they're not sure how they became the two trial candidates for the job of a lifetime. In separate interviews with each writer, Margaret recounts her family's checkered past as well as memories of her own true love and famous relationship with Cosmo, who died years earlier in a terrible accident. But Margaret is still wary of the press and jaded by the spin that has shaped her public persona for decades, and she's clearly not telling either of them the whole story. Their strict NDAs mean Alice and Hayden can't talk about their work, and they're developing more questions than answers. Why is Margaret willing to share her personal tale now? What is she hiding? And what on earth is her purpose in stringing along Hayden and Alice for a month--if she even intends to follow through with this project, which they're each beginning to doubt? But the writers can't deny that opposites are attracting in inconvenient fashion in their case. They're drawn to each other and discover unexpected joy, emotional intimacy, steaminess, and maybe even a promise of something real together. Henry brings her signature warmth, great banter, and sultry romance to this story within a story. I loved the historical fiction aspect of Margaret's recounting of her history. This is an excellent rom-com with weighty themes that make it all feel anchored in something real. I got a little teary during some of the characters' vulnerability at the end, and I laughed out loud at times too. I received a prepublication audiobook edition of this title, to be published April 22, courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio and Libro.fm.   More Emily Henry love Henry's Beach Read  was one of my favorite books the year I read it, and it also made it onto the Greedy Reading List Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism . People We Meet on Vacation  was another great Henry story; you can check out my review here , and you might like to check it out on the Greedy Reading List Six More Great Light Fiction Stories . Emily Henry is also the author of Funny Story (one of my Favorite Reads of the Year ), Happy Place , and Book Lovers .

Katherine Center offers a writing-focused story in which forced proximity, past secrets, complicated life circumstances, and a fear of vulnerability complicate the professional and personal lives of an unlikely writing duo. Emma Wheeler writes romantic comedies, and she longs to be a screenwriter. But her life in Texas is complicated: her father requires a full-time caregiver, and Emma is it. When, due to her promising talent and her best friend from high school (who's now a high-powered agent), Emma gets the chance to rework a script by the famous screenwriter Charlie Yates (whose works and quotes are posted all over her room), she bends over backward to make it happen. Her sister steps in to help with their dad at home, and Emma moves to Los Angeles for six weeks of inspiring, career-building, lucrative, and life-changing work. Only, the last thing Charlie Yates wants is someone changing his (terrible) script. He doesn't even believe in love, and he's quite certain that Emma is not a solution to any of his problems. In fact, he seems determined to undermine any potential progress on the script, which puts Emma in a terrible position. Oh, and because of several (ahem, rom-com-type) issues, Emma is living in Charles's house for the duration of the project. And Charles's documentary-filmmaker ex-wife is showing up unannounced, seemingly protective of Charles. Can Emma make Charles believe in true love long enough for them to create something wonderful? Or will the growing obstacles in their path keep them not only from building a great script, but from each other? As in all good rom-coms, there's a conflict keeping the potential couple apart, and I appreciated the nuances of this one. Center doesn't rely on a miscommunication trope (my very least favorite), and I could see where both sides were coming from emotionally within their prolonged heartbreak of having to be apart. There's a romantic gesture centering around a script, and it didn't quite sit right with me (regarding who wrote it, who is credited, etc.). But I loved the book's focus on writing, the peek at L.A. life and the movie industry, and that Emma and Charles are both fish out of water who only find peace and success both professionally and personally when they are true to themselves. I listened to The Rom-Commers as an audiobook courtesy of NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Katherine Center is also the author of Hello Stranger, What You Wish For, Things You Save in a Fire, The Bodyguard, How to Walk Away, Happiness for Beginners, and other books.

Christina Lauren The True Love Experiment is a wonderful, romantic read about forbidden attraction and heartwarming lovely and sweet, I adored the whole story, the characters, the growth, the banter, the heartbreaking, heartwarming

​Frankel's story of a nontraditional, loving, zany family flips traditional views of unplanned, young pregnancy through the view of a main protagonist who refuses to fear, feel shame, or to regret the sometimes complicated occurrences in her life. “Not all stories of adoption are stories of pain and regret. Not even most of them. Why don’t we ever get that movie?” India Allwood always knew she wanted to act. Each decision she made as a young person was done toward trying to shape her future as an actor. Now a grown-up, successful actor, she's supposed to be doing the publicity for her new movie, which exploits the heartbreak of giving a baby up for adoption. India generally keeps her strong opinions about the world to herself (or shares them with her two kids or trusted agent), but she honestly thinks the movie is no good--and that adoption is often not a tragic story. She is, herself, an adoptive mother who believes in the process--and she has a complicated past that adds layers to her feelings about the matter. When she shares her frank thoughts about the complex issues surrounding unplanned pregnancy, a storm of publicity explodes around her. Her precocious ten-year-old kids secretly reach out to family for help--but even India doesn't realize the ripple effect of the contact her beloved children are making. This is your wide, strange, remarkable family in the world, she said. These are your ancestors, progenitors, and forebears. This is your story. I was frequently distracted, as I didn't feel like Jack and Fig's age of ten really fit. Kids are more sage in some ways and more youthful in others. But the twins generally felt older, wiser, and more capable of complex thought and carrying out elaborate plans (and holding secrets) than most ten-year-olds I know. They were able to infer a great deal about the world and how it works--far more than I would have anticipated, even considering their difficult beginnings and the emotional maturity demanded of them as a result. Yet the story includes what felt like too-frequent "cute" misnomers (for example, when Jack is told about forebears, he exclaims nonsensically, "I want four bears!"; when Fig is told they must travel incognito, she conveniently doesn't use context clues, instead replying, "But we don't have a cognito.") Kids say the darnedest and adorable things, but these instances pulled me out of the story each time they occurred. The character of India turns rigid, conservative views on unplanned pregnancy, young pregnancy, and adoption on their heads. While I did find myself cringing and wishing she followed through on the birth control that would ensure her freedom from difficult choices resulting from a surprise pregnancy, India refuses to feel regret, shame, or fear. I had to check my assumptions repeatedly as I entered into her mindset around her version of personal choice and freedom. Family Family offers so much varied love and acceptance, discovery, and renewed connection. I also loved the peek at a celebrity's home life. You can see the rough sketches of where the novel is going, but the extended, loving, odd, sometimes zany family was unexpected in its makeup and irresistible in its existence within this charming story from Frankel. When are They going to make this into a television series, hmmm? Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Laurie Frankel is also the author of This Is How It Always Is, One Two Three, The Atlas of Love, and Goodbye for Now.

In this heartwarming story of wonderfully faulted characters who face tragedy and often make a mess of

In The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream, Jeannie Zusy offers a messy, heartwarming family story

bonds deeper than either could have imagined; the love story between the bridge and Gore is strange, heartwarming

The Everlasting involves jaunts through multiple versions of the same story, as our fantastic main protagonists shift and change, bravely outsmart those who would control them, dare to hope for a future together, and fight dark forces until the bitter end. This is adventure-heavy, sometimes tender, and always intriguing. I loved it. Sir Una Everlasting was a legendary knight in the kingdom of Dominion, an orphan who rose to greatness and died in service to her queen. Her bravery is the stuff of fables, but her real story is no longer remembered. Centuries after her death, spindly, awkward, cowardly historian Owen Mallory unearths her story--and becomes inexorably intertwined with the events of Una's life as they occur in the past. The queen Una faithfully served is using Una for her own dastardly purposes, but the extent of her manipulation and ambitions has been hidden--until now. She will break Una before allowing her to be free. Harrow's tale involves multiple do-overs and attempts to shift events and alter reality--while the unlikely couple of Una and Owen fall in love again and again. If Una and Owen are going to change the way history is remembered--or have a chance at a life together--they'll have to work within their queen's bonds, yet reimagine the possibilities for the world around them and their union. The Everlasting is filled with rich adventure; twisty jaunts through time; tragedy and loss; dark turns, boundless hope; messy, happy discoveries; outsmarting those in power; and noble victories. It ticked a million boxes for me as a reader. This is the type of romantic fantasy I adore. No swooning, childish behavior, or foolishness, just hard-won connections, deep character development, bravely defying expectations, and absolutely lovely love. This broke my heart and mended it over and over, in the best ways possible. I love Alix E. Harrow's writing style and worldbuilding, and I loved The Everlasting . I received a prepublication version of this title, published October 28, courtesy of NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group. More Great Books from Alix E. Harrow Alix E. Harrow is also the author of the wonderful The Once and Future Witches , Starling House , and The Ten Thousand Doors of January , as well as A Spindle Splintered , A Mirror Mended , The Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage , and Fractured Fables .

is playful, brusque, bossy, and connects an unlikely cast of characters, all murder suspects, into a heartwarming I listened to the playful, heartwarming Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers as an audiobook,

Heartwarming books and quirky fiction were two types of stories that suited me then and still hit the please see Darling Rose Gold. 03 When We Were Vikings by Andrew David Macdonald I loved this offbeat, heartwarming

I loved Sunny's body positivity and her self-made-woman status. I didn't fully buy into one of her love interests but was hooked on the peeks behind the scenes of the fashion industry. Sunny Greene is a 35-year-old, recently divorced head of her own PR firm. She's struggling to find clothing to complement her plus-sized figure, and she's determined not to go to her little brother's pending wedding without a date. She's got deeply loyal and inspiring newly divorced friends to lean on, a body- and sex-positive lifestyle, and some tantalizing dating prospects. So why can't she simply shake off the fact that nothing in the Bergdorf Goodman swimsuit section comes even close to fitting a woman over a size 10? The body-positivity in Sunny Side Up was a highlight, as was the group of Sunny's bright, supportive fellow divorcee friends (and her mentee at work), but the standout for me here was the peek into the fashion industry as Sunny continually Handles It and makes her dreams come true--thereby also taking care of fashion-conscious plus-sized women everywhere. The voicing of her Queens-native love interest didn't ring true to me, and while he was very nice, I was partially turned off by his many corny jokes, which didn't land for me. Her ex is purely selfish and easy to detest, and another love interest turns out to be more focused on money than Sunny herself. Ultimately, Sunny listens to her inner voice and doesn't settle for anyone who wants her to be less than she is. I loved Sunny's independence, savvy abilities, strong will, and, of course, her fashion sense. More about Sunny I received an audiobook version of Sunny Side Up courtesy of Libro.fm and   Macmillan Audio. Katie Sturino is a body-acceptance advocate who is also the author of Body Talk: How to Embrace Your Body and Start Living Your Best Life.

Thorpe's irresistible character of 19-year-old Margo discovers her strength, drive, creativity, and vulnerability after becoming pregnant. She defies societal expectations to provide for her baby and to find fulfillment in her personal and professional life. Margo is a 19-year-old community college student having an affair with her married professor. When she finds that she's pregnant, she begins a winding path to figuring out her life that mainly entails defying most of the stereotypes of a young single mother. She is told she will receive zero support from the baby's father; she loses two roommates due to the baby's crying; she receives little practical help from her mother; and she loses her job. Yet she finds a true friend in her last remaining roommate, who until then seemed primarily a source of rent; she finds a strange and fulfilling new relationship with her estranged father, a former professional wrestler; and she dives into an unorthodox new profession in order to secure a financial future for her family. Thorpe offers lots of joy and offbeat fun, yet doesn't shy away from weighty conflicts between classes, genders, ages, education levels, and levels of wealth or poverty. Margo butts up against--and at times, dismantles--frustrating societal expectations and double standards related to sex, desire, body autonomy, and freedom. Young Margo finds herself in the midst of the significant complications of single motherhood, an insecure financial situation, the weight of responsibility for a tiny, helpless human, the shocking power of others' judgments (a custody battle; ominous Child Protective Services visits), all while navigating complex family dynamics--and maybe even a hint at a future romance. The story and its characters feel unexpected and fascinating; Margo's Got Money Troubles  is an edgy contemporary novel with a wonderfully oddball premise and a captivating amount of depth. I received a prepublication edition of this novel (which was published in June, oops!) courtesy of NetGalley and William Morrow. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Rufi Thorpe is also the author of The Knockout Queen . A book that takes a very different look at unexpected single motherhood--its tone is much lighter, and many of the logistical complications are glossed over--is Ready or Not .

avoidance of punishment for our heroes' missteps when they tell the truth about others' wrongdoings, and a heartwarming

All of this makes for a heartwarming read in which everyone is trying to love and live and be happy.

Addison Allen's magical realism story is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina and offers lots of heart, interactive ghosts, and friends like family. "There are birds, and then there are other birds. Maybe they don't sing. Maybe they don't fly. Maybe they don't fit in. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be an other bird than just the same old thing." Addison Allen's Other Birds is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina as main protagonist Zoey comes to take ownership of her deceased mother's apartment. After Zoey's beloved mother died, Zoey's father and stepmother prioritized her stepsiblings emotionally and in every other way. Yet Zoey is without bitterness, and she is eager to experience the world and become independent. (An inherited apartment and money she has gained access to at age 18 help.) Zoey shows her kind and delightfully unguarded nature as she befriends her mother's neighbors and begins working for the charming complex's owner, all the while cultivating her obsession with a reclusive, mysterious local author whose magical story or personal generosity seems to have affected every person on Mallow Island. When one neighbor in the condo complex dies suddenly, Zoey embarks on a search for answers that leads her to the heart of the island. Other Birds is big-hearted story with magical realism, ghosts that haunt or help, earnest sweetness, a little wholesome romance, and a cute small-town setting. The friendships that are forged into a sort of family were lovely. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Sarah Addison Allen is a North Carolina author. Other Bossy reads with magical realism (you can find reviews for each of these on this site) include Thistlefoot, What You Can See From Here, The Harpy, The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle, The Light Pirate, and The Water Dancer.

aspect of this mystery reminds me a little bit of Finley Donovan Is Killing It, but The Maid offers more heartwarming

Straub offers a wonderful story that plays with time, explores sentimental moments, offers do-overs, and sweeps the reader into a love-filled, hopeful heartbreaker of a tale. "...no one ever talked to me about it, that's for sure--what it feels like to love someone so much, and then have them change into someone else. You love that new person, but it's different, and it all happens so fast, even the parts that feel like they just last for fucking ever while they're happening." On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s job, apartment, and love life are solidly okay. The only dark spot in her life is her father’s grave illness. When she wakes up the next morning...it’s her 16th birthday again. And it isn't just that being in her teen body again shocks her, or that seeing her high school crush is jarring. It's incredible to see her healthy, vital, young dad. Knowing what she does about the future, would Alice change the past? I am a huuuuuuge fan of books that play with time, and Straub offers up all the best parts of a time-travel book in This Time Tomorrow. Alice gets to live as her young self again, with the benefit of adult wisdom but temporarily carefree. She gets do-over chances and plays with how various decisions shift her potential future. She treasures and basks in the glorious, beautiful, temporary moments that shaped her. She soaks in time with her healthy, vital father. This Time Tomorrow indulged my own personal desire for sentimentality, while also emphasizing the value of cutting to the heart of a situation without wasting time. The story offers up lots of loving moments as well as perfectly imperfect decisions and mistakes. The story is heartbreaking and lovely in its ultimate insistence that one must let go of the past. Do you have any Bossy thoughts abotu this book? Emma Straub is also the author of The Vacationers, All Adults Here, Modern Lovers, and other books. If you like books that play with time, you might also enjoy the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories.

In Unlikely Animals, Hartnett's irresistible, oddball tragicomedy with heart, characters explore the limits and solidity of friendship and family loyalty, show mistakes and imperfections, and cling to hope. Emma Starling is a former natural healer whose abilities have disappeared, and she's also a recent med-school dropout. It's not that she couldn't hack medical school--she just didn't go the first day, or the second, or any day after that. Now she's scrabbling to make ends meet in California and drifting a little bit--oh, and she's been telling her parents about fictitious classes she's been attending at the medical school she isn't going to. Emma returns to small-town New Hampshire to care for her father Clive, who is dying. He's also vividly hallucinating small animals and the speaking specter of a long-dead local naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, who is advising Clive about how to spend his final days, sometimes through making daring and eccentric decisions. When she arrives home, somewhat shamed by her lies; concerned about her parents' marriage, her brother's recent bout with addiction, and her father's health; and without a direction for her future, Emma discovers that her beloved but estranged best friend from high school is missing. The local authorities aren't particularly inclined to search for opioid drug addicts like Crystal--in fact, no one besides Emma and her dad seems to believe that Crystal is still alive. The many ghosts’ chatter and commentary (always with their born and died dates following their names in parentheses, which I loved) felt like echoes of Lincoln in the Bardo, but the tone of Unlikely Animals is quite different; warm-hearted (yet never cloyingly sweet). A minor nitpick: the fifth graders in the book seemed far younger to me—their matching outfits, reverting to sucking thumbs after a crisis, free use of each other's last initials, innocence about aspects of the world, and so on—but I adored them. I was hooked, witnessing Hartnett's delightfully faulted, oddball characters making their way in a messy world. Father and daughter, brother and sister, and mother and father find their way back together after hurting each other, making mistakes, misunderstanding intentions, and losing their individual paths. The characters insist on hope, allow for reinvention, and leave room for the inexplicable and the wondrous. Hartnett evokes a sense of place so strong, the town felt like a character itself. Unlikely Animals is sweet and wonderfully strange, and Hartnett employs a light touch and thoughtful approach to addressing potentially heavy, dark issues. This book made me smile over and over. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Annie Hartnett is also the author of Rabbit Cake. I received a prepublication digital copy of this book (published April 12) courtesy of Random House Publishing Group: Ballantine Books and NetGalley.

This is a heartwarming, funny, poignant, sassy tribute to a life fully lived and to a determination love

#heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview

The author’s note about her inspiration for the book’s initial setup is heartwarming. #heartwarming, #lightfiction

Hoffman's novel is about facing dark realities, entering uncharted territory, leaning on music as a solace, and welcoming new beginnings. The Second Ending was fun and full of heart. Prudence Childs was a prodigy. She taught herself to play the piano as a toddler, became famous, played at the White House, and appeared on television. She inspired a generation to take up the piano. Then she realized her grandmother was exploiting her and she broke from both her family and her fame. She fell into a career writing jingles--creatively unsatisfying but it paid the bills. Decades later, Prudence's dark past threatens to upend her peaceful, if uneventful, adult life. One thing leads to another and she agrees to participate in a popular televised dueling piano competition--against Alexei Petrov, a young Russian pianist who has flawless technique. But Alexei's parents have always pushed him so ruthlessly, he never made friends or developed a life outside of music. When the two face off, they each have something to prove--to their families, their exes, those who have doubted them--and to themselves. There are a number of appealingly zany hijinks here as well as a surprising amount of heart. The Second Ending is about self-discovery, facing dark truths, taking a terrifying leap out of the safety of what is known, and opening the door to a boundless, uncharted future. I really enjoyed this. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Ballantine Books. You might also like the books on my Greedy Reading List Six Rockin' Stories about Bands and Music.

Italy plays with time to allow a grieving young woman to know her mother at her same age, inspiring heartwarming

This light fiction young adult novel offers (reluctant) romance, best friendships, dance lessons, glimpses into the future, a reimagined family structure, and lots of heart. In the newest young adult book by Nicola Yoon, Evie Thomas is reeling from her parents' divorce--and from her haunting secret knowledge that her father was seeing his girlfriend before he split with Evie's mom. So she doesn't believe in love or happy endings anymore. Her sister dates boy after boy, two of her best friends are making eyes at each other, and she's sick of all of it. She's written off love. Then something really strange happens. As Evie's putting her former favorite romance books into a Little Free Library, a wizened old woman approaches her with some advice, and soon afterward, unexpected visions start overwhelming her. She's able to see the past and futures of the couples around her. But that's not all: Evie gets roped into taking dance lessons and inconveniently meets an incredible guy. Meanwhile, her best friend is the only one who knows about her ability to peek into the past and future, and he isn't any clearer than she is about what's going on. Her mother starts dating again. And to top things off, her father announces his engagement. It's all too much. I was proud of Evie's forgiveness, yet felt a little bit dissatisfied about her eventual willingness to overlook her father's cheating. It's a complicated situation, but that didn't sit right to me without more of a reckoning. I was also a little bit thrown by the final non-resolution regarding her peek into the future and a tragedy she glimpses. But Instructions for Dancing was romantic, sweet, fun to read (well, to listen to as an audiobook, which I did), and it focused on quirky friends, family loyalty, and looooove, all in a light fiction wrapping. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Nicola Yoon is also the author of the wonderful young adult books Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. If you're in the mood for more light fiction, you might try the titles on the Greedy Reading List Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism.

Jansson offers a vivid Finland isle setting, a wonderfully grumpy grandmother-granddaughter relationship, and the complexities of carving out a life in an unforgiving place. This week my book club is doing something new for our holiday gathering: we'll each wrap a book we read and loved and write a brief, not completely illuminating description on it, then exchange, swap, and come away with a promising new read. Shhh, this is the book I'm taking! The vivid setting of The Summer Book is a mostly wild island off the coast of Finland where a small family is living, and the grandmother and young granddaughter characters share a beautifully grumpy and wonderfully close relationship. I was hooked by their dialogue and discussions that were about nothing at all and everything all at once. Tove Jansson captures the wonderful tension--of the alternating wonder and crushing boredom of many consecutive days spent wandering and observing the weather and the wild; the work necessary to carve out a space for themselves on a rugged island while desperately wanting things to remain undisturbed; the intensity of love and annoyance of either being with the same two other people or alone for months on end. I delighted in every bit of Jansson's book and loved it so, so much. I could easily have read it in one night. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Jansson is also the author of the fanciful children's books in the Moomin series as well as the short stories and novels Sculptor's Daughter, Sun City, The Winter Book, and Fair Play. You might also be interested in the books on one of my earliest Greedy Reading Lists on the site, Six Captivating Nordic Stories.

Klune's newest novel is heartwarming, earnest, light, and sweet, with a vision of an in-between afterlife Klune's newest book, Under the Whispering Door, the author offers a heartwarming story that does just The inclusion, loyalty, and friendships here were heartwarming.

aliens, and shape shifters, but at its heart it's about a hurting family and an unimaginable, shocking, heartwarming

This summer read makes you feel like you’re in safe hands, and you can be confident that nothing here will go seriously awry. The vivid midcentury memories are a highlight. In Elyssa Friedland's Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, two families meet for the summer at their formerly sought-after resort in the Catskills, but the Weingold and Goldman families aren't as close as they used to be--and the resort itself is falling apart. When an offer comes through to buy the Golden Hotel, the families reach a tipping point. Can they come together to save their beloved sanctuary, or will the uncovering of secrets and lies, family drama, and powerful generational conflicts thwart any possible resolutions for the two clans? I had hoped this book would be Dirty Dancing meets "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," and the extensive reminiscing about the hotel's heyday years is really fun. The vivid setting is as essential to the book as a main character, and references to real-life celebrities and details of midcentury life are a highlight. But the book's present pales in comparison to the golden years of the past, and current events begin to feel dreary—hotel conditions are dusty, broken, dated, and dirty; and various disappointing behaviors are brought to light and shake the foundations of the families and of their treasured collective memories. I wanted to feel entrenched in the glory days of that era, but the high points of the hotel are over long before the reader enters the story. Positive, exciting, ambitious ideas are floated for revamping the hotel, but they seem financially impossible. In good news, the hotel crisis seems poised to bring together the families and the younger generations despite the ways in which the family's various hopes are dashed. There felt like significant summary toward the end of the book, with abrupt point of view changes and brief scenes with multiple shifts that kept me from feeling as invested as I might have. This is a summer read that makes you feel like you’re in safe hands, and you can be confident that nothing here will go seriously awry. Last Summer at the Golden Hotel offers conveniently neat wrap-ups to most of its complications. There's interesting, creative reimagining at the end that I enjoyed. I received a prepublication digital edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Friedland is also the author of The Floating Feldmans and other titles. The author started with the Catskills as her setting and said that the characters and story came to her naturally from there. The setting does feel as essential as a character within the story.

Chambers's science fiction is full of heart, heartbreak, and hope--with a fascinating backdrop of space travel and interspecies relations. "But brothers. Brothers never go away. That’s for life. And I know married folks are supposed to be for life, too, but they’re not always. Brothers you can’t get rid of. They get who you are, and what you like, and they don’t care who you sleep with or what mistakes you make, because brothers aren’t mixed up in that part of your life. They see you at your worst, and they don’t care." In The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, the first science fiction title in Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series, young Rosemary feels lucky to have landed the job of clerk for the quirky, ragtag, but welcoming crew of the Wayfarer ship. The group is made up of various creatures from around the galaxy, and they've already built bonds through working together for ages. Yet they make room in the mix for Rosemary, who's grateful--and who's frankly glad to leave her significant personal troubles behind. Just as she's adjusting to life on board, the crew gets a lucrative opportunity: to tunnel wormholes through space to a distant planet. But things quickly take a turn as pirates and other dangers threaten the makeshift family on the Wayfarer. They each have reasons to mistrust other creatures, but they have to trust and rely on each other more than ever before in order to survive. Chambers's story is science fiction that's full of heart, heartbreak, and hope. The book feels much more focused on the characters--with a backdrop of space travel and otherworldly creatures--than on exploration or adventure. Much of the story is about acceptance and openness and finding ways to get along. Interspecies relations are prickly, comfortable, romantic, puzzling, or all of the above. I love that the crew of the Wayfarer feels like a close-knit group of summer camp counselors somehow, palling around, sometimes irritating each other, each with special gifts and the ability and desire to help crewmates reach their full potentials, emotionally or otherwise. I just adored this. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series includes The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet; A Closed and Common Orbit; Record of a Spaceborn Few; The Galaxy, and the Ground Within; and a series prequel, A Good Heretic. She's also the author of a A Psalm for the Wild-Built (the first in the Monk & Robot series) and its upcoming sequel, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. She also wrote To Be Taught, If Fortunate, a standalone novella.