Week of July 14, 2025

• I was home in PA this week, which I have to say was a nice break. You know the expression “it is possible to have too much of a good thing.” Yeah, it actually is possible. I needed a break from the beach. Getting there at the beginning of the season is magical. The sand, the fresh air, the seagulls, sitting on the deck under the awning and watching the boats go by - it’s all incredibly therapeutic. But after two solid months of it day to day (I know, I know, play me the tiny violin) it loses its magic feeling, and I know it’s time to go back home. And that’s where I was. Plus, I tweaked my back and I needed my chiropractor so I headed back to PA for a full week of normalcy, and it felt good. There’s a sense of routine in my ‘normal’ life that just doesn’t exist at the beach even though I live there for weeks at a time. And in all honesty, I missed my normal. I went to the gym, I saw my chiropractor three times, and I caught up with 4 friends that I hadn’t seen since we left for the beach in May. I still found some time to read, but it was much less, honestly.

• Last but not least, in my time at home by myself, I did some soul searching and decided it was time for a new hobby. Or rather, it was time to pick up an old hobby again. Piano. I used to play piano, but it was back in elementary school and middle school, and I was taught by teachers who insisted on classical training when all I really wanted to do was sit down and play contemporary hits, not Beethoven. I can still play Beethoven, by the way. When we moved in 2019 we sold of the piano I got for my 10th birthday because it didn’t really fit anywhere in this new house. So this past week I visited a music store locally, sat down at a couple different digital pianos, and I bought one. They had it in stock and they were able to deliver it the next day, and I’ve been enjoying playing around again! This is most likely the reason I “only” read four books this week - I’ve been obsessed with figuring out how to play again. To say I’m a bit rusty in a huge understatement!

• As always, here’s my rating scale for your information:

  ⭐️ Did not like this book, would not recommend. Lots of errors, plot holes, not worth the effort to read, most likely didn’t finish. But I’m giving this author a single star for making the effort to publish a book. Not everyone’s even gotten that far, so yay for you.

  ⭐️⭐️ Didn’t really like it, multiple issues with style, plot, syntax or characters. Most likely forced myself to finish it. Would consider other books by the same author but I might have to be convinced.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyed the book. Perhaps there were issues with plot or style but it was an enjoyable read. I could see recommending it if it were of a specific genre or trope or series. Most of what I read could easily fall into this category and I’d be a happy camper.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a good book. Like a really good book. I will think about this book when I’m finished, and there’s a really good chance I’ll buy it for my personal library if it was a KU read. I’d recommend it to other readers of the same genre or trope. I’ll definitely search out other books by this author, probably as soon as I’m finished reading.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wow. Just wow. Amazing book, amazing story. If there were flaws in the book I’m completely overlooking them because in my mind the book was sheer perfection. I didn’t want the book to end and I’m immediately adding it to my favorites and my re-read pile. And if there’s an audio version I might have to buy that, too. I have a book hangover, I miss the characters, and I feel actual, physical loss in my life when this book is finished.

Thanks for joining me this week! Let’s dive in!

1. Already Home, by Susan Mallery ⭐️⭐️.5

   Kindle Edition, $1.99, 378 pages.

   Genre/tropes: Contemporary romance

   This one took me a while to sink me teeth into. I kept getting distracted and it didn’t flow for me. Jenna, a chef who is recently divorced and moves back to her hometown in Texas, opens a kitchen store that does cooking demos. She hires Violet, a sous chef who has extensive retail management experience but we find out is also a former prostitute (?) to manage this store. Jenna is adopted and her hippy vegan birth parents blow into her life and settle down to get to know her. She finds out she has two biological brothers and her adoptive parents welcome her bio parents into the fold. It’s all a little much for me, to be honest. In theory, it’s a lovely story. But my practical brain couldn’t immerse myself in this story.

2. A Boy Called Rainbow, by Robin Knight. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

   Kindle Unlimited, 248 pages (but I actually listened to this book on Audible rather than read it)

   Genre/tropes: MM romance, disability

   NYC art evaluator Miles dreams of opening his own gallery but catches his long time boyfriend cheating on him with his primary investor. He basically scorches his NY life in a fantastic way and heads to Georgia to take a job evaluating an obscure art collection for a snobby homophobe lawyer. The art collection in question is at the home of the lawyer’s deceased grandmother (the artist) and the lawyer’s brother, Ryan Bo, lives at the property. It turns out that Ryan Bo is an artist himself, and is deaf. His brother has tortured him all his life and no one in his family, except his beloved grandmother, ever made any attempt to understand him or communicate with him. When he made any attempt to sound out his own name, it came out sounding like “Rainbow” so it stuck, and he adopted that moniker. Miles learns ASL in order to communicate and do the job that he came to do, and Rainbow immediately starts to open up to him. No one had ever made an attempt to get to know him, and Miles’ simple show of interest and humanity went a long way with Rainbow. When Rainbow opened up enough to show his grandmother Odette’s art collection to Miles so that he could do his job properly and Miles was effusively impressed with her skill as an artist, Rainbow was overcome with joy. He then opened up his own art installation in the attic of the house to Miles, which he had never shown anyone before.

   Of course, at this point the book gets pretty spicy. They fall madly in love despite the 20 year age gap between them. But I have to say, one thing I LOVED about this book was at the beginning of every chapter, the author integrated a brief paragraph about an artist and their technique or something special about their life that drew a parallel between the artist and the story being told. It was a lovely way to tie the story together. And it made Miles feel more real (he was the narrator of the entire story - again proving that I, Karen, love single POV stories!) I applaud authors who go to great lengths to bring a lot of research to the characters or to the plots of their otherwise simple romance books. Lots of homophobia in this book, lots of gay slurs and stereotypical southern old-boy club bigotry. And the audio narrator did a good job of integrating the southern vibe into the story.

3. Keep Your Friends Close, Lucinda Berry ⭐️⭐️⭐️

   Kindle Unlimited, 283 pages.

   Genre/tropes: Mystery/thriller

   Wow, a lot happened in this book, and the twists keep coming up until the very last page. When Hollywood mom’s club member Kiersten ends up floating face down at her own party, everyone is a suspect. But who would have thought that the one of the remaining friends at the party, one of her 6 closest friends, would have been the real culprit? With so many twists and turns in this book, it was hard to keep track of all of the ways I thought this book was going to go. By the end, I can honestly say that I didn’t see it turning out the way it did. It was a good read, entertaining and scandalous and creepy and smarmy in all the ways you’d want a Hollywood-based book to be.

4. Just One Of the Guys, by Kristan Higgins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   Kindle Unlimited, 383 pages

   Genre/tropes: Contemporary romance, friends to lovers

   This was a good book. Higgins’ casual writing style was perfect for this story and gave me a good feel for Chastity’s character. With four older brothers, all of whom were firefighters, EMT’s and paramedics, Chastity was always surrounded by nothing but men. And she learned to be one of the guys. But being athletic, tall, and strong, Chastity was having trouble on the dating front. At age 30 with 3 of her 4 brothers married and with kids, she wanted that life for herself. And surrogate brother Trevor, who became almost part of their family at a very young age, was the only man who had ever held her gaze. She meets and starts dating handsome surgeon Ryan, but the sparks aren’t there. It’s Trevor or nothing for her.

   I liked the storyline in this book about Chastity’s parents. They were married for years, raised 5 kids together, but divorced because the wife didn’t feel like she took priority over the husband’s job as a firefighter. They remained friendly and steady for the kids and grandkids. Until Mom started dating again and fell in love with Harry and decided to get married. Seeing the adult daughter and her mom have the conversation about moving on was and letting go was touching.

That’s it for this week! As always, you can keep up with all of my reading on my Goodreads if you want to. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12921106-karen

Love, Karen