The Introvert's Book Club

Purchase Rating: 4/5 Spice: 0/5 Plot: 5/5 Primary Genre: Magical realism/cozy fantasy Blurb: With a dash of magic and an ensemble cast of oddball, small-town characters, this feel-good novel explores forgiveness, family, and the sense of humor it takes to live with the ones we love the most. Ebey’s End is a small town on an island off the Pacific coast, reachable only by ferry (assuming the gods are with you and it’s not a Tuesday). It’s a comfortable, familiar (but okay, fine, sometimes lonely) life for its resident grocer Anita Odom. That is, until fourteen-year-old July shows up on her doorstep. Taking in the recently orphaned daughter of an estranged cousin had not been on Anita’s to-do list. In fact, it’s a terrible idea. Anita is ill-suited, ill-prepared, and absolutely certain the entire enterprise will end in disaster—for both of them. From the moment she arrives, July seems to “know” what each customer at the Island Grocery needs. They’re small: a housekeeping magazine sli...

Purchase Rating: 5/5 Spice: 0/5 Plot: 5/5 Primary Genre: Contemporary Romance Blurb: From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love. Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie. Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it. Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project g...

Purchase Golden Girls #1 Rating: 4/5 Spice: 0/5 Plot: 3/5 Primary Genre: Cozy mystery Blurb: The first novel in the all-new Golden Girls Cozy Mystery Series! When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf–themed wedding Rose is hosting. Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can't balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again! Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted ...

Purchase Rating: 3.5/5 Spice: 0 Primary Genre: Women’s Fiction Plot: 4.5/5 Trigger Warnings: Emotional abuse, toxic relationship, toxic friendship, abandonment, drug use Favorite Quote: No matter how hard I pounded the dough, I was never quite able to knead away the sense that I was committed to a guy who would never be fully committed to me. Blurb: If you could rewrite your life story, would you dare? That’s the question at the heart of this charming and propulsive debut novel about love, life, and a woman finding herself and what it means to be happy and successful.  Do you ever feel like your life doesn’t measure up to everyone else’s—and wonder if you just didn’t get the memo helping you make the right choices?  Jenny Green dreads her upcoming college reunion. Once top of her class, the thirty-five-year-old finds herself stuck in a life that isn’t the one she expected. Her promising career has flamed out (literally) and her deadbeat boyfriend is cheating on her (again)...

Purchase Adelaide Springs Love Stories #2 Rating: 3/5 Spice: 0/5 Plot: 3/5 Primary Genre: Romance Trigger Warnings: Mention of terminal illness, abandonment, alchohol/prescription drug use, death of a family member/parent Favorite Quote: Who knew romantic comedy was such a brutal sport? Blurb: Cole and Laila have been inseparable since they could crawl. And they've never thought about each other that way. Except for when they have. Rarely. Once in a while, sure. But seriously . . . hardly ever.  Cole Kimball and Laila Olivet have been best friends their entire lives. Cole is the only person (apart from blood relatives) who's seen Laila in her oversized, pink, plastic, Sophia Loren glasses. Laila is always the first person to taste test any new dish Cole creates in his family's restaurant . . . even though she has the refined palate of a kindergartener. Most importantly, Cole and Laila are always talking. About everything.  When Cole discovers a betrayal from his rece...

5/5 Stars This book started out very slow for me, I had a hard time getting into it. The first three chapters felt slower than molasses in January, then of a sudden it's like you're on the freeway and you realize that your brakes don't work. Ok, not that extreme because this obviously isn't a thriller but this book is like mainlining dopamine from Chapter 4 and beyond. I was literally blushing on my living room couch, eating Goldfish in my sweatpants and a messy bun like I myself was having a summer romance.  The FMC starts out sad. Her life is full of endings and she can't seem to get her shit together. She's 38, she has 3 kids, and btw, Fuck Peter. That's all that I have to say about that. I like that the MCs are in their late 30's. They're full-on fucking grown ups and isn't that refreshing.  This is a fade to black romance so if it's smut you're searching for, search elsewhere. It is meaningful with a hint of sadness. It's got the...

5/5 Stars This is definitely unlike any book I've ever read. A romance novel heavily threaded with chickens. I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this and I didn't have super high hopes but I ended up absolutely loving this book. If you know nothing at all about chickens, like me, trust that you'll still enjoy this read. This book gave off a Jane Austen vibe that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are well rounded in a way that you feel like you know exactly who they are and understand their thoughts/actions. There's even some chicken espionage! You'll more than likely learn something about birds, especially if you're like me and end up googling the bird breeds referenced.  Long story short, I started this book about 24 hours ago and I've finished it because I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend this book to anyone who likes romance or a great romcom. You can purchase this book by clicking the cover art above and I may earn a smal...