Posted on by Maureen

The Beautiful Things Shoppe by Philip William Stover

New Hope, PA is a special town with a strong LGBTQ+ community. It is the perfect place for Prescott to open his antique store and for Danny to open his vintage toy store.

Unbeknownst to them, their mutual friend has purposefully rented the same store to these two men, intending for each to have half of the space.

Naturally, this simply will not do: Prescott thinks Danny is a slob and Danny thinks Prescott is a snob. Both men believe that sharing the store will be disastrous for their respective businesses, but they have no choice. They’re going to have to work together if they want to succeed.

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Posted on by Maureen

For Better or Cursed by Kate Williams

My thirteen year old daughter asked me to request this book because she enjoyed the first book in the series so much. Here is her review:

For Better or For Cursed is the sequel to The Babysitters Coven, so if you haven’t read that book, you need to do so before reading this one.

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Posted on by Maureen

This is Not the End by Sidney Bell

Anya is married to Zac, a rock star, and while marriage and a baby have led them to a more sedate lifestyle than what once knew, they have brought a third person into their relationship many times. These have always been one-time encounters, and that’s fine with Anya and Zac. After all, they weren’t looking for anything deeper than that.

But then Anya realizes that she’s attracted to Cal, Zac’s best friend and bandmate, and neither Anya nor Zac knows how to process these feelings. Cal doesn’t know about the open relationship, and furthermore, if the feelings aren’t reciprocated—or even if they are and things take a bad turn—the aftermath could do permanent damage to Zac and Cal’s two decades of friendship.

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Posted on by Maureen

The Worst Duke in the World by Lisa Berne

While I don’t want to take too much time talking about myself in a book review, I do want to explain my sporadic review writing over the last few months. In short, 2020 was a year to be remembered, and it was often difficult to find the motivation to read and write. Fortunately, thanks to many—to borrow a word from this very book—charming things to read, I am hopefully back on the road to productivity.

But on to the book!

Jane Kent is a penniless waif who shows up on the doorstep of the esteemed Penhallow manse. She claims to have a connection to the family, and the letter she produces, as well as the strong family resemblance, is all the Penhallows need to take her in as one of their own.

Although Jane is twenty years old, she has never received a formal education, and arrangements are made for her receive tutelage from the local vicar, whose only other pupil is eight-year-old Wakefield Farr, the only son of the Duke of Radcliffe, the titular worst duke in the world.

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