“‘What are you doing?’ I demanded. I was getting impatient. “Wait for it.’” Two-time divorcee Annabelle hilariously dodges a third proposal by making an impulse decision to move to Arizona to accept a high-up graphic design position working for her best friend’s company. Once in Arizona, Annabelle moves into a fancy, yet barren guest house owned by reclusive retiree Mr. Daire. After getting bombarded with impersonal infraction notices from her new landlord (e.g., no using the hot tub, no noisy singing, no feeding the stray cat), Annabelle makes it her mission to meet and charm the “old geezer”. As it turns out, Nick Daire is a very attractive young man who uses a wheelchair because of a stroke. We quickly deduce that there is no physical reason why Nick hasn’t fully recovered from his stroke nine months ago; the paralyzing fear of suffering another stroke is what has prevented Nick from fully recovering. Annabelle and Nick quickly develop an infatuation with each other. Their connection grows when they are forced to work together; Annabelle needs Nick’s help securing a big-league client to show-up her rude nemesis at work and Nick needs Annabelle to help his sister (whom he hasn’t been in contact with since childhood) positively promote her new housing development. Wait For It is a “sick lit” and a romance that deals with mental health and self worth. One of the main takeaways for me was that you are stronger than you think; “He [Nick] was a man who’s been on the top of the world and had it all crash down around him, but he survived. There was a strength in him he didn’t recognize, but I [Annabelle] did”. Another big takeaway from the story was that you are worth it; one of my favourite quotes from the text (surprisingly said by one of Annabelle’s ex-husbands) is, “you need to stop settling for diamonds in the rough, Annabelle. You deserve so much more”. This book is ideally suited for adults who enjoy contemporary romance novels that deal with heavier topics like loss, abuse, addiction, mental health, and disabilities. Wait For It would be perfect for fans of Jennifer Niven, John Green, Jay Asher, and Gayle Forman. This book deals with themes like power and strength, companionship, order and chaos, empowerment, love and loss, heartbreak, escape and isolation, family, fear of failure, losing hope, resilience, appearance versus reality, strength, as well as wealth and poverty. A major downfall for me was that you must wait until the mid-way point before the main characters meet in person. I also really didn’t like Annabelle’s rude work nemesis, Carson; he was completely disrespectful and crossed multiple lines. I found it hard to believe that Carson was able to get away with harassing his coworkers for so long without being caught. Lastly, I didn’t really like how the book ended; it was a happily ever after ending but I felt like Annabelle was almost reverting to her old self-harmful patterns by rushing into another serious relationship. I loved how Nick and Annabelle’s relationship was “enemies to lovers”; their vibe reminded me a lot of Lucy and Josh from one of my favourite books, The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Furthermore, I really liked the main characters in Wait For It; especially the fact that they grew a lot throughout the book. Nick was able to move past his traumatic childhood, learn to let people in, accept his weaknesses, and take steps towards improving his mental health. Additionally, Annabelle was able to conquer challenges at work, stand up for herself, deal with her grief, and start to become more confident in herself. Lastly, I enjoyed reading about Jackson (Nick’s physical therapist/ friend) and Lexi’s (Nick’s sister) budding relationship; I would love to see their love story continue in a sequel! Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and found it very engaging. I would definitely recommend Wait For It to friends who enjoy reading romance novels that deal with more serious topics. I gave this book a rating of 8 out of 10 stars. This review was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://thenerddaily.com/review-wait-for-it-by-jenn-mckinlay/ Will you be picking up a copy of Wait For It when it comes out on August 10th?
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Half Sick of Shadows is a unique retelling of the classic King Arthur story. It follows the main character, an oracle named Elaine, along with her best friends the sorceress Morgana (Arthur’s sister), the half-fey knight Lancelot, the rightful heir of Camelot Prince Arthur, and Arthur’s true love, the magical Princess of Lyonesse Guinevere (or Gwen). Switching between Elain’s past, present, and visions of the future, we learn that the 5 friends were groomed by their mentor on Avalon, an elderly oracle named Nimue or the Lady of the Lake, to ensure that Arthur becomes the King of Camelot, and declares peace between the humans and the fey, at whatever cost. Throughout the book, Elaine and her friends must decide how far they are willing to go to ensure the best possible future for Camelot. Firstly, before reading this book, I only had a vague recollection of the King Arthur story, so I am sure that I missed a lot of the references and connections that Laura Sebastian made in Half Sick of Shadows. Therefore, this book is ideally suited for fans of the King Arthur legend. I would also recommend Half Sick of Shadows to teens or young adults who are fans of medieval fantasy and retellings, including fans of A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer and The Alchemyst by Michael Scott. This book deals with themes such as appearance versus reality, fate versus freewill, quest for power, death, growing up, love and heartbreak, court life, good versus evil, knowledge versus ignorance, heroism, friendship, and the role of women. This book highlights the importance of friendship (and chosen family). I think that the main takeaway is that you should enjoy the present and not worry so much about what might happen in the future. It is important to note that this book may be a trigger for people struggling with depression and/ or suicide. I found this book to be a bit confusing because it was constantly switching between the past, present, and future visions. It was frustrating because when Elain is scrying the future, she is only seeing one of many possible outcomes; nothing is guaranteed, and Elain struggles to figure out how to obtain the future she covets. It was quite scary for me to read about all the ways that Elain and her friends’ futures could go catastrophically wrong. I also found that this book was very slow to start and was hard for me to get into; but it got significantly better once it got going! I thought it was very cool that Elain was the main character instead of Arthur. I loved how Elain, Morgana, and Gwen were strong and powerful on their own and were constantly challenging the traditional expectations of women in Camelot. I also liked how Half Sick of Shadows had a little bit of everything: action, adventure, quests, romance, royalty, friendship, magic, etc. Lastly, my favourite thing about this book was that I thought that the ending was totally fitting yet unexpected. Fans of retellings and Laura Sebastian’s other novels (including Ash Princess) are sure to love Half Sick of Shadows. I gave this book a rating of 6 out of 10. This review was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://thenerddaily.com/review-half-sick-of-shadows-by-laura-sebastian/ Will you be picking up a copy of Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian when it comes out tomorrow (July 6th)?
Piper Bellinger is a spoiled social media influencer who has been feeling like, “I can be in a room full of people that I know and still not feel like I belong”. After an out-of-control party lands Piper in jail, Piper’s Stepfather sentences Piper to 3 months running her late Father’s bar in a small beach town. When Piper, along with her sister Hannah (who insists on coming), arrive, they discover that the bar, which has been taken over by local fishermen and a rude sea captain named Brendan, is in a state of disrepair. Determined to prove the naysayers wrong (and maybe earn an early ticket home), Piper gets to work renovating and reopening the bar. But everywhere she turns, she runs into Brendan – the two are polar opposites but they have an undeniable infatuation with each other. Also, the longer Piper stays in Westport, the more she reconnects to her past. Will Piper return to her glamorous life in L.A., or will the small fishing town (and the handsome local sea captain) capture her heart? It Happened One Summer is a slow burn contemporary romance geared towards adults (there are quite a few spicy scenes that are not appropriate for a teen audience). The vibe of this book reminded me a lot of one of my favourite shows, Schitt’s Creek; the character illustrations on the cover of the book even look like Alexis and Mutt! I would recommend this book to fans of Sweet Home Alabama and Virgin River. Readers of Talia Hibbert, Alexandria Bellefleur, and Sally Thorne are also sure to love It Happened One Summer. This book could be characterized as an “enemies to lovers” trope (Piper and Brandan are total opposites that start off on the wrong foot) or a forbidden love story (Piper is only in Westport for 3 months and Brendan is a widower who spends a lot of time at sea). But I think that best way to characterize It Happened One Summer is opposites attract; spoiled and chic partier from L.A., meet rugged and stubborn fisherman from a small town. Some themes present in It Happened One Summer include beauty of simplicity, change versus tradition, death, facing reality, family, growing up, love and heartbreak, identity, empowerment, inner and outer strength, isolation and loneliness, materialism and wealth, fame, perseverance, and beauty. I love how Piper spends most of the book, “trying to figure out what to do when no one is watching. And wondering if maybe that’s the stuff that actually matters”. This book really highlights the phoniness of social media and the importance of love and family. Moving to Westport, being financially cut off, and connecting with Brendan really make Piper question her extravagant lifestyle, think about what she truly wants (and deserves), and learn to live in the real world. I really appreciated the main takeaway of the book: “what she’d thought before was living life to the fullest had actually been living life for other people to watch…Now though? She was participating in her own life. Not just posing and pretending”. I also enjoyed reading about Piper and Brendan’s “opposites attract” romance story; especially when Brendan starts to “court” Piper by building her a pergola. I loved how Piper and Brendan made each other grow outside of their comfort zones; similarly, as Piper falls further in love with Brendan, she also falls further in love with Westport. Lastly, the ending was very satisfying, and I loved the inclusion of the epilogue that takes place post happily ever after. At the end of the novel, Tessa Bailey announces that a spin-off novel featuring Piper’s sister Hannah and Brendan’s friend Fox (tentatively entitled Hook, Line, and Sinker) is coming out in early 2022! I have already added this book to my TBR. I am so excited to read about Hannah’s story and (hopefully) get some peeks into what happens with Brendan and Piper in the future. To be honest, I really loved this book and there wasn’t a whole lot that I would change. Some small cons were that the book was slow to start, and the first few chapters were easy to predict based off the Goodreads description. Piper and Brendan’s love story was also a tad unrealistic. Overall, It Happened One Summer was one of my favourite books of 2021 so far! It was a super fast read for me and I would definitely recommend it to friends. I gave this book a rating of 9.5 out of 10 stars. This review was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://thenerddaily.com/review-it-happened-one-summer-by-tessa-bailey/
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