4.25 stars

In Hen Town, North Carolina the women of the Wester family seem to see and know everything, at least enough for both Willamena and her grandmother before her to be called the "witch of Wester house." But how did Willamena, who wanted so desperately to leave her small town, end up following in her grandmother's footsteps, never leaving their historic home? And if a "second sight" runs in the family, will her granddaughter Bailey have it, too?

Told in 3 parts with, the first follows Willamena "Wills" Wester in the 1970s as she falls in love, longs to escape, and eventually becomes everything her grandmother wanted for her in the first place. The second follows Bailey Wester in the near-present as she and her father move to Hen Town after her mother dies. Bailey (opposite to young Wills) wants to do everything she can to please and impress her grandmother, but eventually is pushed away from Hen Town. The third tells the story of Bailey and Willamena's reunion at Wester house 8 years later.

I've seen some mixed reviews on this with several of the complaints being unlikeable characters or wanting a bit more from some portion of the narrative. I've read some books that felt really disjointed recently, but this wasn't one of them. I thought the connections and parallels between 3 generations of Westers was really well done, handled with subtlety and finesse. I didn't necessarily like or root for Wills, Bailey, or even the side characters (with the exception of Tug, he was such a sweet, if underdeveloped, character!), but I was interested in all of them. I found myself wanting to know more about them the entire time and see how they'd develop. The strongest aspect to me was the look at what is passed down in families. Does Willamena repeat her grandmother's mistakes or does she break the generational cycle on Bailey's behalf? Other highlights were the small-town atmosphere, multiple historical periods, a dash of love story, the haunted feel (without it being scary), and the magical realism. Marin Ireland's narration of the audiobook did not miss (she never does!) and she brought all the characters to life.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and am happy to have read a new-to-me author with a long backlist to explore. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance listener copy and the opportunity to read early.

3.75 stars

Cora is an American living in London making a living by painting portraits of corpses. There isn't really a nicer way to say it, but she's giving dignity to the dead. And especially with women, she tries to include details that give a fuller vision of the deceased's life. On her birthday she meets a charming man named Miles Vale through mutual friends and begins a whirlwind romance with him. But something still has her uneasy. Set in Victorian England against the backdrop of the Jack the Ripper cases, who is the real danger?

This was propulsive enough that it kept me up late racing to the finish line. At the same time, I felt like everything was too on the nose and right at the surface from the get-go. The framing of the central relationship in this setting with transcriptions of actual newspaper articles detailing the Ripper case was brilliant, but Cora's back and forth of "my gut is telling me one thing, but I'm convincing myself of the other" regarding Miles was wearying. I suppose this is probably an accurate portrayal of the psyche of a woman in this situation, but the gaslighting seemed obvious to me from the start. Because of that, it felt difficult to immerse myself into Cora's romance. If Miles had been a more convincing character from the beginning and there weren't so many mentions of literal gaslights and lightbulbs, maybe this would have worked better for me.

This comes with the disclaimer that I read Lenz's memoir and know a little of her story and how this one would intersect. There were times it felt a bit anachronistic (although I'm aware harm to women has existed from the beginning of time and it's important to explore). The parts I appreciated and found the most compelling were when Cora begins to paint the women from the newspapers. Her journey as an artist and her quiet championing of making invisible women visible was the star, here.

Overall, I like but didn't love this the way I wanted to. Thank you NetGalley and Simon + Schuster for the digital review copy and the opportunity to serve as an early reader.

Alexys (human resources) and Nic (research and cataloging) are work rivals at Entity, an organization that investigates paranormal activity throughout the United States. When one of Alexys's wardens goes missing in Appalachia, she seeks him out and somehow, infuriatingly, Nic is along for the search.

I had the best time listening to this book. It reminded me a little of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (as the characters go on a quest, investigating fantastical creatures) mixed with the action of Ally Carter's Blonde Identity duo (pacing), and a hint of Assistant to the Villain (the workplace aspect). I loved the eeriness of jackalopes, haints, and old magic in such an iconic and storied region of the U.S., coupled with the banter and zaniness of two characters (who are obviously NOT attracted to one another, right?!), reluctantly teaming up. This combination kept the tone light and breezy rather than scary, despite the gory and suspenseful elements. The narration was well-done, but I enjoyed this enough that I also bought a print trophy copy for my shelf. I can hardly wait for the next installment!

Thank you NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the advance listener copy and the opportunity to read early.

Avery and Carlos have moved to the Philippines to be closer to his family. Avery's hoping for a solution to her infertility. Unbeknownst to her, Carlos is there to investigate his childhood home. He's made his living debunking ghosts stories and paranormal activity on his show "Convince Carlos." But will living in his ancestral home be the thing that finally cracks these two skeptics? And how will their marriage fare in the middle of it?

I'm not a major horror reader, but this book, full of Filipino folklore, ghosts, tension, and family dynamics, really worked for me. I appreciated the exploration of faith and belief (in the supernatural, in God, in other people, etc.) and how much Avery's character shifts as she starts to see what she never could have believed. The way these characters are haunted felt less scary than eerie; to me it reads more like gothic horror, but I'll admit I listened to the audiobook in bright summer daylight hours. The narration was well done and even though the accents were a little thick at times, they were nuanced enough between characters for me differentiate them. Even though this explores family history, hidden secrets, and so much more, it also felt a little like a marriage-in-crisis family drama: a slowly-unfolding and welcome mix of genres with enough twists to keep me guessing.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for the opportunity to listen to this title as a Sourcebooks Audio Influencer. I might not have picked this up otherwise, but I'm truly glad I did.

Luna is a star tennis player whose reputation has gone down in flames since her ex desperately recorded a podcast about her. Kieran is a hot Hollywood actor who's known for being a player. His new rom-com needs better PR and so does Luna's life. Celebrity PR stunt romance incoming. The only problem? They hate each other.

This was lighthearted and fun, if a bit far-fetched. I'm not under the impression that PR pairings don't happen, this just seemed a little over the top in so many ways. But aren't all romances a bit like that? We have to suspend our disbelief some. I really appreciated Kieran's family and Luna's self-discovery as she returned to tennis and what mattered to her. I liked that the two main characters encouraged each other to be proud of their work. And I did not expect to get misty-eyed in the final few chapters at a tender moment between Kieran and his father.

That being said, this was enjoyable but not a sparkly standout rom-com for me. Why? 1. The reason for their "hatred" seemed like a 3-year misunderstanding that is not addressed until 87% into the book. And when it is, it's not Luna who brings it up, but her friends. 2. The friend group was a little hard to follow. Luna's whole PR/styling/nutritionist team felt large and complicated. 3. The main characters seemed to find each other more witty and funny than I found them. Overall, I think the enemies plot just doesn't always work super well for me, but I enjoyed this enough that I might try other books by this author.

Thank you to BookSparks for including me as a summer reading challenge ambassador and for a copy of this title.

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