“Shopaholic and Baby” by Sophie Kinsella

Another great entry in the Shopaholic series. To her delight, Becky is pregnant–but it turns out being a mother-to-be isn’t always blissful. Especially when, in your quest to be seen by the hottest OB-GYN in Britain, you find yourself throwing your husband in the way of his super-hot ex-girlfriend. There are the usual Becky hijinks–honestly, […]

“Shopaholic and Sister” by Sophie Kinsella

The adventures of Becky Bloomwood, now Becky Brandon, continue. Becky and Luke are finishing up their monster round-the-world honeymoon (in a great scene, Becky has a moment of enlightenment when she runs barefoot across hot coals in pursuit of souvenir bracelets) and have to return to “real life.” But a huge surprise is waiting for […]

“Shopaholic on Honeymoon” by Sophie Kinsella

“Shopaholic on Honeymoon” is a fun free little short about the beginning of Becky and Luke’s honeymoon and totally worth reading if you’re a fan of the “Shopaholic” series. Like the rest of the series, it’s lighthearted and seemingly frivolous–Becky goes on a shopping spree while in Venice, surprise surprise!–but, again like the rest of […]

“Shopaholic Ties the Knot” by Sophie Kinsella

So, I’m totally in love with the Shopaholic series, but this book was the one I had the most difficulty relating to. I’m still giving it five stars because I think it was really well-done, but the conflict in this one was difficult for me to deal with–almost TOO scary! I’d like to say that […]

“Shopaholic Takes Manhattan” by Sophie Kinsella

I’d heard about the Shopaholic series for years before finally taking the plunge when I came across the first book on sale recently. As I thought might happen, I was completely captivated. There are a lot of criticisms one could make of the Shopaholic series (I’m now on book 5 as I write this review […]

“Confessions of a Shopaholic” by Sophie Kinsella

“Confessions of a Shopaholic” is a delicious treat, just like the gorgeous things that its heroine Becky Bloomwood obsesses about. Becky is a 20-something Londoner who’s fallen into financial journalism more or less by accident, but–oh, the irony!–she herself is a financial disaster. Even as she’s giving financial advice to others, she herself is constantly […]

“The Ghosts of Belfast” by Stuart Neville

A very solid entry in what I’ll call the “hitman’s redemption” genre. Peace has come to Northern Ireland, but it’s a fragile peace, with all the same old players with all the same old dirty hands. Former hitman Gerry Fegan is out of prison but is haunted by the ghosts of the people he killed, […]

“Fashionably Dead” by Robyn Peterman

A very fun entrant in the paranormal romance genre, with the exotic (for the genre) location of KY! As a Kentuckian it made me sooooo happy to read something set there that wasn’t a bunch of stereotypes about rednecks and hillbillies. Anyway, while this book does have pretty much all the cliches of the vampire/paranormal […]

“The Dark Ones” by Gaja Kos

A fantasy/paranormal romance featuring Slavic characters who are the good guys was an exciting find for me, and I was also drawn by the setting of Ljubljana. The author depicts the Slavic background and setting matter-of-factly, which is a welcome change from the “exoticification” of Slavdom in most Western literature, although readers who don’t speak […]

“The Goddess Denied” by Deborah L. Davitt

“The Goddess Denied” is a fabulous continuation of Davitt’s Valkyrie series. I was blown away by the first book, and this second book was equally amazing. Davitt weaves mythology, history, and science to create an alternate world where the gods are real, magic exists and obeys the laws of physics, and Rome never fell. The […]