I was a Navy Brat for most of my childhood, moving from place to place every couple of years. It was hard, but my mom somehow always created a community around us of people that I could almost call my aunts and uncles. As an adult, I’ve also found people that I love like family, and created my own little group with my own people. It’s something that I write about in every single book I pen and I’m sure it will continue because I love when people find their people. It’s my favorite.
So, this was one of the first ‘adult’ books I read as a younger twenty-something, and it had me laughing out loud all the time.
Jane is hilarious, down to earth, and a great character. The book is the first book in a series of four books that document Jane’s growth into a ‘grown-up’. Not only was the humor spot on (Molly Harper’s humor is usually spot on for me), but the narrator brought all the characters to life in such a way that I was dying to get back to the story anytime we had to stop listening (I was buddy reading with my mom and sister for the first read through).
I’ve read this book over a dozen times, and I really think it’s because as Jane goes through the transformation from human to vampire, she builds her own family around her that accepts her, loves her, and frankly will go to some extreme lengths to keep her safe.
I am a glutton for found family, and Molly Harper does it extremely well.
Following Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs, the second in a hilarious, smart, sexy romantic series about an out-of-work librarian who is turned into a vampire.
With her best friend Zeb’s Titanic-themed wedding looming ahead, new vampire Jane Jameson struggles to develop her budding relationship with her enigmatic sire, Gabriel. It seems unfair that she’s expected to master undead dating while dealing with a groom heading for a nuptial nervous breakdown, his hostile werewolf in-laws, and the ugliest bridesmaid dress in the history of marriage.
Meanwhile, the passing of Jane’s future step-grandpa puts Grandma Ruthie back on the market. Her new…
This book is a really great, cozy mystery with a little bit of a twist.
Dani, the main character and amateur sleuth, inherits this house from her grandmother’s best friend, and conveniently enough, there is a fully licensed commercial kitchen inside the husk of what the woman was trying to make a B&B. Dani takes on a group of college students as borders while she gets her new food service business up and going, and the first catering job Dani’s company gets, her client dies.
I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. I thought the uniqueness of her business was sweet, and I absolutely adored the found family that Dani and the college students created for themselves. I think it was a really well-done aspect of the story.
First book in the Chef-To-Go Series from New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson, featuring a delightful cast of small-town characters and a deliciously mysterious murder!
Have a killer craving for cozies? Check out this new series:
Perfect for Fans of Joanne Fluke and Kate Carlisle
For readers of culinary cozy mysteries and college town cozy mysteries
Right when Dani thinks she's hit a dead-end in her career, she unexpectedly inherits an enormous empty mansion in a quaint college town. This gives her the perfect opportunity to pursue her true passion—cooking! So Dani opens Chef-to-Go, preparing delicious, ready-made meals for…
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
This book is every fairytale and classic story turned on its head.
I absolutely love the way the author weaves apparently unrelated adventures into an epic tale by the end. It also has a very strong found family feel to it. They’re mercenaries with rules, and they will fight you if you come after one of their own.
It’s amazing, and if you like audiobooks, I highly recommend listening to it; the voice actors are amazing.
When your fairy godmother threatens to enslave you with a curse - when a malevolent piper solves your rat problem but steals your children - when you seek revenge on the prince who turned you into a frog - who can you turn to in your hour of need? The band of scoundrels known far and wide as the Bastard Champions - the swashbuckling trio who travel a world of legend, seeking adventure and righting wrongs - as long as there's enough gold to be earned. They are Jack, the seemingly unkillable leader whose ever-present grin belies a dark past;…
This is a book that has stuck with me for over five years now.
The book is the first in the Frontier Magic Trilogy, and it’s fantastic. I loved the world-building, the twist on how magic worked and was taught. I also loved how her biological family thought she was a jinx, but her teachers and friends really believed in her and her magic.
Amanda Ronconi reads the books, too, so I highly recommend listening if you are into audiobooks.
Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he's supposed to possess amazing talent - and she's supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from the beasts of the wild. With wit and wonder, Patricia Wrede creates an alternative history of westward expansion that will delight fans of both J. K. Rowling and Laura Ingalls…
A fake date, romance, and a conniving co-worker you'd love to shut down. Fun summer reading!
Liza loves helping people and creating designer shoes that feel as good as they look. Financially overextended and recovering from a divorce, her last-ditch opportunity to pitch her firm for investment falls flat. Then…
While this book is a middle-grade fantasy, I love it so much.
Two enemy clans working together to save their world from a threat bigger than either of them is great, but when you also make it so that each representative is an outcast, well, it’s that much better. Not only do these kids work together, facing fear and prejudices head-on, but they become their own family, and it’s oh-so magical.
I again recommend the audiobook, as it’s narrated by the great David Tennant (Barty Crouch Jr., Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who, and Crowley on Good Omens), so it is fantastic.
The No.1 bestselling series from current Waterstones Children's Laureate and author of How To Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell. Enter a land of wizards, warriors, mythical creatures and powerful Magic in an exciting fantasy adventure.
Witches are creating havoc in the Wildwoods and danger lurks behind every tree trunk.
Wish is in possession of a powerful, Magic Spelling Book; Xar has a dangerous Witchstain on his hand. Together they can save the Wildwoods from the curse of the Witches but they are separated by the highest wall imaginable, and time is running out ...
This book is the first in a ten-book, cozy mystery series chronicling the various cases Roni and her dog—Doodle—stumble upon. In this particular story, Roni is the prime suspect of her almost sister-in-law’s death. Hijinx and mayhem of the deadly sort abound as Roni and her group of newfound friends work to solve the case, prove her innocence, and catch the real killer.
The book, like the rest of the series, is a short, light, fun read with characters that will become your friends. Think Gilmore Girls vibes plus a pup with a compunction for finding dead bodies.
Secrets, lies, and second chances are served up beneath the stars in this moving novel by the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends. Think White Lotus meets Virgin River set at a picturesque mountain inn.
Seven days in summer. Eight lives forever changed. The stage is…
