Good Reads & Views

Burn For Me: A Hidden Legacy Novel by Ilona Andrews
Fiction

What it’s about: Nevada Baylor, a private investigator and truthseeker mage, has to track down a powerful fire mage. Connor “Mad Dog” Rogan, a powerful telekinetic mage, wants to find the same guy. After bumping into each other and sparring a few times, they join forces and uncover more than they bargained for, including a conspiracy and romance.

Why you should read it: Ilona Andrews is a husband and wife writing team who have some really cool fantasy series. This series features a sizzling romance and an alternate history Houston in which powerful mages called Primes clash outside the law. I just finished book four and can’t wait for the next installment!

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Royals by Rachel Hawkins
YA Fiction

What it’s about: Daisy works at a Florida grocery store, but her sister Eleanor is dating the Crown Prince of Scotland. When Eleanor’s engagement is announced, Daisy is strong-armed into going to Scotland for the summer and is swept into the world of the royal entourage, where she witnesses plenty of royal misbehavior by the prince’s brother and sister and is talked into a fake romance with the insufferable Miles…who becomes more sufferable the more she gets to know him.

Why you should read it: I’m a sucker for breezy royal romances, and this one took some fun turns without getting too steamy. Daisy’s narrative voice and her washed-up rocker dad’s comments made me laugh out loud a number of times. If you like this one, there’s a companion book called Her Royal Highness, about Princess Flora’s romance with her boarding school roommate.

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To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
YA Fiction

What it’s about: Lara Jean gets over her crushes by writing letters to the boys she likes and then not mailing them. But after her sister Margot breaks up with their next-door neighbor and then leaves for college, Lara Jean’s letters somehow get mailed, including the one where Lara Jean confessed her love to her sister’s ex! She needs a fake boyfriend, stat! Fortunately, one of her other letters ends up in the right hands.

Why you should read it: This light, fluffy romance was recently released as a super cute movie on Netflix. I liked it even more when I found out it’s partially based on Little Women, but in this version, the quiet, shy homebody gets the boy she didn’t expect would fall for her.

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The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Fiction

What it’s about: Stella’s a star at work, but her parents are starting to pressure her to get married. Because she’s on the autism spectrum, she finds relationships to be daunting. So she hires a male escort to help her practice romance and sex, and she falls in love with him.

Why you should read it: This book has had a lot of buzz this summer. It’s a fun, steamy romance in which two people who might never have met otherwise discover how much they have in common. The author discovered she herself was on the autism spectrum after her daughter was diagnosed.

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Geekerella by Ashley Poston
YA Fiction

What it’s about: In this retelling of Cinderella, Elle blogs about “Starfield,” her favorite science fiction show, and she’s not happy with the casting of a teen heartthrob as Prince Carmindor in the movie reboot. When a mystery guy starts texting her by mistake about an upcoming Starfield convention, they start chatting online and fall for one another…but what will happen when she finds out the mystery guy is the new Prince Carmindor himself?

Why you might like it: This is a funny and breezy read. Although the story may seem familiar at times, it’s got enough twists to keep it entertaining, especially with Elle and her coworker, Sage, on the vegan fritter food truck, The Magic Pumpkin.

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Yvain, The Knight of the Lion by M. T. Anderson
YA Fiction

In the days of knights and castles, Yvain is a swashbuckling knight of King Arthur’s Round Table who runs into trouble when he breaks a promise to his wife. A ferocious lion is his sidekick. He is suicidal until he finds a damsel in distress who gives him a cause that gives his life meaning. This graphic novel takes the famous medieval classic and turns it into a reader-friendly, if gory, story. This is an adaptation of Chrétien de Troyes’s 13th century work that greatly defined the developing fantasy genre known as “romance,” which is not today’s meaning of romance in literature. You have here all the elements of medieval romance: swordplay, courtly love (and the obligatory cruel lady), chivalry, knights errant, ladies in need of rescue, tournaments, adventure, horses. Lots of horses. And a lion. Imagine Medieval Times® with a more complicated, drawn out plot.

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
Fiction

This is an intimate love story of Will Traynor and Louisa “Lou” Clark. Will is suddenly restricted to a wheelchair after suffering a bad accident. Lou is hired to take care of Will despite her lack of experience. Lou makes it her job and mission to find adventures to give Will a reason to live, after overhearing he has agreed to an arranged suicide in 6 months. The story is very funny and moving but never predictable. The plot contains a number of surprises and raises thoughtful and provoking questions about assisted suicide.

The Royal We by Heather Cocks
Fiction

American girl Bex goes to Oxford and winds up dating heir to the throne Prince Nicholas. Sure, the plot has been done before, but this story is set apart by the details (which will remind readers in some ways of a certain royal wedding a few  years ago). As Bex and Nick bond over bad TV and banter over improper things, they slowly grow to care for one another. But can Bex put aside her party girl ways and grow into her role as a possible princess? And can Nick set aside his views on what’s proper and declare his love for her in public? Can their love survive under the microscope of a media constantly trying to find ways to trip them up? Inquiring minds will definitely want to know.

Emerald Green (The Ruby Red trilogy #3) by Kerstin Gier
YA Fiction

The Ruby Red series began as Gwyneth discovered that she had inherited her family’s time traveling gene. Each day she and the other time traveler, Gideon, are sent back in time to elapse, but strange things are going on in the Circle, and Gwyneth is in way over her head.
I'm not sure why this series is so addicting to me. The main character, Gwyneth, is kind of flaky and overemotional, the dialog is often confusing, the action is frenetic and the plot has some holes. I could do without a number of the cutesy minor characters that clutter the scenes and with a lot less of the melodrama that consumes Gwyneth’s attention. I wish the author spent more time instead showing what Gwyneth notices as she time travels each day -- smells, odd vehicles or whatever. Maybe it’s the wish fulfillment of time traveling in gorgeous clothes and attending soirees with a dashing young man that keeps me reading. In any case, it’s a quick, fluffy read.

Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross
YA Fiction

This YA novel is based on an Emile Zola story called Les Repoussoirs (The Foils). Young Maude Pichon escapes an arranged marriage and flees to Paris near the turn of the century, where she witnesses such marvels as the construction of the Eiffel Tower and visits cafes and art exhibitions. She struggles to survive on wages from low-paying jobs until she answers an ad for young ladies… then discovers it’s an agency which hires out ugly women to rich ladies as beauty foils to make them look better by comparison! I enjoyed this tale of a young woman falling into work that makes her a comfortable living but makes her uncomfortable otherwise. I got a sense of where the story was headed so it wasn't a huge surprise, but I still liked the characters of Maude and the friends she meets in this unusual occupation.