BOOKS AND CHINOOKS

This was an entertaining holiday read. Ruby loves Christmas, and as she is hauling her tree home, a grumpy man named Rashid steps in to help. Rashid is definitely not a fan of Christmas and all that goes with it. After running into each other again, and as they spend more time together, they slowly form a romantic connection. The book utilizes the fun sunshine vs grumpy trope. Ruby is planning to leave Toronto in the new year and hopes to open a country inn. What will happen

This was an entertaining holiday story with interesting characters and fun Christmas events. Fable convinces her boss to be her fake boyfriend for a wedding where they are both in the wedding party. He is happy to oblige, and they set out to sell their new relationship amongst Christmas activities and wedding prep. Wilder’s teenage daughter was a great secondary character. I enjoyed the book overall, but I did find it a bit longer than it needed to be.

Karl and Nancy were first introduced to us in An Unexpected Path, and it was wonderful to be able to now read their origin story and learn more about their special relationship. They met in the 1990s, and it was fun to read about that time period with some Canadianisms thrown in. Their insta-love was entertaining, and I enjoyed all the humour throughout the book. Karl’s family is absolutely lovely and a great component of the book. Overall, another well-written book by this a

This is an engaging second-chance romance! As June and Adam are forced to come back into each other’s lives after five years it is slowly revealed how their previous relationship started and how it ended. The book is written so that we slowly get a peek into their lives. It was interesting to learn about their misunderstandings and their feelings toward one another now and when they were roommates. I liked seeing their evolution and personal growth together and apart. The set

I loved this wonderful second-chance romance. Paige is interested in pursuing songwriting as a career, but she needs more life experiences to write enough emotion into her songs. She enlists her ex-boyfriend, Liam, as her muse to date her and break her heart so she can achieve her big break in her songwriting. Liam agrees, and they travel across the US together with Liam’s job working on a tour for Live Nation. We have the one hotel room scenario, which is great, and the book

This is a fun opposites-attract romance! Mari heads over to London from California to help resurrect a dying bookstore, but she encounters a surly owner who seems ambivalent about the store. Leo is struggling with grief over his grandfather’s death and his love/hate relationship with the bookstore. As he and Mari grow closer, they both have a lot of issues in their personal lives and feelings to overcome. It was interesting to see the authentic sides of Leo come to life and t

I went into this one blind, and I was immediately caught up in the suspense. Agatha sets out on her six-hour train trip with some secrets we aren’t knowledgeable of initially. She is supposed to be working on her novel, but that plan soon derails when death and mayhem ensue amongst the passengers and staff. The atmospheric writing has the characters trapped on a stationary train in the Canadian countryside amid a raging snowstorm, with no wifi or outside connections. That’s

Yael goes by a pseudonym on her podcast as Elle, and she believes her new podcast editor lives in NYC and his name is Kevin. Kevin uses his middle name, Ravi, in non-professional areas of his life, and he actually lives in Portland, where Yael lives. They have an unfortunate first meeting in real life, and then he ends up volunteering at her queer book club at the high school where she works. Yael and Ravi are both part of the LGBTQ+ community. They start falling for each oth

This is the second book in a series, and although I haven’t read the first one, this was fine as a stand-alone book. I enjoyed the fake dating trope in this sports romance story. Brooks and Siena were great characters and great together. I liked the writing and the character development. I will go back and read the first book now!

I loved this second-chance romance. Ali and Graham meet in London the night before she leaves to go back to the US. On a drunken dare, they get matching tattoos and, after a great evening, go their separate ways. They unexpectedly run into each other again years later, and Ali is excited to be reunited. She thinks maybe Graham is too, until she discovers she is the wedding planner for his wedding. She is, needless to say, disappointed in him for not telling her he was engaged

Geraldine Brooks has led an exciting and successful life as a journalist and foreign correspondent and was happily raising her children in Martha’s Vineyard with her husband when the unthinkable happened. Her 60-year-old husband collapsed and died while on his book tour. She quickly had to deal with all the details surrounding a sudden death while never taking the time to properly grieve. This book is about her search to find some peace and closure after realizing she needed

This book was an emotional roller coaster for the reader and the characters. Ellie meets Ash when she is travelling through Europe, and they immediately have a strong connection. They have to split up due to other commitments, but agree to meet up in Spain. Ellie is late to the meeting, but Ash doesn’t show up, and she is heartbroken. They discover each other again six years later when Ellie begins her dream job working as a gardener at an estate. Unbeknownst to her, Ash’s fa