BOOKS AND CHINOOKS

This is a second-chance romance story with a beautiful setting in Italy. Ellie and Cris have known each other since they were kids, and both had hoped their relationship would progress beyond being friends. Circumstances caused distance and distrust, but now they are forced to be together at the wedding of their grandparents. I loved learning more about both of their lives and careers and enjoyed getting to see their relationship bloom. This was a well-written story with grea

This is the story of a twenty-nine-year-old librarian who decides she needs more out of her life after her sister gets engaged. Ingrid and her boyfriend of eleven years decide to take a one month break to see what else is out there and to date other people before they settle down together. She has always had an attraction to her coworker, Macon, but he initially doesn’t reciprocate that back. As Cory and Ingrid keep extending their break, will she finally have a chance with M

I loved this book even though it made me shed a lot of tears. Jordan is in her senior year when she meets Sam and Yash, who are also attending her college. As Jordan begins a relationship with Sam, she realizes she is also drawn to Yash. After graduation, Jordan and Sam have an ugly fallout and breakup,, and she and Yash soon start their own relationship. Throughout this, the men remain best friends. As time passes, Jordan moves to France, and then she plans to start her futu

This is a powerful and well-written book. Bobby, a twenty-two-year-old biracial black man, has passed as white his entire life, and he has closely guarded this secret. His best friend, Aaron, has just been released from jail, and his arrival quickly sets them both on a terrible trajectory. Unexpectantly, Bobby then has a surprise first meeting with his father and is finally feeling optimistic about his life going forward - but is it too late? This book covers a range of issue

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