Marsupial Literature

Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop  Author: Rebecca Raisin  Publisher: HQ Digital  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop is the story of Christmas-lover Flora, who simply cannot get enough of the holidays. However, losing her job and getting dumped threatens to put a wrench in Flora's Christmas joy this year. Rather than let her circumstances get the best of her, Flora purchases a campervan and travels to Lapland to join the van life and run a Christmas shop. She may even end up changing the heart of a scrooge or two along the way.  Alright, the debate has been resolved: I love Rosie and Aria, but Flora is officially my favorite character! Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop is the perfect (read it again: PERFECT) book for the holiday season. Flora is quirky and hilarious, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her story. Her joy for the holidays never let's up, even when everything seems to go wrong. I liked Flora's determination to change Connor's mind about Chri...

Her Honor Author: LaDoris Hazzard Cordell  Publisher: Celadon Books  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It is the memoir of Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, the first African American woman to be appointed to the Superior Court of Northern California. Judge Cordell gives a behind the scenes look into the legal system and points out the positives and negatives of it's current workings, using examples of some of the cases she presided over. Based on her experiences, she provides a list of ten problems with the legal system, along with detailed solutions to each issue. Her Honor is an incredibly complex and thought-provoking book; I had to step back and absorb the book for awhile before writing this review. I loved the way that Judge Cordell presented the material in this book: it's honest, straightforward, fact-based, and even includes some humor at times. The topics can be quite heavy at times, and she provides the reader with a...

A major thank you to the author for sharing a portion of my review in her newsletter! The Wedding Crasher and the Cowboy  Author: Robin Bielman Publisher: Entangled Publishing  ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 The Wedding Crasher and the Cowboy is an enemies to lovers story between Kennedy and Maverick. Kennedy returns to her hometown to crash her ex-boyfriend's wedding but with a twist: it's convince him that he is marrying the RIGHT girl. Of course her former rival Maverick thinks otherwise, and makes things less than pleasant for Kennedy when she comes to town. The two are frequently thrown together by way of pre-wedding events, and soon sparks begin to fly. I'm pretty sure Entangled Publishing is becoming one of my go-to favorites for books. I loved The Wedding Crasher and the Cowboy and could not get enough of this story. Enemies to lovers? Wedding crashers? Cowboys? Seriously, this book had just about everything. The dynamic between Kennedy and Maverick is so well-written and enjoyable to read...

April May Fall  Author: Christina Hovland  Publisher: Entangled Publishing  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ April May Fall is the story of divorced single mom April, who is a social media influencer known as the Calm Mom. Until a video of her being, well, not so calm goes viral and threatens her online persona and job. Her employer sends Jack to help clean up her image and start fresh. And it probably doesn't hurt that he is pretty handsome as well. Hands down, the best part of April May Fall is the brutally honest depiction of mom life. As the mom to toddler, I found myself nodding and laughing so much while reading this book, especially at the appropriately included quotes at the beginning of each chapter. April is a great lead, and she just keeps pushing along as the hits keep coming (and there are a lot of hits). Her romance with Jack is sweet, and helps tell the story of her getting back out there after her divorce. April May Fall is funny, exhausting, and encouraging all at once; fans of wome...

BLUE Author: L.E. DeLano Publisher: Gaze Publishing ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Blue is a story of loss, forgiveness, and looking at all sides of a story. Blue's brother Jack was involved in a car accident that killed the father of one of her classmates. Even though she had no part in the accident, Blue is left to deal with the aftermath, including rumors and bullying from fellow classmates, including Maya, whose father died in the accident. Her love interest, Devon, becomes a shoulder for her to lean on, but also has troubles of his own. Blue has multiple relationships to navigate and repair, which is a lot for a teenage girl to say the least. Blue is a complex YA novel that challenges the reader to look at multiple perspectives of a difficult situation. Blue as a main character is really well-written, and the reader can feel her emotions and struggles. Several supporting characters help carry the book, make it easy to stay engaged with the story. There are a lot of heavy themes in this book that are al...

Home for a Cowboy Christmas  Author: Donna Grant  Publisher: St. Martin's Press  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Home For a Cowboy Christmas is a Donna Grant cowboy novel that is perfect for the Christmas season. Emmy is in the witness protection program and had been relocated to Montana for her safety. Former military and current cowboy Dwight is tasked with looking after Emmy and keeping her out of harm's way. Romance quickly follows as they spend more time together, but keeping Emmy safe may be easier said than done. This is the sixth cowboy book I have read this year, and my second ARC from Donna Grant, and I seriously cannot get enough of this genre. Grant's books are so easy to get lost in, and are full of romance and action. I liked both of the main characters and found the relationship natural and fun to read. The overhang of Emmy being in witness protection left the feeling of possible danger behind every door and kept the book interesting. My only critique is that I found the ending a lit...

Life Lived Wild Author: Rick Ridgeway  Publisher: Patagonia  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map is the autobiographical story of Rick Ridgeway. The author chronicles his many adventures, grand and small, and the impacts that each has on his life. His story is also one of close friendships, as his friends often traveled/climbed/paddled right along side him throughout the world. I was previously unfamiliar with the life of Rick Ridgeway before reading Life Lived Wild, and am very happy to have had the opportunity to read and review his book. Life Lived Wild is nonstop, it goes from one place to another and another, and the book was a great read. The book was honest and great care was taken to tell the stories of the friends that did not survive some of the journeys; these sections were heartbreaking but well told. I also appreciated the emphasis on a strong respect for nature and the author's efforts to protect the environment and combat climate change. Read...