Hello! If you haven’t checked out any of my shows on WhatNot yet, then this is your chance! The Lost Library’s big romance show is tonight, with book bundles starting at just $1 per book! There will be some giveaways, too, so I’d love it if you’d come and join me. You can find my show here, and if you haven’t signed up for WhatNot yet you can use my link and get $10 to shop with! If you do stop in, let me know how you found my show. Thanks!
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The Arrangement was the 2nd book I finished in 2023! It was another random grab off the shelf for my bookshelf cleanout (a project that is going to take the rest of my life, I think).
I dove into this book without reading the back cover (because I’m such a rebel). A short way in, I was so caught up by the odd premise that I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue reading it. Due to a case of mistaken identity, the hero plays the role of both himself and his fictional disabled brother. It was a little uncomfortable, to be honest. I pushed through and finished the book anyway.
I honestly feel that this strange premise makes it difficult for me to write a decent review about the book. I think the characters and setting were decently developed, but I can’t say this was my favorite historical romance ever. I feel that it stuck in my mind more because of the oddity of it than anything else. I recommend The Arrangement if you love historical fiction and are looking for a trope you haven’t seen before.
What have you been reading lately? I’d love to know!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
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I’m always a sucker for great historical fiction, but I’m the first to admit that these kind of covers often make me wonder just what I’m getting into when I blindly grab something off the shelf. A Warrior’s Passion by Margaret Moore was not a disappointment. The characters likable (except for the ones who were terrible and weren’t supposed to be likable), and the setting was fascinating. I always love traveling back in time, and the author did a great job of sending me there!
Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Book Reviews
I know, another Nora Roberts. What can I say? They’re good! Midnight Bayou has magic, history, murder, and romance, all in a fantastic New Orleans setting. It’s yet another page turner from Roberts, and I was happy to have picked it up!
Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keeping and The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Book Reviews
Historical fiction is always fun. There’s something great about romance that doesn’t involve cell phones or social media! In Beguiled, the characters have an even harder time communicating since the main female character Lillian can’t even speak. This was a great tale of an arranged marriage (with some intrigue, action, and mystery thrown in). The author did a great job of showing the depths of the two characters and building the tension between the two of them. It was very enjoyable!
Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keeping and The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Book Reviews
I’ll be honest. I picked up Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell at a yard sale this summer. Yard sales are some of my favorite ways to find books, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed this time! It’s an engaging read with excellent character development and a thoroughly built setting. Was it a good idea for me to read a book about a murdered writer when I was home alone at night? Probably not, but I just locked the windows and kept reading!
Though this is the second in the series, it served perfectly well as a standalone novel. Even better, it made me want to read more! Luckily, I picked up a few other books at that same yard sale!
Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Book Reviews
Wow! If you want to find yourself completely transported to a new place and into other people’s lives, then I can’t recommend Rosamunde Pilcher’s Winter Solstice enough. I was absolutely gripped by this book, and I can’t even say that I minded reading a wintery book in summer! Pilcher manages to create so much atmosphere with the little details in life, executed perfectly so that you barely know it’s happening. I’ll definitely be grabbing her other books to try out as well.
Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Book Reviews
If you want to know a lot about art restoration or art theft, then I highly recommend Homeport by Nora Roberts! The characters are well-developed, revealing not only their own internal arc but all the family history that turned them into what they are. The story is surprisingly fast paced considering many of the scenes take place in a museum. 4 stars!
Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Book Reviews
Roast me if you will, but I’ve just finished another Nora Roberts book. I’ve ended up with quite a few of them on my shelf after various library sales and book stashes that friends have passed on to me, and even though it’s winter I picked up Summer Pleasures.
What I Loved: While sometimes I don’t like the idea of putting two novels into one volume (because I’m impatient and finishing a book makes me feel like I’ve achieved something), it does work quite well for a lot of NR’s books. She has so many of them that it’d be impossible to locate only two novels with crossover characters.
As with any of her other books, Roberts is simply a master of romantic tension. The characters’ desires are all laid out in front of us very close to the beginning, but they relentlessly struggle until they finally let themselves have what they always wanted. Anyone who thinks that’s not realistic might never have been in love before.
What I Didn’t Love As Much: These were written back in the 80s, and while I love the fashion references and the lack of cell phones, there are some things that just don’t age well. One is that almost every Nora Roberts book I’ve read includes a scene in which the man grabs the woman by the arms and shakes her. To shake some sense into her? To display his masculine passion? If some guy shakes me, this romance is gonna turn into a murder mystery.
Unfortunately, there were some typos. It’s not enough to make me put the book down, but it’s a shame to see from a big publisher.
Rating and Review: Overall, Summer Pleasures is an easy read that delivered just what the title promised. 4 stars.
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
Filed under Book Reviews
A fun and exciting adventure of a romance, The Reef is one of those novels that proves romance isn’t purely about human relationships.
From the Cover: Tate Beaumont has a passion for treasure-hunting. Over the years, she and her father have uncovered many fabulous riches, but one treasure has always eluded them: Angelique’s Curse—a jeweled amulet heavy with history, dark with legend, and tainted with blood. In order to find this precious artifact, the Beaumonts reluctantly form a partnership with salvagers Buck and Matthew Lassiter.
As the Beaumonts and Lassiters pool their resources to locate Angelique’s Curse, the Caribbean waters darken with shadowy deceptions and hidden threats. Their partnership is placed in jeopardy when Matthew refuses to share information—including the truth behind his father’s mysterious death. For now, Tate and Matthew continue their uneasy alliance—until danger and desire begin to rise to the surface…
What I Loved: I grabbed this book randomly from a shelf practically groaning with used books I’ve acquired over the years. In fact, I had one of my kids randomly pick it for me because I just couldn’t decide. It turned out to be a great choice.
The Reef dives into the world of treasure hunting, unraveling the tale of the Beaumonts and the Lassiters as they search for the ultimate treasure buried beneath the sea. While of course boy-meets-girl is the main arc of the plot, there’s simply so much more that’s going on here! Family history, old and new tragedy, gain and loss are all wonderfully told over the beautiful backdrops of the sea and sun. The details that help paint the scenery and the background are a lot of what makes this book a real winner.
What I Didn’t Love: Honestly, there’s not much! I think I’d have preferred a slightly different ending, but I can’t say that I was unhappy with it.
Rating and Recommendation: The Reef could be a great summer read or just one that makes you feel like it’s summer. If you’re not sure about romance as a genre, The Reef just might change your mind. 5 stars.
Have you read The Reef or another book by Nora Roberts? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
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