Nutcracker With Benefits

 

LIZ ALDEN

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, 2022.

How acquired: BookSprout

First line: It was a goddamn Christmas miracle.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This was a light, somewhat breezy rom com, which was perfect for my mood when I picked it up. I’m not crazy about present tense narration, or about stories where two characters alternate providing the narration in first person POV, and I did not love that here. While the author’s writing was good, the narrative voice felt the same regardless of whether Clara or Nash was telling the story. But the story itself was fun, and it wasn’t hard to overlook that.

Nash and Clara are best friends who don’t see each other often, as Clara’s career has her traveling all over the world, but whenever she breezes into town they enjoy some benefits. Clara is content with the relationship, but Nash wants more, and while Clara is in town for a couple of days at Christmas he sets out to provide her with the perfect day, and show her that she can be just as happy not always being gone.

I especially enjoyed all the supporting characters - Clara’s two dads, her niece and nephew, Nash’s personal stylist, etc. Nobody is one note, and considering this is a novella, and of course the focus is on Clara and Nash, the author did a good job with making the supporting characters vivid and fleshed out.

The book is billed as a “holiday retelling rom com”. Well, I’ll admit right now that I’ve never seen The Nutcracker, and I don’t really know anything about it, but that did not hinder my enjoyment of this story in any way. Just in case you wonder if you need to see The Nutcracker first.

A fun read, with both Nash and Clara ultimately learning to compromise, and getting that satisfying HEA.

*I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and have voluntarily reviewed it* 

Goodreads Synopsis: Clara: I love my life—as a food and travel blogger I make my own hours, work all over the world, and don’t have a single regret. The cherry on top is flying home to New York City to celebrate the holidays with my family—and Nash. He’s my best friend with benefits and was just named the sexiest billionaire bachelor of the year. He’s all mine—for now. But someday, Nash is going to break my heart.

Nash: Clara can have her cake—whether its pavlova, mochi, or tres leches—and eat it too. I have twenty-four hours to convince her that she can have everything she wants right here in the city—including me.

Last Night at the Lobster

STEWART O'NAN

Goodreads synopsis: The Red Lobster perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall hasn't been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift with a near-mutinous staff. All the while, he's wondering how to handle the waitress he's still in love with, what to do about his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.

Stats for my copy: Paperback, Penguin Books, 2008.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Mall traffic on a gray winter's day, stalled.

My thoughts: This is a slim (146 pages) paperback that took me longer to read than it should have. Partly because I just didn't have a lot of time to read, but partly because I found it a bit of a struggle to get into. The narrative is in present tense, which is my least favorite tense, but once I picked up the flow I decided the author made a good choice there, as it fit the story. The entire book takes place over one day at a Red Lobster, which is being closed down effective the following day. The detail, the minutiae of running a restaurant – I worked in restaurants for several years but reading this I felt like I knew nothing about working in a restaurant. And it certainly didn't make me ever want to do so again! The narrative is from Manny's point of view, so we don't get any insight into any of the other characters. I would've liked to know more about Jacquie, the waitress Manny had an affair with and is still hung up on, and how they got together.

Overall the book was a bit depressing, but I did appreciate the author's talent for imagery, especially in the outdoor scenes with the snow storm. When I walked out of my house I was momentarily surprised that the air was hot and humid instead of freezing cold. 

Down & Dirty (Lightning, Book 1)

TRACY WOLFF

Synopsis from Goodreads: This hard-bodied football star is used to scoring. But he needs all the right moves to get past a fiery redhead’s defenses in a steamy standalone novel from the bestselling author of Ruined.

Emerson: Talk about bad first impressions. I have too much riding on this job to show up late on my first day looking like the winner of a wet T-shirt contest, all thanks to an arrogant quarterback who drives like he owns the road. Hunter Browning thinks that because he’s famous, he can fix everything with a smile and a wave of his hand. He’s too bronzed, buff, and beautiful for his own good. Or mine. I can’t let on that I’m a fan . . . no matter how much fun we’d have in the sack.

Hunter: Hitting that puddle was my best play since winning the Super Bowl with a touchdown pass. Sure, it’s not my preferred way to get a girl wet, but I’ll make an exception for Emerson Day. She’s got a sharp tongue and a red-hot temper, even with her soaking clothes plastered to her every curve. Now I know exactly what my next play will be: hire Emerson as my personal real-estate agent, save her job—and see if I can take her off the market.

Stats for my copy: .pdf ARC, Loveswept, 2017.

How acquired: Instafreebie.

My thoughts: This story combined elements that I like with elements that I'm not crazy about, and it all worked. I love an alpha hero. Cocky, arrogant, bring it on. Professional football player and star quarterback Hunter delivers. Witty, cutting banter will always draw me in, and Hunter and Emerson delivered. I laughed out loud several times at their exchanges. A hero who enrages the heroine. Score another point for Hunter. A hero with young kids. Ok, they aren't actually Hunter's kids, but a niece and nephew are close enough. A heroine who turns her nose up at the hero's money and fame. While secretly awed (because she is a football fan), Emerson refuses to let that show, which of course makes her different from every other woman Hunter knows, and therefore more desirable. (Although there is a scene involving a hundred dollar bill that was hilarious.) Characters falling deeply in love in a very short period of time. Not a big fan of instalove, as I like watching a relationship grow, but doesn't bother me too much. First person point of view, present tense. My least favorite tense. But Ms. Wolff does it so well it didn't bother me at all. So score one for her.

Throw in some mega sexy times, and a lot of heart. I cried. More than once. Hunter is the kind of man I would find insufferable in real life, but as I got to know him, and to understand him, I adored him. The narrative alternates between Hunter's and Emerson's points of view, but I felt it was a little more his story than hers. Which was just fine by me. I loved this book. 

Hopeless

COLLEEN HOOVER

Synopsis from back cover: Sky, a senior in high school, meets Dean Holder, a guy with a promiscuous reputation that rivals her own. From their very first encounter, he terrifies and captivates her. Something about him sparks memories of her deeply troubled past, a time she's tried so hard to bury. Though Sky is determined to stay far away from him, his unwavering pursuit and enigmatic smile break down her defenses and the intensity of the bond between them grows. But the mysterious Holder has been keeping secrets of his own, and once they are revealed, Sky is changed forever and her ability to trust may be a casualty of the truth.

Only by courageously facing the stark revelations can Sky and Holder hope to heal their emotional scars and find a way to live and love without boundaries.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Atria Books, 2013.

How acquired: Loaned to me by my daughter.

First line: I stand up and look down at the bed, holding my breath in fear of the sounds that are escalating from deep within my throat.

My thoughts: I see references to Colleen Hoover and her books constantly, on blogs, and on Instagram, where it seems the majority of the book-related accounts belong to teenagers and twenty-somethings. So much hype about this author and her books. I've gotten away from the YA genre in the last few years, so I didn't really have any interest in reading her.

My daughter, who will be twenty-three in a couple of weeks, loved books as a child, but once past elementary school she didn't spend much time reading. In fact, she hardly read at all, other than at work (a daycare) during nap time, and then she mostly read Joyce Meyer or similar, or self-help books related to relationships and nutrition and healthy eating. But one of her co-workers convinced her to try a Colleen Hoover book, and suddenly she's reading like crazy, wanting more Hoover books, and then she read Nicholas Sparks and wanted more of his books, and then she just wanted me to find anything similar that I thought she might also like. So I am forever grateful to Ms. Hoover for helping my daughter rediscover her love of books and reading. And when my daughter texted me and said I should read this Colleen Hover book she just finished and would I want to borrow it, I said yes, because I owe it to Ms. Hoover to give her books a chance.

So, I read HOPELESS. It took me awhile to get through the first half. Partly because of work and life and being so tired at night that I sometimes could only read for ten or fifteen minutes before I had to go to sleep. Partly because it just did not quite captivate me the way it did my daughter and all those other Hoover fan girls out there. To begin with, I'm not a big fan of present tense narration, so that put me off just a little, but I got to used to it fairly quickly and it didn't bother me too much in the long run. I just found the story kind of blah in the beginning. Sky tells us early on that Karen, her mother, adopted her when she was three. And yet all throughout the book she always refers to her mother by her name. When speaking to her mother she calls her mom, but when telling us about her mother she calls her Karen. I just didn't like the connotation that gave, as if since Karen is not her biological mother she's not entitled to be referred to a her mother. Even though she is.

And then there's just all the angst of being the new girl in school. Of having the reputation of being the loose girl in school who sleeps with everybody even though she's not actually had sex with anybody. Of the one person becoming her friend being the weird gay kid. And then of meeting Holder, who is a little disturbing with his violent outbursts.

And then the big secret comes out, and from that point on I was suddenly reading faster and was much more invested and it was intense and at times a little nerve-wracking, and I can't really say much more about it without giving away too much plot, but the ending was fantastic and I even cried a little bit. So while I don't necessarily want to run out and buy every Colleen Hoover book I can find, I understand why she's so popular and beloved, and she deserves to be.