Where Imagination Runs Amuck

I’m such a fan of the paranormal and love ghost stories, maybe because there’s a weird type of comfort that comes with believing, but also because of how history has turned these ghost stories into one giant game of telephone and seeing people unravel that game to the true message is something I find fascinating.

Leanna and Andrea do such an amazing job of unraveling those threads to find the truth of these women and turn them into the real and true people they are and not just the tropes or cautionary tales that they’ve become.

I don't usually annotate books, but this one had such amazing historical facts that I kept going 'whoa!" and highlighting. I loved the discourse and truth behind these stories. As a paranormal fan, some of these stories I knew and some I didn't, but looking at them through a female gaze and really digging into the truth of these women's stories is amazing

In a Jam - 5/5

Holy crap, the love I have for this book. 

I received an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Shay Zucconi’s step grandmother leaves her a tulip farm in the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island, under two conditions, Shay has to move to Friendship and she has be married within a year. Enter Noah, who’s harbored a crush on Shay since high school, now a single dad and willing to help Shay with the terms of the inheritance. Shenanigans obviously ensue.

Things you’ll find in this book: - Single Dad with an awesome neurodivergent child - Awesome six year old that swears like a pirate - Small town - Marriage of convenience - Slow burn - Grouchy Farmer MC/Plus Sized FMC

Trigger/Content Warnings: - absentee parent(s) - brief mention of parent death - brief mention of parent chronic illness - mention of incarceration - mention of temporary foster care placement - reference to teenage teasing/bullying (not detailed, not explicit) - brief incidence of fat-shaming

Things I enjoyed: 

“Just because I can plow through by myself doesn’t mean I want to,” I said. “Fuck, Shay. Let me need you, okay?” 

Kate Canterbary is an instant buy for me, she is one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint. I loved this book; it’s been nearly a week since I finished it, and I’m still not over it. There’s so much to say about why I loved it. I loved the chemistry between Noah and Shay, how seamlessly they form a family unit while still internally freaking out about the seamlessness of it. The thing I love about Kate’s books are that her characters have great communication. That when whatever the FMC or MC are hiding comes out, it isn’t a blow-up but a true conversation of feelings and truths. 

That feelings are validated and are allowed to be felt, and this goes for both Shay and Noah. I loved the female friendships, the male friendships, and the friendships that start to form as the relationship takes shape. I loved how Shay takes the time she needs to understand her feelings and that Noah gives her the space to do that. I love that while Noah is firmly planted in his feelings, he doesn’t expect Shay to get there with him in that moment. 

I just… there are so many feels I have about this book. But most of all I loved the fat joy in this book. That while there are incidences of fatphobia, it doesn’t overtake the entire plot or scene. That there’s only annoyance and confusion as to why someone thinks they have a say over someone else’s body and a reclaiming of that opinion. But it’s these brief scenes that just add to the book and to the characters. 

“For reasons I’d yet to understand, this town was all too comfortable speaking about him unkindly and having the balls to do it to his face…That everyone felt it was acceptable to discuss is body was the strangest thing in the world to me. It would never make sense” 

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for an advanced Readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I had a hard time rating this one – because while I didn’t like it, I can see why others might. I’m giving this a lower 3 even though I had to ultimately DNF this book – not because the writing was bad, I think Howe’s writing is really good, but mostly for the fact that for a book being marketed as a rom-com, it is very little rom (I ended up DNFing at 40%), and even less com.

Things you’ll find in this book: - Second chance romance - Academic Rivals - Only one spot for a TA position, two people wanting it. - Single POV - Plus-Sized Heroine - External Fatphobia

Things I enjoyed:

I did enjoy the writing in and of itself. I did enjoy the fact that Allison was plus sized, and that this fact wasn’t hidden.

Things I didn’t enjoy:

There is no fat joy. While I understand that Allison’s life is in flux, and she has issues within the school and her family, in the 40% that I read, there is no pure moment of joy. She’s suspicious of Colin because he’s changed. But she refuses to talk to him about their break-up other than saying she doesn’t want to look back, but you don’t get the true why (until obviously later in a part I didn’t get to) which is odd seeing as this book is entirely in her POV.

It's frustrating to see Allison get in her own way throughout the book, with her TA position, when it’s obvious Colin and the professor want to help her, in her friendships, in her relationships. Everything is doom and gloom, and there is very little joy.

Even the moments she has with her roommate are shadowed by this misery cloud of her friend obviously trying to move on with her career and getting new friends.

Really, when I really pin it down, Allison isn’t all the likable, and neither was Colin. I wasn’t really rooting for them, and I got to a point where I didn’t really much care about their relationship or the story because there’s so little movement and character growth between them.

Overall: