#novel – Donna's Reading Chair

Book Review: This Time Around

Thank you to The Author Agency for my advance copy of This Time Around by Marina Pirlimpou in exchange for my honest review.

This book was such a breath of fresh air for me! We have Madison who nearly collides with a car on a busy city street as Nate, a blast from the past, saves her. Everything goes black and she wakes up in her childhood bedroom. She sees Nate at school and he wants to know what she did to him, they’re now trapped in their past selves!

As the story goes on, Nate and Madison start spending more time together. They start to get closer and then boom, Madison wakes up at the hospital. Will the romance they had living their life as teenagers take hold to the present time? Well…Nate simply has no recollection and leaves when he sees she’s ok.

Can they find what they had? Did they really have it after all? I was so nervous during the present part of this book I was pretty much yelling at Nate to get his act together. Thankfully his friends step in and help jog his memory a little. What would we do without our friends?

4 stars. This is an absolute slow burn complete with spicy scenes at the end. I don’t think you’ll regret reading this one!

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Title: This Time Around

Author: Marina Pirlimpou

Genre(s): Fiction, Romance, Slow Burn

Publisher: Independently Published

Release Date: June 11, 2025

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: Finders Keepers

Thank you to The Author Agency and Nicole Lenz for my advanced reader copy of Finders Keepers. It’s out TODAY…so go get your hands on a copy, trust me!

First I would just like to say how refreshing it was to read this book. This was one of the most well written, well thought out books I have read in a long time. This book is real and relatable and as long as you check the trigger warnings first, one you should put in your hands ASAP.

Bailey has taken her young daughter and made a run from her husband. She ends up in a small town where a complete stranger takes her in and her life starts to begin again. She shares small bits and pieces of her life and we end up getting her entire backstory. I did appreciate the author doing flashbacks of things that happened with her and her husband, it really helped to put things into perspective.

This book also has it all…spice, romance, some mystery, and definitely some suspense. I was kept on my toes for most of it, just waiting to see what would happen. I don’t want to reveal too much, I want you to go out and read it! For what it’s worth, no character annoyed me in the slightest, I just wanted more and more!

5 stars. This debut novel from Nicole Lenz was just so absolutely refreshing, I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

Title: Finders Keepers

Author: Nicole Lenz

Genre(s): Fiction, Romance, Small Town

Publisher: Independently Published

Release Date: May 8, 2025

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: Friends With Benefits

Thank you for Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my advance audiobook copy of Friends With Benefits by Marisa Kanter in exchange for my honest review!

I love a good friends to lovers romance so I was excited to snag an advance copy of Friends With Benefits. The story starts with Evie and Theo, childhood friends finding themselves at a turning point. Theo’s roommates are moving out and in California rent is expensive and his income doesn’t allow himself to qualify to take the lease over on his own. Evie has been living at her grandparent’s bungalow home until they come back from a vacation and say they’ve sold it and she now has to move out. Ut oh.

As friends, Evie and Theo still can’t move in together with income requirements and then…along comes an email which says that Evie has been accepted to a fellowship with a top Foley artist. As much as she would love to take it, she can’t afford to quit her job and lose her health insurance with her chronic illness. Yes…our guy Theo steps in.

Theo proposes they get married, she’ll get on his health insurance, AND because they are married they will meet the requirements to move in to Theo’s place. Has Evie had lingering feelings for Theo? Has Theo had lingering feelings for Evie? Oooh, this slow burn takes us through all of that.

What I really liked about this one was they both had some baggage, but they worked through it. In any other time in their lives, I don’t think they would have worked together. As stubborn and as frustrated that I got with both Evie and Theo at times, I am happy they took the paths they did and worked through what they had to, because then it made them available to love.

4 stars. Friends With Benefits is out this coming Tuesday, May 6th and should be one to look out for and read! This story was spicy (it’s a not a slow burn waiting for that, just waiting for them to realize what they want from each other) and definitely a read that will have you smiling!

Title: Friends With Benefits

Author: Marisa Kanter

Genre(s): Fiction, Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio

Release Date: May 6, 2025

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: Courier

I love Kindle Unlimited (KU), to the point I usually have always maxed out my borrow amount because there’s soooooo much I want to read! I made myself start to actually read the books I borrowed through KU so I can have room to add more, this was one that was on there that I decided to dive into, and I am SO happy I did!

Woah…Courier by Zoe Rosi is a creepy stalker novella that is a true, absolute must read. What makes this even creepier is the stalking…because it’s nothing out of the ordinary and is absolutely something anyone could do to any random person 😮. I may have peeked outside my blinds when I finished this one…

By the way I finished this in ONE day. ONE DAY. It’s only 173 pages and with each page turn the story escalates just a little more. Short chapters written in a manner that have you craving for what Bob (our stalker) does next…

So Bob was a delivery man and drops off an order to a house and decides that the husband is a bad guy and needs to save the wife. He stalks her and makes it his mission to save her. It’s unbelievable the information he can find and how he keeps an eye on her.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the ending 🤯🤯🤯, oh my. My jaw was on the floor! This is what made this get 5 stars from me!! If you enjoy darker reads, you MUST pick this one up!

Title: Courier

Author: Zoe Rosi

Genre(s): Fiction, Thriller, Horror, Short Story

Publisher: Lighthouse Books

Release Date: January 30, 2024

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: One Desperate Life

If you haven’t checked out Chirp for audiobooks, you need to. They have GREAT sales and offer GREAT prices for audiobooks. It’s worth a look into, this is one I found on Chirp and I’m so glad I did!

One Desperate Life by D.J. Maughan is a short, quick paced what I’d call historical thriller that will have you wanting to finish this in one sitting.

The story takes place in the early 1900s, in the time of train travel & horse and buggies, and is told using past & present timelines. Louise finds herself attracted the man set to marry her sister and ends up in a whirlwind romance with him.

Eventually finding herself pregnant from a night with him, she runs away to seek him out, but things aren’t what they seem. Will she be able to survive him?

It was a little confusing on audio at first with the timelines and names, I don’t want to give away too much, but once I figured out who was who and how the past & present connected it was an easy listen!

4 stars. Great, quick read! Truly a gripping thriller!

Title: One Desperate Life

Author: D.J. Maughan

Genre(s): Fiction, Thriller, Historical Thriller

Publisher: Hulyeseg Inc

Release Date: April 26, 2024

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: True Life in Uncanny Valley

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Children’s, and Labyrinth Road for this advance reader copy of True Life in Uncanny Valley in exchange for my honest review! This book came out last week and is an absolutely fantastic YA read!

Eleanor is your typical teenager being raised by a single mother. She has a sister, also know as mom’s favorite, and almost lives in both their shadows. Eleanor is also obsessed with celebrity Hugo Harrison, but not for the reason you may think…you see, Eleanor’s mom had an affair with him and he’s her dad. In her spare time she enjoys spying on him and his family and wonders what could have been.

Fast forward to Eleanor running into his new wife and small child and landing a nannying job for the summer. She’s finally going to see what he’s like, but can she keep her true identity under wraps? How will she keep this from her mom?

I think any pre-teen/teen will absolutely devour this book. It has the perfect amount of teenage angst and I never found Eleanor or her friends to be annoying. It was overdone, it was just the right amount. I think at any point in time as teens we can feel lost and ignored and the author did a beautiful job at writing this story just so. I think a lot of teens will be able to directly relate to this story. There’s even a smidge of clean romance!

4 stars. Even adults will find this story unputdownable as what will the outcome possibly be? I really enjoyed this one and this should be at the top of your list if you love reading YA!

Title: True Life in Uncanny Valley

Author: Deb Caletti

Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Publisher: Labyrinth Road

Release Date: March 18, 2025

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: Girl Anonymous

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for this advance audiobook copy of Girl Anonymous by Christina Dodd which was released earlier this week!

Where do I begin? This is a spicy, mob based thriller that bounces around a bit, but towards the end has one focus and is easy to follow along with. I almost wanted to stop this one in the first half, but I kept going…albeit at a slower pace, but I’m satisfied I stuck with it.

We have Maarja who lost her mother at a young age and inadvertently helped kill a mob boss, which because of this was in hiding. As an art mover, she ends up back at the Arundel house (the same one where she was involved with the now deceased mob boss), where an explosion takes place and takes out the mother. Maarja manages to make it to safety, but now is dealing with Dante, the Arundel son.

Dante decides he must protect her and essentially he forces himself on her. At this point in the book, I was rolling my eyes and just not enjoying Dante as a person. Maarja was a virgin and was essentially forced into something in order to save her life, and I just didn’t like the aspect and how Maarja justified what was happening. It felt abusive and I never really liked Maarja and Dante after this.

The story goes on and we find out someone is after the Arundel family. More spicy scenes happen and more cringing on my part happens. They put together a plan to try and catch who is doing this to the family and I will say the last 25% of the book I was hooked in. It was all business and I absolutely enjoyed the ending. I think if there wasn’t so much bouncing around or spice (don’t get me wrong, I love spice, but this was just cringey and felt very forced), this would have been a 5 star book, but it took a lot to get through to enjoy this one.

3 stars. If this falls into your lap, read it, but take caution. I wouldn’t seek this one out!

Title: Girl Anonymous

Author: Christina Dodd

Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Romance

Publisher: Canary Street Press, Harlequin Audio

Release Date: March 11, 2025

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

What happens when you leave your Netgalley shelf alone for so long…you end up buying a physical copy of a book you were fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of! Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advance copy of The Good Sister in exchange for my honest review.

The story is about twin sisters, Fern and Rose, who grew up with a less than stellar mother. Fern works in a library and sees her sister multiple times a week. Rose is married, desperate to have a child, and ensures her sister is well taken care of.

Fern is neurodivergent and I thought the way Hepworth wrote her character was absolutely fantastic. I loved Fern so much and found myself wanting to protect her through the pages. This story is also told from Fern’s point of view in the current time and through Rose’s journal entries where she talks about the past.

The real question is…who is the good sister? As this story unfolds, we start to see a few things that have us questioning a lot. Was their mother really abusive and a user? She did have an overdose when they were 12 years old that sent them to foster care. Fern regularly visits her mother in an assisted living home. Rose refuses and has not seen her mother in 10 years.

Fern works at a library and is pretty much an outcast. She never partakes in activities with her colleagues and they all kind of leave her alone. No one really understands her…

Without giving too much away…Fern finds a way to get her sister a baby. A baby she gets warned about to not give to her sister. With everything that has happened in her past, Fern is in no way capable of raising a child, nor should she really be trusted. Rose has done nothing but protect her, shelter her, and take care of her, it makes sense she should raise the baby…right?

4 stars. The suspense part of this book doesn’t really kick in until the last part of the book, it reads more as a fiction/literary tale up until that point, but once it kicks in, it’s a WILD ride. I absolutely loved how Hepworth kept us guessing and strung us along. I also really enjoyed Fern’s friend Wally aka Rocco and loved what he added to the story, along with her colleagues. This put a smile on my face at the end with everything that happened, absolutely delightful read, highly recommend!

Title: The Good Sister

Author: Sally Hepworth

Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Suspense

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Release Date: October 27, 2020

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: One By One by Ruth Ware

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! Yes, this is another 4 year overdue post…but at least I’m staying committed to the cause and writing my review!

This story is one of my Roman empires…I think about this book more often than I should. It made a lasting impact on myself. The story starts off innocently as eight co-workers enjoy a mountainside chalet…and then they get snowed in thanks to an avalanche.

Someone ends up missing…then someone ends up dead. No one else is around so that means one of them has committed the crime. Even with 8 characters running about, I found it easy to keep track of who was who as each character has a distinct personality.

I enjoyed the pace of the book and the vivid descriptions. I felt like I was there in the cabin next to the fire at times. There is another twist in the mix with everything…the co-workers went there to vote on selling the company. Is this what causes people to go missing and then someone to be killed? Only time will tell…

I have such a vivid recollection of the end…and I won’t spoil it for you, but just know I think about it often. Why? I’m not 100% too sure. But I truly find myself coming to the end of this one all the time. It’s rare for me to remember such detail about a book, so take that for what it is worth!

4 stars. The book does slow a bit on the pacing at times, but I feel this is a Ruth Ware writing trait. The book does NOT disappoint and leaves us turning the pages quickly to find out who did it. Our own suspicions build, but will you choose the correct whodunit? Find out and pick this one up!

Title: One By One

Author: Ruth Ware

Genre(s): Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery

Publisher: Gallery Books

Release Date: September 8, 2020

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: A California Christmas by Brenda Novak

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for my advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review! This was originally released in 2020 and I promise you I read this a few years ago…I PROMISE…I just never wrote the review, YIKES!

Emery Bliss is a promising TV anchor, until she breaks up with her boyfriend (who also happens to be a colleague…which also happens to not be allowed) and then he leaks a sex tape. Don’t get me started on how angry this made me because she ends up taking all the heat and he essentially escapes scot free! UGH!

Looking to be out of the public eye in LA and where she isn’t known, she flees to Silver Springs, her hometown. She finds solace with Aiyana Turner, who ends up being like her mother figure (oh yeah, Emery’s parents are going through a crazy divorce) and helps her with her ranch and prepare for her upcoming wedding.

One by one Aiyana’s family comes to town and in walks Dallas Turner. A bachelor. A man who travels all around the world and doesn’t have time for anyone. A man who also had a crush on Emery back when they were in high school. A man who will help Emery stand up to her ex-boyfriend.

The subject of revenge porn I felt was portrayed in a realistic manner. Dallas helps Emery, even with a lot going on in Dallas’ own life. There are so many side stories to the main story in this tale, it is JAM PACKED. Novak does such a delightful job at stringing everything together and giving us all the answers we need. You’ll be cursing Dallas one moment, cursing Emery the next, then back to Dallas, and eventually you find yourself falling in love with the flawed characters and want the best for them.

5 stars. This was more than just a romance book. This has grief, pain, heartbreak, and love. While Emery is our star, Dallas is a fantastic co-star and his story is just as intriguing as Emery’s in. This is the perfect book to set up a great Christmas in July if I do say so myself! It is part of a series, but it’s a standalone! Enjoy!

Title: A California Christmas

Author: Brenda Novak

Genre(s): Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Holiday

Publisher: Harlequin, MIRA

Release Date: October 13, 2020

Find it here on Goodreads