MADreads

Posts by Jane J

That's what counts

Cover of Addition
A review of Addition by Toni Jordan

Given the candy-colored cover and the peek-a-boo picture of the heroine, one might be forgiven for thinking that Addition by Toni Jordan is another in a long line of similar chick lit novels. Certainly Addition has wit and humor but it's the appealingly quirky (some might say crazy) heroine that rules the pages. And that crazy adds depth in this Australian debut which I recently pulled off a shelf of older "to be read" books (yes I have shelves of books that are tbr, don't judge). 

Posted by Jane J on May 24, 2018

For fans of Offred

Cover of Archetype
A review of Archetype by M. D. Waters

The Handmaid's Tale is terrifying and fascinating all at the same time. And it got me looking for readalikes. One such is Archetype, a great debut that read like a cross between Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson and Hilary Jordan's When She Woke (another great option if you're looking for more like Handmaid's). In Watson's book the female protagonist wakes with no memories and must learn who she can trust.

Posted by Jane J on May 14, 2018

Pitch perfect

Cover of Five Flavors of Dumb
A review of Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

"For the record, I wasn't around the day they decided to become Dumb. If I'd been their manager back then I'd have pointed out that the name, while accurate, was not exactly smart. It just encouraged people to question the band's intelligence, maybe even their sanity. And the way I saw it, Dumb didn't have much of either."

Posted by Jane J on May 1, 2018

Daring meets independent

Cover of Hello Stranger
A review of Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

In her latest in the Ravenals series, Kleypas has loosely based the heroine on a real historical figure, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first (and only, for many years) female doctor in England. Kleypas' Dr. Garrett Gibson is also the lone female physician of her time and she does work in London and those are broadly the only things they have in common.

Posted by Jane J on Apr 10, 2018

Hitting all the notes

Cover of Roomies
A review of Roomies by Christina Lauren

Marriage of convenience plots are a not-uncommon trope in the romance genre, but generally they work a bit better in historical romances (where marriage for practical purposes just feels more possible). In contemporary novels the MOC usually comes about from a couple of scenarios; either there's an inheritance at stake or someone needs to gain a green card. With Roomies, we're talking about the second scenario and it mostly works.

Posted by Jane J on Mar 29, 2018

Perception is everything

Cover of Tess of the Road
A review of Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

I was so excited when I was offered a galley of Hartman's new novel set in the fantasy realm of Goredd first introduced in Seraphina. Here we meet Seraphina's half-sister Tess. Tess chafes at the role she's had to take on in her family and the restrictions placed on her as a female. She's bitter and angry and yes, she drinks too much to dull her frustrations. But she's chugging along with the goal of getting her sister settled in a good marriage.

Posted by Jane J on Jan 30, 2018

Nothing to do but read

Cover of Vacation Reading
Vacation Reading by

I often read a fair amount of reading (understatement) over holidays and vacations but for this most recent bout of holiday days off I topped myself. Mostly because it's just been so darn cold! What else is there to do other then huddle under a blanket and read? All this is to say, I may have several posts of vacation reads.  I'll start today with a couple of the more romance-y titles.

Posted by Jane J on Jan 4, 2018

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