Reading, Writing, and Me

Happy Place  by Emily Henry Overview: Harriet found her friend group for life in college. They might as well be her family. They've grown together through graduation and law school and medical school and one member leaving to go to South America to learn organic farming because they always come back together to spend a week in Maine every year at one friend's family summer house. Now, as they confront true adulthood and the changes that come with it, they have one more summer together before the house is sold to set the course of the future of their bonds. Overall: 4 Do I think this is an incredible romance? Maybe not. But it is a great book.  Characters: 4 There's a lot of characters in this book. The core friend group is six people, plus we get a closer look at both Harriet and her ex-fiancé Wyn's families. They're all well developed and have good dimension despite there being so many characters involved.  Harriet is at a crisis point in her life. She's in the

Maame  by Jessica George Overview:  Maddie is making her way through life as a girl in her early twenties in London. At 25, she's finally itching to spread her wings, but being largely responsible for her father who is battling Parkinson's disease has kept her home while her mother and brother live their ideal lives. Feeling stuck at home, socially, and in a job she took just to have any job, Maddie realizes that it's time for some major changes even if they go against everything she's ever known. Overall: 4.5 Characters: 4 Maddie is immediately so lovable and relatable, and you seriously just want to give her a hug. As a fellow late bloomer, I related to her feeling of complete loss at how to start checking off life milestones when you feel like you've missed some steps everyone else went through. She's devoted to her family and always listened to their rules perhaps with a bit too much fealty, so making her own rules and taking bigger steps presents a lot of m

Kate Bromley is a romcom writer who's always loved romance novels. With two books out so far and a third out June 6, Bromley is surging forward in her author career and continuing to explore exciting locations abroad in her stories including Australia, London, and now Italy. Writing about ambitious women with fascinating careers along with swoon worthy couples, Bromley creates worlds perfect to take with you on your beach vacation. Here's a look into how her third book Ciao For Now  came to be.  1) You mention becoming inspired to be a romance writer yourself from all the romance novels you’ve read (and the collection you’ve acquired ). Do you remember the first time you picked up a romance novel and which book it was?   KB: The first time I picked up a romance novel was during the summer before I started college. I was constantly watching romantic movies in my free time, and one day my mom told me I should go with her to the library because there was a genre of books I would