Famous for a Living - Melissa Ferguson

When famous internet influencer Cat Cranwell falls prey to a scandal brought on by her unscrupulous business partner, who has conveniently disappeared, she finds herself taking refuge in the Montana wilderness, under the care of her beloved Uncle Terry, and a team of green interns and national park employees.  As she steeps in the earnestness and openness of a small community, she may learn a thing or two about herself, as well as the handsome Ranger who keeps seeing her at her most awkward.

While this is not the first book I've read about an internet influencer learning balance and gaining a more rounded perspective, there were some unexpected delights in this novel.  The cast of characters she ends up befriending in the forest and town all have their own stories and personalities, and the fun quirky traditions that develop in lieu of big city entertainment were truly humorous and unique.  Additionally, I really enjoyed that, while she realized she had an addiction of sorts, that is not necessarily uncommon to many of us, perhaps, she was also able to determine that not all parts of her needed to change, and she could blend old and new.

There may have been some bumpy parts in the story, but I enjoyed the setting and the fun people in Cat's circles.  I give this book 4 stars.

You can find Famous for a Living HERE.
You can find the author HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

 

On the Way to Christmas - Novella collection

 

Description from christianbook.com :

A Christmas Do-Over when job loss forces her to return to her small hometown.

A Yuletide breakup sends Willow Dashing Through the Snow solo on the Christmas Express---with hilarious results.

And big-city Kacey and small-town Drew share A Perfectly Splendid Christmas. But where do they go from here?

I know that I'm not the only one reaching for feel-good Christmas stories early this year.  As the world seems heavy and exhausting, we all need stories of hope and joy.  
Of the three stories, Dashing Through the Snow  was by far my favorite; I loved the story of a Christmas train ride, and the characters made it so much fun.

Overall, I give this book 3 stars, but Dashing Through the Snow is a 4-star story.

You can find On the Way to Christmas HERE.
You can find Shelia Roberts HERE.
You can find Melissa Ferguson HERE.
You can find Amy Clipston HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Meet Me in the Margins - Melissa Ferguson

 

Savannah is an assistant editor in a small publishing company, one which focuses on, let's say, the more serious side of literature, which makes her dream of publishing a romance novel something of a covert operation.  When she leaves it in the room of the publishing house that she thinks is her secret space, only to find that someone has added edits to it, a relationship "in the margins," begins.  Her mysterious editor and she work out a system of never crossing paths while working her manuscript into something publishable, but what if she wants to know her mystery man in person?

If there's one sub-genre of books that I like almost as much as books about food, it's books about books and book lovers.  This story was so cute: the publishing/editing setting, the bookish banter, the secret manuscript and editor storyline - it was all so engaging and fun.

As a note, since I mostly review Christian fiction here, this would  fall on the side of "clean" fiction, but don't expect any faith building or spiritual elements here.

I give this book 4 stars; without spoiling anything, I would have liked a different trail within the story, but overall I loved it!

You can find Meet Me in the Margins HERE.
You can find the author HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

The Cul-de-Sac War - Melissa Ferguson

"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."

- C.S. Lewis

Bree Leake has been bouncing from job to job and hobby to hobby for far too long.  She is currently sharing her Nana's house with a housemate, because neither of them are willing to give up their share of the house that was bequeathed to them upon Nana's passing.  Meanwhile, she's barely hanging on to her bit part at the local theater.  In the midst of this, a confounding new neighbor moves in next door, with a giant mastiff named Russell, who deems Bree his "favorite," much to Bree's chagrin.  This kicks off a series of increasingly complicated pranks between Bree and Chip, the neighbor, as they both try to figure out where their personal lives are headed, and the part their neighbor relationship might play in it.

I'm not sure how to write about this book.  For probably 80% of it, I didn't even like the characters.  I had trouble foreseeing an ending that would wipe out the problems I had early on in the story.  Chip lied and misrepresented himself and his abilities.  He never even tried to understand why Bree was upset, and his lackadaisical approach to her fear, or at least dislike, of his giant dog was lacking in even basic human compassion.  Their pranks could have been funny, and if the book played off of harmless pranks back and forth, that could have been a fun story.  But their pranks were not entirely harmless, and they drew in other people, wasting their time and resources.  If the story had delved deeper into why Bree couldn't find a path in life, or her paralyzing fear over her niece's condition, it could have taken a serious path and been a a better read.  But most of that was glossed over, until it came into play to tie up the story in the end.  Chip's family and his reasons for setting out on his own were super interesting, and the tragedy that brought him home clearly had a huge impact on him, but the book made it seem only tangential to the neighborhood war.

In the end, the theme seemed to have been based around the C.S. Lewis quote above, but for me, it took too long to get there, and especially in Chip's case, there was very little redemption to a character who was extremely self-focused for so much of the book.  I enjoyed The Dating Charade by this author, and some of the characters do carry over, but this one was a miss for me.  3 stars.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

You can find The Cul-de-Sac War HERE.You can find the author HERE.

The Dating Charade - Melissa Ferguson

Cassie has had so many bad blind dates that she has a full escape plan in place.  She is ready to walk away from the dating scene when Jett Bentley shows up and decides to pursue her, the girl who he admired from afar in high school.  Each has stated up front that they're not interested in having kids, but it's not quite the whole truth for either of them.  When complicated situations leave each of them with 3 kids in their individual custody, they must decide how to, or whether to, fill the other one in, with the risk of scaring them away for good.

This is one of those cases where I almost let a cover and title keep me from reading a good book; I was expecting the whole book to read like the introduction - a woman running from disastrous dates, a firefighter rescuing old ladies.  While that beginning was humorous, and would have made for a fun light-hearted book, but instead, the story got much much deeper.  Touching on infertility, foster care, child abuse and neglect, and unmet dreams and expectations, Jett and Cassie traveled a very emotional path both separately and together.  With well-placed revelations about each of the characters, the story blended past hurts and current struggles.  My one disappointment was that when Jett and Cassie came to a seemingly impassable argument, there was no real work to resolve it; somehow, it magically became a non-issue. 

I give this book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.  I loved this book for all of the tough topics it tackled, but I did wish that the characters would have reflected a little more on how to work through some of them.  I have not been closely involved with foster care, but I did appreciate that the book didn't make it all seem perfect and peachy, for either the parents or the children.

You can find The Dating Charade HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.
(This is her debut novel, and I'm looking forward to more from her!)

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.