romance – Page 2 – Readcommendations

by Cyn Mackley
Reviewed by SA

I’ve been excited to read this book for ages. I fell in love with the cover, and the idea of a good mystery in farmland with a goth protagonist was too sweet to just walk by. I have to say, I devoured this novel so quickly:it was everything I wanted to read. It was perfect!

Summary

When her grandfather dies mysteriously, New York City artist and goth chick Trinity Goode heads back to her small Ohio hometown to take over the farm and figure out what really happened to the man who always accepted her just as she was. Trinity’s ready to lace up her Doc Marten boots to be a church lady and bake pies for the county fair, but is her hometown ready to welcome her back?

With some help from her old friend Deputy Bobby Grace, she tries to solve the mystery of her Grandfather’s death and track down just who has been hell-bent on ruining her reputation. What she finds out could get her killed.

You can take the girl out of the country, put red streaks in her hair, and dress her all in black, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. Pitchfork in hand, this American Goth is ready to find a killer, save the farm, win a blue ribbon for jam, and just maybe snag herself a good ole country boy.

If I were to summarize this book in one word, it would be delightful. All that comes from Trin: Trinity is a remarkable woman and one I’m dying to know in person. She’s smart, she’s creative, and so wholly relatable that for a while I really thought she would walk off the page. And I really wished she would: I would die for some of her cookies.

Her character is just so complex. You can’t boil her down to just one personality point: yes, she’s a goth, but she’s also a good catholic girl, she loves her family, and she’s an artist with so many different mediums. It’s not every day your strong female character is a brilliant quilter too, now is it? Heck yes, we need more crafter protagonists.

I had assumed the mystery would take up more of the plot, but really the story revolved around the growing relationship between Trin and Bobby, the local deputy. Their chemistry is palpable, and their relationship is just so healthy I couldn’t be happier for them to have found each other. Watching them support each other, especially when some harsh secrets are revealed, reminds you that sometimes a good love story is about more than just the infatuation. So if you’re a fan of romance, then you’re going to fall head over heels for this true love story.

The mystery itself is a slow cooker with a remarkably rich ending. I never saw it coming! A huge twist near the end totally changed my deductions before yet another twist changed them again. Serves me right for jumping to conclusions! The author peppered the story with enough clues that could lead you to finding the solution yourself, while still making the reveal shocking and incredibly exciting.

The ending was just perfect, and I absolutely need more. I loved this novel. Grab yourself a copy of American Goth, a hot mug of cocoa, and enjoy!

Fair warning: all the talk of baking seriously made me miss owning an oven. I can’t tell you how many store bought cookies I needed to get me through this book! It had my stomach growling!

by Sarah Tomp

Reviewed by SA

Romance and moonshine make for a good novel. Sweet, smart, and positively gripping, I would describe My Best Everything as a teenage Breaking Bad, and it is just as addicting. It is also possibly the most believable YA romance I had read in… well, quite possibly ever.

Summary (From Goodreads)

Luisa “Lulu” Mendez has just finished her final year of high school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu needs a new ticket out.

Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (definitely illegal) plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends, Roni and Bucky. Quickly realizing they’re out of their depth, Lulu turns to Mason: a local boy who’s always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town before she loses everything – including her heart?

The summer walks the line between toxic and intoxicating. My Best Everything is Lulu’s letter to Mason – though is it an apology, a good-bye, or a love letter?

While primarily a romance, what I feel sets this novel apart is the fact that Lulu doesn’t make Mason her primary focus in life. Mason is not the usually ‘dreamy brooding teenager’ that you usually find in YA: he’s older than she is, a high school dropout, and struggling with alcoholism. She doesn’t drop everything when she meets him, her life doesn’t radically change: no, her relationship with Mason is something that grows naturally, and you feel the chemistry between them; it does not seem forced or unhealthy. The novel manages to be a romantic, without being a romance novel, making Mason important to Lulu’s growth.

And yet, this romance is not what defines Lulu: Lulu defines Lulu. There is just something fantastically appealing about driven characters. When I first picked up this book, I immediately felt Lulu’s drive, her determination to reach her goal, and it made her just so reachable. Lulu is a smart young woman, and this is her coming of age story, her experience with alcohol, men, and money. She was entirely relatable – for me, a whole lot more than I would like to admit – and everything she did was with one goal in mind: raise the money for university.

The story itself is a letter to Mason, so he is always addressed in the second person, always referred to as “you,” “you did this” “you did that”. The letter format made the entire novel seem more honest and intimate, which only added to the list of reasons I could not put it down. It was an entirely realistic look into their lives, and I was hooked.

Not to forget the moonshine. Moonshine! Lulu’s adventures in distillery are fascinating to follow. Her friends too have an interesting dynamic, both with her and each other. Their problems are just as real as Lulu’s, and the reader is drawn into their lives as well. They break the stereotypes of small town, southern Americans. Though they do enjoy the occasional potato chips in ice cream.

I loved this book. I felt an instant connection to Lulu; I loved the moonshine; and I respected her relationships. It is a novel about love, betrayal, ambition, and the tough choices. Come for the moonshine, stay for the character development; you will be intoxicated.