Cara Bastone, Sweet Talk

When chronic insomniac Jessie gets a 2 a.m. text from Eliot, she’s confused but excited—she knows him slightly and has a bit of a crush on him. But Eliot has accidentally texted the wrong person, and due to a mishap while saving her contact info, he has no idea who Jessie is. Nevertheless, they start chatting and hit it off surprisingly well. Soon they’re texting and calling each other every day and sharing personal details about their lives. But Jessie still hasn’t revealed her identity; she’s convinced that she could never have a future with Eliot and that he’d reject her if he knew who she truly was. My winning streak with Cara Bastone continues—this novella is such a delight! Both Jessie and Eliot are somewhat unconventional protagonists: He’s an exuberant puppy dog who’s timid but kind, while she’s a tough, muscular, tattooed woman with a traditionally masculine job. Jessie’s identity and her reasons for keeping it a secret are pretty easy to guess, but that in no way diminished my pleasure in this adorable story!

Eloisa James, Not That Duke

Lady Stella Corsham considers herself a loser in London society. With her unfashionable red hair, spectacles, and tendency to clumsiness, Stella doesn’t see herself as lovable and assumes she’ll never marry. Still, she can’t help her attraction to Silvester, the duke of Huntington, who is far above her reach. Silverster enjoys Stella’s company and her original mind, but he’s courting the lovely Yasmin Régnier (heroine of The Reluctant Countess). Will he ever see Stella as more than a friend? My struggle to love an Eloisa James novel persists. This one has some good points: Despite her unoriginal portrayal as a “strong heroine,” complete with red hair and bookishness, Stella is a fun character to spend time with. I found her more believable than Silvester, whose infatuation with Yasmin doesn’t really make sense, nor does his subsequent pursuit of Stella. I never quite figured out why he suddenly fell for her. Also, this book overlaps quite a bit with The Reluctant Countess, which I didn’t particularly enjoy, so I found the whole Yasmin conflict tedious. I still have a few more James novels on my e-reader, so I’m hoping another series will work better for me!

Kate Quinn, The Briar Club

This novel, set in the early 1950s, focuses on the inhabitants of a women’s boardinghouse in Washington, DC. Nora is from a poor Irish family but hopes to work her way up to a prestigious position at the National Archives. Reka is a former art professor who fled Hungary during World War II. Fliss is trying to be the perfect mother while her husband works as a military doctor overseas. Bea is at loose ends since an injury ended her career with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Claire is a survivor, but her sense of self-preservation falters when she falls in love. Arlene works for HUAC and is a firm supporter of McCarthyism. And newcomer Grace draws this disparate group together—but what secrets is she hiding? Kate Quinn is a talented writer, and she made me care about all these characters, even the obnoxious ones. Much of the plot was predictable, and she really threw in the entire kitchen sink of the ’50s, which I occasionally found tedious. But a twist near the end surprised me, and there were also a few romantic storylines I enjoyed. Overall, I’m glad I read this one, but it’s not a keeper for me.