I have been so fortunate with the ARCs I’ve had access to lately and these three were all winners! Stranger Things Have Happened was my second book by Kasie West and solidified that she’s going to be an auto-read author from me because I am truly vibing with her writing style. An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong delivered exactly what I’ve been waiting for and I really enjoyed the spiritualism vibes of the book. And finally, Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan was my third from the author and solidified for me that I have got to finish reading her backlist because I also love her writing. I received e-ARC copies of each of them, but also an audio review copy of An Ordinary Sort of Evil via the respective publishers through Netgalley. Thank you so much to them! Now let’s actually dive into reviewing these books, shall we?
Stranger Things Have Happened by Kasie West
If you’re in the mood for a read with a more melancholic, emotional tone, I think Stranger Things Have Happened is a fantastic pick. It’s not too sad, to be clear, but Sutton is dealing with a lot. She’s back in her hometown taking care of her mom who doesn’t really want her there. When she runs into her high school best friend, Tara, she somehow manages to find herself drawn into making a bet that involves pretending to be in a very serious relationship with Tara’s fiancé’s brother, Elijah. She’s also long distance helping run the restaurant that she started with her best friend. So she has a lot going on.
This is a single POV romance so we’re really following Sutton, which I appreciated because I do really love a book exploring the inner life of a character and watching them learn about themselves. And I feel like we still got to know Elijah pretty well. I just really liked this one. I’ve said it before, but Kasie West’s writing is just really working for me. I flew through this book. I can’t wait to read more from her in the future.
An Ordinary Sort of Evil
by Kelley Armstrong
The fifth installment in this series DELIVERED. I’ve loved each of the installments though, in all fairness, but I really, really liked this one. I liked the theme of an ordinary sort of evil and when we got to the end, I was screaming because of the way the theme was executed. I loved that. I was screaming for other reasons too because I also got something I’ve been desperately waiting for, but you’ll have to read it to see what that might be. But also, I just really did like this mystery. If you liked the spiritualism vibes of The Diviners or The Warm Hands of Ghosts or probably a million more things, I think this mystery will really work for you too. Essentially, a maid’s spirit speaks through a medium and says (essentially) “Have Dr. Gray find my killer” but no one even knows that she’s dead.
Also, there’s a new character we meet in this installment that made me laugh because what do you mean?? And then there’s another character we meet that was so exciting! Okay, I’m just being cryptic because I don’t want to spoil anything, but like, genuinely, this installment is so good. I think you’ll love it if you’re current on the series and can pick this one up, but if you’re not current, please, please give this series a shot. It is SO good!
Dolly All the Time
by Annabel Monaghan
Dolly is a single mom and a teacher who has returned to her childhood home for the summer because she needs to take care of her dad and brother because Eldest Daughter vibes. She has a sister too, but her sister doesn’t help a lot with the family, which may or may not be intentional. Anyway, while she’s home, she’s delivering shrimp to the Whitfield home and has a chance encounter with Stewart Whitfield on her way back down the hill. For romance reasons, he needs her to fake date him. As a fake dating lover, I was already bound to adore this book and I sure did. I love the way Stewart’s family is rich and dysfunctional and we get to see that from Dolly’s perspective, an outsider to the situation. I love that we get to be grounded in Dolly’s life, where she’s taking care of her son and her dad and the business and her brother and trying, always trying, to be everything to everyone and neglecting herself. I love that we get to really see Dolly’s life become better when she lets herself actually have one.
I have one issue with a plot point that I feel like was dropped in the ARC copy, but I’m really hoping it’s resolved in the finished copy and chances are I’m going to pick myself up one because I would love to read this again and highlight and annotate to my heart’s content because this book really is so well written and it’s so good. I love Monaghan’s writing and I think you will too if you like EmHen type vibes.
Also, I will say that despite the fact that this book is told from Dolly’s POV, this book is very clearly a romance. It’s not women’s fiction for all that the focus is on Dolly’s personal journey. The romance is very central to the storyline.
Closing Thoughts
I think I fell more in love with these books as I was writing these reviews. I just really think each of them are fantastic reads and I love them a lot. I can’t wait to read more from all three authors in the future. Have you read any of them? Do you want to? Let me know!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 