I got some great reading in this month. I’ve found that my optimal reading situation is to have one book I’m reading on my Kindle and one book that I’m listening to on Audible. Switching back and forth is not a problem, especially if the books are very different. Read my four new book reviews below to see if there are any that pique your interest.

This post contains affiliate links. Please see affiliate disclaimer here.

Carrie Soto Is Back

I was a big fan of the type of humor in Carrie Soto Is Back. I’m a less emotional woman than most and the main character’s sarcastic wit delighted me. This book is absolutely fantastic and this is coming from someone who doesn’t play or even watch tennis.

Carrie is a retired tennis player who holds the record for winning the most Slams (Is that the correct terminology?). But her record is about to be broken and she can’t deal with that. In her mind the only option is to come back out of retirement to play four Slams and win at least one.

Since childhood, her father (and former coach) drilled into her that she will be known as the greatest in tennis. The story takes you back to the beginning and throughout her life as she becomes an incredibly successful tennis player. But being obsessed with a sport comes with a cost. She has no relationships outside of her manager and father.

Labeled a bitch by both the media and competitors, most people think she is crazy to attempt to come back. Others think it’s incredibly brave. Sponsors are dropping her, other players won’t practice with her. Will her ego end up ruining her legacy?

I absolutely loved how the story developed. The romance in the book didn’t overpower at all. The father-daughter relationship is one you often relate to athletics but the dad softens your heart instead of being the one searching for greatness.

The Summer Place

In The Summer Place, a woman’s marriage seems to be falling apart as her husband has stopped paying attention to her. Clearly, something is bothering or distracting him but he won’t talk to her about it. It’s unlikely an affair since the whole family has been together in their home since the start of the pandemic.

The woman’s stepdaughter announces her engagement to her boyfriend who she hasn’t been seeing for that long. The plan is to have a small wedding at the grandmother’s Cape Cod beach mansion.

Storylines from multiple people in the family interweave throughout the book. There are personal discoveries and pasts that are threatening to haunt them.

Will the wedding bring everyone together or tear the family apart?

I thought it was an enjoyable read. The pandemic part is not traumatizing or triggering. The story is not beach heavy though it would make a fine beach read and the ending is satisfying.

The Accidental Empress

The Accidental Empress focuses on the Habsburg Empire specifically when Emperor Franz Joseph marries Elisabeth of Bavaria (also known as Sisi).

At 15 years old, Sisi travels to see her cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph, who is expected to marry her older sister. Only when the sisters arrive the emperor is more taken with the younger girl. Sisi is captivating in her looks, loves to ride horses, and is lively.

They fall in love in a few short days and convince his mother, the archduchess, to let them marry. His mother thinks Sisi needs much improvement before the wedding. So begins Sisi’s life of her husband capitulating to his mother’s wishes over hers.

It broke my heart to read how the mother-in-law took control of the children immediately after birth barely allowing Sisi to see them at all. Their marriage suffered through child loss, his obedience to his mother, and his mistresses. Sisi would travel for a long time to be away from court life.

In the book, Sisi falls in love with Hungary and eventually Hungary’s leader Count Andrassy. With the empire falling apart can she help save Hungary from declaring war for independence too?

I loved learning more about this time in history and the Habsburg Empire through the viewpoint of Sisi. But the mother-in-law filled me with so much rage at times I had to pause my reading. There is a sequel to the book (I have not read it yet but I might) and a series on Netflix (I haven’t watched it yet).

Counterfeit

I thought Counterfeit was okay, nothing stellar.

A woman is currently a stay-at-home mom taking an extended maternity leave from her career as a lawyer. Her husband is a doctor who has a crazy schedule and is hardly ever home.

When her roommate from freshman year at Stanford contacts her about getting her husband to take on an organ transplant the women start to meet up quite often.

The old roommate talks the woman into working for her. The scheme is that they buy designer handbags and then return counterfeit ones while selling the original on eBay. They are making money hand over fist. Travels to China start increasing and hiding what she is really doing for her friend’s business is becoming increasingly hard.

The story is interspersed with the woman’s interview with a detective. She confesses to her role in the counterfeit handbag scheme but claims to not know where her old roommate is. Halfway through the book, you get a totally different take on the situation which does make the story more interesting.

Looking for more book reviews? Check out my January Book Reviews!