The Book: The Chick Magnet
The Drink: Hard Iced Tea (made by throwing a few tea bags in some booze - the way you should have been doing it all this time) 
Favorite Line: "When this tension broke, when the storm came, if it came, it was going to curl her toes, her hair. It might level the house. Level the two of them."

I've been a fan of Emma Barry's work since her politics-set romances that have always scratched my Josh and Donna from The West Wing itch. She can be counted upon for excellent characters,  convincing sexual attraction and world-building that does not shy away from darker subjects.  Chick Magnet - with it's candy-colored cover - brings all the Emma Barry goodness in spades. 

Nic is a social media star who makes a living talking about her beloved chickens. Will is a vet whose business is struggling in a post-covid world.  These two have chemistry and sparks and real problems.  I think that's what I love about Emma's books - the fantasy of romance set in a very real world.  

If this is your first Emma Barry book - you're in for a treat. If you - like me - have been a fan for a while  - it's so nice to have her back. 

The book: The Vibrant Years
The drink: I honestly, can not even remember...
Favorite line: “Some accidents were actually beautiful.”


Oh my gosh! Sonali and I sat down BEFORE the holidays and then life completely got in the way.   If you haven't picked up Sonali's fabulous multi-generational story DO IT NOW!   Sonali is one of the most enthusiastic, wise and effervescent people I know. Spending time with her just feels good. And The Vibrant Years is a reflection of that.

We talk about the books that challenge us and lead us in new directions. What it was like for her book to be selected as the launch book for Mindy Kaling's Book Club and what Drew Barrymore smells like.

Living on their own terms means being there for one another.

When sixty-five-year-old Bindu Desai inherits a million dollars, she’s astounded―and horrified. The windfall threatens to expose a shameful mistake from her youth. On an impulse, Bindu quickly spends it on something unexpected: a condo in a posh retirement community in Florida.

The impulsive decision blindsides Bindu’s daughter-in-law, Aly. At forty-seven, Aly still shares a home with Bindu even after her divorce from Bindu’s son. But maybe this change is just the push Aly needs to fight for her own dreams.

As Bindu and Aly navigate their new dynamic, Aly’s daughter, Cullie, is faced with losing the business that made her a tech-world star. The only way to save it is to deliver a new idea to her investors―and they want the dating app she pitched them in a panic. Problem is, Cullie has never been on a real date. Naturally, enlisting her single mother and grandmother to help her with the research is the answer.

From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes a heartfelt novel about three generations of hilarious, unconventional, ambitious women who embark on a shared journey of self-discovery. Join the Desai women as they come together to embrace the hijinks and heartbreak of facing their greatest fears to finally live their most vibrant lives. 

The Book: Once Upon A December
The drink: Mulled wine but really a third cup of coffee
Favorite Line: Christmas wasn't a place or a season or a time. Christmas was a state of mind. 

Amy writes what I call modern, midwestern folk lore.  The combination of her Milwaukee setting, earnest and good people, delicious food and magic is absolute catnip!  This is a fabulous, timeless Holiday Romance.  She's also one of those people who - you might have never met - but it feels like you've known her a long time.



A one-of-a-kind Christmas market offers holiday magic in this new romance from the author of The Kindred Spirits Supper Club.

With a name like Astra Noel Snow, holiday spirit isn’t just a seasonal specialty—it’s a way of life. But after a stinging divorce, Astra’s yearly trip to the Milwaukee Christmas market takes on a whole new meaning. She’s ready to eat, drink, and be merry, especially with the handsome stranger who saves the best kringle for her at his family bakery.
 
For Jack Clausen, the Julemarked with its snowy lights and charming shops stays the same, while the world outside the joyful street changes, magically leaping from one December to the next every four weeks. He’s never minded living this charmed existence until Astra shows him the life he’s been missing outside of the festive red brick alley.
 
After a swoon-worthy series of dates, some Yuletide magic, and the unexpected glow of new love, Astra and Jack must decide whether this relationship can weather all seasons, or if what they’re feeling is as ephemeral as marshmallows in a mug of hot cocoa.

The book: The Christmas  Clash
The drink: Holiday Mules
Favorite Line: Chloe can't stand Peter Li and his smug, perfect face

Well, despite not having a holiday mule (for reasons I get into during my chat with Suzanne) I confess to some very embarrassing mall activities. (Clowning? What?)  But The Christmas Clash is a fantastic YA Holiday romance that has some Romeo and Juliet vibes. Suzanne has done a lot of stand-up Comedy and we talk about how that informs her writing.  One of the things I love about this book is the very careful romance and the very strong friend group each character has. It's a lovely way to spend the day this holiday season. 

A PopSugar Best New Holiday Romance Book of 2022!

Who's naughty and nice at Riverwood Mall? In this hilarious YA holiday rom-com, two rivals get together to save their families' livelihoods, and Christmas, too!

Chloe Kwon can't stand Peter Li. It's always been that way. Their families don't get along either: their parents operate rival restaurants in the Riverwood Mall food court—Korean food for the Kwons and Chinese food for the Lis. Now it's the holiday season and Chloe's the photographer at the mall's Santa's Village, and Peter works at the virtual reality North Pole experience right across the atrium. It's all Chloe can do to avoid Peter's smug, incredibly photogenic face.

But it turns out the mall is about to be sold to a developer and demolished for condos. Eviction notices are being handed out right before Christmas. Their parents don't know what to do, and soon Chloe and Peter realize that the two of them need to join efforts to try to save the mall. Just when it seems like they can put aside their differences and work closely (very closely) together, they discover that the Kwon and Li feud goes far deeper than either of them realize...

Perfect for readers who...

• Love holiday rom-coms
• Enjoy rivals-to-lovers stories
• Fans of Kasie West, Rachel Lynn Solomon, and Sandhya Menon

Daphne stops by with a glass of Posset (which is  essentially boiled milk and wine with spices)  to discuss her swashbuckling new release The Pirate's Wife, about the life and times of Sarah Kidd. Sarah was the beloved wife of notorious pirate - Captain Kidd. This is a fascinating book that brings to life a woman that's largely been forgotten to history and overshadowed by the mythology that surrounds her husband.  Daphne discusses how she uses newly-discovered, primary source material to  recreate the life of Sarah and the larger community of pirates during the Golden Age of Pirates.  We talk about the extremely interesting and surprisingly democratic  pirate code, the myths surrounding pirates and the love story at the heart of the Captain Kidd legend.

This book is fantastic for lovers of historical fiction and non-fiction.


The dramatic and deliciously swashbuckling story of Sarah Kidd, the wife of the famous pirate Captain Kidd, charting her transformation from New York socialite to international outlaw during the Golden Age of Piracy

Captain Kidd was one of the most notorious pirates to ever prowl the seas. But few know that Kidd had an accomplice, a behind-the-scenes player who enabled his plundering and helped him outpace his enemies.

That accomplice was his wife, Sarah Kidd, a well-to-do woman whose extraordinary life is a lesson in reinvention and resourcefulness. Twice widowed by twenty-one and operating within the strictures of polite society in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New York, Sarah secretly aided and abetted her husband, fighting alongside him against his accusers. More remarkable still was that Sarah not only survived the tragedy wrought by her infamous husband’s deeds, but went on to live a successful and productive life as one of New York’s most prominent citizens.

Marshaling in newly discovered primary-source documents from archives in London, New York and Boston, historian and journalist Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos reconstructs the extraordinary life of Sarah Kidd, uncovering a rare example of the kind of life that pirate wives lived during the Golden Age of Piracy. A compelling tale of love, treasure, motherhood and survival, this landmark work of narrative nonfiction weaves together the personal and the epic in a sweeping historical story of romance and adventure.

The Book: Miss Del Rio
The Drink: Pisco Sours - with a bonus recipe demonstration from Bárbara.

Miss Del Rio is a fascinating historical novel about a fascinating woman. For readers looking for a setting that isn't World War II Europe, I think you will find this one highly satisfying.  Bárbara pulls off a neat magic trick using the POV of a fictional character to tell the story of a real person and to create a deeper, richer sense of the  class struggles that created the revolution.   The Hollywood details are fascinating as are the early hair salon details - which came from Bárbara's mother's experience.

1910, Mexico. As the country’s revolution spreads, Dolores, the daughter of a wealthy banker, must flee her comfortable life in Durango or risk death. Her family settles in Mexico City, where, at sixteen, she marries the worldly Jaime del Río. But in a twist of fate, at a party she meets an influential American director who recognizes in her a natural performer. He invites her to Hollywood, and practically overnight, the famous Miss del Río is born.

Dolores’s star quickly rises, and her days become a whirlwind of moviemaking and glamorous events. Swept up in L.A.'s glitzy inner circle, she takes her place among film royalty such as Marlene Dietrich and Orson Welles. But as her career soars, her personal life becomes increasingly complicated, with family tragedy, divorce, and real heartache. And when she’s labeled box office poison amid growing prejudice before WWII, Dolores must decide what price she’s willing to pay to achieve her dreams and if her heart and future instead lie where it all began…in Mexico.

Spanning half a century and narrated by Dolores’s fictional hairdresser and longtime friend, Miss del Río traces the life of a trailblazing woman whose legacy in Hollywood and in Mexico still shines bright today.

The Book: The Witches of Moonshyne Manor
The Drink: Gin Martini
My favorite line:  Why were we taught to fear witches and not the men who burned them?

A reviewer called this a Golden Girls meets Practical Magic - and they are not wrong. The sisterhood who live in Moonshyne Manor are funny, wise, slightly diabolical, passionate and more than a few of them are keeping some secrets. The pages turn themselves. Bianca's writing is much like the women - in turns funny, wise and diabolical.  Treat yourself and grab this book.

A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat.

Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby—one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years—will surely be their salvation.

But the mob is only the start of their troubles. One man is hellbent on avenging his family for the theft of a legacy he claims was rightfully his. In an act of desperation, Queenie makes a bargain with an evil far more powerful than anything they’ve ever faced. Then things take a turn for the worse when Ruby’s homecoming reveals a seemingly insurmountable obstacle instead of the solution to all their problems.

The witches are determined to save their home and themselves, but their aging powers are no match for increasingly malicious threats. Thankfully, they get a bit of help from Persephone, a feisty TikToker eager to smash the patriarchy. As the deadline to save the manor approaches, fractures among the sisterhood are revealed, and long-held secrets are exposed, culminating in a fiery confrontation with their enemies.

Funny, tender and uplifting, the novel explores the formidable power that can be discovered in aging, found family and unlikely friendships. Marais’ clever prose offers as much laughter as insight, delving deeply into feminism, identity and power dynamics while stirring up intrigue and drama through secrets, lies and sex. Heartbreaking and heart-mending, it will make you grateful for the amazing women in your life.

The Book: The Witch and The Tsar
The drink: Kvass (a drink made with fermented rye bread, we didn't actually drink this, though Olesya says it's delicious)
Best line:  He will be the greatest ruler that Russia has ever seen. Or he will tear her apart.

Combining Russian folklore and history - Olesya's DEBUT novel is a a stunner. That's right - it's a debut!  A feminist retelling of Baba Yaga - turning the witch into a sympathetic woman fighting for her country - makes for an ambitious and fascinating read. The brutal history of Ivan The Terrible is reflective of what we're seeing now in Russia.  We talk about the beauty of inspiration, balancing folklore and magic with the hard facts of history and the pleasures and pains of editing vs. writing.

If you like historical fiction and/or fantasy novels - this one is for you!

In this stunning debut novel, the maligned and immortal witch of legend known as Baba Yaga will risk all to save her country and her people from Tsar Ivan the Terrible—and the dangerous gods who seek to drive the twisted hearts of men.

As a half-goddess possessing magic, Yaga is used to living on her own, her prior entanglements with mortals having led to heartbreak. She mostly keeps to her hut in the woods, where those in need of healing seek her out, even as they spread rumors about her supposed cruelty and wicked spells. But when her old friend Anastasia—now the wife of the tsar, and suffering from a mysterious illness—arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s. Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves.

As she travels to Moscow, Yaga witnesses a sixteenth century Russia on the brink of chaos. Tsar Ivan—soon to become Ivan the Terrible—grows more volatile and tyrannical by the day, and Yaga believes the tsaritsa is being poisoned by an unknown enemy. But what Yaga cannot know is that Ivan is being manipulated by powers far older and more fearsome than anyone can imagine.

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore weaves a rich tapestry of mythology and Russian history, reclaiming and reinventing the infamous Baba Yaga, and bringing to life a vibrant and tumultuous Russia, where old gods and new tyrants vie for power. This fierce and compelling novel draws from the timeless lore to create a heroine for the modern day, fighting to save her country and those she loves from oppression while also finding her true purpose as a goddess, a witch, and a woman.

Buy here