meghan_readsbooks's reviews
961 reviews

thank you William Morrow for the early review copy, I loved this suspense read and remain a fan of Gillian McAllister's stylish, engaging, and propulsive plots.  McAllister has a knack for making me sit and think about what would I really do if I found myself challenged in truly unexpected and intense ways... would I believe that my husband didn't do the things he is accused of, would I go to great lengths to protect someone I love... what would I do and what wouldn't I do in the situations her main characters are often in.  Mc Allister here offers a truly captivating plot, a husband who might have taken people hostage for no clear reason, and invites us to explore this experience through the eyes of her main character, Cam, and related secondary characters, including the  hostage negotiator (who I love, please bring me more Niall and his self growth and his storyline); the premise alone hooked me but it was how the story unfolded (no spoilers here) that had me staying up to want to see where the story went, to dive into the well placed reveals, and to go on an unexpectedly romantic, to me, story about Cam and Luke.   I really valued the depth given to each character, even the secondary characters, and how the plot was more than just figuring out the reason for Luke's behavior but also about how the hostage storyline impacted a range of other characters.  

I also want to say that McAllister brought in secondary themes about relationships and marriage in a range of ways, I really loved how she gave Niall as a hostage negotiator a strong exploration of marriage and how themes on love and marriage and parenthood were woven in so many ways, through Cam, through her sister, through driving factors that revealed themselves as the plot progressed, and these themes make this book truly discussion worthy.  I applaud McAllister as well for Cam's sister Libby and how she wrote about Libby's experiences and feelings with infertility, it was nice to see how Libby was not a criminal or bad person, not contemplating or implicated in crimes simply for struggling with infertility (looking at the whole domestic thriller genre there and pointing fingers...).

 I loved this one on audio  in particular, check that out if you like romance reads on audio as much as I do.
thank you Putnam and PRH audio (free review copies) for this new book from Naina Kumar, between this read and her debut last year, she is a new favorite romance writer!  I love her style, her slow burn banter and chemistry, and how her stories, though universal in themes, also weave in needed depth of culture and identity, exploration of how culture and family shape relationships, that I really value.  I love a story that brings in not just themes on second chance love but also the space for self growth and reflection; Meena's story has this and Naina Kumar is deft at giving her characters space to grow and explore relationships but also space for self reflection.  Flirting with Disaster was a big win for me, engaging for the charm and banter, hard to put down because of the ways Kumar drew me to care about and connect with Meena.