Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

Always Be My Bibi Review

Bibi Hossain was supposed to get her first kiss this summer. Too bad her father finds out and grounds her for breaking his most arcane rule: No boys until your sister gets married. Just when Bibi thinks she’ll be stuck helping him at their popular fried chicken chain until school reopens, her oh-so-perfect older sister…

rachelbeerwoman

August 30, 2025

Reviews

#alwaysbemybibi, #contemporaryromance, #priyankataslim, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #salaambooks, #simon&schuster, #YA
Gabriela and His Grace Review

As the youngest and most rebellious daughter of the overly protective Luna family, Gabriela Luna Valdés claws after her freedom in any way she can. This time, her hunger for adventure has led her aboard a windswept ship bearing for her homeland, away from a mob of fumbling British suitors. But Gabby can’t escape her…

rachelbeerwoman

August 29, 2025

Reviews

#berkleyromance, #historicalromance, #latinas, #lianadelarosa, #rachelreads&reviews, #regencyromance, #thelunasisters
American Quilt

This quartet by Susan Kirby is perfect for fans of Little House on the Prairie or Ann Martin’s Family Tree quartet. 12 year old Lacey is dealing with a new stepmom and stepsisters and each story her great-grandmother weaves out of special family quilts imparts lessons that relate and help her in life. As one…

rachelbeerwoman

August 28, 2025

Book Suggestions, Book/Author Highlight

#aladdin, #americanquilt, #daniel’sstory, #ellen’sstory, #hattie’sstory, #historicalfiction, #idalou’sstory, #middlegrade, #simon&schuster, #susankirby
Love at Second Sight Review

Tired of being known as the artsy oddball, fifteen-year-old Cam Reynolds hopes to fly under the radar when he changes high schools as a sophomore. It shouldn’t be too hard, considering he’s a human going to school with kids who have super-cool paranormal powers, like his best friend and witch, Al, and longtime werewolf crush,…

rachelbeerwoman

August 27, 2025

Reviews

#fantasy, #ftlukens, #lgtbq, #loveatsecondsight, #margaretkmcelderrrybooks, #mystery, #paranormal, #simon&schuster, #supernatural, #YA
This is Kind of an Epic Love Story Review

Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings. Although he’s the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nate’s seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life. Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom…

rachelbeerwoman

August 26, 2025

Reviews

#balzerandbray, #comingofage, #contemporaryromance, #harpercollins, #kacencallender, #kheryncallender, #lgtbq, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #thisiskindofanepiclovestory, #YA
Idol Gossip Review

Every Friday after school, dressed in their new South Korean prep-school uniforms — sweater vests, knee-highs, pleated skirts, and blazers — seventeen-year old Alice Choy and her little sister, Olivia, head to Myeongdong, brave a dank, basement-level stairwell full of graffiti, and slip into a noreabang. Back in San Francisco, when she still had friends…

rachelbeerwoman

August 21, 2025

Reviews

#alexandraleighyoung, #candlewickpress, #candlewickpublishing, #idolgossip, #kpop, #musicindustry, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #YA
Book of the Month: Emma

Austen once wrote to her sister that Emma may be her most unlikable heroine she’s written, but my friend and I agree that may have been by olden day standards. At most she is spoiled and sheltered, but there are worst things rich people could be. In rereading Emma I have found Frank Churchill much…

rachelbeerwoman

August 20, 2025

Book/Author Highlight

#classics, #emma, #janeausten, #rachelreads&reviews
Rosa By Any Other Name Review

Rosa Capistrano has been attending posh North Phoenix High School to boost her chances of a college education and a career in journalism, thanks to the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education verdict for desegregation. But though she’s legally allowed to be there, it’s still unsafe for Mexican Americans. That’s why she’s secretly passing as…

rachelbeerwoman

August 11, 2025

Reviews

#1950s, #chicanomovement, #haileyalcaraz, #historicalfiction, #juancrow, #penguinrandomhouse, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #romeoandjuliet, #rosabyanyothername, #vikingbooksforyoungreaders
Secrets of the Manor

For fans of Downtown Abbey, this historical fiction series follows the three generations of Chatswood and Vandermeer girls from 1848 to 1934. But it is not a linear journey which I believe adds to the fun. While I figured out the answer to the overlying mystery in the first book (and was thus impatient for…

rachelbeerwoman

August 10, 2025

Book Suggestions, Book/Author Highlight

#adelewhitby, #middlegrade, #rachelreads&reviews, #secretsofthemanor, #simon&schuster
Contemporary Summer Romances

Gold Coast Dilemma by Nana Malone During an opulent publishing party, Ofosua Addo crosses paths with Cole Drake for the first time. Their flirtatiously witty exchange culminates in a kiss that etches a permanent mark on both their hearts. But Ofosua’s identity as a Ghanaian heiress comes before Cole. She loves the vibrant traditions of…

rachelbeerwoman

August 9, 2025

Book Suggestions

#africanamericanmcs, #alexisdaria, #alongcameamor, #asianmcs, #avonromance, #berkley, #berkleyromance, #can’tgetenough, #contemporaryromance, #danicanava, #disneyhyperion, #diverseromance, #forever, #foreverpublishing, #gallerybooksimprint, #goldcoastdilemma, #hachettebookgroup, #hispanicmcs, #indigenousfiction, #indigenousmcs, #jesseqsutanto, #kennedyryan, #latinx, #loveisawarsong, #nanamalone, #primasofpower, #rachelreads&reviews, #simon&schuster, #skyland, #somethingcheeky, #thienkimlam, #worthfightingfor