Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

Meet the Newmans Review

For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have ruled television as America’s Favorite Family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now it’s 1964, and the Newmans’ idealized apple-pie perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch. Ratings are in…

rachelbeerwoman

February 25, 2026

Reviews

#1960s, #behindthesceneshollywood, #culturalrevolution, #feminism, #flatironbooks, #jenniferniven, #meetthenewmans, #rachelreads&reviews, #socialrevolution
Lola At Last Review

Lola Barnes’s summer is not off to the best start. Fresh off a scandal that tanked her social status, Lola has somehow managed to also alienate her twin sister, lose the friends she thought she had, and put a . . . fiery end to the first party of the summer. (The boat was barely on fire,…

rachelbeerwoman

February 23, 2026

Reviews

#contemporaryfiction, #harpercollins, #homage, #j.c.peterson, #lolaatlast, #lydiabennet, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #retelling, #YA
Being Mary Bennet Review

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzie Bennet. A less acknowledged truth is that Mary Bennet might be a better fit. For seventeen-year-old Marnie Barnes, who’s convinced she is the long-suffering protagonist of her life, this revelation comes at the end of a series of self-induced disasters that…

rachelbeerwoman

February 22, 2026

Reviews

#beingmarybennet, #contemporaryfiction, #harpercollins, #homage, #j.c.peterson, #janeausten, #marybennet, #prideandprejudice, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #retelling, #YA
The Story of My Anger Review

Yulieta Lopez is angry. Angry at her racist drama teacher who refuses to cast Black students in lead roles. Angry at the school board threatening her favorite teacher for teaching works of literature that they deem “controversial.” Angry that she has to keep quiet until she can head to college and leave Texas forever. Yuli…

rachelbeerwoman

February 21, 2026

Reviews

#bookbannings, #censorship, #contemporaryfiction, #jasminnemendez, #penguinrandomhouse, #POC, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #thestoryofmyanger, #woc, #YA
Book of the Month: The Yellow Wall-Paper

The story is written as a collection of journal entries narrated in the first person. The journal was written by a woman whose physician husband has rented an old mansion for the summer. Forgoing other rooms in the house, the husband confines the woman to an upstairs nursery. As a form of treatment, the husband forbids the…

rachelbeerwoman

February 20, 2026

Book/Author Highlight

#charlotteperkins, #feministfiction, #psychologicalhorror, #rachelreads&reviews, #shortstory, #theyellowwall-paper, #victorianfiction
Lauri Robinson Interview

Lauri Robinson is a prolific author of historical romance from westerns such as Unwrapping the Rancher’s Secret to A Gilded Age Christmas to The Heiress and the Baby Boom, and many more eras in between. With over sixty books to her name, she graciously took the time to answer my questions about her writing journey,…

rachelbeerwoman

February 14, 2026

Interview

#bridesforswornbachelors, #daringtodreamoftheduke, #harlequinromance, #historicalromance, #inneedofanoblebride, #laurirobinson, #rachelreads&reviews, #resistingtherougishcaptain
Valentine’s Day: Harlequin Romance Edition

It’s that time of year again, so in honor of the month of love, I finished my Harlequin romance reading. Plus a few others. Silks, Swords and Surrender by Jeannie Lin (Tang Dynasty) From USA TODAY bestselling author Jeannie Lin comes a tantalizing new five-story volume. Take a journey to Tang Dynasty China and join…

rachelbeerwoman

February 14, 2026

Book Suggestions

#1830s, #1870s, #agovernesstoredeemhim, #alexishall, #amarquistoprotectthegoverness, #audreylanestirsthepot, #aviscountfortheegyptianprincess, #bronwynscott, #christianromance, #contemporaryromance, #harlequinromance, #hebahelmy, #hindiromance, #historicalromance, #jeannielin, #kristiannhunter, #lotterjames, #millsandboonromance, #muslimromance, #parkerjcole, #pickpocketcountess, #rachelreads&reviews, #regencyromance, #royalinesing, #silksswordsandsurrender, #tangdynasty, #versailles, #winnerbakesitall, #wlw
Ranking Family Portrait Stories

In this book of Spy x Family original prose stories, Anya attempts to make friends with her target Damian during an Eden Academy camping trip, Yuri spends his day off babysitting his niece, and Franky seeks Loid’s help in winning the heart of a blind opera singer. Then, when the family sits for a portrait painting, Yor…

rachelbeerwoman

February 10, 2026

Book/Author Highlight, Rankings

#ayayajima, #familyportrait, #prosestories, #rachelreads&reviews, #spyxfamily, #tatsuyaendo
Book of the Month: When Cicadas Cry

A high-profile murder case— A white woman has been bludgeoned to death with an altar cross in a rural church on Cicada Road in Walterboro, South Carolina. Sam Jenkins, a Black man, is found covered in blood, kneeling over the body. In a state already roiling with racial tenson, this is not only a murder…

rachelbeerwoman

February 9, 2026

Book Suggestions, Book/Author Highlight

#carolinecleveland, #contemporarymystery, #mystery, #rachelreads&reviews, #smalltownmystery, #southernmystery, #southernsuspense, #unionsquareandco, #whencicadascry
The Dead Queens Club Review

What do a future ambassador, an overly ambitious Francophile, a hospital-volunteering Girl Scout, the new girl from Cleveland, the junior cheer captain, and the vice president of the debate club have in common? It sounds like the ridiculously long lead-up to an astoundingly absurd punchline, right? Except it’s not. Well, unless my life is the…

rachelbeerwoman

February 7, 2026

Reviews

#contemporaryfiction, #hannahcapin, #historical, #inkyardpress, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #thedeadqueensclub, #tudorera, #YA