It’s time for the March Quick Lit post! Every month on the 15th, Modern Mrs Darcy, one of my favorite book blogs, hosts a link up inviting fellow readers and bloggers to share what they’ve been reading lately.
The first half of March has been heavy on audiobook experiences again. So far this month, I’ve listened to two romances and two celebrity memoirs. I love listening to celebrity memoirs that are narrated by the author with their familiar voice!
One of my 2021 reading goals was to read at least one new author a month. It’s been a great way for me to explore new authors. Only one of my March quick lit books was by an author I’ve previously read!
Besides the four books I’ll share below, I’m currently reading Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews as a fantasy romance for the She Reads Romance Books Reading Challenge and Deep Nutrition by Dr. Catherine Shanahan for my March book pick for the year of health.
March Quick Lit:
Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas
Rating: 3 stars
Steam Level: 3
Tired of being unmarried and untouched, novelist Amanda Briars makes arrangements to hire a lover for her 30th birthday. When handsome Jack arrives at her door that night, she believes he’s the professional to give her a night of passion. They talk and tempt one another all evening but something keeps him from completing her wish.
After Amanda discovers that her mysterious hire is none other than the successful and determined publisher Jack Devlin, their private and professional worlds collide. Even knowing that he never wants to marry, Jack becomes determined to enter into an affair with Amanda.
Though concerned with society’s rules and potential scorn, Amanda can’t resist Jack’s attentions and agrees to a three month relationship with him. But three months may not be enough for Jack and other complications may arise.
This was my second historical romance of the year and my first ever Lisa Kleypas novel! I enjoyed the premise of this book. It felt especially unique for a historical with an older working heroine. At least of the historical romances I have read. Amanda is a strong main character who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to be somewhat unconventional.
Suddenly You was much steamier than I was expecting. While it has a happily-ever-after, there are sad events that take place right up to the end. I’m not sure there was enough resolution for me to believe in their happy ending.
This is a standalone novel and I found myself wishing it was part of a series as I was curious about many of the side characters. I’m not sure this was the best introduction to Lisa Kleypas’ work. I’d like to give one of her series a try at some point.
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
Rating: 3.5 stars
Jessica Simpson shares childhood experiences and traumas from sexual abuse to nervous auditions for the Mickey Mouse Club to losing her cousin in a tragic accident to horrific high school bullying. She opens up about her first record deal to marrying Nick Lachey to Newlyweds filming and the breakdown of their marriage. She reveals how she felt pressured to support her family from a young age, her close relationship to her sister, and the family she’s created with her husband Eric Johnson.
Throughout the book, Jessica candidly shares her struggles to find healthy relationships. She discusses firing her father as her manager, being body shamed, and ultimately her latest fight to become sober after years of depending on alcohol and pills to get through the day.
I picked this up after hearing great things. I was curious to hear her retrospect on being another blonde teenage singer in the era of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as well as her side of the dramatic split from Nick Lachey. Read by Jessica Simpson herself, her honesty and vulnerability come through loud and clear, surprising me.
Jessica Simpson is smart, authentic, and unfailingly kind. Especially to those who have hurt her in the past whether it’s bullies, family members, or the public. Her religious beliefs are obviously very important to her and it was refreshing to read about someone practicing what they preach, showing love and forgiveness rather than judgement or contempt.
Jessica isn’t afraid to share her mistakes, insecurities, and fears with the world. Also for all those thinking she was just an airhead after the famous tuna or chicken question on Newlyweds, she was playing a role she created for herself. Now running a billion dollar business, I think she’s had the last laugh.
The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren
Rating: 3.5 stars
Steam Level: 2
Carey Douglas and James McCann are both overqualified and overworked assistants to America’s favorite home renovation couple, Melissa and Rusty Tripp. With a new show and a book about to launch, the whole team is on the verge of superstar success. The only issue is Melissa and Rusty can’t stand one another. Their marriage is near imploding and the public is beginning to catch on.
Each looks forward to a much needed break to reevaluate their employment choices. Carey and James are horrified when they’re told they have to go on the book tour to keep the Tripps in line and out of the media for the wrong kind of publicity.
Carey thinks James is a snob and James thinks Carey has no backbone. Working together in such close quarters and guarding secrets makes them see one another in a new light. As they try to define their feelings, they’re busy putting out one fire after another. Eventually it might engulf everything including their budding connection.
This was my second Christina Lauren book. I loved the premise of this book. While it went some directions that I wasn’t expecting, it was overall entertaining, funny, heartwarming, and sexy. It seemed to be more complicated than it needed to be. I felt like focusing more on James and Carey’s relationship rather than the Tripps could have made it better but at the same time I couldn’t stop listening.
The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm by Hilarie Burton Morgan
Rating: 5 stars
Unfulfilled as an actress, Hilarie Burton Morgan and husband Jeffery Dean Morgan search rural upstate New York for a different kind of life after the birth of their son. In her memoir, Hilarie shares how they built a connection with nature through hard work and discovered a small town community that allowed them to put family at the center of their lives.
From restoring an old cabin with her own hands to operating her own farm to keeping the town’s historic candy store open, Hilarie reflects on the way these experiences have transformed her life. Told chronologically she shares the struggles, losses, and lessons of the decade they’ve spent living a rural life.
While I knew of Hilarie Burton from One Tree Hill, this memoir appealed to me on another level since my husband and I are working to convert 10 acres of raw land into something of a homestead. Hilarie comes across as wise, inspiring, and completely raw as she tells her story. She shares the good and doesn’t shy away from the bad. She’s beautifully authentic about the ups and downs of her marriage as well as her struggle with infertility.
It was powerful to listen to her views about the sexualization of teenage girls, as many shows including One Tree Hill do. She addresses being pulled into the Me Too Movement after people remembered Ben Affleck groping her on MTV. Hilarie eventually came forward with sexual harassment accusations against Mark Schwahn, the showrunner of One Tree Hill. Along with Danneel Harris, she lead the way for 25 female cast and crew members from various shows to feel comfortable sharing, without risking their careers, that they had been subjected to sexual harassment by Schwahn too.
What does your March Quick Lit look like?
