Bebe Rachel's Whimsy and Reviews

If I Asked You to Stay by Brianna Remus My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a darling book about childhood sweethearts that find themselves facing each other again after a long separation. I was drawn to a story of a girl returning back home despite her rough childhood with a chance to show the town the woman she has become. This has so much to enjoy - a small town romance, a chance at redemption and possible reunited love. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and was rooting for them to find some happiness after all they had endured. There was certainly some fire and spice here and this book was on the more explicit side in terms of MF sex. What I didn’t enjoy was that some of the internal struggle faced by the main female character, Willow, seemed to drag in places - she offered the same story to explain her motivations a few more times than may have been necessary - but maybe I was too impatient to see how it all worked out. The dialogue in places

Unorthodox Love by Heidi Shertok My rating: 4 of 5 stars When the expectations you have for yourself cannot realized, how do you find your happy ending? This was a delightful story about 29 year old Penina, who is facing some unbelievable choices, trying to keep her head up while facing her own, self-described, shortcomings. How can she be true to her faith and beliefs and ever expect her life to become more than it is? I loved the story, the twists and plot lines. Penina’s character seems to glaze over and have some rather hilarious moments when faced how she superficiously feels about her new boss, Sam Keinfeld, juxtaposed with how she internally and involunatarily reacts to him. I was drawn to this book because of its Jewish themes and I was not disappointed.  The book has all of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, love epiphany and different worlds. I loved seeing my people, as an Orthodox woman, on the page. From the little things: th

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon My rating: 3 of 5 stars 9/17/2023….I finally finished it. Diana Gabaldon has an incredible mind for details and world building. But…. I cannot decide if this could have been 4 different books about different main characters or if this story could have just started around Chapter 93 because TBH it really did not pick up energy before that. The first 90 or so chapters felt like an endless diary of day to day minutia that did not seem to have any big picture significance. And then to top it all off it ended on a spoiler!? The build up for which was only in the last 10% of the book. This was not my favorite book of the Outlander series. I am still giving this three stars because the writing is excellent. The world building as I said, is incredible. I am deeply invested in these characters as I am a big fan of the series and have been since the beginning. I was not a fan of the audible but due to my ADHD a

Beach Read by Emily Henry My rating: 5 of 5 stars So I had to give this one 5 stars. Emily Henry, once again, wrote a book that blew me away.  I love a romance, and I love a hard won romance at that: whether it is that the characters have to overcome obstacles around them or those within, I am drawn to tales of angst - love that is not easy.  So this book has the forced proximity and opposites attract tropes, but it is so much more than that. Devastated by events beyond their control, the main characters are forced, as we all are, to look the truth about trusting another person head on - that it is fraught with uncertainty - and either take the leap, or not. Speaking for myself, I am one of those that would rather have a sure thing, but have enough in my past, like our male MC, that makes me wary of having faith in anyone. Ever.  So this book was a complete rollercoaster for me and I was here for every second of it. If I could sum it up in a s

  Twin sisters swap places due to a series of unfortunate events and under an assumed identity, Allie Lane is playing the part of her sister Sophie, an event planner. From the start Sophie (who is secretly Allie) is butting heads with her assigned assistant, Tarryn Harris, while planning a large scale LGBTQ+ Festival. Complicating everything is Allie, who is supposed to be straight, while her twin sister is not, becomes muddled as she and her assistant become more and more attracted to each other. So we have our assumed identity, forced proximity, grumpy-cheerful pairing, opposites attract, and a fake couple trope.  One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was getting to know the main characters. Tarryn is rough around the edges but as she reveals more of herself, she is fiercely loyal and passionate and just when I was liking her as she was, she starts to soften under the influence of Allie and the festival around her. Allie, at first seems like such a mess, but it all is re