Bebe Rachel's Whimsy and Reviews

Kissing Kosher by Jean Meltzer My rating: 5 of 5 stars Avital is a worn-out family bakery manager with chronic pain who has her world turned upside down by her new hire, Ethan. Ethan, meanwhile has his own struggles as the orphaned heir to a bakery empire; he has taken a job with Avital - not to learn his way around a kitchen - but to steal a secret recipe from a rival family. What is already complicated becomes next level due to their mutual attraction.  At first, I was taken aback by the transparent description of Avital’s struggles to get from one day to the next. I read this in one day because I could not put this book down. It is a romance, between two unlikely heroes but there is so much more. There is chronic illness, emotional abuse, grief and loss. And there is marijuana. A surprising amount of discussions revolving around cannibus, that I was not expecting.  I loved this book. It was honest, painfully so at times. I laughed and smiled but I defini

The Man Who Could Be King by John Ripin Miller My rating: 3 of 5 stars Important discussion, interesting topic and moment in history I was distracted by the narrator and may have enjoyed it more if it was just a straight historical text rather than storytelling by a fictitious witness. One component that bothered me: the apologist tone describing GW, as incredible as he was in many respects, as uncomfortable with slavery fell a bit flat to me. I think it is important to recognize times were different rather than put modern ideas and hang them as a mantle on our past leaders. He was in many respects the perfect person for the role he played in our nations history. Blaming his wife for his being a slave owner just ignores the fact that there was an entire system in place that was horrible and wrong and allowed them to be in the position he was in. It did not add much to this particularly story either, so why was it even brought up? I suppose speaking t

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood My rating: 5 of 5 stars A physicist has a double life as a fake girlfriend and it threatens to catch up with her as she is trying to land her dream job. I loved this book. I have not been a fan of some of Ali Hazelwood’s books but this was absolutely incredible. She apologizes for making this too academic, but I disagree, I think it really worked here. The politics and the dynamics of the MC’s relationships within academia were so eye opening and moving. The personal journeys both MC’s have to make are moving and so relatable. Truly I laughed, I cried and just really loved this book - so happy I gave this author another chance.

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun My rating: 4 of 5 stars An artist, Ellie, seems to have lost it all until she enters into an unusual arrangement that blows up her life in ways she may not have imagined before. I loved the premise and the characters. I did not like going back and forth in the story however. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was told in a linear fashion. The audio version was voiced so well but the going back and forth in time made this difficult to keep track of what was going on. Overall I enjoyed it and recommend this book. View all my reviews

Happy Place by Emily Henry My rating: 1 of 5 stars Um. Nope. This book, the characters and the story all enraged 🤬 me. I wanted to love this book - I have loved everything else Emily Henry has written. Huge fan. Wish I could write like they do. I think this is the lowest stars I have given a book I have finished. I get why someone would like it, I think. I mean EH is an incredible writer and all of the basics are there. Characters, dialogue, a universe. I liked the cover…😂 I love Maine 🦞 and 🖤 the Stephen King references. I usually love a troubled-by-awful-parents and rising-from-the-ashes-of-a-dumpster-fire childhood story. And it is NOT that in the end the MC’s made the choices they did. They honestly could have made any choices by the time I was in the last 10% because I just wanted to know what happens and I just wanted the book to be over. Basically, if I wanted to listed to whining and waste my time, I would have a conversation with an over-privil