Melody's Reading Corner: October 2023

With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson

Melody

Berkley | 1 August 2023 | 400 pgs

Source: Purchased

Lauren Fox and Asa Williamson work at Cold World - a winter wonderland located in Orlando, Florida. Lauren is a bookkeeper while Asa's work range from managing the gift shop to helping out at the skating rink. He's been working at Cold World for ten years and although the career advancement seems a bit stagnant, he doesn't really mind because he just enjoy working there. He's also easygoing, friendly and helpful so it's no surprise that everyone working at Cold World likes him, well except for Lauren who thinks he's a bit of a goof.

Lauren, on the other hand, is practical and an organised person. She's also quiet and reserved and doesn't have many friends, but that may be her coping mechanism after she was abandoned by her mother when young. While Asa is easygoing, he finds it difficult to get along with Lauren. He has the notion that she's a loner and she's too uptight. So what are the odds that these polar opposites work together? Possibly none until their boss ask them to propose ideas of raising more revenue for the park. As if this isn't enough, their boss's son, Daniel, is also tasked to brainstorm any ideas and his involvement creates quite a havoc between Asa and Lauren. Lauren has a secret crush on him while Asa thinks he's simply a charmer who could get anything done through his authority.

As Asa and Lauren try to think of ideas to beat each other, unexpected circumstances arise along the way that make them get to know each other better and gradually change the perspective they've of each other. But there are also obstacles that come between them, such as self-doubt and miscommunication and of course, the fact that Cold World may have to go if there's no solution of saving it.

Ah, I loved how this romance gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling despite the cold setting (never mind if it's artificial). I enjoyed reading everything about the two lead characters; from their differences to their interactions and watching their relationship grow as the story progresses. There's also a topic about parental abandonment which I thought written with sensitivity without being too heavy. And the secondary characters about Asa's roommates and their interactions added some entertainment to this story. Overall, it was a great and a heartfelt rom-com fit for holiday reads. Last but not least, I want to thank Lark (read her review here) for reading this book with me for our buddy read. 😊

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Labels: 4 stars, Book Review, Buddy Read, Contemporary Romance 6 comments |

Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Melody

HarperCollins | 25 May 2023 | 336 pgs

Source: Library

Corazon, Angel and Donita are Filipino domestic workers who work in Singapore. Generally, domestic workers have a wide range of job responsibilities and they could range from cleaners, maids or even caregivers. Corazon and Donita work as maids to wealthy families, while Angel is a caregiver to a family member who's a wheelchair user.

Each of them has their own backstory - Corazon is an experienced worker who's returning to Singapore under mysterious circumstances and her purpose will soon shed to light as the story unravels. Donita, on the other hand, is her first time being in Singapore and as fate would have it, she's hired by a fussy Mrs Fann who has nothing but complaints about her. Donita longed for a relationship but it seems that her Indian construction worker boyfriend thinks otherwise, especially his family wants a daughter-in-law who comes from their own countryside. Angel is satisfied with her job as a caregiver, until her employer's son starts eyeing her and hire a new Filipino nurse, leading her to wonder if she'd be her friend or a threat to replace her.

As these three women carry on their life with their own worries, one of their acquaintances is accused of murder of her employer. While they may not know Flordeliza Martinez well, they do know about their status and how they're often deemed as liars or even thieves in others' eyes, but to be accused as a murderer is another matter. Either out of loyalty or a sense of justice to clear their friend's name, they decided to do a bit of their own investigation to find out what went wrong within Flordeliza's employer's family and if Flordeliza is indeed the murderer.

This was a slow-burn read which in my opinion leaning more towards a cozy mystery and focus a lot more on the general aspect of Filipino domestic workers' working and navigating life in Singapore. While we may have read many stories about the domestic workers from the employers' perspective, rarely do we hear about the former's stories and their voices so this offers an interesting insight with a mystery to boot.

Labels: 3.5 stars, Book Review, Literary Fiction, Mystery 4 comments |

The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman

Melody

William Morrow| 11 July 2023 | 336 pgs

Source: Library

Twenty-five years ago, a female student went missing within the compound of Briarwood College. Thereafter, the death of a Creative Writing professor shocked the college community after he was found dead while searching for that missing student. Back to the present, a college President is bringing together the faculty, the donors, and alumni to honor the victims that happened from all those years ago.

But it isn't an ideal proposal, as Nell Portman, the Dean, thought. Aside from the weather forecast about the upcoming winter storm, Nell isn't comfortable about the thought of the alumni gathering. After all, bad memories linger in her mind as she thought of the recriminations and the competitiveness amongst the group of alumni; in which many of them were assigned to write about their fears for their writing projects and then bad things happened. And as the winter storm descends and it's a bit too late for the guests to leave, the group soon find themselves trapped on their ex-college campus and as an alumna died in a similar way as her story she had written for the writing projects years ago, followed by another alumna, and another; the group begin to question themselves if someone has decided to break the silence and to avenge the crimes of the past.

Alternating between Then and Now, this was an atmospheric story about secrets and rivalries within the old college. I've enjoyed many Carol Goodman's books in the past, and this book sounded wonderful with the locked-room element set amid a winter storm but alas, I'd had a hard time following the story because it was slow-paced and there're too many characters to keep straight and on top of it, most of them are unlikeable. While there're still some good twists and turns, I think one has to suspend disbelief at some point. Although my reaction to this book was lukewarm, overall I did like the academia and the atmospheric setting.