Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner

Published April 30, 2024 by Grand Central Publishing

400 Pages

Goodreads Summary: Colton Gentry is riding high. His first hit in nearly a decade has caught fire, he’s opening for country megastar Brant Lucas, and he’s married to one of the hottest acts in the country. But he’s hurting. Only a few weeks earlier, his best friend, Duane, was murdered onstage by a mass shooter at a country music festival. One night, with his trauma festering and Jim Beam flowing through his veins, Colton stands before a sold-out arena crowd of country music fans and offers his unfiltered opinion on guns. It goes over poorly.
 
Immediately, his career and marriage implode. Left with few choices or funds, he retreats to his rural Kentucky hometown. He’s resigned himself to has-been-dom, until a chance encounter at his town’s new farm-to-table restaurant gives him a second shot at a job working in the kitchen with Luann, his first love, who has undergone her own reinvention. Told through perspectives alternating between his senior year of high school, his time coming up with Duane as hungry musicians in Nashville, and the present, COLTON GENTRY’S THIRD ACT is a story of coming home, undoing past heartbreaks, and navigating grief, and is a reminder that there are next acts in life, no matter how unlikely they may seem. 

Review: Jeff Zentner is one of my all-time favorite authors but I’ve been struggling more and more with YA literature lately so I was CRAZY excited that he was writing his adult debut novel! I really felt myself connecting with the story as I read it because I myself was going through a bit of reinvention of myself at the time. Everything in my life was changing and I had to figure out where my place was in my new world. It really allowed me to have a special connection with the main character, Colton, as he struggled to create a new place for himself after everything in his life hit the fan. It was very inspiring and heartfelt watching him take what life dealt him and flip it on its head. I did really enjoy reading this book but it didn’t quite live up to my love for Zentner’s debut novel, The Serpent King, although I admit that may not be possible as I adore that book with every fiber of my being. I am looking forward to what other adult novels Jeff Zentner will come up with next.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 Stars

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

Published August 15, 2023 by Tor Books

116 Pages

Goodreads Summary: There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

Review: When I first heard about this book, I read no further than the author’s name and was sold. Within the last couple of years, T. Kingfisher has become an auto-read author for me. I don’t even need to read the summary to know I want her books in my life. This one was no different than what I have come to expect from her: short but very rich in color and character. This is not your ordinary fairy tale where the beautiful princess ends up with the handsome prince. It is a cute and cozy fantasy with elements of horror creating something unique but familiar at the same time. Thoroughly enjoyed this story and can’t wait to see what T. Kingfisher comes up with next!

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

Published August 1, 2023 by Celadon Books

288 Pages

Goodreads Summary: When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.

While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew, and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.

Review: I had read and loved We Are the Brennans so I was very excited to have a chance to read Tracey Lange’s next novel, The Connellys of County Down. I felt like I immediately connected with Tara as she was released from prison and returns to her family home to live with her siblings who are each going through their own struggles. I absolutely loved the Connelly family and every moment I spent with them in these pages. I also am a person that really loves when there are connections from one book to another and so the visit to Brennans bar was really fun for me. After reading two wonderful novels by Tracey Lange, I very much look forward to what she writes next.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 Stars