Book Review: The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

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The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker  was published on March 17, 2025. It opens with Detective Declan Shaw at a closed subway station trying to work up the nerve to commit suicide when he receives a call from his partner about a break in and homicide at the home of a true crime author. Shaw makes his way to the crime scene to work the case, and in a turn of events, Declan comes under scrutiny in another case loosely connected to this new case. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Writer  from NetGalley and Little , Brown, and Company for free in exchange for my honest review. I'm appreciative that my request for this book was approved. With this story opening with the main character trying to commit suicide, I almost didn't go any further with the book. However, I am glad I stuck with it as it took me on a fantastic ride and had my emotions all over the place. There were so many twists and turns that just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was ...
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Book Review: Good Enough To Eat by Stacey Ballis

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Melanie Hoffman, a former lawyer, has lost half of her body weight and opened Dining By Design, a gourmet take out cafe that specializes in healthy food. She's barely opened the doors when her husband announces that he wants a divorce and is leaving her for another woman . . . one that is double the size of Melanie. Surprised by this, she now faces financial hardships and finds a roommate in the most unlikely person . . . a twenty something woman with pink hair and a quirky personality. On top of that, she starts dating a documentary filmmaker named Nathan. With all the changes, Melanie realizes she still has a lot to learn about life and herself.

Good Enough To Eat by Stacey Ballis can easily be defined as chick lit. I might have mentioned in other reviews that chick lit is not a genre I normally choose for myself. However, one of the book clubs I was in briefly had picked this book as their monthly selection. I decided to read it because I liked the premise of the book. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Honestly, I thought it was just okay and tended to drag a bit.
First thought is that it seems like it might be semi-autobiographical. The every day details and humdrum aren't usually explained in depth like Good Enough To Eat does. As for the actual writing, it seems a bit stilted like it was written in a journal and expanded to make a book. These things are not makings of a gripping book.
For a while, it seemed like all of the publishers were enthralled with books that had to do with bakeries, cafés, or anything that had to do with food because a lot of the books we read in my various book clubs had to do with this topic. And, the majority of them had recipes throughout the book or at the end of the book. I definitely had burn out on these kind of books as well because there were just too many of them!
I gave three stars out of five to Good Enough To Eat even though I didn't particularly care for it. Part of the reason for this score is that I had to give it a better rating than I gave The Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross because it had more realistic scenes.

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