10.30.2017 - Little Secrets

Many thanks to NetGalley, Mira Books, and Anna Snoekstra for the opportunity to read and review her latest book. I was a fan of her debut novel, Only Daughter, and really enjoyed her sophomore book.

Rose is a young woman who is desperate to escape the small town of Colmstock, Australia, for a career as a journalist. But her dreams keep fading as newspaper closures and rejections come her way. Add to that a stepfather who is demanding that she leave home. Rose is barely making ends meet waitressing at the local pup while still trying to escape to the city.

Meanwhile, the town is in turmoil. First, there is a huge fire at the courthouse made worse by the fact that a small boy was inside. Then, porcelain dolls start appearing on the doorsteps of houses - dolls that look just like the small girl living there. The community becomes paranoid and scared, which leads to desperate acts by too many people, including the police.

There are lots of twists and turns in this book and I enjoyed them all.

10.28.2017 - Seven Days of Us

Many thanks to NetGalley, Berkley, and Francesca Hornak for the opportunity to read her debut novel - loved it!

This is the story of the Birch family - a stereotypical British family, not great at communication, each family member with lots of secrets and inner feelings that aren't shared. But Hornak writes each section of this book from the viewpoint of a different family member, so that we get to learn all those innermost feelings.

There is Andrew, the patriarch, a food critic for the newspaper, silently mourning his days as a war correspondent. Emma, the mom, fills her days worrying about her two daughters, slipping away from her husband. Eldest daughter, Olivia, a physician, is home from Africa after treating the Haag epidemic. Phoebe, the baby of the family, is doted on by her father and spends her time preparing for her wedding.

Olivia comes home at Christmas, forced into a 7-day quarantine period that includes her family. Being in close quarters for that time, this family must learn to deal with each other and some of those long-kept secrets.

At its heart, this is just a great family character study. How much of ourselves do we hold back from those we love? And why? Even the characters you may not like will grow on you. I was sad to see my time with the Birch family come to an end along with the quarantine!

10.26.2017 - The Rules of Magic

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Alice Hoffman for the opportunity to read and review this magical book!

This is a prequel to Practical Magic but you don't need to have read that book (I haven't but it's now on my to-read list!) to enjoy this one. Besides, anything that Alice Hoffman writes is so wonderful you must read it!

This is the story of 3 siblings, raised in NYC, who grew up knowing they were different but not understanding fully what that involved. Their mother tried to shield them from their heritage, although she gave them lots of rules about what to avoid.  When the eldest child, Franny, comes of age she is summoned to a small town in Massachusetts to learn about the Owens family heritage. The siblings spend the summer coming to an understanding of their abilities in much different ways before returning home to NYC. The one lesson they all learn is that they must not love. A family curse says that harm will come to those they love. But, as we all know, the heart cannot be denied!

This is just a book to curl up with and delve into a world full of love, family and magic! Highly recommended!

10.23.2017 - The Ghostwriter

Thanks so much to NetGalley, the publisher and Alessandra Torre for the opportunity to read this amazing book - a great suspense/psychological read. This is the first book I've read by this author so I had no preconceived notions on what to expect. I don't want to give much away because this book deserves to be read and discovered the way the author intended!

Helena Ross is a best-selling romance novelist with a reputation for a nasty tongue and her lists of rules. But when she discovers she has only months to live, she knows she has to write one last book. With her illness, she knows she'll need help so she contracts with her rival - Marka Vance. Marka is known for her best-selling erotica books, ones that Helena lambastes at every opportunity. The two go on a journey that the reader follows to reveal the secrets Helena did not want to take to her grave.

You must read this book - highly recommended!

10.20.2017 - Never Coming Back

First - thanks to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Alison McGhee for the privilege of being able to read and review this book - I loved it!

This is a book about words - those we say, those we don't say, those we tell ourselves and others. It is a beautifully written book about mothers and daughters and all those words between them.

Clara is a professional writer who is summoned home when it is discovered that her mom has early-onset Alzheimer's. Clara finds a small cabin in the Adirondack Mountains where she grew up and where her best friends, Sunshine and Brown, now also live. While trying to come to grips with this new version of her mother, Clara finds herself with so many questions about their past. Is it too late to ask those questions?

I really loved this book - I realize I'm gushing. It touched my heart, made me laugh, made me cry, made me think about all those words.

Highly recommended - and extra points for being set in the Adirondack Mountains where I live!

10.18.2017 - Second Acts

Thanks to NetGalley, Amberjack Publishing and Teri Emory for the opportunity to read and review this book - I loved it. Just a great, relatable read.

Three friends - Sarah, Miriam and Beth - meet in college in the 1970s and become lifelong friends, despite their differences in backgrounds and temperaments. The book is laid out in different times of their lives - starting with the college years up through after 9/11 - and each chapter is told in the voice of one of the friends. So you really get to learn about each character this way.

I loved each of these women for their own strengths and weaknesses. Their main focus was on being there for each other forever. How lucky to have friends like that - to know that people always had your back no matter what. And especially to be beginning that "second act" of our lives with such good friends in your corner.

Great read!

10.15.2017 - White Bodies

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Touchstone, and Jane Robins for the opportunity to read and review her first novel!

This is a great psychological read - creepy, lots of obsessions, and of course the necessary twists and turns. Callie and Tilda are twins - Tilda has always been the shining star, an actress, while Callie works part-time in a bookstore, content to be in Tilda's shadow.

Tilda meets a new man, Felix, and quickly becomes obsessed with him. Callie becomes worried about Tilda - she stopped working, has bruises on her bodies, tells Callie about Felix's violent tendencies. Callie likewise becomes obsessed with trying to save Tilda from Felix. She joins an internet group about controlling men and gets entrenched into the stories. So much so that lines start blurring between what's real and what's not.

I don't want to say any more - definitely a big to read and discover the secrets on your own. I couldn't put it down!