What I've Read & Reviewed Beginning September 2025

 This is a list of what I have read and reviewed most recently. Click on the title if you want to view what I thought of any of these books.  Please keep in mind that starting with this list all books will have spoilers as I am writing these posts for my own recall.  Links to my previous lists of reviews are at the bottom of this post. 

Let the list begin:

• "The Heiress"  by Rachel Hawkins
  narrated by Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, and Patti Murin

I have three past lists of my write-ups: 

What I've read & reviewed from 2019 to 2022 are here.

What I've read & reviewed from 2013 to 2016 are here.

What I've read & reviewed prior to 2013 are here.  

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

 

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
Read by Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, and Patti Murin 

The Heiress is a story about an old rich family and the rumors that surround them and their descendants. Old & Rich - think Vanderbilts and the Biltmore, as this story places the McTavish's as their neighbors. 

The story centers around Ruby, who disappeared in the woods as a toddler. Fortunately she is returned to the family after being taken by a common man to ease his wife's suffering by replacing their baby that had died. 

After this famously notorious kidnapping Ruby grows up in the public eye creating her own notoriety. She marries four times and is four times widowed. She adopts a child to raise as her own and be her heir. The details of these things are revealed to us in a series of mysterious letters written to some unknown person. 

In the current day Cam, Ruby's son, is married to Jules. They live in Colorado, far away from the estate & riches that Cam has inherited and turned his back on. He is a teacher and she works as a character on historical farm. They soon are on their way North Carolina to deal with the estate and a death in the family of Ruby's sister, Nel. Although Ruby inherited the family fortune and then passed it on to her son, her will allowed for Nel to remain living on the estate until her death. 

This is a twisty turny novel, but not in a surprising way. We know things are coming and will be revealed in time. 

Is Ruby really the child who was stolen? 

What secret is Jules hiding? 

Why did Ruby really adopt Cam?  

Who were the letters written to?

Is Cam really who we think he is? 

I enjoyed the way the story was written and for once did not guess all the twists.  That could be my age, or it could be that I don't pick up as much listening as the book moves along and my brain doesn't do it's undercover work quickly enough. Or perhaps the author was just that good.  Read it and you decide. 

I give this novel 4 of 5 shots. 

****SPOILER ALERT****

The rest of this blog is for me to recall what the twists & turns are about when I can't remember what this book is about. 

Ruby is indeed NOT the child who was kidnapped.  She was from a poor family, the Darnells, who's father tried to pass her off as Ruby. He made a deal with Ruby's father which soon lead to his death. Ruby's real identity was a secret held tightly in the senior McTavish's hands.  

Ruby did indeed kill each of her four husbands. The first on their honeymoon in Paris as he had already begun to beat her. She electrocuted one and poisoned another. She may have drowned one, but I don't quite remember. 

Cam was adopted when Ruby needed to have some one to leave the McTavish fortune to. She did not want it to go to her sister who she despised. It seems that everyone in this family hated everyone else. Although Ruby loved Cam she wasn't much of a mother and did everything to control him. That is what finally lead to him leaving the estate and moving to Colorado. Ruby made sure his jobs in NC lasted no longer than a day. As he prepared to leave he went to visit Ruby. She knew he was coming and took a load of pills to test his loyalty to her, believing he would not let her die. But he did. Then he left the McTavish's and moved to California where he met Jules. They later married and moved to Colorado. Jules was aware that he wanted nothing to do with the McTavishes or the money. 

It turns out Jules (not her real name) was a Darnell. So she is a blood relative of Ruby. By this time although Ruby is dead, she died knowing she was a Darnell. Jules had been in contact with Ruby making a deal to meet Cam but not letting him know she knew who he was or anything about him. Ruby's letters had actually been written to Jules who wanted insurance against Ruby turning on her.  

Ruby's letters detailed her four marriages and how she killed each husband. 

Nel and her children confront Cam with the fact that Ruby was not born and McTavish and was never the child who was kidnapped.  Ruby knew that long ago from a DNA test and Cam knew as well. There was no surprise in the attach by his Aunt's family and their attempt to oust him from the family was a fail. Cam had already had the Ruby's will closely scrutinized when he learned and he was safe from their attempts. 

Craziness follows and Ben (Cam's cousin? Nel's son?) kills Nel in her sleep that night. Jules packs their things the next morning after she & Cam decide to just get away and leave it all. He leaves the house for a while and Jules goes to the Ruby's old office to find a letter she had written Ruby long ago, trying to blackmail her. (Which is how they became co-conspirators in trying to manipulate Cam.) Ben has the letter and after arguing Jules grabs it from him and turns to leave. Ben hits her with a paper weight and she grabs a fire poker and kills him. She sets the house on fire. The fire also kills another cousin who no one knew was sleeping. 

Now everything is Cam's with no living McTavish relatives. 

Cam and Jules are still married and expecting a child. Jules understands Ruby's manipulation of Cam and herself. Cam had at some point had a PI investigate Jules and already knew who she really was. She and Cam had truly fallen in love long before they returned to NC and had been married 10 years already. Cam was always a kind and sensitive person. Maybe letting Ruby die was the exception, but she took the pills before he was even in the house. 

Posted without much editing. 

I'm Back!

 I am indeed back after a three year hiatus, but specifically for myself. I doubt anyone will even find this blog and/or follow it again. But I'm writing just for myself now. 

Does that sound self absorbed? Well, just in case you have found my blog again, I'll tell you why it's now all for myself.

I love books and stories and being entertained. But I was finding myself reading less and less because I am easily distracted (and a slooooow reader). Then I was introduced to Libby and discovered that I could listen to audio books free(!) without having to run to the library or have a CD player available to change out discs as I listen. It was a game changer for me. I do a lot of crafting and I can listen to books for long periods of time. Wow, awesome right?  It does have its drawbacks, one is not wanting to go to bed when I have only two hours left in the book.  Not good. 

Let me show you how audio has changed my reading stats: 

Quite the difference, right? I'll list my 2025 books toward the end of this post. 

Now, why am I blogging again?  Because I can't remember what books I've read and reading the synopsis is not enough to trigger my memory. So I'm going to blog about the story and include all the spoilers because this is what I need.  Just in case anyone does stumble upon my blog again I will keep SPOILER ALERTS posted. 

What I've read so far in 2025: 

Holly by Stephen King

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman

You Like it Darker by Stephen King

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

The Five Year Lie by Sarina Bowen 

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston 

Legacy by Nora Roberts

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

First Degree by David Rosenfelt

Bury the Lead by David Rosenfelt

Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt

Dead Center by David Rosenfelt

Play Dead by David Rosenfelt

New Tricks by David Rosenfelt

Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt

One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt

Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green 

Leader of the Pack by David Rosenfelt

Unleashed by David Rosenfelt

Hounded by David Rosenfelt

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Blindness by Jose Saramago 

Recursion by Blake Crouch 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano 

Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank by Elle Cosimano

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner

Dear Eliza by Andrea J Stein 

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some by Josh Gad

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell 

The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club by Gloria Chao

The Woman Who Met Herself by Laura Pearson

Heading out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

Colony One Mars by Gerald M Kilby

Colony Two Mars by Gerald M Kilby

Colony Three Mars by Gerald M Kilby

The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick

The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner

The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

Off Season by Jennifer Weiner

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Fortune's Daughter by Alice Hoffman

The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner

A River of Crows by Shanessa Gluhm

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Exley by Brock Clarke

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry 

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins 

Books read (68)

Whew!  

It's sad that I remember so little about these stories, all that I've listened to since January. I am hopeful that by writing about them as I move from one story to the next, that the exercise of writing will also help the stories stay with me. 

First up: The Heiress.

All the Days

All The Days by Elle Jayce
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I chose this book based on the first page. Lara is choosing her song that represents the day, not a diary entry, but a song. I'm not a huge music person but I liked that concept so much I decided this was a book for me. Indeed, music does permeate the entire novel and at the end I found that there is a play list on Spotify. Bonus!

Lara is a construction designer who has been through a trauma resulting in PTSD. She meets Theo, an actor who is ready to drop his bad-boy image. They tentatively start dating in her tiny little village where Theo is filming. Lara knows this will go no further after the film wraps and resolves to keep her emotions out of it.

No spoilers but anyone can pretty much guess where this all leads to. I enjoyed the journey very much, occasionally humming the song of the minute. I haven’t ever had to deal with PTSD, but I felt the subject was written into the story in a very sensitive and appropriate way. I was viewing two characters who cared for each other and were about taking the time to really know the other. I definitely look forward to more from Elle Jayce.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Party of Two

Party of Two
by Jasmine Guillory 

This rom-com involves Olivia Monroe, a lawyer who has just moved from New York to LA to start a new firm with a long time friend, and Max Powell, the junior senator from California. Of course Max is one of those gorgeous "most eligible bachelor" types.

They meet innocently enough at a bar and flirt a bit and then go their separate ways. Olivia has no time in her busy schedule trying to build and market her new law firm, but thinks a quick fling with the man in the bar may have been fun. She later recognizes who he is when she sees him on a newscast. Max however is very intrigued by this 'mysterious' woman and can't get her off his mind. 

Olivia attends an event which Max is speaking at. He soon learns more about who she is and what she does which of course intrigues him even more. He follows up this encounter with a cake or pie, which becomes a theme for them throughout the book. I recommend not reading this when you are hungry. 

The book touches on some of the social issues we currently are dealing with and is one of the things I really liked about the story.  Olivia and Max are both passionate about helping people through their respective jobs as well as hands-on. 

Being a woman of color, Olivia thinks things through thoroughly before making decisions or commitments. Both her gender and her skin color could work against her if she missteps. She's known it all her life and behaves accordingly. Olivia has her doubts that this relationship could ever be more than a fling. Max on the other hand, has grown up a privileged white male. His actions and words are often spontaneous and not always thought through. While he would be comfortable 'rushing' into things, he's sometimes frustrated that Olivia is not. He does want to be with her in a very permanent way. 

Besides the basic personality differences, working on opposite sides of the country is not easy on a relationship. They see each other only on the weekends and try hard to keep their dating a secret. 'Going Public' is not just showing up together one day, but takes a team of Max's staff to plan press releases and photographers. Fortunately, he has prepped Olivia for that day. 

I enjoyed the story but I did feel like I wanted more drama.  There is an incident and of course the big question is will they make it or won't they, but it felt somewhat anti-climatic to me. For that I am giving this book 3 of 5 shots.  Of course if you know my rating system, that is still a good review. 

SPOILER ALERT!!

This is where I recount the story for my own poor memory... proceed at your own risk

Olivia has an incident in her past which she keeps secret. As a woman and a POC she feels it could make her be seen as less credible in her job. The incident is a high school break in when she was a teen. She has shared this incident with Max. 

Max puts her on the spot during a town hall meeting by revealing this bit of her past. Although not done maliciously, she can't accept that it happened and leaves the meeting. She breaks off with Max saying that his-speak-on-spur-of-the-moment style and her think-it-through style just are not compatible. Max is crushed and responds by sending her favorite cakes until she tells him to stop. 

It's Max's DC roommate, another junior senator and long time friend that helps Max see that he needs to fight and to start with an apology. As a result, Max sends a legal contract to Olivia, appealing to her thorough thinking side, with the seven things he will do to make the relationship work.  She counters, with a similar contract including changes to his. Both contracts to be revisited every August. 

Epilogue: A year later in August they are vacationing in Hawaii where he proposes to her - with champagne and a cake (of course!).

 

The Summer Place

 

The Summer Place
by Jennifer Weiner

I always enjoy Jennifer Weiner's books and this one didn't disappoint. It's the kind of book that I do keep going back to because I'm just that nosy and need to know what's going to happen.  

Ms. Weiner introduces us to a family that is blended and has the usual issues.  I think Sarah is the main, most followed character of the story.  She has a twin brother, Sam, who is a single dad to his stepson. Sarah is married to Eli who is 10 years older than her and has a young daughter, Ruby, when they wed. Eli's ex is a woman who never wanted nor intended to be a mother. Eli has a "ne'er-do-well" brother. Sarah & Sam's parents are financially well off due to a couple of books Veronica, their mother, wrote prior to their birth. 

The main event is going to be the wedding of Sarah's step daughter to her college boyfriend. It will take place at Sarah's parents' summer home. 

I won't give away all the issues, but everyone has them and some may be unexpected.  I will say that secrets abound in and about this extended family.  As the secrets are revealed to the reader, I completely expected the story to end with a huge blowout at the wedding.  But... I'm not going to say more than that, either it does or it doesn't...

I really enjoyed the way the story was told, each character having a chapter devoted to his or her background and current life and JW braiding them all together revealing "just enough." To be honest, I though I had figured out the main issue early on, however, it wasn't held secret and so wasn't the "A-ha! I got the spoiler!" that I thought I had. 

I did find that the characters were a bit more understanding in one particular instance than I could have imagined them to be. I wonder if I am alone in that thought. I may explain more in the spoilers. 

My rating of The Summer Place is 4 shots of 5. It was a fun book, easy to read and get through - perfect for the summer months! 

SPOILER ALERT!

This is where I recount the story for my own poor memory. Proceed at your own risk! 

Lets begin with all the secrets!  
Eli, Sarah's husband, formerly married to Annette.  When he was with Annette they were footloose and fancy free, traveling the world and working wherever they touched down. Annette wanted to live her life that way and had no interest in marriage.  Then she got pregnant with Ruby. She eventually left both Eli & Ruby, becoming an absent parent rather than a neglectful one.  Eli's secret is that he cheated on Annette and may have another child - who he believes is the boy Ruby is engaged to. 

Sarah, Eli's wife, still has a lingering love for her summer-before-college romance who promised to keep in touch but ended up ghosting her.  During a troubling time in her marriage and right before the wedding she indulges herself with the former love who just happened to pop back into her life. 

Sam, Sarah's brother, is famously shut down at the six month mark of every relationship he's had. When at last he find a woman who loves him beyond the six months and they marry, she is killed in an auto accident and he is left with her son who's father has no interest in raising him. Sam is happy to be Connor's father.  But, unrelated, he is soon questioning his own sexuality. 

Veronica, Sarah & Sam's mother has a sister who thinks it's a great idea to send the adult twins 23 & Me DNA test kits. As a result of this it's revealed to the reader that Veronica had a years long affair with an editor in NYC at the time she was also preparing to marry the man who becomes the twins' father.  She has never known for sure which man fathered the children. 

Ruby realizes right before the wedding that she had expected or at least hoped that someone would call her out on not being ready for marriage.  She flees with her bio mother the night before her wedding. 

Gabe, Ruby's fiancé, hooks up with Sam at a gay bar that night. They haven't met prior to this point and don't realize who they are in relationship to each other.  This is the part that I have a problem with after all is said and done. They start a long relationship and no one is bothered by the fact that Gabe & Ruby were almost married.  I just don't think many families would be that accepting.  I could be wrong... 

I'm sure there is more I haven't covered but this should be enough to help me recall the book should I need to.  

And as an aside, yes, they live happily ever after. 

The Sewing Machine

 

The Sewing Machine
by Natalie Fergie

So it's been a while since I have blogged about any of the books I've been reading.  I don't really have a reason for letting this part of my reading experience slide, but I do have a reason for beginning it again. 

My memory is just not what I wish it was and the stories slip away from me almost as soon as I close the last page of a book.  With that said, I will warn you that I will at times be sharing spoilers.  But I hope to acknowledge their arrival with plenty of time and space for you to avoid them if you desire.  The spoilers will be to help me remember what I've read, no harm intended. 

The Sewing Machine is literally about a sewing machine, from the time it was constructed and the circumstances around that time, to it's place in the current world.  We follow the people who've built it, used it and restored it throughout the book but never quite sure how they all come together.  

It's an interesting story and it skips from past to present and back again and then suddenly, a new character pops in.  I have to say that threw me off a tad bit. 

The stories of the characters are good but not so good that I was constantly pulled back to the book.  In fact, the main reason I finished the book is to discover what thread (pun intended) was going to eventually connected them.  

I'm giving this a 3 shot rating.  It was "okay" but I don't know if I'd read it knowing it wasn't going to move me much. On the other hand, I don't feel like I wasted my time, either. 

SPOILER ALERT

The sewing machine created in this story was at a singer factory late 1800's early 1900's.  The workers tried to go on strike which failed and caused many to lose their jobs. The woman who tested this machine hid a note in a bobbin before she & her fiance left the community to find new work. 

That machine was eventually purchased by a couple, the woman used it to supplement their income. They kept detailed records of everything made on the machine. At a later time they take in a young pregnant woman who has been disowned by her family and they become her family.  

In the 2000's the child of that unmarried woman returns to his grandparents home to settle the estate. He doesn't know that the people he thought were his grandparents are actually not.  He discovers the notebooks full of details about the items sewn on the machine and becomes fascinated with it and begins to use the machine. This leads him to become friends with a woman who make jewelry from old sewing machine parts.  The book ends when they discover it was this woman's great grandmother who left a note hidden in the machine, which had been saved with the sewing records all those years by the man's grandparents.  

Summer Darlings

Summer Darlings
by Brooke Lea Foster

1962. Summer on Martha's Vineyard.

Heddy is a girl working as a summer nanny for a wealthy family in Martha's Vineyard. She is a college scholarship student at Wellesly who was raised by a single mother barely scraping by. Heddy is a very naive girl, embarrassed by her background, needing and wanting validation from the people she believes are so much more than she is.

She arrives in Martha's Vineyard starry eyed, ready to step into a world of beautiful people living idyllic lives. What she discovers is the ugly underbelly of this picture perfect world, starting with the very family she is a nanny for.

Heddy falls for two men on the island, Sullivan, the son of a wealthy family, and Ash, a land developer selling homes in his new development in Florida. She is also befriended by Gigi, a movie star who takes her under her wing and tries to gently educate her as to what she is up against.

Eventually, Heddy begins to realize she can absolutely trust no one but herself.  As insecure and unimportant as she believes she is, she nevertheless is a pawn to be used or disparaged by those around her. As the reader/observer I wanted to stand and cheer for her at the point she arrives at knowing that only she can take care of herself and does just that.

A happy ending?  Maybe so, maybe no. I think you should decide for yourself when you read this novel. I can see the possibility of a sequel. I would definitely read it should it happen.

Summer Darlings gets 4 of 5 shots from me.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book for my reading pleasure & review.

When I Was You

When I Was You
by Amber Garza

I'd like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

The psychological thriller is very popular right now with the main character having had a breakdown of some sort and questioning his or her own sanity, or believing in their sanity but being questioned by others. This book falls into that specific genre. And I am okay with that!

Kelly Medina is an empty-nester who's husband works in another city and only comes home on weekends. We are aware early on that she has experienced some sort of trauma, but the specifics are elusive. A misdirected phone call alerts her to the knowledge that there is another Kelly Medina in town, the mother of an infant. She becomes obsessed with finding out who this other Kelly is. Old Kelly arranges a 'chance meeting' with Young Kelly and inserts herself into Young Kelly's life.

The story is told in the first person, personal. Which is to say that more than just relating the story, we are privy to Old Kelly's inner dialog and thoughts as well. It's a little scary at times knowing/hearing what is going on in the mind of someone who might just be a little off kilter.

Of course any good psychological thriller is going to provide some twists and turns and this is no exception. I found myself re-reading about five or six pages at one point just because the twist at that point was so subtle I was afraid I had missed something. You may or may not decide you know what the twist is early on, but never fear, even if you get it right, there is more to come.

I enjoyed Ms. Garza's style of writing and it makes the book fun to read. I give her a 4 of 5 shots and suggest you pick this one up when it's available.

Anne Aletha

Anne Aletha 

by Camille N Wright

Description:

“Meet Anne Aletha, who fought for equality for all … in 1918. Amid World War I, the Spanish Influenza, and a re-emerging Ku Klux Klan, a young unconventional schoolteacher inherits her uncle’s farm in the Deep South with the intentions of opening a school to educate all children—rich or poor, black or white. Her ambitions and her courage to challenge the systematic racial injustice she witnesses daily plunge herself and those she loves into the violence of the Klan."

I was expecting a lot more depth from this story. Having read the description I guess I focused on the promised KKK aspect and thought I’d read more about that, but it was a small part of the story and basically consisted of Anne Aletha standing up and walking out of church when the Klu Klux Klan was welcomed in by the minister.

Overall, I found the story to be very superficial and I wasn’t very engaged with the heroine. She had high ideals that were not developed enough to feel realistic for the era. The violence she experienced was not written about in such a way as to make me tense and worry for her safety. I prefer a book that draws me in to the story. I did not feel that. 

The most engaging section of the story was the writing about the Spanish Influenza. This most likely hit home because I can relate to it during the current Coronavirus pandemic.

If not for the unnecessary “love” scenes, I would have thought this a book was written for a middle grade or perhaps a high school reader of historical fiction.

My score for Anne Aletha is 2 of 5 shots. 

Thank you, Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. 

The Mortician's Daughter

The Mortician’s Daughter
by Nan Higgins

First off I need to say that I should pay closer attention to what genre of book I am requesting from Netgalley. From it’s description I thought I was requesting a detective mystery/ghost story. Looking at my Netgalley bookshelf just now I realize I requested a LGBTQ+ Romance.  I am certainly not opposed to reading same, but it’s not what I was expecting.  

Ms. Higgins is apparently from my general neighborhood. I love reading local authors and I have to say that when I start a book and within the space of the first two paragraphs the main character is talking about a birthday dinner at my favorite pizza restaurant (Dewey’s!) I know I’m going to like it.  Afterall, I just celebrated MY birthday at Dewey’s.  If you ever eat there, you MUST have the Porky Fig Pizza. Seriously! 

So on with the story.  Aria has just found out that she comes from a family of “interpreters,” which is to say her father sees and talks to ghosts. In fact he is the head of an “Agency” started by her great-great-grandfather to help “priors” (aka dead people) wrap up their earthly responsibilities and cross over. Aria has her life planned out and to discover she is an interpreter completely disolves her future. She begins her education as an interpreter where she meets Sloane, who becomes her love interest.  Her first interaction with a ghost is an elderly Prior named Clara who insists Aria’s father is preventing her from crossing over. Together Aria and Sloane must find out how this could be possible and get Clara crossed over without dying themselves.

The book reads like a YA novel and I’m not completely sure it’s not meant to be. It was a fun read, although I felt a little let down at the end, like it was wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly after the build up. I think with a little more mature writing this could turn into a really fun series along the lines of the Stephanie Plum novels.

I’m giving the story 3.5 shots of 5. Based on not knowing if it was meant to be a YA novel and for the weak ending. But I do recommend this book and I hope that Higgins can evolve her characters into a series in which they have aged a bit.  I would come back to read more mystery stories involving these two women working the space between life and death.

Thank you Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books, Inc. for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Publication date April 14, 2020.

Little Disasters

Little Disasters
by Sarah Vaughan

Liz is a pediatric doctor. Her friend, Jess, presents at the ER with her sick baby. Liz is called in to examine the baby and discovers serious injuries that suggest possible abuse.

Liz has always looked at Jess as the perfect mother/wife/homemaker who makes it all look so  easy. She couldn't have possibly hurt her own child, could she? Liz has to make the impossible decision to report the injuries to the authorities.

This book deals with abuse, post natal depression, OCD, friendships, family relationships and the nightmare of being accused of hurting your own child.

After reading a 'meh' book immediately prior to this one, I was delighted to start a story that drew me in so quickly.  With several flashbacks, the story is primarily told in the present, day by day as the infant Betsey recovers in the hospital, her family is questioned, and Jess is required to be supervised with her older children.

The outcome of the investigation into Betsey's injuries is not entirely unexpected, which is to say... I saw it coming. But this is a book with a twist, and I have to say it's a satisfying twist. I love that although I predicted what was about to happen, Vaughan followed up with the unexpected.

Little Disasters was provided for my reading pleasure by Netgalley in exchange for my review. I'm pleased to give it four shots, which is very good on my scale. Little Disasters will be published on August 18, 2020.

The Thing About Alice

The Thing About Alice
by Jean-Luke Swanepoel

From the synopsis: "Brimming with heart and gentle humor, and not wasting a single word, The Thing About Alice is a study in character no reader will easily forget."

I guess a study in character is how I would describe this book, even though none of the characters is very deeply examined.  I found it difficult to follow and confusing. To be honest, that could simply be due to my poor memory while trying to keep track of the characters and their relationship or relevance to Alice.  But honestly, it was like sitting and listening to a friend recount all that has happened in her neighborhood, while not being overly interested in all these people I don't really know. Some of it is very sad and I feel empathetic, but like the empathy you might feel while watching a news story on TV.  Just pour me another glass of wine, please. 

And I may have become a bit concerned about my friend who is telling me these stories, especially when she comes to the end, telling one last anecdote which I suspect ends unpleasantly, yet I am not quite certain. 

"The thing About Alice" left me wanting a real story but happy that it was over. I give it just 2 of 5 shots.  I had really hoped to award it more.  

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to preview The Thing About Alice, to be published May 21, 2020.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes

Love and Other Consolation Prizes
by Jamie Ford

"You deserve that more than anyone," she whispered as she hugged him again, clinging to him, and then letting him go. "I'm sorry, that's all I have to give."

A first kiss means everything.

This book was a joy to me in so many ways.  The story centers around three children in Seattle in the early 1900's.  Being from Seattle I loved this historical view of the city. Not to take away from the book, but I often found myself stopping to google something to determine if it was true or fictional.  Delightfully, I found everything I looked up to be true and enjoyed my new knowledge of my home town. 

The story starts in China where Yung Kun-ai, who is a mix of Chinese and Caucasian, is sent off to America by his ill and destitute mother for a 'better life.' He endures a horrific journey and eventually ends up in Seattle and becomes known as Ernest Young.  Although a benefactor sends him to a private school he is painfully aware that he is a second class citizen.  Wanting out of the situation, he becomes a 'prize' to be raffled off at the worlds fair. 

Wait! The Seattle Worlds Fair opened in 1962.  This is no longer historically accurate - 

or so I thought.  

History lesson: The Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition was a World's Fair that took place in the summer of 1909 on the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle. My husband knew this (seriously?) but it blew me away. One of the attractions of this fair was the early invention of incubators that traveled from fair to fair and cradled living premature babies.  I have previously read about that, and as awful as it sounds, it lead to the current science that helps us keep prematurely born infants alive. Another attraction of this fair is that they were raffling off a month old orphaned baby.  

True. 

This is where Jamie Ford's inspiration for his story came from. 

12 year old Ernest is raffled off, 'won' by Madam Flora who runs The Tenderloin, a house for gentlemen's entertainment. Although he becomes one of their servants, for the first time in his life he is well cared for. Here he meets the slight older Fahn and Maisie who become his fast friends. A gentle and tender love story develops in this unlikely setting of the salon.  

The telling of the story is entirely through Ernest's eyes as we flash back and forth from his life and family at the time of the 1962 Worlds Fair to the 1909 AYP as he falls in love with both girls and what becomes of all of them. 

Jamie Ford also wrote Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which I must now read.  I give Love and Other Consolation Prizes four shots of five.  But even as I write this I consider adding that fifth shot....
 

First Frost

First Frost
by Sarah Addison Allen

I've loved SAA from the first time I read one of her books.  I don't know why this one has gone unread for so long, it may be because I didn't buy it right away.  I found it at an outlet mall a month or so ago and realized it was time. Past time.  Way overdue!

First Frost takes us back to Bascom, North Carolina and the people who we met in the book, Garden Spells.  It's ten years later when we meet up with them again. Magic is still part of the every day lives of the Waverly women, which is much of what I love about Sarah's stories.

Both Claire and Sydney are married to men that love them deeply, but that is not enough to quiet the niggly little fears that live inside their heads.  Sydney's daughter Bay is coming of age, which is to say that no one on earth could possibly understand her less than her mother.  Oh, my heart - been there done that!  And just who is that mysteriously strange older gentleman who lurks nearby? In short, can the Waverly women learn that the people they can depend on the most have always been right there in front of them?

This is not a book with a big suspenseful climax, nor huge mystery or big reveal.  It's a book about feelings and the need and want to belong or know that you are in your right place.  SAA works us through their stories and *spoiler alert* wraps it all up with a pretty bow.  This is a feel good novel and I don't mind in the least that it works out well for everyone.

That is not to say that the bow couldn't come loose or untied... I'm almost inspired to write some fan fiction starting with the next "Ten years later..."

I give this book a five shots of five just because it's the perfect book to read on a stormy day like to today to lift me out of the gray sky doldrums.

The Night Circus

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

Disclosure:  I should never read a review before I read the book or while I'm reading the book.  It tends to influence my own view and subsequent review. Such is the case with The Night Circus. I'm trying to forget what I've read and keep this review my own.

The Night Circus originally didn't call to me but learning that it was high on the list of some of my friends I added it to my list as well. One of those friends  sent me a copy which moved it to the top of my 'to read' list. (Thank you, Victoria!)

The premise behind the story is that magic is real and only real magicians know that it's more than an illusion. Two ancient magicians challenge each other's talent by pitting their proteges against one another in an unnamed, unspecified duel. The winner is the survivor, the loser deceased. 

The platform for the duel in this story is the Night Circus, an incredible traveling circus that arrives and departs without notice and is only open during the hours of darkness. 

The book is full of wonderful characters set in the late 1800's early 1900's.  The circus is not scary and foreboding as one might expect but delightful and very imaginative.  I would truly love the Night Circus to come to my town!

I was drawn back to the story each time I had to put it down, which is something we really want in our books, right? But I found that when I got to the end of the story I was still looking for the great duel between the two proteges. It was clear that they had beat their mentors by both surviving, but for me the climax of the story was a little less than climatic. 

Read this book for some great imaginative settings and the characters we are introduced to.  But know you will be kept in the dark just as much as the two young magicians regarding their challenge. 

I give this book 3 of 5 shots. 

Nine Perfect Strangers

Nine Perfect Strangers
by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors. I'd been eagerly looking forward to starting this book. It did not disappoint.  

Much of this story is a character study of nine different people at a health spa. An author, a lawyer, a family of three, a wealthy young couple, and so on. Their different stories unfold during their time at the spa while the spa "experience" becomes even more unusual.  Nothing is what they expected or bargained for up to a point where their collective situation becomes unbearable. 

And I had to wonder all along, just who is this owner of the spa? Is she who/what she says she is? Is her desire to help sincere? Or is she someone very sinister? 

I give Nine Perfect Strangers four of five shots. 

A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace
by John Knowles

I really wanted to love this book, or at the very least like it. It's been on my bucket list forever as a classic I wanted to, needed to read. 

I was simply bored to tears. I could not find enough to make me care about the characters or their lives. Perhaps they just didn't come to life for me, I don't know. I was more than halfway through the book before I gave it up.  And I hate giving up on books!

Before giving it up, I began flipping through 5-10 pages at a time to stop and read and hopefully find something that would make me want to keep going, something that said, "Keep reading - this is what you're waiting for!" 

Sadly, I never found it. 

Just one of five shots. 

The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window (Audio Version)
by A. J. Finn

As the title suggests this book in reminiscent of Hitchcock's Rear Window.  A woman living alone with agoraphobia spends her days spying on her neighbors and counseling others online. Of course she witnesses a crime and tries to convince the authorities that what she saw was real, despite all the evidence against it. There are other factors at play here which include her tenant who rents out the lower portion of her house, her husband and daughter who have apparently moved away, and her online clients. 

I found this story to be suspenseful and as with any suspenseful book, tried to work out what was "really" happening.  

The narrator did a good job with this book but I think I would have enjoyed the
"climatic ending" more as a reader than a listener. It's one of the drawbacks of audio books in my opinion. Either I really connect with the narrator or I don't. 

I liked this book. I give it three of five shots. 

Past Reviews

This is simply the list of books by title that I have read and reviewed through this blog site. If you wish to see what I had to say, including any comments of my followers, just click on the book title.

Books reviewed 2013 through 2016 are here.
Books reviewed prior to 2013 are here.

• "Party of Two" by Jasmine Guillory (July 1, 2022)
• "The Summer Place" by Jennifer Weiner (June 2, 2022)
• "The Sewing Machine" by Natalie Fergie (May 31, 2022)
• "The Mortician's Daughter" by Nan Higgins (March 19, 2020)
• "Little Disasters" by Sarah Vaughan (March 15, 2020)
• "The Thing About Alice" by Jean-Luke Swanepoel (March 8, 2020)
• "Love and Other Consolation Prizes" by Jamie Ford (February 29, 2020)
• "First Frost" by Sarah Addison Allen (May 27, 2019)
• "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern (April 7, 2019)
• "Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty (March 22, 2019)
• "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles (March 16, 2019)
• "The Woman in the Window" by A.J. Finn (March 5, 2019)
• "The Unseen World" by Liz Moore (February 14, 2019)