Book Review: The Refuge

By Jami Denison

Wildlife sanctuaries must be in the zeitgeist in fiction this year, as Carly Hillman’s debut novel The Refuge is the second book taking place in a protected animal habitat I’ve read this summer. While Natalie Moss’s The Night Hunter (reviewed here) takes place in South Africa and Hillman’s book in Montana, both books share the theme that humans are the biggest danger of all. 

Thirty-five years ago, seven-year-old Maeve was found in the wildlife refuge where Johnny Hayward worked and, still grieving the death of his own daughter and wife, Johnny went along with the girl’s lie that he was her father. Now Maeve has an eighteen-year-old daughter of her own, and Ava has no idea of the secrets her mother and “grandfather” are hiding. When a chance comment from a new co-worker makes Ava realize how isolated she is, she goes searching for the past Maeve has hidden from her… and opens a can of worms she never saw coming. 

The Refuge is pitched as and blurbed as a thriller, but the structure and voices felt more like women’s fiction to me. After a few chapters in Ava’s (third-person) point of view, the book returns to the past and to Maeve’s mother, Evelyn. Rather than Ava learning on her own what exactly happened to her mother, the reader discovers it through Evelyn’s point-of-view in the past. The prose is strong; Evelyn’s story is gripping, and the character work is good, but it wasn’t the investigation by Ava that I expected when reading the blurb. 

Ava wants to know why her mother refuses to leave the refuge. As Evelyn’s story evolves, she becomes trapped in her own kind of refuge, and the two separate stories become interesting negative mirrors of each other. The missing character is Maeve, who is the linchpin but doesn’t get her own point-of-view. Since she’s only seven when the story begins, it isn’t clear how much she might even remember or know about her own history, anyway. 

The climax was riveting, but it felt like it came out of nowhere, introducing a poaching element that is never referenced earlier in the book. 

The Refuge is well-written and entertaining, but it’s not the structured suspense thriller that I expected from its publisher, Crooked Lane Books. Fans of women’s fiction or historical fiction who want a little danger for the characters might find The Refuge a good place to start. 

Thanks to Telltale Publicity for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.

Listen to this book on Speechify!

Danielle McKechnie's big change has paid off

We're pleased to meet Danielle McKechnie today and learn more about her debut adult romance, This Changes Everything. The premise sounds intriguing and the cover is perfect for the upcoming season! We enjoyed her thoughtful answers to our questions and hope you will too. 

After studying at Circle in the Square Theatre School, Danielle McKechnie moved to Los Angeles and transitioned to behind-the-scenes where she worked throughout the entertainment industry in film, television, traditional radio, and live entertainment. She now lives in her hometown of Vancouver with her husband and two daughters. Visit Danielle at her website and on Instagram

Synopsis:

Ellie McCain has always dreamed of a bigger life, so when she’s accepted into a prestigious acting school in New York City, she packs her bags—even if it means leaving her family, her friends, and Rory Campbell, the boy who held her heart for years, behind. 

At first, life in New York is even better than she’d dreamed it would be—she loves her classes, she gets a position at a fancy production company, and she’s even falling in love with her classmate-turned-roommate-turned-best friend, Ben. But soon the shine starts to wear off: her boss has made it clear that the only role he’ll be casting her in is “Unpaid Intern #3”, and while she’s happy that Ben’s career is starting to take off, she’s struggling to stay afloat. And it doesn’t help that everyone around her seems to be passing her by—even her childhood sweetheart, Rory, is living out his dreams as a Professional Golfer. But when she runs into Rory for the first time in ten years, she starts to wonder what exactly it is she’s running from, where is she going, and who is running with her.

Told in alternating timelines of the past and present and moving between Vancouver, New York, and Los Angeles, This Changes Everything is the story of love—first love, one-that-got-away-love, and true love—and asks if maybe, just maybe, all of those loves can be one and the same.

"A funny, gripping, and honest love story that is just as much a self-love story, This Changes Everything is about what happens when the people who have shaped us never really leave us." 
— Jessica Siskin, author of Looks Perfect

"A tender, nostalgic slow burn about first loves, second chances, and the many roles we play throughout our lives." 
— Kristyn J. Miller, author of Given Our History

"Swoony and transportive, Danielle McKechnie has penned a heartfelt love letter to anyone navigating the highs and lows of chasing a big dream. Five huge stars!" 
— Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of Summer State of Mind

 

What was it like to go from writing middle grade graphic novels to an adult contemporary romance?

I’ve written a lot of scripts, spec scripts, and pitches over the years, so flipping genres is something I’ve always enjoyed doing. My process always starts with character development, and even in a fantastical setting, I attempt to make my characters as real and as grounded as possible. Who are they? How did they get that way? What’s their want, and what’s standing in their way? The experience is universal, and it’s just the voice that changes. All characters battle monsters at the end of the day. Some are literal. Some are metaphorical. The style and tone of This Changes Everything are as close to “my voice” as it gets.
 
How is Ellie similar to or different from you?
Though Ellie and I are similar in so many ways, and she’s a part of me, she’s not me. We’ve walked similar roads, but we’ve lived different lives. 
 
If This Changes Everything was made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
I see them so very clearly in my head, but they look like no one I know. I think I would want “unknown” actors. I don’t think I would want someone to look at whoever played Ellie, Rory, or Ben, and think of that person. I would want them to look at the actor and think of the character.
 
What is your favorite autumn dessert?
I love to bake, and autumn is my favorite time to do it. I’m a cookie girl, and my snickerdoodles are out of control. Plus, I’ll take a pie over a cake any day, any time, any place.
 
 
Which book made you fall in love with reading?

Okay, this is going to sound a little out there, and please know that I’m aware of that. But the chaotic love lives of Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield in the Sweet Valley Twins series had me feeling all sorts of feelings growing up. Those girls had me twisted up in knots. 

Back to the idea of a genre flip, I can’t relate to something like Euphoria or Gossip Girl, but I can relate to the madness of a fifteen-year-old’s mind. I’d love to write a high school series that’s nostalgic, and funny, and relentlessly unapologetic, much like a fifteen-year-old. The kind of book where a parent would think, “Oh God, I don’t know if my kid should be reading that inner monologue,” but also, “Oh God, that was exactly what that felt like.”
 

 
What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?
The Invite. I loved the script. I love Seth Rogen. Olivia Wilde ate that up. Esther Perel was a consultant, and she is a queen. I loved it.

Thanks to Danielle for visiting with us and Harper Perennial for arranging the interview.

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.

Listen to this book on Speechify!

Book Review: The Wish List Trip

By Melissa Amster

Dear Holly and Anna,

I knew it would take drastic measures to bring you together, so, ta da, one drastic measure! I’m sorry I died. And I know you guys haven’t spoken in five years. But here’s the plan: over fourteen days, you are going to scatter my ashes in every place we vacationed together in our twenties.

I wish I could have fixed your friendship before I passed away. But dying comes with one perk—you can’t say no to me now.

You’re going to have the best time. I’ve planned rum cocktails in Cabo and café hopping in Paris. And along the way, I’ll keep sending you letters. Because there’s a secret I wasn’t brave enough to share when I was alive… and if I know the three of us, I suspect we’ve all been hiding something from each other.

The times we spent together were the best days of my life. Nobody made me laugh like you did, Anna. And Holly, promise you’ll let your hair down one last time for me.

I hope by the end of this trip, there’s nothing left we’re afraid to say...

xo, Zoe (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Kerry Lonsdale and Orly Konig recently teamed up to write The Wish List Trip, a novel about two estranged friends honoring the memory of their mutual best friend who passed away. The premise sounded like P.S. I Love You, but for friends, so I knew I had to read it. I'm so thankful for the early opportunity!

I loved this novel! It was just so great from beginning to end. Watching the two very different women, who hadn't spoken in several years, come together for the sake of their friend and experiencing all their trips made for a real page-turner. While it is emotional, grief is explored in a sensitive and thoughtful way the entire time. I liked learning more about Zoe through her letters and the flashback scenes. 

My only concern, and this is really minor, is that I felt like Anna didn't have such a deep secret like her friends did. The only thing she seemed to be hiding was pretty obvious to Holly. I wish she had something more to reveal, as most of the drama was coming from Holly's side (and some from Zoe's letters), but that's not a deal breaker at all. 

I can't recommend this novel enough and I'm so excited for it to be available soon! Be ready for an incredible adventure. And you may want to have a box of tissues nearby. I know I got teary-eyed a few times. 

Movie casting suggestions (I really hope this is made into a movie):

Anna: Emily Osment

Holly: Christa B. Allen

Zoe (in flashbacks): Anne Winters

Leo: Jake Stormoen

Jack: Jay Hayden

(Trigger warnings below, aside from the obvious. May contain spoilers.)

Thanks to Kerry Lonsdale for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Kerry Lonsdale:

Side Trip

Find Me in California

Falling For You Again

More by Orly Konig:

The Arrangements

The Distance Home

Carousel Beach

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.

Listen to this book on Speechify!

🍹

🍹

🍹

🍹

🍹

🍹

🍹

🍹

TW: Cancer. Death of sibling. Bullying. Social media messing up someone's life. Infertility. Loss of friendship. Parental neglect/abandonment.

We can’t say we’re sorry for loving Rebecca Wait ...plus a book giveaway

Courtesy of Rebecca Wait

We're excited to welcome Rebecca Wait to CLC to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, I'm Sorry You Feel That Way. It sounds like an interesting story about motherhood and sibling relationships. We had a great conversation with Rebecca and we know you'll enjoy what she has to say. Thanks to Harper Perennial, we have THREE copies to give away!

Rebecca Wait studied English at Oxford University and spent more than a decade teaching English in London secondary schools while writing novels. She has also taught creative writing courses for adults. She now lives in Buckinghamshire and writes full time. Visit Rebecca at her website.

Synopsis:

Alice and Hanna haven’t spoken in years—but where better to reconnect with an estranged sister than at a funeral?

Years earlier, their mother Celia and aunt Katy had their own tempestuous relationship. Katy was pretty and easy to love; Celia was unassuming and “unprepossessing,” according to their mother. But in her teens, Katy began to change, in bits, then bounds— until finally, her doctors arrived at a diagnosis that then took all the family’s energy, though they refused to admit it. Celia was on her own, developing hang-ups that come from a family suffering in silence.

When Celia has her own children—twins Alice and Hanna, saint and sinner, and their eternally disapproving brother Michael—her parenting is, predictably, unconventional. Alice and Hanna seem caught in the unforgiving hands of fate, doomed to repeat the cycle of Celia and Katy as Hanna spins out of control upon entering university.

At the wryly beating heart of I’m Sorry You Feel That Way are sisters, grappling with how family dynamics curdle or calcify over time. Bookended by funerals, where the foibles of human nature and the humor found at the nexus of denial and despair are inevitably on display, I’m Sorry You Feel That Way is a whipsmart addition to a growing body of work by a gifted stylist. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

"It's a tender tribute to anyone who's ever felt not quite at home—even or especially at home." 

- Ariel Courage, author of Bad Nature

"A brutally funny and whip-smart novel about dysfunctional families, with some of the best fictional sibling relationships I've ever read."

- Hannah Beckerman, author of The Forgetting

What is a favorite compliment you received on your writing?
I’m not very receptive to compliments; they just slide off me. How joyless of me. Though the opposite is true as well, and I don’t get derailed by criticism, so I suppose it works out even. I do remember someone once told me my prose is very ‘clean’ and I appreciated that, though admittedly it makes my prose sound like a wellness regime. I try to be precise in writing what I mean, without too many flourishes.
 

What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing I'm Sorry You Feel That Way?
The whole experience was quite messy. I was teaching high school English in London while working on the book, which is fun but exhausting, and I was pregnant and always tired. Then Covid hit, so I was teaching my students over Zoom, and we were all going slightly insane. Weirdly, the more stressed I felt, the more jokes seemed to creep into the book. I hadn’t set out to write a comedy, but I think I ended up writing to cheer myself up. Then I did the edits on pretty much zero sleep, with a newborn baby strapped to my chest, so that was a wild ride too, and god knows what bizarre changes I made to the manuscript. That whole period's a bit of a blur. 
 

If I'm Sorry were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
I’d want Florence Pugh to play Hanna – she’d capture her steeliness and humour perfectly – and for Alice, Saoirse Ronan. You know, if either of them happened to be free. 
 

Which book made you fall in love with reading?
Hard to trace it back to the very first time, though the Narnia books stand out in my memory. As an adult, if I need to fall back in love with reading, I return to some Jane Austen – Persuasion is my favourite – or, in another mood, I re-read Melissa Bank’s brilliant and underrated The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing.   
 
What is your favorite thing about autumn?
Rain! I live just outside of London and we get a lot of rain. I love it. Sunshine is wasted on me. 

What was the last thing that made you laugh?
My five-year-old daughter, last night, was crying with laughter at an objectively very unfunny joke, and seeing her in that state made me laugh a lot too. She’s got this lovely, helpless, gurgling laugh. 

Thanks to Rebecca for chatting with us and to Harper Perennial for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use KingSumo to enter the giveaway. If you have trouble using KingSumo on our blog, enter the giveaway here. If you are still having issues, please contact us.

Giveaway ends September 7th at midnight EST.

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.

Listen to this book on Speechify!

Book Review: The Wedding People

By Melissa Amster

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. 

Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I don't know what took me so long to finally check out The Wedding People, but I'm really glad I did. 

The story is charming and genuine in so many ways. The dialogue is witty throughout. I just really liked the premise and had no idea how things would end up. There were lots of interesting surprises and moments. The descriptions brought Newport to life for me; even though I've never been there I could easily visualize it. Some parts were funny, in a really amusing way.

Even though Alison jumps back and forth in time, she doesn't make it confusing and gives a lot of insight as to what led Phoebe to the Cornwall at the same time as Lila's wedding week was kicking off. It felt like kismet in some ways. There were times in the flashbacks where things felt a bit confusing and I wasn't always sure how much time had passed. Especially since the present events take place four years ago (although it would have been two years ago when the novel was published). It helped when she included the years. 

As I have now proven, it's never too late to give this one a try. It's just a really enjoyable read that I couldn't get enough of. I'd love for there to be a sequel, as long as it's done in the same amazing way and perhaps through Lila's perspective. I definitely recommend The Wedding People!

Movie casting suggestions:
Phoebe: Mary Holland
Lila: Kristine Froseth
Gary: Ryan Eggold
Patricia: Kate Vernon
Marla: Meghan Ory
Jim: John Mulaney

Matt: Clive Standen

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

More by Alison Espach:

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance

The Adults

Someone's Uncle

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.

Listen to this book on Speechify!

👰

👰

👰

👰

👰

👰

👰

👰

TW: Suicide attempt, divorce, infidelity, death of parents, death of spouse/mother, death of pet.

Book Review: Before You Were Anne

By Jami Denison

Author Emiko Jean has followed up her first thriller The Return of Ellie Black (reviewed here) with another book featuring police detective Chelsea Calhoun and horrific, female-centered crimes. Before You Were Anne takes readers from Japan to Idaho to Seattle, tracing one woman’s experiences with men who betray her and the detective who tries to solve the mystery before another woman dies. 

When a Japanese woman is found murdered and her sixteen-year-old daughter kidnapped, Chelsea feels a special connection to the case. Of Japanese ancestry herself, Chelsea was adopted by a white family after being left at a fire station as a baby. Now pregnant, Chelsea is determined to find who killed Anne—who was called Rika in Japan—and took Naomi. At the same time, new questions arise about her own background. Is Chelsea too distracted to save Naomi and find Anne’s killer?

Before You Were Anne is told from three perspectives—Chelsea and Naomi’s in third person, and Anne’s in second person. The choice of second person for Anne ties in nicely with the structure of the title, and perhaps Jean thought it would make the reader identify with Anne more easily. I found the choice to be off-putting: Every time Jean used the word “you,” I thought to myself, “No, I would never do that.” These sections narrate Anne’s life and illustrate the many bad decisions that led to her murder. From her teenage years to her death, Anne is naïve and trusting and never learns from her mistakes. But her vulnerability makes her easy to root for, and her death is tragic. 

Naomi’s questioning of her past is the catalyst that leads to her mother’s death, and while Chelsea doesn’t know this, the reader does, and their similarities make the book feel thematically consistent. By the end, Chelsea learns about Naomi’s investigations, and she wonders how much to delve into her own background. It’s a nice segue for the next book.

More broadly, though, Jean’s world view as expressed by the Chelsea Calhoun books is seriously dark. She’s not a graphic writer, which I appreciate, and the reader is spared gory scenes that her setups imply. The first book dealt with a misogynistic cult and this one also features systemic abuse. Calhoun lives in a scary world where no one can be trusted. It’s troubling to think that it’s also ours. 

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Emiko Jean:
Tokyo Ever After
Mika in Real Life
We'll Never Be Apart

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.

Listen to this book on Speechify!

Spotlight: A Murder Uncorked

We're pleased to announce that the Nikki Sands Wine Lover's Mystery series by Michele Scott is currently being adapted for film. A Murder Uncorked is set to star Emma Roberts and Lucas Bravo, with Legally Blonde screenwriter Karen McCullah adapting the screenplay! We're sharing more about it here.

When an entitled customer with a bad attitude gets Nikki fired from her job as a waitress, Nikki Sands finds herself caught in the sights of the wealthy and incredibly sexy Derek Malveaux.

Impressed by her knowledge of wines – and embarrassed by his date – he offers her a job as a winery manager at his vineyard and she accepts because – well, a girl’s gotta eat.

Where else would her wine expertise come in handy anyway? The eye candy was a nice bonus too.

On her first night at Malveaux Estate, Nikki finds something wrong with the fertilizer around the bushes by her cottage: there’s a dead body in it.

Smack in the middle of the investigation, new girl Nikki is questioned as the prime suspect and told to stay put in Napa Valley. Nikki puts her sleuthing skills to work as she navigates the dramatic dynamic of Malveaux Estate’s residents. As she gets closer to the truth, Nikki realizes she will have more than just a new job to worry about.

A Murder Uncorked is the first book in the seven book Wine Lover’s Mystery series. The series is full of romance, murder, mystery, and there are excellent recipes for you to try between each chapter! (Synopsis courtesy of Michele's website.)

Michele Scott is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty novels, including cozy mysteries, thrillers, young adult fiction, and women's fiction. She is best known to cozy mystery readers for the Nikki Sands Mystery series. 

Writing as A.K. Alexander, Michele has sold more than one million thrillers, including the #1 UK Amazon bestseller Daddy's Home. A lifelong horsewoman, Michele is also CEO of Professional's Choice, Inc. She lives in San Francisco. 

Visit Michele online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram * TikTok

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.

Listen to this book on Speechify!