Reyna Marder Gentin steps into the spotlight...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to welcome Reyna Marder Gentin to CLC today and to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away! This mother and daughter story is sure to grab and hold your attention. Thanks to Caitlin Hamilton Marketing, we have one copy to give away!

Reyna Marder Gentin grew up in Great Neck, New York, and earned her undergraduate and law degrees from Yale. After a career as an appellate attorney with a public defender’s office, she turned to writing full-time. Her debut novel, Unreasonable Doubts, was a finalist for the 2019 Women’s Fiction Writers Association Star Award. My Name Is Layla (2021) won the Moonbeam Children’s Award gold medal for pre-teen fiction, and Both Are True (2021) was praised by The Nanny Diaries co-author Nicola Kraus as “a moving novel that examines what it means to start over—with surprising consequences.” Reyna lives with her family in Scarsdale, New York.

Visit Reyna online:

Website * Facebook * Instagram

Synopsis:

Jessica Harmon has spent her life in an emotional tug-of-war-yearning for her mother's attention while bracing for the rejection that always followed.

At thirty, Jessica's love life is a wreck, her confidence is shot, and she's adrift in New York City, stuck editing other people's novels at a vanity press while too paralyzed to write her own. She blames her failure to launch on the woman who raised her: Cynthia Harmon, a legendary poet and scholar, who dazzles her students and readers alike...but leaves her only child cold.

When Cynthia wins yet another major literary award and asks her daughter to assist her on the book tour, Jessica decides to give their relationship one last chance. When a crisis upends Cynthia's triumphant moment, the power dynamic begins to shift between the two women, and cracks start to show in the story Jessica has always been told-about her mother, her family, and herself.

Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away is a sharp, emotionally layered novel about mothers and daughters, long-held secrets, and understanding where we come from so we can choose who we become. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

"A stunning story brimming with emotional insight and razor-sharp prose. With pitch-perfect wit and aching vulnerability, this novel delivers a poignant, empowering portrait of a woman finally stepping out of the shadows and into her own voice."

- Jacqueline Friedland, USA Today bestselling author of Counting Backwards

"Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away is an honest and absorbing exploration of mothers and daughters. Spanning elite literary circles, long-held secrets, and eventual tragedy, Gentin brilliantly captures the pain and longing of familial abandonment, the path to acceptance, and the people we should know best, but never fully do. Poignant and unputdownable."

- Rochelle B. Weinstein, bestselling author of What You Do to Me

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?

When a reader told me that she was so moved by the strength and courage of a character in my debut novel who was coping with a terminal illness that it gave her strength and courage to face the death of her father.

How is Jessica similar to or different from you?

Jessica is similar to me in that she’s searching — for purpose, for connection, for a way to express herself. 

If Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away was made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?

I could see Emmy Rossum as Jessica, Annette Bening as Cynthia, and Dev Patel as Raj.

What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?

The Holdovers.

If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?

I’d want Tina Fey to narrate it.

If we were to visit you right now, what places would you take us to see?

I would take you to see the shade garden in my backyard, I’d take you to visit my Little Free Library in front of my house, and I’d take you on the three and half mile walk my husband and I love going on in our neighborhood. 

Thanks to Reyna for visiting with us and to Caitlin Hamilton Marketing for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use KingSumo to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using KingSumo on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

Giveaway ends November 23rd at midnight EST.

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Book Review: Broken Bones

By Sara Steven

Some bodies just won't stay buried...

After putting a stop to one of Edinburgh’s most notorious serial killers 3 years ago, DCI Liam Brodie is known as a man who can handle - and solve - the hardest of cases. But when he’s assigned to Fife’s Major Investigations Team, he soon realises that he’s walking into a minefield. The previous DCI is missing, presumed dead, and the case he’s been called in to lead becomes dangerously close to home.

When a child’s bones are unearthed beneath the floorboards of an old house in Fife - the same house where his girlfriend, psychologist Ruth Calder, grew up as a foster daughter - Brodie uncovers a tangled web of lies and jealousy. Ruth’s foster mother, now gripped by dementia, holds fragments of the truth but in a community haunted by its history, Brodie must navigate betrayal and buried guilt to bring a decades-old secret to light.

But at what cost to those he loves most? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads)

At first, I wasn’t sure how various scenarios that occur for a few primary characters within Broken Bones would tie together, but everything had come together well, and with perfect timing. Brodie’s serial killer is an obvious culprit, yet there are missing people, murdered individuals, and a child’s remains are found. How does it all connect? I could appreciate discovering the truth right along with Brodie, and what has always appeared the most obvious choice begins to fade into obscurity.

The writing style is gritty and raw. It felt like I was watching a mystery cop show, the kind you can’t help but get sucked into. Old painful wounds and past mistakes seem to play a repetitive theme for the antagonists, seeking revenge in ways that are pretty far out there; nothing I’ve ever seen or read before in a mystery detective read. It was cleverly and scarily devised, and while I would never claim to side with the bad guys, it was fascinating to get inside their minds and learn more about what makes someone with a vendetta tick.

The banter between characters Art and Cameron had been fun to read. They reminded me of two adult brothers who like to poke and prod at one another, humanizing them despite their staunch police backgrounds. Dr. Gabriel Kane was the quintessential serial killer who isn’t at all who he’s portrayed to be, reminding me of Anthony Hopkins’s Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs. Brodie is the hero who is trying to save it all, but even he has his limits, particularly when terror strikes too close to home. 

Broken Bones was thrilling and terrifying, all at once. A definite five-star read! 

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

John Carson is the multi-million, bestselling author of  numerous Scottish-set crime series. Visit him on Facebook and Instagram.

Visit all the stops on John's blog tour:

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Book Review: Sounds of Summer

By Sara Steven

Ramona is ready to shake up Seaside, Oregon, with her all-'90s morning show. But her retro vibes clash hard with Quinn, the station's seriously uptight (and seriously attractive) manager. He's obsessed with "consistency," she's all about breaking the mold, and their battles over the playlist are legendary.

But beneath the surface, a bigger threat looms. A powerful corporation is circling, ready to swallow up their beloved local station and replace it with a cookie-cutter format. And this media giant plays dirty, armed with slick tactics and deep pockets.

As the pressure mounts, Ramona and Quinn must find a way to work together, even as their undeniable attraction sparks a whole new kind of static. Can they save the station – and maybe even their hearts – before the music fades out for good? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

There are so many fun things to love about Sounds of Summer! One of the biggest draws for me had been the location of where the story takes place. I’m from Oregon, and having been to Seaside several times growing up, I thought it was awesome to have Ramona’s and Quinn’s experiences take place in such a charming, small-town atmosphere. Then you have the radio show that they both work for. It offered up a more unique plotline that really worked with the nineties music that Ramona plays. But one of the biggest draws had been the intense connection between the two primary characters! It’s the classic love to hate, hate to love scenario that really worked for the both of them.

Ramona can’t stand how regimented Quinn can be. He doesn’t want her to play the music she wants to play, preferring to have her play from a list that is formulaic and devised, yet at the same time, Quinn is annoyed that Ramona never listens to what he wants. His methods are tried and true–why can’t she follow the rules? But as the chapters unfold, both characters begin to see that while Quinn is more disciplined, he has deep reasons as to why he has to see the local station succeed. And even though Ramona doesn’t follow any particular list of songs to be played, she has a method to her madness that seems to pay off, every time. Respect begins to form, which leads to deeper understanding.

But there are forces at play that are out of their control, with the powerful corporation worming its way into the radio station’s bases, without anyone even knowing it. How it’s discovered was pretty clever and what followed was pretty clever, too. I felt tied to seeing the survival of the fledgling station, with a lot of undertones that fed into the need to see something that is more mom and pop surviving a conglomerate’s obvious need to destroy and carry on, leaving in its path a devastating reality for the employees of the radio station.

Sounds of Summer provided a lot of tension between its two main characters, a plotline that included a well-played David vs. Goliath-type scenario with the radio station, and an ending that truly felt fitting for everything involved. It was a worthy five-star read!  

Thanks to Tracy Krimmer for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Tracy Krimmer:

All That Glitters

Something Just Like This

Dating for Decades

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Rachel J. Lithgow gets real (and really funny)...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to have Rachel J. Lithgow at CLC today to talk about her book, My Year of Really Bad Dates. Melissa is excited to read this one soon as it sounds like it will be really interesting and entertaining. Thanks to BookSparks, we have one copy for a lucky reader!

Rachel J. Lithgow is a historian and museum professional with thirty years of experience running large cultural institutions. Her work and writing have appeared in dozens of publications around the world, including The New York Times, The Daily News, Time, The Advocate, The Jerusalem Post, The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Times of Israel, eJP, The New York Observer, and the Buffalo News. Rachel has two children and splits her time between Long Beach, Long Island, and Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.

Visit Rachel at her website and on Instagram.

Synopsis:

After two life-shaking events, Rachel Lithgow leaves a thirty-year career to write full time and pursue a relationship with a man she recently met online. But then he announces he’s joining a cult and moving to Phoenix with a blonde real estate agent.

What follows is a year of terrible dates, a few great experiences, and a lot of pinot noir. This is the story of how Rachel learned that patterns can be changed, that asking for help is sometimes necessary, and that there’s only one way to repair her brokenness: by facing trauma and demons head-on. 

Through a unique mix of humor, self-deprecation, and gritty vulnerability, My Year of Really Bad Dates tackles divorce, dating, single motherhood, PTSD, grief, loss, and starting over in midlife.

"This book is an absolute delight. Rachel Lithgow is a master storyteller, and what a gift it is getting to be by her side as she navigates a midlife divorce and the ensuing attempt to find love and connection again . . ."

—Catherine Burns, former Artistic Director of The Moth

"From the opening sentence, I knew Rachel Lithgow is a hilarious new voice in women’s fiction. This book is part memoir, part life lessons, and part How-NOT-To instruction manual on love & dating. The stories of sex, heartache, love, betrayal, and ultimately hope will keep you laughing and crying, then laughing again. This is a MUST read!"

—Randi Mayem Singer, screenwriter of Mrs. Doubtfire

 

In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like for you? 
In a word? Rocky. But honestly, my brain is often ahead of everything else around me, so it makes sense that it felt rocky and long. The reality is that I left my job in 2021 to write full-time, and I've written 3 full manuscripts, got an agent, and am publishing my first book 4 years later, so though it feels rocky, it's not so bad in the grand scheme of the publishing game. I have learned a lot, however, and I'm very grateful to She Writes and the Stable Book Group for making an impossibly complicated industry manageable. 

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing? 
The nicest thing that I've been hearing is that the writing feels intimate, like sitting at a table with a cocktail or a coffee with a good friend. That was exactly what I was going for in tone, so I'm glad that people feel that when they read it.

If My Year of Really Bad Dates were made into a movie, which celebrity would you cast as yourself? 

Haha. I love this question! My ego wishes I were Scarlett Johansson, but the reality is that I'm much more a character actor than leading lady material. I am a huge fan of Debi Mazar; her attitude, her humor, her quick wit, and her vulnerability with toughness make her a better choice! Plus, she's gorgeous.

Which TV series are you currently binge watching? 

OMG, the Murdaugh Murders on Hulu. Patricia Arquette is magical, isn't she?

If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you'd take us to see? 
I would take you to LB Social, which makes the best cocktails in Long Beach and also the best food. Of course, to the beach with my puggle Dexter. He loves it so very much, and watching him run on the beach would bring even the coldest human a lot of joy.

What is something you are currently thankful for? 
That I don't only love my kids, but that I like them now that they are fully formed almost adults. 

Thanks to Rachel for chatting with us and to BookSparks for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Gleam to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Gleam on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

My Year of Really Bad Dates (1 print copy)

Giveaway ends November 18th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: The White Octopus Hotel

By Allyson Bales

“Have you travelled a long way?” she asked carefully..

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Well, yes,” he said slowly. “Yes, you could say that. But it was worth the wait.”

London, 2015. When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.

His name is Max Everly—curiously, the same name as Eve’s favorite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she has the sudden feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?

The White Octopus Hotel, 1935. In this belle époque building high in the snowy mountains, Eve and a young Max wander the winding halls, lost in time.

Each of them has been through the trenches—Eve through a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War—but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I don't know what I expected from this book but it DEFINITELY was not what I just read and I mean that in the BEST way.

When I read the synopsis of The White Octopus Hotel I was really excited to meet Max and Eve and journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps.  This story not only transported me to one of my most favorite settings in a book but also introduced me to some amazing characters.  

I don't want to give too much away with this one.  Just know there is so much that happens in this story.  It contains mystery, time travel, a layered story that ebbs and flows pulling you in and spitting you out again, and dynamic characters that you will dearly miss when the story is over. 

I love that there was so much hope, love, and grief in this story.  I constantly felt like I could see myself in Eve's character and really can't wait for you to meet her.  She really explores making peace with some mistakes she has made and whether or not she can forgive herself for her past and I think we can all really relate to that.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House Audio, I was able to do an immersive read of this one and really enjoyed Mei Mei MacLeod's narration. I enjoyed her voice very much and really felt she wonderfully brought this story to life.

This is definitely going to be a five-star read for me and a story that will live rent free in my head for some time to come.

Thanks to Random House for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Sisters of Fortune

By Melissa Amster

The Cohen sisters are at a crossroads. And not just because the obedient middle sister, Fortune, has secretly started to question her engagement and impending wedding, even as her family scrambles to prepare for the big day. Nina, the rebellious eldest sister, is single at twenty-six (and growing cobwebs by her community’s standards) when she runs into an old friend who offers her a chance to choose a different path. Meanwhile, Lucy, the youngest and a senior in high school, has started sneaking around with a charming older bachelor.

As Fortune inches ever closer to the chuppah, the sisters find themselves in a tug-of-war between tradition and modernity, reckoning with what their tight-knit community wants for them—and what they want for themselves.

Sisters of Fortune is a story about dating, ambition, and coming-of-age within an immigrant community whose affection is endearing, maddening, and never boring. This novel explores the roots that entwine our lives with the ones who love us best, the dreams we hold for our daughters, and the winding paths we take to our own happy endings. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I am really glad I got a chance to read Sisters of Fortune! It was like Jewish comfort food for the soul. I enjoyed getting to know Fortune, Nina, and Lucy, Syrian Modern Orthodox sisters living in Brooklyn in the late '00s. Fortune (the middle sister) is about to get married but something doesn't feel right. Nina is judged for being 27 and not married, but she is finally doing something she wants. Lucy is almost out of high school and dating a 30 year-old doctor. He's wealthy though, so no one is complaining. There's a lot of parental involvement and opinions nudging their way into the sisters' lives and decisions they make for themselves. And there's also Sitto, their grandmother, who has a lot to say. 

I liked all the Jewish elements and learning new things about Sephardic foods and rituals. I was glad the story was split between the sisters so that we got each of their perspectives. The entire time, I felt like I was right there in the Cohen home hanging out with everyone in the family, and perhaps helping them cook or prepare for Shabbat and upcoming holidays.

I had a few minor concerns, but nothing that took away from my enjoyment. I noticed a time inconsistency at the beginning: They said it was Monday but suddenly it turned into Wednesday. Lucy's storyline didn't match with the synopsis, as it said she was sneaking around but she wasn't as everyone knew who she was seeing. Finally, it would have been helpful to have definitions in footnotes or more context for words and phrases that were not defined in the glossary. 

I really enjoyed this book and have been recommending it to my friends. The cultural aspect was interesting as I am only slightly familiar with Sephardic customs and foods (although I'm still not sure what knafeh is). The story was just edgy and relatable overall.

It was difficult to cast a movie version of this book, but it would be cool if one were made. I could only think of one idea, and that is Lainie Kazan for Sitto.

(Trigger warnings at the bottom of this post.)

Thanks to Random House for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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TW: Death of grandparent. Bodily functions mentioned often.

Book Review: Such Good People

By Melissa Amster

It’s 10 p.m. on a Thursday in the spring of her freshman year of college, and April is standing at the back of a crowded Manhattan bar waiting for her friend, Rudy, to arrive. Their eyes lock the moment he enters the room, and in an instant, lives and legacies are altered forever.

Within hours, Rudy is arrested. Within days, April is expelled. Within weeks, he’s incarcerated. And within months, she meets Peter, a prodigious young attorney who makes her world recognizable again.

Nearly fifteen years later, April is happily living in Chicago married to Peter, a mother of three with a fulfilling career and standing yoga date with her girlfriends. On the eve of Peter’s election for local office, Rudy is up for parole. Headlines explode about April’s past, jeopardizing Peter’s campaign and everything they hold dear.

 Suddenly, April is faced with an impossible choice: protecting the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life a possibility. Such Good People is a captivating portrait of blurred lines, divided loyalties, and what it means to love purely, steadfastly, and interminably. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I have been binge watching Drop Dead Diva for the past few months and it has me interested in what happens in a courtroom and how the law can work for or against someone. All I know is that Rudy DeFranco would have never seen the inside of a prison if he had Jane/Deb or any of the other lawyers from Harrison and Parker defending him.

In Amy Blumenfeld's sophomore novel, Such Good People, Rudy is given a raw deal in life, locked away for a homicide that was the result of an accident during a bar fight. The situation has a huge impact on his best friend April and a ripple effect on her life when he is released thirteen years later. Told from the perspectives of Rudy, April, April's husband, and a former college classmate, Such Good People looks at where people draw the line between right and wrong or innocent and guilty.

I loved this novel and can't stop thinking about it! It is just so captivating and well-written. It shows how easily people make judgements when they aren't given all the facts and how that can negatively impact people's lives. So many things made me angry on behalf of April and Rudy. I don't want to say too much as to not spoil anything. I just hated that Rudy didn't get a fair trial to begin with. There's a Cold Case feel to this story, as well. I liked the different perspectives and how the went back and forth in time. 

My only minor issue was grammatical in nature. While everyone's perspective was written in third person, there were times the characters would slip into first person. I don't know if this was by accident and was fixed for final publication. It didn't ruin how great this novel was, but it took me by surprise. It's about as jarring as when someone changes between past and present tense or the narrative switches without any section or chapter break.

I highly recommend checking this one out as soon as possible! It's such an important and worthwhile read. There's a lot of emotional impact, as well.

Amy's debut novel, The Cast (reviewed here), came out seven years ago. I hope she doesn't wait that long to release another novel!

(Trigger warnings at the bottom of this post.)

Movie casting suggestions (for the present timeline):

April: Elizabeth Lail

Rudy: Lorenzo James Henrie

Peter: Corey Sevier

Jillian: Erin Yvette

Tommy: David Henrie (I like the idea of brothers playing brothers)

Isla: Laura Marano

Thanks to BookSparks for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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TW: Incarceration. PTSD. Paparazzi. Bullying. Aging parents. Death of young adult.