Book Review: The Way We Are Now

By Sara Steven

First love, long-hidden secrets and second chances.

Anna Piasecki thought she had left her university heartbreak behind. After spending decades building a successful life, she arrives at sixty with everything as she wants it – a glittering career, a devoted partner and brightest star of all, her brilliant son Noah, the apple of her eye.

Theo Mandeville is trapped. Bound by aristocratic duty to his sprawling Yorkshire estate, he has spent decades living the life that was expected of him while regretting the star-crossed romance he walked away from.

When their children meet at college, Anna and Theo suddenly find their carefully constructed lives colliding. With a devastating forty-year-old secret hanging over them, can their families survive the truth and do they dare to trust that fate has other plans for them? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

The Way We Are Now is a timepiece gem. A lot of it takes place in the 1980s, and while the backdrop is set in the UK and I’m not familiar with that terrain, I could identify with a lot of what occurs for Anna and the other characters. There is a moment when Anna is using a payphone and it brought me right back to that period in my own life–the way it was described was dead on. The story begins in the eighties, with Anna trying hard to make a life for herself despite not having a lot of opportunities to do so. She is a miner’s daughter, and she is proud of that. But she wants to be more than a miner’s daughter.

It was fate at first sight when Anna met Theo. The way he lives his life is the complete opposite from Anna, with an aristocratic background that has already been mapped out for him, despite his best intentions. The two seem destined to be together in a much more tame Romeo and Juliet meets Pretty in Pink way, two star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the tracks. Their fate has also been sealed by tragedy, and when relationships start in such a startling way, it can be tough to see it through. Through the decades moving forward, there are a lot of changes and stages for Anna and Theo, some for the better, some for the worse, that eventually tear them apart.

I didn’t know anything about the miners' strike in the UK, and I felt like the author really did her research and made the history of it interesting by incorporating the event with personal experiences had by the characters in the book. It added a depth and a perspective to it that really stuck with me. It also gave Anna more of the fire she needed to discover who she truly is and what she is capable of, even if it means going against the grain. She was my favorite, most likeable character. 

It was enjoyable to see where Anna and Theo are as they age, and even more enjoyable when their worlds collide in the most unexpected of ways, proving that sometimes things really do happen for a reason–but should it be pursued, and can you really go back, and continue forward? I’ve heard that time can heal a lot of things, which could be great for Anna and Theo. The Way We Are Now was a gentle nod to second-chance love, and I was there for it! 

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

Purchase Links:
Amazon US * Amazon UK * Barnes & Noble * Kobo

Julie Houston is the author of seventeen best-selling Women’s contemporary/Romantic Comedy novels. Represented by Anne Williams at KHLA Literary Agency, she was previously published by Aria/Head of Zeus but now writes for Boldwood. She has had UK top 100 selling books and Looking for Lucy hit the number 1 spot in Australia. Sing me a Secret was shortlisted for, and won, the Popular Romantic Fiction Award in 2021. 

Julie is Yorkshire born and bred and lives in Huddersfield where her novels are set. After University, where she studied Education and English Literature, she taught for many years as a junior schoolteacher. After teaching for a few years, she decided to go to New Zealand to work and taught in Auckland for a year before coming back to this country. She now teaches when the phone rings to cover absent colleagues and still loves the buzz of teaching junior-aged children.

Julie is married with a son and daughter, both in their twenties and now living in London. She has been a magistrate on the West Yorkshire bench for the last twenty-four years. 

Visit Julie online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram

Visit all the stops on Julie's blog tour:

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Book Review: Love Felt Like This

By Sara Steven

Griffin Harvey lives his life in the spotlight. Reluctantly. The brooding famous singer-songwriter is on the cusp of composing his sophomore album . . . if only he could find the notes. But after gaining custody of his two-year-old daughter, the only music he’s writing is about shapes and counting to ten.

Enter Beverly, who lives her life in the background producing children’s television and laughter. Except joy is hard to find when her nonprofit loses funding. She sinks all of her savings to revive the children’s show by herself, but when her variety show appearance collides with Griffin’s, their banter and chemistry is caught on live television.

Suddenly, Griffin is singing a new tune. He needs a muse, and Beverly needs all the help she can get. With his secret daughter in tow, they hide out in her cozy mountain hometown, attempting to script, compose, and revive television magic. Their dynamic shouldn’t work. He’s all harsh tattoos and rough hands while she’s bright colors and gentle touches. Once their three months of work are done, they’ll return to their separate worlds. But what happens when it seems the true magic might be found in each other? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads)

Love Felt Like This is such a quirky, feel-good experience! I loved the dynamic between Griffin and Beverly, or “B” as she’s known by him and his daughter. Griffin is this larger-than-life contemplative man who fills a room, while B is a spritely ball of light who tends to stick to the wallflower lifestyle, completely by choice. Where she comes alive is when she can engage with children, a master of puppetry. Everyone knows the children’s television show she’s been part of for years, in many ways a family business that she takes great pride in. It reminded me of Sesame Street. Even Griffin knows of B’s alter ego. It felt so true to life when the children’s television show lost its funding, very reminiscent of the types of experiences witnessed by society today. When a moment between Griffin and B goes viral, potentially bringing back her beloved show, it sets the stage for possible romance between two unlikely characters.

I loved that Griffin did everything he could to get out of the celebrity lifestyle, in an effort to work with B and to give his daughter a different life. As time slowly progresses forward, the two learn more about the other, discovering that there is depth behind Griffin’s gruff exterior, and B is a lot more than the puppet she controls. I thought his take on the influences he wants to have around his daughter was very realistic, too. What isn’t realistic had been Griffin’s idea of total seclusion in B’s hometown. Even in the smallest of places, opportunists exist, which he discovers too late. There is a lot of fallout when Griffin and B are seen together, exploding the social media universe. 

They both come from completely different worlds. As much as B appreciates what reviving her beloved show could mean for her, not to mention the children whose lives she’s touched, she doesn’t want to live in a world where she can’t drive to the local grocery store without a camera shoved in her face. Griffin is used to it all, but he doesn’t want to drag B or his daughter through it. The question ultimately focuses on whether this unlikely couple can make anything work, when they both want ultimate success within their respective careers, knowing it might mean having to let love go. 

It was all portrayed in a realistic light. I can imagine plenty of real-life celebrity couples have had to deal with similar situations and circumstances. I appreciated the direction the story went in and how compromises needed to be made on both sides, making the experience I had while reading Love Felt Like This enjoyable and sweet. It was a definite five-star read!  

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

More by Julie Olivia:
If It Makes You Happy
Off the Hook
Thick as Thieves

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Book Review: Under Story

By Allyson Bales

At the edge of the world, biologist Laurel Salter is hiding from everything she’s ever known. For ten hours a day, six days per week, she works as a dishwasher at McMurdo Station, an isolated research base in Antarctica. She tells no one that before she arrived, she was a renowned young scientist with a promising career and a family.

But even in this remote outpost, Laurel can’t escape her past. When a strange light appears across the ice—and draws a group of physicists to McMurdo—her former husband, Eli, won't be far behind. Laurel is captivated by the Arc: its surreal glow; the way it seems almost alive. And though Eli is reluctant to test her wildest theory, Laurel is convinced that the Arc leads down a rabbit hole and into a world they can barely imagine. Can she persuade him to risk everything to fix the burden that hangs between them—to turn back the clock and live their story a second time?

A breathless page-turner and a love letter to our planet, Under Story grapples with the great questions of our time: human hubris, the precarity of the natural world, and the mysterious webs of consciousness that bind us. A modern epic of science and soul, of bravery and redemption, it offers a vision of the future that demands we reckon with what we owe to one another, and to the earth itself. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I am honestly all over the place with what I want to say in this review. I went into this one largely blind and while I am happy that I did, some may not be, and will want to know what they are getting into. 

This story is just shy of five-hundred pages and it is a commitment. I found that it was almost like two different books in one. The first half was very different from the second half in my opinion. This isn’t a light read. It’s very dense in scientific information, some of which went completely over my head, but also is very character driven. I think if you are a fan of Wild Dark Shore and the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, you’re going to enjoy this one. 

I did an immersive read of this one. I was thrilled that the narrator was Maggie-Meg Reed, the same narrator as the main character Sybil in The Correspondent. She really, really knows how to bring a story to life and when some of the science stuff was getting a little daunting, her narration kept me on track. 

I loved meeting Laurel and Eli and a good part of the story's setting is in Antarctica, which I also really enjoyed. There are so many themes explored that really, really make you think and I know that while this was a read that took me out of my comfort zone, it’s one I will really think about for some time. Let’s just say I held my family a little tighter after reading this one. 

Thanks to Putnam for the book in exchange for an honest review. Purchase Under Story here.

More by Chloe Benjamin:
The Immortalists
The Anatomy of Dreams

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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.

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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

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

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

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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

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Book Review: The Second Chance Cinema

By Melissa Amster

At the end of a dark alley, a magical cinema glitters with The Story of You on the marquee. When Ellie and her fiancé, Drake, stumble upon it during a late-night walk, they’re shocked to discover what’s playing inside the red-velvet auditorium: their formative memories.

Uneasy about what the theater might reveal, Drake hesitates, but Ellie, haunted by a fractured night from her past she can’t fully remember, insists they return. As their memories projected on the screen inch closer to the present, they realize they’re both keeping secrets from each other.

With their wedding on the horizon, Ellie and Drake must decide if revisiting their pasts will alter their vision of a future together. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I was initially interested in The Second Chance Cinema because I loved the cover and the premise sounded fascinating, as I'm into surreal novels. I'm so glad I finally got a chance to read it, as it was really thoughtful and engaging.

The Second Chance Cinema is about an engaged couple who stumble upon this gorgeous old-style movie theater that shows just one film, and it's only for them to watch because it contains their memories. Over the course of watching the progression of memories, they learn new things about themselves and each other...stuff that could end their marriage before they even say "I do."

The premise of this novel was really cool with how it included magical realism, but that was only one aspect since everything else was genuine. The surreal part made me think of The Night Circus in some ways. A lot of information unfolds while they are watching their memories and it makes them question their relationship. The revelations kept me turning the pages, wanting to see what would happen next. There was a lot that felt relatable. Even the parts that weren't relatable felt emotionally accessible. The dialogue and descriptions really made the story come to life.

I liked Ellie and Drake as a couple and was hoping they would reach their wedding day unscathed. However, the way they learned more about each other and their secrets made that difficult, to say the least. 

If you missed out on reading this novel last year, it's never too late to pick it up. Be sure to have some good-tasting popcorn nearby though! (You'll see what I mean soon enough!)

Movie casting suggestions:

Ellie: Sophie Cookson

Drake: Tom Brittney

Melinda: Meghann Fahy

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

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

This made me think of the novel

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TW: Death of sibling. Divorce (parents).

Book Review: The Getaway

By Jami Denison

There are still two weekends before summer is unofficially over. If you’re feeling sorry for yourself because you’re not spending it at a mansion in the Hamptons with your closest friends, take Kiernan Scott’s latest thriller, The Getaway, to the pool. It’s an excellent reminder that Hampton billionaires are jerks and your best friends can kill you. 

Every year, Marshall and Marley and their closest couple friends go to Marshall’s brother Lincoln’s enormous estate in the Hamptons. But this year, it’s going to be different. Lincoln divorced Marley’s best friend Lily (who’s drying out in rehab) and replaced her with Hazel, who just had his baby. Sean and Suzy (and her little dog Winston) along with Josh and Juliet (who are always having the worst fights) don’t know what to expect this year. Who are Grant and Gemma, and why are their obnoxious teen daughters always filming everything? And what’s this about a hurricane?

When the couples arrive, they’re stunned to find envelopes left for each of them, just like Lily used to leave. But instead of Lily’s gentle words of encouragement, the anonymous writer has revealed their biggest secrets and greatest fears. It’s no surprise that the friends start turning on each other. And then the bodies start to fall. 

The premise reminded me a bit of the Netflix series The Four Seasons. I love the show, but I never understood why Anne didn’t just kill Ginny. She could have made it look like an accident. But she was too nice a person.  

There’s no one in The Getaway that’s too nice, except maybe Marley, so I had some trouble getting into the book. I expected most of the drama to be centered around the friends trying to deal with Hazel while still feeling loyal to Lily, and that’s not really a factor. Lincoln is a jerk; everyone screams at each other; there’s a rapper and a wild party on the grounds for some reason; the teens are obsessed with their internet followers and Suzy’s dog. 

Still, the book is a very well-structured locked-room mystery, and Scott pulls a rabbit out of hat at the midway point, revealing a tie that had previously been concealed. It’s tough to keep track of so many different characters, but the location is lushly portrayed, and the storm is realistic and terrifying. The ending is emotionally satisfying. 

Setting a locked-room mystery during a storm is becoming an increasingly popular choice, and fans of the genre have many of these books to choose from. Summer may be almost over, but hurricane season lasts until the end of November. Choose your friends carefully before sharing a house with them.  

Thanks to Over the River PR for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Kieran Scott:

Wish You Were Gone

Regrets Only

People Will Talk

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Book Review: I Love You, Charlie Tanner

By Melissa Amster

It’s never too late to become your best self…

After twenty years in an isolated Cape Breton commune, Charlie Tanner loses the man she thought was her soulmate—and her voice. Fleeing to a quiet Vermont cottage, she’s determined to heal, tend her garden, and start over.

When a widowed rabbi awakens feelings she thought were gone forever, Charlie must confront the truth of her choices—and chart a more confident future. Still, reverberations and rumors from her old life ripple back to her in her new home and hard as she tries, she just can’t escape the sinister truth of her last two decades. She tries to shut it out and build a new life, but Charlie’s past continues to haunt her, even to the point of threatening her life.

Finally, Charlie sees that no one will save her but herself. She must summon the courage to face the truth and speak up—be the strong woman she once wanted to be, long before she fell for lies and charismatic personalities. It’s not only her life on the line, now. If she doesn’t stand tall, she risks being silenced by the past and losing those she loves forever. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I had been hearing some good buzz about I Love You, Charlie Tanner, and recently got the chance to check it out for myself. I'm so glad for that because it was so easy to fall in love with. 

The story was both comforting and unsettling at the same time. I just couldn't get enough of it! Lynne really explored the emotions that come with someone shutting out their family for a long period of time. There's just so much to unpack. We see flashbacks from Charlie's life on the commune, while she's currently trying to learn more about herself in her new life. 

I really just loved so much about this book. Lots of Jewish joy, great steamy scenes, genuine emotion and dialogue, descriptions that brought the story to life even more, and an interesting premise. The characters worked so well and had a variety of layers. 

I wish we had an update on something but I can't say what it is as to not spoil the story. I just felt like a certain aspect got left up in the air even after part of it was resolved. I also wish there had been a conversation between Charlie and her parents about how they treated her when she was a kid. None of these concerns were deterrents to the greatness of this novel, however.

I Love You, Charlie Tanner is currently available on Kindle Unlimited. Definitely check it out and bask in the warmth and generosity of this novel!

Movie casting suggestions:

Charlie: Milana Vayntrub

James: Ryan Hurst

Parker: Either Michiel Huisman or Max Greenfield

Charlie's mom: Stepfanie Kramer

Mary: Marguerite Moreau

Boden: Xavier Dolan

Indira: Matilda De Angelis

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

More by Lynne Golodner:

Woman of Valor

Cave of Secrets

Forest Walk on a Friday

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TW: Death of significant other/spouse, death of friend, parental neglect, being in a cult, being threatened, domestic abuse, PTSD.

Book Review: The Mountains We Call Home

By Melissa Amster

When Cussy Lovett, a Packhorse Librarian famed for bringing books to the people of Appalachia, is unjustly incarcerated, she finds a new calling as a prison librarian, bringing hope to downtrodden women and voiceless city residents alike, finding a home even while separated from those she loves. A vivid portrait of mid-century Kentucky, from the hills and hollers of Appalachia to a vibrant city neighborhood on the cusp of urban renewal, The Mountains We Call Home explores the effects of criminalization and incarceration on the poor and powerless, while tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds.

Gritty, heartbreaking, yet infused with hope, The Mountains We Call Home is an authentic American tale and a powerful testament of strength, survival, and the magic of the written word. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I was excited to read The Mountains We Call Home because I enjoyed the first two novels in the Book Woman series. 

I loved this novel and was recommending it while only halfway through! It was great to reunite with Cussy and learn more about what happened while we were getting Honey's story in the second novel. The Mountains speaks to the transformative power of books and how important it is to be kind and not judge others by their appearance or background. I love how Cussy connects with people through her love of books. It was really beautiful and heartfelt. Especially since so many people had been mistrusting of her because her skin is blue.

I don't want to say too much as to not spoil what happens because I want you to be as surprised as I was. I felt like the ending was rushed a bit with a huge time jump, but it's mainly because I wanted the story to go on even longer. I also felt like there were some things left unanswered based on a decision made later in the novel. Neither of these concerns took away from how much I loved this novel!

Be sure to read the first two novels and then dig into this one! While it reads well as a standalone, it's so worthwhile to check out the first two novels so you can really get a feel for the characters and what led up to the events of this novel. I hope you will enjoy this series as much as I did. And if you only have time to read one of the novels, definitely make it this one as there's still a lot of context to make it easily understandable.

Reviews of the first two novels:

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: Goodreads and Storygraph

The Book Woman's Daughter: Goodreads and Storygraph

Movie casting ideas: 

Cussy: Brie Larson

Jackson: Tim Rozon 

Honey: Oona Laurence 

Mrs. Claxton: Lynn Whitfield

Warden: Frances McDormand

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

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

More by Kim Michele Richardson:

The Sisters of Glass Ferry

Liar's Bench

Godpretty in the Tobacco Field
 

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TW: Incarceration, bullying, racism, mistreatment of prisoners, sterilization/eugenics, lobotomies, medical emergency, death penalty, domestic violence

Book Review: You Know Why

By Jami Denison

Travel features frequently in domestic suspense novels. Husbands are always disappearing from flights, not on flights they were supposed to take, or dying in plane crashes, then showing up years later. Ladies, keep a close eye on your men when you’re traveling together!

In J.T. Ellison’s latest thriller, You Know Why, photographer Brooklyn Locke doesn’t lose her husband Trey until he misses their connecting flight in Atlanta, leaving her stranded with their two kids and no money. (The Atlanta airport is a nightmare. It’s easy to see how this could innocently happen.) On the flight is Eden Barrow, who claims that she and Trey went to high school together in Georgia. But that doesn’t make sense. Trey is from Connecticut, and why is she calling him Andrew? Does Eden have something to do with Trey’s disappearance?

When Eden tells Brooklyn that Trey was married to her sister Chloe and then murdered her, Brooklyn doesn’t believe it. But airport footage shows Trey leaving in an Uber, and now Brooklyn’s credit cards have been canceled and her bank accounts drained. Eden is the only person she knows in Atlanta, and the only person she can trust. But can she?  

You Know Why begins like typical domestic suspense, establishing Chloe’s murder and going between Brooklyn and Eden’s first-person points of view. I dug in expecting a book similar to Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me. Instead, it’s closer to a police procedural—police officer Theresa Lee has her own (third person) point-of-view that dominates the investigative part of the narrative—and Trey’s POV pops up early on, revealing that he did not kill Chloe. For much of the book, Brooklyn is unable to investigate what’s going on, and the other points-of-view center around scary Russian hit men, cyber crime, drugs, embezzlement, and other elements not generally found in domestic suspense. Brooklyn’s own past comes into play, and she might not be as innocent as she initially seemed. 

As a huge fan of domestic suspense, I was disappointed that You Know Why didn’t deliver the payoffs I wanted from the genre—an everyday woman protagonist who investigates the mystery and twists that come from relationships. But if you’re a reader who wants more thrills, chases, exotic bad guys, gun shots, and three letter agencies, you should find You Know Why appealing. 

No matter what kind of fan you are, You Know Why delivers a powerful message: Never board your plane without your entire party. 

Thanks to Over the River PR for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by J.T. Ellison:
Last Seen
A Very Bad Thing
Tear Me Apart

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Book Review: You'll Be the Death of Me

By Melissa Amster

Verdella “Dell” Rodgers is at the top of her game. As the chef de cuisine at San Francisco’s hottest new restaurant and on the cusp of marrying the mayor’s son in the social event of the season, her life is perfect. That is until the week before her wedding when she wakes up and finds herself very much dead.

Enter Cole, a charming but bumbling entry-level clerk in the Afterlife Administration who accidentally confuses Dell for a 95-year-old woman in Kansas with the same name, claiming the wrong soul. When Cole tries to fix his mistake, their worlds collide in life- and death-changing ways.

Now walking the city as a ghost only visible to Cole, Dell is frantic to get back to her perfect life but soon learns that it wasn’t what it appeared to be, particularly when it came to the man she was about to marry and his high-profile family.

Meanwhile, Cole has no memory of who he was before working for the Afterlife Administration. As they try to uncover Cole’s past and remedy Dell’s future, they realize the mistake that brought them together might just be a twist of fate. With time running out to bring Dell back to the land of the living, she’ll have to decide if the life she left behind is truly what she wants, or if Cole’s untimely appearance could lead to an unexpected change that she didn’t know she needed. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I had such a great time reading You'll Be the Death of Me! I feel like I breezed through it because it was so captivating and also because I wanted to find out where Dell went wrong in her life.

You'll Be the Death of Me has a lot of elements that made me think of Ghosts, including possession, ghost outfits, hauntings, ghost rules, and even romance. It's entertaining and a nice "snack" while waiting for the next season of the series (or at least the Halloween episode). It also involves cooking/restaurant ownership and there's even a living character named Jay (although that's a nickname).

The novel is mainly about a successful woman in her thirties who shares a name with a much older woman and gets mistakenly deceased by someone who works in the Afterlife Administration. He has to help her figure out where she went wrong in life in order to fix the mistake. 

I just really enjoyed everything about this story. I was worried that they got to the climax too quick, but then there was more happening, so it made sense to get that part out of the way. Holly handles the topic of death in a sensitive and thoughtful way whenever it is approached, while keeping the charm of the story alive. There's a lot of humor that balances the melancholy parts out nicely. You definitely need a suspension of disbelief though! Surreal gets taken to a whole new level.

I also love how San Francisco plays into this novel. I've never been there, but Holly painted such a great picture with her descriptions that I felt like I was visiting every time I opened it.

You'll Be the Death of Me is a charming novel that I think rom-com lovers will enjoy thoroughly! 

Movie casting suggestions:

Dell: Sofia Carson

Cole: Marc Herrmann

Jay: Brandon Flynn

Robbie: Emjay Anthony

Tommy: Pierson Fode

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

Also by Holly Michelle: Last Night Was Fun

Holly Michelle also writes rom-coms as Holly James, including The Big Fix and Name Your Price.

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Book Review: Two Lives with You

By Melissa Amster

When Dana and Nigel got married, they had such promise. After sixteen years, the cracks are showing.

Dana is a burned-out ER nurse, and Nigel is a recently unemployed stay-at-home dad whose professional identity is disappearing. Questioning the directions their lives have taken, Dana and Nigel are each granted a wish from a mysterious stranger. For one week they can escape the pressure of their lives in favor of ones in which they never married.

Waking up in an alternate reality where their youthful, individual dreams have come true is, at first, a marvel. When they meet by chance in Bali, Dana recognizes Nigel instantly, but he feels only an inexplicable connection to this stranger. And they discover there’s a catch to their wishes.

Returning to normal—and to the long-haul love they vowed would be forever—won’t be as easy as they thought. As the clock ticks down, Dana and Nigel face an impossible choice that will test the very foundation of their relationship and alter their lives forever. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I enjoyed Lauren Ho's first two rom-coms, so I was excited to read Two Lives with You, especially because of the surreal aspect. 

I read this whole novel in one day! It was just so absorbing and I had to see how everything would play out. The dual narrative worked well for this story too. Even though it's about a marriage that is on the rocks, there is a lot of romance involved and I know you'll be rooting for Dana and Nigel to work things out, just as I was.

While I loved the surreal aspect, some parts of it got complex and confusing after a while. I was trying to figure out how things could actually work a certain way. 

There was nothing predictable about this novel and I was surprised by how some things played out. Overall, everything felt really genuine, especially the dialogue. Dana was so relatable but I also felt a kinship with Nigel.

If you want a rom-com that's something different from the usual tropes, definitely give this one a try!

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

Movie casting suggestions:

Dana: Olivia Thirlby

Nigel: Henry Golding

Pia: Nichole Sakura

Thanks to Over the River PR for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Lauren Ho:

Last Tang Standing

Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic

Sharpen Your Knives (coming in 2027)

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TW: Job loss. Serious car accident. Possibility of death. Potential for infidelity. PTSD. Talking about bad things happening to children. Depression.

Book Review: Breathing Under Water

By Melissa Amster

The current is threatening to pull them under.

Berry thought she had it figured out—juggling her vice principal role while raising her sixteen-year-old autistic son, Leo. But when a promotion opportunity collides with her family's deepest needs, she must confront whether she's been fighting the wrong battles all along.

McKenna is drowning. Between caring for her grandmother with dementia, losing her swimming scholarship, and facing homelessness, the college student's carefully constructed world is crumbling. Her only lifeline? Teaching swim lessons to children with autism—including Leo.

As these two women's paths converge in the most unexpected way, they discover that sometimes the people who need saving the most are the ones who end up saving you. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I'm so glad I got an early opportunity to read Breathing Under Water! It was incredibly good throughout and I had a hard time putting it down. I cared a lot about both of the main characters, as well as Leo. 

This was a fast read for me as it was so engaging that I picked it up every chance I had. Even though Berry and I had more in common, I felt more of a kinship with McKenna. I did like Berry, but after a while, I felt like her energy and focus got transferred to Leo. I really liked Leo's connection with McKenna. There was also a Jewish aspect to the story that I appreciated.

There's a lot happening in this story and a good balance of narrative between Berry and McKenna. I don't want to say too much because I worry about spoiling something and I want it to unfold for you naturally. I will admit that I can relate to McKenna's anger, even though I'm not as likely to act on mine in a drastic way. However, I can understand why she'd make the choices she did, even if they weren't always the wisest. 

My only concern was that one aspect of the story didn't have closure and would have liked it to be resolved more.

If you're looking for a heartfelt and thoughtful read, pick this one up. I can't stop recommending it!

Movie casting suggestions:

Berry: Maggie Siff

McKenna: Lizzy Greene

Phil: Eric Dane

Yvonne: Lindsay Sloane

Coach Cat: Morgan Spector

Glory: Lily Tomlin

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

Thanks to Harper Muse for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Jacqueline Friedland:

Counting Backwards

He Gets That from Me

That's Not a Thing

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TW: Alzheimers, homelessness, child goes missing, loss of job, marital strife.

Book Review: Destination Funeral

By Sara Steven

When Babe—the complicated, magnetic matriarch of their teenage summers—dies, four estranged friends return to sleepy Mercy Island, a storm-swept stretch of coastal Georgia, summoned by the reading of her will.

Didion arrives at the timeworn pink house to find the friends she never thought she’d see again—along with the tensions, attractions, and unfinished business that once bound them together and broke them apart.

What should be a brief weekend of small talk quickly unravels when they wake up and discover...it’s Saturday. Again. And again. And again.

Trapped in a time loop with no end and no instructions, they’re forced to confront the betrayals, breakups, and buried truths that shattered them all those years ago. Because maybe, just maybe, an endless weekend is exactly what they all need to save their own lives. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Destination Funeral was like the contentious friendship’s version of Groundhog Day. You’ve got Didion, who swore she would never go back to Mercy Island, given the way things ended with not only her mother, Babe, but her friends and once-close sister, Sammie. You’ve got Matt, the happy-go-lucky guy who wants everyone to get along, despite his own detriment. Then there’s Austin, Didion’s ex–who totally wronged her while he worked hard to leave his past behind, and of course, the once-close sister, Sammie, who never wants to grow up. The four used to be inseparable, but now it takes Babe’s death to bring the four together.

And together they will be. What starts off as a quick weekend funeral, turns into the foursome reliving the same day over and over again. Through that, Didion has a chance to work through a lot of the resentment she has towards the people who used to mean the world to her, along with the disconnect she has with Babe. It’s hard not to understand and side with Didion when it comes to her reasons behind the separation. I think the situation that got to me the most is when Didion reflects on Sammie’s horrible ex selling off Didion’s beloved Jeep for money, with no thought to even consult Didion about it. And no one seems to bat an eye. It seemed like there were a lot of scenarios similar to that one, where Didion’s feelings and needs are completely looked over, while everyone coddles Sammie.

It hasn’t been all roses for Sammie, either. Didion learns that–along with finding out what’s been really going on for the others, too. Things haven’t been so happy-go-lucky for Matt, and Austin had to completely shelve the dreams he’d had since childhood. It’s obvious that honesty and transparency was never a driving force before, but through the endless Saturdays they live through, the chance and opportunity for that becomes apparent. The repeat days were cleverly written and a nice touch to the story. 

The biggest relationship to work through is the one Didion had with Babe. All four friends wonder if Babe herself had set some sort of spell over the family home (Birdsong), and maybe she did. I won’t discount that. I think the magic and wonder of childhood that dwelled within the characters might have been the real catalyst, but no matter where it had come from, it was sorely needed. There was strong character evolution for everyone involved, even the deceased, all told in a witty, acerbic way that made me want to keep reading. It was also extremely sweet and touching, making Destination Funeral a much-needed five-star read! 

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Paige Harbison:
The Other Side of Now
Anything to Have You
New Girl

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Book Review and Giveaway: The Women in White

Extrasensory perception.

The Gift.

A Sixth Sense.

Or something else….

In 1964, four remarkable young women at a prestigious university became the subjects of parapsychology experiments by a visionary scientist. On the cusp of a historic breakthrough, the women mysteriously vanished and the program was erased from history.

Decades later, Riley Bell, newly divorced and desperate for a fresh start, accepts a caretaker job for an elderly widow named Betty. Riley steps into a home that is frozen in another era - no microwave, television, or cell phones, and Betty has never heard of the internet.

Why has Betty lived in such profound isolation for so many years, and why does she need Riley now? As the story unfolds across two timelines - Betty’s 1960s era of 5 o’clock martinis and high-stakes experiments, and Riley’s quest to uncover the truth about the missing women - old secrets rise to the surface. And the only way to survive is to confront the mystery that has lingered for sixty years. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Jami Denison:

When I was fifteen, my father and I went to the Edgar Cayce Museum while we were on vacation in Virginia Beach. Edgar Cayce was a self-proclaimed clairvoyant and a founder of the New Age movement, and his museum had stations where people could test their own abilities. For a lark, Dad and I played a game where he picked a card and I tried to guess which card he was holding. I didn’t receive any visions or hear a voice whispering in my ear, but I guessed the majority of the cards. Maybe the museum set it up that way as a joke. In any case, I never heard anything back from them. 

I hadn’t thought about that day for years until I picked up Sarah Pekkanen’s latest novel, The Women In White. Those cards play an important role in the author’s latest thriller.

When Riley Bell takes a job as a caretaker for paraplegic elderly new widow Betty, the connection between them is immediate. It’s like Betty knows things without Riley having to say anything. Even though Riley is bemused by Betty’s life and home—both of which seem stuck in the 1960s—soon the widow trusts her enough to tell stories about her past. And what stories they were.

In 1964, Betty’s husband worked for a parapsychology researcher at Marquis University. When Betty gets all the cards right in the card test, Douglas brings her to Dr. Trimble—a decision that will change many people’s lives forever. 

Trimble brings Betty together with three other women who seem to have cognitive abilities, experimenting on them and strengthening their gifts. But Trimble is a hard task master, and his demands wear them down. After the experiments ended, Betty lost track of her friends.

Now elderly Betty wants to know what happened to them. And as Riley researches the past, it becomes clear that there are still people out there who want to continue what Dr. Trimble started. 

Extra-sensory perception is an intriguing topic, and Pekkanen peppers her book with quotes from real studies on the subject, grounding the narrative in reality. The 1960s sections are filled with women who have no greater purpose than serving their husbands, who smoke and drink during pregnancy because “being calm is good for the baby.” Having been taught that their only purpose is to serve men, Betty and her friends are unable to fight back when Dr. Trimble’s demands become unreasonable and dangerous. Reading how they routinely put their own needs last, even as they were being given tools to grow their abilities, was heartbreaking. 

Riley, Betty, and her friends all come across as earnest, sweet women, and the reader roots for them to strengthen into their own power. Sadly, that does not happen. The present-day sections follow routine thriller plot points, with Riley dealing with her own issues as she closes in on what happened to Betty and her friends. 

In today’s world, where people can bet on the Superbowl coin toss and celebrities’ wedding dates, there are myriad options an author can take when writing a thriller about ESP. I admit I was a little disappointed about the track Pekkanen took. It felt predictable rather than surprising. (On the other hand, maybe it’s just hard to surprise me. The cards, after all.)

Still, Pekkanen deserves applause for introducing an element normally found in fantasy or science fiction and dropping it into female-led suspense. I just wish she’d let her women take their abilities and run. 

Melissa Amster:

I always enjoy a Sarah Pekkanen thriller and I couldn't get enough of her latest, The Women in White. It takes "psychological thriller" to a whole new level. 

I will just say that I was horrified and appalled by what was happening to the women in this novel. There are a lot of twists and turns and Sarah kept me guessing the entire time. I didn't know what to expect. The story was full of mystery and intrigue. I was trying to figure out why Betty still lives a 1960s lifestyle. That aspect made me think of the movie Blast from the Past.

Silas Trimble was horrible. I hated him so much. I wanted to reach into the book and communicate to the women to get away from him as soon as possible! 

One part of the novel felt a bit far fetched to me, but I definitely didn't see it coming either. 

Sarah did a lot of research for this novel and it shows. I found the women's abilities to be fascinating, especially since I've had many psychic moments (enough that one of my friends calls me a witch).

You will find yourself devouring The Women in White if you like a good thriller as much as I do. It is so addictive! Some parts of the story made me think of The Book Club for Troublesome Women, even though they are totally different novels altogether. Having said that, fans of historical fiction who also enjoy thrillers will appreciate this one.

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Betty (1960s): Oona Laurence 
Betty (present): Sally Field
Riley: Margaret Qualley
Kathleen: Isabel May
Ivy: Sadie Laflamme-Snow
Helen: Emma Myers
Dr. Trimble: Paul Dano
Douglas: Robert Capron

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have one copy to give away!

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 August 9th at midnight EST.

More by Sarah Pekkanen:

House of Glass

The Locked Ward

Gone Tonight

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TW: loss of baby, kidnapping, sexual harassment, gambling addiction, paralysis, postpartum depression