Book Review: The Never Never Sisters

Sometimes you just need to get away...

Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is counting down the days to summer, eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave’s work ruins their getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. Now, instead of enjoying the lazy summer days along the ocean, Paige is navigating the rocky waters of a forgotten bond with her sister in the sweltering city heat.

As she attempts to dig deeper into Dave’s work troubles and some long-held family secrets, Paige is shocked to discover how little she knows about the people closest to her. This summer, the self-proclaimed relationship expert will grapple with her biggest challenge yet: Is it worth risking your most precious relationships in order to find yourself? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Miriam Plotinsky:

Once again, Heller has created a plot that provides plenty of twists and turns. Paige Reinhardt, a purported relationship expert, spends much of the book trying to find her bearings and her sense of security when her own marriage is called into question. Furthermore, the arrival of a long-absent sister who is both intimidating and kind (while maintaining an enigmatic demeanor) causes Paige enough uncertainty to make her character both relatable and sympathetic. Heller keeps us guessing about Paige's ultimate fate and as her character navigates a tricky relationship with a touchy husband, we feel her pain. It's that quality in Heller's writing that makes her books so magnetic. It's one thing to have characters experience rocky times, but quite another for a writer to be able to make the audience empathize with and root for that character. We want Paige to be happy, but we also think she needs to confront her husband about the changes to their marriage, and we want her sister to turn out to be a positive addition to her life.

The Never Never Sisters is well worth the read, and encourages us to examine the ties in our lives that we take for granted or don't pay attention to. Having now enjoyed two of Heller's books, I hope she keeps writing. She has a gift for weaving absorbing stories.

Amy Bromberg:

I’ve always enjoyed reading books about sisters because I am an only child. I would have loved to have had a sister growing up to do “girl” stuff with, like putting on makeup and doing each other’s hair. This is one of the reasons that I thoroughly enjoyed The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller.

Alison juggled two dramas effortlessly, one of them being between Paige and Dave and the other between Paige and Sloane. I enjoyed watching Paige grow as a person, become more self-confident and take charge of her life. She stepped back and took a hard look at issues in her life, and realized that yes, some things do need to change. I would have preferred to read more about Sloane. I wish there were more flashbacks or information on Sloane’s life previous to the story’s time period. We do get to know a little bit about her from Vanessa and Paige, but it would have been nice to read about Sloane from her point of view. I also thought it was a little unrealistic that Paige would hire a private investigator to dig up information on Dave, because as a therapist, I’m thinking she wouldn’t be for this if she found out one of her patients did it. But when we’re desperate we tend to do things we later regret.

The book asks us to consider how much dishonesty we can tolerate in our partners and our families. To be honest I can’t tolerate any. I had a boyfriend who lied to me numerous times but I never found out. I found out about all of them after his last lie to me. And that was when I knew I could never tolerate dishonesty, especially in a partner.

If you’re looking for a beach read that is fast and entertaining, then by all means pick up a copy of The Never Never Sisters.

Thanks to Wunderkind PR for the books in exchange for an honest review.

Meet our newest review associate!

Introduction by Melissa Amster

Just recently, Miriam told me that she is stepping down as a review associate to focus on her own blog, Just About Baked. If you haven't seen it yet, stop on by and get some great dessert recipes while you're over there! (And please share it with your friends too.)

Since we still receive a lot of review requests, we've decided to invite someone new to join the group. However, she isn't as "new" as you might think. Sara Steven has been guest blogging with us for the past year or so. We love her reviewing style and she's always eager to take on new books! We hope you will enjoy getting to know her and will check out the books she recommends. Her first review as an associate will be posted later this week.

Sara is a wife and stay-at-home mother of two rambunctious boys in Bellevue, Nebraska. When she’s not running marathons, or working on her novel, she takes a break and opens up a good book (or turns on her Nook). Find her at her blog and on Twitter.

I've known Sara for a while now, but we haven't met in person yet. We met through her husband, whom I've known for almost 20 years. She's funny, kind-hearted, and down-to-earth. I have her to thank for my newest addiction, Orphan Black. We also blog together on a weekly basis, over at our personal blogs. I love reading what she comes up with each week.

Name three of your favorite chick lit authors:
Emily Giffin, Jess Riley, Sue Watson

Which chick lit novel would you like to see on the big screen?
All The Lonely People by Jess Riley (reviewed here). I love the idea of a bunch of random misfit strangers coming together for the holidays- such an interesting concept!



Which chick lit novel has had an impact on you and stayed with you for a long time?
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

What is something about you that would surprise most people?
I'm allergic to metal, so that means no piercings and I often shy away from wearing jewelry.

What are some of your hobbies?
Reading, writing, running, and recently I've been delving into home improvements. It's a slow process, and I'm a slow learner.

Where is your favorite place to vacation?
Oregon

Spotlight and Giveaway: The House on Mermaid Point

National bestselling author Wendy Wax returns to the beach with, what Karen White calls a “sparkling, deeply satisfying tale,” THE HOUSE ON MERMAID POINT (July 1, 2014). Thanks to Berkley (Penguin), we have one copy for a lucky US reader!

In Ten Beach Road, Maddie, Avery, and Nikki first got to know each other restoring a beachfront mansion. For better or worse they got to know each other inside and out. Now, in THE HOUSE ON MERMAID POINT, they find themselves in a scenario they couldn’t have dreamed up…or could they?

The house they are currently working on belongs to a man that was Maddie’s wildest fantasy at one point—rock-and-roll legend “William the Wild” Hightower. While he’s not thrilled about letting his home be turned into a bed-and-breakfast for a reality show, he is intrigued by Maddie. And newly single Maddie can’t believe that he would be interested in her of all people.

Wax’s trademark “breezy wit” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and roots as a southern women’s fiction novelist shine in this warm and witty novel about a group of unlikely friends thrown together by disaster that get a do-over on life, love, and happiness.

About the Author:
Wendy Wax is the author of nine previous novels. A Florida native, she worked in broadcasting before moving to the Atlanta suburbs with her family. Her books have been highly praised and featured in national publications such as USA Today and Woman’s World. Visit her online at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

How to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


US only. Giveaway ends July 21st at midnight EST.

Book Review and Giveaway: Landline

By Melissa Amster

**Giveaway is now closed**

A couple of years ago, I read Rainbow Rowell's debut novel, Attachments. I enjoyed and devoured it. (See review here.) Her two books since then have been more for young or new adults, but I got them anyway. I absolutely loved Fangirl and it inspired me to write my own fan fiction (with a chick lit flair, of course). Eleanor and Park is still on my TBR pile, but I'm excited to read that too. However, as soon as I heard that Rainbow had a new chick lit novel coming out, I was all about making sure I got my hands on it. And I did...when I met Rainbow at BEA this past spring. Needless to say, I was all excited to crack this book open and it did NOT disappoint!

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now. Maybe that was always beside the point. Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her. When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything. That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . . Is that what she’s supposed to do? Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened? (Synopsis courtesy of St. Martin's Press.)

Landline is Rainbow's first novel with a surreal twist. (At least I'm assuming so, since I haven't heard anything surreal about Eleanor and Park.) Even though it's not exactly about time travel, it still carries the feel of that concept. I love books that have anything to do with time travel, so when I learned about the story line earlier this year, I was instantly sold. And Rainbow did a great job with this new portal through time. I thought it was very clever how she used a phone as a link to the past. There were some hilarious moments that came about as a result of this new discovery.

The characters definitely carried this story along. There were so many different layers to Georgie and those affected how she and Neal navigated their relationship. I enjoyed the flashbacks to how they met and started dating, as well as when they got engaged and then married. It made me think of how my husband and I first met and the journey from our courtship to our marriage. I liked the secondary characters too, especially Georgie's younger half-sister, Heather. She was a foil for Georgie, but they had this underlying friendship that came through to the surface. And Georgie's background with her friend Seth was interesting to read about, especially as it had an effect on her relationship with Neal. Her conversations with her daughters were a lot of fun, especially Noomi, who thought she was a cat and meowed most of the time. The interactions between Georgie and these secondary characters was both entertaining and revealing.

I had a couple of very minor complaints though. One was that the dialogue between Georgie and Neal seemed to go in circles and get redundant sometimes, losing my attention after a while. The other is that one part of the story seemed to drop off to make room for the other part. While the part that stuck around was satisfying, I wish there was more to the part that was left hanging.

Overall, I enjoyed Landline and Rainbow kept me guessing to the very end, turning the pages in anticipation of what would come next. I like her writing style and look forward to reading whatever she comes out with next!

Of course, I have to cast this book as a movie because it would be so cool on the big screen!
Georgie: Drew Barrymore
Neal: I had a hard time casting him, as he was difficult to visualize. The descriptions contrasted each other. My mind keeps going to Adam Pally, but that still seems like a stretch.
Seth: Paul Rudd
Heather: Maia Mitchell
Georgie's mom: Holly Hunter
Scotty: Aziz Ansari

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have TWO copies for some lucky readers in the US and/or Canada.

How to win:
Please tell us: What household device would you like to possess magical powers and what would it do?

One entry per person.

Please include your e-mail address or another way to reach you if you win. Entries without contact information will NOT be counted (and we do NOT count "Google +" as contact information).

US/Canada only. Giveaway ends July 20th at midnight EST.

More by Rainbow Rowell:

Book Review: A Woman of Fortune

By Jami Deise

Although it only aired for a few months before being canceled by ABC, one of my favorite shows of the 2012 television season was GCB (Good Christian B***) The show was an hour-long Desperate Housewives style comedy starring Leslie Bibb as a woman whose husband died after swindling all their friends. She was forced to return to the rich Dallas suburb where she grew up and where residents enjoyed gossiping about her while carrying on their own indiscretions. It was big, southern, hilarious fun.

Author Kellie Coates Gilbert shows there’s an equal amount of juice in writing a dramatic version of the same story, set in the same state. Claire Massey is the "Woman of Fortune." Her husband Tuck is a cattle baron worth nearly a billion dollars; her daughter Lainie’s about to marry a future senator; her son Garrett works with Tuck and married a Texas beauty queen. They have a 40,000 acre ranch and vacation homes all over the world. There are luxurious parties, designer gowns, friendships with politicians and celebrities. The only fly in the ointment is that youngest child Max is a bit of a black sheep, having dropped out of school and moved off the ranch to work at a small newspaper.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Tuck is the personification of that Texas insult, “He’s all hat and no cattle.” In the middle of a fundraiser for Lainie’s fiancée, Tuck is arrested for a massive, Bernie-Madoff-style fraud, led away in handcuffs. And Claire’s world explodes. At first, Claire believes it’s all a big mistake. Maybe Tuck cut a few corners, but there’s no way he deliberately defrauded all those investors. But no. Tuck admits he’s guilty. And it’s not just anonymous bankers and stock brokers he stole from. It’s Claire’s best friend. Her mother. Even their church.

With the family’s public image in tatters, Lainie’s fiancée dumps her, Garrett and his wife move to Houston, and Claire is forced to leave their mansion and move into a two-bedroom condo with her now equally broke mother. While Max, surprisingly, is the only one Claire can really lean on, Lainie takes desperate measures to hang onto the opulent lifestyle she believes she deserves. All the while, Clair grapples with questions of love and forgiveness: How can the love of her life for thirty years be the same man who did these horrible things? How can she possibly forgive him? Should she wait out his twenty-year prison sentence… or move on with another man?

I found A Woman of Fortune to be just as engrossing as GCB, even without the humor. It’s very well written, and Claire is a hugely sympathetic character -- even at the beginning of the book when she reigns as queen of Dallas. Her children, however, are less so – especially Lainie, who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and believes she’s better than other people. Questions of faith come up in natural ways, and Claire finds comfort in the spiritual words of her Hispanic housekeeper, Margarita. While I disagreed with Claire’s dilemma – if someone had done to me and my children what Tuck did to Claire I wouldn’t even consider staying with him – author Gilbert does a wonderful job of establishing their relationship and Claire’s priorities so that her confusion is a natural part of her character.

Gilbert is a former legal investigator who worked on the biggest cattle fraud case in history, and her knowledge is obvious but never inaccessible. Like many women of her status, Claire is relatively clueless of the day-to-day workings of her husband’s business, and Gilbert uses Claire’s naiveté as a way to explain goings-on to the reader. Gilbert is also a Christian, and her faith is obvious in her characters’ struggles.

My only complaint about the book is that there is only one professional woman in the novel, and she only appears briefly toward the end. Lainie has no ambition other than to be a political wife, and Claire never has any dreams that her daughter might have achievements of her own. Garrett’s wife Marcy is a former beauty queen without a job, and Claire’s own mother married for money and constantly urges her daughter to do the same. Claire’s best friend is married to a successful doctor and presumably has no job of her own. Even so, Claire is able to establish her own business with relatively few missteps.

Even with this minor flaw, I enjoyed A Woman of Fortune immensely, devouring the entire book in one sitting. Gilbert has other books coming out in her “Texas Gold” collection, and I look forward to reading them.

Thanks to Revell (Baker Publishing) for the book in exchange for an honest review.

What's in the mail...plus a giveaway

**Giveaway is now closed**

Melissa A:

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid from BookSparks PR
A Pinch of Ooh La La by Renee Swindle from Penguin (Miriam got this too)
Now I See You by Nicole Kear from St. Martin's Press
She Sins at Midnight by/from Whitney Dineen

Amy:

The Unimaginable by Dina Silver from Amazon

Kathryn:

A Heat of the Moment Thing by/from Maggie Le Page (e-book)

Tracey:

Finding Mr. Righteous by/from Lisa De Pasquale

Becky:

A Place for Us (Part 1) by Harriet Evans from Headline Review
Your Beautiful Lies by Louise Douglas from Black Swan
A Fete to Remember by Julia Stagg  from Hodder & Stoughton
Low Expectations by Elizabeth Aaron from Quercus
Courting Trouble by Kathy Lette from Bantam Press
First Sight by Danielle Steel from Corgi
The Longest Ride and The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks from Sphere


What could be in YOUR mail?

Now I See You by Nicole Kear
Thanks to St. Martin's Press, we have TWO copies for some lucky US readers!

You’d never guess Nicole C. Kear is blind. The black designer sunglasses she wears look like nothing more than a fashion accessory. After years of practice, she’s skilled at concealing her vision loss. But when she realizes her secret is starting to affect her three children, she’s forced to take a good hard look at herself--and the truth she’s been hiding.

In her scintillating debut memoir, the irreverent confessional NOW I SEE YOU, Nicole steps out of the “blindness closet,” putting an end to a cycle of shame and secrecy. With the raw emotion of Wild and the whip-smart humor of Bossypants, Kear explores the impact her deteriorating eyesight has had on her life choices, and how becoming a mother forced her to surrender the lie she’d been clinging to like a life raft.

Kear is a carefree nineteen year-old when she realizes, on a romantic night at the beach, she can’t see the stars her boyfriend points out. What follows--the diagnosis of a degenerative, incurable retinal disease the doctor says will render her sightless by thirty--doesn’t fit into her life plan. Dreading pity and pep talks, Kear keeps her vision loss hidden and focuses on devouring beauty and adventure while she still can. She joins circus school, travels, tears through boyfriends and becomes accustomed to flirting with disaster.

When she falls in love and gets pregnant a few years shy of her vision’s expiration date, she amends her carpe diem strategy, giving up recklessness in favor or relishing time with her children. Her secret is harder to surrender, yet as her vision worsens, harder to keep.

As her world blurs, one thing becomes clear: she can’t escape her blindness. But if she asks for the help she needs, and learns to accept it, her happy ending might just be within sight. (Synopsis courtesy of St. Martin's Press.)

How to win:
Since Nicole steps out of her "blindness closet," tell us something about yourself that you're not afraid to admit to people. (If you don't feel comfortable doing this, just tell us which of the five senses you could deal with losing.)

One entry per person.

Please include your e-mail address or another way to reach you if you win. Entries without contact information will NOT be counted (and we do NOT count "Google +" as contact information).

Giveaway ends July 16th at midnight EST.

Book Review: Elly in Love

By Kathryn Hamilton

Elly Jordan has not had the easiest go of it. She grew up never knowing her father. Her mom recently passed away from cancer. Her husband cheated on her then married his mistress. Not to mention her toxic relationship with a local artist. All that is in the past and Elly is in a good place in her life. She runs a very successful floral shop (did I mention she was the florist for the aforementioned wedding? Yikes!) and is in a healthy relationship with a wonderful man. However, before she can get too comfortable, life begins to throw curveballs Elly’s way, from the appearance of a mysterious young man to the job opportunity of a lifetime. While all this is going on, she begins to wonder if her lovely boyfriend, Keith, is everything he says he is. Will Elly find a way to handle things with grace, or will she fall apart and risk losing things that matter most?

Elly in Love by Colleen Oakes is the second in the series that follows Elly Jordan. I don’t feel that readers are at a disadvantage if they haven’t read the first novel, Elly in Bloom (as I haven’t myself but intend to now). Ms. Oakes does a great job of catching the reader up to speed without it being a complete re-hashing for those who have read the previous story.

I only have one negative thought about the novel, so I will get it out of the way now. Throughout the entire story, Elly never refers to her young assistant by name. There is one instance where she is about to give her name but gets interrupted. I found it to be a bit annoying and condescending. On one hand, Elly refers to her assistant as her protégé, but on the other continuously refers to her with this moniker. I don’t know if this is a running joke that has carried through from the first novel (if so, I do apologize for sounding a bit harsh). It was my only point of contention. Having said all that, other readers may not be as grumbly about it. I think what bothered me most was the disrespect towards her assistant I felt it suggested, rather than being the endearing nickname it might have intended to be.

That is only one small part of this otherwise well rounded novel. The opening scene reminded me a bit of how the movie The Wedding Planner starts and I knew this was going to be a novel I was going to enjoy. It has its humour, romance, drama. In short, everything we love about chick lit. Elly is the kind of woman that we all relate to and most likely can identify a part of her in ourselves. While she is very competent in her professional life, personally she struggles with confidence. She doesn’t hide how “uncool” she is and this makes her so relatable. She is self-aware, acknowledging that her husband’s betrayal affects her in her current relationship. Elly is so critical of her weight (well, aren’t we all?) that she laments gaining three pounds. She displays an immense amount of grace under pressure when dealing with her clients. Elly is just real.

As a character, I really enjoyed Elly’s assistant. She is spunky and delightfully tells it as it is. A senior in high school, she is at that age where she is finding her identity, wanting to spread her wings and gain independence. Elly is more than a boss to her assistant. She is a mentor and in many ways a mother figure, which I sense is important as it is suggested that this young woman does not come from a supportive home. This young assistant is easily my favourite character.

Elly’s relationship with Keith starts off smoothly, but as I started to notice red flags, I honestly didn’t want her with him. Everyone around Elly keeps telling her that Keith is a great guy, but I felt something was off. Was I right? Were her friends right? Not telling!

Ms. Oakes has a real winner with this novel and I look forward to reading the next installment in Elly Jordan’s adventures.

Thanks to BookSparks for the book in exchange for an honest review. Check out Book Mama Blog's review, as well!