Women’s Fiction

The Summer Nanny by Holly Chamberlin

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summer nanny

Pages: 352 (eBook)

Publisher: Kensington Books

Published: June 26, 2018

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amy and Hayley are used to the tourists descending on their town of Ogunquit, Maine when summer arrives. Amy, a recent college graduate, and Hayley, who just lost her job from the business closing down, have decided to be nannies for the rich summer people. Amy wants to save her money for her move to Boston but first she wants to buy some pretties she has been eyeing. Hayley hopes to move her mom and her away from her physically and verbally abusive father. Neither girl realized this would be a summer of growing and learning life lessons that change their futures forever.

The Summer Nanny is touted as a beach read and while I agree it is also filled with depth. It is in no way fluffy chic lit. Abuse in many forms play a huge role throughout the entire book. it shows you abuse doesn’t care about social class, age, gender or where you live. Mother-daughter relationships are also highlighted from several different aspects.

I found this to be a quick read with the short chapters. Language was appropriate for all ages. Romance was present but nothing more than a heated kissing session. Drugs are present but not prominent. Age appropriate for any reader 16+.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Before and Again by Barbara Delinksy

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before

Pages: 416 (eBook)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Published: June 26, 2018

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Let me start off with this statement: You will be thinking “what if that had been me” the entire time you are reading. It will make you think about your own distracted driving and letting your kids have their privacy with their own electronics.

Maggie Reid used to be Mackenzie Cooper in another life. Maggie, as everyone knows her in her small Vermont town, lives a quiet but fulfilled life. She works at the local spa as a makeup artist and lives with her two cats and dog on the outskirts of town. No one knows her past, that is until closet friend’s son is arrested for computer hacking. As Maggie becomes the stability her friend needs her own life starts spiraling out of control. Will she be able to keep her past in the past?

I am still thinking about this book days after I have finished. We all know the dangers of looking at our smartphones while driving. What we don’t always think about is what could happen to our lives if we cause a serious accident while doing so. We don’t think about the legal implications that could stem from the accident. We don’t think about the guilt that would eat us up from the inside outside. We don’t think how it would affect our family, close and extended. Maggie makes you think about all those things.

Barbara Delinsky is one of the greatest women’s fiction writers out there and this is the perfect summer read to pick up as you leave for vacation. Beware as you read you will not hear anything around you and you may forget you are cooking dinner.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

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lost

Pages: 368 (eBook)

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Published: June 19, 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Loveday’s life has been hard since she was a child and to survive she found her solace in books. She’s carried that love into her adult life by tattooing her favorite first lines of books on her body and by working in a bookstore. When books start showing up in the store from her childhood she becomes terrified that someone has learned of her past. Is it time to share her heartbreaking past or run?

At first I could not get into the book and then all the sudden I could not put it down. It grows on you and then becomes a part of you. Loveday is a character that we can all relate to in someway whether the loss of parents in our youth or feeling like we do not fit in anywhere except between the pages of a book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Marten’s Press through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable

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jack

Pages: 544 (eBook)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Published: May 29, 2018

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A historical fiction account of a love affair between JFK and Alicia Corning Clark which may have resulted in a love child.

Alicia is a Polish refugee who arrives in Hyannisport via Oklahoma to work as a maid for the Kennedys. Jack (a young JFK) becomes dazzled by her beauty and starts a romance that leads to an engagement. Jack’s father, Joe, has other ideas of who Jack should marry and it is not a maid from Poland. Over the years Alicia and Jack continue to see each other on the side but they each marry other people.

Alicia tries to become someone important but winds up rich in money but poor in family and friends as her life comes to a close.

I found this book fascinating as I have always enjoyed reading about JFK. This book sure has me rethinking what a great guy he was as he is portrayed as a playboy, slob and rude person his entire life. I believe I had my head buried in the sand as to his true character.

I felt sorry for Alicia as I cannot imagine being separated from my parents to go into hiding and then learning my father was killed in a concentration camp and my mother was only a shell of herself. I thought she was a strong person to leave her mother to try and get them a better life. She did the best she could. Money to her was important and that is how she saw a way to get her mom what she needed and later in life she used the money to make herself happy in the moment. She did one of the most selfless acts in letting someone else raise her baby as their own. She thought she was protecting the baby.

Does Alicia’s story have truth? I believe it does.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel through NetGalley from St. Martin’s Press. Any opinions expressed in the review are entirely my own.

The Good Liar by Catherine McKenzie

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Pages: 380 (eBook)

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Published: April 3, 2018

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A year ago a explosion topples a Chicago high rise and the lives of Cecily, Kate and Franny change in more ways than the obvious. Cecily lost her husband and best friend. Kate takes the opportunity to run away. Franny loses her chance to get to know her birth mother better. As the year anniversary takes over all forms of media, the secrets each woman has kept starts unraveling. Can they successfully keep their own secrets or will the secrets prove too much for each?

My initial reaction to this book when I finished was WHOA! what just happened? I could not put this book down. The dates show two days to finish but I read this book in under 24 hours. I was reading it every second I had free and even the ones I really did not have free. The twists and turns the book took at every chapter had me thinking I knew what was going on and then BAM! another twist would occur. If you are a fan of suspense and thrillers you have to run and get this book from your favorite bookseller or library. Just beware that once you open and read the first page you are not going to want to put it down.

Catherine McKenzie has blown my socks off once again. I would love to see this made into a movie as it has the greatest potential to be a hit.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A Nantucket Wedding by Nancy Thayer

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wedding.jpg

Pages: 305 (eBook)

Publisher: Random House Publishing

Published: April 3, 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In September Alison and David are going to start the rest of their life together by getting married on Nantucket but first they must get their respective grown kids and their families together. Alison plans on doing this by inviting all the families to David’s Nantucket house every weekend over the summer.

Alison has two daughters. Her oldest is Jane who has always been her rule following, corporate world daughter who is married with no children. Her other daughter Felicity has always marched to her own drummer and is married with two kids of her own. By visiting the island of Nantucket the girls have found a friendship in each other that they didn’t know was there but is everything as it seems in their married lives?

David has a son and daughter. His oldest is his daughter, Poppy. She is married with two kids and one on the way. Her goal is to take over the family business as soon as she can and it doesn’t matter who or what is in her way she will succeed. His youngest is Ethan. Ethan is happy living on his farm in Vermont growing flowers for this business and living life how he wants even though he has a daughter who lives with him except for summer break. Are they ready to share their dad, the business and their lives with new family?

I needed a pick-me-up book and this fit the bill. You have romance, family, and beautiful scenery. I would not classify this as a romance book but as a fiction book that anyone, male or female, would be interested to read. Thayer focus’ more on how families meld as older generations marry. You have plenty of generations covered from babies to what I call mid-life 50s and 60s. Thayer takes the time to develop each of life her characters are in and lets is follow them as they develop into the next of stage of life.

The scenery of Nantucket is breathtaking and inspiring. You can understand why Alison chose the Nantucket beach house as the place to bring the families together.

It is that time of year to start sitting outside in your favorite rocker with a glass of sweet tea and losing yourself in the world of books and this is the perfect start to spring/summer reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth

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Pages: 352 (eBook)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Published: February 6, 2018

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

What do you get when you mix a little Desperate Housewives with Big Little Lies? You get The Family Next Door! This is a jaw-dropping, twisty tale that will have you gasping at every page.

Ange, Fran, Essie, and Essie’s mom, Barbara all live on Pleasant Court. The ladies are friendly but not too friendly so they know each other’s business. That is until Isabelle moves in the house across the street from Essie. Isabelle is single and gorgeous. The ladies are skeptical at first that she may try to steal their husbands but then they are convinced she is gay. Why else would a single, beautiful lady move onto a street full of families?

As Essie and Isabelle’s friendship deepen the secrets start to unravel and come out much to everyone’s surprise. Is the darkest secret of all the one most hidden or the one hidden in plain sight?

Come for a visit to Pleasant Court and find out for yourself.

I have this on my to-be-read shelf for months and am kicking myself for waiting so long. I found myself up way too late night and getting up extremely early just to finish this book. I’ve heard Sally Hepworth compared to Liane Moriaty and the critics are right. I can see this made into a mini-series for TV.

The story starts out with Essie leaving her newborn baby, Mia, in her pram in the local park. Essie comes home after having coffee at the local coffee shop and her mother Barbara asks where is the baby. Thankfully Mia is ok but Essie is not and spends some time in the hospital healing from post-partum depression. Essie fears this will return when she has her second baby, Polly. The story picks up from here and goes in a direction I never expected. My jaw flopped open at one point of the book and I am not sure I closed it until after I closed the book.

If you are looking for something to read until Big, Little Lies comes back on the air you need to pick up this book from you favorite bookseller or library. You will be happy you did.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy in exchange for a review in my own honest words.

 

 

Still Me (Me Before You #3) by JoJo Moyes

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still me

Pages: 388 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Viking, An Imprint of Penguin Random House

Published: January 30, 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Louisa Clark has taken the job as a personal assistant to a NYC rich housewife and she is in for a fast paced learning experience of what it is like to live in NYC. As she starts making friends with everyone from the grouchy next door neighbor in the building to the owners of a local retro clothing shop she starts learning who she really is and starts moving on from the depression that overtook her after Will’s death. When her year is up what will Lou decide: go back home across the pond or stay in NYC?

I was hesitant to start the third book in the series since I was so disappointed in the second but I really wanted to know what happened when she moved to America. Am I ever so glad that I did read this book. It was wonderfully funny and heart wrenching at times as I followed Louisa through her time as a personal assistant. She has a lot more class than I would have had at one point (you will see what I am talking about when you read the book). I got to watch her grow into herself as she started coming out of the depression fog from Will’s death and started making friends and going out on dates. It was great to see her start taking an interest in her quirky clothing again as that is when you really see her come alive. The stripy tights make a great comeback! How can you not love her stripy tights?

My suggestion: only start this book when you have time to read it in one sitting as it was so hard to put down and not think about while working. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. If you read Still Me and are hesitant like I was to start Still Me take the plunge I don’t think you will be disappointed.

After You by Jo Jo Moyes

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Pages: 352 (Paperback)

Publisher: Penguin Books

Published: September 29, 2015

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

After You picks up over a year later from where Me Before You ends. Louisa is living in a flat she bought with the money Will left her and working in an airport bar. She is just existing not living. One night after a round of solitary drinking she makes a misstep on her rooftop garden and finds herself looking into the beautiful eyes of a paramedic trying to save her life. This is what begins an awakening in Louisa. As she starts to live again she finds herself involved once again with Will’s family.

Hmmm…after praising Me Before You I have found myself disappointed with After You. The story is great but the telling of the story was s…l…o…w. At times I didn’t want to pick the book back up but I did because I was curious how it would end. The last quarter of the book was very good. I wish all of it could have read as easy as it did.

I’m very hesitant to start Still Me with my current disappointment but I will as I want to see what life has to offer Louisa. Maybe the best way to read this series is to read them back to back and let the emotions from Me Before You carry you along.

Even though I’m disappointed with After You I recommend it if you like dark, twisty emotional reads.