I had no idea what this book was going to be about. I mean sure it had a summary of course, but in the sea of women’s fiction, many of the summaries as well as the covers tend to blend together.
That’s what was happening for me with this book. The cover was cute but didn’t really stand out for me, the title also cute but didn’t grab me, and the summary sounded nice but not memorable.
But let me tell you what was memorable—-the little notecard that came with the ARC stating ‘be a peacock not a pigeon’. It brought the biggest smile to me face and I immediately put it on my fridge. I loved it and every morning that I opened my fridge for the coffee creamer, it made me laugh and look forward to reading this book.
Summary
A heartfelt story about family, forgiveness, and starting over when the happy ending ends, and handling it all with a little bit of grace.
Family is everything–Grace Adams McHale’s mom must have said it to her a thousand times before she died. Before Grace’s dad ran off with an aspiring actress half his age. Before only-child Grace found out she was unable to have children of her own. Before Brian–her childhood best friend, business partner, and finally her husband–dropped a “bombshell” on her in the form of her stunning new replacement.
Which means Grace now has…nothing.
Until she receives a letter from a woman claiming to be a relative Grace never knew she had, sending her on a journey from the childhood home she had to move back into, to a Florida island to meet a total stranger who embraces her as family. There, Grace starts to uncover answers about the eccentric woman her family never mentioned: an octogenarian who is the keeper of a secret held for more than fifty years. (summary from Goodreads)
Review
This book while giving the appearance of a feel good fluffy women’s fiction novel, is full of thought provoking content and issues. I was totally taken by surprise by this book but in a good way. Ultimately it was a feel good novel and when it ended I felt satisfied and content, but along the way there were some things like infertility that the author didn’t shy away from and I thought that was bold and exciting.
At times the pacing of the book felt a little slow and some of the filler could have been paired down some but it wasn’t bad but it just surprised me that it could be slow in spots because it was on the shorter side (just over 300 pages). But it wasn’t ‘slow’ just felt like it lagged a bit in places but what kept me reading of course were the characters. I loved how Grace just up and decides to leave her life behind to fly to Florida with nothing but a post card from her long lost aunt. I thought that spoke volumes about her character and I loved how she just went for it. That’s what made me really identify with Grace and throughout the story I found myself appreciating her character and growing with her.
I liked this novel a lot more than I was anticipating. I loved the themes that it explored and how the author showed the audience that everything happens for a reason and change is inevitable. Love, family, forgiveness, and second chances are the major themes of this book and I am so glad that I read this book. It came at a time in my life when I was needing something uplifting with just the right amount of changes for the character to feel relevant for me. While this book might have looked like ‘just another’ women’s fiction book, it was far from that and I am happy to say how much I enjoyed it.
I also still have the notecard on my fridge.
The Lit Bitch 