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Review: If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide
Ahhh war romances how I love you! When this one came across my desk for review, I jumped at the chance to review it. The description was tantalizing and I just knew I had to read this one! For some reason I just love books about ill-fated or impossible romances and while this one had an adultery element, that wasn’t a deal breaker for me….in fact I was curious to see how that angle would work within the story. England, 1939: Julia Compton has a beautifully well-ordered life. Once a promising pianist, she now has a handsome husband, a young son she adores, and a housekeeper who takes care of…
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Special Feature: THE BOOK OF POLLY by Kathy Hepinstall
I have a soft spot for local writers and when I saw that this author lives in Portland, OR I had to at least do a special feature on her novel! This is an unforgettable story about the grip of love in a truly quirky family, told with a particular blend of sass and warmth. Polly is one of those can’t-forget-her female characters with whom readers are destined to fall in love, and her daughter Willow’s coming of age story is one to which both mothers and their daughters will relate. Publishers Weekly says, “Polly is a hybrid of Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies and Shirley MacLaine’s Ouiser Boudreaux in…
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Review: The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff
I just happened to stumble upon Pam Jenoff’s books. I was part of a book blog tour a couple of years ago and one of the books for review was The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach. I fell in love with her story telling and writing style almost instantly! I have since bought two more books by her! This is one of the reasons I book blog….to find new authors. When I first picked up The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, I was not really excited about reading it but I thought it sounded marginally interesting so I gave it a go and was so happy when I was hooked…
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Special Feature: SHADOW OF WHIMSY: A CAPE COD LOVER STORY by Ann Hymes
Shadow of Whimsy: A Cape Cod Love Story by Ann Hymes Publication Date: June 15, 2016 Secant Publishing Hardcover, Paperback, eBook Genre: Contemporary/Women’s Fiction/Literary Several generations of one family have lived, loved, and lied at Whimsy Towers, a unique oceanfront house in Chatham, Massachusetts. Strong women who refuse to be suffocated by marriage have found excitement and refuge in this house filled with artists and parties. Love surfaces in unexpected ways. The newest owner, Theresa Alston Crandall, has just inherited the property and leaves her too-predictable husband in Virginia to spend time on the Cape and unravel family secrets and history. She swims, reflects, explores, and watches dramatic cloud formations…
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Review: The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams
When I picked up my first Beatriz Williams book, I was completely engrossed and fell in love with her writing style. I wasn’t sure that I would like her books and wasn’t excited to read the first one, but I did and when I began, I was completely sucked in and impressed with her ability to tell a story. So from that point on, she earned a place in my heart as one of my favorite writers. When this latest book came across my desk for review, I was thrilled because I knew the caliber of writing and story telling would be second to none and I wasn’t disappointed in…
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Review: Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese
What are the odds that the first few books that I’ve reviewed this month have all been so good? That rarely happens to me but for some reason the stars have aligned and this month has been a fantastic kick off to the new year book-wise! The last few novels have all been set during war time and I love love love the drama and romance that comes from a war era novel. This novel was full of beautiful language and writing. From the dawn of the twentieth century to the devastation of World War II, this exhilarating novel of love, war, art, and family gives voice to two extraordinary…
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Review: The Fire by Night by Teresa Messineo
2017 has started off as a very good year for me when it comes to reading choices! This book, THE FIRE BY NIGHT, sounded so full of potential and interesting that I couldn’t pass it up. This is the story of two nurses who meet during WWII. In war-torn France, Jo McMahon, an Italian-Irish girl from the tenements of Brooklyn, tends to six seriously wounded soldiers in a makeshift medical unit. Enemy bombs have destroyed her hospital convoy, and now Jo single-handedly struggles to keep her patients and herself alive in a cramped and freezing tent close to German troops. There is a growing tenderness between her and one of…
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Review: Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel
Hello 2017! Even though I read this book in 2016, it’s my first official book review of 2017 and I couldn’t be happier with this new year kick off! Kate Pearson has turned into a major slacker. Even though she’s graduated at the top of her class from college and things seem positive in her life, everything takes a turn for the worst. She was unceremoniously dumped by her “almost fiancé” she abandons her grad school plans and instead spends her days lolling on the couch, watching reruns of Sex and the City, and leaving her apartment only when a dog-walking gig demands it. Her friends don’t know what to…
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Review: Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes
When it comes to romance, there are few better than Jojo Moyes. Her stories are always so full of emotion and heart. Over the years I have read quite a few of her novels and each novel is unique and I always have a hard time putting them down. The main characters are always interesting, well drawn women and the romance elements are tenderhearted and emotionally charged. I don’t read a lot of short stories or collections of stories as I prefer a fully developed novel where I can focus on one character but because Moyes novels are always so enjoyable, I thought I would give this one a go. Initially…
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Review: Christmas in Paris by Anita Hughes
Isabel had made a huge decision to call off her wedding one week before the nuptials. Career minded and independent, the thought of giving up her lucrative career in finance for life on a farm is unprecedented. She does the only sensible thing….calling it off as she knows she won’t be happy. Her ex-fiance suggests that she take their honeymoon tickets to Paris to clear her head and figure out where her life is going. As she stand on the balcony of the elite Hotel Crillon, admiring the city of lights, she realizes she is locked out on her terrace.