Tag: family

Book Review: Strange Folk, by Alli Dyer

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:  Strange Folk
Author: Alli Dyer      
Genre:  Fantasy  
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia but when a man is found dead in the woods nearby, it seems the family has conjured something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel that is perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva’s world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother’s spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva’s magic may have summoned something dark.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn’t leave behind.

This was a very atmospheric novel. I enjoyed the setting a lot, the small-town feel, but I didn’t enjoy the darker aspects of the story at all. The characters were not very nice people, and that was off-putting for me—I don’t enjoy reading about cruel and nasty people, no matter how atmospheric the setting.

Alli Dyer is from Virginia but now lives in L.A. Strange Folk is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee

Image belongs to Thomas Nelson.

Title:  It’s All Relative
Author: Rachel Magee
Genre: Fiction       
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

Helena Crosby is on her way to be a bridesmaid… in her mom’s wedding.

Of course she’s thrilled for her mom–the man she’s marrying is great–but this family wedding is complicated. For starters, after twenty-eight years of it just being her and her mom, navigating family dynamics isn’t exactly her strong suit, especially when she has nothing in common with said family. Take her soon-to-be stepsister, for example. They might be the same age, but Amelia is an always-put-together, successful architect whose hobby is organizing her pantry while Helena favors the messy bun and has decided meal prepping means scarfing down whatever she gets out of the vending machine while writing up lesson plans before class. And as if things weren’t challenging enough, Helena managed to develop a monster crush on Amelia’s fiancé. Now, on top of figuring out how to claim a spot in this family, she has to will herself to not be attracted to the most attractive man she’s ever met. So, yeah. This week of wedding festivities at her new family’s beach house should be super fun.

Amelia Maddox has everything under control.

Or at least she did until this whole wedding thing came up. She’s happy her dad is dating again, but getting married? So soon? It’s only been three years since her mom died, and Amelia has worked too hard to hold her family together to let it fall apart now. And then Helena shows up with him. What are the odds that the stepsister she barely knows happens to be best friends with her ex? But Landon is part of her past–which is absolutely behind her–and now she has to stay focused on the future. The bright, shiny, expertly planned future.

Of course, life has a habit of not going according to plan.

I enjoyed this read, although Helen kind of made me a bit twitchy with her judgmental attitude towards the Maddox family, and her rather careless approach to life. I liked her voice, just not her personality so much. And Amelia was the complete opposite, and also a bit annoying to me. That being said, I did like the read.

Rachel Magee lives in Texas. It’s All Relative is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.) Book Review: It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee

Book Review: My Favourite Mistake, by Marian Keyes

Image belongs to Penguin Random House.

Title:  My Favourite Mistake
Author: Marian Keyes         
Genre: Romance        
Rating: 4 out of 5  

Anna has just lost her taste for the big apple . . .

Anna has a life to envy. An apartment in New York. A well-meaning (too well-meaning?) partner. And a high-flying job in beauty PR. Who wouldn’t want all that? Anna—it turns out.

Turning a minor mid-life crisis into a major life event she packs it in, heads back to Ireland, and gets a PR job for a super-high-end coastal retreat.

Tougher than it sounds. Newsflash: the locals hate it. So much so, there have been threats—and violence.

Anna, however, worked in the beauty industry. There’s no ugliness she hasn’t seen. No wrinkle she can’t smooth over. Anna’s got this.

Until she discovers that leaving New York doesn’t mean escaping her mistakes.

Once upon a time she’d had a best friend. Once upon a time she’d loved a man. Now she has neither. And now she has to face them.

We all make mistakes.

But when do we stop making the same one over and over again?

This was the first Marian Keyes novel I’d read, and I was really impressed with the writing—the setting was so well done! I enjoyed Anna’s voice a lot; that was the only reason I kept reading, because she was too whiny for me and spent way too much time feeling sorry for herself. I was happy that Anna managed to grow and change throughout the novel—but I’ll probably not read the rest of these books, as Anna’s drove me up the  wall.

Marian Keyes is from Ireland. My Favourite Mistake is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Castle of the Cursed, by Romina Garber

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:   Castle of the Cursed
Author:   Romina Garber      
Genre:  Fantasy      
Rating:4 out of 5    

THE HOUSE IS ALWAYS HUNGRY…

After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized.

I feel like there was a lot going on in this novel:  romance, magic, a bit of scifi, a mystery, family drama, and a whole lot of darkness. I enjoyed the read, but it did feel a bit chaotic. I liked how the opening scene gave a glimpse into Estela’s life and relationship with her parents, which later turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg. This was a solid read, and I’d be interested in seeing more in this world with these characters.

Romina Garber is a bestselling author. Castle of the Cursed is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour:   The Backtrack, by Erin La Rosa   

Image belongs to Harlequin Trade.

Title: The Backtrack
Author:  Erin La Rosa     
Genre: Romance
Rating:  4 out of 5

Life, rewound …

Nearly twenty years ago, Sam Leto left her small hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia, to pursue her dreams of becoming a pilot. While she’d prefer to keep flying away from her painful childhood memories, her beloved grandmother Pearl decides it’s time to sell the family home. Reluctantly, Sam is summoned back to pack up the house.

The 2000s nostalgia from Sam’s old bedroom hits Fall Out Boy posters, drawers of roll-on body glitter and even her favorite CD player with a mixtape from her best friend, Damon Rocha. Damon was always a safe place and Sam often wonders what if her teenage self admitted her feelings for him back then…

Mysteriously, the CD player still works all these years later. And somehow it has the power to show Sam an alternate version of her life.

Song by song, Sam receives flashbacks from her past—senior prom, graduation, leaving home. But the memories aren’t as she remembers them; they show what could have been. Suddenly, Sam knows exactly what would have happened if she’d taken a chance with Damon—and she can’t help feeling she made a terrible mistake leaving Tybee all those years ago.

This was an interesting read to me. It did a great job of placing me in the early 2000s—that was a little unsettling, actually—and I really like both Sam and Damon and their alternates. Sam’s grandma was a hoot and she really had me laughing. I liked how well-done the setting felt, both in the present and the past, and that made this story a believable read for me.

Erin La Rosa lives in L.A. The Backtrack is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Year of What If, by Phaedra Patrick

Image belongs to Harlequin/Park Row.

Title:  The Year of What If  
Author: Phaedra Patrick         
Genre: Fiction        
Rating:    4 out of 5

Can the future be rewritten?

On the verge of her second marriage, Carla Carter knows she’s found the one. She and her fiancé, Tom, met through Logical Love, a dating agency she founded for the pragmatically minded, and she’s confident that, together, they’ll dispel an old family curse claiming Carter women are unlucky in love.

But when Carla’s superstitious family insists she visit a fortune teller before her big day, the tarot reveals that the love of Carla’s life is not Tom, but one of the men she dated on a gap year—twenty-one years ago. With her wedding just weeks away, Carla sets off across Europe, tracking down her exes from that unforgettable year to prove the fortune wrong. From Spain to Portugal, Italy to France, will one of them be her perfect match? And could a face from Carla’s past help her rewrite her entire family history forever?

I was a little iffy about Carla at first, with her insistence on logic and rules, but she grew on me. I loved her travels, and her bravery in returning to men she had known so long before to see if they were “the one.” Her family was pretty messed up, but I liked their quirkiness. This was a solid, enjoyable read.

Phaedra Patrick is a bestselling author. The Year of What If is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Park Row in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: 15 Summers Later, by RaeAnne Thayne    

Image belongs to Harlequin Trade/Canary Street Press.

Title: 15 Summers Later          
Author: RaeAnne Thayne         
Genre:  Romance       
Rating:  4 out of 5

15 summers ago, everything changed…

Ava Howell seemed to have it all. She moved away from Emerald Creek, Idaho, married the love of her life and published a bestselling memoir. But she never expected that her husband would feel so betrayed by a secret from her past—the truth of what happened to her and her sister all those years ago—that he’d walk away. Now Ava is back home and trying to move on with the only person who can truly understand…

Following years of healing, Madison Howell is finally happy. After college she built a no-kill shelter where she works with animals every day, and she’s in love with the town veterinarian, Dr. Luke Gentry. But she can’t ever bring herself to tell him. Years ago, his dad died protecting Madi and her sister, so how could he ever love her back?

With the truth laid bare, and the past that Ava and Madison have worked so hard to leave behind threatening everything they have built for themselves, the Howell sisters’ reunion is bittersweet. And as Ava and Madi attempt to remedy the rifts in their lives and reconcile their futures, they must face the demons of their past together.

This was a sweet read! I had some problems understanding why Maddie was so bitter towards Ava, and why she refused to even consider Ava’s point-of-view about the book, though. That came across as really selfish to me, so it was a bit off-putting, but I did enjoy both sisters. All the secondary characters were likable and believable, too, and this was a solid read.

RaeAnne Thayne lives in Utah. 15 Summers Later is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade/Canary Street Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Best Life Book Club, by Sheila Roberts

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title: The Best Life Book Club
Author: Sheila Roberts        
Genre: Fiction     
Rating:4 out of 5

It started as a book club. It became a way to build a better life together.

Karissa Newcomb is ready for a new start in a new neighborhood, as far away as she can get from Seattle, where her husband cheated on her with the neighbor who was supposed to be her best friend. She and her nine-year-old daughter are moving on to the city of Gig Harbor on the bay in Puget Sound. She even has a new job as an assistant at a small publishing company right in Gig Harbor. Her new boss seems like a bit of a curmudgeon, but a job is a job, she loves to read, and the idea of possibly meeting writers sounds fabulous.

Soon she finds she’s not the only one in need of a refresh. Her new neighbors, Alice and Margot, are dealing with their own crises. Alice is still grieving her late husband and hasn’t been able to get behind the wheel of a car since a close call after his death. Margot is floundering after getting divorced and laid off in quick succession. They could all use a distraction, and a book club seems like just the ticket. Together, the three women, along with Alice’s grumpy older sister, Josie, embark on a literary journey that just might be the kick start they need to begin building their best lives yet.

This was a sweet read about friendship. And books, of course. I enjoyed how much all the ladies grew and changed—and how they helped each other grow into who they wanted to be. These women have all been through tough times, but they learn from those experiences and don’t let it make them bitter. There’s some love and romance scattered throughout, but I wouldn’t categorize this as only a romance book. It’s about much more than that.

Sheila Roberts is a bestselling author. The Best Life Book Club is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Summers at the Saint, by Mary Kay Andrews

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Summers at the Saint  
Author: Mary Kay Andrews       
Genre:  Romance     
Rating: 4 out of 5

Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper. . . .

Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.” If you grew up coming here, you were “a Saint.” If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an Ain’t.” Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.

Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a new romance along the way.

I didn’t realize this was also going to be a murder mystery/thriller read (sort of), along with romance, but I enjoyed it. Man, Traci’s family really sucks. I didn’t care for any of them at all, except her niece. This isn’t necessarily a summer read, but it was a pleasant, quick read, and I liked the romantic pairing amidst all the other things going on. The food descriptions from the new chef made me hungry!

Mary Kay Andrews is a bestselling author. Summers at the Saint is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:   The Keeper of the Irish Secret, by Susanne O’Leary

Image belongs to Dreamscape Media.

Title: The Keeper of the Irish Secret (audio)   
Author:  Susanne O’Leary       
Genre:  Fiction, romance      
Rating:  4 out of 5

Lily Fleury used to love visiting her eccentric grandmother Sylvia in Ireland, taking long sunset walks on the beach and exploring the nooks and crannies of the family’s old home Magnolia Manor. But when she arrives from Dublin broken-hearted, hoping to heal in Sylvia’s warm embrace, she finds the once ornate Georgian house in disrepair and the gardens wildly overgrown. Sylvia has always been fiercely independent, but Lily can’t believe she hasn’t told anyone she’s been struggling.

Lily knows she can’t leave until she gets Sylvia back on her feet. Although mysterious local builder Dominic agrees to help, from the moment Lily looks into his fierce green eyes they clash over how to fix the sprawling estate. It’s only when she hears the soft Irish lilt of his voice as he sings in the local pub that their arguments ignite a spark of passion neither can ignore…

But when Lily finds a trunk of tattered letters in the gatehouse, she discovers a devastating secret Sylvia has been hiding about Magnolia Manor. And she soon learns the real reason Dominic agreed to help out. Lily wanted to save her family home, and could see a life here with Dominic, but will the truth force her to leave the man who has captured her heart and never return?

I really liked this narrator and her accent! That made listening to this book a fun experience. This was a sweet read, with a bit of a family mystery thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed Lily’s (and her sisters’) relationship with their grandmother, and I really loved the small-town feel of the setting. This is a fun weekend read.

Susanne O’Leary is a bestselling author. The Keeper of the Irish Secret is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Dreamscape MEdia in exchange for an honest review.)