I liked the central conflict in Good Morning Love, Ashley M. Coleman’s début novel, very much. But the hero didn’t really set me aflame due to his pushy and occasionally controlling nature. Carlisa – Carli – Henton is a blossoming singer-songwriter who has moved to New York City to try her luck in the entertainment…
If you’ve missed Nina and her friends from The Bookish Life of Nina Hill you absolutely must read Adult Assembly Required. It’s a sequel featuring a different couple who know Nina, Polly and company, and it is absolutely fantastic. If you haven’t read Nina Hill yet, rush out and pick up both books now. They’re…
A lovely look at life in Britain after World War II, Bloomsbury Girls gives us a glimpse at the time between the end of the war and the social upheavals that led to the women’s right movements of later decades. It’s a good story, but not one that engaged me deeply in the various plights…
Birds of California is one of the better post-#MeToo showbiz-kids –grow-up-in-Hollywood novels. Warm and inviting,with engaging characters who are enjoyable, it gets slightly dinged for pacing issues. Fiona St. James was once the child star on the family dramedy The Birds of California, which combined the joys of ornithology with various issues surrounding growing up. …
In the Face of the Sun is an engrossing family saga filled with heartbreak and love, victory, forgiveness, and loss, and a wonderful character study of several unforgettable women. It is 1968, and a pregnant Frankie Saunders is leaving Chicago, abandoning an abusive marriage to the violent, controlling Jackson with the help of a ride…
The No-Show didn’t quite jibe for me. While Beth O’Leary normally can do no wrong in my eyes, this is the lowest grade I’ve given any of her books, and that’s for one reason – she expects us to feel sympathy for Joseph, the central guy here. Naturally, she weaves a mature narrative out of…
First, a bit of backstory. Months ago, I optimistically requested The No-Show on Netgalley. I was thrilled (and surprised) when I received a notification that my request was accepted. To be honest, I requested The No-Show because it was an O’Leary book, and not because of anything I knew about the story. As usual, I…
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book so adept at inspiring, sustaining, and rewarding my curiosity as a reader as The Impossible Us. It’s the story of Nicholas – Nick – a Leeds-based (ghost)writer and Rebecca – Bee – a London-based small business owner (of For Frock’s Sake, a company that turns…
Funny You Should Ask does a good job reflecting today’s tabloid media and it’s growth. It’s also at heart a story about a man and woman growing together – and apart – over the course of a single decade. While the connection between our central twosome feels a little too instantaneous, the book in general…
The Lost Son is a very straightforward women’s fiction novel centering around – you guessed it – a woman’s quest to find her missing child. Julia Kruse’s mother died in childbirth. Her father, a famous chef at a luxury hotel, fears his demanding job will keep him from spending time with his two young daughters,…