I had ran into this book all over my internet feeds and had it on my TBR list. When my book club chose it to read a month ago, I couldn’t wait to dive into it. It didn’t disappoint. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane digs deep into the lives of two families, the Gleasons and the Stanhopes, that live side-by-side as their children grow up. When tragedy strikes, it examines how each family handles what comes after. Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope became NYC police officers for different reasons. They ended up being rookies together and then neighbors when they both moved to a quiet suburb outside of…
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Sisterland is written by best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld who also wrote American Wife and Prep. It is about twin sisters by birth, Daisy and Violet. Daisy later changes her name to Kate in order to avoid her past filled with whispers of ESP, witches, and the cruel rumors told in high school by the Queen Bee of their class. Kate and Vi go their own ways, each struggling with her gift of premonition and her past history, together and apart. Their Mother spends hours in her room from the girl’s elementary years forward and their Father tries to make a normal life for them – as normal as he is…
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I remember where I was and what I was doing when the first plane hit the Twin Towers on 9/11. I’m sure that everyone does. I was at my daughter’s school, running the big Fall fundraiser – magazine subscriptions. It was a crazy, busy time with all my fellow PTA women talking at once. We were excited about how successful the fundraiser was going. I was the PTA Secretary and the pressure was on to make it count as it funded most of our year. We had a small TV in the corner of the room we were using and it was tuned to something of which I have no…
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‘sold on a monday’ By: Kristina McMorris 08/25/2020 I read this book recently for my wonderful book club. It’s been staring at me from my TBR list for a while now, so I was looking forward to finding out what the hype was all about. It definitely lives up to the interest and accolades it receives online. Once I turned the first page, the prologue grabbed my interest and pulled me in. Who is in the hospital and how did they get here? Then you hit Chapter 1 and meet Ellis. I fell in love. His youthful innocence and strong moral compass pushes him forward to invest in the lives…
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Iris and Will have been married for 7 years and are thinking about starting a family. In fact, they are starting now, right before he leaves for a business flight. He is a highly sought-after programmer and she is a school psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. Their life looks perfect. Will unexpectedly turns up on a flight that crashes in a cornfield on the same day he was supposed to fly the opposite direction to Orlando. It’s a flight that no one survives, a flight he was not supposed to even be on, Iris is confused and frozen in grief. As her family rallies around her to pick up the pieces, Iris…
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I wrote this during Hurricane Florence and after it had hit our state, that time was such a rollercoaster of emotions. I watched hours and hours of footage of Hurricane Florence and it’s effects on the coastline and inland areas of North Carolina – my home. North Carolina is not just my home now, but my birthplace. My ancestors have been here for many years and my husband and I have long roots in this state. I grew up in the Piedmont, in the town of Mebane. It used to be a small town with one stoplight that would turn to blinking after midnight. Now it is crowded with large…
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Barbara Claypole White tells her readers that she usually has a theme of mental illness in her stories. Her writing speaks in an authentic voice. The characters present as people you know or someone you can relate to. They are real families having some kind of trauma that will tear them apart and possibly put them back together again. Two of the main characters in The Promise Between us are Katie and Callum and they were both in serious trouble with their mental health when they married. Introducing a child into this marriage only made matters worse. They are not dealing with their problems and they will not go away…
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The Couple Next Door is a fast read which will pull you in as it quickly twists and turns throughout the rest of the story. Anne and Marco, our young, married couple, have a new baby to love. Marco is the classic smart, hard-working boy who excelled and won the rich girl. He now has his own successful company and is trying to give Anne the life style she is used to. Anne grew up as the only daughter of wealthy parents. After the birth of their six-month-old daughter, Cora, Anne has struggled with postpartum depression.Their childless neighbors have invited them over for a small dinner party but the babysitter…
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This is a picture of the night we opened the box to pass out our bound manuscripts of Karen White’s new book, “Dreams of Falling”! My book club was excited to be able to read a new book before it was introduced to the public and we were going to Skype with the author, Karen White, during one of our future book club meetings! It just don’t get any better than that! I have loved Karen White’s writing since being introduced to her by the lovely ladies at Pelican’s Bookstore in Ocean Isle Beach. One weekend I found myself in there trolling for new books and they recommended Karen White’s…
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As we head into Fathers Day, even though I miss my Dad as much or more than I ever had, I know I’ll always have my memories with him. He had a wonderful life, at least I think so. I loved my childhood. It was not the most lavish life and there were struggles, but my Dad always stood by me with calm strength and common sense. I only saw him mad one time and that didn’t last long. Whenever we got threatened with a spanking, it was not a threat fro my Dad. My mom was the one who doled out the corporal punishment. She never said, “Wait until…
