This intense thriller focuses on motherhood, being a mother, being a good mother. As we get to know several generations of mothers, we see what damage one bad soul can do to their children. We read through examples of good mothers who take care other people’s children and bad mothers who can’t mother at all. And then there is a child, Violet. Blythe Connor gives birth to her first child, a daughter she and Fox, her husband, name Violet. As the exhausting days of motherhood overwhelm Blythe, she begins to think there’s something wrong. Something terribly wrong with her child. She prefers the touch of her father almost from the…
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Wow! 5 Stars! After I won an ARC on Instagram, I couldn’t wait to start this amazing book that published on March 3rd, 2021. The Lost Apothecary had me from the first chapter. As we follow Nella in the 1700’s and Caroline in present day, both ladies are struggling. Caroline finds a small blue vial on her first day in London on a “mud larking” outing. She’s alone on the trip after she found out her husband cheated on her. We follow along as her love of history pushes her to search for the bottle’s origin. All while she sorts out what she want her future to look like. Meanwhile,…
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Ruth, it’s a perfect name from the Bible for this real woman. A name given to her by her grandmother when she was born. A name her Mama (grandmother) hoped would allow her granddaughter to get her foot in a lot of doors. As we get to know our Ruth, we find out that she has a secret. A big secret. This smart, funny woman has a secret that she’s held onto almost her whole life. She hasn’t told her any of her friends, and definitely not her husband. This secret is pressing down on her hard and she’s not sure what to do. You see our Ruth had a…
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“Anxious People” made my heart hurt; it was that good. It started off with this very unusual premise of a bank robbery gone bad at a bank with no money. I’m like, ok… Then the people started talking and the whole book just came together. One thing I love about Fredrik Backman’s writing is the way he weaves his character’s storylines together – all of a sudden you see these connections that you didn’t know even existed. You think they’re a little bit too quirky at the beginning. I’m like, “No one would do that.” Then before you know it, you love them a little, some more than others. I…
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This book started off with me asking who grows up in an insane asylum? Dove Jarrod escaped from Pritchard Hospital in 1934 where she was born. After she dies, Eve goes back to film the donation that her grandmother left to revitalize the asylum. Eve is ready to move on with her life and stop propping up her mother and brother, but she needs to take care of this task first. She knows her grandmother, the well-known faith healer was a fake and she wants out of the web of lies that she has to pretend are true. Lured outside before the event starts, Eve is attacked and threatened. Someone…
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I really didn’t get to read as much as I thought I would this year. With the pandemic, I started off in the Spring tearing into my TBR pile, consuming books right and left. That’s how I managed to get through the entire Outlander Series by May, while still managing to read the selections for my book club each month. I did read the best ARC that you don’t want to miss when it publishes in 2021 – The Rose Code by Kate Quinn! Sorry that I don’t have all the books for the picture, but I’ve lent some out to friends that I trust with my books. (Cue –…
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I read this book for my book club’s November meeting, but it was already sitting on my TBR list. There’d been a lot of buzz about it on my social media feeds and I couldn’t wait to dig in. Although, I haven’t read a book by Barbara Davis before, this will not be my last. Also, I’d missed the sweet magical tales written by Sarah Addison Allen and this book promised to give me my fix. Lizzy Moon came from a long line of gifted women who owned a lavender farm in a small New England town. She escaped her family’s legacy by running away after college and never returning.…
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This story started with Jolene. A child left by her drug-addicted mother on the front steps of her aunt’s home. She was a good person that struggled her whole life to overcome her personal insecurities. One mistake cost her a lot, but she still found a way to make it work against big odds. Step in Chuck & Cash and a score of other people to help her pick up the pieces. These good people strive hard to beat the world as it’s stacked up against them. Difficult and rocky days are ahead for these group, but they fight on and work to find a happy ending for their situation.…
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Wow! What do you say about an author that keeps you coming back to read their books one after the other! I luckily won an ARC (advanced reading copy) of this wonderful historical fiction book from Goodreads. I tore open the package the minute I received it and have been devouring it since. The Rose Code is another World War II based book with strong female characters who are recruited to break German codes for England during the war at a secret place called Bletchley Park. We soon meet Osla, Mab, and Beth and are drawn into the world they inhabit at the facility. Osla is a debutante who came…
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This book started off with Audrey Thorpe heading to an art exhibit with her granddaughter. At 90+ years old, she has her challenges. But we quickly realize that she has a secret and this exhibit will test her in ways she could not foresee. As it transitions between Audrey’s life now and her experiences as a nurse during World War II, we see her life and the things that shaped her. But as the tension grows, she will be forced to travel to see an old friend before she destroys everything Audrey has worked for. I really enjoyed the telling of a section of World War II in the Pacific…
