A Moonbow Night

Author: Laura Frantz
Genre: Christian / Historical Fiction
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2017 
Pages: 384 
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: After fleeing Virginia, Temperance Tucker and her family established an inn along the Shawnee River. It's a welcome way station for settlers and frontiersmen traveling through the wild Cumberland region of Kentucke - men like Sion Morgan, a Virginia surveyor who arrives at the inn with his crew looking for an experienced guide. When his guide appears, Sion balks. He certainly didn't expect a woman. But it is not long before he must admit that Tempe's skill in the wilderness rivals his own. Still, the tenuous tie they are forming is put to the test as they encounter danger after danger and must rely on each other.

After fleeing Virginia, Temperance Tucker and her family established an inn along the Shawnee River. It's a welcome way station for settlers and frontiersmen traveling through the wild Cumberland region of Kentucke—men like Sion Morgan, a Virginia surveyor who arrives at the inn with his crew looking for an experienced guide. When his guide appears, Sion balks. He certainly didn't expect a woman. But it is not long before he must admit that Tempe's skill in the wilderness rivals his own. Still, the tenuous tie they are forming is put to the test as they encounter danger after danger and must rely on each other.

Review: Exactly what you’d expect from Laura Frantz. That said, I wanted more Sion and less James, so that the “new” relationship could have been more developed.

Laura Frantz novels are predictable and sweet. It's the journey, not the destination.

Other Laura Frantz Novels:
The Frontiersman's Daughter
The Colonel's Lady
Courting Morrow Little 
The Mistress of Tall Acre
A Bound Heart

The Ballantyne Legacy:
Love's Reckoning
Love's Awakening 
Love's Fortune

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 336
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. He knows no spells, has never helped to catch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility.

All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursley's, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley - a great big swollen spoiled bully. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an ivitation to an incredible place that Harry - and anoyone who reads about him - will find unforgettable.

For it's there that he find not only his friends, aerial sports, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him. . .if Harry can survive the encounter.

Review: I may be the last person in the free world to read Harry Potter, but I told my oldest daughter, who's obsessed, that I would give it a try. I liked, didn't love. After reading Book 1, I don't get all the hype surrounding it, but I've heard the series improves with each book. It remains to be seen if I'll continue with it.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Author: Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press, 2018
Pages: 384 
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: On a day that begins like another any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person - but also that the cold-reading skills she's honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased. . .where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance that's at the center of it.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware's signature suspenseful style, this is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

Review: I was not a Ruth Ware fan going into this. I hadn't been impressed with The Woman in Cabin 10. However, someone from one of my book groups recommended the audio version. Imogen Church is the narrator, and she didn't just read this, she performed it.

Now, the story itself. I liked it, but WHY? WHY did I have to guess the twist? To be fair, I didn’t have it all figured out, but enough. The Death of Mrs. Westaway wasn’t enough to make me a Ruth Ware fan, but it was good enough.

Ruth Ware Novels
The It Girl
The Lying Game - review coming soon
The Turn of the Key
The Woman in Cabin 10

The Blue Cotton Gown

Author: Patricia Harman
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Beacon Press, 2008
Pages: 296
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: As a nurse-midwife and the manager of a women's health clinic in West Virginia, Patricia "Patsy" Harman bears witness to the struggles and triumphs of every woman who walks through her exam room door. She sees Heather, a teenager pregnant with twins, through the loss of both babies and their father. She cares for Nila - a longtime patient who must try to make a new life without her abusive husband - and helps Kaz transition into a new body. The only thing more varied than these women's background are their stories, which they share with Patsy inside her small clinic, covered only a blue cotton gown.

In her memoir, Patsy juxtaposes these heartbreaking and uplifting tales with her own story of keeping a small medical practice solvent. She recounts conversations with her patients over the course of a year and a quarter - a time when her own life seems on the brink of collapse due to financial troubles, malpractice threats, serious medical problems, and marital strife.

Review: Not the best  memoir I’ve ever read, but I liked how it was structured. I read this in a few hours, so it wasn’t a huge commitment. I was expecting more midwifery, but this was more nurse practitioner. This also has a Hillbilly Elegy vibe. I liked it, but not enough to read the follow-up, Arms Wide Open.

Good choice for upping your book/page count, if you track that sort of thing.

River Bodies

Author: Karen Katchur
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Amazon Publishing, 2018
Pages: 302
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: A body just turned up in the small town of Portland, Pennsylvania. The crime is eerily similar to a twenty-year-old cold case: another victim, brutally murdered found in the Delaware River. Lead detective Parker Reed is intent on connecting the two murders, but the locals are on lockdown, revealing nothing.

The past meets the present when Becca Kingsley, who returns to Portland to be with her estranged by dying father, runs into Parker, her childhood love. As the daughter of the former police chief, Becca's quickly drawn into the case. Coming home has brought something ominous to the surface - memories long buried, secrets best kept hidden. Becca starts questioning all her past relationships, including one with a man who's watched over her for years. For the time, she wonders if he's more predator than protector.

In a small town where darkness hides in plain sight, the truth could change Becca's life - or end it.

Review: Page 1 opens with the murder scene, reminiscent of Melinda Leigh's Say You're Sorry. That novel was off and running at that point, this novel was not. I decided to read up to page 50, and then decide if I was going to keep reading, or not.

I thought around page 35 the book had some potential, but eventually that fizzled too. I just didn’t care about any of it...the characters, or what happened to them. Just a big ol’ snooze fest.

Side note, having grown up in Pennsylvania, I first wondered if Portland is an actual town here. It is.

Kate: A Biography

Author: Marcia Moody
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books, 2013
Pages: 256
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Following the royal wedding, the Diamond Jubilee and the imminent birth of Kate and William's first baby, popular sentiment towards the royal family has rarely been higher. At the centre of this surge in affection is a woman who has captured the heart of a nation and who, at the side of her husband, Prince William, is ushering a new dawn for the United Kingdom's reigning family. For, due to planned amendments to the rules of accession to the British Crown, their first child, regardless of gender, will succeed William to the throne. This biography explores the life of the woman who has done so much to revitalize the public image of the royal family, covering her early years, her family, her time at St. Andrews University, and her meeting with Prince William, their early relationship and its trials, the wedding and her new official role, her style, and of course, her pregnancy. Besides being the perfect book for admirers of this remarkable young woman, Kate: A Biography, marks a crucial moment in the history of the royal line.

Review: Five years after publication, Kate and William are now the parents of three children, and settled into their roles as the stable, but still fashionable, married couple. Kate is my favorite royal, especially for her style, but also as a mom.

This wasn't the most exciting, best written biography, but I enjoyed it anyway. I'd like to read something published more recently about Kate.

All the Ever Afters

Author: Danielle Teller
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2018
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we?

As rumors about the cruel upbringing of the beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story.

A peasant born into serfdom, Agnes is separated from her family and forced into servitude as a laundress's apprentice when she is only ten years old. Using her wits and ingenuity, she escapes her tyrannical matron and makes her way toward a hopeful future. When teenaged Agnes is seduced by an older man and becomes pregnant, she is transformed by love for her child. Once again left penniless, Agnes has no choice but to return to servitude as the manor she thought she had left behind. Her position is nursemaid to Ella, an otherworldly infant. She struggles to love the child who in time becomes her stepdaughter and, eventually, the celebrated princess who embodies everyone's unattainable fantasies. The story of their relationship reveals nothing is what it seems, that beauty is not always desirable, and that love can take on my guises.

Lyrically told, emotionally evocative, and brilliantly perceived, All the Ever Afters explores the hidden complexities that lie beneath classic tales of good and evil, all the while showing us that how we confront adversity reveals a more profound, and ultimately more important, truth than the idea of "happily ever after."

Review: It took me a chapter or two to go into the language and writing style, and I wondered if I was even going to like this book. I was rewarded for my tenacity. So enjoyable.

Where the Crawdads Sing

Author: Delia Owens
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2018
Pages: 384 (12 hours, 10 discs)
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. When the time comes she years to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself up to a new life -- until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

Review: This book was published in August, and almost immediately I saw rave reviews on Goodreads, and in my reading groups and book club. It seemed that everyone was loving it. I jumped onto my library's website to request, and the print book had a million holds on it. I opted for the audio version, which also received a high rating, since that list was much shorter.

I loved the writing style, imagery, and language. It's poetic and beautiful. For example, the opening paragraphs:

"Marsh is not swamp. Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows to the sky. Slow-moving creeks wander, carrying the orb of teh sun with them to the sea, and long-legged birds lift with unexpected grace - as though not built to fly - against the roar of a thousand snow geese.

Then within the marsh, here and there, true swamp crawls into the low-lying bogs, hidden in clammy forests. Swamp water is still and dark, having swallowed the light in its muddy throat. Even night crawlers are diurnal in this lair. There are sounds, of course, but compared to the marsh, the swamp is quiet because decomposition in cellular work. Life decays and reeks and returns to the rotted duff; a poignant wallow of death begetting light."

The story continues in the same lyrical prose, but the story. The story left me wanting. The author pushed me to the point where I felt like something had better happen or I was going to scream, and then something did. Then it was more of the same marshy grasses, blue skies, and feathers. Just as I was starting to think, "let's move this along," she did.

Authors should never underestimate the power of a good editor. There were contradictions or holes in the details that jolted me out of the story every time. I felt the ending, the last 5-10% of the book were the strongest.

This is a book worth reading, but my favorite of the year? Not even close.

Pretending to Dance

Author: Diane Chamberlain
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2015
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Molly Arnette is very good at keeping secrets. She and her husband live in San Diego, where they hope to soon adopt a baby. But the process terrifies her.

As the questions and background checks come one after another, Molly worries that the truth she's kept hidden about her North Carolina childhood will rise to the surface and destroy not only her chance at adoption, but her marriage as well. She ran away from her family twenty years ago after a shocking event left her devastated and distrustful of those she loved: her mother, the woman who raised her and who Molly says is dead but is very much alive. Her birth mother whose mysterious presence raised so many issues. The father she adored, whose death sent her running from the small community of Morrison Ridge.

Now, as she tries to find a way to the make peace with her past and embrace a future filled with promise, she discovers that she doesn't even know the truth of what happened in her family of
pretenders.

Review: I like Diane Chamberlain novels so I don't know why this one didn't grab me sooner. Chamberlain is a clean writer, which to me means story lines make sense, loose ends are tied, there are no plot holes, suspension of belief is not required, and so on. 

I follow her on Facebook, and who she is a person, her interests and feelings come through in the books she writes. Her sister has MS, like the father in this book. She lived in San Diego for a time, like the main character does. She also draws upon Facebook fan input, which she even mentions in the acknowledgement section of this book.

Where I think this could have been tightened up was in the almost constant reference to, and reminder that this was set in, the 1990s. New Kids on the Block references on every other page, Doc Martens. . .there's plenty of variety when it comes things specific to the 1990s and repeatedly referencing the same handful of items became boring and seemed almost forced.

I also wish Molly had been a little older in the book for the things she experimented with, and did. I was 14 in the 1990s, and we were still young. Kids didn't grow up so fast then, doesn't every generation say that? But Molly was generally a "good" girl, and her age and general behavior didn't fit her attempt to rebel.

All in all, still a fan, and this was worth reading.

The Letter

Author: Kathryn Hughes
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing, Limited, 2016
Pages: 416
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Tina Craig longs to escape her violent husband. She works all the hours God sends to save up enough money to leave him, also volunteering in a charity shop to avoid her unhappy home. Whilst going through the pockets of a second hand suit, she comes across an old letter, the envelope firmly sealed and unfranked. Tina opens the letter and reads it - a decision that will alter the course of her life forever. . .

Billy Stirling knows he has been a fool, but he hopes he can put things right. On 4th September 1939, he sits down to write the letter he hopes will change his future. It does - in more ways than he can ever imagine.

Review: Tragic, sweet, heartbreaking, and predictable. While it started slow, it picked up momentum, and I couldn't turn pages fast enough about midway through. 

Game of Crowns

Author: Christopher Andersen
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Gallery Books, 2016
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: A moving and compulsively readable look into the lives, loves, relationships, and rivalries among the three women at the heart of the British royal family today: Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Kate Middleton.

One has been famous longer than anyone on the plant - a dutiful daughter, a frustrated mother, a doting grandmothers, a steel-willed taskmaster, a wily stateswoman, an enduring symbol of an institution that has lasted a thousand years, and a global icon who has not only been an eyewitness to history, but a part of it. 

One is the great-granddaughter of a King's mistress and one of the most family "other women" of the modern age - a woman who somehow survived a firestorm of scorn to ultimately marry the love of her life, and in the process replace her arch rival, one of the most beloved figures of the twentieth century.

One is a beautiful commoner, the university-educated daughter of a flight attendant-turned millionaire entrepreneur, a fashion scion the equal of her adored mother-in-law, and the first woman since King George V's wife, Queen Mary, to lay claim to being the daughter-in-law of one future king, the wife of another, and the mother of yet another.

Review: Let’s take a moment and be glad we’re not royal. Hot mess, all of them. And the way people jockey to become one? Weird.

Even though the beginning was strange, imagining the world following Queen Elizabeth's death, I couldn’t put this down. At the same time wish I wouldn't have read it. I prefer the shiny, polished side that we see in the media, not who they really are.

There were times I was giggling, shaking my head, and nearly wanting to cry, all on the same page. There is no way William and Harry can be easy men to be married to and live with; not with their childhood. Charles and Diana's marriage, and especially that two children had to grow up in that dysfunction was heartbreaking.

I was also surprised to learn that William and Kate's relationship did not develop as organically as I thought it had. Kate's mother made sure Kate attended the same college, and orchestrated their relationship, to some degree. Fortunately, Kate and William do seem to be in love, despite these machinations.

Camilla Parker-Bowles is something else, but my least favorite member of the family is Charles. What.a.dog. There were some interesting tidbits about him.

I wish this book would have been published after Meghan Markle joined the family, but she would have been outside the scope of this novel anyway, I suppose. Harry was barely mentioned as well.

Without Merit

Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books, 2017
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a re-purposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother's former nurse, the little half-brother isn't allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there's Merit. 

Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn't earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her - until she discovers that he's completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines, when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.

Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she's never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.

Review: I sat down with a stack of books intending to read the first chapter of each, to see which one seemed to have promise. Right out of the gate this book grabbed me with it's quirkiness. The quirks, are intentional and deliberate, and I really appreciated the author's sense of humor and style of writing.

Despite the quirks, and moments when I giggled out loud, this is not light reading. Without Merit touches on some dark themes, although some suspension of belief may be required.

I would read more by this author.

Winter in Paradise

Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, 2018
Pages: 320 (9 discs)
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Irene Steele shares her idyllic life in a beautiful Iowa City Victorian house with a husband who loves her to sky-writing, sentimental extremes. But as she rings in the new year one cold and snowy night, everything she thought she knew falls to pieces with a shocking phone call: her beloved husband, away on business, has been killed in a plane crash. Before Irene can even process the news, she must first confront the perplexing details of her husband's death on the distance Caribbean island of St. John.

After Irene and her sons arrive at this faraway paradise, they make yet another shocking discovery: her husband has been living a secret life. As Irene untangles a web of intrigue and deceit, and as she and her sons find themselves drawn into the vibrant island culture, they have to face the truth about their family, and about their own futures.

Rich with the lush beautify of the tropics and the drama, romance, and intrigue only Elin Hildebrand can deliver, Winter in Paradise is a truly transporting novel, and the exciting start to a new series.

Review: I didn't realize this was Elin's newest book until I started this entry. I've read and enjoyed her novels in the past, and just wanted something set in warmer weather since winter is definitely upon us here in Pittsburgh.

The thing with Hilderbrand's books is that I like them, but they don't stay with me long term. I guess it's impossible to think every book could, but as fun as these are to read, they're forgettable. Winter in Paradise is no different.

First, what's in a name? The names in this book made me crazy. I felt like I was reading a bodice ripper. Cash and Baker are brothers, but there's nothing about Russ and Irene's personalities, or relationship that can explain such unusual names (although eventually the reader is given an explanation). Floyd is Baker's 4 year old son. Marilyn Monroe is Russ' secretary. Ayers (pronounced Airs) and Huck are thrown in with a more traditional Rosie. They're all just such odd, seemingly random choices. And, they're distracting.

Now, the story. I liked it. The characters, despite their odd names, are (mostly) likeable. Plus, it's just nice to read a tropical story in the middle of winter.

Be aware that this is the first book in a trilogy, and that if you are seeking resolution, you'll have to commit to reading all three books. I borrow my books from the library so there's no cost involved, as long as I get my books returned in time. However, readers who bought this book were frustrated with this format, that this first book felt like an installment, rather than a complete story.

Other Elin Hilderbrand Novels:
The Five-Star Weekend
Summer of '69
The Blue Bistro
Golden Girl
The Hotel Nantucket
The Island
The Castaways

The Winter Street Series
Winter Street
Winter Stroll
Winter Storms
Winter Solstice

The Winter in Paradise Trilogy
Winter in Paradise
What Happens in Paradise
Troubles in Paradise