What the Wife Knew

Author: Darby Kane
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2024
Pages: 368
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Dr. Richmond Dougherty is a renowned pediatric surgeon, an infamous tragedy survivor, and a national hero. He's also very dead - thanks for a fall down the stairs. His neighbors angrily point a finger at the newest Ms. Dougherty, Addison. The sudden marriage to the mysterious young woman only lasted ninety-seven days, and he'd had two suspicious "accidents" during that time. Now Addison is a very rich widow.

As law enforcement starts to circle in on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, sides are chosen with Kathryn, Richmond's high school sweetheart, wife number one, and the mother of his children, leading the fray. Despite rising tensions, Addison is even more driven to forge ahead on the path she charted years ago. . .

Determined at all costs to unravel Richmond's legacy, she soon becomes a target - with a shocking note left on her bedroom wall: You will pay. But it will take a lot more than faceless threats to stop Addison. Her plan to marry Richmond then ruin him may have been derailed by his unexpected death, but she's not done with him yet.

Review: One of the best thrillers I have ever read. It was hooked on page 1; the first chapter packed an intriguing punch. The entire novel was twisty and compelling. It's hard to talk about thrillers without posting a spoiler so I'm going to leave it at this - read it, read it, read it.

Let's Call Her Barbie

Author: Renee Rosen
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2025
Pages: 432
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: When Ruth Handler walks into the boardroom of the toy company she co-founded and pitches her idea for a doll unlike any other, she knows what she's setting in motion. It might just take the world a moment to catch up.

In 1956, the only dolls on the market for little girls let them pretend to be mothers. Ruth's vision for a doll shaped like a grown woman and outfitted in an enviable wardrobe let them dream they can be anything.

As Ruth assembles her team of creative rebels - head engineer Jack Ryan who hides his deepest secrets behind his genius and designers Charlotte Johnson and Steve Klein, whose hopes and dreams rest on the success of Barbie's fashion - she knows they're working against a ticking clock to get this wild idea off the ground.

In the decades to come - through soaring heights and devastating personal lows, public scandals and private tensions - each of them will have to decide how tightly to hold on to their creation. Because Barbie has never been just a doll - she's a legacy.

Review: Barbie was a hot topic when I was a pre-teen. I had graduated from baby dolls, and my friends were starting to play with Barbies. I wanted one in the worst way, and my conservative mother was a not a fan. My dad was heavily involved in the volunteer fire department and each year they had a children's Christmas party. At the time, the department's membership was staggering and everyone had children. On the day of the party, we would walk in to the main hall and there would be stacks of gifts arranged in front of the stage. They were wrapped according to age so if there were 50 children age 10, there would be 50 gifts wrapped in the same paper. It was impressive to my young eyes when you consider they bought gifts for infants to 12 years old, I believe. 

As you may have guessed, the year I was dying for a Barbie doll, I got one at the fire department Christmas party. I had circumvented my mothers and gotten the only gift I remember truly wanted that year. (I have since thanked the ladies who did the shopping all those years ago).

The book combines my Barbie memories and a topic that is relevant three decades later - leadership. Leadership is top-of-mind for me right now in my professional life. I just attended an intense two and half days of leadership program in St. Petersburg, Florida. My supervisor also started a leadership book club with several of us at work. I reviewed our first book, Multipliers.

Other Renee Rosen Novels
What the Lady Wants
Windy City Blues

The Demon of Unrest

Author: Erik Larson
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 592
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.

At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter's commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chestnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries to avert a war that he fears is inevitable - one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans. 

Review: I loved Isaac's Storm so much, and was expecting the same sort of quick-reading, narrative non-fiction for this novel. I was wrong. It was interesting, but not a fast-paced thriller that just happened to be non-fiction. I think one would have to be really into the Civil War to stick this novel out. I liked it, and Larson certainly paints a picture and tells a story.

The Christmas Tree Farm

Author: Melody Carlson
Genre: Fiction / Christmas
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 176
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: When Madison McDowell returns from several years teaching overseas, she has high hopes of picking up where she left off at her family's Christmas tree farm in Oregon. But between damage from a recent wildfire and neglect due to her sister Addie's unwillingness to invest, the farm is in sad shape. In fact, Addie is intent on selling the property. And to top it off, her former high school flame, the now-widowed Gavin Thompson, has plans to break Madison's heart again by turning his neighboring property into a dusty, noisy dirt bike track for his daughter.

With the odds stacked against her, Madison decides there's only one thing to do: double down on her dreams. It will take a ton of hard work - and some help from an unlikely ally - to save the farm she so dearly loves. But it may take a miracle to restore her relationship with her sister.

Review: Christmas is over and we're in the very blah month of January. Why not read another Christmas novella? The Christmas Tree Farm lived up to expectations, and it was a fun, festive read to distract me from the cold, gray days.

A Novel Summer

Author: Jamie Brenner
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Park Row Books, 2024
Pages: 320
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Author Shelby Archer found inspiration for her first novel while living on the picturesque shores of Provincetown on Cape Cod. When she comes to the town to celebrate her new bestseller, she is expecting a warm homecoming. But instead she is confronted with the cold shoulders of friends and neighbors who feel exposed and betrayed.

Heartbroken, Shelby tries to move on and focus on her next novel. But then an unexpected call comes: her dear friend who owns the beloved Land's End bookshop needs help for the summer. Shelby reluctantly returns to the Cape to manage the store.

Back at the beach, Shelby sets her focus on the tiny seaside shop, getting lost in the shelves of steamy romance novels and dusty classics and trying to right the wrongs of her past. With every page turned and every customer served, Shelby comes closer to gaining back the trust of those she hurt. But as her manuscript deadline nears, she is again forced to choose between her own success and a second chance at love and belonging.

Review: "Bookish" novels are not my favorite. How
ever, Jamie Brenner is one of my favorite authors so skipping this was not an option. This novel took a long time to gain traction and pull me in. Not a favorite.

Other Jamie Brenner Novels
Blush
Drawing Home
Gilt
Summer Longing
The Forever Summer
The Gin Lovers
The Husband Hour

The Gin Lovers

Author: Jamie Brenner
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2012
Pages: 448
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: It's 1925, and the Victorian era with its confining morals is all but dead. Unfortunately, for New York socialite, Charlotte Delacorte, the scandalous flapper revolution is little more than a headline in the tabloids. Living with her rigid and controlling husband, William, her Fifth Avenue townhouse is a gilded cage. But when William's rebellious younger sister, the beautiful and brash Mae, comes to live with them after the death of their mother, Charlotte finds entree to a world beyond her wildest dreams - and a handsome and mysterious stranger whom she imagines is as confident in the bedroom as he is behind the bar of his forbidden speakeasy.

Review: Jamie Brenner is one of my favorite authors, and I loved The Gin Lovers. Spicier than what is typical from her, this was perfect to read when you just want to be buried underneath an electric blanket with a cup of tea. 

The jazz age and Prohibition era captures my imagination every time, and the characters were impossible to put down. The Gin Lovers is a delightful soap opera, and one I recommend for long, cold January days.

Originally published as a 6 part serial for ebooks, The Gin Lovers is the compilation of these parts into one novel. Each chapter has an arc which makes reading this as a singular novel interesting. Something is always happening.

Other Jamie Brenner Novels
A Novel Summer
Blush
Drawing Home
Gilt
Summer Longing
The Forever Summer
The Husband Hour

The Last House on the Street

Author: Diane Chamberlain
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2023
Pages: 384
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: 1965: Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill, North Carolina, Ellie Hockley was raised to be a certain type of proper Southern lady. Enrolled in college and all but engaged to a bank manager, Ellie isn't committed to her expected future as her family believes. She's chosen to spend her summer break as a volunteer helping to register black voters. But as Ellie follows her ideals fighting for the civil rights of the marginalized, her scandalized parents scorn her efforts, and her neighbors reveal their prejudices. And when she loses her heart to a fellow volunteer, Ellie discovers the frightening true nature of the people living in Round Hill.

2010: Architect Kayla Carter and her husband designed a beautiful house for themselves in Round Hill's new development, Shadow Ridge Estates. It was supposed to be a home where they could raise their three-year-old daughter and grow old together. Instead, it's the place where Kayla's husband died in an accident - a fact known to a mysterious woman who warns Kayla against moving in. The woods and lake behind the property are reputed to be haunted, and the new home has been targeted by vandals leaving threatening notes. And Kayla's neighbor Ellie Hockley is harboring long buried secrets about the dark history of the land where her house was built.

Two women, two stories. Both on a collision course with the truth - no matter what that truth may bring in light.

Review: I was on a Diane Chamberlain kick for awhile, but then I got away from reading her. This author can write, and I find myself googling for more information on either the subject matter or something she mentions. I found myself thinking about these characters, especially Kayla, when I had to set the book aside. I shed a few tears and not for the characters necessarily, but for all the people who would have experienced these turbulent times and because some people still can't' see past the colors of someone's skin. Five stars.