Under a Summer Sky

Author: Melody Carlson
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2017
Pages: 320
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: High school art teacher Nicole Anderson is looking forward to a relaxing summer in Savannah, house-sitting and managing an art gallery for a family friend. The house is luxurious in a way that only old money could make it, and the gallery promises interesting days in a gorgeous setting. Yet it isn't long before her ideal summer turns into more than she bargained for: a snooty gallery employee who's determined to force her out, a displaced adolescent roosting in the attic, and two of Nicole's close childhood friends - who also happen to be brothers - vying for her attention.

With a backdrop of a beautiful historical city, incredible architecture, and even an alleged ghost or two, combined with the opportunity for romance. . .anything can happen!

Review: I read this not realizing it's the third book in a trilogy, but I also looked up the other two and it appears each book is about a different person so I think it's okay to read them out of order.

In typical Carlson style, this was a fun story. I thoroughly enjoyed my escape to Savannah.

Follow Your Heart series:
Book 1: Once Upon a Summertime (set in New York City)
Book 2: All Summer Long (set in San Francisco)
Book 3: Under a Summer Sky (set in Savannah)

Looking for Jane

Author: Judith Redline Coopey
Genre: Fiction    

Publisher: Fox Hollow Press, 2013
Pages: 244
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: "The nuns use this as their measuring stick: who your people are. Well, what if you don't have no people? Or any that you of? What then? Are you doomed?" This is the nagging question of fifteen-year-old Nell's life. 

Born with a cleft palate and left a foundling on a doorstep of a convent, she yearns to know her mother, who name, she knows, was Jane. When the Mother Superior tries to pawn her off to a mean looking farmer and his beaten down wife, Nell opts for the only alternative she can see: she runs away. A chance encounter with a dime novel exhorting the exploits of Calamity Jane, heroine of the west, gives Nell the purpose of her life: to find Calamity Jane, who Nell is convinced is her mother. 

Her quest takes her down rivers, up rivers and across the Badlands to Deadwood, South Dakota and introduces her to soot, a big, loveable black dog, and Jeremy Chatterfield, a handsome young Englishman who isn't particular about how he makes his way, as long as he doesn't have to work for it. Together they trek across the country meeting charactes as wonderful and bizarre as the adventure they seek, learning about themselves and the world along the way. 

Review: This novel had a Huckleberry Finn and This Tender Land vibe to it, and while I wasn't a fan of those books, I loved this one. It was fast moving and entertaining. I read this while on vacation in the Cleveland, Ohio area and it was the perfect way to end each busy day.

Christmas in Winter Hill

Author: Melody Carlson
Genre: Fiction / Christmas
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2019
Pages: 176
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Krista Galloway is not a fan of Christmas. After her rough childhood in multiple foster homes, the holiday season just brings too many bad memories to the surface. But when she accepts a job as a city manager in the mountain town of Winter Hill, Washington, Christmas is part of the deal. The small town is famous for its Christmasville celebration, something that the city manager. . .well, manages.

As she tries to make her tiny apartment feel like home for her and her eight-year-old daughter, Emily, Krista begins to wonder if this move was a mistake. She doesn't always feel welcomed in the close-knit town. and Emily continually wonders, "Where's the snow?" Can a friendly stranger and his family help restore Krista's Christmas spirit before the big day?

Review: I love Melody Carlson's stories. They're easy to fall into, and I am totally transported to the locale. I went for Christmas in July with this selection.

Dinosaurs Before Dark

Author: Mary Pope Osbourne
Genre: Fiction / Children
Publisher: Random House Children's Books, 1992
Pages: 80
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Where did the treehouse come from?

Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious treehouse whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark. . .or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?

Review: I read this book to my older daughters, but it's my 6 year old son who really latched on to reading. I'm including this in my blog this time around because I think we're going to make it through more of this series than I had with the girls. 

This is the series I wish I would have dreamed up - a cute brother/sister duo, adventure, time travel, history. These are great for kids, and fun to read aloud as well.

The Good Sister

Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Group, 2021
Pages: 320
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be. . .dangerous.

When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple.

Fern's mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich, and shocking story of what families keep hidden.

Review: When this started it reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, but then it took off in another direction. I had an idea of where the ending was going, but what a fanstastic ride.

Sally Hepworth Novels
The Mother-in-Law
The Soulmate
The Younger Wife

Dandelion Cottage

Author: Carroll Watson Rankin
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing, 2016
Pages: 162
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The little square cottage was unoccupied. It had stood for many years on the parish property, having indeed been built long before the parish bought the land for church purposes. It was easy to see how Dandelion Cottage came by its name at first, for growing all about it were great, fluffy, golden dandelions; but afterwards there was another good reason why the name was appropriate, as you will discover shortly.

Review: Taking into consideration time and place, this was a cute read. It reminded me of The Bobbsey Twins or the original Boxcar Children books. I chose this because I wanted to read a book set on Michigan's Upper Peninsula because we visited it in June (for the first time).

This book was first published in 1904, and one I would have eaten up back in my middle school days.

Fun fact, "Dandelion Cottage" is a national historic site and still stands today in Marquette, Michigan.

Malibu Rising

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2021

Pages: 384
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Malibu: August 1983: It's the day of Nina Riva's annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over - especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who also has just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud - because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he'd been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can't stop thinking about promised she'll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own - including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family's generations will all come rising to the surface.

Review: This was a fun, summer beach-type read. It was like Elin Hilderbrand, bumped up a notch. This was just a fun book. TJR, as my book club and I have begun to refer to Taylor Jenkins Reid, is a versatile author.

Other Taylor Jenkins Reid Novels
Atmosphere (coming soon)

Carrie Soto is Back
Daisy Jones and The Six
Maybe in Another Life
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo