Summer Longing

Author: Jamie Brenner
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown, & Company, 2021
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend 

Synopsis: Ruth Cooperman arrives in beautiful Provincetown for her retirement, renting the perfect waterfront cottage while she searches for her forever home. After years of hard work and making peace with life's compromises, Ruth is looking forward to a carefree summer of solitude. But when she finds a baby girl abandoned on her doorstep, Ruth turns to her new neighbors for help and is drawn into the drama of the close-knit community.

The appearance of the mystery baby has an emotional ripple effect through the women in town, including Amelia Cabral, the matriarch who lost her own child decades earlier; Elise Douglas, owner of the tea shop who gave up her dream of becoming a mother; and teenage local Jaci Barros who feels trapped by her parents' expectations. Ruth, caring for a baby for the first time in thirty yaers, even reaches out to her own estranged daughter, Olivia, summoning her to Provincetown in hopes of a reconciliation.

As summer unfolds and friends and family care for the infant, alliances are made, relationships are tested, and secrets are uncovered. But the unconditional love for a child in need just might bring Ruth and the women of Provincetown exactly what they have been longing for themselves.

Review: Not my favorite Jamie Brenner novel as the premise seemed farfetched, but still a fun book in a great setting.

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

Pineapple Street

Author: Jenny Jackson
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2023
Pages: 320
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected old money Stockton family, followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood but giving up far too much in the process; Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, has married into the Brooklyn Heights family, and finds herself cast as the arriviste outsider; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can't have, and must decide what kind of person she wants to be.

Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York's one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable, if fallible, characters, it's about the peculiar knowability of someone else's family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love - all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.

Review: Prior to selecting this book, I noticed that reviews were split between those that loved this book and those that didn't. There really wasn't a middle ground. Curious, I requested it from my library, and even told the librarian I was going to give it a shot and if it didn't appeal to me in the first 30 pages, I would set it aside.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it and read long into the night on Saturday, finishing it Sunday morning before heading to my parents' for Father's Day.

I found it to be a fun summertime escapist type novel, as the synopsis suggests. If I have one complaint, it's that the ending was odd, but that doesn't negate how entertaining the rest of the book was. Perhaps, I can see the humor in the ending as well. 

It may help knowing that it's satire before jumping in feet first.

The Soulmate

Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing, 2023
Pages: 336
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It's Gabe and Pippa Girard's dream home in a sleep coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabes comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge.

Until one day, he doesn't. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa's life, her soulmate. . .lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

Review: I can always count on this author to write a good book. I've enjoyed each one I've read. The Soulmate hooked me in the first chapter. 

Maybe more Domestic Drama than Thriller, this book has family secrets, twists and turns, flashbacks, and perspective from the dead woman herself. I would put The Soulmate in the same genre as The Dilemma by B. A. Paris. 

I couldn't put this book down.

Sally Hepworth Novels
The Mother-in-Law
The Good Sister
The Younger Wife

Drawing Home

Author: Jamie Brenner
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, 2020
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Summer has started in idyllic Sag Harbor, and for Emma Mapson that means greeting guests at the front desk of The American Hotel. But when one of the town's most famous residents, artist Henry Wyatt, dies suddenly, Emma learns he has mysteriously left his waterfront home - a self-designed masterpiece filled with his work - to her teenage daughter, Penny.

Back in Manhattan, legendary art patron Bea Winstead's grief at her lifelong friend and former business partner Henry's passing turns to outrage at the news of his shocking bequest. How did these unknown locals get their hands on the estate? Bea, with her devoted assistant Kyle in tow, descends on Sag Harbor determined to reclaim the house and preserve Henry's legacy.

While Emma fights to defend her daughter's inheritance, Bea discovers that Henry left a treasure trove of sketches scattered around town. With Penny's reluctant help, Bea pieces them together to find a story hidden in plain sight: an illustration of their shared history with an unexpected twist that will change all of their lives. Drawn together in a battle for the house, Emma and Bea are forced to confront the past while facing a future that challenges everything they believe about love, fate, and family.

Review: I love this author. Drawing Home wasn't my favorite of hers, but it's still a fun summertime story. It fell short for me in the subplot concerning the returning dead-beat dad. Some of us have to deal with the actual difficulties of this situation and don't have someone with money flying in to make the problems (and people) disappear. 

Other Jamie Brenner Novels
A Novel Summer
Blush
Gilt
Summer Longing
The Forever Summer
The Gin Lovers
The Husband Hour

God on a Harley

Author: Joan Brady
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books, 1997
Pages: 176
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: At thirty-seven, Christine Moore has an overwhelming case of burnout with a frustrating career, a few dead-end romances, and a less-than-perfect figure. Little does she knows her life is about to change in a way she could've never imagined.

"Come out of the shadows, Christine. You've spent far too much time hiding in the shadows."

These words are spoken to her by a gorgeous man astride a 1340cc Harley-Davidson, mysteriously parked on a moonlit beach near her home. Inexplicably drawn to this stranger - who seems to know everything about her - Christine finds herself surrendering to his words.

So begins her remarkable voyage of the spirit that sets her heart and soul free. Suddenly appreciating every precious moment of life, Christine discovers the six wondrous steps that lead to ultimate peace and joy.

Review: This book was a quick, fun read. A good reminder to live in the moment and let life happen.

 

 

Skylark

Author: Sarah Cassidy
Genre: Fiction / Young Adult
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers, 2014
Pages: 136
Rating: Highly Recommend 

Synopsis: Angie lives in an old car with her brother and mother. Homeless after their father left to find work, the family struggles to stay together and live as normally as possible. It is difficult though. Between avoiding the police and finding new places to park each night, it is a constant struggle. When Angie discovers slam poetry, she finds a new way to express herself and find meaning and comfort in a confusing world.

Review: I believe to the Friends & Fiction facebook group and the reading prompt for May is "read a Young Adult book written by an author with your initials, first or last, or both." YA is not my genre and I tried reading several throughout the month of May. Before giving up, I decided to hit the YA section of my library one last time. I choose a book by Sarah Cassidy. It was so good.It reads like a memoir even though it is fiction. Enjoyed!

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

Author: Patti Callahan Henry
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books, 2023
Pages: 368
Rating: Highly Recommend 

Synopsis: In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her younger sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone - a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they escape to that is all their own.

But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister's disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.

Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from h
er job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby's. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel's future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora's disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.

Review: I have struggled so much with reading this month, but The Secret Book of Flora Lea grabbed me within the first few pages. I'm not one to gravitate toward mystical type novels, but there's plenty going on in the grounded world of these characters. The love triangle is well written, and I just had the sense the Hazel couldn't lose. 

I read Surviving Savannah by this author as a new release in 2021, and now I want to seek out everything she's written.

Other Patti Callahan Henry Novels
The Story She Left Behind