Becoming the Talbot Sisters ~ Rachel Linden

 

The Talbot twins have grown apart since their foray into adulthood.  One, a successful Food Network host yearns for a family of her own.  The second, an international aid worker, is running from a secret that haunts her.  Brought together by the death of the aunt who raised them, Charlie and Waverly begin an adventure that ceases to amaze.  What could easily have become  a trite "sisters novel",  this story brings depth with each woman's search for becoming once-again whole, through journeys political, familial, and heart-wrenching acts of selflessness and bravery.

Megabat ~ Anna Humphrey

 

What a lovely and touching story.! Megabat is completely charming and you will fall in love instantly with his personality and way of speaking. What reader cannot identify with the feeling of being lost far from home, friendless, and in need of a kind word?

Daniel and Megabat become acquainted through mutual loss and loneliness, but the fabulous moments of levity keep this book from being too heavy for a sensitive younger reader. If you are looking for a feel-good next read, this is it.

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel

What happens when your steady and predictable job is thrown off course by flashy supervisors with sex appeal, less than straightforward romantic relationships, friendship's ties and bonds, promises and a struggle to keep them, and Boca decor, complete with flamingos in a formerly staid hotel lobby? 

This book.  A book that will keep you turning pages.  I loved this book and have filed it in the company of Bridget Jones Diary.

That Last Weekend

Show me a book with a dark and foreboding castle on the cover and I'm already half-way hooked. This novel brings inseparable college friends back together for a reunion weekend, recreating the event where one of them was nearly killed ten years ago. Almost immediately, there are moments of suspicion, aggression, mysterious disappearances, and everyone becomes a suspect. I couldn't put this book down.

From the Publisher:  
A terrible accident. A killer among friends. A woman risking everything for answers. Every year for a decade, five college friends spent a weekend together at the atmospheric Chateau du Cygne Noir. Then, tragedy struck. Ten years later, Laurel Muir returns to the castle for the first time since the accident, hoping to reconnect with her friends and lay the past to rest. When a murderer attacks, it rips open old wounds and forces the women to admit there’s a killer in their midst. The remaining friends make a pact to unearth the truth, but suspicion, doubt, and old secrets threaten to tear them apart. Unsure who to trust, Laurel puts herself in harm’s way, risking it all for friendship and long-delayed justice.

Echoes of Family

"You're never truly lost if someone cares enough to come find you. Lost is waiting to be found." 

This was the line that moved this book from a four to an enthusiastic five star rating.  I have never read an account of bipolar disorder that brought me inside the storm as thoroughly. 

Marianne Stokes grew up in a village in England, viewed as troubled but not fully diagnosed until her first suicide attempt as a teen.  While many believe they know the reasons, it is not until she returns as an adult that the story reveals itself fully. 

Fleeing her adult life in the United States, Marianne finds herself in her childhood village in the throes of mania.  A chance encounter with her past brings the story to a cataclysmic pitch, and only finding her own strength can tame her ghosts and bring redemption.

Put this book way at the top of your to read list.  You won't be sorry.

Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Gray ~ Dorothy Love

This story follows the friendship of a General's wife, and a young girl born into slavery in the Civil War south.    Spanning a wide range of history and covering many aspects of civil and political unrest, this story touches on what it meant to be a woman at the start of the Civil War, as well as, the risks to having an opinion of one's own, regardless of skin color.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and fell in love with the characters.  Told in the viewpoint of Mary, granddaughter to Martha Washington and heiress to the Washington estate, Arlington, and in the voice of Selina, a young girl taught to read and write by Mary and her mother, who yearns for freedom, knowing that it comes at the cost of what she has known of life at Arlington.  This bittersweet yearning, gives the book a tremendous ability to reach its readers.

 Adding to this already enjoyable experience, the author's notes at the end, along with the list of references provide information about which elements are factual throughout the story.   This author appears to have put an appreciable amount of research into this book and it shows in the strong response this book is able to evoke.

This book was received as an ARC digital edition through NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.

When We Meet Again - Kristen Harmel

I have rarely read a book that made me as curious and hopeful, sad and wildly emotional.  Part mystery, part romance, with a dash of history thrown in, this book had me hooked within a few short pages.

Emily is the self-isolated, unattached, and lonely main character of the present day portion of this story.  She receives a message and a package that reveal what she has known of her life is not necessarily true.  Her family history may not be as bleak and dysfunctional, loveless and damaging, as she believed.

Set in Florida during present day and World War II, this book will keep you turning pages long after the hour has passed to go to sleep. 

This books was received as a digital ARC through NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.