When Mikan Road Was Ours: one man's journey into his family's past and reshaping his future

When Mikan Road Was Ours by D.K. Furutani is a story of four generations of a Japanese American family as they experienced the California agricultural fields, the bittersweet of inheritance and what it means to belong. Mr. Murano is a reclusive high school English teacher who is just exiting through life. Still reeling from his father’s sudden death and his own cancer diagnosis, he goes to work, comes home, grades papers and tries to appease disgruntled parents. However, his routine is broken when he inherits his great-uncle’s unpublished memoir. He is transported to 1930s California as the Murano family works their farm. Mr. Murano discovers family members he never knew and the complexities of the past in the words of someone who lived it. From the California farms to the concentration camps of World War II and beyond, Mr. Murano discovers the truth of his ancestors and even himself. 

When Mikan Road Was Ours is the debut novel of D.K. Furutani and it was engaging. It is rare to find a new historical fiction which featured the Japanese-American experience in America. It is beautifully written; however, I struggled with this story as it is an uncomfortable and extremely sad time period in American history. However, it is a story of resilience. It is a story of strength. It is a story of a man who finally finds the connection to his Japanese heritage that he has been desperate for and lacked in his life. The story is separated by Mr Murano’s present life as he reads the memoir and the memoir himself. And readers do not learn Mr Murano’s first name. He is only acknowledged as Murano or Mr Murano the entire story. Overall, it is a hard story to read but very important. I recommend When Mikan Road Was Ours. 

When Mikan Road Was Ours is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

Edgewood: the first book in a young adult sci fi action adventure series

Edgewood is the first book in the Edgewood series by Karen McQuestion. Russ Becker has found the late night walks along the quiet streets of his small town as an escape. One night it all changed as he witnessed a strange astronomical event in the sky. He soon discovers that he has gained extraordinary powers and he wasn’t the only one. He soon meets Mallory, a young girl with the power to control minds. Jameson can move objects with his thoughts and Nadia has developed empathic abilities. He learns that they have more in common than just their new abilities. As they are learning about their new abilities, they also learn there is a ruthless organization that wants to exploit their powers. As the enemy closes in and threatens Russ’s family, Russ and his new friends join forces and fight back. 

I am more familiar with Karen McQuestion’s contemporary fiction book and she is one of my go-to authors. The Edgewood series has always been on my radar to read. Edgewood is the first book in an action-packed sci-fi young adult novel. It does start off a bit slow, as most sci-fi stories do in my opinion, however, the story picks up and I was on the edge of my seat. I was Intrigued with Russ as a young man who suffers from insomnia. A series of strange events leads him to a small group of other extraordinary teenagers. As the story reveals hidden agendas and secret organizations, I had a few questions and suspicions that the story does not answer. However, overall, I enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I highly recommend Edgewood. 

Edgewood is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Glimmers of You: a brother's best friend, friends to enemies to lovers romantic suspense

Glimmers of You is the third book in the Lost and Found series by Catherine Cowles. Caden Shaw wasn’t just her brother’s best friend, he was the one Grae needed him the most. That is until he disappeared from their small town. Now he is back with his cocky smirk, with his infuriating nicknames and more handsome than ever before. When a man she causally dated won’t take no for an answer, she desperately involves Caden, pretending that he is her new boyfriend. Caden then suggests they fake being madly in love in order to also get Caden’s scheming father to get off his back. One problem: it is very hard to pretend. She has been in love with him for years, even when she hated him for leaving. There’s no denying the sparks between them. Someone is watching. Someone is not happy that Caden and Grae’s new relationship and will do anything to keep them apart. 

Glimmers of You is a brother’s best friend, friends to enemies to lovers romance. Grae is the only sister in a house of brothers and she grew up being able to defend herself against all antagonists. However, that all changed when she had a medical emergency that changed their dynamic much to Grae’s horror. I loved Grae’s determination to be seen as everything but her illness. I enjoyed seeing more into Caden’s family dynamic as well as the reasons why he left their town in the first place. Their romance was sweet, filled with fun banter and steamy love scenes. The suspense kept me guessing to the very end and the perpetrator was a surprise even though I guessed him before the final reveal but it still surprised me. I enjoyed Grae and Caden’s story and I am looking forward to the last two stories in this series. I highly recommend Glimmers of You. 

Glimmers of You is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

Destination Funeral: four friends reunite for a funeral in a story of grief, healing and forgiveness

Destination Funeral by Paige Harbison is a story of grief, healing and forgiveness. The complicated and yet magnetic matriarch, Babe dies, four estranged friends gather together at her Mercy Island estate for the reading of her will. Didion, Babe’s oldest daughter, arrives to find Sammie, her youngest sister, and Matt, her ex best friend already there. Soon, Austin, the final attendee and her ex boyfriend arrives. The atmosphere is filled with the tensions and awkwardness that Didion expected. They were expected to stay the weekend and Didion braces herself for an ugly weekend. However, they find themselves experiencing Saturday over and over and over again. Trapped in a time loop with seemingly no end and no instructions how to stop it, the four adults are forced to confront their past of betrayals, breakups, and buried truths. How can one endless weekend be exactly what they need to save their futures? 

Destination Funeral is described as a “laugh-out-loud funny and equally heartbreaking novel” with The Big Chill (1983) and Groundhog Day (1993) vibes. However, I struggled with this story. I did not laugh out loud once and I didn’t find it heartbreaking at all. I disliked the characters, especially Babe. She is supposed to be a complex woman but is really a miserable woman who favors her youngest child and was in and out of her daughters’ lives as it suited her. The parentification of teenage Didion hit hard and gives her a bit of sympathy for her hardness and cold demeanor. Overall, I did not enjoy this story. I read Ms. Harbison's previous book and I did not enjoy it either. Her writing style is just not for me. However, if you enjoy Ms. Harbison's previous books, you may enjoy Destination Funeral. Unfortunately, I do not recommend Destination Funeral. 

Destination Funeral is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

Unexpectedly in Love: a fake dating romance

Unexpectedly in Love is the first book in the Sherbrookes series by Christina Tetreault. Victoria “Tory” Sherbrooke has a problem. She is the maid of honor in her friend Ivy's upcoming wedding. Unfortunately, her ex-boyfriend is the groom’s best man. No one, including her ex, will accept that their relationship is truly over. In order to get everyone off her case, she decides to show up to the wedding with a boyfriend. Her family’s charity bachelor auction would be the perfect place to find a fake boyfriend. Duncan Ferguson had lost a bet and now he is a part of the auction. He planned to fulfill his obligation and walk away. However, when he hears Tory’s plan, he can’t help but agree. Falling in love was never a part of the plan. As they spend time together, the more and more their fake relationship feels very, very real. 

The fake dating trope is one I usually enjoy; however, I just wasn’t feeling this one. I didn’t like Tory from the get go. I found her shallow and immature. At one point, she accuses Duncan of using her for a connection when she is using him to fool her ex boyfriend and others. I rolled my eyes at that. As the first book in the series, I understand establishing characters and building the world. Unfortunately, there were way too many connections and relationships introduced in the confusing way. In the first chapter alone, there were dozens of names and connections mentioned instead of introducing them as they appear in the story. It really slowed the story down from the beginning. From there, the story felt chopping and disconnected. Overall, I did not enjoy this story and I will not be continuing the series. I do not recommend Unexpectedly in Love. 

Unexpectedly in Love is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Echoes of You: a best friend to lovers with fun banter and intense suspense

Echoes of You is the second book in the Lost and Found series by Catherine Cowles. Nash Hartley has always been everything to Maddie Byrne. Best friends, Protector. Partner in Crime. And the one person who was there in her darkest hour. However, she always wanted more, being unsure if Nash wanted the same, she never acted on her feelings. She left town and moved on, a choice that haunted her. Now, she has moved back to their small town, hoping that she has left her nightmares behind and seeing the only person who made her feel safe. As she tells Nash about the events which led to her return and he promised to do everything to keep her safe. However, her worst nightmare arrives in town, a man who will do everything he is power to keep Maddie or make sure no one else would. 

Echoes of You is a best friend romance with fun banter as well as intense suspense. Maddie is a strong woman who was determined to avoid being a victim again, not realizing that she fell into the very situation she vowed never to be in. In shame, she hid the truth. My heart broke for Maddie as she recounts her experiences and learns to trust Nash and others with her deepest secret. I loved how the Hartleys rallied around her. While readers know the villain who would cause trouble and the wait to see how he would pounce and act was intense. There was another villain lurking in the shadows that surprised me. Overall, this story kept me glued to the pages and I could not put it down. I am looking forward to the rest of this series. I highly recommend Echoes of You. 

Echoes of You is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

The Color of Joy: a newborn goes missing from the hospital and a man struggles with his past

The Color of Joy is the eighth book in The Color of Heaven series by Julianne MacLean. The birth of their third child should have been one of the joyful days of their lives. However, after hours of labor, Lois James is taken into an emergency c-section and her husband, Riley, is left worried about his wife and child’s condition. Once Lois is in recovery, Riley begins to relax until the hospital informs them that their newborn daughter has disappeared from the hospital. Riley can’t help but feel the situation is payback for his troubled past. As the search intensifies and the police investigate, some strange and mysterious clues come to light and Riley struggles to believe that the clues are anything but hallucinations. However, when the clues lead to a turn of events, Riley realizes he must change everything he believes about life, love and miracles.  

The Color of Joy is a story that places the reader in the middle of the action at full speed and does not let up until the end. The story has great twists and turns. Emotional moments and struggles. There was one moment in which Riley turns to a solution that he avoided in the past and as I read, I begged him not to do it. I held my breath as he struggled. Overall, I enjoyed this story and I can’t wait to finish the rest of this series. What I like about this series is that you do not need to read these stories in order; however, I highly recommend that you do. The Color of Joy is such an emotional story and will leave readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.  I highly, highly recommend The Color of Joy. 

The Color of Joy is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook