A Switch Before Christmas: a simple prank turns into a life changing lesson

A Switch Before Christmas by Karen McQuestion is a story of two young women trading lives for a day and learning a lesson of a lifetime. It is Christmas Eve, and the Sheridan Girls’ Home is about to get their annual visit from their benefactors, Frank and Irene Sheridan. Jane Shaw’s biggest concern is the behavior of the young girls. However, when the Sheridan's’ daughter, Jacquelyn comes in their place. Jane and Jacquelyn look amazingly alike and Jacquelyn suggests they switch clothing to see how long it takes anyone to notice the difference. Jane is hesitant but feels she can’t say no. Jane suddenly finds herself on her way to the Sheridan's’ mansion and Jacquelyn behind at the girls’ home. Can they undo the switch before Christmas? Will anyone believe them? 

Karen McQuestion is one of my go-to authors. Sadly, this Christmas story sat on my TBR for more than a year and I regret not reading it sooner. A mash up of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper and Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, A Switch Before Christmas is a sweet story of how one prank turns into a life changing lesson. At first, I did not like Jacquelyn, which I knew I wasn’t supposed to. The entitled brat who had no idea what was going on in the world outside the mansion’s doors. However, I loved her transformation and her journey to get there. I loved how individuals reacted to the switch. Overall, it is a great read for the holiday season. I highly, highly recommend A Switch Before Christmas. 

A Switch Before Christmas is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Southern Sunshine: when coming home is life changing

Southern Sunshine is the eighth book in the Southern series by Natasha Madison. Reed Barnes never wanted to be a cowboy. He saw the military as a way out. He enlisted and never looked back until he was injured in the battlefield. Now he is heading back home. Hazel discovered she was pregnant the night before she was supposed to leave for college. While her plans were altered, she was able to keep her baby and built a life for them both. She vowed never to return to her hometown as there are too many memories and too many watchful eyes. However, when she learns about the sudden death of her grandfather, she is forced to return home in order to settle his estate. The plan was to stay for two weeks. In and out before anyone asked questions. She didn’t account for Reed being in town as well. 

When I started Southern Sunshine, I was not aware it was the eighth book in the series. As I read, there are numerous supporting characters that came in and out and their interactions with Reed and Hazel had me confused as to the relationships and history. It wasn’t until I started to write this review that I refigured out why. That being said, the main story of Reed and Hazel was still readable as they are both back in town after six years away. Unfortunately, I could not stand Reed as he desired to leave town as he was sick of living in the shadows of his father and older brother. Ok, understandable. However, when Hazel tries to get in touch with him, he ignores her message. Overall, I did not enjoy Southern Sunshine and I have no desire to go back and read the previous books in the series. 

Southern Sunshine is available in paperback and eBook

Winnifred Cottage: an unexpected inheritance and a family secret

Winnifred Cottage by Jennie Alexander is a story of fresh starts and old family secrets. Everything seems to be crashing down for Abigail “Abbie” Morgan. Her home burns down and she breaks up with her boyfriend. Her only option seems to move to the Winnifred Cottage in the Lake District. A surprise inheritance from her late grandmother, the cottage offers her a new start. Once she arrives, she realizes that the cottage needs a lot more work than she realized. After meeting her great aunts and other villagers, Abbie also realizes that the cottage holds a family secret and a glimpse into her grandmother she never knew. Can this move be a dream come true or her worst nightmare? 

Winnifred Cottage is a lighter reading with a happy ending. It opens with Abbie in the hospital after a fall and she decides to move to the cottage. Feeling the need to escape and clear her head, the cottage offers the best option. Once there, she sees it’s not the dream she imagined. I always laugh at characters, and people in real life, who act shocked when they learn that their grandparents, or even their parents, had a past. Of course, they did. They didn’t come into this world as your parents. They were young adults who made life changing decisions. Overall, I enjoyed Winnifred Cottage. If you enjoy a slower paced story with family secrets, I recommend Winnifred Cottage. 

Winnifred Cottage is available in paperback and eBook

Play to Win: winning the lottery and a second chance at love

Play to Win by Jodie Slaughter is her latest rom-com as a winning lottery ticket becomes a life changing event and a second chance at love. Miriam “Miri” Butler has been stuck in a low wage job and living with her mother in a house that is barely standing. However, her life is about to change when a last minute decision is about to change her life forever. She buys a lotto ticket and discovers the next morning that she is the winner of a Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot. Miri soon realizes that her sudden bed of roses has a few thorns as she discovers her estranged husband has a right to some of the winnings. After eight years of silence, Leo Vaughn finds himself coming home to Greenbelt at Miri’s request. When she offers his own life changing amount with one caveat: a divorce. He realizes that he doesn’t want to lose her forever. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Slaughter’s debut novel Bet on It and when the chance came to read her new novel, I jumped at the chance. Set in the same small town, Play to Win is a story of life-changing events and a second chance at love. Miri is determined to keep her windfall as secret as possible but as the residents notice the subtle changes in her spending, the rumors begin to fly. This story moved a bit too slowly for me and I was confused about what caused the estrangement between Miri and Leo. However, the sparks definitely flew when they were together! While I did not enjoy Play to Win as much as I enjoyed Bet On it, I enjoyed revisiting Greenbelt and its residents. I enjoyed seeing the rekindling of Miri and Leo’s relationship. It was a wonderful second chance romance. Overall, I enjoyed their story and recommend Play to Win. 

Play to Win will be available in July 11, 2023 in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

The Seat Beside Me: one simple event can change your life forever

The Seat Beside Me by Nancy Moser is the first book in The Steadfast series. There’s a lot of activity at an airport. The comings and goings. The hellos and goodbyes. But for one flight it will be life altering. For Flight 1382, the weather has been a problem with delays after delays. Seating next to a stranger or not, with small talk and snacks. It seems like just another flight. However, there are significant connections made and ten lives are linked together forever. The unthinkable happens. Someone becomes a hero while someone becomes a villain. In the aftermath, priorities are reevaluated and questions about their lives are asked. How do they find a way to move on with their lives? When presented the opportunity to be a hero, would you recognize it? Would you take it? 

This book took me completely by surprise! I did not expect the emotional rollercoaster ride through many points of the story. Inspired by a real event, it is a story of how in the midst of an everyday event, a stranger can impact your life or how you can impact a stranger’s life in significant and insignificant ways but an impact all the same. I openly sobbed throughout this story and I usually don’t cry while reading. So be prepared and bring the tissues. The Seat Beside Me definitely had me thinking about my everyday interactions with people and how the little things could change people’s lives and how my life could be changed. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I highly, highly recommend The Seat Beside Me. 

The Seat Beside Me is available in paperback and eBook

No Two Persons: one book can change lives in different ways

No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister is the story of how one book, one story changes the lives of its readers in different ways. Alice Wein always wanted to be a writer. She had an amazing talent but her stories were safe with little emotion. It isn’t until she suffers a tragic loss that breaks her heart and she pours out her emotions on the page. The debut novel impacts the nine readers from the assistant for a literary agency to the narrator for the audiobook to a widower struggling with life after the loss of his beloved wife. Nine individuals from different careers, walks of life and passions are drawn into the words of the story, discovering an aspect of the story which changes their perspective and opens a new path in their lives. No Two Persons reveals how books affect each reader in beautiful and unexpected ways and connect readers in ways beyond imagination. 

As a lover of books since I was a teenager, I understand the life changing power of books. No Two Persons takes the famous quote ““No two persons ever read the same book” (often attributed to writer Edmund Wilson) and celebrates the different ways books can and have deepened the lives of its readers. Some of the readers' stories were more moving and others were impacted more intensely than others. However the results are the same: each reader is never the same after reading Alice’s book. No Two Persons is my second book by Ms. Beauermeister and she hasn’t disappointed to deliver an emotionally moving story. I enjoyed that she highlights how different readers can read a book, get differing viewpoints, thoughts and feelings about the same words that another has read. Truly, no two persons ever read the same book. I would also add that no one reads the same book twice as different readings can give new perspectives.  I highly recommend No Two Persons. 

No Two Persons will be available May 2, 2023 in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

Finding Me: an unexpected inheritance leads to life changing experiences

Finding Me by Judith Keim is the first book in the Salty Key Inn series. An unexpected inheritance opens doors of possibilities and life changing opportunities. Sheena Sullivan Morelli and her sisters, Darcy and Regan, inherit a hotel on the Gulf Coast of Florida from their Uncle Gavin. As the black sheep of the family, Gavin had disappeared from their lives many, many years ago. However, there is a twist. They must live together for one year at the hotel and prepare the hotel to receive guests within a year. Sheen is eager to escape her role as an unappreciated wife and mother and rediscover herself. Dreams of sitting on the beach, sipping margaritas are dashed when the hotel is in desperate need of repair and renovation. Undaunted, the three sisters set a plan and are determined to meet this challenge to change their lives forever. 

Finding Me is a story about finding one’s true self. Sheena married young and devoted herself to her husband, his business and their children. Darcy works a job she hates while she dreams of something better. Regan has spent her life being the dumb blonde while hiding a true talent that she fears to reveal. Each sister must commit to their uncle’s last wishes or no one will inherit anything. This story should have been Sheena’s story with aspects hinting at Darcy and Regan’s stories in later books, however, the alternating points of view were distracting and with just too much going on. I didn’t like the fact that Sheena was willing to leave her husband, whom she claims to love greatly, and live apart for one year. Overall, I enjoyed the story but I am not sure if I liked it enough to continue the series. 

Finding Me is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Home Fires: a community rebuilds after a devastating wildfire

Home Fires by Fiona Lowe is a drama about one small town recovering from a devastating wildfire. The aftermath will expose many secrets and change their lives in more ways than one. The town of Myrtle, nestled in Victoria’s beautiful Otway Ranges, was devastated by a lethal brushfire. What was left was smoldering ash, everyone’s lives have changed. The story follows three women in particular: Claire Cartwright, Bec Petrovic, and Sophie Doherty. These women have very different lives and backgrounds but will come to find that friendship and support in each other will be their survival. Eighteen months after the fire, after the media frenzied attention has gone, Myrtle stands restored but deeper wounds are still festering in the community. When one secret reveals many more secrets that will rock the town to its foundations, these women must decide whether to band together and find a peace for themselves and their beloved town. 

Home Fires is a haunting tale of everyday people who must fight for their lives, their families and their town. Ms. Lowe has a beautiful gift and a keen eye for the foibles of humanity and weaving them into a story that resonates beyond just the Australian countryside. The story features a very real event known as Black Saturday, February 7, 2009 when multiple fires merge into one major emergency. At the end, 173 people would lose their lives and thousands were left homeless. Ms. Lowe dives into the characters’ psyche before and after the fires and how they were forever changed. One word of warning, the story slowing, and I mean slowing, builds as the house of cards begins to grow bigger and bigger and it only takes one shiver to cause it to fall. When that one shiver happens, the story rages like the wildfire that destroyed the town. I highly recommend Home Fires. 

Home Fires is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.  

The Sweetest September: one mistake can be life changing

The Sweetest September is the first book in the Home in Magnolia Bend series by Liz Talley. One mistake can be life changing. All John Beauchamp wanted was a night to forget. On the anniversary of his wife’s tragic death, he gets terribly drunk and has a one night stand in a bar bathroom. Ashamed and guilt ridden, he returns to the one thing that makes him happy: running his Louisiana sugar cane plantation. Until one day, Shelby Mackey comes to the plantation and announces she’s pregnant. She claims she doesn’t want anything from him. She felt obligated to tell him. She expected to be on her way but John has other ideas. When he’s with Shelby, he feels something he hasn’t felt before. She’s brought laughter back into his life. Shelby is just what he needs to feel alive again and he hopes her stay will become permanent. 

The Sweetest September runs the gambit of emotions! It is a heartfelt look into grief, healing and moving forward when others seem to be content in their grief. My heart broke for John from the very beginning as he was stuck in his grief with a guilt he thinks he deserves. Shelby is a woman who has had relationship betrayal after another, never feeling worthy enough of love. It is only a sense of responsibility that brings her to John’s doorstep, little does she know that it will open her eyes and heart to a love she is worthy of. I loved this story! There were moments of laughter and anger. There were steamy moments of romance and there were beautiful happy tears at the end. I highly recommend The Sweetest September. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 

The Sweetest September is available in paperback and eBook

A Road Trip to Remember: one road trip can change someone's life

A Road Trip to Remember by Judith Keim is a story of a life-changing road trip. Agatha “Aggie” Robard talks her granddaughter, Blythe, into driving her from their home in Boston to Florida, to see old college friends along the way. One college friend in particular, Donovan Bailey, the man she was planning to marry after college but circumstances took them on different paths. Aggie hopes to show her serious granddaughter that life can be fun too. However, their trip needs to be a secret. While the rest of the family is in Hawaii on vacation, Aggie and Blythe set off. All goes well and it looked like they would be able to keep their secret. Until a series of accidents leads their lives on a path they never saw coming. Will this new path show them that there are new possibilities everywhere. 

I was expecting a story about an amazing road trip. However, the road trip takes place in the first third of the book and not much happens while on the road. It seems like the road trip was just to explain Aggie and Donovan’s history leading up to their reunion. Most of the events happen in Florida as Aggie and Donovan reunite. There was no real conflict with all the conflicts being resolved a bit too quickly. Everything is tied up in neat little bows with everyone happy and getting along. I didn't even feel a connection to any of the characters. The story was a bit too predictable and dragged in certain points. Overall, I liked the story and I enjoyed the premise that life is too short without some fun but it wasn’t the road trip story I expected. 

A Road Trip to Remember is available in paperback, eBook, and paperback

Side Trip: when a road trip becomes life changing

Side Trip by Kerry Lonsdale is a story of . With her deceased sister’s Route 66 bucket list in hand, Joy Evers sets out from California on a cross-country road trip to meet up with her fiancé in New York. She’s determined to check off each item as she goes. During a stop in a Ludlow diner, she meets Dylan. Dylan Westfield is a singer-songwriter on a trip of his own. Unfortunately, his car has broken down. They strike a deal. She’ll drive him to New York and he’ll pay for gas. They have three rules: no exchanging of last names, what happens on the road, stays on the road, and if one of them wants a side trip, they both must agree. They find they are complete opposites. Joy is energetic. Dylan is moody. Joy believes in love at first sight and Dylan thinks love is a complicated mess. Soon, they realize that they are both hiding secrets and their motivations. Will they find the peace they hope to find on the road? Will they be able to leave the events of the road trip behind? 

I love Kerry Lonsdale’s books and I heard great things about Side Trip. From the very beginning, I was hooked on Joy’s mission to complete the trip her sister never could. Dylan’s mission was a bit more of a mystery. I enjoyed the back and forth between Joy and Dylan’s perspectives as well as the “Before” chapter which occurs on the road and the “After” chapters when the trip is over and their lives go on as planned. Or does it? Can Joy and Dylan really leave what happens on the road, on the road? I didn’t really have an emotional reaction until the second to last chapter when the reader finds out what happens for Joy and Dylan. I feel the last chapter and the epilogue were unnecessary and undid the emotional impact of that one chapter. The secret Joy was hiding was all too easy to figure out as it has been done before. Overall, I did enjoy the story, especially the spontaneous moments on the road. I do recommend Side Trip as a fun road trip story.

 

Side Trip is available in paperback, eBook, audiobook.