Friends with Secrets: what you see isn't always real

Friends with Secrets by Christine Gunderson is a story about the idea that what you see isn’t always real. Nikki Lassiter is an emotional wreck with four children and desperate to return to the job she loved and had a sense of purpose. Ainsley Bradley is the picture perfect wife of an aspiring politician and a mother of two children. But deep down, she hides a secret that would tear apart everything she has. A secret about who she really is and where she came from. When a dangerous figure from Ainsley’s past becomes the coach at their kids’ school, she confides in Nikki about her past. Together, they devise a plan to expose the coach and protect their kids. As they put their plan in motion, they place everything they hold dear in danger. Can they protect their lives and their new friendship in the process? 

An Amazon First Reads book touted as a “funny and suspenseful debut” that explores “the myth of the perfect mother, the bonds of female friendship, and the haunting impact of secrets,” I was highly anticipating a laugh out loud adventure of female friendship and motherhood. However, what I got was a story of two mothers and a friendship I could not relate to. Though I couldn’t relate to the women, I wanted to continue the story with the hopes it would get better. The final straw for me was the constant product/store name dropping. The long list of make and models of cars they drove, the clothes they bought and from which stores. I felt as if I was reading an episode of Desperate Housewives. Overall, this story wasn’t my cup of tea. However, if this book sounds right up your alley, I recommend checking out Friends with Secrets. 

Friends with Secrets is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Five Winters: the twists and turns of life and the search for love and motherhood

Five Winters by Kitty Johnson is a story about motherhood, friendships and love. When she lost her parents in a car accident when she was 9, all Beth Bailey ever wanted was to get married and have a family. She always pictured her best friend’s older brother, Mark, as that guy. But now, she is 35 and she is witnessing Mark marry someone else. She realizes that her dream of marriage and a family can still happen, it will just have to be with a different guy. Over the next five years, she experiences unexpected twists and the highs and lows of life and love. Beth still clings to what she knows: family, friendship while learning the meaning of love, the truth about happiness and discovering that dreams sometimes take a different road than we expected. 

I was intrigued by the premise and the eye-catching cover of Five Winters. I also understood and related to the premise of watching your crush fall in love with someone else. However, from the get go, Beth was not relatable. She made odd decisions without much thought. She is passive aggressive at times and immature at others. I didn’t care for any of the supporting characters except Mark’s parents who truly loved and supported Beth like one of their own. The story itself seemed to be all over the place. Was it about finding love? Motherhood? Overall, it was a hard book to get through. I wanted to like this story, I really tried but it was a relief when it ended. It is sad to say that I do not recommend Five Winters. 

Five Winters is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Destination: Remarkable: one woman's journey from darkness to a brighter life

Destination; Remarkable: Surviving the Dark Side of Success by Mary Grothe is a memoir, autobiography of one woman’s journey from darkness to a deeper meaningful life. Raised by an alcoholic mother and abusive father in a filthy house. At fourteen years old, she watched her entire life being auctioned off as her parents fled their town. She dreamed of dancing as her ticket to freedom but when a teenage mistake causes her dream to fall, she finds herself doomed to repeat her parents’ mistakes. When she gets a job in sales, she discovers she has a knack for it and her success is sudden and overwhelming. Her success should have been her redemption but it only led her down a darker path she never imagined. Then one fateful Christmas, at rock bottom, she found Jesus. She began to turn her life around, and while not easy, Mary Grothe finds new strength to become a new success in business as well as a wife, mother and Christian. 

I had never heard of Mary Grothe but when I was offered the chance to read her memoir, I was intrigued. From a harrowing upbringing, to teenage rebellion to huge success at a young age, she thought she had finally made it. Little did she know but her demons would follow her and she slowly sank deeper. She is brutally honest about her past, her own mistakes and her journey to a healthier, fuller life. Even now, as she is in a better place, she is honest about the struggles she still has and has to actively work on in her daily life. I enjoyed her honesty especially with issues that she has risen above. Her story reminds me of a famous movie quote that states that our demons are never truly gone, we just rise above them. By acknowledging her demons, she is able to confront them with confidence. If you would like to read an inspirational story of a woman’s journey, I recommend Destination; Remarkable. 

Destination; Remarkable: Surviving the Dark Side of Success 

is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

Mary, the mother of Jesus: an inspirational woman

Everyone knows that Mary was a young woman, a virgin, from a poor family in an obscure village in Galilee. Everyone knows that she was a young woman who showed an unusual faith and humility. What everyone may not realize is that her unqualified yes to God’s plan for her life entailed great personal risk and suffering. She may not have realized at the time that her yes would open seasons of confusion, fear, doubt and darkness in her life as events unfolded. She would know sorrow as she watched her firstborn son as he was shamed, tortured and left to die like the worst criminal.  However, her greatest joy would be to see him raised from the dead as her Lord and Savior. Everyone knows her name but do they truly know her story? 

A small village in the middle of nowhere. Nothing particularly special about it. Until one day as a young woman going about her day, completing her chores as her life would be changed forever. She is approached by a man in brilliant white. He tells her that she is highly favored and the Lord is with her. Can you imagine her surprise and disbelief? Her? Highly favored? However, it was true. As the mysterious man tells her God’s plan, she must have been hit with a tidal wave of emotions: Confusion. Fear. Awe. Gratitude. Joy and Peace. She simply replies, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said” (Luke 1:38). She must have rushed home, filled with more questions and fear of the responses from others. She became pregnant and gave birth to Jesus in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. She watched him grow into a man and set out on his ministry. She witnessed some of his miracles. She heard about others. And as she stood by his cross at his crucifixion, did she truly understand what was happening? Or did her mother’s heart wish there was another way? 

Mary had a unique perspective in the life of Jesus. She is the only human who was present at this birth to be present at his death. She saw him arrive as her son and die as her Savior. One of my favorite songs is the song Mary, Did you know? written by Michael English in 1991 and has been covered many times over. It is often dismissed by some people as ridiculous. “Of course, Mary knew. The angel told her. She knew the Scriptures” they say. But did she really? Did she truly understand what her son would go through as the Messiah? Did she look down at her newborn son and see the great I AM? Did she see him grow up from a baby to a toddler to a child to a teen to a man and see the Son of God? Or did she simply see her son? Many believers have the privilege of centuries removed from the situation to easily dismiss the possibility that Mary didn’t fully understand the task God had given her. It wasn’t until I became a mother that I began to see Mary through a mother’s eyes. As I held my own child in my arms, moments after her birth, how could I possibly fathom the person she would grow up to be? Mary may have known what the Scriptures said but knowing the Scriptures and seeing them unfold before your eyes in two very different experiences. 

Women are highly valued in God’s eyes. Despite history and society telling us differently. Even today, some would use the Bible to devalue women. However, anyone who truly knows the Bible knows there are women who were instrumental in God’s plans. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, many women were placed in situations to be God’s instrument. None of these women were perfect but they all had faith to believe in God who can make the impossible possible. Rahab, the prostitute, in Joshua 2 risked her life to hide God’s spies. Esther risked death at the hands of her very powerful husband to save God’s people. And Mary risked being an outcast and shunned from her community for claiming to carry the Messiah. Imagine if a woman came forward today, claiming to be a virgin and carrying the Messiah, conceived by God. I doubt many of us would believe her. Mary’s story reminds us that God’s best servants are often ordinary people who are asked to be a part of extraordinary events. Also, most importantly to me, is that a person’s character is revealed by his or her response to the unexpected. Some would fall and be broken while others would rise up and be extraordinary. 

In conclusion, Mary is inspirational to us as a woman and as a mother. We can be like Mary. A woman who brings Jesus into our world by expressing his character, his forgiveness and his grace. As women, we can pray to be like Mary, a woman who was willing to be available to God and says “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said” with faith. Being willing to be a part of God’s plan can be scary and with most certain risk to our lives as we know it. However, when we do, God will provide us with the strength and courage that we need. I highly recommend checking out Michael English’s Mary, Did You Know? Even if you know the song already, take a closer listen and see Mary in a new light. 

The Spectacular: not so spectacular

The Spectacular by Zoe Whittall is the story of three generations of women who strive for real freedom in sexuality, gender identity and their ambivalence toward motherhood. It’s 1997 and Melissa “Missy” Wood is a cellist in an indie rock band on tour across America. At 22 years old, she gets on stage and plays the song about her absent mother that made the band famous. As the only girl in the band, she is determined to party just as hard, maybe even harder, as everyone else. She loves the idea of leaving a guy in every town. Meanwhile, her mother, Carola Neligan aka Juniper, has resurfaced after a sex scandal at the yoga center when she has been living. She sees Missy, for the first time in years,  on the cover of a magazine cover. Missy decides to crash at her grandmother Ruth’s house and Ruth decides enough is enough. Mother and daughter need to find a way to understand one another. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Whittall’s The Best Kind of People (2016) and looked forward to reading The Spectacular. Advertised as a “sharply observed novel” that “captures three very different women who each struggle to build an authentic life,” The Spectacular sets out to explore what it means to be a woman. Does it include the desire to be a mother? It is assumed that women naturally want to be moms. What happens when a woman feels she doesn’t want kids...ever? Should others dictate to women to keep the motherhood option open? As a woman who has always known I wanted children and have faced the challenges of motherhood head on, I was curious about the premise. Right off the bat, I was put off by Missy’s vulgarity and childishness. It was hard to sympathize with Carola. Ruth’s story was interesting but far too short. It wasn’t the story I was expecting and I am certainly not the audience for this story. I do not recommend The Spectacular. 

The Spectacular is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

A Woman of Intelligence: a 1950s spy story

A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe is a spy novel set in the early 1950s as the Red Scare takes hold of the nation. Katharina “Rina” Edgeworth is a born and bred New Yorker. She has married the ideal husband, the talented pediatric surgeon, two sons, a Fifth Avenue address, high society parties. To the outside world, she has the perfect life. But appearances can be deceiving. As the daughter of immigrants, Ivy-League educated and speaking four languages, as a single girl in 1940s Manhattan, she was recruited as a translator at the newly formed United Nations. She devotes her days to the promise of world peace and her nights to the promise of a good time. But life as a wife and mother, Rina feels trapped in a gilded cage and she is desperate to escape. One fateful day, she is approached by the FBI to be an informant. A man from her past has become a high-level Soviet spy and the FBI has tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate his inner circle. Enter Rina, the perfect woman for the job. Can she navigate the demands of the FBI, secrets and keep her everyday life safe and secret? 

A Woman of Intelligence is described with the “fast-paced twists of a classic spy thriller, and the nuanced depiction of female experience” and “shimmers with intrigue and desire.” I can say it failed to live up to this description. Maybe I’m not familiar enough with spy thrillers, not my usual genre, but the story was anything but fast-paced. The references to the Cold War events as they happened was interesting as the McCarthy hearings were headline news at the time. Rina was a very hard woman to care for. She whined and complained more than anything else. There were too many comments about the socialites and the fashion of the day, then the spy intrigue. The author tries to show how underappreciated the stay at home moms were, and often still are today, however, it did not improve my opinion of Rina. I can appreciate that the author wanted to show a woman who is more than just a wife and mother. Overall, I enjoyed A Woman of Intelligence, it just was not as exciting as I expected. If you are a fan of Karin Tanabe, you may enjoy A Woman of Intelligence. 

A Woman of Intelligence is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook. 

No Thanks: One woman's journey to live life on her own terms

No Thanks: Black, Free and Living in the Martyr-Free Zone by Keturah Kendrick is a collection of eight essay as Ms. Kendrick chronicles her journey to freedom. She shares her stories as well as the stories of other women who have freed themselves “from the narrow definition of what makes a ‘proper woman.’” Ms. Kendrick especially puts a spotlight on the cultural bullying  that puts pressures on women to become wives and others and the expectation that one must follow the spiritual traditions of previous generations. Through her wit and humor, Ms. Kendrick speaks directly to black women as she imagines a world where black women can like choices that center on their needs and desires rather than the choices society offers them. No Thanks is a mixture of memoir and cultural critique to paint the 21st century black woman free from the chains of someone else’s expectations. 

Even though I am not Ms. Kendrick’s target audience, I enjoyed her candor and wit as she examines her fight to live her life her way. Right off the bat, she tells her readers that our families, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, etc, are not entitled or allowed to edit the “blueprint” or path of our lives in order to suit their wants and desires. She even dives into the growing criticism of the selfishness of women who choose not to have children. While I have always known that I wanted to be a wife and mother, I have never thought of another woman who didn’t want the same as selfish. The essays are short and easy to read. I found her very interesting and even when I didn’t agree with all of her premises, she was clear about her reasons. I recommend No Thanks. 

No Thanks: Black, Free and Living in the Martyr-Free Zone is available in paperback and eBook.  

Life After Coffee: a story of one woman's struggles with life and family

Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken is the story of one woman’s journey from globetrotting coffee hunter to homebound mom. The story opens with Amy O’Hara late for her flight as she heads out for a six week work trip. She is a coffee buyer for a local coffee grindhouse, Mateo’s. She is also leaving on the day of her son’s birthday party. But on the way to the airport, she gets called back by her boss to inform her that she has been laid off as Mateo’s has been bought out. Amy goes home to the birthday party where the other parents there don’t realize who she is. When she informs her husband, Peter, about her job, he jumps at the chance to go back to work and have Amy stay at home. Peter dreams of selling a screenplay and dives into it, leaving Amy to her own devices. She and Peter begin to argue about who should be working and who should stay at home. Will Amy find her way in her new role as stay at home mom? Will she be able to get back to work? Will Peter sell his screenplay?

Unfortunately, I did not finish Life After Coffee to answer these questions. Amy is an out-of-touch mother who irritated me. I got through seven chapters before I couldn’t take anymore. I couldn’t stand the cussing. I understood why Amy was trying to be realistic about her husband’s dream of selling his screenplay; however, there are better ways to be realistic without deflating the person himself. As a woman who dreamt of being a mother and has struggled to have children, I couldn’t relate to Amy. Amy was a mother by birth only and not in action. Maybe she is able to find her motherly spirit but I found myself not caring to find out. I also found some of the dialogues of the children too unrealistic for a 5 and 3 year old. If this book seems to be your taste, then I recommend you give it a try. You may like it. I, however, could not enjoy it.

Life After Coffee

is available on Amazon in paperback and on the Kindle

and

on Barnes and Noble in paperback and audiobook