I Would Die for You: a slow burn thriller with twist and turns to keep you guessing

I Would Die for You by Sandie Jones is a slow burn thriller in which a woman’s past comes roaring back. Is she prepared to fight back? Nicole Forbes lives a quiet life in southern California with her husband and daughter. It is shattered when a journalist comes to her door and asks her for information about the downfall of Secret Oktober, the biggest British band of the 1980s. The same day, her daughter is picked up from school by her aunt. The only thing is her daughter doesn’t have an aunt! Nicole is faced with the threads of her life and hidden past that is quickly becoming unveiling. In 1986, sixteen year old Cassie is obsessed with Secret Oktober with an intense crush on Ben Edwards. She is determined to do anything she can to capture his attention among the cheering fans and groupies. What she doesn’t count on is Ben meeting her older sister, Nicole. What happened to Secret Oktober? What does Nicole know? 

Sandie Jones is a new author to me and I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book. A dual timeline story with multiple POVs as Nicole searches for the person behind the events of today and Cassie as her obsession with Secret Oktober and Ben grows taking her down a dangerous past. As events of today and yesteryear begin to shine light on the truth, the twists and turns were interesting and kept me hooked. However, as the mystery was revealed, the ending was confusing and a bit abrupt. My first thought when I closed the book was “what?!?” Throughout the story, I liked the character of Nicole and the mystery about who was bringing up the past and why was engaging and kept me guessing. Overall, I enjoyed the story. The mystery was engaging, the ending was just abrupt. If you like dual timeline, multiple POVs stories with a bit of suspense and mystery, I recommend I Would Die for You. 

I Would Die for You is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

Barefoot in the Sand: a heartfelt story weaving past and present as secrets are revealed

Barefoot in the Sand by Holly Chamberlain is the first book in the Eliot’s Corner, Maine series. There are moments that define your life and can drastically change its course. Arden Bell has had those moments. Now she lives a quiet life as the owner of a bookstore in the small seaside town of Eliot’s Corner. She never thought the day would come when her life would take another turn until she opens her door to the daughter she gave up for adoption so many years ago. Laura Huntington is on the hunt to find her birth parents after the deaths of her adoptive parents and the end of her bitter marriage. Her appearance in Maine opens doors to the past and questions that everyone has been afraid to ask. Will the truth be revealed and the ghosts of the past finally put to rest? 

This book is my first by Holly Chamberlain and it probably won’t be my last. Barefoot in the Sand is a heartfelt story of past and present intertwining in a summer of new beginnings for a mother and daughter. Switching perspectives between Arden and Laura, readers learn about the summer that shaped their lives and a mystery that haunts them. From the opening chapter to the closing pages, this fast paced story hooks you in as a young woman fights against the strangling ties of her parents and the young man who sets her free. It is a story of a reunion between mother and daughter with a bit of a mystery and intrigue. My only complaint is the confrontation between Arden and a couple characters that fell flat for me. I look forward to reading more in this series. I recommend Barefoot in the Sand. 

 

Barefoot in the Sand is available in paperback and eBook

Wish You Were Here: saying goodbye

Wish You Were Here by Kay Bratt is the third book in The Wishing Tree series. Henry Harmon has been married to his bigger-than-life, talk-of-the-town wife, Greta, for more than sixty years. He began to notice differences in her behavior, when her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s comes to light, he struggles to care for her as he promised to “in sickness and in health.” But he is determined to do it alone. However, Neva Cabot won’t let Henry care for Greta alone. Even though many years she cut her friendship ties with Greta and Henry, she can’t bring herself to let Henry struggle alone. After some soul-searching, she walks in and helps Henry find ways to deal with Greta’s mood swings and slips in time. At the same time, Janie Stallard moves into town with a secret. Neva offers her a job and a place to stay at her inn. As Neva helps care for Greta, she tries to figure out why Janie is in Linden Falls. 

Wish You Were Here is another great addition to The Wishing Tree series. Kay Bratt handles the aspects of Alzheimer’s beautifully. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s before she passed away and I saw her in Greta. The slips in time, the conversations with invisible people, and even looking for people who have been long gone. Even the heartbreaking realization when Greta has a moment of clarity, knowing it wouldn’t last. I wanted to reach through the book and give Neva a big hug. Even though her heart broke many years ago, she still wanted to help. I loved the methods that Neva uses to help Greta. Janie’s story is interesting. We know she’s hiding something. Is she running from something or someone? The shocking reveal of why she is in Linden Falls was one I did not expect. I am looking forward to hearing about her story in future books. I highly recommend Wish You Were Here as well as the first two books in the series. 

Wish You Were Here is available in paperback and eBook

A Light Last Seen: a story of discovery

A Light Last Seen by Grace Greene is the story of Jaynie Highsmith as she discovers that “the present is never free of the past.” Growing up in Cub Creek in rural Virginia, she wanted nothing more than to escape and the chaos that was her childhood. Desperate to leave her past behind her and make a new life, she leaves and reinvents herself, complete with a new name. Her new life has everything she wanted until she discovers it’s not what she thought it was. Jaynie is convinced that she is destined to live a life of unhappiness, making poor choice after poor choice like her mother. After seventeen years, needing another fresh start, she returns to Cub Creek, to confront her past and finally leave Cub Creek in the past. She soon discovers that she must reveal the secrets she’s kept for so long if she has any chance to find happiness. 

This is my first book by Grace Greene and while I heard great things about A Light Last Seen, it wasn’t the story I expected. The story was slow moving with lackluster action. Jaynie was a hard character to like as she often acted more like a child throwing a tantrum than a grown woman. The only characters that I enjoyed were Jaynie’s neighbor, Ruth Berry and her grandson, Wyatt. Ruth has some great pearls of wisdom for Jaynie, some she remembered and others she forgot to live by. My favorite one is the one I quoted above. We are always influenced by the past, it is up to us to determine how much the past influences our present but we are never truly free. Overall,  A Light Last Seen was a decent story; however, I expected more. Even though the book didn’t speak to me, I feel there is someone that it will. I recommend A Light Last Seen. 

A Light Last Seen is available in paperback and eBook. 

Harbored Secrets: when family secrets are revealed

Harbored Secrets by Marie F. Martin is a story of family secrets on the Montana plains. Blanche “Blinny” Platt’s life has been one filled with longings, loss and betrayal. Losing her mother and newborn baby brother in a tragic house fire, Blinny heard the whispers and gossip but didn’t think of anything about her grief and taking care of her younger sister, Odette, as the family strives to rebuild their home. As the years pass and family members pass away, Blinny is finally compelled to buy her own land and build the house she always wanted. As she builds her house, she finds moments to reflect on her life since her mother’s death and the secrets revealed to her, only to find out there are still more secrets waiting to be revealed. Her sister, Odette, lives in a psychiatric home, has been begging to see her, to talk to her, and Blinny hesitates. Will Blinny see Odette? Will she hear her sister out and discover the final secret and the reasons why the family fractured long before the fire? 

Harbored Secrets is filled with descriptions. The imagery of the Montana plains and mountains are so vivid that it was easy to picture the landscape. Other descriptions left me shocked and wondering if I really read what I thought I did. It is a story of family drama, secrets, half truths and lies which affects the Platt family through the generations. As I read the book, I wasn’t sure what type of book it was trying to be. Was it a psychological thriller? Was it a family drama? I didn’t care for any of the characters. Blinny, as a child, was hard to understand and the hardened older woman she becomes is more understandable by the end as the secrets are revealed. I ended the book with the feeling of “Oh my god! What did I just read!?!” It wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t what I expected. I’ve read psychological thrillers before and Harbored Secrets fell short. I would say it is a multi-generational family drama. I liked it but I find it hard to recommend it. 

Harbored Secrets is available in paperback and eBook. 

The Book of Two Ways: not a typical Jodi Picoult story

 The Book of Two Ways is the newest book by bestselling author, Jodi Picoult. It is the story of Dawn Edelstein who survives a plane crash. In a single moment everything changes that as she prepares for the crash landing, her thoughts are not about her husband or daughter of a man she hasn’t seen in fifteen years. After the crash, she is given the option to be taken anywhere she wants to go. She knows she should go home to her husband and daughter but instead she hops on a plane to Cairo, Egypt where Wyatt Armstrong is an archaeologist studying the ancient burial sites. She wants to continue the work she left behind in Egypt as she was studying the Book of Two Ways, the first known map of the afterlife. It also means confronting her and Wyatt’s unresolved history. As the story unfolds, Dawn has two possible futures ahead of her and she confronts questions of what a life well-lived looks like, what do we leave behind when we leave this earth, and do we make choices or do our choices make us?

I have been a fan of Jodi Picoult’s for many years and I eagerly delved into The Book of Two Ways. Unfortunately, after the excitement of the opening chapter, I was quickly bored as the story gets bogged down with so much detailed information of hieroglyphs, Egyptian cultures, and quantum physics. It is a book about love and loss, life and death, and Egypt. Lots and lots of Egypt. The overload of information caused me to lose track of where I was in the story and how the information even fits into the story. This overload overpowers the emotional, human aspects that is usually characteristic of her books. It was hard to care for Dawn and her journey. At one point, she has sex with her husband after an argument and her husband thinks everything is fine, she proclaims that just because she had sex with him, everything was not fine. So why have sex with him? It is just one example of eyerolling moments. As a fan of Ms. Picoult, I say give The Book of Two Ways a pass.

 

The Book of Two Ways is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook.

The Secrets Mothers Keep: a gripping tale of family, secrets and coming to terms with the past

The Secrets Mothers Keep by Jacquie Underdown is the story of three generations of women as deep secrets from the past are revealed and alter their futures. The story opens with the oldest sister, Mary Rivers, who lives in her late husband’s ancestral home, Viewtree House, in Tasmania, Australia. The house is in desperate need of repair. She calls on her sisters, June, who lives with her, and Grace, as well as her daughter, Lily Rose, and granddaughter, Pia, to come together, pool their resources and save the house. The request comes at a time when all the women need a break or escape from their lives. Grace is dealing with the aftermath of her husband’s death and discovers he had been hiding a terrible secret. Lily-Rose, a famous actress, is on the verge of divorce after an affair was exposed by the media. Pia, who broke up with her boyfriend, sees the request to put some distance between them. Told from the different perspectives of the five women, the story follows them as renovations on the house threatens to reveal deep secrets Mary and her sisters hold. Will their plans for the house bring them together or finally tear them part?

The Secrets Mothers Keep was a gripping story as the secrets are revealed, the women must decide who they are and who they will become as a family. At the heart of the story is a quote from June as she says, “Mothers in difficult circumstances, have had to life since forever in order to protect their child or themselves.” At the heart of the secrets is the desire to protect their family from scandal, pain and being torn apart. Another character reminds readers that “We can’t make judgments about decision made at different times and under conditions we don’t understand.” The Secrets Mothers Keep is a good story of family, secrets, and coming terms with the past. I enjoyed reading a story set in a different part of the world than is normally written about. I recommend The Secrets Mothers Keep.

The Secrets Mothers Keep

is available in paperback and eBook

Bethlehem: a story of family and secrets

Bethlehem by Karen Kelly is the story of two families and a secret that could tear them apart. The story opens in 1962, Joanna Collier moved with her husband, Frank, and their two children, Charlie and Daisy, to Frank’s childhood home. His father, Wyatt, died suddenly and they moved into the family estate to help care for his mother, Susannah and his grandmother, Helen. While visiting a neighbor, Joanna sees a grave with a simple inscription, “Baby Hayes.” Rewind to the summer of 1918 where a young Susannah Parrish is fishing with family friends, Wyatt and Chap Collier. The two families are close it is no surprise when Susannah and Wyatt become romantically linked with the possibility of a proposal in the future. As the timeline switches between 1962 and the 1920s, a family history is unveiled which hides a deep family secret. Joanna must deal with feelings of abandonment as Frank tries to fill his father’s shoes and Susannah reveals her deepest secret. Will Joanna be able to tell Frank how she feels? What is the connection to Baby Hayes to the family?

Bethlehem was a fast read in that it held my attention from the opening page to the final reveal. From the Roaring Twenties to the early 60s, one family deals with life, tragedy and secrets. There isn’t much I can discuss about the book as it will give too much away but it was a great story with characters that were relatable. The story could be placed in anytime and place and it would be a story that would captivate as all families have secrets. I recommend Bethlehem.

Bethlehem

is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

The Space between Words: healing powers of connecting the past with the present

The Space between Words by Michelle Phoenix is a story of where the past meets the presents and helps offer healing to a deeply wounded woman. The story opens in 1695, France as the Baillard family is being persecuted. Why? For being Protestant and not converting to the king’s religion. Fast forward to the morning of November 13, 2015 where Jessica Jackson wakes up in Paris with her friends, Patrick and Vonda. They are trying to decide what to do on their last night in Paris. The next thing she knows, Jessica wakes up in the hospital, wounded from the terrorist attack at the Bataclan theatre. As she recovers, her friend Patrick, convinces her to continue with their plan to travel through France. They arrive in Balazuc of the Ardeche region of southern France where Jessica finds an antique sewing box. Soon she is on the path to discover what happened to the original owner, Adeline Baillard. Will she discovered what happened to the Baillard family? Will she truly find peace and renewal from her terrifying experience? Can she find the good in the bad?

The Space between Words is a powerful story weaving one woman’s recovery from the Paris attacks and one family’s attempt to flee persecution and certain death in 17^th century France. There were some great quotes in the story that many of us read to remember. One of my favorites is “Life goes on and people forget.” So true with the speed at which life goes. Many of those who do not experience the events soon forget. The story is also a reminder of what Christians in history and power have done to other Christians simply because they differed over doctrine. It is always what Christians have done to non-Christians, but a reminder of what they have done to each other. I highly recommend The Space between Words.

The Space between Words

is available in paperback and in eBook

In the Light of What We see: a story of drama, mystery and danger

In the Light of what We see by Sarah Painter is a story of two women from two different times and their fight for their lives. The narrative alternates between the two women’s stories. The story begins with Mina. She sees birds that aren’t really there. She is dating a handsome doctor, Mark, and she is avoiding her aunt and uncle. One day, Mina is in a car accident and wakes up in the hospital with little memory about the accident or anything about her life. As she struggles to recover physically and mentally, she begins to see more than just birds. She begins to see the ghost of a young woman. Enter Grace. In August 1938, she is sent to work in a hospital under strict guidelines and rules. As she struggles to learn her new routine and life as a nurse, she must also deal with the unwelcome advances of the new handsome doctor. As Mina recover bits and pieces of her memory, she realizes that Mark isn’t all he seems to be. Is the ghost who visits her room trying to tell her something? Will Mina be able to recover her memory in time?

In the Light of what We see is an interesting story with twists and turns. Although I failed to see the connection between Mina’s story and Grace’s story other than the hospital that Grace worked in and Mina is now a patient. I feel as if the stories could have been separate books. Mina’s story was more dramatic and I didn’t see how Grace’s story fit. Maybe I missed something in the story that linked the two better. Despite my confusion, I did enjoy the story and I found myself urging Mina to open her eyes and see the danger in front of her. I was eager to see if Grace was able to live her life better despite her current circumstance. I recommend In the Light of what We see for its dramatic story and its mysterious elements.

In the Light of what We see

Is available on Amazon

In paperback for $15.95

Free with Kindle Unlimited

And

Available on Barnes and Noble.com

In paperback for $15.95

And Audiobook $9.99