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

Come Home to Me: friendship and healing that forgiveness can bring

Come Home to Me by Liz Talley is a story of friendship and the healing that a deep heart-to-heart and forgiveness can bring. Summer Valentine returned to Moonlight, South Carolina, leaving behind her struggling music career in Nashville. Gone is the naïve wallflower who left years ago. Now with her 14-year-old son, David, Summer is a straightforward and no nonsense woman and ready to face the town that once drove her away. Summer has also returned so that her son can have a relationship with his father, Hunter “Hunt” McCroy. Someone else is back in Moonlight. Golden boy Rhett Bryan who is the talk of Hollywood especially after a tragic accident. He has come home, unsure what the next step is, he rekindles his friendship with Summer. When their relationship deepens, Summer must reveal the painful past she has been hiding. Will her revelation bring them closer or drive them apart again? 

Come Home to Me is a beautiful story with humor, tearful moments and hard topics with real to life conversations. Ms. Talley deals with the very complicated and sensitive issue of date rape and I believe she handles it beautiful. She details the societal perspectives, right or wrong, for both parties as well as a discussion on consent. I enjoyed all the characters, especially Summer and her relationships with Rhett and Hunt and even David. She is a strong woman who took the circumstances of her life and made a life. I thoroughly enjoyed Hunt’s story and his revelation about his own guilt and actions which drove Summer away. His apology was truly moving and I shed a few tears. Even Rhett’s own revelation and apology for his mistakes was incredibly moving and shows the powerful healing that forgiveness can bring. I highly recommend Come Home to Me. 

Come Home to Me is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

My Wife is Missing: a psychological thriller that asks who can you trust and what is even real?

My Wife is Missing by DJ Palmer is a psychological thriller when a woman disappears with her two children and her husband desperate to find them will do everything he can- even reveal the secrets he’s been hiding. A family vacation to New York City turns into a nightmare when Michael Hart discovers his wife, Natalie and their two children, Addie and Bryce, missing from their hotel room. Fearing they’ve been kidnapped, he frantically searches the hotel and calls the police. When security footage reveals that Natalie left willingly, the question becomes why? Natalie thinks she has Michael figured out and has hatched a plan to escape him. But her insomnia makes it difficult to trust what she knows and even what she sees. Are her fears and concerns valid? Will she escape Michael? Or is there an even greater danger she doesn’t consider? 

WOW! DJ Palmer has done it again! He has become a master of the psychological thriller. Stories that will keep the readers on their toes! With a man keeping secrets and a woman who suffers from hallucinations due to a lack of sleep, Michael and Natalie become characters readers won’t be sure who to trust and even ask what is real? Every character who crosses their paths may have agendas of their own but can they be trusted? My wife is Missing is a story that will keep readers guessing and even when you think you have it all figured out, DJ Palmer pulls the rug and reveals another twist. The beginning was a bit slow and reminded me of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (2012) but Mr. Palmer has a much exciting story to tell. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers, I highly recommend My Wife is Missing! 

My Wife is Missing is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook. 

Such Big Dreams: breaking free and living life on your own terms

Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel is a  story of a savvy former child of the street who discovers a chance to live her life on her own terms. Rakhi is a twenty-three year old who is haunted by the grisly events that led to the loss of her best friend. She is constantly reminded that she doesn’t belong, that she is a charity case as she lives in a Mumbai slum and works as a lowly office assistant for Justice for All, a struggling human rights organization. Hidden behind her façade hides a fierce intelligence and sharp wit with an even sharper tongue, Rakhi doesn’t allow anyone to play her for a fool. She knows that everyone underestimates her until a new intern enters the office. Alex Lalwani-Diamond is the family friend of Rubina Mansoor, a fading former Bollywood starlet. Alex is Indian-Canadian on his way to Harvard for graduate school. Ambitious, persistent and a bit naïve, Alex convinces Rakhi to show him the “real India,” which seems harmless at first. As Rakhi’s past and her aspirations collide, she comes face to face with difficult choices and the moral compromises that one often makes in order to survive. 

Such Big Dreams is the debut moral of Reema Patel. A moving story of survival and the cost of one’s ambition and power. Ms. Patel’s descriptions are powerful and honest as she reveals the different sides, the different “classes” of India. She peels back the hypocrisy of the rich who build luxurious mansions on the land of former slums and then gets on a soapbox about affordable housing and the state of the people in the slums. I thoroughly enjoyed Rakhi’s character, a young woman who lived a hard life that was not of her choosing. I couldn’t imagine being a seven year old and surviving on the streets and yet that’s where Rakhi’s story begins. She is a survivor and I hoped and cheered her on as she tries to rise above her lot in life and works for a better life rather than resolve that she was born there and would probably die there. The author’s note after the story adds to the emotional power of the story’s events. My one complaint is the author’s use of Indian words and phrases without an indication of the translations or meanings. Overall, I enjoyed Such Big Dreams and highly recommend it. 

Such Big Dreams is available May 10, 2022 in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

The Bronte Sisters: an in depth and fresh perspective on the famous literary sisters

The Bronte Sisters: Life, Loss and Literature by Catherine Rayner is an in depth and fresh perspective on the famous sisters and their family. With timeless classics like Jane Eyre (1847), Wuthering Heights (1847), and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Charlotte, Emily and Anne were a talented, trailblazing trio whose stories have continued to haunt readers and academics for over 175 years. These fictional masterpieces are recognized as landmarks of English Literature today but they caused a sensation and even some controversy due to their subject matters and unconventional styles. What is the story of these women? What were the influences and forces that drove their storytelling? From early childhood in the quiet Yorkshire village of Haworth, literature and world events were held in high esteem in the Bronte household, they began to create stories from an early age. But their lives would be filled with tragedy and devastating loss and they would pour their doubts, fears and grief into their stories. They would tackle taboo subjects of Victorian society: divorce, child abuse, bigamy, domestic violence, class, female depression and mental illness.

I have been a fan of the Bronte sisters since reading Wuthering Heights in high school. I have always been curious about their lives and inspirations and like to read as much as I can about these women. In The Bronte Sisters, Catherine Rayner analyzes every aspect of the Bronte family and era to find the clues to these remarkable women. From their father’s humble beginnings in northeastern Ireland to Cambridge University and becoming a well-respected clergy. Even from their isolation on the English moors, the sisters were well aware of and well versed in current events and from their travels, they saw first hand some of the darker areas of the celebrated Victorian Age. Fueled by their strong Christian morals, they set out to expose these dark injustices. While reading the chapters in which Ms. Rayner discusses each books’ history, inspiration, symbols and themes, I was inspired to reread these books with a new perspective and insight. If you love the Bronte sisters and their works or just want to know more about these amazing sisters, I highly recommend The Bronte Sisters. 

The Bronte Sisters: Life, Loss and Literature is available in paperback and eBook

As Time Unfolds: how can our family heritage influence our life paths?

As Time Unfolds by Barbara Zerfoss is the story of one woman’s search for her family’s history and lessons learned that can help save a life. Bethany Miller’s life is on the fast track as she is the CEO and owner of an advertising agency when it comes to a halt with a surprising phone call. She has inherited an ancestral home from the biological mother she never knew. Unsure what to do, she visits the home in Jameson, Virginia. Inside the grandfather clock known as The Timekeeper, Bethany discovers a treasured family journal. In it, generations of first daughters wrote one entry, sharing family secrets, chronicling a courageous life in challenging times and words of wisdom for the next generation of daughters. Reading these women’s stories, Bethany takes the chance to reassess her life moving forward. When an alarming encounter with one young girl’s soul piercing eyes keeps haunting her thoughts, Bethany senses a pull to help. But how? Can the stories of her maternal ancestors give her the strength and courage to fight for someone else? Even if it comes at a personal cost? 

As Time Unfolds is a story that dragged in the beginning and picked up at the halfway point. The connections between Bethany, her family’s legacy and the young missing girl isn’t made until the end. However, there was enough pull and intrigue to keep the reader looking for the connection. I enjoyed the story of Bethany discovering her family heritage more than the connection with the missing girl. I also enjoyed the grandfather clock. The Timekeeper was the silent character that stood watch as a guard and a guide. Although the issue of human trafficking is an important and current crisis, I felt it didn’t quite fit. The two stories didn’t quite mesh. There was also a lot of repeating information. At one point, Bethany finds newspaper articles that just rehash information that is revealed in the journal entries. It would have been possible to introduce the articles without doing another information dump to rehash information the reader already knows. Overall, I enjoyed As Time Unfolds for its story of courageous women from the past that informs and molds the courageous acts of today. I recommend As Time Unfolds. 

As Time Unfolds is available in paperback and eBook

Desert Flowers: what secrets are hidden deep in the middle of nowhere?

Desert Flowers by Paul Pen and translated by Simon Bruni is the story of one family living deep in the Baja California desert with a dark secret. Rose and Elmer have created life for themselves and their five daughters out in the middle of nowhere. They are cut off from all of modern society. They will preserve their way of life and their secret at all costs. It all seems to be working until one day when a young hiker named Rick knocks on their front door. He needs a place to stay, just for the night he says. But it’s long enough for Rose and Elmer to realize they made a horrible mistake. The longer Rick stays, the more intrusive and suspicious he becomes. What they don’t know is that Rick has a secret too. Soon, the family sanctuary won’t be a warm and inviting place anymore. It will become dark and cold as the desert nights. What will happen when their secrets are revealed? 

Paul Pen writes unusual stories which look deeper into the human psyche and behaviors they will do in order to protect themselves and their secrets. After reading Pen’s Light of the Fireflies, I had an idea of the type of story I was getting myself into. Desert Flowers is a very haunting, twisted story which leaves no happy ending. On the surface, the family seems to be happy at their desert hideaway. It is only with the appearance of the handsome stranger does the family start to show their cracks and their unhappiness. There were a few characters I liked but there were many characters that broke my heart especially Melissa, the 13-year-old, middle daughter. It is a book I enjoyed reading as it kept my attention but it is a hard story to recommend. It is not light or easy to read. It is a story where the lines are blurred between heroes and villains. If you enjoy dark, twisted stories, I recommend Desert Flowers. 

Desert Flowers is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook