The Grace Year

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  Survive the year.

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden. 

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive. 

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other. 

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

One (or more) Sentence Summary: The Handmaids Tale + The Hunger Games = The Grace Year.  Good read for sure!

At sixteen, KIM LIGGETT left her rural midwestern town for New York City to pursue a career in music. Along with lending her voice to hundreds of studio recordings, she was a backup singer for some of the biggest rock bands in the 80's. Kim spends her free time studying the tarot and scouring Manhattan for vials of rare perfume and the perfect egg white cocktail. She is the author of The Grace Year, Blood and Salt, and The Last Harvest.

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The Stepsisters Review

 ~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis: 

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery pens a love story of a different sort…a heartfelt tale of friendship between two women who used to be sisters.

Once upon a time, when her dad married Sage’s mom, Daisy was thrilled to get a bright and shiny new sister. But Sage was beautiful and popular, everything Daisy was not, and she made sure Daisy knew it.

Sage didn’t have Daisy’s smarts—she had to go back a grade to enroll in the fancy rich-kid school. So she used her popularity as a weapon, putting Daisy down to elevate herself. After the divorce, the stepsisters’ rivalry continued until the final, improbable straw: Daisy married Sage’s first love, and Sage fled California.

Eighteen years, two kids and one troubled marriage later, Daisy never expects—or wants—to see Sage again. But when the little sister they have in common needs them both, they put aside their differences to care for Cassidy. As long-buried truths are revealed, no one is more surprised than they when friendship blossoms.

Their fragile truce is threatened by one careless act that could have devastating consequences. They could turn their backs on each other again…or they could learn to forgive once and for all and finally become true sisters of the heart.

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One (or more) Sentence Summary:  The Stepsisters is a good read.  Three women who never got along come together when each of them going through their own troubled times.  Sage and Cassidy are half sisters.  Daisy and Cassidy are half sisters. Sage and Daisy are (were) step sisters.  All three end up back in their home town.  Daisy who didn't move away from their hometown but lives in her families mansion has hit a rocky patch in marriage.  Her husband, who has a history with all three women walks out and let's her know through text.  She is left to manage their two kids, the home, her job and now her sisters.

Sage is back home and broke.  Moving into her mother's cramped house she goes to work as in upscale dress shop she is forced to look back over her life.  A few failed marriages, college and career she wants, mistakes with Daisy's husband and her neighbor Adam cause her to do some soul searching.

Cassidy who seemed to be closer to Sage, due to their mother, falls off the side of a mountain and needs a place to heal.  She is sent to Daisy's house where there is plenty of room and people to take care of her. All three realize that they are not the sisters they thought each one to be, but much more.  By resolving issues in the past, they become stronger together….as sisters.

Photo credit: Annie Brady

#1 NYT bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming, humorous novels about the relationships that define our lives―family, friendship, romance. She's known for putting nuanced characters in emotional situations that surprise readers to laughter. Beloved by millions, her books have been translated into 28 languages. Susan lives in Washington with her husband, two cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Visit her at SusanMallery.com.

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Aunt Ivy's Cottage

 ~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis:  Up in the attic, with views across the sparkling bay, she opens the lid of the carved trunk. Carefully moving aside the delicate linen wedding dress once worn by her great-aunt, she unpacks all the smaller boxes inside until she finds the leather-bound diary. She knows this will change everything…

All Zoey’s happiest childhood memories are of her great-aunt Ivy’s rickety cottage on Dune Island, being spoiled with cranberry ice cream and watching the tides change from the rooftop. Now, heartbroken from a recent breakup, Zoey can see her elderly aunt’s spark is fading, and decides to move to the island so they can care for each other.

When she arrives to find her cousin, Mark, sitting at the solid oak kitchen table, she knows why Aunt Ivy hasn’t been herself. Because Mark—next in line to inherit the house—is pushing Ivy to move into a nursing home.

With the cousins clashing over what’s best for Ivy, Zoey is surprised when the local carpenter who’s working on Ivy’s cottage takes her side. As he offers Zoey comfort, the two grow close. Together, they make a discovery in the attic that links the family to the mysterious and reclusive local lighthouse keeper, and throws doubt on Mark’s claim…

Now Zoey has a heartbreaking choice to make. The discovery could keep Ivy in the house she’s loved her whole life… but can Zoey trust that the carpenter really has Ivy’s best interests at heart? And will dredging up an old secret destroy the peace and happiness of Ivy’s final years—and tear this family apart for good?

One (or more) Sentence Summary:  Aunt Ivy's Cottage is a book with lots of secrets that all come out in the end.  Zoey returns to her Aunt Ivy's cottage to help due to two aunts due to their failing health but also because she has lost her job.  Her niece joins her to finish out the school year due to problems at home.  Both end up finding their way to happiness on Dune Island.  

I wish Zoey could have been stronger right from the start.  She really lets her cousin Mark bully her.  She does find her voice at the end.  Mark really is not a nice person, but he too comes around by the end.  We probably all have family members who aren't and we tend to tread lighting as not to "poke the bear"!  I know I do.

The house begins to slow show some hidden secrets.  As Zoey unravels them and the truth comes out, you will be in for a surprise.  The turn Aunt Ivy's Cottage takes at the end was one I did not see coming.  A very enjoyable book and loved the journey to Dune Island.

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Mr. Right - Swipe

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon): Rae Wallace would rather drown in a vat of pinot greezh and be eaten by her own beagle than make another trip down the aisle--even if it is her best friend's wedding. She's too busy molding the minds of first graders and polishing that ol' novel in the drawer to waste time on any man.

But when her best friends stage an intervention, Rae is forced to give in. After all, they've hatched a plan to help her find love the 21st century way: online. She's skeptical of this electronic chlamydia catcher, but she's out to prove she hasn't been too picky with men.

However, when a familiar fella's profile pops up--the dangerously hot substitute teacher from work--Rae swipes herself right into a new problem...

Sarcastic, irreverent, and uproariously funny--the painfully-true, so-insightful-it-hurts kind of funny--Ricki Schultz's wry debut will speak to fans of Bridesmaids or Trainwreck, and to anyone who's ever been on a bad date.

One (or more) Sentence Summary:  Funny read about online dating.  Relatable characters, current trend in dating (thank goodness I am married) and easy read

Ricki Cardenas is the author of two humorous women’s fiction novels, MR. RIGHT-SWIPE (2017) and Georgia Author of the Year finalist SWITCH AND BAIT (2018), both published by Grand Central (Hachette) under the name Ricki Schultz. 

Among other publications, she has contributed to Writer’s Digest Books, and she is also a freelance editor. She earned a B.A. in English and an M.Ed. in Secondary Education from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, and she’s taught English for most of her adult life. She lives in Atlanta now with her husband and geriatric beagle, and her writing is represented by Barbara Poelle of Irene Goodman Literary Agency. 

If you feel so inclined, give her Facebook author page a "like" (http://www.facebook.com/rickicardibooks), follow her on Twitter (@RickiCardi), or take a gander at her on the Instagrams (rickicardibooks). She would love to discuss taking on your editing project, so check out her Web site (www.rickicardenas.com) or shoot her an e-mail (rickicardibooks@gmail.com).

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Inheriting Edith

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  For years, Maggie Sheets has been an invisible hand in the glittering homes of wealthy New York City clients, scrubbing, dusting, mopping, and doing all she can to keep her head above water as a single mother. Everything changes when a former employer dies leaving Maggie a staggering inheritance. A house in Sag Harbor. The catch? It comes with an inhabitant: The deceased’s eighty-two-year old mother Edith.

Edith has Alzheimer’s—or so the doctors tell her—but she remembers exactly how her daughter Liza could light up a room, or bring dark clouds in her wake. And now Liza’s gone, by her own hand, and Edith has been left—like a chaise or strand of pearls—to a poorly dressed young woman with a toddler in tow. 

Maggie and Edith are both certain this arrangement will be an utter disaster. But as summer days wane, a tenuous bond forms, and Edith, who feels the urgency of her diagnosis, shares a secret that she’s held close for five decades, launching Maggie on a mission that might just lead them each to what they are looking for.

One (or more) Sentence Summary:  A very interesting story that was well written and drew me in right away.  Loved the characters and their story.  

Zoe Fishman is the critically acclaimed author of the bestselling Inheriting Edith, (Morrow, October ’16), Driving Lessons (Morrow, April ’14), Saving Ruth (Morrow, May ’12) and Balancing Acts (Harper, March ’10). 

Her books have been translated into Hebrew, German, Italian, Dutch and Polish and are also available in Audio and Large Print editions. She’s the recipient of myriad awards, including an IndieNext Pick,Target’s Breakout and Emerging Author Picks, a NY Post Pick, a Mom’s Choice Award and a Barnes & Noble Hot Read. Interviews and profiles of her have been featured on NBC’s “Atlanta & Co.” and FGTV, as well as in Publisher’s Weekly, Mobile Bay Magazine, The Atlanta Jewish Times and The Huffington Post. Her articles have been published in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Time Out and on FoxNews.com, among others. 

Zoe worked in the New York publishing industry for thirteen years in the editorial department of Random House, the rights department of Simon & Schuster and later, as an agent for two boutique literary firms before moving to Atlanta in August of 2011 with her family.

She is the Executive Director of The Decatur Writers Studio as well as an instructor. She is also an instructor in the Emory Continuing Education program. In the Spring of 2017, she was the Visiting Writer at SCAD Atlanta. Her next novel, Invisible As Air, will be published by Morrow in September 2019.

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The Secrets We Kept

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  A thrilling tale of secretaries turned spies, of love and duty, and of sacrifice--inspired by the true story of the CIA plot to infiltrate the hearts and minds of Soviet Russia, not with propaganda, but with the greatest love story of the twentieth century: Doctor Zhivago.

At the height of the Cold War, two secretaries are pulled out of the typing pool at the CIA and given the assignment of a lifetime. Their mission: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, where no one dare publish it, and help Pasternak's magnum opus make its way into print around the world. Glamorous and sophisticated Sally Forrester is a seasoned spy who has honed her gift for deceit all over the world--using her magnetism and charm to pry secrets out of powerful men. Irina is a complete novice, and under Sally's tutelage quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly ferry classified documents.

The Secrets We Kept combines a legendary literary love story--the decades-long affair between Pasternak and his mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya, who was sent to the Gulag and inspired Zhivago's heroine, Lara--with a narrative about two women empowered to lead lives of extraordinary intrigue and risk. From Pasternak's country estate outside Moscow to the brutalities of the Gulag, from Washington, D.C. to Paris and Milan, The Secrets We Keptcaptures a watershed moment in the history of literature--told with soaring emotional intensity and captivating historical detail. And at the center of this unforgettable debut is the powerful belief that a piece of art can change the world.

One (or more) Sentence Summary:  The Secrets We Kept was my book clubs pick.  We all enjoyed it and really like how history was weaved with fiction.  Well done and a good read.

LARA PRESCOTT received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Austin. She was previously an animal protection advocate and a political campaign operative. Her stories have appeared in The Southern Review, The Hudson Review, Crazyhorse, Day One, and Tin House Flash Fridays. She won the 2016 Crazyhorse Fiction Prize for the first chapter of The Secrets We Kept. She lives in Austin, Texas.

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In Five Years

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  Where do you see yourself in five years?

Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.

She is nothing like her lifelong best friend—the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.

But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

One (or more) Sentence Summary:  A great story about friendship and love.  Two friends since they were little and close as can be.  One is very driven and has her whole life planned out (Dannie).  One believes living life to its fullest and more on a whim (Bella).  When Dannie awakes from a dream in a different apartment with a different guy she isn't sure what is going on.  When she really wakes up she questions a lot of things about her life.  When Bella brings her new boyfriend and it turns out to be the guy in her deam, the story really takes off.  Super quick and good read.

Rebecca Serle is an author and television writer who lives in New York and Los Angeles. Serle developed the hit TV adaptation of her YA series Famous in Love, and is also the author of The Dinner List, and YA novels The Edge of Falling and When You Were Mine. She received her MFA from the New School in NYC. Find out more at RebeccaSerle.com.

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Truly Madly Guilty

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  The new novel from Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Husband’s Secret, Big Little Lies, and What Alice Forgot, about how sometimes we don’t appreciate how extraordinary our ordinary lives are until it’s too late. 

Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One small dog. It’s just a normal weekend. What could possibly go wrong?

In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty turns her unique, razor-sharp eye towards three seemingly happy families.

Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other.

Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate. Having Tiffany and Vid’s larger than life personalities there will be a welcome respite.

Two months later, it won’t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can’t stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn’t gone? 

In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm.

One (or more) Sentence Summary:  I liked the characters and the ending.  However, I think about 55-60% of the middle could be eliminated.  I was happy when I got past the point of finding out what actually happened and the impact/outcome.  Have really enjoyed Moriarty's other books.

LIANE MORIARTY is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies and The Husband's Secret, as well as the New York Times bestseller What Alice Forgot and The Hypnotist's Love Story. Her latest page-turner, Nine Perfect Strangers, is now on sale. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children.

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The Nest

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.

This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love.

One (or more) Sentence Summary:   The Nest is a good read.  A dysfunctional family with tons of family drama that money can't solve.  Interesting characters in the family making it entertaining.

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is the New York Times bestselling author of The Nest, which has been translated into twenty-six languages and optioned for film by Amazon Studios. She has an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children.

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The Hopefuls

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  A brilliantly funny novel about ambition and marriage from the best-selling author of Girls in White Dresses, The Hopefuls tells the story of a young wife who follows her husband and his political dreams to Washington, D.C., a city of idealism, gossip, and complicated friendships among the young aspiring elite. 

When Beth arrives in D.C., she hates everything about it: the confusing traffic circles, the ubiquitous Ann Taylor suits, the humidity that descends each summer. At dinner parties, guests compare their security clearance levels. They leave their BlackBerrys on the table. They speak in acronyms. And once they realize Beth doesn't work in politics, they smile blandly and turn away. Soon Beth and her husband, Matt, meet a charismatic White House staffer named Jimmy, and his wife, Ashleigh, and the four become inseparable, coordinating brunches, birthdays, and long weekends away. But as Jimmy’s star rises higher and higher, the couples’ friendship—and Beth’s relationship with Matt—is threatened by jealousy, competition, and rumors. A glorious send-up of young D.C. and a blazingly honest portrait of a marriage, this is the finest work yet by one of our most beloved writers.

One (or more) Sentence Summary: For those that like "West Wing," this is your book.  For me, it lacked a plot.  It was a quick read and enjoyable.

JENNIFER CLOSE is the best-selling author of Girls in White Dresses and The Smart One. Born and raised on the North Shore of Chicago, she is a graduate of Boston College and received her MFA in fiction writing from The New School in 2005. She worked in New York in magazines for many years. She now lives in Washington, DC, and teaches creative writing at George Washington University.

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