The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was worried about this book because I am not a fan of Alice Hoffman.  I used to like her books until I realized her books were all kind of the same.  But NOT this one!  This one was reminiscent of The Red Tent, which was a fabulous read, as was this one.  Very hard to put down.  I liked the way the book was broken down into the main characters by parts (this reminded me of The Poisonwood Bible) which gave the reader a way to really get to know them and from whence they came.  I have never been to Israel and therefore don't know exactly of the terrain on which it is set, but I have been to Greece, and visited the mountaintop ruins of other strongholds such as in this story, and also walked down into the cistern where the water was reached.  That gave me a great visual, and I could imagine that they would feel safe up there, always able to defeat their enemies as they were so easy to see. 



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Almost Home by Barbara Freethy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I've read enough of this author at this point to know what to expect.  And it was a perfectly enjoyable story about a poor woman who has no one to love her and a man who not only has a really bad father but also he was left at the altar, so we know HE's never going to love again.

The pursuit of her father, who is someone with the letter J in a town full of men with J names seems a bit of a needle in the haystack search, but Katherine doesn't let that stop her, and of course Zach, that poor guy who will never love again is someone she falls in love with the moment she meets him.  Sigh.  It is time to read some books with a little depth.  I think I've done in this genre and this author!  My eyes are getting tired from all that rolling!!!



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Long Drive Home by Will Allison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I downloaded this book early in the morning and was done with it before noon.  So it was a quickie, but I could see where it could have been developed into much, much more.  The premise was believable -- that a series of events would lead to a catastrophe and then the choices one makes after that catastrophe can snowball into one huge mess.  That all worked, but Glen's wife gets a little manic about being sued and "losing it all," and without a second thought has him move out on the premise that if they are divorced, only HE can get sued.  Huh?

Their main focus in life is their daughter, Sarah, and yet the choice to blow her life to smithereens makes sense to Liz?  I think part of the problem is that she was jealous that Glen got to be the stay at home dad, while she had to go off to work in the city everyday.  And once she found an opportunity to take that from him, she did.  Which makes her into quite a bitch.  But was she?  I guess we'll never know!  It just more or less ends, not happily ever after.  In fact, I just finished it a few hours ago and I can't remember how it ends!  Not a good sign!!!



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Days of Gold by Jude Deveraux

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was thinking this was going to be more of a "bodice ripper" than it actually was.  I also wondered if I was reading a Gabaldon book, as the story carried hints of Jamie and Clare ... but only hints, because the author kept forgetting that her male character was scottish and he lost his accent after the first few chapters.  It was totally readable, and I won't say I didn't enjoy it, but there were gaps that didn't make sense and I found a few other aspects a little hard to swallow.  But I was looking for a bodice ripper so what was I expecting?!!!!



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Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I thoroughly enjoyed this book about a middle-aged woman who has spent her life following her husband from job to job, town to town, and believes that they have settled into their last house, which she is remodeling (albeit slowly) to suit her tastes.  But her husband, Jack, is a one-time football star who had to quit due to a blown knee, and due to taking drugs, loses his reputation as well.  So his main goal is to get back to the top again; and when he starts to see that happening, he loses her.  Because she doesn't want to follow him again.  She doesn't remember the "good old days" quite the same way he does.  He believes that since he was always faithful, he has upheld his end of the bargain.  But she remembers him drinking and socializing while she was at home with two small children.  In other words, now that the daughters have gone to college, she is ready to find herself again.  And he thinks she is just going to keep following.

They separate and she decides to see if she can rekindle her passion for painting.  And Jack follows her dream job to New York and ... discovers what she already knew.  The good old days weren't all that great. 

Great read!



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Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this story about a small town that has a feral child walk into its midst.  It received five stars because I couldn't put it down!  I wanted to know what had happened to the girl called Alice, and  thought the relationship between the psychiatrist who has her own set of issues and the girl was very believable.  I did have a few eye rolls with the romance, which was quick and based on they just knew they were meant for each other.  In other words, very little development, just assumption.  But it's not a romance, it is a story about sisters who had their own perspective of their childhoods and what type of adults they turned into; and what type of adults they became due to the child.



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So Happy Together by Maryann McFadden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had a hard time putting this book down.  I related to the main character, Claire, in that she is in her mid 40's and trying to reinvent herself.  Her daughter has left on poor terms, her parents are getting older and her father has been diagnosed with Parkinson's.  But she thinks she is all set -- she has met Rick and he's going to change everything.  They are going to move to Arizona (from NJ) and while he golfs she can take all the pictures she wants.  But then her daughter returns, pregnant, and her father takes a turn for the worse, and her mother chooses to move into a retirement home so that she won't be a burden to her daughter.  But that move sucks all hope from her and she begins to fade.  It was such a wonderful layering of generations and their problems, with no pat answers.  Just the hope that they will somehow figure it out.  So they all go Cape Cod, where Claire is taking a photography workshop, and she leaves her parents and daughter to figure things out while at the same time not completely abandoning them.  It was real.  The fiancee is quite obviously ill-suited as he wants nothing to do with her family, and then there is of course THE GUY ... but not overly done.  All in all I completely enjoyed this book and was sad to see it end.



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