Heat Wave

This was a great book about a woman whose husband dies and she is left with two little girls and a life that is completely unknown. She hasn't been working, she's living out on Nantucket in her husbands family house with her in-laws nearby. Overall the whole situation is just one of complete loss and she has to find her way out of it all. Luckily she does and she finds a great guy as well! I couldn't put this book down and truly loved each and everyone of the characters. Also thrown in there is some great female friendship and just living life for what makes you happy. I would definitely reccommed this!

Home Again

Home Again by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Quite predictable and you never really got to know the characters all that much.  The entire story was based on a teenaged love affair that happened over a few months but basically ruined the characters lives.  I mean, come on.  We all had our teenaged love affairs.  Sure, this one ended up in a pregnancy and then later a 15 year old daughter, or however old she was.  Anyway, it just never clicked for me.  I kept waiting to care about ANY of the characters, but it never happened.



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Escape

Escape by Barbara Delinsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I liked it but there were some irritants.  I had no problem with her stalking the coyotes -- but I have coyotes in my backyard and they don't just hang around when you approach.   They run.  Fast.  So that was just an eye roller for me, everytime she went to connect with herself by staring into the golden eyes of the coyote.  Yeah, not gonna happen.

The second was it was based in a fictional town in N.H. and the characters were given the backwoods accent that would have been completely easy to leave out.  Because there really aren't all that many people in New Hampshire who speak that way.  I know, because I live in a non-fictional town in the backwoods of N.H. and we use our R's.

And thirdly, there is constant reference to when she had been in this place 10 years ago.  Like, that the town would not forgive her for leaving.  Or that she would be recognized, etc.  She was in the town for a summer 10 years prior.  Anyone who lives in N.H. knows that summer is exactly six weeks.  I find it highly unlikely that she would have made this huge, lasting impression on a town in that amount of time.  And there was constant reference to her sleeping in the garden shed.  Why?  The inn had not been owned by her friend's family, so why would they be in the shed?  It was like Delinsky needed to create these connections that were not necessary and in my mind detracted from the story.

Which, as I said, I liked.  Just not a five-star novel.  And I feel I am being a bit generous giving it four!!!!



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The Last Time I was Me

The Last Time I Was Me by Cathy Lamb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I stayed up most of last night reading this book; so that certainly says it drew me in.  I did get a little annoyed with her smart mouth.  I mean, it was so incredibly inappropriate that it was beyond even being humorous.  I did like it, though it was a bit hard to believe that if she had been an accomplice in a murder, that it wouldn't just be so easy to sweep under the rug.



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Best Staged Plans

Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was cute. A good quick read.

HALLIE: This was a fun quick read. I think I was interested more in the staging process and how she found everything for the hotel rather than the story but overall it kept me engaged and reading. A good story about women coming out on the top per the usual!

Amaryllis in Blueberry

Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My niece recommended this book to me while we were vacationing and I didn't immediately click with it.  When you are sitting on the beach, you really just want a mindless read.  But as soon as I got home, I started reading it again, and was quickly drawn in.  The story is very similar to Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, and at first that sort of turned me off.  But as I was drawn into it more and more, I started to see it for the book it was.  It has many layers that are peeled back slowly, with the last revelation showing up on the last page.



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Breaking Point

Breaking Point by Pamela Clare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I desperately needed a beach read and this popped up in recommendations. I didn't realize it was a series, but then found out that didn't really matter. It was a perfect beach read and fairly well written. Not sure I would pick up on the series because of it; but it fit the bill!


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HALLIE: I raced through this book! definitely a great beach/smut read! Funniest thing was I met found out one of my friends brother is a US Marshall!!!

The Last Anniversary

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What I really think is that it is impossible to top What Alice Forgot. I am not really sure that this one delivers a satisfactory conclusion, for when it ended I was like, really? We get to guess what happens to Sophie's love life? I could have done that and not read the book at all!!! I enjoyed it, but it might be a stretch at four stars.




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