"The Breakdown" by B. A. Paris

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust? B. A. Paris explores this quandary in her latest thriller, “The Breakdown”.

Cass’s life is just about perfect… handsome and loving husband, lots of friends, new job and a great house. The only scar on her idyllic life is the recent death of her mother, from dementia, which left her wealthy. Unbeknownst to Cass, her mother tucked away lots of money and lived a very frugal life. Oh, and her best friend and husband only tolerate each other.

Que a stormy night and a shortcut through a dark, twisting, wooded road. Cass takes said shortcut against her husband’s warnings. As she passes a lay-by, she sees a car. She does not really want to stop; it’s dark, raining and just darn right scary outside. As she pulls by the car, she sees that it is a woman. So, she pulls in front of the car. She waits for the motorist to put on her flashers, honk, get out or otherwise signal that she needs assistance. After some time, Cass goes on. She gets home, goes to bed and forgets about the incident until news of a murder on the very road she traveled last night jolts her out of her happy, perfect life.

Cass instantly feels guilty. Could she have helped? Could she have saved her? Would she have been murdered too? Then her mind jumps to the next logical question… did the murderer see her? She instantly becomes anxious. She begins forgetting things. She thinks someone is watching her and starts receiving calls from someone who does not speak. Then, she starts hallucinating. Is she going crazy or does she have dementia like her mother? Why is this happening to her? She just wants to have a baby and return to her normal life.

Does Cass find out what is going on? Does she find out who the murderer is before the murderer can drive her crazy? You must read the book to find out. It is a great read… I devoured in less than 24 hours. I really like this author and have not read her debut novel, “Behind Closed Doors”, but plan to soon.

Release/Publication Date:  July 18, 2017

Genre:  Thriller, suspense, crime, murder

Cover: Perfect.

Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

Rating: 4 stars

"The Pony Express Romance Collection" by Various

It’s amazing to think that something as ingrained in American history such as the Pony Express was only in operation for 19 months! “The Pony Express Romance Collection: Historic Express Mail Route Delivers Nine Inspiring Romances” is full of interesting facts. For example, they looked for riders who were quite young: between 12 and 18. The smaller and lighter, the better. They also preferred orphans and women were not even considered. You will find these and other interesting facts in the book.

As mentioned in the title, the book contains nine short stories. They all take place within a short time frame and each romance centers around a Pony Express station/stop and tackles issues like bigotry, racism, slavery, prostitution, abuse. The primary characters are also concerned with new telegraph line being constructed as it signals the end of the Pony Express and their jobs.

The common theme throughout these stories, other than the Pony Express and romance, is a character believes that God either does not love them/care about them or does not listen to their prayers. Throughout the story, the character finds him or herself praying/seeking God and realizing His love for him or her. Great reminders that “When god doesn’t answer the way we want Him to, it’s because He knows what’s best for us better than we do.”
I enjoyed “The Gambler’s Daughter” and it’s reminder that “God never leads us to sin”. Set on Christmas Eve in 1860, it is the story of a young lady who sets out to find her father and instead finds romance.

I found that some of the stories seemed to have a similar storyline and appreciated the last couple as they were a bit different. Women were not prized for their ability to cook and clean, but as a horse whisperer and stable hand. However, this is still a good book and would be great for any age as it is clean and has good lessons.

Release/Publication Date:  March 15, 2017

Genre:  Christian Fiction, Western, Romance

Cover: Perfect.

Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you!

Rating: 4 stars

“The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” by Hannah Tinti

Cats have 9 lives, but Samuel Hawley has been blessed with 12! “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” by Hannah Tinti is the story of Samuel Hawley, his daughter Loo, and the people who interact with them throughout their lives. It is the tale of a lawless father and his attempts to keep those he loves safe. Sometimes he is successful… sometimes he is not. 

Hawley and Loo move around a lot to random destinations. They only stay somewhere six months to a year.  On Loo’s eleventh birthday, Samuel decides to take Loo someplace where she “won’t have to play alone”. This time, though, they return to Olympus, Massachusetts; her mother’s hometown. Loo’s grandmother still lives there.

We soon find out that Hawley has trouble reigning in his temper. We get a feel for why they may have spent Loo’s life running. 

Samuel always had one gun on him and several more within arm’s length. He taught Loo how to shoot at twelve so it seems normal for her to be around guns. They are her friends. She is comfortable with them; she is not so comfortable with her anger. Mixed with her teenage hormones, she often reacts badly confronted by bullies.

I love the way the author switches from the present and Loo’s perspective to the past. Chapters alternate with “Bullet Number One” and so on to tell Hawley’s past, why he is running, and why he loves and protects his daughter so desperately!

As the book progresses, so does Loo’s life. For the most part, she is a loner. However, she finds love. Her attempts to maintain that relationship are frantic and pitiful. She is as strong a lover as her father. He sets up a sort of altar (in the bathroom) to her dead mother everywhere they call home. The explanation of this towards the end of the book is absolutely heartbreaking. It will rip open a wound in everyone who has lost someone they desperately love with the hope that they will look up and see their loved one turn the corner.

Super read; satisfying ending!

Release/Publication Date:  March 28, 2017

Genre:  Literary Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Coming of Age

Cover: OK.

Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you! 

Rating: 4.5 stars (rounding to 5)

"The Red Hunter" by Lisa Unger

Thanks to Lisa Unger and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Justice or revenge; what’s the difference? Lisa Unger explores this question and the implications of both in her latest thriller, “The Red Hunter”.  She tells the reader that justice is a concept, one agreed upon by a civilized society. It seeks balance. Revenge is wild and raw, it’s a balancing of the scales of the universe.  Revenge seeks chaos. Thus, giving birth to “The Red Hunter”.
We are also told that “when seeking revenge, dig two graves. One for yourself“.

The two main characters, Claudia and Zoey, are both survivors of a horrific crime where each was left for dead. They have lots of other things in common as well. They were both at the wrong place at the wrong time. They both suffer frequently from “les penseées qui viennent dans le nuit” or “the thoughts that come in the night”. Both attempt to move on with their lives by learning to cope and protect themselves and their families. However while learning and practicing self-protection, they take different paths. Those paths cross when Claudia returns, with her daughter Raven, to an old, abandoned house that her father once owned. She plans to start over here by renovating the house and blogging about it. This house just happens to be the site of the crime involving Zoey.

While sharing so many things, Claudia and Zoey do have one glaring difference. Whereas Claudia is very open about the crime and even blogs about it, Zoey does not want anyone to know what she has been through, who she is or to even be noticed.

Raven and Zoey also share several things: they both live in the aftermath of what happened to their parents, struggle to fit in, have questions about their father (who he was/what was he hiding) and they have a supporting friend who happens to be a boy.  They learn that where they have come from does not have to define them. I loved the quote, “Why do you think where you came from has anything to do with where you belong? I certainly don’t believe that. I can’t. I have to believe that we create our lives.” Wow! Where we have been does not matter… it’s where we are going. Such a powerful statement… and true!

I adore Lisa Unger and her writing style. She writes engaging books and does not leave any strings “unpulled”. She always answers all the questions asked during the book. I gave this one five stars (4.5 rounded up). It was a great story with lots of surprises and interesting supporting characters. The reader learns about justice, revenge, friendship, corruption, betrayal, and letting go (as a parent and as one who has been wronged).  We also learn a lot about relationships and love; true, parental and brotherly.  “Some relationships are like pythons: they wrap around you, slowly squeezing until you can’t breathe” Boy, is that ever true!

I like to think that in the end, some revenge is indeed justified!

"Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate

I reserve 5 full stars for books that move me and stay with me long after I have finished them. “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate was one of those books!

The book details the lives of seven siblings. It travels through their births to their elderly years seamlessly telling the story of how they were stolen from their parents and placed in the Tennessee Children’s Home Society where unspeakable acts were perpetrated against children, the birth parents and adoptive parents.

The book begins with Avery Stafford who has moved back home to assist her mother and father, a Senator, with his public life after a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Her grandmother, Judy, has just been moved to the memory care unit of a premium care assisted living facility as she has been diagnosed with dementia.  The Senator and his staff are trying to juggle that choice, his illness and a scandal involving corporate-owned facilities. Avery attends a meet-and-greet at a facility with her father and meets May, an older lady who mistakes her for both her sister Fern and then her mother, Queenie. While Avery is distracted, May slips an heirloom bracelet from her wrist. When the worker’s retrieve it, May claims it is hers. When Avery returns to retrieve it, she sees an old photo in May’s room. Her curiosity is piqued when she notices the resemblance of the lady in the photo to her grandmother, Judy. When she visits her grandmother to ask her, she tells her to burn all her appointment books/journals at her home.

The resulting story is Avery’s hunt for the truth. “Secrets have a way of coming out. Secrets also make you vulnerable to your enemies, political or otherwise.” Avery must tread carefully; everything her family does or has done is scrutinized. We are reminded that “secrets ain’t a healthy thang, no matter how old they is. Sometimes the oldest secrets is the worst of all”. Is that ever the truth!
Throughout, she begins to question the path she has chosen for her own life. May tells her “a woman’s past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses. Her OWN music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself, I mean. We’re always trying to persuade ourselves of things.” Such great advice. We often choose someone else’s path for our life. We are reminded to “dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step”.
It also delves into dementia, assisted living and caring for our loved ones as they age. “This music of old age… it isn’t made for dancing. It’s so… lonely. You’re a burden to everyone.” Wow… go visit your grandmother!

I am the type of reader that loves stores that are based in truth. This one was. The Tennessee Children’s Home Society and Georgia Tann, did exist and committed terrible atrocities. Do a bit of research; you will be appalled.

This story touched me in so many ways. As a child, my sister and I were often shuffled between family members after the death of our mother at ages 2 and 5. I think that we share an even stronger bond because of that. This book describes that bond so beautifully. “The love of sisters needs no words. It does not depend on memories, or mementos, or proof.  It runs as deep as a heartbeat. It is as ever present as a pulse.” Another character said, “The heart still know. It still know who it loves”. Indeed it does!

Read this book. It will make you cry. You will be glad you did.

Release Date: June 6, 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction
Cover: Perfect
Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you!
Rating: 5 stars

"One For Sorrow" by Mary Downing Hahn

In the mood for a good ghost story… the kind told around a blazing camp fire? A ghost story that will keep you looking in corners and jumping at every noise for a couple of days? “One for Sorrow” is just that! This book is set in the midst of the influenza epidemic in 1918 and is written for ages 10 – 12/grades 5 – 7.

Annie moves to a new school and is immediately befriended by an outcast, Elsie. Things take a turn quickly when Annie realizes there is a reason that Elsie does not have friends and the other girls taunt her. Annie soon dumps Elsie and joins the “cool” girls who taunt Elsie. Elsie contracts influenza and subsequently dies as a result of the other girls’ actions. Elsie does not “move on” and decides that Annie owes it to her to be her best friend forever!

I had a couple of issues with this book, but 10-12 year olds won’t even think about them. First, Annie had been to Elsie’s house before. She would have known it was her house and not been surprised when approaching her coffin to see her in her home. Second, Elsie alluded to the fact the their family was poor, but they owned the town butcher shop. Perhaps times were tough because of the war…  And, why, when Annie is being taunted by a ghost, would she be reading “The Woman in White”?
Remember, this is a children’s book ages 10-12. Should not be super scary. For that age group, it is a perfect read.

Release/Publication Date:  July 18, 2017
Genre: Children’s Books (Age Level: 10 - 12  Grade Level: 5 - 7 )
Cover: Perfect!
Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you!
Rating: 4 stars

"The Last Chance Matinee" by Mariah Stewart

Have you ever dreamed of a “secret” family? Perhaps of someone showing up on your doorstep one day claiming to be your long lost sibling or auntie? That is exactly what happens to Cara, Des and Allie in “The Last Chance Matinee (The Hudson Sisters Series Book 1)”. Their father, Fritz, dies after a short bout with cancer. Later, their Uncle Pete divulges the specifics of Fritz’s will telling Cara that she has two sisters that she knows nothing about and unbeknownst to Des and Allie they have a sister they know nothing about. The details of Fritz’ will are a shock to them all.

I am surprised that none of the three sisters found out about the others throught out their lives… that Fritz never let anything slip or that none of them found a receipt, note, or reference to the other(s). That would be a hard secret to keep for years.

My only issue with the book was that Cara had never divulged her mother’s final words, “Tell him I’ve always known, and it’s all right…” to her father. That would have been one of the first things I told my father if I had been in a similar situation and I would want to know what in the heck she was talking about.

I can’t wait to read the next installment(s) of this series. I look forward to finding out what happens with the theatre and what ensues as the sisters get to know each other and the other inhabitants of the town. Will some or all of them make this their new home?

I especially loved the small town in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains where most of the story takes place. It is an idyllic town where folks really care about other and take care of their own. They love each other and watch out for each other.

Release/Publication Date:  June 2, 2017
Genre:  Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance
Cover: Perfect!
Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you!
Rating: 4