I found this book to be almost depressing. The mother in the book was a hoarder and I thought the author went on far too long getting that description across to the reader. The further I got into the book, the less interested in the family dynamics I became. Each member of the family had problems which seemed insurmountable. The ending seemed to point a glimmer of hope toward improvement for the family, but it seemed a bit happy and optimistic given the story. I did appreciate the author's insight into why people are hoarders - a behavior I never understood. I don't know how universal the cause the author attributed to the hoarding character, but at least the reader could understand the mother's motivation in this case. I don't think I would have stuck with this book if I hadn't been reviewing it.

I thought the author Marina Fiorato told a great story against the backdrop of both 16th century Constantinople and Venice. The story told of different methods of warfare employed by the Turks against Venice and the main character's(Feyra) torn loyalties. The author set up Feyra's upbringing and background very well so as to make her actions believable. I really enjoyed the use of the actual architect Palladio and his interactions with Feyra to use some Turkish techniques to build the new cathedral. I thought the ending was a bit convenient and not terribly realistic, but all in all it was a fast moving and interesting read. I would recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction.

Safe With Me was a quick, easy read - quick because I didn't want to put it down. I thought the characters were realistic and well-written. The author captured the teenaged Maddie very well - realistically portraying her fears about starting a new school, making up a fake internet identity, and the burgeoning relationship with the boy from school. The book would be a great book club choice prompting discussions on why women stay in abusive relationships and regarding Hannah's decision to withhold key information from her new best friend.

I found Last Train to Istanbul to be a very good book. It relates historical events from WWII (previously unknown to me) in a compelling way. The author tells a great story, and her characters and settings are beautifully painted. The reader gets a wonderful idea of the beauty of Turkey as well as the fear of living in Occupied France during the war. The author does a very good job of giving the reader enough information about each of the characters and then brings them together in the last quarter of the book. The author wove together actual people and events into her story so the reader learns a lot about Turkey's role in WWII as well as the protection they afforded their citizens living in German occupied lands. I think it would make a good book club choice as well.

This book was a fast read but I didn't find it compelling. The characters weren't very likable nor memorable. The story kept my attention but I wouldn't have read it all the way through were it not for this review. I simply didn't care enough about the characters to wonder where the story would end up. The dialogue is difficult to read at first since it uses an Irish vernacular - I got used to it as the book went on but still found it off-putting. I understand why it was used - to show that some of the characters weren't "posh" (to use Bessie's words), but I still found myself slowed down trying to interpret some of the words. Overall I really didn't enjoy the book; I found the ending to be tied up very conveniently although the author had set everything up throughout the book.

I was extremely disappointed with The First Affair. I should have expected chick lit given the authors' previous books and the subject matter, but I was hoping for a fresh approach to a rehash of this distasteful subject. I thought the dialogue in the beginning of the book tried too hard to be hip and witty. I was bewildered by the protagonist's never seeming to be starstruck at obtaining a White House internship - she was always looking beyond it without ever seeming to revel in the honor for a moment. The author made clear she had debts to repay, therefore explaining the need for a paying job, but really ... not to just wallow in the honor of the internship for a little bit! I thought the unraveling of the truth at the end was a bit much - who should she not have trusted? Speaking of that, she told so many people of the so-called affair - surely someone in that position would have more sense? I didn't think the President's character was developed as much as it should have been - I didn't get a good sense of him as a person. I kept picturing Fitz from TV's Scandal and would then shake that image out of my mind. This President was no Fitz. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

The author of The Sisterhood does a very good job at blending two stories set almost 500 years apart in two different countries on two continents. She brings everything together in a very believable way. Her characters are beautifully crafted as are the settings in the book. She uses art very skillfully to interpret Bible stories which do present interpretations not accepted by the Catholic faith, but seems to do so in a non-challenging way with an historical basis for those interpretations. The historic and current stories unfold slowly so that the culmination is well-explained. I thought this was an enjoyable read and well-researched.

I really enjoyed this book. Found it to be fast-paced and well-plotted. I liked the way the protagonist's background story unfolded slowly throughout the book. I thought the characters were well written and believable. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense or political intrigue.

I enjoyed this story of art forgery juxtaposed against cloning and alternating between New York and Paris. The story entered the world of art galleries and the nefarious world of art forgeries and the intricacies of making the forgeries believable. The two main characters were well-written but I didn't find they struggled as much as they should have with the difficult decisions they had to make. I found the beginning of the book to be somewhat slow although it probably had to be to set the stage for the interaction among all of the characters. I would recommend this to book clubs; I think the issues which were raised make great fodder for discussion.