Filled with a gothic atmosphere and a mystery to unravel, this one has two storylines that flow easily, keeping my interest throughout the book.

A gorgeous Florida mansion, Marbrisa, takes center stage. The house seems to be cursed or haunted, or maybe both! Peacocks and alligators rule the grounds.

One storyline features Anna and her husband, Robert, in 1918. Glamour is all the rage with people moving into Miami.

The second storyline features a young Carmen joining her sister at Marbrisa in 1940. Carmen is uneasy at the house, and strange things keep happening with the wildlife and noises in the walls. Another tragedy occurs, and Carmen is desperate to escape.

I loved how this one ended, but I'm not sure I'd like to be a guest at Marbrisa!

Sometimes women need a little help. In early 1970s Chicago, they could call on the Jane Collective to help with a safe abortion. The health organization had an elaborate system of women helping women without judgment. These women were all unique with different motivations for being involved.

This was an interesting and timely book to read in 2023 considering last year's Supreme Court Dobbs ruling. The author presented various viewpoints of women involved in Jane, those that needed Jane's help, and others in the community, like husbands, the police, and a priest.

I am glad to have read this story based on a real group and I am saddened and outraged that in many states we have returned to a time when women cannot legally make choices about their own bodies.

This novel was a fun armchair travel adventure to Italy with a realistic view of relationship dynamics. I enjoyed meeting these characters and this author is a winner for me.

Ginny Splinter thinks she has a great marriage, and she frequently gives advice through her radio talk show. It comes as a shock to her that her husband of thirty years wants a divorce rather than a wonderful anniversary trip to Italy together. Rather than waste the trip, she offers to take some of her lonely listeners to Italy.

As Ginny and her new friends work to heal their heartache, I was swept up in the allure of Italy and it seemed like anything was possible.

This delightful tale features an entirely capable 80-year-old woman (until she falls) and a 21-year-old young woman, forced together to help each other out. Louise needs someone to drive her to appointments while she recovers from her injury and Tanner needs a job and a place to live after too many outbursts with her parents and recovering from her own injury.

The book takes a sudden turn when Louise wakes up Tanner in the middle of the night saying that they must leave town immediately. The two of them embark on a madcap drive across the country with Louise not giving Tanner much insight into what she is doing. Just who is Louise and why is she fleeing? And why is Tanner agreeing to help her?

There was a surprise twist at the end and one of my favorite lines comes from August and the word homophone. I love a smart character who knows vocabulary!

I really enjoyed the unlikely pairing of these two characters and their road adventures. I think this would make an excellent book club book that would generate a lot of discussions.

Featuring a homeless man who finds his way home, this story really resonated with me. This book shows the power of love and family and explores just what home means to people. I enjoyed the dual timeline (past/current) in this one and the ending was really powerful. This book made me think about a few things, would I take in someone who had been homeless? Does everyone deserve a second chance? I would recommend this to anyone who likes family stories. I think this one would be a great book club discussion book as everyone has an opinion on the homeless, maybe even knows someone who is homeless.

This book really snuck up on me and then proceeded to rip my heart out. It has been a while since I had to stop reading because of the tears pouring down my face.

Rae is a precocious ten-year-old and loves her trusty dog Splinter. Her nosy older neighbor Lettie cries out for help one day. Soon this unlikely pair are spending more time together as they both deal with secrets and loneliness. These characters are so memorable! This debut made me ponder how we define family and how we best help people with mental illness.

I thought I knew the story of Grace Kelly, but according to this fictionalized tale of her life, I didn't really know much about her. I thought she was a glamorous film star who became the beloved Princess, but this book does not read like that and is probably closer to the truth. I enjoyed digging deeper into her life with this book.

I liked the parts about her life on stage and early days in Hollywood. There were several times that she was a masterful negotiator with her contract and film roles. It's interesting to think about what she would have done had she not married and moved to Monaco. I recommend this one if you are a fan of Grace Kelly and this type of fiction. This would be good for books clubs as well.

This book was beautifully written, with realistic and flawed characters. This sweeping novel covers a family of four siblings through challenging childhoods and through the realities of adulthood. We get to know Fiona, Renee, Caroline, and Joe. We follow the Skinners through a funeral that changes their lives. The family ties are strong in this book and those connections are forged in childhood for the Skinners. The story alternates between a dystopian future and chapters from the past for each character. A memorable tale with characters that will stay with you even after you've finished the book.

I simply loved this book and the characters that Susan Meissner brings to life, by the end of the book they felt like old friends. The historical research is evident but seamlessly woven into a very realistic story. There are broad themes of friendship, love, identity, family loyalty, the damages of war -- all with an important historical backdrop.

We meet Elise Sontag when she is an elderly woman and then learn more about her early life as a typical teenager living in Iowa while WWII rages in Europe. Her German father is arrested and sent to an internment camp and the whole family later follows. Elise befriends Mariko – a teenager in the same boat she’s in – Mariko’s parents are Japanese. The girls become fast friends over the long months in the camp, but circumstances force them apart and they struggle to remain in touch.

I adored the character of Elise Sontag and cheered for her to overcome the huge obstacles placed in the way of her happiness. I highly recommend this story if you enjoy WWII historical fiction.

Kristina McMorris focuses this Depression-era story on two aspiring journalists, both trying to make their way up in the newspaper world. We have Ellis, who snaps a picture of two children with the "2 Children for Sale" sign that propels his career ahead. The other journalist is Lillian who is toiling away as the Chief's secretary, but she really wants to write more -- including her own column. The two journalists work to unravel the fate of the children in the photograph and there is some suspense in the second half. I liked these two characters, but part of me really wishes that the story had focused on the family in the picture.

The author does a great job painting the picture of what newsrooms were like during this time and there are some other elements involved in the story -- speakeasies, the mob, boarding houses, society's view of unwed mothers, mental illness, and factory/mining conditions.

I recommend this sweet book to people that like historical books, it reminded me a bit of "Love and Other Consolation Prizes" and "Before We Were Yours."

10 stars to this stunning debut novel from Fatima Farheen Mirza. I fell in love with this family, each and every character. The story centers around the Muslim Indian American family, Layla and Rafiq as parents and the three siblings: Hadia, Huda, and Amar. Mirza's writing totally drew me in to the over-achieving oldest child Hadia, who wants to please her parents; Huda, the somewhat overlooked middle child; and Amar, the son who struggles with the strictness of his father.
The book opens with Hadia's wedding and then we are gifted with vignettes of episodes throughout the lives of the family members. Brilliant storytelling, lyrical language, and a glimpse into the lives of this family. The last chapter tore my heart out with the story in Rafiq's voice. I finally understood him. So many parts of the story resonated with me as a parent and sibling.
I highly recommend this character-driven book. I hope it gets a wide audience.

I thought this book was amazing. While the topic of school shootings is never a pleasant one, Rhiannon Navin does an amazing job with this difficult subject. There are so many facets to this – parents of the slain school children, siblings, grief, the pursuit of justice, motive, and media coverage. The narrator is Zach, a six-year-old, and survivor of the school shooting. Zach works through his trauma and helps the adults in his life do the same – in a way only a child could do. Zach uses art, exploring his feelings, and Magic Tree House books to make his healing journey.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the return of Aaron Falk. I feel like this character is so complex and we learn a bit more about him in each book. Harper does a great job of putting the reader into the setting of each book. This time, it's in rugged mountain terrain, the Giralang Ranges, with an old unsolved murder case in the mix. A team-building retreat gone wrong ends with one of the women missing in the mountainous terrain. There is an interesting mix of characters in this book and I enjoyed speculating what happened to the missing woman. Needless to say, I was way off in my guess! It was easy for me to give this one five stars, I struggled to find a flaw. Another marvelous book in the Aaron Falk series!

Clare Mackintosh is a talented writer. I read and enjoyed her first book "I Let You Go" and I must say this second book of hers is amazing! I found her characters to be very believable and the plot was scarily real. I enjoyed how the action shifted between the main characters and the police trying to solve the crime. There are even quite chilling thoughts from the perpetrator. The ending is amazing, I went back and read it twice. I could almost see this one being made into a movie! Highly recommended if you like quick-paced thrillers. This would make a good book club discussion book too.

I was completely drawn in to "Since She Went Away" staying up late several nights to read it. I found the story to be very believable (unlike some suspense novels). I especially thought the portrayal of Detective Poole was well done. She had good police skills and was committed to her job. I admit that I did not see the ending coming, a sign of good writing to me! I found the sensational journalism techniques described to be very realistic and gave me an insider's view to how challenging it must be to be a family close to the crime. I liked the main character Jenna – we really get inside her head and get a fully formed idea of who she is in trying to raise her son, working, and all of the survivor's guilt with her friend's disappearance. I have not read any of David Bell's previous books, but I will start tracking them down.