Women’s Fiction

#BookReview One Month of You by Suzanne Ewart @SuzanneEwart1 @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #OneMonthofYou #SuzanneEwart #bookmarkedbylandmark

#BookReview One Month of You by Suzanne Ewart @SuzanneEwart1 @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #OneMonthofYou #SuzanneEwart #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: One Month of You

Author: Suzanne Ewart

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Feb. 7, 2023

Genres: General Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

When Alec asks Jess out, she knows it won’t work. Is Alec charming? Of course. Attractive? Definitely. Can she not stop thinking about him…yes, but that’s also the problem. Because Jess has rules. And the first? Don’t fall in love.

What no one knows is that Jess has inherited Huntington’s disease from the mother that she cares for. And while witnessing her own future play out, Jess has learnt to keep everyone and everything at arm’s length. But Alec is determined to break down those barriers. When she finally tells him why they have no future, he proposes a different option—just one month together.

One month to date. One month to live. One month to fall in love.

But as Jess grows closer to Alec, she knows she has to end it. It’s better that he is hurt now rather than heartbroken later, isn’t it?


Review:

Poignant, heartwarming, and sweet!

One Month of You is an absorbing, heart-tugging tale that sweeps you away to Manchester and into the life of hardworking administrator Jess as she struggles to come to terms with her mother’s deteriorating health, a positive diagnosis of Huntington’s disease herself, sticking to the nine rules she’s determined to live by, and not falling in love with a sexy bartender who’s kind, compassionate, and always ready to help.

The writing is heartfelt and tender. The characters are authentic, dependable, and supportive. And the plot is a delightfully enchanting mix of life, love, family, friendship, kindness, honesty, acceptance, generosity, romance, humour, introspection, and loss.

Overall, One Month of You is a moving, reflective, bittersweet tearjerker by Ewart that is a lovely reminder to always live life to the fullest and surround yourself with those you love.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Suzanne Ewart

Before becoming a writer, Suzanne Ewart taught English to teenagers in northwest England. In 2019 she won the eHarmony/Trapeze books Write Your Own Love Story competition. One Month of You is her first novel. She lives near Manchester with her husband and two children.

Photo courtesy of davidhighmam.co.uk website.

#BookReview The Sisters We Were by Wendy Willis Baldwin @WLBaldwin @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheSistersWeWere #WendyWallisBaldwin #bookmarkedbylandmark

#BookReview The Sisters We Were by Wendy Willis Baldwin @WLBaldwin @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheSistersWeWere #WendyWallisBaldwin #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Sisters We Were

Author: Wendy Willis Baldwin

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Jan. 17, 2023

Genres: General Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 10/10

Pearl and Ruby’s choices drove them apart.

Finding their way back to each other might be the only way forward.

The weight of their family secrets could not have shaped Pearl and Ruby Crenshaw any differently. Ruby’s a runner, living in Dallas and only reluctantly talking to their mother, Birdie, when she calls from prison. Pearl is still living in her mother’s fixer-upper and finds herself facing a line in the sand: her weight is threatening to kill her. She’s hundreds of pounds beyond the point where she can celebrate her curves or benefit from the body positivity movement, and unless she takes drastic action, the future looks dire.

But when Ruby’s buried rage explodes in a hilariously viral way, the mistake has life-altering consequences. Now the sisters are back living under the same roof and forced to put the pieces of their separate lives together again. Funny, cinematic, and bursting with heart, this is a story of hope and redemption that celebrates the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.


Review:

Sincere, memorable, and sweet!

The Sisters We Were is an intimate, uplifting tale that sweeps you away to Austin, Texas and immerses you into the lives of the Crenshaw sisters, Pearl and Ruby, as they must finally accept the things they cannot change, make risky, life-altering decisions, confront a past littered with tragedy and heartbreak, repair fractured relationships, and embrace a future that doesn’t involve running away or eating for solace.

The writing is effortless and polished. The characters are multi-layered, genuine, scarred, and courageous. And the plot, including all the subplots, skillfully intertwines and unravels into a delightfully touching tale about life, love, loss, guilt, grief, family drama, secrets, friendship, happiness, self-discovery, romance, the day-to-day struggles of morbid obesity, and the special bonds that exist between sisters.

Overall, The Sisters We Were is a beautiful mix of hope, heart, and healing that is not only a humorous, emotive, lovely novel by Willis Baldwin but one which I don’t think anyone could possibly read and not be completely absorbed and utterly moved.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Wendy Willis Baldwin

Author and freelance writer Wendy Willis Baldwin is a natural born storyteller. Her communications background includes broadcasting, marketing, talk radio, and sales. A native of Texas and a graduate of Texas Tech University, Wendy is a recent empty nester now living on a farm in New England, with one husband, three dogs, and thousands of honeybees. She is the co-host of the Life After Fat Pants Podcast.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview The Other Daughter by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOtherDaughter #CarolineBishop

#BookReview The Other Daughter by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOtherDaughter #CarolineBishop Title: The Other Daughter

Author: Caroline Bishop

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A timely novel about an ambitious London journalist who reports on the fight for women’s rights in 1970s Switzerland, and the daughter who uncovers the long-buried truth about the assignment years later—for fans of Genevieve Graham and Heather Marshall.

2016

Jess is at a crossroads in life. In her late thirties, all she has to show for it is a broken marriage and a job teaching a bunch of uninterested kids. But when she discovers a shocking secret about her late mother, Sylvia, Jess begins to question all she’s ever known. Her search for answers leads to a 1970s article about women’s rights in Switzerland that Sylvia wrote when she was a young journalist. But to uncover the real story of what happened all those years ago, Jess will have to go to Switzerland and find someone who knew her mother…

1976

Sylvia’s life is on track. She has a loving fiancé and her dream job as a features writer in a busy London newsroom—if only her editor would give her the chance to write about something important instead of relegating her to fashion, flowers, and celebrities. When Sylvia learns about the growing women’s liberation movement in Switzerland, where women only recently got the right to vote, she knows the story could be her big break. There’s just one wrinkle: she’s pregnant.

Determined to put her career first, Sylvia travels to Switzerland, and as she meets the courageous band of women fighting for their rights, she stumbles across an even bigger scoop, one that would make her male colleagues take her seriously. But telling the story will change her—and her baby’s—life forever.

Inspired by an important chapter of women’s history, The Other Daughter is an unforgettable novel about the bond between mothers and daughters—and the fight of women, generations over, for the freedom to choose their own path.


Review:

Astute, tender, and nostalgic!

The Other Daughter is a layered, intriguing tale set in Europe during 1976, as well as 2016, that is told from two different perspectives; Jess, a young woman who journeys to Switzerland after her mother’s death to unravel the secrets of her birth, and Sylvia, a writer who after travelling abroad to cover women’s rights not only befriends a wonderful group of courageous women but also unexpectedly delivers her baby girl early resulting in a turn of events that will ultimately have heart-shattering consequences.

The prose is reflective and sweet. The characters are troubled, inquisitive, and endearing. And the plot using a past/present, back-and-forth style, intertwines and unravels effortlessly into a touching tale of life, loss, family, friendship, drama, emotion, secrets, heartbreak, passion, self-discovery, and love.

Overall, The Other Daughter is a heartfelt, sentimental, affecting read by Bishop that does a lovely job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into an insightful, heart-tugging tale that is atmospheric and highly absorbing.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Caroline Bishop

Caroline Bishop is a journalist, an editor, and the author of two novels, The Other Daughter and The Lost Chapter. For the past fifteen years, she has written about travel, food, and theatre for many publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, and BBC Travel. A British-Canadian, she currently lives in Switzerland.

Photo courtesy of S&S website.

#BookReview The Christmas Postcards by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheChristmasPostcards #KarenSwan #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Christmas Postcards by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheChristmasPostcards #KarenSwan #PGCBooks Title: The Christmas Postcards

Author: Karen Swan

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Oct. 4, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 480

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

Set in a chocolate-box village, a woman makes a surprising connection with a pen-pal that will change her life – and warm your heart – in the new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Karen Swan.

It had been a make-or-break holiday for their marriage, but Natasha and Rob’s rekindled romance is short-lived when their daughter’s beloved soft toy disappears on the journey home.

As Natasha comforts the distraught child, she turns to social media for help. Miraculously, the toy is found, but it has become the lucky mascot of a man named Duffy, who is thousands of miles away.

When Duffy promises to keep Natasha updated with pictures, the pair begin a correspondence that soon becomes more meaningful to both of them. Sometimes, Natasha feels this stranger understands her more than the man lying next to her.

But as the weeks pass and Duffy heads deeper into the mountains, Natasha begins to notice a change in him. Then one day, the messages stop. Too late, Natasha wonders why he had ever needed a lucky mascot at all.

From the picture-perfect Cotswolds to the majesty of the Himalayan foothills, The Christmas Postcards is a novel about how the closest connections can be the furthest apart.


Review:

Atmospheric, heartfelt, and enchanting!

The Christmas Postcards is an alluring, compelling tale that sweeps you away into the life of Natasha, a young mother who, after her daughter loses her toy elephant she can’t possibly live without, begins a correspondence with the man who found it, Duffy, who seems to be on a soul-searching mission of his own and who may have actually spent a moment of time with Natasha once years before.

The prose is effortless and immersive. The characters are multilayered, troubled, and genuine. And the plot is a heartwarming tale about life, loss, love, friendship, relationship dynamics, hope, happiness, tragedy, fate, self-discovery, and romance.

I’m not sure if it’s ever truly winter unless I have a Karen Swan book to cosy up with in front of the fire, and this twenty-fourth outing is everything I could have wanted and more. The Christmas Postcards is a charming, emotional, irresistible tale by Swan that’s the perfect escapist read with its layered characters, idyllic settings, and beautifully entertaining storyline.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Karen Swan

Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest outside Sussex, England, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs.

An internationally bestselling author, her numerous books include The Rome Affair, The Paris Secret, Christmas Under the Stars, and The Christmas Secret. 

Photograph by Alexander James

#BookReview Endless Summer by Elin Hilderbrand @elinhilderbrand @littlebrown @HBGCanada #EndlessSummer #ElinHilderbrand #HBGCanada

#BookReview Endless Summer by Elin Hilderbrand @elinhilderbrand @littlebrown @HBGCanada #EndlessSummer #ElinHilderbrand #HBGCanada Title: Endless Summer

Author: Elin Hilderbrand

Published by: Little Brown and Company on Oct. 4, 2022

Genres: General Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Hardcover

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

The “queen of beach reads” (New York Magazine) presents nine captivating stories of summer on Nantucket—and days that last forever—to carry us through the off-season.

Bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand revisits her most treasured and iconic characters in this magical collection of stories. Collected in a single volume for the first time, Endless Summer ranges from fan favorites to original, never-before-seen works. In “The Surfing Lesson,” the marriage at the heart of Beautiful Day crosses uncertain territory when Margot Carmichael encourages her husband to reunite with his ex-girlfriend. The legendary weekend of a Harvard-Yale football game in “The Tailgate” recharts the course of Matchmaker Dabney Kimball’s first—and abiding—true love. And in a brand-new novella, “Summer of ’89,” we reconnect with the Levin sisters, whose distant adult lives collide once again at a tumultuous family reunion on Nantucket.


Review:

Charming, lighthearted, and generous!

Endless Summer is a nostalgic, heartwarming short story collection that takes us back into the lives of some of the most memorable characters from Hilderbrand’s previous novels and gives us a special glimpse into how all those relationships and storylines all began, what followed next, or in some cases just a little bit more.

The writing is layered and sweet. The characters are complex, engaging, and fun. And the plot is a delightful mix of life, loss, family, friendship, secrets, drama, history, chemistry, betrayal, romance, and small-island living.

As most of you know, I’m a huge fan of Elin Hilderbrand and have read almost all her novels, so it will be no surprise to anyone that Endless Summer was a delightful treat and pure indulgence for me to be able to pop back into some of my favourite tales and revisit some of my most beloved main characters and spend just a little bit more time immersed in those worlds.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to HBG Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Elin Hilderbrand

Elin Hilderbrand is a mother of three, an avid runner, reader, and traveler, and the author of twenty-three novels. She grew up outside Philadelphia, and has lived on Nantucket for more than twenty years.

#BookReview Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen @SarahAddisonAll @StMartinsPress #OtherBirdsNovel #SarahAddisonAllen #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencer

#BookReview Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen @SarahAddisonAll @StMartinsPress #OtherBirdsNovel #SarahAddisonAllen #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencer Title: Other Birds

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 30, 2022

Genres: General Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 10/10

From the acclaimed author of Garden Spells comes an enchanting tale of lost souls, lonely strangers, secrets that shape us, and how the right flock can guide you home.

Down a narrow alley in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina, lies a stunning cobblestone building comprised of five apartments. It’s called The Dellawisp and it is named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.

When Zoey Hennessey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment at The Dellawisp, she meets her quirky, enigmatic neighbors including a girl on the run, a grieving chef whose comfort food does not comfort him, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn’t yet written.

When one of her new neighbors dies under odd circumstances the night Zoey arrives, she is thrust into the mystery of The Dellawisp, which involves missing pages from a legendary writer whose work might be hidden there. She soon discovers that many unfinished stories permeate the place, and the people around her are in as much need of healing from wrongs of the past as she is. To find their way they have to learn how to trust each other, confront their deepest fears, and let go of what haunts them.

Delightful and atmospheric, Other Birds is filled with magical realism and moments of pure love that won’t let you go. Sarah Addison Allen shows us that between the real and the imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways.


Review:

Charming, poignant, and beautifully written!

Other Birds is an emotionally-charged, moving tale that takes you into the lives of a handful of people, including the kind, independent Zoey Hennessey, as their worlds are irrevocably changed when the sudden death of a long-term resident has them finally sharing their time, secrets, and heartbreaking pasts.

The prose is lyrical and expressive. The characters are complex, scarred, and conflicted. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, denial, secrets, abuse, neglect, self-preservation, loneliness, and the importance of learning to love and be loved.

Overall, Other Birds made me think, made me cry, and resonated with me long after the final page. It’s an immersive, impactful, hopeful tale by Allen that combines exceptional character development with the magic of the supernatural to weave a heart-tugging, bittersweet story steeped in an abundance of loneliness, optimism, tenderness, and pain.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Addison Allen

SARAH ADDISON ALLEN is the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, The Peach Keeper, and Lost Lake. She was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina.

Photo Credit: Katie Linsky Shaw

#BookReview My Husband’s Daughter by Emma Robinson @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForever2022 #EmmaRobinson #MyHusbandsDaughter

#BookReview My Husband’s Daughter by Emma Robinson @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForever2022 #EmmaRobinson #MyHusbandsDaughter Title: My Husband's Daughter

Author: Emma Robinson

Published by: Forever on Mar. 22, 2022

Genres: Women's Fiction

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 9/10

Cara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘She’s not just my daughter,’ she said as she turned in her seat to face Jack. This man she had once loved, but who she hadn’t seen for nearly five years. ‘Sophie is your daughter too.’

It is past ten o’clock on a cold Friday night when Rebecca and her husband Jack’s doorbell rings. Outside is a woman who introduces herself as Jack’s ex-girlfriend Cara. And she’s holding the hand of a shivering, blue-eyed, four-year-old girl. Who she claims is Jack’s daughter.

Rebecca is shocked to discover he has a child from his last relationship – even one he hadn’t known about. Because becoming parents isn’t part of their life plan. They like children, but they also love their freedom and spending time together uninterrupted; the way that, if they wanted to, they could travel the world at a moment’s notice.

But Cara needs them. Because Cara has a devastating secret that she can’t tell anyone yet. Not even her daughter. A secret with the power to change all of their lives.

A secret that will ultimately mean Rebecca has to ask herself – could she find it in herself to welcome her husband’s child into her home, and into her heart?


Review:

Poignant, immersive, and moving!

My Husband’s Daughter is a tender, hopeful tale that immerses you into the life of Rebecca and Jack, a happily married couple who are both content with their decision not to have children and are enjoying great careers and an unburdened lifestyle, until one day their whole world gets turned upside down and everything they thought they knew and wanted gets shaken to its core when Jack’s ex Cara knocks on the door with a beautiful four-year-old little girl in tow.

The prose is sensitive and smooth. The characters are conflicted, desperate, and secretive. And the plot, told from alternating POVs, is a heart-wrenching tale about life, loss, love, grief, family, friendship, introspection, choices, changes, parenthood, and secrets.

Overall, My Husband’s Daughter is a compelling, touching, heartbreaking tale by Robinson that does a lovely job of highlighting just how powerful love is and reminds us to savour every moment because life can often change in a heartbeat.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Forever & Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Emma Robinson

Emma Robinson is a USA Today bestselling author with a passion for stories which explore the power of family and friendship in the most challenging circumstances. Whilst her early novels are humorous; her recent work focuses on emotional themes and these novels are both heart-breaking and life affirming. Emma currently lives in Essex, England with a husband, two children and a small black dog.

#BookReview What Eden Did Next by Sheila O’Flanagan @sheilaoflanagan @Mobius_Books #WhatEdenDidNext #SheilaOFlanagan #MobiusBooksUS

#BookReview What Eden Did Next by Sheila O’Flanagan @sheilaoflanagan @Mobius_Books #WhatEdenDidNext #SheilaOFlanagan #MobiusBooksUS Title: What Eden Did Next

Author: Sheila O'Flanagan

Published by: Headline Books on Jun. 28, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 9/10

Eden found perfect love with Andy. How it ended was shocking. For the five years since, her little daughter Lila – and Eden’s secret letters to Andy – have been all she needed. And Andy’s family like it that way.

Rafe wants nothing more than to start a new life back home in Ireland. It’s time for him to turn the page on his own tragedy. And every woman in the neighbourhood is ready to help a single dad settle in.

When Eden and Rafe meet, it seems that everyone has a good reason for thinking their tentative relationship is bad idea, despite the distant past that links them.

New relationships are rarely easy, especially if you’ve loved deeply before. And when there’s opposition, it can bring you closer – or drive you apart . .


Review:

Uplifting, tender, and romantic!

What Eden Did Next is a heartfelt, beautifully written story set in Dublin that takes us into the life of Eden, a young mother juggling to come to grips with losing the love of her life, raising her daughter alone, and rekindling a friendship with her childhood friend Rafe, a young widower himself who has just returned home from the United States to raise his daughter and hopefully learn how to move on from the all-consuming grief he can’t seem to shake.

The prose is genuine and smooth. The characters are hesitant, scarred, and sympathetic. And the plot is a addictive, alluring mix of friendship, family, forgiveness, support, loss, drama, selflessness, parenthood, introspection, community, new beginnings, and the power of love.

What Eden Did Next was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and it did not disappoint. Once again, Sheila O’Flanagan has written a moving, absorbing, charming tale that has an abundance of irresistible characters and a storyline I couldn’t get enough of!

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sheila O'Flanagan

Sheila O’Flanagan is the author of nearly 30 bestselling novels including Three Weddings and a Proposal, The Women Who Ran Away, Her Husband’s Mistake, The Hideaway and The Missing Wife. She lives in Dublin with her husband.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden @uplitreads @BerkleyPub #themagicoflemondroppie #rachellinden #uplitreadscampaign

#BookReview The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden @uplitreads @BerkleyPub #themagicoflemondroppie #rachellinden #uplitreadscampaign Title: The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

Author: Rachel Linden

Published by: Berkley Books on Aug. 2, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Uplit Reads

Book Rating: 10/10

An uplifting novel about a heartbroken young pie maker who is granted a magical second chance to live the life she didn’t choose. . . . from the bestselling author of The Enlightenment of Bees.

Lolly Blanchard’s life only seems to give her lemons. Ten years ago, after her mother’s tragic death, she broke up with her first love and abandoned her dream of opening a restaurant in order to keep her family’s struggling Seattle diner afloat and care for her younger sister and grieving father. Now, a decade later, she dutifully whips up the diner’s famous lemon meringue pies each morning while still pining for all she’s lost.

As Lolly’s thirty-third birthday approaches, her quirky great-aunt gives her a mysterious gift–three lemon drops, each of which allows her to live a single day in a life that might have been hers. What if her mom hadn’t passed away? What if she had opened her own restaurant in England? What if she hadn’t broken up with the only man she’s ever loved? Surprising and empowering, each experience helps Lolly let go of her regrets and realize the key to transforming her life lies not in redoing her past but in having the courage to embrace her present.


Review:

Charming, hopeful, and tender!

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie is a touching, uplifting tale that takes you into the life of Lolly Blanchard, a young woman who gave up her own dreams ten years ago to come home and run the family diner and help take care of her younger sister after her mother died, as she embarks on a journey to complete at least one of her teenage goals before her upcoming thirty-third birthday of living in another country, owning her own restaurant, falling in love, helping her family be happy forever, or owning her own horse with a little help from three magic lemon drops courtesy of her Aunt Gert which will transport her to another time and place and allow her to live another life for one day.

The prose is heartfelt and smooth. The characters are multilayered, genuine, and conflicted. And the plot is an absorbing tale about life, loss, love, grief, family, friendship, relationship dynamics, introspection, heartbreak, and hope, all interwoven with a thread of magical realism.

Overall, The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie is a beautifully written, must-read book that tugs at the heartstrings, makes you think of all those what ifs, and reminds you that life is complicated, love is powerful and everlasting, and things often happen for a reason.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Uplit Reads for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rachel Linden

Rachel’s taste for adventure and interest in people first led her to a career as an international worker with a faith-based aid organization, and her experiences living and traveling in more than fifty countries around the globe continue to provide excellent grist for her stories. She loves writing novels that combine so many of her favorite things – strong women facing big challenges, food, travel, and second chances at love. Rachel enjoys crafting bittersweet stories of struggles and triumphs infused with a touch of magical realism and with ultimately happy, or at least very hopeful, endings.

Currently Rachel lives with her husband and children on a sweet little island near Seattle. When she’s not dreaming up a new story, she enjoys camping with her family in their pop top campervan, exploring the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, eating sushi, and having grand adventures in far flung places.

#BookReview Paradise Girls by Sandy Gingras @smpromance @StMartinsPress #ParadiseGirls #SandyGingras #smpromance #SMPInfluencers #StMartinsPress

#BookReview Paradise Girls by Sandy Gingras @smpromance @StMartinsPress #ParadiseGirls #SandyGingras #smpromance #SMPInfluencers #StMartinsPress Title: Paradise Girls

Author: Sandy Gingras

Published by: St. Martin's Griffin on Jul. 5, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Sandy Gingras’s Paradise Girls features a broken engagement. A ruined vacation in paradise. One adorable little girl. The perfect recipe for the chance of a lifetime…

Mary Valley is in a funk. She’s a writer for home magazines, but she’s lost touch with what home means. Her life seems meaningless. The last house she wrote about was a gazillion-dollar mansion with a moat! Plus, she’s estranged from her daughter, CC and granddaughter, Larkin and mired in a dead-end relationship with her boss.

Daniel is a man adrift since his son Timmy was killed in Afghanistan. He’s living on a houseboat in Florida with Timmy’s three-legged dog, Tripod and taking tourists out on fishing charters. But his life is on the edge. He’s painting his houseboat black, and he can’t stop thinking about “getting lost at sea.”

When Mary’s boss tells her he’s spending Christmas with his ex, she books a trip with her family to The Low Key Inn, a hotel on the edge of the Everglades. But things go wrong from the get-go. CC bails out of the vacation, and Mary is stuck with an unhappy Larkin. The hotel is dated and down-on-its-luck, and perhaps its owner is a witch. Then Mary meets Daniel, casts a hook into his head and wrecks his boat.

This is the story of how wounded people can help each other heal, how lost people can help each other find their way home. How life can become a love story…


Review:

Sweet, heartwarming, and tender!

Paradise Girls is an optimistic, engaging novel that takes us into the lives of three main characters. Mary, a kind-hearted young grandmother who, after her recent breakup with the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with, decides to embark on a little getaway to regroup and discover what she truly desires. Daniel, a divorced father who, after losing his only son in Afghanistan, decides to lead a simpler life involving a houseboat and his late son’s three-legged dog, Tripod. And Ollie, a widow who is just beginning to struggle with her love for a dilapidated inn and her need for something more.

The prose is sweet and reflective. The characters are caring, supportive, and generous. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, loss, family, friendship, generosity, self-discovery, support, consideration, happiness, taking chances, companionship, new love, and the intricacies of mother-daughter relationships.

Overall, Paradise Girls is a cosy, charming, uplifting debut by Gingras with its small-town charm, endearing characters, heartfelt storyline, and reminder of how important it is at any age to find that place that truly feels like home.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to SMP Romance – St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sandy Gingras

Sandy Gingras is the author and illustrator of over twenty gift books. She’s also published fiction, poetry and narrative non-fiction, and she won the Debut Dagger Award for mystery writing in 2012, for her story Beached. She’s designed hundreds of products for national stationery companies and owns two retail stores of her own. She lives on an island six miles out to sea in a happy cottage on the bay with her husband and a dog named Turtle. Paradise Girls is her debut novel.

Photo Credit: Sandy Gingras