#BookReview Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon @aharmon_author @AmazonPub #WheretheLostWander

#BookReview Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon @aharmon_author @AmazonPub #WheretheLostWander Title: Where the Lost Wander

Author: Amy Harmon

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Apr. 28, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 348

Format: Paperback

Source: Amazon Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.

The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.

But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.

When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually… make peace with who they are.


Review:

Enthralling, moving, and authentic!

Where the Lost Wander is an absorbing story that sweeps you away to 1853 and into the life of Naomi May, a young widow who along with her family embarks on a wagon train journey from St. Joseph, Missouri to California in the hopes of forming a new life. But the prairies are not easily passable, and between the landscape, the elements, disease, and Sioux warriors this adventure is fraught with danger and death from the outset and if not for the help and love of John “Two Feet” Lowry, a mule drive with a foot in both the white man and Pawnee world they would have had little hope for survival.

The writing is eloquent and vivid. The characters are resilient, devoted, and strong. And the plot is a harrowing tale about life, loss, hope, family, grief, culture, hardship, trust, violence, murder, and love.

Overall, Where the Lost Wander is a beautifully written, exceptionally atmospheric novel that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the feelings, personalities, and lives of the characters you can’t help but be affected. It is indisputably one of my favourite novels of the year that reminds us of the rugged beauty of this land we call home and a lifestyle that was savage yet harmonic and respectful.

This novel is available now.

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

             

 

 

Thank you to Amazon Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Amy Harmon

Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in eighteen languages, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.

Amy Harmon has written fourteen novels including the USA Today Bestsellers, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as The Law of Moses, Infinity + One and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her fantasy novel, The Bird and the Sword, was a Goodreads Book of the Year finalist. Her newest release, What the Wind Knows, is an Amazon charts bestseller.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview Dovetail by Karen McQuestion @KarenMcQuestion @AmazonPub @LUAuthors @ThomasAllenLTD #Dovetail

#BookReview Dovetail by Karen McQuestion @KarenMcQuestion @AmazonPub @LUAuthors @ThomasAllenLTD #Dovetail Title: Dovetail

Author: Karen McQuestion

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Mar. 10, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Thomas Allen & Son

Book Rating: 8/10

From the bestselling author of Hello Love comes a spellbinding new novel of enduring love, family secrets, and mysterious death.

Joe Arneson’s ordinary life is upended by troubling dreams of himself as a different man in another place and time. It isn’t until he visits his estranged grandmother, Pearl, in her Wisconsin hometown that a startling connection emerges.

Drawn into his family’s past, Joe discovers secrets weighing on the old woman’s soul: the tragic death of her sister Alice a half century ago and its ripple effect on all who loved her. Digging into the events of that summer in 1916, Joe is convinced that his recurrent visions relate to Alice’s untimely passing and to the beloved man she meant to marry. With the help of Kathleen, a local woman Joe’s fallen for, the puzzles of the past start falling into place.

As uncovered truths bring Joe and Kathleen closer together, they also reveal a new danger. For Joe’s dreams may be a warning—from one star-crossed couple to another.


Review:

Pensive, heartwarming, and mysterious!

Dovetail is a captivating, moving tale that takes us into the life of Joe Arneson, a young man who after years of struggling with tormented dreams finally gets some closure and relief after moving to a new town, forging a relationship with a grandmother he never knew existed, embarking on a blossoming new relationship, and uncovering tragic memories and long-buried family secrets from the past.

The prose is fluid and smooth. The characters are troubled, complex, and genuine. And the plot, alternating between timelines and told from multiple perspectives is an absorbing tale of life, loss, love, family, guilt, grief, friendship, forgiveness, jealousy, obsession, and romance all interwoven with a thread of magical realism.

Overall, Dovetail is a compelling, thought-provoking, emotional novel by McQuestion that reminds us that often even the little choices we make often have far-reaching consequences, and sometimes, perhaps, things are truly just fated to happen. 

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Thomas Allen & Son for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Karen McQuestion

Karen McQuestion is a bestselling author who writes for adults, teens, and kids. Some of her titles include Hello Love, Life on Hold, The Long Way Home, and the Edgewood series.

Her books have been translated into German, Spanish, Polish, Korean, Turkish, and Czech and are available internationally in English.

All told, her books have sold over a million copies.

Her publishing story has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and on NPR. She has also appeared on ABC’s World News Now and America This Morning. McQuestion lives with her family in Hartland, Wisconsin.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview Braised Pork by An Yu @groveatlantic @PGCBooks

#BookReview Braised Pork by An Yu @groveatlantic @PGCBooks Title: Braised Pork

Author: An Yu

Published by: Grove Press on Apr. 14, 2020

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 240

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 7/10

One morning in autumn, Jia Jia walks into the bathroom of her Beijing apartment to find her husband – with whom she had been breakfasting barely an hour before – dead in the bathtub. Next to him a piece of paper unfolds like the wings of a butterfly, and on it is an image that Jia Jia can’t forget.

Profoundly troubled by what she has seen, even while she is abruptly released from a marriage that had constrained her, Jia Jia embarks on a journey to discover the truth of the sketch. Starting at her neighbourhood bar, with its brandy and vinyl, and fuelled by anger, bewilderment, curiosity and love, Jia Jia travels deep into her past in order to arrive at her future.

Braised Pork is a cinematic, often dreamlike evocation of nocturnal Beijing and the high plains of Tibet, and an exploration of myth-making, loss, and a world beyond words, which ultimately sees a young woman find a new and deeper sense of herself.


Review:

Unique, mesmerizing, and reflective!

Braised Pork is a short but mystifyingly lush tale about a young, vulnerable widow, Jia Jia whose life is irrevocably changed, upheaved, and somewhat freed when her husband suddenly dies and leaves behind a sketch of a “fish-man” figure.

The prose is elegant and expressive. The imagery is gritty and vivid. And the plot is a spiritual journey into the true meaning and importance of life, love, and death.

Braised Pork as a whole is a beautifully crafted tale that is perplexing, immersive, melancholic, and pensive, and yet when I finished the final page I was, unfortunately, left feeling a little flat and unfulfilled.

 

This book is available now.

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

       

 

 

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

 

About An Yu

An Yu (安於) was born and raised in Beijing, and spent parts of her life studying and working in London, New York, and Paris. She received her M.F.A. from New York University. Her first novel, Braised Pork, was published by Harvill Secker in January 2020, Grove Atlantic in April 2020 (US), and forthcoming in six other languages worldwide.

She currently lives in Beijing.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview After All (Cape Harbor #1) by Heidi McLaughlin @HeidiJoVT @AmazonPub @ThomasAllenLTD #CapeHarbor

#BookReview After All (Cape Harbor #1) by Heidi McLaughlin @HeidiJoVT @AmazonPub @ThomasAllenLTD #CapeHarbor Title: After All

Author: Heidi McLaughlin

Series: Cape Harbor #1

Published by: Montlake Romance on Mar. 24, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: Thomas Allen & Son

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From New York Times bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin comes a heartfelt story about overcoming great loss and forgiving past sins to find happiness again.

Brooklyn Hewett hasn’t set foot in Cape Harbor for fifteen years—not since an accident claimed the love of her life, Austin Woods. Desperate to move forward, Brooklyn has focused on raising her daughter for the past fourteen years. But when the opportunity comes along to renovate the old Driftwood Inn, Brooklyn knows it’s time to go home.

But it won’t be easy. For one, Austin’s best friend, Bowie Holmes, still lives in Cape Harbor. Brooklyn hasn’t quite been able to forget him: not since the night they spent together—the same night they both lost Austin. Separated by tragedy and guilt, they’re brought together by the Driftwood project. And as they rebuild the inn, they discover they’re also rebuilding something else.

Brooklyn’s always been desperate to move on, not knowing that she first needs to reconcile past transgressions. She can’t forget, but she can forgive—Austin, Bowie, and herself—on her way toward long-awaited happiness.


Review:

Moving, uplifting, and sweet!

After All is an engaging, heartwarming tale that brings together the independent, single mom Brooklyn and the hardworking, patient Bowie as they discover that beneath all the past miscommunication, secrets, and heartbreak is an unconditional friendship and love that is still smouldering after fifteen years of absence.

The prose is emotive and sincere. The characters are hesitant, dependable, and endearing. And the plot is a tender tale brimming with relationship dynamics, introspection, parenthood, acceptance, forgiveness, love, romance, family, community, and new beginnings.

Overall, After All is an intimate, optimistic, bittersweet tale by McLaughlin that has characters you can’t help but root for and a happy-ever-after ending that leaves you eager for more.

 

This book is available now.

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

              

 

 

Thank you to Thomas Allen & Son for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Heidi McLaughlin

Heidi McLaughlin is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of The Beaumont Series, The Boys of Summer, and The Archers.

Originally, from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband, two daughters, and their three dogs.

In 2012, Heidi turned her passion for reading into a full-fledged literary career, writing over twenty novels, including the acclaimed Forever My Girl.

When writing isn’t occupying her time, you can find her sitting courtside at either of her daughters’ basketball games.

Heidi’s first novel, Forever My Girl, has been adapted into a motion picture with LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, starring Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe, and opened in theaters on January 19, 2018.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier @JenniferHillier @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers

#BookReview Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier @JenniferHillier @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers Title: Little Secrets

Author: Jennifer Hillier

Published by: Minotaur Books on Apr. 21, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 10/10

From the author of Jar of Hearts, a mother driven to the edge by the disappearance of her son learns her husband is having an affair with the woman who might have kidnapped him.
Four hundred and eighty seconds. That’s how long it took for someone to steal Marin Machado’s four-year-old son.

Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They’re admired in their community and are a loving family. Up until the day Sebastian is taken.

A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak. The only thing keeping her going is the unlikely chance that one day Sebastian reappears. She hires a P.I. to pick up where the police left off, but instead of finding him, she discovers that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman.

Kenzie Li is an artist and grad student—Instagram famous—and up to her eyeballs in debt. She knows Derek is married. She also knows he’s rich, and dating him comes with perks: help with bills, trips away, expensive gifts. He isn’t her first rich boyfriend, but she finds herself hoping he’ll be the last. She’s falling for him—and that was never part of the plan.

Discovery of the affair sparks Marin back to life. She’s lost her son; she’s not about to lose her husband, too. Kenzie is an enemy with a face, which means this is a problem Marin can fix. But as she sets a plan in motion, another revelation surfaces. Derek’s lover might know what happened to their son. And so might Derek.


Review:

Intricate, chilling, and brilliantly plotted!

Little Secrets is a highly suspenseful, domestic thriller that delves into the psychological and emotional devastation caused by the disappearance of a child and highlights the resulting finger-pointing, fragility and dynamics between friends, family members, and spouses it ultimately triggers.

The writing is edgy and tight. The characters are troubled, complex, and secretive. And the plot alternating between timelines, before-and-after the incident, builds quickly as it twists, turns, shocks, surprises, and unravels all the behaviours, motivations, personalities, and relationships within it.

Little Secrets at its core is a novel about family, friendship, secrets, manipulation, coercion, greed, obsession, kidnapping, lust, and infidelity. It’s a highly suspenseful, absorbing tale that highlights everything is not always as it seems and is without a doubt one of the most gripping page-turners you won’t want to miss.

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 – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jennifer Hillier

JENNIFER HILLIER was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, lived in the Seattle area for years, and has just moved back to Toronto with her husband and son. Jennifer is the author of Wonderland, Creep, and Jar of Hearts.

Photograph by Darren Blohowiak.

#BookReview Highland Sword (Royal Highlander #3) by May McGoldrick @MayMcGoldrick @smpromance #HighlandSword #smpromance

#BookReview Highland Sword (Royal Highlander #3) by May McGoldrick @MayMcGoldrick @smpromance #HighlandSword #smpromance Title: Highland Sword

Author: May McGoldrick

Series: Royal Highlander #3

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Mar. 31, 2020

Genres: Historical Romance

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 7.5/10

Scottish pride, persuasion, and passion—this is Highland romance at its breathtaking best. From USA Today bestselling author May McGoldrick comes Highland Sword, the third book in the Royal Highlander series.

A VOW FOR VENGEANCE
Fleeing to the Highlands after her father’s murder, fiery Morrigan Drummond has a score to settle with Sir Rupert Burney, the English spymaster responsible for his death. Trained to fight alongside the other rebels determined to break Britain’s hold on Scotland, she swears to avenge her father’s death—until a chance encounter with a barrister as proud and principled as she is presents her with a hard choice…and a bittersweet temptation.

A PLEA FOR PASSION
Aidan Grant has never encountered another woman like dangerous beauty Morrigan—and he has the bruises to prove it. Yet she could be the key to defending two innocent men, as well as striking a death blow to the reprehensible Burney. Convincing Morrigan to help him will take time, but Aidan is willing to wait if it means victory over corrupt government forces and freedom for his people…and Morrigan’s hand in marriage. Can two warriors committed to a cause stand down long enough to open their hearts to a love fierce enough to last…forever?


Review:

Spirited, intricate, and suspenseful!

Highland Sword is set in the Scottish Highlands during 1820 and features the fiery, resolute Morrigan Drummond, a loyal relative of the heir to the Scottish throne who is bound and determined to revenge the death of her father no matter the cost and with or without the help of the handsome, barrister Aidan Grant.

The prose is authentic and precise. The characters are intelligent, focused, and driven. And the plot is a push-pull tale full of family drama, political intrigue, historical facts, retribution, action, adventure, danger, and romance.

Overall, Highland Sword is an engaging, meticulous, entertaining read by McGoldrick that in my opinion could have used just a little more heat, but is nevertheless still a highly satisfying finale to the Royal Highlander series.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following link.

                 

 

 

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

 

About May McGoldrick

Authors Nikoo and Jim McGoldrick (writing as May McGoldrick) weave emotionally satisfying tales of love and danger. Publishing under the names of May McGoldrick and Jan Coffey, these authors have written more than thirty novels and works of nonfiction for Penguin Random House, Mira, HarperCollins, Entangled, and Heinemann. Nikoo, an engineer, also conducts frequent workshops on writing and publishing and serves as a Resident Author. Jim holds a Ph.D. in Medieval and Renaissance literature and teaches English in northwestern Connecticut. They are the authors of Much ado about Highlanders, Taming the Highlander, and Tempest in the Highlands with SMP Swerve.

Photography by Loghan Rose Photography.

#BookReview Die Next by Jonathan Stone @jonstonebooks @GrandCentralPub @HBGCanada #DieNext

#BookReview Die Next by Jonathan Stone @jonstonebooks @GrandCentralPub @HBGCanada #DieNext Title: Die Next

Author: Jonathan Stone

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Apr. 14, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 7.5/10

From bestselling author Jonathan Stone comes a pulse-pounding thriller for the digital age that will make you question everything that you have ever saved on your phone.

In a crowded coffee shop, Zack Yellin swaps identical-looking cell phones with the businessman next to him. It’s an honest mistake-and a deadly one. Because the “businessman” is actually a professional-and highly volatile-hit man named Joey Richter, and his phone is filled with bombshell evidence.

If Zack takes Joey’s phone to the police, will they believe his swapped cell phone story? Would they even be able to protect him? Because the hit man now has Zack’s phone with the phone numbers and addresses of Zack’s new girlfriend Emily, his best friend Steve, and all the texts and information from Zack’s life.

Whether Zack keeps the phone or ditches it, Joey will kill him for what he now knows. In cat-and-mouse twists, turns, and continually mounting terror, one thing is clear: Zack is next on the hit man’s list.


Review:

Propulsive, ominous, and entertaining!

Die Next is an action-packed, sinister tale that introduces us to Zack Yellin, an unmotivated, unemployed young man whose life is irrevocably changed when he accidentally swaps phones with a hired killer and ultimately puts not only his own life in danger but that of his girlfriend and best friend. 

The writing is sharp and crisp. The characters are impulsive, intelligent, and determined. And the plot is a gripping tale full of twists, turns, desperation, corruption, revenge, violence, and murder.

Overall, Die Next is a fast-paced, suspenseful, intense read by Stone that does a great job of highlighting just how quickly life can spin out of control based on the choices we make.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Jonathan Stone

Jonathan Stone, author of the Julian Palmer novels, is a graduate of Yale University, where he was a Scholar of the House in Fiction Writing and twice won the English Department's John Hubbard Curtis Prize for Best Imaginative Writing. He works in advertising and lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BlogTour #BookReview Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #DeathofanAmericanBeauty

#BlogTour #BookReview Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #DeathofanAmericanBeauty Title: Death of an American Beauty

Author: Mariah Fredericks

Series: Jane Prescott #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Apr. 14, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Death of an American Beauty is the third in Mariah Fredericks’s compelling series, set in Gilded Age New York, featuring Jane Prescott.

Jane Prescott is taking a break from her duties as lady’s maid for a week, and plans to begin it with attending the hottest and most scandalous show in town: the opening of an art exhibition, showcasing the cubists, that is shocking New York City.

1913 is also the fiftieth anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech, and the city’s great and good are determined to celebrate in style. Dolly Rutherford, heiress to the glamorous Rutherford’s department store empire, has gathered her coterie of society ladies to put on a play—with Jane’s employer Louise Tyler in the starring role as Lincoln himself. Jane is torn between helping the ladies with their costumes and enjoying her holiday. But fate decides she will do neither, when a woman is found murdered outside Jane’s childhood home—a refuge for women run by her uncle.

Deeply troubled as her uncle falls under suspicion and haunted by memories of a woman she once knew, Jane—with the help of old friends and new acquaintances, reporter Michael Behan and music hall pianist Leo Hirschfeld—is determined to discover who is making death into their own twisted art form.


Review:

Authentic, atmospheric, and mysterious!

In this latest novel by Fredericks, Death of an American Beauty, we head back to Manhattan during the early twentieth century and into the life of lady’s maid, Jane Prescott whose highly-anticipated vacation is suddenly turned upside down when a resident of her uncle’s refuge for reformed prostitutes is found viciously murdered, and the American Beauty Pagent is in urgent need of a last-minute seamstress.

The prose is meticulous and rich. The characters are independent, intelligent, and resourceful. And the plot is a well-paced whodunit full of amateur sleuthing, red herrings, suspects, deduction, familial dynamics, duty, friendship, secrets, racial inequality, sexism, romance, violence, and murder.

Death of an American Beauty is the third book in the Jane Prescott series, and if you love historical mysteries, this novel won’t disappoint. It is a menacing, entertaining, vivid tale that is certainly well worth a read.

 

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 – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Mariah Fredericks

Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives with her family. She is the author of several YA novels. Death of an American Beauty is her third novel to feature ladies' maid Jane Prescott.

 

#BookReview Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer @Kelrimmerwrites @HarlequinBooks @BookClubbish #TruthsINeverToldYou

#BookReview Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer @Kelrimmerwrites @HarlequinBooks @BookClubbish #TruthsINeverToldYou Title: Truths I Never Told You

Author: Kelly Rimmer

Published by: Harlequin Books on Apr. 14, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Harlequin Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From the bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say comes a poignant novel about the fault in memories and the lies that can bond a family together—or tear it apart.

With her father recently moved to a care facility for his worsening dementia, Beth Walsh volunteers to clear out the family home and is surprised to discover the door to her childhood playroom padlocked. She’s even more shocked at what’s behind it—a hoarder’s mess of her father’s paintings, mounds of discarded papers and miscellaneous junk in the otherwise fastidiously tidy house.

As she picks through the clutter, she finds a loose journal entry in what appears to be her late mother’s handwriting. Beth and her siblings grew up believing their mother died in a car accident when they were little more than toddlers, but this note suggests something much darker. Beth soon pieces together a disturbing portrait of a woman suffering from postpartum depression and a husband who bears little resemblance to the loving father Beth and her siblings know. With a newborn of her own and struggling with motherhood, Beth finds there may be more tying her and her mother together than she ever suspected.

Exploring the expectations society places on women of every generation, Kelly Rimmer explores the profound struggles two women unwittingly share across the decades set within an engrossing family mystery that may unravel everything they believed to be true.


Review:

Moving, mysterious, and absorbing!

Truths I Never Told You is an engaging, affecting story that immerses you into the lives of the Walsh family as they struggle to come to grips with an ailing father, a family home filled with nostalgia and secrets, a sister grappling with postpartum depression, and the real truth behind the life and loss of their mother Grace when they were children.

The writing is smooth and emotive. The characters are genuine, supportive, and multilayered. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a hopeful tale about life, loss, family, parenthood, mental illness, secrets, deception, introspection, forgiveness, and love.

Overall, Truths I Never Told You is a heartbreaking, touching, enlightening tale by Rimmer that reminds us life is too short for grievances, resentments, and regrets, and psychological disorders are very real concerns that should never be left untreated.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

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

 

About Kelly Rimmer

Kelly Rimmer is the worldwide and USA TODAY bestselling author of five novels, including Me Without You and The Secret Daughter. She lives in rural Australia with her husband, two children and fantastically naughty dogs Sully and Basil. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages.

#BookReview The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez @AuthorAbbyJim @HBGCanada @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #Forever20 #AbbyJimenez

#BookReview The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez @AuthorAbbyJim @HBGCanada @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #Forever20 #AbbyJimenez Title: The Happy Ever After Playlist

Author: Abby Jimenez

Published by: Forever on Apr. 14, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Friend Zone comes an adorable and fresh romantic comedy about one trouble-making dog who brings together two perfect strangers.

Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can’t seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a “take me home” look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker’s owner reaches out. He’s a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: He wants Tucker back.

Well, Sloan’s not about to give up her dog without a fight. But what if this Jason guy really loves Tucker? As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can’t deny a connection. Jason is hot and nice and funny. There’s no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: With his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?


Review:

Adorable, funny, and heartfelt!

The Happy Ever After Playlist is an amusing, heartwarming tale that takes us into the life of the vulnerable, grief-stricken Sloan Monroe as she struggles to move on from the heartwrenching loss of her fiance, endeavours to babysit a stray dog with a mind of his own, and navigates the ups and downs of falling in love with a rock star.

The prose is effortless and polished. The characterization is spot on with a cast of characters that are quirky, fun-loving, wary, and supportive. And the plot is an irresistible blend of humour, heart, hope, tender moments, family, friendship, tension, attraction, chemistry, self-discovery, happiness, taking chances, and the healing power of pets.

Overall, The Happy Ever After Playlist is pure magic. Jimenez’s debut, The Friend Zone was one of my favourite releases last year, and I am delighted to now add The Happy Ever After Playlist to the top of my must-read recommendations for 2020!

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez is a Food Network champion, motivational speaker, and contemporary romance novelist living in Minnesota. Abby founded Nadia Cakes out of her home kitchen in 2007. The bakery has since gone on to open multiple locations in two states, won numerous Food Network competitions and amassed an international cult following. Abby has since turned her talents to penning novels. She loves a good book, coffee, doglets, and not leaving the house.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.