Vacation!

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My husband and I are on vacation with drinks in hand and a good book by a pool. 
I will be back in September to tell you all about the books that I read on vacation!

Review: Closer Than You Think by Lee Maguire

Closer Than You Think

by Lee Maguire

Publisher: TCK Publishing

Pages: 314

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Meet Bryce Davison, a gifted psychologist who can heal any troubled mind—except his own. 

You see, Bryce’s life is falling apart. His marriage is crumbling. His insomnia brings only half-sleep and troubled dreams—visions of dark and buried memories he’d rather forget or ignore completely. And the new female patient in his psych ward just might be more trouble than he’s able to cope with. 

…and now he has a stalker. 

Somebody’s been watching Bryce for a long time. Somebody who knows his life inside and out—his fears, his regrets, his greatest longings and deepest despairs. Somebody with access to his most private places—his workplace, his home, his family…anywhere Bryce might have felt safe. 

They do their dirty work in the shadows… and they want Bryce Davison dead. 

So Bryce has got to get his life together. To save his patients. To save his family. To save his marriage…and his life. 

Because no matter how close Bryce gets to the deadly truth, the enigmatic stalker is always closer than he thinks. 

Kritters Thoughts:  Bryce Davison is a psychologist who specialities lie in those who are really battling mental illness, but he is usually one step removed from the patient instead coaching the therapist who work straight with the patient.  When strange occurrences start happening in his own life he starts to question everything.

This book was interesting because it was almost an insider look into a mental hospital but through the lenses of the therapists and doctors and not the patients.  The action is happening to the therapists and doctors which made this so different than books I have previously read that take place in this sort of setting.

The ending was completely foreshadowed, but I read right by the clues.  This is one of those books that you almost want to read again, just to see the clues that you missed and if you could have come to the conclusion faster.  I love these books that make me shake my head at myself!

This is the first in a series and I just might to keep my eyes peeled for book two to see where this will go.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 34 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TCK Publishing.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Women of the Copper County by Mary Doria Russell

The Women of the Copper County

by Mary Doria Russell

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 352

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In July 1913, twenty-five-year-old Annie Clements had seen enough of the world to know that it was unfair. She’s spent her whole life in the copper-mining town of Calumet, Michigan where men risk their lives for meager salaries—and had barely enough to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. The women labor in the houses of the elite, and send their husbands and sons deep underground each day, dreading the fateful call of the company man telling them their loved ones aren’t coming home. When Annie decides to stand up for herself, and the entire town of Calumet, nearly everyone believes she may have taken on more than she is prepared to handle.

In Annie’s hands lie the miners’ fortunes and their health, her husband’s wrath over her growing independence, and her own reputation as she faces the threat of prison and discovers a forbidden love. On her fierce quest for justice, Annie will discover just how much she is willing to sacrifice for her own independence and the families of Calumet.


Kritters Thoughts:  I have heard so much about this author before going into this book and maybe my expectations were a little on the high side, so this book didn't work for me, but it could totally be me!  To warn I can't avoid spoilers in this review, so beware!

It is 1913 and in a copper mining town in Michigan and Annie Clements is known to be a large woman and when she decides to become a part of the fight for the union she becomes even bigger - a symbol.  

The forming of the union and the fight against a large company was very interesting.  I was waiting the whole book for an incident to happen in the mine and it didn't!  Instead it happens at a party and it was very hard to read and for me sent the book in a different direction that I didn't completely love.  I understand that this historical fact, but the build up for me just didn't seem to work with the ending.  

Russell's writing was good, but for me didn't seem outstanding compared to the rave reviews I had heard before reading the book.  This book didn't stand out as a historical fiction book that I would set above any of the others.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 33 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Accidentals by Minrose Gwin

The Accidentals

by Minrose Gwin

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 416

Format: book

Buy the Book: HarperCollins

Goodreads:  In the fall of 1957, Olivia McAlister is living in Opelika, Mississippi, caring for her two girls, June and Grace, and her husband, Holly. She dreams of living a much larger life--seeing the world and returning to her wartime job at a landing boat factory in New Orleans. As she watches over the birds in her yard, Olivia feels like an “accidental”—a migratory bird blown off course.

When Olivia becomes pregnant again, she makes a fateful decision, compelling Grace, June, and Holly to cope in different ways. While their father digs up the backyard to build a bomb shelter, desperate to protect his family, Olivia’s spinster sister tries to take them all under her wing. But the impact of Olivia’s decision reverberates throughout Grace’s and June’s lives. Grace, caught up in an unconventional love affair, becomes one of the “girls who went away” to have a baby in secret. June, guilt-ridden for her part in exposing Grace’s pregnancy, eventually makes an unhappy marriage. Meanwhile Ed Mae Johnson, an African-American care worker in a New Orleans orphanage, is drastically impacted by Grace’s choices.

As the years go by, their lives intersect in ways that reflect the unpredictable nature of bird flight that lands in accidental locations—and the consolations of imperfect return.


Kritters Thoughts:  June and Grace are sisters and their lives change when their mother makes a decision that sends both of their lives down a different path.  Without a mother at a young age, both girls make life choices that could have been different had their mother stayed in their lives til they were older.  Grace gets pregnant at a young age and has to deal with those consequences and June is caught up in Grace's drama and has some of her own!  

I love a story that spans many years and centers around how one generations decisions impacts future generations.  June and Grace react in very different ways to the death of their mother and then to see that impact others was very entertaining.  

Told through multiple points of view, I enjoyed seeing a fuller picture of the story from the lens of quite a few people.  There are even two external to the family that narrate and that was so interesting to read their chapters.  I have to admit I was nervous/sad that neither June nor Grace narrate the last chapter, but in the end I can say it worked and I was glad to have resolution to that minor plot line (sorry vague, no spoilers!)

I loved Minrose Gwin's ability to really send the reader back to place and time.  I felt swept up in the late 50s in the south and the way she progressed the story through time seemed seamless.  I am intrigued to read The Queen of Palmyra as it seems similar to this story with a distinct setting and an interesting plot to follow.  


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

My Birthday!

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Today is my birthday!  I am taking it off to spend a day by the pool with a good book!

Review: Relative Fortunes by Marlowe Benn

Relative Fortunes

by Marlowe Benn

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 320

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In 1924 Manhattan, women’s suffrage is old news. For sophisticated booklover Julia Kydd, life’s too short for politics. With her cropped hair and penchant for independent living, Julia wants only to launch her own new private press. But as a woman, Julia must fight for what’s hers—including the inheritance her estranged half brother, Philip, has challenged, putting her aspirations in jeopardy.

When her friend’s sister, Naomi Rankin, dies suddenly of an apparent suicide, Julia is shocked at the wealthy family’s indifference toward the ardent suffragist’s death. Naomi chose poverty and hardship over a submissive marriage and a husband’s control of her money. Now, her death suggests the struggle was more than she could bear.

Julia, however, is skeptical. Doubtful of her suspicions, Philip proposes a glib wager: if Julia can prove Naomi was in fact murdered, he’ll drop his claims to her wealth. Julia soon discovers Naomi’s life was as turbulent and enigmatic as her death. And as she gets closer to the truth, Julia sees there’s much more at stake than her inheritance…

Kritters Thoughts:  I am typically a huge fan of mystery/thrillers and a huge fan of historical fiction, so when I was pitched this book where both are in one book I was very excited to read and review it.  Unfortunately, putting both in this book didn't work and I think maybe the author was trying to accomplish too much between these covers.

For me the mystery didn't hold up, but I enjoyed the historical aspects of it much better.  Every time the book took more of a focus on the mystery, I lost interest and had a hard time paying attention.  I wish that there was more of a plot driver than the mystery in this book.  I was glad to read I wasn't in the minority when I finished reading the book and went to go check out some reviews and many agreed with me.  

The characters were great and they were what drove me through this book.  They made me care enough to know what was going to happen and got me to finish the book.  I loved learning about the lack of rights women had beyond just the vote but the ability to manage their own futures, especially when they didn't have a husband and were trying to just live and let live.  

I hate to be a negative nancy about a book and try to avoid it in general, but this book just didn't cut it for me and even put me in a reading rut, which rarely happens to me!


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Little Bird Publicity.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

Keeping Lucy

by T. Grenewood

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Pages: 320

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Dover, Massachusetts, 1969. Ginny Richardson's heart was torn open when her baby girl, Lucy, born with Down Syndrome, was taken from her. Under pressure from his powerful family, her husband, Ab, sent Lucy away to Willowridge, a special school for the “feeble-minded." Ab tried to convince Ginny it was for the best. That they should grieve for their daughter as though she were dead. That they should try to move on. 

But two years later, when Ginny's best friend, Marsha, shows her a series of articles exposing Willowridge as a hell-on-earth--its squalid hallways filled with neglected children--she knows she can't leave her daughter there. With Ginny's six-year-old son in tow, Ginny and Marsha drive to the school to see Lucy for themselves. What they find sets their course on a heart-racing journey across state lines—turning Ginny into a fugitive.

For the first time, Ginny must test her own strength and face the world head-on as she fights Ab and his domineering father for the right to keep Lucy.


Kritters Thoughts:  Historical fiction could possibly be my favorite genre and this book proves my love.  To learn about something while being entertained is ideal!  In Massachusetts in 1969, Ginny Richardson has married into a wealthy family with expectations for each of the members.  When she births a child that is less than perfect, she is taken away and Ginny starts living a new normal.  It is brought to her attention two years later that the place that she thought was raising her daughter right is a hell hole and she sets off on an adventure that she didn't think she could even do.

I adored this book.  The characters, the story, the adventure - they were all so good.  I read this book in one day because I just couldn't put it down, I wanted to know what was going to happen next.  Ginny and her best friend Marsha were pure fun.  The road trip adventure was so fun to follow with two children and two single ladies driving south in hopes that Ginny can get to know her daughter and possibly fight to get to keep her.  

I was such a fan of this story and the writing.  It was my first T Greenwood read and I am intrigued to check out some of her backlist very soon.


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 32 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from St Martin's Press.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Because You're Mine by Rea Frey

Because You're Mine

by Rea Frey

Publisher: St Martin's

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  But it’s the lies that keep you safe. 

Single mother Lee has the daily routine down to a science: shower in six minutes. Cut food into perfect squares. Never leave her on-the-spectrum son Mason in someone else’s care. She’ll do anything—anything—to keep his carefully constructed world from falling apart. Do anything to keep him safe.

But when her best friend Grace convinces her she needs a small break from motherhood to recharge her batteries, Lee gives in to a weekend trip. Surely a long weekend away from home won’t hurt?
Noah, Mason’s handsome, bright, charismatic tutor—the first man in ages Lee’s even noticed—is more than happy to stay with him.

Forty-eight hours later, someone is dead.

But not all is as it seems. Noah may be more than who he claims to be. Grace has a secret—one that will destroy Lee. Lee has secrets of her own that she will do anything to keep hidden.
As the dominoes begin to fall and the past comes to light, perhaps it's no mystery someone is gone after all…

Kritters Thoughts:  With a prologue with a tragic death, it was easy to get into this book and earn to know more and from beginning to end I couldn't put it down and read in a few sittings all in one day!  A group of four women go on a girls trip and one dies during the trip.  Within this group of four are two single moms who value each other's friendship more than anything.  

With secrets and a prologue this book had the beginnings of a book that would drive me crazy BUT the secrets are revealed less than half way through and the prologue's hints come soon after and then the second half of this book is the what happens after AND I loved that.  I love when "shit hits the fan" and then you get the story afterwards.  

I also loved the characters in this story.  They felt so rich and real and I was invested in all of them.  I wish I had made a chart at the beginning to remember who belonged to whom, but the cast wasn't crazy big so I figured it all out in the end.  Each character had drama, but it didn't feel like soap opera drama, it felt real and plausible.   

I can't wait to read another by Rea Frey.  With great story and great characters, this was a solid read.  


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 32 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from St Martin's Press.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Farm by Joanne Ramos

The Farm

by Joanne Ramos

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 327

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Nestled in the Hudson Valley is a sumptuous retreat boasting every amenity: organic meals, private fitness trainers, daily massages—and all of it for free. In fact, you get paid big money—more than you've ever dreamed of—to spend a few seasons in this luxurious locale. The catch? For nine months, you belong to the Farm. You cannot leave the grounds; your every move is monitored. Your former life will seem a world away as you dedicate yourself to the all-consuming task of producing the perfect baby for your überwealthy clients.

Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines and a struggling single mother, is thrilled to make it through the highly competitive Host selection process at the Farm. But now pregnant, fragile, consumed with worry for her own young daughter's well-being, Jane grows desperate to reconnect with her life outside. Yet she cannot leave the Farm or she will lose the life-changing fee she'll receive on delivery—or worse.

Kritters Thoughts:  From reading the synopsis, I thought this book was going to be a little dystopian with The Farm being the new way that women have babies, but it wasn't as dystopian feeling as I wanted it to be.  Instead it was a weird take on surrogacy that kept me feeling icky the whole time.  

Jane is an immigrant and after a disastrous time as a nanny she finds herself in desperate need for a job.  Her cousin refers her to The Farm where she will go and live and become a surrogate for a wealthy person who is unable for one reason or another to carry her own child - all expenses paid but this will take her away from her home and her own child.  Jane agrees and she ends up in dormitory living with other surrogates and things get weird!  

This was an interesting concept for a book and for most of it it worked.  There were some moments were I was shaking my head not understanding the reasoning for one scene or another, but overall it worked.  

I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would because of my previous comment that I was hoping for a good dystopian feel.  For the life of me, can't remember exactly how dystopia I was imagining, but I had preconceived thoughts and it didn't quite rise to it.  I would read another by this author because the characters were interesting and wanting to know where they would end up kept me reading until the end.  


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 31 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Random House.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

July - heart/heat of summer

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July was a sad reading month for me. It is the heart of the summer, but it has been a busy summer. There is a large work project looming for the end of September and many of my extra hours are being devoted to that and sleep! I hope with my birthday in August and a good vacation that August is a better reading month!

1. Dining with the Dollar Diva by Elizabeth Fisher
2. Bethlehem by Karen Kelly
3. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
4. Everything is Just Fine by Brett Paesel
5. The Great Pretenders by Laura Kalpakian
6. Roar by Cecelia Ahern
7. Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird
8. Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen
9. A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell
10. Bad Axe County by John Galligan
11. False Step by Victoria Helen Stone
12. The Farm by Joanne Ramos


Total pages read, clicked and flipped:  4,003

Where having I been Reading?:
Pennsylvania
Los Angeles, CA (3)
New York City, NY
Hamptons
Denver, CO
Wisconsin

Review: False Step by Victoria Helen Stone

False Step

by Victoria Helen Stone

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 280

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Stay calm, keep smiling, and watch your step. In this marriage of secrets and lies, nothing is what it seems.

For days, all of Denver, Colorado, has worried over the fate of a missing child, little Tanner Holcomb. Then, a miracle: handsome, athletic Johnny Bradley finds him, frightened but unharmed, on a hiking trail miles from his wealthy family’s mountain home.

In a heartbeat, his rescuer goes from financially strapped fitness trainer to celebrated hero. The heat of the spotlight may prove too much for Johnny’s picture-perfect family, however. His wife, Veronica, despises the pressure of the sudden fame, afraid that secrets and bitter resentments of her marriage may come to light. And she’s willing to do anything to keep them hidden.

But when a shocking revelation exposes an even darker side to Tanner’s disappearance, Veronica realizes that nothing in her life can be trusted. And everything should be feared.

Kritters Thoughts:  Johnny and Veronica have been mostly happily married for a few years, but there are definitely secrets within this marriage.  Those secrets and others get exposed when Johnny becomes a local hero by finding a lost boy while on a hike and this event will change their lives forever.  

This book is less about the kidnapping and more about the after affects of a couple becoming somewhat famous.  I really had to stop and think about how I would personally react and also how my life could change around me if this happened to me. The likelihood of this actually happening is rare, but really made me stop and think about what reactions I would have.

The book takes an interesting twist and I will of course keep that to myself and it was just ok for me.  I was just on the fence about where it ended up going, it was just a pair of shruggie shoulders.  

I would read this author again, but would definitely make sure that I was into the plot.  


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Little Bird Publicity.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Great Pretenders by Laura Kalpakian

The Great Pretenders

by Laura Kalpakian

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 400

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  The daughter of Hollywood royalty, Roxanne Granville is used to getting what she wants--even if she has to break the rules. But after a falling-out with her grandfather, a powerful movie mogul, she has to face life on her own for the first time....

Roxanne forges a career unique for women in the 1950s, becoming an agent for hungry young screenwriters. She struggles to be taken seriously by the men who rule Hollywood and who often assume that sexual favors are just a part of doing business. When she sells a script by a blacklisted writer under the name of a willing front man, more exiled writers seek her help. Roxanne wades into a world murky with duplicity and deception, and she can't afford any more risks.

Then she meets Terrence Dexter, a compelling African American journalist unlike anyone she's ever known. Roxanne again breaks the rules, and is quickly swept up in a passionate relationship with very real dangers that could destroy everything she's carefully built.

Roxanne Granville is a woman who bravely defies convention. She won't let men make all the rules, and won't let skin color determine whom she can love. 


Kritters Thoughts:  Roxanne Granville is the granddaughter of Hollywood legends and after the recent passing of her grandmother she is trying to decide what is next for herself and that includes a job, but what should she do with a name like Granville.  Roxanne becomes an agent for writers in hopes of finding the next Casablanca!  

I liked this book, but didn't love it.  This may sound weird, but it felt like a constant name drop.  The author just kept throwing names and things at the reader and I didn't feel like I got to know any of those famous people or even the infamous ones.  I liked that Roxanne was entering a field that was dominated by men and even though she threw her famous grandparents names around, she got to do good work and pave the path for future women.  Roxanne was a great character to follow in this story, but she was the only one with true depth.

There have been a lot of behind the scenes of old Hollywood stories that I have read that I loved and this one just fell a little short compared to the others.  I wouldn't count this author out, I would read another one by her, but I hope that she would spend more time on the supporting characters no matter if they are real or fiction.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley PRH.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Bad Axe County by John Galligan

Bad Axe County

by John Galligan

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 336

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Fifteen years ago, Heidi White’s parents were shot to death on their Bad Axe County farm. The police declared it a murder-suicide and closed the case. But that night, Heidi found the one clue she knew could lead to the truth—if only the investigators would listen.

Now Heidi White is Heidi Kick, wife of local baseball legend Harley Kick and mother of three small children. She’s also the interim sheriff in Bad Axe. Half the county wants Heidi elected but the other half will do anything to keep her out of law enforcement. And as a deadly ice storm makes it way to Bad Axe, tensions rise and long-buried secrets climb to the surface.

As freezing rain washes out roads and rivers flood their banks, Heidi finds herself on the trail of a missing teenaged girl. Clues lead her down twisted paths to backwoods stag parties, derelict dairy farms, and the local salvage yard—where the body of a different teenage girl has been carefully hidden for a decade.

As the storm rages on, Heidi realizes that someone is planting clues for her to find, leading her to some unpleasant truths that point to the local baseball team and a legendary game her husband pitched years ago. With a murder to solve, a missing girl to save, and a monster to bring to justice, Heidi is on the cusp of shaking her community to its core—and finding out what really happened the night her parents died. 


Kritters Thoughts:  Heidi White left Bad Axe County with a bad taste in her mouth for the town.  When the sheriff dies she decides to return and be interim sherif and eventually run for the full time position.  This will greatly impact her family and will push her deep into the drama of this town.  

With a lot of characters and storylines, this book felt like it didn't have a focus.  If anything I was frustrated that the main focus of the synopsis Heidi's search for the killer of her parents seemed absent during most of the story and only showed up at the very end.  The rest of the story had this large cast of characters in this town dealing with all sorts of crazy shit.  It was too much.  

I always know I don't love a book when it takes me a long time to read it and this one felt like I was reading for a full week which is a long time for me.  If you are a reader who likes a large cast of characters going in all sorts of directions, then this could be the book for you.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 30 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.