Review: The Woman in Red by Diana Giovinazzo

The Woman in Red

by Diana Giovinazzo

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Destiny toys with us all, but Anita Garibaldi is a force to be reckoned with. Forced into marriage at a young age, Anita feels trapped in a union she does not want. But when she meets the leader of the Brazilian resistance, Giuseppe Garibaldi, in 1839, everything changes.

Swept into a passionate affair with the idolized mercenary, Anita's life is suddenly consumed by the plight to liberate Southern Brazil from Portugal -- a struggle that would cost thousands of lives and span almost ten bloody years. Little did she know that this first taste of revolution would lead her to cross oceans, traverse continents, and alter the course of her entire life -- and the world.

Kritters Thoughts: Anita Garibaldi was a woman trying to break the mold of what women were supposed to do in 1839.  Born in a time and place where women's worth was wrapped in their husbands, Anita wanted more.  In walks Giuseppe Garibaldi who is on a mission and doesn't mind if Anita is along for the ride and ends up so thankful that she is the woman beside him in battle.    

What I loved about this book was it took me to a different time and place than what I typically read.  With so many historical fiction books taking place during World War II, I could appreciate a read that took me somewhere else.  

While I appreciated the time and place for the story.  The writing for me fell short.  The writing felt stunted and staccato.  I couldn't get connected to the character due to the writing and it made the reading hard and I felt as though it slowed down my reading and not in a good way.

After finishing the book, I found out this was a debut, so I could try another from the author in hopes that I could get draw into her next one.

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.  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 Girls of August by Anne Rivers Siddons

The Girls of August

by Anne Rivers Siddons

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 223

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  For fifteen years, four "girls of August" would gather together to spend a week at the beach, until tragedy interrupts their ritual. Now they reunite for a startling week of discoveries.

The ritual began when they were in their twenties and their husbands were in medical school, and became a mainstay of every summer thereafter. Their only criteria was oceanfront and isolation, their only desire to strengthen their far-flung friendships. They called themselves the Girls of August. But when one of the Girls dies tragically, the group slowly drifts apart and their vacations together are brought to a halt.

Years later, a new marriage reunites them and they decide to come together once again on a remote barrier island off the South Carolina coast. There, far from civilization, the women uncover secrets that will change them in ways they never expected.

Kritters Thoughts:  Four friends get together every year for a girls getaway, but they end when one of the wives passes away suddenly.  A new wife enters the mix and she pushes the wives to try it again at a home that her family owns on Tiger Island, so they go and oh the drama that follows.

I love a story that revolves solely around friendship, especially female friendships.  I enjoyed the dichotomy of old friendships and new ones and how it can be hard to merge the two.  This book made me think about the females in my life and made me want to book a vacation with just some girls to get away!  

For me the book didn't end well.  I don't want to spoil, but I just didn't love how and where and when it concluded.  It felt as though it just stopped half way off a cliff and I just wanted a bit more to make it feel conclusive.  This wouldn't keep me from reading more from this author, I just hope the next one I read from her feels complete.  


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 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: What's Your Enneatype? by Liz Carver and Josh Green

What's Your Enneatype?

by Liz Carver and Josh Green

Publisher: Fair Winds Press

Pages: 176

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Pronounced ENN-EE-UH-GRAM, stemming from the Greek words ennea (nine) and grammos (a written symbol), the Enneagram is a centuries-old categorization tool that classifies human personalities into nine interconnected personality types. It is a powerful tool for self-observation, maximizing your strengths, and improving your relationships.​

Learn—through in-depth descriptions, illustrations, and more—how to assess how you think, feel, and experience life, so that you can correctly identify which of the nine types you are.
Type 1: The Improver/Reformer/Perfectionist (Life Strategy: "I must be perfect and do what is right.")
Type 2: The Helper/Giver/Befriender (Life Strategy: "I must be helping, caring, and needed.")
​Type 3: The Achiever/Performer/Motivator (Life Strategy: "I must be impressive and look accomplished and successful.")
​Type 4: The Individualist/Romantic/Artist (Life Strategy: "I must be understood uniquely as I am.")
​Type 5: The Investigator/Observer/Theorist (Life Strategy: "I must be knowledgeable and equipped.")
​Type 6: The Loyalist/Skeptic/Guardian (Life Strategy: "I must be secure and safe.")
​Type 7: The Enthusiast/Optimist/Epicurean (Life Strategy: "I must be enjoying myself and avoiding pain.")
Type 8: The Challenger/Protector/Advocate (Life Strategy: "I must be strong and outside the control of others.")
Type 9: The Peacemaker/Mediator/Reconciler (Life Strategy: "I must maintain peace and calm.")
Authors Liz Carver and Josh Green, creators of the hugely popular Instagram account @justmyenneatype, help you discover how knowing your type—and the types of those around you—can affect your daily life, your decisions, and your relationships with others, and how to use this wisdom to live life with more clarity, peace, and insight than you ever thought possible.

So what's your enneatype? Find out today and get started on the journey to better understand your world, yourself, and your place within it. 

Kritters Thoughts:  I am and have been for a long time a huge fan of the "personality type" genre of books and learning devices.  I love when I can learn more about myself and how I relate to others who are alike and different from me.  

I have read a few books about Enneagram and by far this one has become a favorite of mine.  The way they lay out how they will describe each type and the detail on each type is just outstanding.  I love that within each type they start with a generalization about the personality behind the type and then show positives and negatives and then the things that each type should do for self care.  This for me was of course interesting to read about my type, but was even more enjoyable for the types that are different from me.  I almost appreciated the chapters that I didn't define as myself more than the ones that hit close to home!  

I would recommend taking an enneagram test before reading this book, so you know your type and you can read all the chapters to see how you relate to each type, but really find the details about your own type.  

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 62 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: Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman

Paris Never Leaves You

by Ellen Feldman

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Pages: 368

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Living through WWII working in a Paris bookstore with her young daughter, Vivi, and fighting for her life, Charlotte is no victim, she is a survivor. But can she survive the next chapter of her life?

Alternating between wartime Paris and 1950s New York publishing, Paris Never Leaves You is an extraordinary story of resilience, love, and impossible choices, exploring how survival never comes without a cost.

The war is over, but the past is never past.

Kritters Thoughts:  Two time periods alternating in this story, but the years aren't that far apart.  Charlotte has lived through the unspeakable and in the current storyline is living in New York, working in publishing, and trying to raise her child without revealing secrets from her past.  In the past storyline, we are in the middle of the war and Charlotte is trying to do anything to stay alive in a bookstore where the enemy comes way to close for her comfort.

This was one of those books that I liked, but didn't love.  The thing that I loved most about the book was that the two storylines took place so close together, so you almost got a what happened after while also reading the story that took place during the war.  There are many times while reading stories, especially that take place during a war that end and I want to know more than what the book presents.  This book had the chance to answer the questions of what happens to a person after war interrupts their life. 

After finishing the book, I read the reviews and saw many comments about the love storylines and that they didn't feel authentic and I could agree.  They felt forced and in my opinion they didn't add so much to the full story.  There were aspects of them that were needed, but overall they were just ok.  

I liked this book and would read the next by this author.  If you like to read ALL the World War II books, then I would add this one to your TBR.

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 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.

Happy Birthday mom!

source

Sending a Happy Birthday to my mom who blogs over at Ope's Opinions 

and who is my favorite reading buddy!

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

It ended up being a busy work week, so the reading hours were limited.

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

Finished this past week:

The Woman in Red by Diana Giovinazzo

Atomic Love by Jennie Fields

The Search Party by Simon Lelic

Currently Reading:

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Next on the TBR pile:

The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen

July

source

July was a good month. It was busy and I feel as though I was distracted a bit and my reading suffered a bit because of it. Crossing fingers for a well read August!

1. The Shore House by Heidi Hostetter

2. A Bend in the Stars by Rachel Barenbaum

3. The Wright Sister by Patty Dunn

4. Blacktop Wasteland by SA Cosby

5. Wiving by Caitlin Myer

6. Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel

7. The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull

8. The Request by David Bell

9. Fragments of Light by Michele Phoenix

10. Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins

11. Wildflower Promises by Alys Murray

12. Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman

13. Hidden Bones by Vivian Barz

14. The Friendship List by Susan Mallery

15. The Engineer's Wife by Tracy Enerson Wood

16. The Woman in Red by Diana Giovinazzo

17. Atomic Love by Jennie Fields

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 5,836

Where having I been Reading?:

New Jersey

Russia

Kansas City, MO

Virginia

San Francisco, CA

Connecticut

Kentucky

Missouri

New Hampshire

Northern CA (2)

Washington State (2)

Chicago, IL

Review: Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins

Behind the Red Door

by Megan Collins 

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 320

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern’s husband is sure it’s because of Astrid’s famous kidnapping—and equally famous return—twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown. And when Astrid appears in Fern’s recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading, Fern fears that it’s not a dream at all, but a memory.

Back home in New Hampshire, Fern purchases a copy of Astrid’s recently published memoir—which may have provoked her original kidnapper to abduct her again—and as she reads through its chapters and visits the people and places within it, she discovers more evidence that she has an unsettling connection to the missing woman. As Fern’s search becomes increasingly desperate, she hopes to remember her past so she can save Astrid in the present…before it’s too late.

Kritters Thoughts:  Fern Douglas group in an interesting home.  With a father who studied fear and a mother who was an absent artist, Fern had the complete opposite childhood from me and because of that I was glued to the story from page one.  Fern is watching the news one evening and Astrid Sullivan has gone missing from her home in Maine, but this isn't the first time that Astrid has gone missing and the news story sparks something in Fern.  At the same time she is summoned home by her father to help him move and she goes running and oh what a story!

This book is a twist on the unreliable narrator, but partly because you can't trust the truth coming from Fern's parents.  Time and time again, I would find myself reading with my mouth open appalled at the style of parenting that Fern had as a child and still dealt with as an adult.  This book really highlights that there are many ways to parent!

I loved the inclusion of Astrid's recent release of her memoir.  I am so glad the author included because it added so much to the story.  To read the words that Fern was reading and see the exact words that were affecting her was so great.  Because Astrid can't help narrate the book, this gave Astrid the opportunity to tell her story.

What a great book.  I can't wait to see more from Megan Collins. 

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 72 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.

Review: The Request by David Bell

The Request

by David Bell 

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 416

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Ryan Francis has it all--great job, wonderful wife, beautiful child--and he loves posting photos of his perfect life on social media. Until the night his friend Blake asks him to break into a woman's home to retrieve incriminating items that implicate Blake in an affair. Ryan refuses to help, but when Blake threatens to reveal Ryan's darkest secret--which could jeopardize everything in Ryan's life--Ryan has no choice but to honor Blake's request.

When he arrives at the woman's home, Ryan is shocked to find her dead--and just as shocked to realize he knows her. Then his phone chimes, revealing a Facebook friend request from the woman. With police sirens rapidly approaching, Ryan flees, wondering why his friend was setting him up for murder.

Determined to keep his life intact and to clear his name, Ryan must find the real murderer--but solving the crime may lead him closer to home than he ever could have imagined. 

Kritters Thoughts:  How many hours a day or a week do you spend on social media?  Do you have the perfect profile and pages?  Do you envy others who seem to have the perfect life?  

This book combines great mystery thriller writing with the addition of social media and how that can impact both or our romantic relationships and friendships.  Ryan has the perfect life or so it seems via social media, he has wife, son and not one but two great jobs.  He has had a friend Blake since college and they have held onto a secret for just as long.  This secret could destroy a lot of things, so Ryan will do just about anything to keep it.

With extremely short chapters and a pacing that is ridiculous, I read this book in one day between three different sittings.  Each time I opened it, I couldn't put it down without consuming 100 pages!  

The characters in this story were great.  Each one felt so full and interesting.  No one was so unreliable that they felt ridiculous and out of place.  When each chapter ended I had a hard time putting it down and instead wanted to continue on to see where this story would end and ultimately find out who was at fault for all the things.  

My only critique of the book and its so small it seems silly to mention.  Ryan did a lot of driving in the book and was going here and there and a few times it felt unnatural for him to not stay put, but I could understand a few of them were needed to get certain plot points to happen, I would have just reworked a few of those moments.    

After finishing this book, I went to go figure out how many of David Bell's books I have read and was surprised to see I had only read two, but had rated both 5 out of 5 stars, so going to prioritize getting deep into his backlist.    

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 71 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley.  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.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

I had my mom visiting and although we are both big readers when you get us together we chat and don't read a thing!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Hidden Bones by Vivian Barz

The Friendship List by Susan Mallery

The Engineer's Wife by Tracy Enerson Wood

Currently Reading:

The Woman in Red by Diana Giovinazzo

Next on the TBR pile:

Atomic Love by Jennie Fields

Review: Fragments of Light by Michele Phoenix

Fragments of Light

by Michele Phoenix 

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Pages: 352

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Cancer stole everything from Ceelie—her peace of mind, her self-image, perhaps even her twenty-three-year marriage to her college sweetheart, Nate. Without the support of Darlene, her quirky elderly friend, she may not have been able to endure so much loss.

So when Darlene’s prognosis turns dire, Ceelie can’t refuse her seemingly impossible request—to find a WWII paratrooper named Cal, the father who disappeared when Darlene was an infant, leaving a lifetime of desolation in his wake.

The search that begins in the farmlands of Missouri eventually leads Ceelie to a small town in Normandy, where she uncovers the harrowing tale of the hero who dropped off-target into occupied France.

Alternating between Cal’s D-Day rescue by two young French sisters and Ceelie’s present-day journey through trial and heartbreak, Fragments of Light poses a timeless question: When life becomes unbearable, will you press toward the light or let the darkness win?

Kritters Thoughts:  Ceelie has just battled cancer and while cancer brought someone into her life, a new friend Darlene, it also broke her marriage into pieces.  While her marriage is crumbling, Darlene asks Ceelie for a very large favor to help her find the father that abandoned her and help her find peace before she dies.  Will this mission also help her marriage.  Interspersed throughout this story are chapters that take place back at the tail end of World War II around D-Day.  These chapters help give the back story to Darlene's father, but also leave the reader hanging in the best way possible.

I love a story that has a current storyline and a past in the same book.  I love when those stories connect, but when it takes a moment to find out how they really connect.  It was obvious that this storyline would be the connection to Darlene's father, but I was glad that it took some digging to find out all of the details.

Currently, I am avoiding books with bad marriages and cheating spouses, just not loving those books right now, so I was sad to read all the things that happened in this relationship and almost naively ignored that plot point of this book! 

I liked the writing and the characters in this book.  I would just avoid one of the plot points in the story.  I would read another by this author and may read one real soon!

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 Book 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.

Review: The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull

The Woman Before Wallis

by Bryn Turnbull 

Publisher: MIRA

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In the summer of 1926, when Thelma Morgan marries Viscount Duke Furness after a whirlwind romance, she’s immersed in a gilded world of extraordinary wealth and privilege. For Thelma, the daughter of an American diplomat, her new life as a member of the British aristocracy is like a fairy tale—even more so when her husband introduces her to Edward, Prince of Wales.

In a twist of fate, her marriage to Duke leads her to fall headlong into a love affair with Edward. But happiness is fleeting, and their love is threatened when Thelma’s sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, becomes embroiled in a scandal with far-reaching implications. As Thelma sails to New York to support Gloria, she leaves Edward in the hands of her trusted friend Wallis, never imagining the consequences that will follow.

Kritters Thoughts:  Did you know that there was another divorcee that stole Prince Edward's heart before Wallis?  This book is centered around Thelma Morgan who not only had a few heart breaks, but was also a twin to Gloria Vanderbilt.  

The story follows Thelma in the ups and downs of her love life while also trying to support her sister as she fights for custody of her daughter against a nanny, her former sister in law and her mother.  It was so full with Thelma's own life journey and then to add in her sister's story the book was deep but very interesting.

When I read historical fiction, I love it when I learn something new.  Before reading this book I was very aware of the Vanderbilt custody battle and Wallis Simpson, but I had no idea that they had a connection due to one woman - Thelma.  I also appreciated knowing that there was more than one Wallis in the world at this time.  Wallis Simpson has always had a bad reputation in my mind because she was the woman that altered the monarch, but it easily could have been Thelma who lived in infamy!

I loved this book and wanted more and more and more.  After finishing this book, I was sad and excited to find out this was a debut because there is no backlist to dive into, but there is hope for so much more from this author.     

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 70 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Harlequin.  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 Shore House by Heidi Hostetter

 The Shore House

by Heidi Hostetter

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 285

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  When the Bennett family arrive at the shore house to spend the summer together, they bring more baggage than just suitcases…

When Kaye Bennett, matriarch of the Bennett family, summons her adult children to the shore house, she anticipates a vacation full of nostalgia. It’s a chance to relive the carefree joy of summers past: basking in the hot sun, cooling off in the surf and enjoying long, relaxing evenings watching fireflies on the deck. But when Kaye’s son and daughter arrive, late and uncooperative, it becomes clear the family desperately need to reconnect.

Kaye and her daughter Stacy have been quietly at odds for years and resentment has grown around words unsaid. Faced with spending the summer months in such close quarters, Kaye is determined to remind Stacy of happier times and why she once loved their beautiful beachside home.

But both Kaye and Stacy are holding something back… and only when a heart-stopping moment on the beach puts what Stacy most loves at risk are the two women finally able to set free the secrets in their shared past.

Kritters Thoughts:  Kaye Bennett is ready for her family to reunite at their house on the shore and celebrate a summer and take it back to yesteryears when life felt easier.  Kaye has a husband who suffered a heart attack three years ago and she is waiting for the other shoe to drop.  She has two children who have been distant from her for one reason or another and she thinks a summer at the shore can solve everything.  

I love a story that uses the "band getting together" theme and the reader wonders how all the characters will react when they get back together and they have a moment to bring up the past and confront it.  Stacy is the elder sibling and has been holding onto a lot of feelings from the past and I found myself really feeling a camaraderie with this character.  The feelings she had towards her mom and her parents were things that I have felt, so I really enjoyed reading her side of things.  

The younger sibling, Brad, has had issues of his own and I wondered if my sister could agree with him and his feelings in this family.  Brad's girlfriend was great comic relief and I loved the moments where she was possibly poking Kaye's buttons.  

This was a great family story where many readers could relate to one or more of the characters and maybe see their family reflected in this story.  These are the perfect books to curl up with during a summer weekend and nod your head or shake your head at how eerily close they are to the family you are in!   

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 67 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture.  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.