Review: The Return by Nicholas Sparks

The Return

by Nicholas Sparks

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 368

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:   Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, NC. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked as an orthopedic surgeon sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any.

Tending to his grandfather's beloved bee hives while gearing up for a second stint in medical school, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local . . . and yet, from their very first encounter, his connection with Natalie Masterson can't be ignored. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she's hiding.

Further complicating his stay in New Bern is the presence of a sullen teenage girl, Callie, who lives in the trailer park down the road from his grandfather's cabin. Claiming to be 19, she works at the local sundries store and keeps to herself. When he discovers she was once befriended by his grandfather, Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death, but she offers few clues -- until a crisis triggers a race that will uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could ever have anticipated.

In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.

Kritters Thoughts:  Trevor Benson goes back to a place that always felt like a safe place - his grandfather's home in New Bern, NC.  In need of some TLC, he decides to live in the home for a bit before he starts schooling for his next endeavor, to become a psychiatrist.  Early on he meets Natalie, a local police officer who is battling things and Trevor can tell and Callie a young girl who walks by his place and he knows has secrets she is hiding, he will spend his time trying to solve all the mysteries.

It had been awhile since I had read a Nicholas Sparks book and to be frank, I was a little hesitant to pick this one up, but I am glad I did.  This one was different then most, yes, it had the love story that we all expect, but with Natalie and Callie it had some mystery which thickened the plot.  I liked that this book was more than a love story, it kept me turning pages and I read this one quick!

Even though I liked this one, I think I will continue to space out my Nicholas Sparks reads, so I can make sure I can enjoy and savor each one.  I have a few from his backlist that I hope to read in the near future.  

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 Grand Central 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: Savage Road by Chris Hauty

Savage Road
by Chris Hauty

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 304

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  When a series of devastating cyber attacks rock the United States, Hayley Chill is tasked by the “deeper state” to track down their source. NSA analysts insist that Moscow is the culprit, but that accusation brings plenty of complications with Hayley directing the president as a double agent against the Russians. With increasing pressure on the president to steer him towards a devastating war, it’s up to Hayley to stop the mysterious computer hacker and prevent World War III—while also uncovering some shocking truths about her own life.

Kritters Thoughts:  The second in a series and I will quickly advise that I believe you should start at book one - Deep State, as there is a whole plot that you will want to know before you even start this book.  

Now that you have been warned, I will dive in with my review.

Hayley Chill is perfectly positioned inside the White House and very close to the President to help the deep state get what they want and fast.  She is on a mission until it is quickly derailed by someone infiltrating the inner workings of a few different essential places and businesses.  

If you can't tell I am being cautious in what I write in this review because this is such a suspenseful read and I don't want to spoil one thing.  

As far as my reading experience of this book, it had been a year and a half since I had read book one and I definitely forgot some of the plot points of book one and this book didn't completely bring the reader up to speed, so I had to go back and refresh before diving in.  This made my reading a little slow in the beginning because I was trying to remember the ins and outs from book one, but once I was in, I was in and this was a crazy roller coaster ride til the end.  

I think this book ended on a note where book three is inevitable and I will not so patiently wait until it arrives!

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

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 130 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria.  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: Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd

Wrong Alibi

by Christina Dodd

Publisher: HQN

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  WRONG JOB

Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Jones lands a job in small-town Alaska, working for a man in his isolated mountain home. But her bright hopes for the future are shattered when Donald White disappears, leaving her to face charges of theft, embezzlement—and a brutal double murder. Her protestations of innocence count for nothing. Convicted, she faces life in prison…until fate sends her on the run.

WRONG NAME

Evelyn’s escape leaves her scarred and in hiding, isolated from her family, working under an alias at a wilderness camp. Bent on vengeance, intent on recovering her life, she bides her time, patiently searching for the man who took everything from her.

WRONG ALIBI

At last, the day comes. Donald White has returned. Evelyn emerges from hiding; the fugitive becomes the hunter. But in her mind, she hears the whisper of other forces at work. Now Evelyn must untangle the threads of evidence before she’s once again found with blood on her hands: the blood of her own family…

Kritters Thoughts:  Evelyn Jones ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and it sent her life spiraling and she vows that she will avenge all the things, so she can hopefully get back to the life she wants to live.  

Evelyn/Petie was an interesting character to follow.  During many parts of the book, I loved her point of view and was rooting for her.  The one part where I had to suspend my belief was her first interactions and then the brief time she was with Donald White - I felt as though her age at that time in the book, she was little more gullible and naive then I think she would/should have been, but in fiction, I can give a bit of a pass. 

I loved everything about this book and the plot minus ONE plot point.  I don't want to give too much away, but there was a bit of a love plot line that was thrown in a weird spot and affected the ending of the story and I just wished it wasn't in there and hadn't gone that way.  

With quite a backlist, this was my first Christina Dodd book and I am intrigued to dive into more of her backlist and follow more interesting main characters on adventures.  

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

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 133 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from HarperCollins.  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: Confessions of a Curious Bookseller by Elizabeth Green

Confessions of a Curious Bookseller

by Elizabeth Green 

Publisher: Lake Union

Pages: 483

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Without question, Fawn Birchill knows that her used bookstore is the heart of West Philadelphia, a cornerstone of culture for a community that, for the past twenty years, has found the quirkiness absolutely charming. When an amicable young indie bookseller invades her block, Fawn is convinced that his cushy couches, impressive selection, coffee bar, and knowledgeable staff are a neighborhood blight. Misguided yet blindly resilient, Fawn readies for battle.

But as she wages her war, Fawn is forced to reflect on a few unavoidable truths: the tribulations of online dating, a strained relationship with her family, and a devoted if not always law-abiding intern—not to mention what to do about a pen pal with whom she hasn’t been entirely honest and the litany of repairs her aging store requires.

Through emails, journal entries, combative online reviews, texts, and tweets, Fawn plans her next move. Now it’s time for her to dig deep and use every trick at her disposal if she’s to reclaim her beloved business—and her life.

Kritters Thoughts:  A book told through emails, journal entries, blog posts and so on from the perspective of a fifty-something bookseller in Philadelphia as she navigates the change of her neighborhood and the addition of a competitive bookstore right near hers.  

I waffled a lot throughout this book on my feelings about Fawn.  There would be moments where she would write an email or do something that made me giggle and I loved her and then on the next page she would do something that would make me roll my eyes or I would be greatly disappointed in how she handled something.  Because this book was presented in the way it did, plot was hard to put together and characters played a big part, so my roller coaster of feelings made me feel as though I would go back and forth on whether I liked the book or not.  

With all that being said, I love reading a book with a different format, it is fun to switch up reading in that way and work through a plot in a different way.  As a book lover, I enjoy all books set in bookstores and seeing the inner workings of how a bookstore functions, so seeing two bookstores in the same neighborhood and how they interact was good to read.

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

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 128 out of 100

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

Bout of Books 30 TBR

Bout of Books starts on Monday, January 4th and goes through Sunday, January 10th. 

My goal, as it always is, for the Bout of Books 30 TBR pile is to read 250 pages per day, which amounts to 1,750 pages for the whole week.  
 

January is my favorite Bout of Books of the year because it helps me set my reading goals for the year.  The timing for bout of books is always a week late as this is my first week back to work, but I always hope to hit my daily goals!

Let's see how this goes!

1. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (323 pages)

2. The Last Tiara by MJ Rose (437 pages)

3. The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner (384 pages)

4. The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck (368 pages)

5. All That You Leave Behind by Erin Carr (256 pages)

6. Almost Famous Women by Meghan Mayhew Bergman (239 pages)

This is a total of 2,007 pages!

For those that don't know what Bout of Books is... here you go:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 8th and runs through Sunday, January 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 24 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Review: Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff

Those We Love Most

by Lee Woodruff

Publisher: Hyperion

Pages: 320

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  On a warm June day, Maura Corrigan is walking with her nine-year-old son, James, as he rides his bike to school. The unthinkable happens: he darts onto the street and is hit by Alex, a 17-year-old neighbor. As if James's death isn't tragic enough for the Corrigan family, in its wake an intricate web of relationships, secrets, and betrayals begins to unravel.

Told through the perspective of four family members, Those We Love Most chronicles how this sudden twist of fate forces each of them to confront their choices, examine their mistakes, and fight for their most valuable relationships. It asks the age-old question: Why do we hurt the ones we love most? Then it shows us how we can, in the most difficult of times, forgive ourselves and others for our transgressions.

Kritters Thoughts:  A book about family and all the ups and downs that can happen over the years.  The Corrigan family experiences an extreme loss and it affects the mother of the child and her parents and in this book each of them get the chance to tell their side of the story.

This was my first read of 2021.  I picked it because I want to intentionally read books that I have owned for awhile that I also need to review on netgalley.  Need to get that netgalley review percentage up!  

What isn't shared in the synopsis is the extreme amount of infidelity in the book and that wasn't a great way to start the year of reading for me.  I often avoid books with infidelity as that just isn't what I want in my reading life, so while I am thankful that I am getting a physical book out of my library, read and completed and getting a review on netgalley, the reading experience was just ok.  

I appreciated in this book that the story did focus on the family and their reactions to this intense tragedy and another one that happened in the book and it was more of a look on how people react to the ups and downs of life, but goodness gracious there was a lot of cheating in this one.  

If you enjoy books that peel back the layers and give you an inside look on a family during a time where they are showing the imperfections, then this book could be the right read for you.   

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

2021 Reading Goals

source

 

Last year, I said I was ready for a new year.  I think we are all hopeful that 2021 is different in one way or another to what 2020 was.  2020 was an unique year and there were ups and downs for me.   I am ready to look forward and flip the calendar to a new beginning.

After reflecting on 2020, here are my goals for 2021

1. I want to read a minimum of 221 books.  Each year I have increased my goal by one to reflect the year and although I surpassed my goal in 2020, I can see 2021 being a different year in terms of my reading time.  

2. I want to keep my same goal of 100 ebooks in 2021.

3. The new challenge for this year, I want to read books that are both on my Netgalley TBR where I need to review to improve my percentage and are also books I own physically and want to read and pass along.  I would like to do this at least 25 times in 2021, which is at minimum twice a month.    

And the challenge that I love to do (partly because it is easy) is:

Where Are You Reading?

In this challenge, I keep a Google Map and place a pinpoint at each spot where a book takes place.  The link to my google map will also be in the sidebar all year round, so anyone can check out where I have been reading!

If you would like to participate - check out Book Journey.  She hosted this challenge in the past, not sure if she is hosting again, but as this is my favorite thing to do, I am continuing! 

2020 Reading Wrap Up

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    As I have done the past few years, I want to have one post where I have all my stats from the year together.  2020 was not the year that many people planned for and for me there were positives to the quarantine and there were negatives - one of the big positives was the extra reading time!   The realigning of priorities this year made for many more hours of reading!

Let's compare 2020 to 2019.  2019 was full of social commitments and large work projects, so I know that 2020 in terms of my reading will be one year that I am thankful for.  

Total number of books I read in 2019: 170
Total number of books I read in 2020: 244

Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2019: 55,197
Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2020: 76,353

source

I have been keeping track of WHERE my books were taking place all year. Below is the outcome.  There are 11 states that I didn't "visit," which is better than last year!  Last year I missed 18 states, so excited to see that I "traveled" the US more in 2020. 

States that didn't make the list:

Rhode Island        Mississippi         North Dakota

Vermont              Arkansas             South Dakota

Delaware             Oklahoma           New Mexico

Indiana                Nevada

My country number went up from 8 to 17 this year, so I am glad that both domestically and internationally, I traveled more - maybe because I read more!

Countries accounted for:

Monaco            Canada                    Russia                Scotland

Jamaica            Kenya                     Spain                   Italy 

India                Czech Republic        South Africa

France              Germany                Chile

England            Ireland                    Finland

source

As far as the Ebook Challenge is concerned, I challenged myself to 100 ebooks and finished 138 this year.  I outdid myself this year and will continue to keep track of this number just for my own perspective on my reading.

December - the close of 2020

The best month of the year with a lot of quiet vacation time, I got a lot of reading in! The best way to finish a year.

1. Christmas in Winter Hill by Melody Carlson

2. Confessions of a Curious Bookseller by Elizabeth Green

3. The Perfect Love Song by Patti Callahan Henry

4. The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

5. A Timeless Christmas by Alexis Stanton (audiobook)

6. The Return by Nicholas Sparks

7. Savage Road by Chris Hauty

8. The Winter Berry House by Caroline Flynn

9. The Silent House by Nell Pattison

10. Rachel to the Rescue by Elinor Lipman

11. The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little

12. Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd

13. If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier (read half of it)

14. The Watchmaker of Dachau by Carly Schawbowski

15. You Cannoli Die Once by Shelley Costa

16. Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson

17. Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst

18. Better to Wish by Ann M Martin

19. The Long Way Home by Ann M Martin

20. Best Kept Secret by Ann M Martin

21. Home is the Place by Ann M Martin

22. Aftershock by Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 7,156

Where having I been Reading?:

Washington state

Pennsylvania (2)

South Carolina

England (2)

New Bern, NC

Washington, DC (2)

Michigan

Alaska

Scotland (2)

Italy

Maine (2)

New York City, NY

Princeton, NJ

San Francisco, CA

First Book of the Year

I have made my first read of the year a significant pick for a few years in hopes that it starts the year out on the right reading foot!  I picked Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff for a few reason - it is a book I need to review on Netgalley and for me I want to actively try to read and review more of my Netgalley TBR AND this is a book I own a physical copy and I would love to read and pass on books from my physical TBR.  

For 2021.  I would love to tackle two TBRs at the same time!  I have quite the lists that overlap, so this will be a new goal that I plan on keeping track of in 2021 and will really aim to achieve!  

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

A holiday week full of great reading time!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The Watchmaker of Dachau by Carly Schawbowski

You Cannoli Die Once by Shelley Costa

Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson

Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst

Better to Wish by Ann M Martin

The Long Way Home by Ann M Martin

Currently Reading:

Best Kept Secret by Ann M Martin

Next on the TBR pile:

Aftershock by Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell

Review: An Island Christmas by Nancy Thayer

An Island Christmas

by Nancy Thayer

Publisher: Ballantine

Pages: 224

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  As Christmas draws near, Felicia returns to her family’s home on the island to marry her adventurous, rugged boyfriend, Archie. Every detail is picture-perfect for a dream wedding: the snow-dusted streets, twinkling lights in the windows, a gorgeous red and white satin dress. Except a lavish ceremony is not Felicia’s dream at all; it’s what her mother, Jilly, wants. Jilly’s also worried that her daughter’s life with daredevil Archie will be all hiking and skydiving. Wondering if their handsome neighbor Steven Hardy might be a more suitable son-in-law, Jilly embarks on a secret matchmaking campaign for Felicia and the dashing stockbroker.
 
As the big day approaches and Jilly’s older daughter, Lauren, appears with rambunctious kids in tow, tensions in the household are high. With the family careening toward a Yuletide wedding disaster, an unexpected twist in Nancy Thayer’s heartwarming tale reminds everyone about the true meaning of the season.

Kritters Thoughts:  Felicia just wants to marry the guy she wants to, but she decides a Christmas wedding on her favorite island will help her mom possibly accept the marriage faster and she will get to introduce her intended to a place that she holds close to her heart.  

Felicia is the complete opposite from her older sister Lauren and her mom Jilly.  Felicia reminded me of my little sister!  She isn't sure if she wants kids, she wants to travel and have a whole host of experiences and live a pretty unconventional life.  Her mother and sister went down the typical path with marriages and children and are living pretty "normal" lives and in walks Felicia with her fiance Archie.  I love how Archie mixed things up and after most of his exploits the family found him to be a positive addition to their group.  I loved the character arch of all of the characters in this book.  

What a sweet little book.  This little novella is a perfect read for the holiday season.  This is one that you can easily curl up with and read in just one sitting by the lights of a tree and the perfect holiday candle burning!  I always hope for books like these to read amongst the crazy of the holidays!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

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.