Palaver by Bryan Washington
For the first time since I started using my current rating system a year or two ago, I'm giving a book less than 3 stars. Typically, I give a book at least 3 stars if I finish it because if I'm not liking it, I'll usually DNF. But I kept expecting this book to redeem itself. The novel follows a … [Read more]
You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh
You Can Tell Me follows Olivia Cruz. Olivia is a true-crime writer who has found herself dealing with writer's block since she was kidnapped three years ago [see Save Your Breath]. Olivia though is focused on getting past what was done to her and agrees to appear on her friend Zoe's true crime … [Read more]
Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home by Linda Svitak, Christin Jay Eaton, Lee Svitak Dean
Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home. This is a cookbook that admits that it’s not just about the recipes. It’s about the stories and a point as well. It’s very not shy about that, which is rare. Most anyone who’s read a cookbook, or even an online recipe … [Read more]
The Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman
I really did not even enjoy the last book in this series, but this one got back to the magical realism that made me love this series at first. We now are following Violet, who is an adult and living in Paris. After leaving her family in Maine to go to culinary school in Paris and staying to work … [Read more]
Lord Ravenscar's Revenge by Barbara Cartland
After Romara is beaten and thrown out of the house by her sister's abusive lover, the last thing she expects is to wake up married to Lord Ravenscar, who wed her while extremely drunk. But when he steps in to help her solve Caryl's problems, she starts to wonder if they will be able to make a real … [Read more]
The Fourth Girl by Wendi Corsi Staub
The Lost Summer by Wendi Corsi Staub
The Fourth Girl (four stars)-This one was a slow burn of a mystery that I really enjoyed and thought that Staub did a great job of shifting characters/timelines to an almost satisfying ending. The Fourth Girl follows three women (Midge, Talia, and Kelly) who used to be best friends when they were … [Read more]
