For Keeps

for keeps

Author: Natasha Friend
Publisher: Speak
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Purchased

Goodreads: For sixteen years, Josie Gardner and her mom, Kate, have been a team. It’s been the Gardner Girls against the world, and that’s how Josie likes it. Until one day, they find out that Paul Tucci, Kate’s high school boyfriend-the father Josie has never met-is back in town. Josie’s mom suddenly turns back into the heartbroken teenager she was when Paul moved away. Meanwhile, Josie’s on the verge of having her first real boyfriend. And when Josie learns some surprising truths about Paul Tucci and the past, she begins questioning what she thought she knew, and finds out what happens when a girl gets the guy she always wanted and the dad she never knew she needed.

Ope’s Opinion: I really enjoyed this  book.  I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading Sarah Dessen.

The story had some really interesting twist to it that I did not see coming.  The characters were realistic, fun to read about and reacted to situations the way I would expect them to.  The mother- daughter relationship was one I could relate to.  I have two daughters that I enjoyed raising.

I enjoyed Liv and Josie’s friendship.  It was nice to have Liv’s two dads as a little comic relief when things seemed to be a little stressful for Josie or Liv.  It was also great to see the support between the two families of these friends.

After reading this book I looked up Natasha Friend’s other books and I am interested in reading another one by her.

Rating: 4

This Just In…

From Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

After You (Me Before You, #2)

Published:  September 29, 2015
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

Goodreads:  A NOTE FROM JOJO MOYES ABOUT HER EXCITING NEW NOVEL, AFTER YOU:

Dear Reader,

I wasn’t going to write a sequel to Me Before You. But for years, readers kept asking and I kept wondering what Lou did with her life. In the end the idea came, as they sometimes do, at 5:30 in the morning, leaving me sitting bolt upright in my bed and scrambling for my pen.

It has been such a pleasure revisiting Lou and her family, and the Traynors, and confronting them with a whole new set of issues. As ever, they have made me laugh, and cry. I hope readers feel the same way at meeting them—especially Lou—again. And I’m hoping that those who love Will will find plenty to enjoy.

—Jojo Moyes

Kristin gave me this book as soon as I finished Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.
Can’t wait to start this one.

No Ordinary Life

Published: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Goodreads: Suzanne Redfearn delivers another gripping page-turner in her latest novel, a story about a young mother’s fight to protect her children from the dangerous world of Hollywood. Faye Martin never expected her husband to abandon her and her three children . . . or that she’d have to struggle every day to make ends meet. So when her four-year-old daughter is discovered through a YouTube video and offered a starring role on a television series, it seems like her prayers have been answered. But when the reality of their new life settles in, Faye realizes that fame and fortune don’t come without a price. And in a world where everyone is an actor and every move is scrutinized by millions, it’s impossible to know who to trust, and Faye finds herself utterly alone in her struggle to save her family. Emotionally riveting and insightful, NO ORDINARY LIFE is an unforgettable novel about the preciousness of childhood and the difficult choices a mother needs to make in order to protect this fragile time in her children’s lives.

Another good read to look forward to from Kristin.
She knows how to pick them!

So many good books, not enough time!

Coming Soon….

…. On a Bookshelf near you!

In March I hope to read….

somewhere

Publication Date: March 1, 2016
Publisher: Washington Square Press

Goodreads: What happens when two sisters who were torn apart when their young mother abandoned them—and grew up in tragically different circumstances—reunite thirty-five years later to find her? For readers who love Jodi Picoult, acclaimed author Amy Hatvany fearlessly explores complex family issues in her gripping, provocative new novel.

Natalie Clark knew never to ask her sensitive adoptive mother questions about her past. She doesn’t even know her birth mother’s name—only that the young woman signed parental rights over to the state when Natalie was a baby. Now Natalie’s own daughter must complete a family tree project for school, and Natalie is determined to unearth the truth about her roots.

Brooke Walker doesn’t have a family. At least, that’s what she tells herself after being separated from her mother and her little sister at age four. Having grown up in a state facility and countless foster homes, Brooke survives the only way she knows how, by relying on herself. So when she discovers she’s pregnant, Brooke faces a heart-wrenching decision: give up her baby or raise the child completely on her own. Scared and confused, she feels lost until a surprise encounter gives her hope for the future.

How do our early experiences—the subtle and the traumatic—define us as adults? How do we build relationships when we’ve been deprived of real connection? Critically acclaimed author Amy Hatvany considers controversial and complicated questions about childhood through the lens of her finely crafted characters in this astute novel about mending wounds by diving into the truth of what first tore us apart.

What is coming soon …. to a bookshelf near you?

Let me know – I am always looking for a good read!

Me Before You

me before you

Publication Date: December 31, 2012
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books/ Viking

Goodreads: Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

Ope’s Opinion:  I just finished this book!  Yes, I cried.   It was very intense. I want to see the movie. 

Some people are saying this is just a tear jerker book, but it is so much more then that.  It makes you think about the quality of life and do you have the right to choose to end a life.

I think this would make a good book club book.  The characters all have flaws worth discussing.  Their decisions could be up for debate also.

More Jojo Moyes books are in my future.

Rating: 5 – This book is so good it will be passed on and on and on…..

This Just In….

From Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

The Ramblers: A Novel

Publication Date:  February 9, 2016
Publisher:  William Morrow

Goodreads:  For fans of J. Courtney Sullivan, Meg Wolitzer, Claire Messud, and Emma Straub, a gorgeous and absorbing novel of a trio of confused souls struggling to find themselves and the way forward in their lives, set against the spectacular backdrop of contemporary New York City.

Set in the most magical parts of Manhattan—the Upper West Side, Central Park, Greenwich Village—The Ramblers explores the lives of three lost souls, bound together by friendship and family. During the course of one fateful Thanksgiving week, a time when emotions run high and being with family can be a mixed blessing, Rowley’s sharply defined characters explore the moments when decisions are deliberately made, choices accepted, and pasts reconciled.

Clio Marsh, whose bird-watching walks through Central Park are mentioned in New York Magazine, is taking her first tentative steps towards a relationship while also looking back to the secrets of her broken childhood. Her best friend, Smith Anderson, the seemingly-perfect daughter of one of New York’s wealthiest families, organizes the lives of others as her own has fallen apart. And Tate Pennington has returned to the city, heartbroken but determined to move ahead with his artistic dreams.

Rambling through the emotional chaos of their lives, this trio learns to let go of the past, to make room for the future and the uncertainty and promise that it holds. The Ramblers is a love letter to New York City—an accomplished, sumptuous novel about fate, loss, hope, birds, friendship, love, the wonders of the natural world and the mysteries of the human spirit.

I am really looking forward to reading this one as it was recommended to me from Kristin.  She knows what I like to read!

Also from Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

The Ex

Publication Date: January 26, 2016
Publisher:  Harper

Goodreads: In this breakout standalone novel of suspense in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on a Train, a woman agrees to help an old boyfriend who has been framed for murder—but begins to suspect that she is the one being manipulated.

Twenty years ago she ruined his life. Now she has the chance to save it.

Widower Jack Harris has resisted the dating scene ever since the shooting of his wife Molly by a fifteen-year-old boy three years ago. An early morning run along the Hudson River changes that when he spots a woman in last night’s party dress, barefoot, enjoying a champagne picnic alone, reading his favorite novel. Everything about her reminds him of what he used to have with Molly. Eager to help Jack find love again, his best friend posts a message on a popular website after he mentions the encounter. Days later, that same beautiful stranger responds and invites Jack to meet her in person at the waterfront. That’s when Jack’s world falls apart.

Olivia Randall is one of New York City’s best criminal defense lawyers. When she hears that her former fiancé, Jack Harris, has been arrested for a triple homicide—and that one of the victims was connected to his wife’s murder—there is no doubt in her mind as to his innocence. The only question is who would go to such great lengths to frame him—and why?

For Olivia, representing Jack is a way to make up for past regrets, to absolve herself of guilt from a tragic decision, a secret she has held for twenty years. But as the evidence against him mounts, she is forced to confront her doubts. The man she knew could not have done this. But what if she never really knew him?

Another recommendation from Kristin!
Thank you Kristin!

 

The View from Prince Street

prince street

Author: Mary Ellen Taylor
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Source: Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

Goodreads:  The author of The Union Street Bakery and At the Corner of King Street returns to Alexandria, Virginia, with a heartfelt tale of reconnection.

Rae McDonald was fifteen when a car accident took her sister’s life and threw her own into reckless turmoil. When she got pregnant a year later, she found a loving couple to adopt the child. Since then, she’s buried her grief and guilt under a heart of stone.

Lisa Smyth survived the fateful crash, but never told the truth about what happened. And when a family obligation draws her back to Alexandria, the weight of Lisa’s guilt grows heavier by the day.

As both women confront a past refusing to be forgotten, long-buried artifacts are discovered by the Shire Architectural Salvage Company that point to a shared history between families.  Now, Rae and Lisa must finally ask themselves if denying the past is worth sacrificing the future.

Ope’s Opinion:  If you like history infused with a story – this book is for you.  Living close to Alexandria made this story feel like I was walking the streets that are familiar to me.  

This story showed how the past really effects every part of Rae’s and Lisa’s lives.  Because of one accident a lot of other decisions were made that brought them to the present.  The way Mary Ellen Taylor weaves the past into the present story, it all came together.

I have read several of Taylor’s books and I am ready to read more.   

Rating:  4

Outside the Line

Author: Amy Hatvany
Publisher: Washington Square Press              outside
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

 

 

 

Goodreads:  When Eden was ten years old she found her father, David, bleeding out on the bathroom floor. The suicide attempt led to her parents’ divorce, and David all but vanished from Eden’s life. Since childhood, she has heard from him only rarely, just enough to know he’s been living on the streets and struggling with mental illness. But lately, there has been no word at all.

Now in her thirties, Eden decides to go look for her father, so she can forgive him at last, and finally move forward. When her search uncovers other painful truths—not only the secrets her mother has kept from her, but also the agonizing question of whether David, after all these years, even wants to be found—Eden is forced to decide just how far she’ll go in the name of love.

Ope’s Opinion:  For me this was an emotional book to read.  I just wanted to give Eden the father she always dreamed of and thought her dad could be.  She just didn’t want to give up the idea that he could be all she wanted him to be.  

I liked how Amy Hatvany made her dad just accepted himself as he was.  He didn’t want anyone to save him or fix him.  That made it hard on the rest of the family, but it was a very different perspective of mental illness then I have ever read.

There are so many great Amy Hatvany books.  This was just hard for me to read.

Rating: 4

 

This Just In…

From Amazon, I ordered

the inn

Publication Date:  April 14, 2015
Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Goodreads:  Claire’s visit to a luxury hotel in Maine awakens repressed memories, threatening all she holds dear.

In 1989, Claire Dellamare disappeared from her own fourth birthday party at the Hotel Tourmaline on the island of Folly Shoals, Maine. She showed up a year later at the same hotel, with a note pinned to her dress but no explanation. Nobody knows where Claire spent that year—and until now, Claire didn’t even know she had ever been missing.

But when Claire returns to the Hotel Tourmaline for a business meeting with her CEO father, disturbing memories begin to surface . . . despite her parents’ best efforts to keep them forgotten.

Luke Rocco lost his mother under equally mysterious circumstances—at the same time Claire disappeared. After a chance encounter reveals the unlikely link between them, Claire and Luke set out together to uncover the truth about what happened that fateful year.

With flashbacks swimming just beneath her consciousness and a murderer threatening her safety, Claire’s very life depends on unscrambling her past . . . even if her family refuses to acknowledge it. Someone—maybe everyone—is hiding something from Claire Dellamare, and it will cost her everything to drag the truth out into the light.

This was recommended to me by Kristin of Kritters Ramblings.  It is the first in a series.  Kristin gave me the second one in the series and recommend I buy the first one.  So now I am ready to read them!

Also from Amazon I ordered these bookends.

leaf bookend

I wanted to change my shelves up a little.
Now that I am living at the lake this looked like it would fit in.
What do us as bookends?
Traditional bookends or something unique?

And Then She was Gone

Author: Rosalind Noonan
Publisher: Kensington               gone
Genre: Mystery
Source:  Purchased

 

 

Goodreads:  Eleven-year-old Lauren O’Neil vanished one sunny afternoon as she walked home from school. Six years later, her parents Rachel and Dan still tirelessly scour their Oregon hometown and beyond, always believing Lauren will be found. Then one day, the call comes. Lauren has been rescued from a secluded farm mere miles away, and her abductor has confessed. Yet her return is nothing like Rachel imagined. Though the revelations about what Lauren endured are shocking, most heartbreaking of all is to see the bright-eyed, assertive daughter she knew transformed into a wary, polite stranger. Lauren’s first instinct is to flee. For years she’s been told her parents forgot her; now she doubts the pieces of her life can ever fit together again. But Rachel refuses to lose her a second time. Little by little they must relearn what it means to be a family, trusting that their bond is strong enough to guide them back to each other.

Ope’s Opinion:  Well, Rosalind Noonan did it again.  She wrote a book on a subject  (kidnapping)  you are familiar with and took you on a different journey.  Instead of the story being about the kidnap, it was about after it happened.  I really enjoyed the different perspective.

It is hard to let you know all the reasons you should read this book without giving away too much.  Some parts were a little predictable, but still very enjoyable read.

I have read Noonan’s book before and I will read as long she keeps writing!

Rating: 

This Just In…

From Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

mermaid

Published: January 12, 2016
Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Goodreads: Mallory’s mother died fifteen years ago. But her father’s last words on the phone were unmistakable: “Find . . . mother.” Shame and confusion have kept Mallory Davis from her home for the last fifteen years, but when her dad mysteriously dies on his mail boat route, she doesn’t have any choice but to go back to Mermaid Point. Mallory believes her father was murdered and childhood sweetheart Kevin O’Connor, game warden in Downeast Maine, confirms her suspicions. But Kevin is wary of helping Mallory in her search. She broke his heart—and left—without a word, years ago. When Mallory begins receiving threats on her own life—and her beloved teenage daughter, Haylie—their search intensifies. There’s a tangled web within the supposed murder, and it involves much more than what meets the eye. As answers begin to fall into place, Mallory realizes her search is about more than finding her father’s killer—it is also about finding herself again . . . and possibly about healing what was broken so long ago with Kevin. She just has to stay alive long enough to put all the pieces together.

I am excited to read a new ( new to me ) Christian author!
Thanks Kristin for sharing your books.

From Emer at MIRA

9780778319054.indd

Expected Publication: May 17, 2016
Publisher: MIRA

Goodreads:  New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl, Mary Kubica returns with an electrifying and addictive tale of deceit and obsession 

In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she’s the person Quinn thought she knew.

Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.

As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under Pearl’s spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end.

Thank you Emer for sending me this book!

From Katie at Little Bird Publicity

what we find

Expected Publication: April 5, 2016
Publisher: MIRA

Goodreads:  Join Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of theVirgin River and Thunder Point series, as she explores the healing powers of rural Colorado in a brand-new story of fresh starts, budding relationships and one woman’s journey to finding the happiness she’s long been missing

Between the urban bustle of Denver and the high-stress environment of a career in neurosurgery, Maggie Sullivan has hit a wall. When an emergency, high-risk procedure results in the death of a teenager, Maggie finds herself in the middle of a malpractice lawsuit—and experiencing levels of anxiety she’s never faced before. It’s in this desperate moment that Maggie’s boyfriend decides he can’t handle her emotional baggage, and she’s left alone, exhausted and unsure of what her future holds. One thing is certain, though: she needs to slow down before she burns out completely, and the best place she can think to do that is Sullivan’s Crossing.

Named for Maggie’s great-grandfather, the land and charming general store at the crossroads of the Colorado and the Continental Divide trails have been passed down through the generations and now belong to Maggie’s estranged father, Sully. Though raised by her mother and stepfather after her parents divorced, Maggie has always adored Sully—despite his hands-off approach to fatherhood. When she shows up unannounced in Sullivan’s Crossing, he welcomes her with opens arms, and she relishes the opportunity to rebuild their relationship.

But when Sully has a sudden heart attack, Maggie’s world is rocked once again. Consumed with his care, she’s relieved to find that Cal Jones, a quiet and serious-looking camper, has been taking over many of Sully’s responsibilities as he recuperates. Still, Maggie is suspicious of this mysterious man’s eagerness to help—until she finds out the true reason for his deliberate isolation.

Though Cal and Maggie each struggle with loss and loneliness, the time they spend together gives Maggie hope for something brighter just on the horizon…if only they can learn to find peace and healing—and perhaps love—with each other.

Thank you Katie!
Look for my review on April 12th.