Publisher: Canary Street Press
Genre: Fiction
Source: Canary Street Press ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: 15 summers ago, everything changed…

Ava Howell seemed to have it all. She moved away from Emerald Creek, Idaho, married the love of her life and published a bestselling memoir. But she never expected that her husband would feel so betrayed by a secret from her past—the truth of what happened to her and her sister all those years ago—that he’d walk away. Now Ava is back home and trying to move on with the only person who can truly understand…

Following years of healing, Madison Howell is finally happy. After college she built a no-kill shelter where she works with animals every day, and she’s in love with the town veterinarian, Dr. Luke Gentry. But she can’t ever bring herself to tell him. Years ago, his dad died protecting Madi and her sister, so how could he ever love her back?

With the truth laid bare, and the past that Ava and Madison have worked so hard to leave behind threatening everything they have built for themselves, the Howell sisters’ reunion is bittersweet. And as Ava and Madi attempt to remedy the rifts in their lives and reconcile their futures, they must face the demons of their past together.

Ope’s Opinion: I am such a RaeAnne Thayne fan, I did not read the synopsis before I agreed to read and review this book. The cover is deceiving, I assumed it was a romance. It has romance in it, but the crux of the story is about the sister relationship and the past they endured together.

I enjoyed the two sisters relationship. Parts of their past were hard to read about. This is not a light read.

Publisher: Storm Publishing
Genre: Thriller
Source: Storm Publishing ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: She wanted to give the ultimate gift. It became the ultimate betrayal.

Fabiola has spent her life being good. The perfect daughter to her single father. A supportive wife to her entrepreneurial husband, who’s throwing everything they have at launching his start-up. A devoted mother to her three beautiful children. And a loyal best friend to Liz, who’s been by Fabiola’s side since Liz married her oldest childhood friend, Peter.

When Liz needs help starting her own family, Fabiola comes up with the perfect plan. She’s good at being pregnant, and she so badly wants to help her friend. It seems like the greatest gift one woman can give another. And Peter? For Peter, she would do anything.

But then one reckless moment changes everything. Now Fabiola must decide who to her best friend, the man she’s never stopped loving, or the child growing inside her. With her marriage unraveling and her teenage daughter hiding secrets of her own, she’s discovering that the hardest promises to keep are the ones we make to ourselves.

A deeply moving and unforgettable exploration of motherhood, friendship, and the complex choices women make in the name of love, perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Lucinda Berry and Liane Moriarty.

Ope’s Opinion: I read Caitlin Weaver’s Such A Good Family and could not put it down. So I may have had too high a hopes for this book. I did not like Fabiola ( main character ) from the start. She seemed to be wanting to do a good thing for a friend, but it ended up being very selfish.

This is in the thriller genre, but I think suspense is a better way to describe it. It does not have the intensity I think a thriller should have.

The ending is not believable at all. It was wrapped up too quickly and too neatly for the mess the rest of the story was. So if you can throw away your need for believability then you will like it.

I am still a Caitlin Weaver fan and I would read her next book.

Publisher: Celadon Books
Genre: Fiction
Source: Celadon Books ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: For fans of We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange and All Adults Here by Emma Straub, Cat Shook’s debut novel If We’re Being Honest is the snappy, smart, heartwarming story of the Williams family, and the sweltering summer that rewrote their history.

When Gerry, the beloved Williams patriarch, dies suddenly, his grandchildren flock from across the country to the family home in Eulalia, Georgia. But when Gerry’s best friend steps up to the microphone to deliver his eulogy, the funeral turns out unlike anyone expected. The cousins, left reeling and confused, cope with their fresh grief and various private dramas. Delia, recently heartbroken, refuses to shut up about her ex. Her sister Alice, usually confident, flusters when she spots her high school sweetheart, hiding a secret that will change both of their lives. Outspoken, affable Grant is preening in the afterglow of his recent appearance on The Bachelorette and looking to reignite an old flame with the least available person in town. Meanwhile, his younger brother Red, unsure of himself and easily embarrassed, desperately searches for a place in the boisterous family.

The cousins’ eccentric parents are in tow, too, and equally lost—in love and in life. Watching over them all is Ellen, Gerry’s sweet and proper widow, who does her best to keep her composure in front of the leering small town.

Clever and completely original, If We’re Being Honest reminds you that while no one can break your heart like your family can, there’s really no one better to put you back together.

Ope’s Opinion: There were so many characters, it was hard to keep track of everyone, how they were related and who they were sleeping with. There was a family tree at the beginning of book, but since it was an ebook, it wasn’t easy to get back to.

The foul language was all over the place, not needed to add to the story and inappropriate. I lost track of the amount of times they used the “f” word – over the top.

None of the characters had anything good to say about another character. They were all judgmental. I am glad I am not in this family.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Thomas Nelson ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: Bestselling author Amy Clipston transports readers back to the picturesque town of Flowering Grove, North Carolina, in this heartwarming contemporary romance.

Dakota Jamison is living her dream running Fairytale Bridal Shop in her hometown of Flowering Grove, NC. But despite helping others find their Happily Ever Afters, getting married and settling down isn’t on her radar. In fact, she decided she’d never get engaged again after Hudson Garrity broke her heart and left her to pursue a career in New York City. Besides, she doesn’t have time for a relationship between running her shop and giving roller skating lessons at the local rink.

Hudson Garrity made his dream a reality when he started his own software company in the big city, but now that he’s sold it, he’s at a crossroads. He’s finally made enough money to provide a comfortable life for his younger sister and the aunt who raised them after their parents died. Hoping that a return home will help return his focus, he’s instead thrown into family chaos and roped into helping his sister plan her wedding . . . bringing him once more into contact with the one who got away.

As Hudson’s sister’s wedding date draws closer, he starts to remember how much he loved Flowering Grove and the smalltown life. And as he and Dakota start to wonder what could have been, they reevaluate what went wrong between them.

Will Dakota and Hudson find it in their hearts to forgive each other and forge a new life together?

Ope’s Opinion: This is a cute, quick read. It is easy to get into and the characters are sweet. It is a clean romance ( which I enjoy ). The two main characters have a history.

If you are looking for a quick escape that is very predictable – this is your book. There were no surprises and the ending was exactly what you would expect.

Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: My daughter

Goodreads: Sunday Times bestselling author Wendy Holden brings to life the unknown childhood years of one of the world’s most iconic figures, Queen Elizabeth II, and reveals the little-known governess who made Britain’s queen into the monarch we know today.

In 1933, twenty-two-year-old Marion Crawford accepts the role of a lifetime, tutoring their Royal Highnesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Her one stipulation to their parents the Duke and Duchess of York is that she bring some doses of normalcy into the sheltered and privileged lives of the two young princesses.

At Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Balmoral, Marion defies oppressive court protocol to take the girls on tube trains, swimming at public baths, and on joyful Christmas shopping trips at Woolworth’s. From her ringside seat at the heart of the British monarchy she witnesses the upheaval of the Abdication and the glamour and drama of the 1937 Coronation.

During the war, as Hitler’s Heinkels fly over Windsor, she shelters her charges in the castle dungeons (not far from where the Crown Jewels are hidden in a biscuit tin). Afterwards, she is there when Elizabeth first sets eyes on Philip. But being beloved governess and confidante to the Windsor family has come at a cost. She puts her private life on hold until released from royal service following Princess Elizabeth’s marriage in 1947.

In a majestic story of love, sacrifice, and allegiance, bestselling novelist Holden shines a captivating light into the years before Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, as immortalized on the popular television series The Crown.

Ope’s Opinion: This was a three chair, then a four, then back to a three chair. I did enjoy hearing all about the young royals as they grew into adult royals from the governess perspective. I did not think about what the staff gave up to serve the royals.

The story just drug on during some parts. I did like how the end went past Queen Elizabeth marrying Philip.

The governess made some questionable choices in her own life. She acted like she made this big sacrifice, but never did anything change her circumstances.

Publisher: Random House
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Random House ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: In this mesmerizing novel about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, acclaimed author Dawn Tripp has crafted an intimate story of love and power, family and tragedy, loss and reinvention.

The world has divided my life into three:

Life with Jack
Life with Onassis
Life as a woman who goes to work because she wants to.

My life is all of these things, and it is none of these things. They continue to miss what’s right in front of them. I love books. I love the sea. I love horses. Children. Art. Ideas. History. Beauty. Because beauty blows us open to wonder.
Even the beauty that breaks your heart.

Jackie is the story of a woman—deeply private with a nuanced, formidable intellect—who forged a legacy out of grief and shaped history even as she was living it. It is the story of a love affair, a complicated marriage, and the fracturing of identity that comes in the wake of unthinkable violence.

When Jackie meets the charismatic congressman Jack Kennedy in Georgetown, she is twenty-one and dreaming of France. She has won an internship at Vogue. Kennedy, she thinks, is not her kind of adventure: “Too American. Too good-looking. Too boy.” Yet she is drawn to his mind, his humor, his drive. The chemistry between them ignites. During the White House years, the love between two independent people deepens. Then, a motorcade in Dallas: “Three and a half seconds—that’s all it was—a slivered instant between the first shot, which missed the car, and the second, which did not. . . . A hypnotic burst of sunlight off her bracelet as she waved.”

This vivid, exquisitely written novel is at once a captivating work of the imagination and a window into the world of a woman who led many lives: Jackie, Jacks, Jacqueline, Miss Bouvier, Mrs. Kennedy, Jackie O.

Ope’s Opinion: I may be in the minority here, but I found this book overloaded with details and tedious. I wasn’t sure where fact stopped and fiction started – I guess that is a good thing. I don’t think I learned anything new about Jackie.

Knowing what was coming with Jacks death, it was hard to read that part. I can’t imagine dealing with all she had to deal with in the public eye.

I wish I had heard more about her childhood, that made her the kind of woman that could accept a marriage where her husband was cheating all the time. Then to marry a man like Onassis. It makes me interested find out more about her childhood.

Publisher: Pegasus Book
Genre: Music
Source: Pegasus Book ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: A dazzling biography of one of the bestselling bands of all time, told with brilliant insight by renowned pop music scholar Bob Stanley.

The world is full of Bee Gees fans. Yet for a band of such renown, little is known about Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb.

People tend to have their favorite era of the Bee Gees’s career, but many listeners are also conscious that there is more to uncover about the band. This book will provide the perfect solution, by pulling together every fascinating strand to tell the story of a group with the imagination of the Beatles, the pop craft of ABBA, the drama of Fleetwood Mac, and the emotional heft of the Beach Boys.

Uniquely, the Bee Gees’s tale spans the entire modern pop era—they are the only group to have scored British top-ten singles in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ‘90s—and includes world-conquering disco successes like ‘Stayin’ Alive’ and ‘More Than a Woman’, both from the soundtrack of the hit film Saturday Night Fever .

But the Bee Gees’s extraordinary career was one of highs and lows. From a vicious but temporary split in 1969 to several unreleased albums, disastrous TV and film appearances, and a demoralising cabaret season, the group weren’t always revelling in the glow of million-selling albums, private jets, and UNICEF concerts. Yet, even in the Gibbs’ darkest times, their music was rarely out of the charts, as sung by the likes of Al Green, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, and Destiny’s Child.

Capturing the human story at the heart of the Bee Gees, this book is a lyrical and stylish read, delighting hardcore fans with its details while engaging casual pop readers who simply want to know more about this important and enigmatic group.

Ope’s Opinion: I listened to the audio book. It was 13 hours Long… and I do mean long. This author talked about the history of music with highlights of the Bee Gees. This was definitely not solely about the Bee Gees and their music. I got bored several times and my mind wandered. I would have enjoyed hearing about the Bee Gees, but weeding through all the other information was not worth it.

If you are into music history in general, this book may be one you would want to pick up.

Publisher: Montlake
Genre: Romance
Source: Montlake ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: A story of a reluctant billionaire who takes on his father’s empire, its dark secrets, and a fiery assistant he can’t get out of his head.

When Chase Stone’s estranged father dies, leaving his multibillion-dollar business to his children, no one is more surprised than him. Growing up outside of the high-stakes world filled with human vultures, Chase and his sister, Alex, are less than enthusiastic about stepping into their father’s shoes. That is until they learn of a half brother they didn’t know existed, and must find to share their inheritance with.

Piper Maddox was the elder Mr. Stone’s übercapable assistant—abruptly fired two weeks before his death. She knows everything about Stone Enterprises and the man who built it. But Piper has no desire to work for another member of the Stone family. Even one as down to earth as Chase.

Desperately needing financial security, Piper agrees to return so long as kissing up to Chase and accepting unwanted advances were not part of her job description. A task that becomes a serious hurdle for both of them. Piper and Chase scramble to find the third Stone sibling before the media does, sharing secrets along the way. Secrets that can bring them together or tear them irrevocably apart.

Ope’s Opinion: This was such a good read. The pace was on the slower side because this is the first in a series. The characters are well developed, realistic and certain ones you are rooting for from the beginning.

Piper’s sass and Chases charm make for good banter and balance in their relationship. I love that Alex and Chase have such a good relationship. I will be interested to see if her love story comes in one of the next books.

As usual, I think there is too much detail on the steamy scenes, but there aren’t too many of them. Most of the story is about so much more than just the romance.

The end of the story was obviously leading into the next book.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Thomas Nelson ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: Opposites attract in this heartfelt rom-com about overcoming your past and embracing all that life has to offer.

Britt Branch has a successful My-tube channel where she teaches all kinds of art lessons. Obsessed with the 1970s, she has a style all her own and loves yacht rock. She also has a huge problem–severe social anxiety. She lives with her mom, and while she pays her own bills, she wonders if she’ll ever have the courage to move out. When her best friend announces she’s getting married, Britt thinks it’s time to make a change.

Gorgeous Hunter Pickett has always skated by on his model looks and applying very little effort to anything except sports, and even that was iffy at times. The third son of extremely wealthy and successful parents, he’s always been the black sheep of the family and has dealt with the issue by drinking and using drugs. When he lands in jail, he turns his life around. But by his third year of sobriety, he’s still dealing with aimlessness. When he catches Britt’s channel, he’s intrigued and ends up watching her videos even though he’s not interested in art . . . at first. He reaches out to her, and they eventually become friends and make a deal–if she gives him art lessons, he’ll help her with her social anxiety.

But neither of them is completely honest with the other. When all the secrets come out in the worst way possible, relationships must be rebuilt, and Britt has a decision to make–is she going to continue to hide from life, or is she going to finally start living?

Ope’s Opinion: This was a good, clean, Christian romance. There were actually several romances going on at the same time. The characters were a bit simple, but enjoyable. Each one of the characters had flaws. It made them more compassionate.

There was an event that brought everyone together ( no spoilers ) and brought out a lot of issues and misunderstandings. I kind of saw it coming, but it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of reading.

I have read Kathleen Fuller and I will read her again. I listened to this one and the narrator had a soothing good voice.

All is quiet.
My favorite part of the holidays.

Take the time to enjoy the peace.