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Author: Susan Mallery
Publisher: Mira
Genre: Romance
Source:  Purchased

 

Goodreads:  After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She’s supported her ex-husband’s dreams for so long that she can’t even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents’ home and envisions her very own cooking store.

Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna’s adoptive mother. But just as she’s gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn.

Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex’s latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love….

Ope’s Opinion: I really enjoyed the character Violet.  Serenity was weird. Beth was irritating at times because she had mood swings I couldn’t keep up with.   The story was a good one.  It ended as I expected it to.

If you are a romance reader – there were enough steamy scenes for you – which means there were too many for me.  But that was not the center of the story, so I enjoyed the book.

I have read a few books by Susan Mallery, although this would not be my favorite one of hers, I still really enjoyed it.

This Just In….

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From Jennifer at HarperCollins

Publication Date:  September 5, 2017
Publisher: Harper

Goodreads:  Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight years old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as The Child Finder, Naomi is their last hope.

Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she was a lost girl too.

As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life?

 

From Ashley at Lake Union Publishing

Published: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Goodreads:  Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.

Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.

As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone—even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.

More good books to read!!!

The Total Package

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Author: Stephanie Evanovich
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Romance
Source:  Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

Goodreads:  The New York Times bestselling author of Big Girl Panties and The Sweet Spot is back with a funny, sweet, and sizzling novel about the game of love, in which a hot quarterback must figure out how to score big with a beautiful and talented media analyst after a heartbreaking fumble.

Star quarterback, first-round draft-pick, and heartthrob Tyson Palmer has made a name for himself with his spectacular moves. When the head coach of the Austin Mavericks refuses to let him waste his million-dollar arm, Tyson makes a Hail Mary pass at redemption and succeeds with everyone . . . except Dani, whose negative comments about his performance draw high ratings and spectacular notices of her own.

Dani can’t forgive Tyson’s transgressions or forget the sizzling history the two of them shared in college, a passionate love Tyson casually threw away. And even more infuriating, he doesn’t realize that the bombshell with huge ratings is the cute girl whose heart he once broke.

But can a woman trying to claw her way to the top and a quarterback who knows all about rock bottom make it to the Super Bowl without destroying each other? And what will happen when Tyson—riding high now that he’s revived his career—realizes he needs to make an even more important comeback with Dani? Can he make some spectacular moves to get past her defenses—or will she sideline him for good?

Ope’s Opinion: If you are a romance read, you will love all the steamy scenes in this book.  The first chapter just one big steamy scene.  After that the story begins – which is a really good story with interesting characters.

I liked the second chance, come back part of the book – it didn’t happen over night and it wasn’t easy.  I also liked it taking awhile for Tyson and Dani to find each other again.

I didn’t like all the steamy parts or the sudden on and off of the relationship.  it was like they were together and in love – they weren’t talking and one or both were mad, then they were back together.  It was all abrupt.

The ending was what you would expect.

Always Something There to Remind Me

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Author: Beth Harbison
Publisher: St. Martin Press
Genre: Fiction
Source: Purchased

 

Goodreads:  Can you ever really know if love is true? And if it is, should you stop at anything to get it?

Two decades ago, Erin Edwards was sure she’d already found the love of her life: Nate Lawson. Her first love. The one with whom she shared everything–dreams of the future, of children, plans for forever. The one she thought she would spend the rest of her life with. Until one terrible night when Erin made a mistake Nate could not forgive and left her to mourn the relationship she could never forget or get over.

Today, Erin is contentedly involved with a phenomenal guy, maneuvering a successful and exciting career, and raising a great daughter all on her own. So why would the name “Nate Lawson” be the first thing to enter her mind when her boyfriend asks her to marry him?

In the wake of the proposal, Erin finds herself coming unraveled over the past, and the love she never forgot. The more she tries to ignore it and move on, the more it haunts her.

Always Something There to Remind Me is a story that will resonate with any woman who has ever thought of that one first love and wondered, “Where is he?” and “What if…?” Filled with Beth Harbison’s trademark nostalgia humor and heart, it will transport you, and inspire you to believe in the power of first love.

Ope’s Opinion:  There was a lot I really liked about this book.  I love the story, the characters were realistic and I like the setting – since we live near DC, I found it fun to picture places I know.  I also liked that we saw Erin’s perspective as a teen and as an adult.

There were something that I did not really like – the repetitive details of sex was not necessary to get the feeling of the relationship between Nate and Erin.  There relationship was intense, I feel like that evident and could have come across without the explicit details over and over again.

The ending was good, but not realistic at all, but I liked it.

One September Morning

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Author: Rosalind Noonan
Publisher: Kensington
Genre: Mystery / Romance
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  The moment Abby Fitzgerald sees two soldiers approach her front door, she knows her husband is dead. John Stanton, who gave up his career as a star NFL running back to serve after 9/11, has been killed in Iraq. Suddenly Abby’s kitchen is overflowing with casseroles brought by the army wives’ club to which she has never really belonged. And her in-laws arrange a lavish funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in spite of Abby’s misgivings. John had grown to hate the war even though he loved his country, and Abby can’t reconcile the complex man she knew with the version being portrayed by self-serving politicians, military, and the media.
Shell-shocked, Abby strives to cope with her own heartache while comforting John’s loved ones, including his mother Sharice, his staunchly anti-war sister Madison, and his bitter younger brother Noah. But amidst her loss is a growing conviction that the truth about John’s death is far from over.
Gripping, thoughtful, and emotionally powerful, One September Morning is a story of loyalty and betrayal, of a shattered family’s journey toward healing, and of the courage it takes to confront the truth not just about our enemies, but about those we love best.

Ope’s Opinion:  The prologue took my breath away.  It set up the rest of the story, but took some of the mystery out of it for me.  I guessed and was correct where it was going.  Rosalind Noonan is one of my all time favorite authors and though I enjoyed this book, it was not my favorite of hers.

All the viewpoints made the story come alive, but it also confused me at times.  I had to make sure I knew who was talking at the beginning of  each chapter, so I understood the perspective I was reading.

The ending was a little too unbelievable.  I like happy endings and things wrapped up at the end of a book – a nice feel good ending, but this was a little too sugary sweet.

Coming Soon….

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…. On a Bookshelf near you!

In August I hope to read….

Publication Date: August 29, 2017
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation

Goodreads:  Sisterhood has a price . . .
Pledging to Theta Pi at Merriwether University seemed to offer Emma Danelski a passport to friendship, fun, and popularity. But the excitement of pledge training quickly fades, as does the warmth of her so-called sisters. What’s left is a stifling society filled with petty rules, bullying, and manipulation. Most haunting are the choices Emma makes in the wake of another sorority sister’s suicide . . .
It doesn’t matter that no one else needs to know what Emma did, or how vastly different life at Theta House is from the glossy image it projects. Emma knows. And now, with her loyalties tested, she must decide which secrets are worth keeping and how far she’ll go to protect them–and herself . . .

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

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

 

Ocean Beach

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Author: Wendy Wax
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Fiction
Source:  Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

 

Goodreads:  Wendy Wax, author of the “warm [and] wry” (St. Petersburg Times) Ten Beach Road, returns with a novel of three women in need of a second chance…or is it a third?

Unlikely friends Madeline, Avery and Nicole have hit some speed bumps in their lives, but when they arrive in Miami’s South Beach neighborhood, they are all hoping for a do-over. Literally. They’ve been hired to bring a once-grand historic house back to its former glory on a new television show called Do-Over. If they can just get this show off the ground, Nikki would get back on her feet financially, Avery could restart her ruined career, and Maddie would have a shot at keeping her family together.

At least, that’s the plan – until the women realize that having their work broadcast is one thing, having their personal lives play out on TV is another thing entirely. Soon they are struggling to hold themselves, and the project, together. With a decades-old mystery—and the hurricane season—looming, the women are forced to figure out just how they’ll weather life’s storms…

Ope’s Opinion: The story continues from the first book.  The three women start another renovation, this time as a show. Their personal lives have progressed.  If you enjoyed Ten Beach road, you will enjoy this one.

Max was a nice addition to round out this group of women.  His story was a sweet read among all the crazy drama that was happening.

The ending left enough open ended questions to make me want to read the next one to know how things play out.

The Whole Way Home

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Author: Sarah Creech
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: William Morrow

 

Goodreads:  A ferocious talent on the brink of making it big in Nashville must confront her small town past and an old love she’s never forgotten in this engaging novel—a soulful ballad filled with romance, heartbreak, secrets, and scandal from the author of Season of the Dragonflies.

Playing to packed houses while her hit song rushes up the charts, country singer and fiddler Jo Lover is poised to become a big Nashville star like her idols, Loretta, Reba, and Sheryl. To ensure her success, Jo has carefully crafted her image: a pretty, sassy, down-to-earth girl from small-town Virginia who pours her heart into her songs.

But the stage persona she’s built is threatened when her independent label merges with big-time Capitol Records, bringing Nashville heartthrob JD McCoy—her first love—back into her life. Long ago Jo played with JD’s band. Then something went wrong, they parted ways and took their own crooked roads to stardom. Now, Jo’s excited—and terrified—to see him again.

When the label reunites them for a show, the old sparks fly, the duet they sing goes viral, and fans begin clamoring for more—igniting the media’s interest in the compelling singer. Why is a small-town girl like Jo so quiet about her past? When did she and JD first meet? What split them apart? All too soon, the painful secret she’s been hiding is uncovered; a shocking revelation that threatens to destroy her reputation and her dreams. To salvage her life and her career, Jo must finally face the past—and her feelings for JD—to become the true Nashville diva she was meant to be.

Ope’s Opinion:  Recently my daughter and I were in Nashville and I went to the Ryman Auditorium.  It really helped me picture Jo on stage, which made this story more enjoyable. Reading about the behind scenes of country music was interesting.

Jo, like most people, has things in her past that she doesn’t care to share with the world.  Being famous makes it harder to keep secrets, being famous also makes it harder to know who to trust with those secrets.

This was a predictable story that had a nice even flow to it.  I enjoyed the relaxed read and actually wanted the ending just the way it is.

The Sunshine Sisters

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Author: Jane Green
Publisher: Berkley Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

 

 

Goodreads:  The New York Times bestselling author of Falling presents a warm, wise, and wonderfully vivid novel about a mother who asks her three estranged daughters to come home to help her end her life.

Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters.

As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother’s overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother. The target of her mother s criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love. And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother’s fame, while her marriage crumbled around her.

But now the Sunshine Girls are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy are all going through crises of their own, their mother s illness draws them together to confront old jealousies and secret fears and they discover that blood might be thicker than water after all.

Ope’s Opinion: This was a good read about sisters and a mother that was difficult.  It was interesting to see how each sister related to the mother and how they coped with that relationship being so unpredictable.

The beginning was fun to see a small part of their lives, at different ages, so you got an idea of each sister.  The present time moved faster and was more enjoyable for me.

The ending was predictable and wrapped in nice little package.

Side Note:  The “f” word was over used and unnecessary.  If this offends you, I would not recommend this book.  I found it distracting and irritating.