A Novel Review

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

The “clever and wonderfully chilling” (Fiona Barton) suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare...

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants—the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming—until one of them mysteriously disappears...

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past—and a voice that won't be silenced...

A fantastic stay-up all night read! I love a good gothic story and this is gothic wrapped in mystery over mystery! I loved the ghost of Mary Hand element at the girls' school. She got under my skin and freaked me out. I didn't know what to expect from the ghost or what else was going on at the school, but I wanted to figure out what was going on. Who was she and what was she! This element is only part of the story! The story just gets more and more intense. We, the reader, is going back and forth from 2014 to 1950 and I couldn't figure out why. Then once it made sense, I couldn't make sense of it. In a good way! Not until the very end of the story.

Idlewild Hall itself was dark and eerie and someone in 2014 is looking to bring the old boarding school back to life. A mystery shrouds the new owner and you wonder just what is her real story. Fiona Sheridan is a local reporter with a close tie to the old school, as her older sister was found dead there...but her sister wasn't a student there and the school had already been closed. Was her sisters killer really the man behind bars? Or was her death caused by something more sinister?! Fiona is on a quest to figure out whats the real story of Idlewild Hall.

And what really happened in 1950? Questions to an unsolved mystery rear their ugly head in 2014 and Fiona is trying to put pieces to a puzzle together when none of the pieces seem to be a part of the same puzzle...The Broken Girls will keep you reading until the truth finally comes out. And then scare you one. last. time.

The perfect read to sit up late into the night! Really enjoyed this book and honestly had a hard time putting it down! I highly recommend The Broken Girls (I also have read other books by Simone St. James and love everything I've read by her)!

As of December 1, 2009, According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), product reviewers on blogs must disclose whether they received products for free or received payment for their review. The books I review on this site (A NOVEL REVIEW) are sent to me by publishers, authors or downloaded from Netgalley. This is a very common practice. I never take payments for these reviews and all the reviews on this site are my own thoughts and feelings and are not influenced.vvvvvvv

Monday, July 24, 2017

Love Story: A Novel (The Baxter Family) by Karen Kingsbury

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a new book featuring everyone’s favorite family—the Baxters, which tells the story of how John and Elizabeth first fell in love.

From the day they met, John and Elizabeth were destined to fall in love. Their whirlwind romance started when they were young college students and lasted nearly thirty years—until Elizabeth died of cancer.

So when John Baxter is asked to relive his long-ago love story with Elizabeth for his grandson Cole’s heritage project, he’s not sure he can do it. The sadness might simply be too great. But he agrees and allows his heart and soul to go places they haven’t gone in decades. Back to the breathless first moments, but also to the secret heartbreak that brought John and Elizabeth together.

At the same time, Baxter family friend Cody Coleman is working through the breakup of his complicated relationship with Andi Ellison. He is determined to move on when a chance sighting changes his plans—and heart. Can Cody convince Andi to give their love another try, or is it time for them to say goodbye for good?

As school comes to an end, Cole presents his report on the love story between his grandparents John and Elizabeth Baxter. It is a tale that touches the hearts of the entire family, and one that causes Cole to better understand his own beginning.

Whether you’re meeting the Baxter family for the first time or finding them all over again, Love Story will stir your heart and remind you of the generational impact of love and the eternal bond of family.

My Thoughts On Love Story by Karen Kingsbury. You should know, I LOVE the Baxter series! I mean this way a fantastic series with great characters. I devoured the series in a very short amount of time. When I found out Kingsbury was writing a story, the never fully told story of John and Elizabeth you can bet I was excited.

So how did the book hold up against the series from years ago? Well for me it couldn't reach five star potential. I loved getting a peek into John and Elizabeth's past and learning about where they got their amazing faith from. This was a great part of their story. But it wasn't the whole book. The other part of the book was based on Cody Coleman and the Flanigan storyline. If I was being honest the Flanigan stories...I just didn't connect with them. I stopped reading the series once it broke off. I wasn't invested in Cody. Now someone who had read the Flanigan books will love to get caught up with Cody.

Overall, I gave the book four stars. Reading Love Story reminded me how much I missed this family. I would have given a five star, but I felt the story of John and Elizabeth could have been more of the book. Loved it overall.

As of December 1, 2009, According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), product reviewers on blogs must disclose whether they received products for free or received payment for their review. The books I review on this site (A NOVEL REVIEW) are sent to me by publishers, authors or downloaded from Netgalley. This is a very common practice. I never take payments for these reviews and all the reviews on this site are my own thoughts and feelings and are not influenced.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green

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.

My thoughts...

I always enjoy reading Jane Green books, so I was excited to start my summer reading off with her newest novel The Sunshine Sisters. An easy read to sit back and just enjoy reading on the beach or in your backyard watching the kids play on the swing set. The book has a nice quick flow to it, which is always great for a summer read.

You get to know Ronni and her three daughters with individual chapters off and on through their life before they all come together again. I wasn't a fan of Ronni, but she was portrayed how I would view many Hollywood type moms.Her character felt true. I never felt bad for her even though she was suffering with a serious disease. I did however feel bad for her daughters.

With the chapters written from the past to present for each daughter you see what drove their different personalities. I would say I was a bit disappointed in the relationship between Nell and Meredith. It felt like they might have been closer since most of their childhood was them vs Ronni. I have a sister and we are pretty close in age and we are very different, yet remain close. It seemed a little odd that they weren't even a little close as adults.

I enjoyed the chapters of getting caught up with the girls as adults the most. I could easily see where and how they got where they did. I was rooting for all of them to find happiness and to deal with the hurts of the mother. I would say I most related to Nell. We are both oldest children and her feelings about her mother felt similar to some of the thoughts and feelings I went through when I lost my dad a few years back.

I can't say I loved The Sunshine Girls, but I enjoyed it well enough and it was a pretty quick read. There was a certain amount of predictability to the story, so I would say I had a little higher hopes.

Follow Jane Green

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Buy your copy:

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As of December 1, 2009, According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), product reviewers on blogs must disclose whether they received products for free or received payment for their review. The books I review on this site (A NOVEL REVIEW) are sent to me by publishers, authors or downloaded from Netgalley. This is a very common practice. I never take payments for these reviews and all the reviews on this site are my own thoughts and feelings and are not influenced.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff

Summer 1941

Young Adelia Monteforte flees fascist Italy for America, where she is whisked away to the shore by her well-meaning aunt and uncle. Here, she meets and falls for Charlie Connally, the eldest of the four Irish-Catholic boys next door. But all hopes for a future together are soon throttled by the war and a tragedy that hits much closer to home.

Grief-stricken, Addie flees—first to Washington and then to war-torn London—and finds a position at a prestigious newspaper, as well as a chance to redeem lost time, lost family…and lost love. But the past always nips at her heels, demanding to be reckoned with. And in a final, fateful choice, Addie discovers that the way home may be a path she never suspected.

My thoughts...well I loved it. Adelia "Addie" has come to America to live with her Aunt and Uncle. Her parents are still in Italy, but they send her over to protect her. Addie is taken to her Aunt and Uncle's beach house where she meets the Connally family. Four Irish Catholic boys. Over the years she becomes like a daughter/sister to the Connally family even with people looking at them because they are different. It makes no difference. Then Pearl Harbor. The eldest Connally boy, Charlie wants nothing more than to fight. Promises are made. The family is afraid of what war would mean especially with all the boys, but it is an unexpected accident that throws the future of the entire family into a tail spin. Addie runs. She runs to Washington and later to London not wanting to deal with her own grief.

Addie wasn't a character I really took too right off. She seemed always a bit of a misfit. As she slowly evolved into part of the Connally family, the more I took to her. When the unexpected accident occurs (sorry not going to ruin the book by telling you!) My heart breaks for Addie. Once again she is left alone--the little girl sent off on a boat without her parents. Addie doesn't sit around feeling sorry for herself, but takes off to Washington. When her past shows up, she takes off in order to protect her heart. She runs of to London and a possible new future. Ok I would LOVE to start giving some major story details, but I will refrain.

Basically, the story is a hit and miss love story. There is a war. There is devastation. Addie is trying desperately to help someone in a way she couldn't help someone she lost. All through the book I kept wondering if the two loves would find there way back to each other. Would she choose the new man who loves her and is desperate to help her? I got half way through this book and then couldn't put it down. What would happen? I sat reading thinking of course true love, young love wins...but then you see a love that is more devoted to her, more adult...is that enough? I won't tell you what happens, but I will tell you I was not prepared for how all things would end. It has a perfect and unexpected ending that I was personally thrilled with. A MUST READ!

Buy The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Follow Pam Jenoff

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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica

A chance encounter sparks an unrelenting web of lies in this stunning new psychological thriller from national bestselling author Mary Kubica

She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can't get the girl out of her head...

Heidi Wood has always been a charitable woman: she works for a nonprofit, takes in stray cats. Still, her husband and daughter are horrified when Heidi returns home one day with a young woman named Willow and her four-month-old baby in tow. Disheveled and apparently homeless, this girl could be a criminal—or worse. But despite her family's objections, Heidi invites Willow and the baby to take refuge in their home.

Heidi spends the next few days helping Willow get back on her feet, but as clues into Willow's past begin to surface, Heidi is forced to decide how far she's willing to go to help a stranger. What starts as an act of kindness quickly spirals into a story far more twisted than anyone could have anticipated.

My thoughts...I will start with I devoured this book! I had an eye strain headache and still couldn't put it down! So so good. Why was it so good? Ok, well we get to know Heidi Wood at first. She is devoted to helping and care of the less fortunate. She spots Willow out in the rain with a baby. The girl and the baby haunt her. Its not like she sees her and brings her home the next day. Everything about this girl with a baby compels Heidi to reach out and help her. Her husband, Chris is a workaholic who seems oddly detached from his wife. He is in the marriage, but not fully vested. Their daughter Zoe is a preteen struggling to find her own voice with a mother who is very involved. You can see how Heidi is almost looking for something to fill her attention.

The novel is told with three viewpoints. First Heidi, then her husband Chris and last Willow. What I absolutely loved was Heidi and Chris share the story as it is happening though their eyes, but Willow tells the story from the end and from before meeting the Wood family (I know this sounds confusing, but it isn't and it really is what makes for the suspense!)

Now I can't imagine bringing home a young girl off the streets into my home the way Heidi does, but it doesn't take long before we begin to understand Heidi's underlying reasoning. Heidi seems to bask in taking care of Willow's baby. Chris is suspicious and wants the girl out of the house. Then the story begins to spiral! While the story seems to be getting out of control, we are at the same time learning about Willows dark past--still the pieces aren't making any sense...then BAM the story explodes! I will leave it at that. A summer must read! Highly recommending!