divorce

REVIEW:  In the Band by Jean Haus

REVIEW: In the Band by Jean Haus

Dear Jean Haus: I purchased this book sight unseen during an after Christmas sale on Amazon. It had quite a few positive reviews and something most band romances seem to neglect: a female actually in the band instead of just sleeping with someone in the band. At the sale price, it seemed like an interesting(…)

REVIEW:  A Midsummer’s Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

REVIEW: A Midsummer’s Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Dear Ms. Keplinger, I think you’re one of the more interesting contemporary YA authors to be published in recent years. There’s an authenticity to your narrative voice that’s difficult to match. Despite their flaws, I enjoyed your previous two novels, The DUFF and Shut Out, so I snatched up your latest without hesitation. Whitley is(…)

REVIEW: All They Need by Sarah Mayberry

REVIEW: All They Need by Sarah Mayberry

Dear Ms. Mayberry: I almost feel bad recommending another book of yours.  I feel like to continually recommend the same author time and again may read inauthentic to readers but your voice and the stories that you tell really resonate with me. I think you really know how to capture and express a modern women(…)

REVIEW: Stand In Wife by Karina Bliss

REVIEW: Stand In Wife by Karina Bliss

Dear Ms. Bliss: Sometimes I think a reader connects to a writer in ways that can’t quite be articulated.  I’ve felt that way about your work for a while so I don’t know how reliable of a recommender of your books that I am.  What I connect with is the authenticity of the characters, the(…)

REVIEW: Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke

REVIEW: Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke

Dear Ms. Guhrke: Although I'm not always a fan of the back-to-back book release, in the case of Wedding of the Season and Scandal of the Year, I appreciated being able to follow up Will and Beatrix's story with Julia and Aidan's. Although their match-up was anticipated by the first book, they are, in many(…)

REVIEW: One Real Thing by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox

REVIEW: One Real Thing by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox

Dear Ms. Crow and Ms. Fox. I’ve had a hard time writing this review. I made it a Recommended Read for January and it’s been a best-seller at Carina since it’s been out. But it’s such a subtle book, so simple and yet so complicated, I’ve been lost for what to say about it. This(…)

REVIEW: Worth Fighting For by Molly O’Keefe

REVIEW: Worth Fighting For by Molly O’Keefe

Beware, there are spoilers for the series in the review itself so if you want to read The Mitchells of Riverview Inn without being spoiled one iota, please don’t read this review: Dear Ms. O’Keefe: Worth Fighting For brings together the loose plot threads involving Iris and Patrick, the mother and father of Gabe, Max,(…)

CONVERSATIONAL REVIEW: Plan B: Boyfriend by Ellen Hartman

CONVERSATIONAL REVIEW: Plan B: Boyfriend by Ellen Hartman

Plot summary from Ellen Hartman’s site: Sarah Finley’s husband left her to marry his boss. Her children have been tossed out of elementary school for a violation of the weapons code. Her friends and neighbors are avoiding her like the plague. Clearly, Sarah is in need of a Plan B. Enter Charlie McNulty. Charlie is(…)

REVIEW: The Same Last Name by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

REVIEW: The Same Last Name by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

Dear Ms. Seidel, Your 1983 category, The Same Last Name, begins when three cars arrive at New York State’s Frank Lake State Park. One of the park’s forest rangers, twenty-five year old April Ramsey, greets the man who registers this group of six visitors. April directs the tourist to the best campsites for a group(…)

REVIEW: The Bride of Willow Creek by Maggie Osborne

Dear Mrs. Osborne, Some of your other novels have made my “Best of” lists. You wrote westerns and stuck with the genre even when it fell out of favor. You never tried to incorporate the latest “trend” in your books but wrote about basically decent, honest people working hard and trying to make a living.(…)

REVIEW: Single in Suburbia by Wendy Wax

Dear Ms Wax, This is the third book of yours I’ve read. Do I detect a slight shift towards women’s fiction with this one? Once again you write about a heroine at whom life throws a curveball and who has to stand on her own two feet. Amanda Sheridan’s husband of 20 years has walked(…)