B+ Reviews / Book ReviewsContemporary / estranged family / family relationships / found family / Los Angeles / omniscient voice13 Comments
When Laura Costello moves to Los Angeles, trying to escape an overprotective family and the haunting memories of a terrible accident, she doesn’t expect to be homeless after a week. (She’s pretty sure she didn’t start that fire — right?) She also doesn’t expect to find herself adopted by a ... more >
A Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads1950s / 1960s / American historical / chemistry / dog / family relationships / found family / Historical / Misogyny / mothers and daughters / omniscient voice / rowing / science / Scientist / single mother / strong heroine / Womens-Fiction14 Comments
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except ... more >
A Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsAustralia / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / family relationships / Fiction / omniscient voice / present tense / prison / prisoners / self discovery / sewing13 Comments
Can a wedding dress save a bunch of hardened crims? The Full Monty meets Orange is the New Black in a poignantly comic story about a men’s prison sewing circle. Derek’s daughter Debbie is getting married. He’s desperate to be there, but he’s banged up in Yarrandarrah Correctional Centre for ... more >
B Reviews / Book ReviewsChef / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / family relationships / literary adaptation / omniscient voice / restaurants / Scotland / second chance at love4 Comments
Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. She returned to save her family’s dying legacy–but found the ghosts of her past alive and well. Susan Napier’s family once lived on the success of the high-end restaurants founded by her late grandfather. But bad luck and worse management has brought the business to ... more >
Book Reviews / C+ Reviewsableism / autistic character / Contemporary / dogs / family relationships / neuroscience / omniscient voice / opposites attract / Scientist / Texas2 Comments
An accidental dog swap unleashes an unexpected love match in this new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Julia London. Carly Kennedy’s life is in a spiral. She is drowning in work, her divorced parents are going through their midlife crises, and somehow Carly’s sister convinces her to ... more >