The Last Thing He Told Me

Finished January 4

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

This standalone suspense novel was recommended to me at the library when I asked about a book to meet a challenge. The challenge was a book published in the last five years that had been adapted into a movie or television show, and this was adapted into a television series.

The main character is Hannah Hall, a wood turner, and furniture maker. Hannah had lived in New York City until recently, when she married Owen Michaels, a coder that she met through one of her clients. After their marriage she moved onto the houseboat in Sausalito, where Owen lives with his sixteen-year-old daughter Bailey.  She made some missteps with Bailey at the beginning, but is trying to come to a better relationship. 

One day a kid from the sports team Owen coaches shows up at Hannah's door with a note that just says 'Protect Her.' Hannah knows that he means Bailey, but isn't sure what is going on until she finds that Owen's workplace was raided by the FBI for fraud. She can't believe that Owen would have anything to do with that, but why else would he disappear? When she picks up Bailey from school, she finds that he's left something for Bailey as well. 

As Hannah tries to make sense of things, she is visited by a Texas Ranger who offers help, and she begins to dig into Owen's past, finding that he isn't who he said he was. This is a mystery with some suspenseful moments, and Hannah ends up faced with a decision that is difficult on the surface. 

Baby Mine

Finished December 14

Baby Mine by Kennedy Fox

I picked this out of my free Kobo reads to meet a challenge and kept hoping it would get better and it just kept getting more cringy. Engineering student and part-time bartender Hunter is drawn to a woman Lennon that he sees while he's working at the bar. She's also a student, but not locally, and is there with friends. He means to ask for her number, but doesn't get another chance, and the next morning he finds that she came home with his roommate. As his roommate and Lennon get serious and then when Lennon finishes her degree and gets a teaching job nearby, she moves in the apartment, Hunter becomes a bigger and bigger jerk to try to keep her from being nice to him, which would make him want her more. Um, childish anyone?

Then his roommate dies in a motorcycle accident and the grief she is feeling, that he also shares, makes him change course and be pleasant, responsible, and caring. (He says, 'but he'd never have a relationship with her because she was with his friend') Sure. Her friends see possible coupledom and his friends warn him against what he's doing, so they see it too. 

Then she discovers that she's pregnant with the roommate's behaviour. What to do? This is where her background really comes in. She's from Utah and the middle of three daughters, all living near each other. Their parents, back in Utah, are a pastor and his wife, very conservative, didn't let the girls date in high school at all, think they are all still 'pure' and don't know that Lennon was living with her boyfriend. 

And no, these aren't spoilers. All but the religious background are part of the book description. It took me longer to get through than I'd thought it would and I almost quit a few times, but didn't want to waste the time I'd invested. This book is the first in a series and ends of a bit of drama that is unresolved. I'm just glad I'm done. There is a sequel should you be interested.

The plot is cringy, the writing isn't great. The dialogue is stilted. 

Unfortunately Yours

Finished December 8

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey

This is the second book in the duology A Vine Mess centred on the Napa Valley. I enjoyed the first book Secretly Yours, which also gave some hints about the couple in this book and had meant to read it for a while. 

Natalie Vos returned to her childhood home some time ago, after a bad call at work meant losing her investment management job and her fiancé. She has plans for a comeback, one that will prove to the investment community and her ex that she knows what she's doing. The problem is that she needs some money to start her own firm, and the only way that seems possible is to access her trust fund. Unfortunately, her estranged father has made the stipulation that she be married to get access. 

August Cates owns a vineyard, but his passion for it comes from the loss of his best friend, whose dream it was. He is intent on the endeavour, but is running out of funds, and knows his latest batch wasn't a success. When Natalie offers him funding contingent on them going into a fake marriage, he can't decide if it is a good idea or not. But a unexpected visitor makes his mind up for him. 

They have to do a convincing enough job to trick the local banker, but the greater difficulty may be trying not to notice their intense chemistry. 

Natalie has the skills to know how to improve August's wine, but he has a hard time letting anyone into his life in a meaningful way. We can see each of their weak points and the inner needs that they have, but they both have to be willing to admit them to each other, and to themselves. 

A quick engaging read that kept me wanting more. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, and how their interactions felt real. 

Fates Divided

Finished November 4

Fates Divided by Jules Bernard

This is the first novel in the Halven Rising series. Set partly in our world and partly in a Fae world called Tirnan, this is a novel that brings the worlds together in an interesting way. Elena is enjoying college, studying chemistry, and becoming friends with her roommate Reese. Her mother left shortly after she was born, and her father died in a farm accident, but she is close to her cousin and grandmother. When she turns eighteen, odd things begin to happen. She sees a classroom where one doesn't exist and her senses seem more acute. When a group of tall blondes take her into an academic area she's not seen before and tell her that she is half-Fae (Halven) and needs to help them with a cure to a deadly disease killing Fae, she is overwhelmed. 

Then she meets Derek, a student who was offered a research opportunity to come to this college, who also has some unusual skills. She finds out that he is also Halven, and he's protective of her in terms of the Fae, who only seem to want what they think she can do.

As Elena discovers who her mother is and feels that going to the Fae world will be the only way to accomplish the task she's been given, she finds that the Fae themselves are divided but most of them seem to agree that Halven are inferior and undeserving of life. 

As Elena and Derek collaborate, others work to come between them and gain power for their own purposes. 

This novel is fast-moving with lots of characters and no clarity on who can be trusted. This series progresses in the combined worlds with each book, but each book is also a stand-alone story around a couple. The world-building is detailed enough for the plot without getting caught up in the details. 

The Housewife Assassin's Handbook

Finished September 23

The Housewife Assassin's Handbook by Josie Brown

First, you need to know that this book, and the series that it begins is farce, with great humorous moments. Donna Stone is a suburban housewife. The day her third child is born is also the day that she learns that her husband was undercover FBI and was killed by a car bomb. His boss is the one that informs her and asks her not to let anyone else know he is dead. So she spins stories about him being away on business trips. Donna is involved in all the usual suburban mother activities, PTA and driving kids to their various activities. As she begins to think about how she will manage without her husband's income, his boss suggests that she might be cut out to be an agent herself. 

After training, she takes on the role of a not very bright, but sexy woman in many of her agent roles. But things change when another agent, Jack, who has a reputation for being a player, shows up at her house impersonating her husband Carl. As her fellow housewives swoon over 'Carl', she tries not to resent him for gaining the trust and adoration of her children, and for making moves on her. 

But as the pair becomes involved in dealing a fatal blow to the criminal organization that supposedly killed her husband, things become trickier and it is harder to separate fact from fiction. 

Each chapter begins with a housewife tip that has an edge at the end. The scenes have lots of action and suspense, and the body count damage is mostly offscreen. 

I enjoyed this for the farcical aspects, and it reminded me of some of the action shows of my youth (such as Remington Steele). A fun read. 

Lies and Weddings

Finished June 7

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

There and many lies and several weddings in this novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is definitely tongue in cheek at times, and the whole vibe of the novel was just great. 

It begins with a tragic scene in Hong Kong in 1985, and then jumps to the present day. As a reader, I gradually became aware of the way this early event related to the characters and actions in the present day. 

We get a list of seven characters who are the 'main players' in the story. They are an English earl, Francis Gresham; his Hong Kong model wife, Arabella; their three children, Rufus, Augusta, and Beatrice; Thomas Tong, a doctor, friend of Francis, and longterm tenant in a cottage on the property; and Thomas' daughter Eden, a newly minted doctor. 

Arabella is about to get married to a prince of Liechtenburg, on a new resort property of the Greshams in Hawaii. Then things begin to go wrong in a variety of ways from environmental to financial. 

I love a lot of the details of Kwan's writing. Things like the list of schools a character went to listed when they first appear in the novel; the inclusion of text conversations, announcements, invitations, and newspaper articles; and the way he uses language to hint at upcoming plot elements. But the best is the use of footnotes. These footnotes are done properly and seem serious, but are often hilarious in the way they make fun of the characters, situations, and general class system that is at play in the novel. 

Wealth and status in this novel are front and center, but despite the outer trappings of money or the character's title, one can never be sure whether the wealth is a facade or the real thing. I loved the role of Eden as a grounded middle class doctor who lives on the edges of the earl's family. Childhood playmate and friend of all three Gresham children, she doesn't have the designer clothes, the international travel, or the connections that they have. Accepted in some ways, and not in others, she finds herself seeing her situation in a new light here. 

The novel takes us from the English home of the characters to Hawaii for Arabella's wedding, to London, Paris, Marrakech, Beverly Hills, and Venice. We see the high life close hand, designer names dropped continuously, and ostentatious displays of wealth throughout. But they are always so ostentatious that they become objects of ironic humour. 

I will definitely be seeking out more books by this author. 

Abandoned

Finished June 1

Abandoned by Cody McFadyen

This is the fourth book in a series, but the first one I've read. The main character in the series is FBI agent Smoky Barrett, who has already been through some difficult situations, where she was kidnapped, raped, and tortured, and her husband and daughter were killed. Here, she is at the wedding of a fellow agent, when a car driving by the outdoor wedding venue slows down and pushes a woman out of the car. She is in bad shape, wearing only a nightgown and very thin with her head shaved. 

The wedding guests spring into action as most of them are either police or FBI. The woman is obviously traumatized and she doesn't respond to questions, so they use other methods to track down her identity. Which leads them to some very interesting new questions. 

As usual with serious cases, they also look for other similar crimes, and find some that fit. As Smoky digs deeper, she also puts herself at risk. She has extra security on her adopted daughter, and her husband is also in the law enforcement business, but this criminal is tricky and seems organized and dispassionate about the effect on their victims. 

This was a fast-paced read, with tense situations and life-changing outcomes for any victims that are released. The plotline was interesting, and there are parts where we see how the criminal was formed by their upbringing. There is also a secondary plotline with a potential job change for Smoky, and we get to see into the personal lives of many of the characters, something that brings depth to the characters. 

Secrets by Starlight

Finished April 5

Secrets by Starlight by J.R. Pearse Nelson

This is the first book in a series called Moon Garden Mysteries. Set in the small town of Crescent Bay on  the Northern California coast, the narrator Naomi Monday has inherited a large mansion called Covett House, a small museum called Museum of the Odd and Wondrous, and a gardening shop. She knew this was coming to her when her grandmother died, but she doesn't feel ready for it. She is recently divorced and lives in Sacramento, where she has an apartment and job. 

At first she is sure she is going to sell it all, but after a few days, where many things happen, she isn't so sure. 

One thing, a local woman called Cherise Tillson is murdered in the museum, and the police have a lot of questions. Another is that her grandmother's cat, who has been missing since her death, reappears and leads Naomi to discover a hidden key, a book that is part of a series written by her grandmother, and a secret garden that only appears at certain times. When Naomi enters the garden, she finds that there are things that expected of her, and that many creatures depend on her continuing a family tradition. 

As Naomi finds herself welcomed in town, and led to clues about the murder, she finds that this is a community she wants to be part of. 

This novel has elements of women's fiction, fantasy, and cozy mystery, which all come together in interesting ways. I enjoyed watching Naomi become more comfortable in herself and her situation and find a solution that will work for at least a while. I also, naturally, liked the cat and the role it played. 

This is a light read and promises for an interesting series. 

Not Quite Over You

Finished March 24

Not Quite Over You by Susan Mallery

This novel is part of a series set in the small California town of Happily Inc., a town that a previous generation marketed as a wedding destination, and that the town now embraces as one of its main revenue streams. Silver Tesdal runs a mobile bar service out of an refurbished Airstream trailer, and her business is booming, so she wants to expand and has her sights on two old Airstreams currently for sale. She tried a few banks, but despite her well-thought-through business plan, no one is biting. When her last hope is gone, a unexpected offer comes her way. 

Banker Drew Lovato, who works at that last hope bank, was a three-month passionate relationship for Silver after high school, before Drew went off to university, when it ended. When he noticed that his aunt, head of commercial bank at their family bank, convinced the board to deny her the loan, he took a look at her application and business plan. 

He decides to purchase the trailers and come to Silver with a partnership offer. He hopes that the move will allow him to win back her trust, as well as support her in the town's major industry. 

Silver is wary, but her business acumen knows that his knowledge would be an asset to her, not to mention that he now has the trailers she wants. With his investment, she can move forward quickly on most of her plans, but she has a secret that he isn't fully aware of. That secret will change their relationship, and their plans for the future. 

I enjoyed this novel, which moved quickly. There were a lot of characters introduced, and I assume we see some of them in other novels in the series. Here, Silver and Drew take center stage, and we see their relationship grow, both personally and on the business side, and we also see family members from both sides have their influence. Friendships are also big here, with some having interesting international scope for plotlines in other books. 

A fun read from a series I'd definitely read more in. 

The Night We Lost Him

Finished October 24

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

This was an interesting mystery that also involved more than one romantic relationship. The main story has Nora Noone approached by one of her brothers, Sam, about their father's recent death. 

Their father Liam was a charismatic man who built a luxury hotel empire specializing in unique properties that emphasized privacy and experiences. Nora's mother Rachel was his first wife, and they remained on amicable terms after their divorce. She had regular Friday dinners with her parents, and felt loved and supported by her father. She became an neuro-architect, a specialized emerging area of architecture that I wasn't previously familiar with. He had asked her more than once to either join his company or collaborate, but she preferred to make her own way.

Sam and his twin brother Tommy were children of Liam's second wife and she didn't see a lot of them. She wasn't welcomed by their mother, and so didn't really do family activities with them and didn't know them well. Sam had been on a path to professional baseball when an accident injuring his wrist made that unreachable for him. Both Tommy and Sam became involved in their father's company.

Liam also had a third wife, Inez, and we only see a little of her and only a mention of the young daughter that Liam had with her. 

Nora is grieving both her parents. Her mother died in an accident, and now her father has fallen from a cliff at his California cottage, a place that was always special to him. Sam believes that his father's death was not an accident, but that he was pushed, and he wants Nora to help him get to the truth about the sudden death. 

Nora has reacted to the losses by pulling away from those close to her, first from her father and her partner Jack following her mother's death, and more so now after her father's death. She is reluctant to believe Sam, but agrees to go with him to the cottage to look for more details. 

As they are stonewalled by the detective and other people close to Liam, they use the little information they have to continue their search with Nora's good sense playing against Sam's impetuousness emotions and actions. 

There are also short chapters from the past, gradually moving forward in time, that show Liam with a woman named Cody. They had a very close, intimate relationship that has continued for decades despite relationships that both had with others. This provides another touch of mystery as we wonder who this woman is and whether this relationship played into Liam's death.

I found this book a quick read, with the plot pulling me through the novel. I found the mysteries present in the novel offset by the personal lives of both Nora and Sam as they struggled with their own emotional needs. A winner for me. 

Twice in a Blue Moon

Finished October 18

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

This book is told in two short time periods fourteen years apart, in chronological order. When Tate Jones is eighteen, her grandmother takes her to London for a much anticipated trip. Her grandmother and mother run a cafe in a small California town. Her grandmother has planned their days out, cramming in as much as she can from museums and galleries to plays. 

On their first day, they meet Sam and Luther, a grandson-grandfather pair from Vermont, who are also on a much anticipated visit. Sam is a little older than Tate, at twenty-one. The four get along well, and do some things together, but Sam and Tate connect more strongly, and after once unplanned meeting in the hotel's courtyard late in the evening, Tate is sneaking out after her grandmother falls asleep to meet Sam. They lie in the grass, look at the stars, and share personal information. Some of Tate's sharing includes things very few people know about her, but she is sure that she can trust Sam with her dreams and sorrows. Sam lets her know that he is worried about Luther's health, and about his grandmother Roberta, who doesn't enjoy air travel, and who stayed home. 

The connection ends abruptly when Sam and Luther leave without goodbyes. The next day, Tate is swarmed by media as she exits the hotel for the day, and her grandmother quickly calls in assistance. With the media knowing things that she's told Sam, including her father's identity as a Hollywood film star, Tate is both sad and mad at the betrayal. 

Fourteen years later, Tate is now an actor herself, and has signed on to a movie where her father also appears in a supporting role. When Sam appears on set, she is shocked, and doesn't know how to react. She needs to talk to him, but she finds her emotions confusing. The tension is already high as Tate and her father haven't had much of a relationship over the years, despite what the media has been told. 

The story is all told from Tate's viewpoint, and while I could relate to the ease of falling in love as a susceptible young woman in her situation, the adult Tate is more controlled and less relatable. The story also lacks the humorous banter that usually appears in Christina Lauren romances, and has a more serious feel to it.

It was an enjoyable read, but not one of this author pair's best. 

The Man Who Didn't Call

Finished September 15

The Man Who Didn't Call by Rosie Walsh

This novel has both romance and mystery going on. Just when you think you have something figured out, the plot moves in a different direction. 

The book starts with what seems to be a letter from someone who hasn't seen the person addressed to for nineteen years. It then moves to a different setting, labelled Day Seven. The numbered day refers to the time two people Sarah and Eddie who found each other by chance when they were both out for a walk and who have spent those days together, falling in love with each other. The narrator here is Sarah and she reflects not only on Eddie and the time spent with him, but also on time spent with her younger sister Hannah, who she misses a lot. They've spent these days at Eddie's home a house and woodworking shop in the Gloucestershire countryside. Eddie makes his living as a woodworker, following an interest he had even when young, and one that he resumed after abandoning a college degree. Eddie is about to leave for a planned vacation getaway with friends, but has promised to call Sarah from the airport and reunite with her when he's back. 

Sarah is divorced. She'd left home a couple decades ago, and has only come back for an annual visit more recently. She lives in California where she and her former husband founded a charity that uses Clown Doctors, specially trained people that use their humour and communication skills to connect to kids in hospitals and hospices. 

The third chapter jumps ahead a couple of weeks, where Sarah is with her close friends Jo and Tommy, along with Jo's son Rudi, travelling to Tommy's old school where he will be giving a presentation. He needs support as several of his old bullies will also be there, and he is very nervous. Sarah is hung up on her own issues though, the primary one being that Eddie has completely ghosted her after leaving for his vacation. He has given no explanation and hasn't responded to any of her communication attempts. She is both worried about him and emotionally upset. I really enjoyed Rudi's takes on the adult world happening around him. He is an observant and intelligent child. 

As the novel gradually unveils the reason for Eddie's silence, and how Sarah copes, or doesn't cope with this knowledge, we are also given more of the letters that the book started with, showing that something happened those nineteen years before that left the letter writer profoundly saddened. 

I enjoyed the twists and turns, and the gradual unveilings that moved the plot forward. A captivating read. 

Miracle Country

Finished September 3

Miracle Country by Kendra Atleework

This memoir draws you in to the author's life in beautiful prose. She grew up in Swall Meadows, a small town north of Bishop, California, in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, which lies between the Sierra Nevadas on the west, and the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the east. This is an area where the average annual rainfall is about 5 inches. For decades most of the water from this region has been collected and diverted to Los Angeles, making agriculture in the area extremely difficult. 

The memoir is not told chronologically, but moves around in time. It is separated into five parts: Wind; Wildflowers; Rivers; Moonrise; and Summit. It starts in 2015 with a fire that happened in the fourth year of a bad drought. This choice of beginning gives us a real sense of the environment and what the people there face. They have droughts, blizzards, and fire to deal with every year. 

Kendra is the oldest of three children, with a sister Kaela, and a brother Anthony. Her mother, Jan, was a teacher, avid hiker, and played flute in a local orchestra. Her father, Robert, has done a lot of different things since moving to the area as a young man. He has dredged streams, pumped gas, run a Greyhound office, flown hot air balloons, and runs a map company that makes maps of the region. He also built his own airplane, played trombone in the local orchestra, and is very tall, 6'8". I was intrigued by the house she grew up in, which was built by a retired engineer from the L.A. Dept. of Water and Power from old growth redwood that had been salvaged from water tanks in L.A. 

Kendra and her siblings grew up without television and had only local radio. Instead, they had stories, legends, history, and poetry. Their mother created special places and characters for them and they played in this way as they explored the world around them. 

Kendra's mother died when Kendra was sixteen, and the family fell apart gradually despite her father's efforts. She takes us through what she herself went through, and more briefly what her siblings have experienced. 

She gives us a lot of information about the area she lives in, the Owens Valley, known to the indigenous and Payahuunadu. She also includes a lot of history of the area, and gives passages from other writers that lived or passed through the region. One of these is Mary Austin, who came there in 1892, and witnessed the changes that happened when John Mulholland came up with the plan to capture the water for the city of Los Angeles, 250 miles south. She also talks about the indigenous, the Paiute, who were driven out of the area, into the desert to the east, but returned and stayed. 

Kendra went to college in Los Angeles, and grad school in Minnesota. 

She made the whole area come alive for me, as well as making her own experiences relatable and vivid. A fascinating book. 

The Summer Book Club

Finished July 25

The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery

I enjoyed this book better than the other Mallery book that I read recently. The novel is centered on three women, two of whom have been friends since childhood. The third woman, Cassie, is undergoing a major life change as the book opens. 

Cassie's parents died when she was a child, and she was brought up by her two older siblings and her uncle. Cassie is a woman who loves to help those she cares about and her life up to know has been focused on her family rather than her own life and wants. When her uncle passed away, he left her some property in California, across the country from her home in Maine, and her siblings now force her to go out and see what's there and start living life for herself. It's a bit of tough love on their parts, but they want her to have a full life of her own.

Laurel runs a small business, mostly online, in small antiques and collectibles, and is divorced with two daughters. Her ex-husband wasn't an involved father, and left her in a bad place financially that she has worked her way out of. She's a bit wary of men, and she's worried that her fears have been passed on to her oldest daughter.

Paris is also divorced, and has been focused on her anger issues and her mental health for the more than decade since the divorce. She's built the farmland she inherited from her mother into a successful farmstand business. Because Paris is aware of her own emotional issues from the past, she's scared to try a new relationship. 

As Cassie is brought into the friendship through a casual meeting and an invitation to join the book club, the three spend the summer reading, learning about themselves and their capabilities, and taking a chance on new relationships. 

A satisfying and interesting read. 

Every Other Weekend

Finished July 20

Every Other Weekend by Zulema Renee Summerfield

This debut novel is set in 1988 and told from the point of view of an imaginative young girl, Nenny, who is eight and has lots of worries and ideas. Nenny's parents are divorced, and her mother has remarried a man who is also divorced. She has an older brother, Bubbles, and a younger brother, Tiny. Her mom's new husband, Rick, has two children, Charles, who is in the same grade as Nenny, and Kat, who is sixteen. 

The story is structured around the two houses that Nenny lives in. The first is the one with her mom and Rick, The second is the one with her dad. There some chapters different fears that Nenny has, and how those fears appear to her. 

As Nenny observes the life in her family and at school, she shows how things change, and how people react to changes. Some changes are minor and others are very large and difficult. I appreciated her views on these and how the changes also influenced her inner fears. 

This was a quick read, but also one that felt reflective. 

I enjoyed this novel,  

The Paradise Problem

Finished July 5

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

This romance novel is a lot of fun to read, as one would expect from this author duo. Anna Green married Liam "West" Weston so that both of them could access subsidized family housing at UCLA. Both had needed an affordable place to live to finish their degrees, and Anna's friend Jake had suggested his brother as a solution. Anna had started in pre-med, but ended up in fine arts, and Liam was working on his graduate degree in economics. Anna signed some papers when they moved out and went on with her life, working low level jobs and painting as much as she can. She has a manager for her art, but hasn't hit it big. Liam is now a professor at Stanford, specializing in corporate culture. He is also one of the four children of the CEO of Weston Foods, one of the country's biggest grocery chains. His father has always expected Liam to take the reins as the next CEO, but Liam wants none of it. Both of his brothers, Alex and Jake, as well as his little sister Charlie work there in executive positions, but Liam has managed to make his own way after his father cut him off when he was in university. 

Now Charlie is getting married, and Liam is expected to make his appearance at the destination wedding at a resort in Indonesia. He is also expected to bring his wife. 

Anna hadn't realized that they were still married, and she also had no idea that Jake and Liam were part of this wealthy family. When Liam shows up on her doorstep to ask her to play at being in a committed marriage with him, she has to admit his timing is good. She's been trying to pay all her dad's hospital bills, but has recently lost one of her jobs, and is taking a day to distract herself. With Liam's offer to give her money in exchange for her appearance, she knows it will help her situation immensely.

Liam's lies to his family also included Anna being in med school as he didn't realize she'd changed her career track, so there is another lie that she has to play along with. 

The setting is beautiful, a luxury private resort, with ocean cabins, exquisite food, and lots of fun activities. The family not so much. The tension between Liam and his father is huge, and hanging over Liam is a clause from his grandfather's will that means Liam won't get his inheritance until he's been married five years, which is coming up in a few months. Liam's mother, Janet is passive aggressive. His older brother Alex is just plain aggressive, and Alex's wife Blaire seems to drink an awful lot. Jake is, of course, the only one that knows the real story of their marriage, but he's only too happy to assist. I really enjoyed the parts that included Alex and Blaire's children, particularly their oldest, Reagan. She's at the age that things get hard, puberty, and Anna is only too happy to give some life advice and support. 

There are a lot of things going on under the surface here, but Anna and Liam find themselves getting along in ways that they hadn't expected, not to mention feeling some chemistry between them. There is fun banter, real attraction, and some great romance going on. I didn't put it down until I finished it. A definite winner. 

By the Book

Finished May 16

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

This is the second book in the Meant to Be series, but the first I've read. The main character here is Isabelle (Izzy to her friends) and she has been working for a big publisher as an editorial assistant for a couple of years. The job is hard work and her boss Marta doesn't give a lot of feedback. Isabelle has made friends with Priya, another editorial assistant at the same publishing firm. As the book opens, they are both looking forward to an upcoming conference in California, even though they know they'll be spending most of their time working. One of the writers that Marta signed a book deal with is Beau Towers, a former child star and the son of two celebrities that has been known as a bit of a bad boy. Every couple of weeks Isabelle sends him an email asking if he needs any assistance and just generally checking in with him. Marta hasn't received anything from him, and it has been months. Isabelle has started having a little fun with the emails, talking about trivial things, other books, and trying to be friendly, but she's never had a response. When Isabelle overhears Marta complaining about Beau's lack of writing to another editor at the conference she impulsively offers to go to Beau's home and try to get some answers. 

Beau's home is in Santa Fe, only a few hours from where the conference is, and so Izzy drives there and things begin to get very interesting. As she and Beau get to know each other, and she helps him get started on the book, more personal notes begin to appear in their conversations. 

I liked the immersion into the publishing and writing side of things, seeing how Izzy uses what she's learned to give Beau prompts and keep him moving forward. I also enjoyed seeing her blossom in her confidence, and be willing to try new things herself. 

A fun and very engaging read about two characters that definitely grew on me. 

There's Always Plan B

Finished April 28

There's Always Plan B by Susan Mallery

This is an interesting mix of romance and domestic situations along with a touch of the supernatural. Carly is moving back to her childhood home, a large old stone house that her great-grandfather imported from England. Her parents ran it as a bed-and-breakfast, and her mother Rhonda has continued that since her dad died a few years ago. Carly is moving back because her very recent divorce leaves her with no home, and her mother could use the help. She'd like Carly to eventually take the house over so that she can retire. 

Carly's husband quit his high-paced, high-income job with plans to buy a boat and sail to Hawaii. That means that he isn't paying child support until he starts working again. Carly's fifteen-year-old daughter Tiffany isn't happy about the move, but we see her making the effort to adjust. As Carly finds the B&B has declined in visitors a lot since her dad's death, she uses her skills and contacts to find ways to bring in more guests. One of those is promoting the ghost the building is supposed to have. Carly has memories of the ghost from her own youth and believes strongly in the reality of this paranormal existence. One of the season's first visitors however is a man who specializes in debunking such things, and Carly must work as part of a family team to convince him otherwise. 

This book does have romance, but it isn't the central plot to the book, and there is more than one man who is interested in Carly. She must deal with the changes for all three generations of her family, teenage dating issues, issues with her ex-husband, as well as the financial issues facing the B&B. The ghost is an important part of the plot, but the book feels like part of a larger story, not a standalone. 

Many of the characters lack depth, several plotlines are left open, and the ghost story felt like it needed more explanation. 

The Summer List

Finished April 22

The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan

This is a story of friendship, of miscommunication, and of secrets. 

Laura grew up in the small lake town of Couer-de-Lune in northern California. She was adopted by parents older than most of her peers, and resented her mother's strict ways and churchgoing habits. She was closer to her father, a man who was quieter, yet still very much a part of the community. Every summer, when her mother went to an adult church camp, Laura and her dad did a project, getting more complex as she grew older. 

Just before she moved to junior high, a girl and her mother moved into a dilapidated house just across the lake. Laura was given a cake to take over to welcome them, and this act caused her to meet Casey and make a connection as close as family. 

Laura's mom wasn't a fan of Casey's mother Alex, a rather free spirit, who made her money making strange art projects for wealthy collectors. But she let the friendship grow and even let Laura sleep over on Saturdays as long as she attended church on Sundays. 

But something happened back at the end of Laura's senior year that drove her to change her plans and go to a university far away and lose touch with Casey. 

Laura is now 35 and receives an invitation to go back to Casey's place for a weekend. She isn't sure she wants to, but curiosity and the longing for her old friend take her back. 

The women find that Alex has created a scavenger hunt, one of her signature games, for the two women that will bring them closer, but also unveil memories and secrets from the past. 

There is also another story of a young teen girl beginning at a camp, in some unknown time, as she struggles to understand why her mother brought her there, what has changed so drastically in her life, and how she can cope. 

I found the friendship compelling, and the unravelling of the past, both good and bad told in a way that showed feelings in both times and felt believable. The miscommunication was the thing that felt off, something so easily fixed if only someone had tried harder at the time. 

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the characters. 

The Darling Songbirds

Finished April 15

The Darling Songbirds by Rachael Herron

This novel is the first in a series set in the small California coastal town of Darling Bay. The Darling family has its roots in this town, even if none of them live there anymore. Hugh Darling, the last man who did, recently died, leaving his three nieces the properties that he owned: a saloon, a hotel, and a cafe. The only one still in operation is the saloon and it is barely holding its head above water. The nieces who inherited were famous in a small way as a singing group. Their mother had been a singer, but never made it big before she passed away. The girls, Adele, Molly, and Lana were just starting to make it in Nashville when their father passed away suddenly. They all handled it differently and the group fell apart.

Adele is the one who has now come back to town to deal with the legacy, and she finds memories and realities that she must deal with. 

The hotel isn't habitable, nor is her uncle's living quarters above the saloon, and the bartender who was expecting to buy the saloon soon is wary, a little resentful, and undeniably sexy. As Adele learns of the state of things and faces the realities of the situation, she finds herself unexpectedly warming up to staying for a while. 

This book has music woven through it, and the sadness of family members earlier than expected. It has themes of addiction and mental health issues, and the setting of a small town where people know each other's stories.