At the Stroke of Midnight

Finished September 7

At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer

This historical mystery is a fun and suspenseful read. It is 1923 and Pearl Glenham lives with her accountant father in a small town in England. He mourns his wife, and is fixated on the time she supposedly died, four minutes past ten, and doesn't seem to be interested in anything but his job. Pearl does all the domestic chores, submitting to his demands, and leads a quiet life. But her best friend Harriet is more adventurous and has always encouraged her to rebel against her father's expectations. Pearl also has a secret, that she also has developed a secret compulsion regarding time, and has a collection of timepieces that she has stolen over many months. She also has an obsession with water, and has taken up swimming, becoming quite competent.

Her father tells her that they have been invited to Highcliffe House, a country house on the Dorset coast for the weekend, and must go. He plans for them to travel there in two days so they arrive fresh, and seems to know how to get to the house, although he claims that it is for business and that he doesn't know the house or the host. The owners of the house, the English woman who grew up there, Lenora, and her husband, an American named Virgil Brockhurst haven't been seen in twenty years. They had spent time traveling when they first married, and had returned with a young child, saying that they intended to stay for some years, but disappeared again shortly after their arrival. 

Pearl had come across the invitation her father received before they left home and suspected that the contents implied blackmail coerced her father to accept the invitation. So she is watching what happens carefully. Once they arrive at the house, it soon becomes apparent that he has met the other two guests, although they all pretend they haven't. Besides the guests, one of them has brought her husband, an Italian man who knows no English, and there are two temporary servants, a young man named Ellery Brown, who is rooming offsite, and an older woman named Mrs. Dawson who is doing the cooking. After lunch, Pearl is able to escape the house and go down to the beach for a swim in the ocean. While there, she sees an unusually dressed man go to a cave she hadn't noticed before and then return to the path to the house. When she enters the cave she notes many odd items, seemingly overflow from the many strange collectables she'd seen in the house itself. As she investigated a curious clock with funnels that seemed to run it, she tripped and fell and a drop of the liquid in one of the funnels spilt and ran into her mouth. She immediately returned to the house and after an uncomfortably tense afternoon and dinner, retired to her room, awakening later to find smoke at her door and unable to escape the fire in the house. But after succumbing to the smoke she finds herself back in the cave in the afternoon, replaying the day she just went through. 

As she goes through this again and again, trying to change the outcome of the day, escape the fire, and make sense of what is happening, she is joined by someone else who gets caught in the same repetitive time period and the two join forces to find answers. 

This is a story of a young woman finding her independence, a story of romance and intrigue, death and second chances. Very enjoyable and I found myself eager to see what each new iterance of the day brought and what the truth of the circumstances was. 

The One Day You Were My Husband

Finished July 29

The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh

This compelling read takes us through Carrie's situation as she is faced with revising her past. Carrie is married with six year old twins and is feeling ready to return to her career as a surgeon after stepping back when her children were born prematurely. Her mother is less present in her life; her stepmother is preparing to move her father, who suffers from advanced dementia, to a care home; her sister is now living in the U.S. and her husband is supportive of her decision. 

While planning a trip to Sweden to reconnect with her surgical mentor, and attend a conference for the short-term rental company she is part of, she comes across a rental owned by her first husband, Swedish Johan. She is taken aback. Twelve years ago, the two met through a patient brought into the hospital she was interning at and felt an instant connection. They had moved in together, and impulsively married when she visited Thailand to meet him when he was on location in Cambodia. Johan was apprehended violently by armed police on the evening of their wedding day as they were dancing on the beach. Despite her efforts, Carrie was unable to get Johan released and was actively discouraged from doing more by the threat of violence against both of them and others. It took her years to move on. She wasn't even aware he'd been released from Thailand. 

At first she isn't sure whether she should cancel her trip but, even after talking to her sister and mother, she checks that he isn't on the list of attendees at the conference and decides to go, as meeting with her mentor is important to her and will give her a better restart to her career. But she still wonders about what really happened back then, why he's been released, and why she didn't know about it. When she runs into him in person, the questions are even louder, and she decides she needs answers, even if they are difficult. 

I found this to be a real page-turner, with interesting plot twists and character dynamics. 

The Same Backward as Forward

Finished May 25

The Same Backward as Forward by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I picked this up in a bookstore because it is one of those novels that tells the story from two points of view, flipping the book to read the second viewpoint. It sounded intriguing and I only later realized it is the sixth book in a series. However, it appears that the actions here are before most of the other books in the series, and so it is sort of a prequel. Because I picked it off a display, I also didn't realize that it was a young adult novel, and given that the two main characters are in their late twenties / early thirties, I think that classification may be from the series and not this specific title. 

Hannah Rooney is a young woman whose mother runs a local criminal empire. Hannah moved out of her home as soon as she could and is studying to be a nurse. She interacts with her family as little as possible, with the exception of her younger sister Kaylie, a wild child, who she tries to protect and keep an eye on. Along the coast where they live is a private island, Hawthorne Island, owned by a wealthy family. As Hannah's story begins, she has stopped in at a local bar to see Kaylie and notices three obviously well-off young men who seem also wild as well as arrogant. That night there is a fire on the island with no apparent survivors, and Hannah is distraught when she finds out Kaylie was out there. 

When local recluse fisherman Jackson comes to Hannah for help, she is surprised to find that there was a survivor, one of the young men she'd seen the night before. He is in bad shape, with burns and injuries. It soon becomes apparent that he also has no memory of what happened or who he is. As Hannah works to save him, partly as a punishment for the death of her sister, she and Jackson must also work in secret, hiding him from both her family and his own. 

They dub him Harry.

Harry's story is the one I read second, and it continues in time past Hannah's. It is also a story of trauma, and one can see what the two have in common. There are many secrets in both families as well as ruthless individuals. Harry loves puzzles of all kinds, wordgames, codes, and games. As he and Hannah engage in these with each other, they come to know each other better than anyone else does, and this gives them both strength and vulnerability. 

The puzzles and games were interesting and seem to a theme of the series overall. This book went in a direction I didn't expect it to,

The Nature of Fragile Things

Finished May 11

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner

In 1905 Sophie Whalen is a young immigrant from Ireland sharing a tenement room in New York City with other young women. She answers an advertisement from a San Francisco man, Martin Hocking, who is looking for a wife and a mother to his young daughter Kat. He sends the money for her to take the train west and marries her the day she arrives, but he doesn't push her to have a physical relationship until she's comfortable. Martin works for an insurance company and travels a lot for his job, sometimes being away multiple days at a time.

There are things that cause Sophie to have questions, but she is also happy to be living in the circumstances she is in now. Martin is very handsome and well off enough to live in a nice neighbourhood and well-equipped home. Why would he have to advertise for a wife? Why is Kat so quiet? Is it just the loss of her mother or are there more reasons? Why doesn't Martin introduce her to any of his work colleagues since that was part of the reason he said he needed a wife? What is going on with the second business line that he is suddenly working with? 

More than a year after she arrived in the city, Belinda Bigelow, a young pregnant woman, appears on her doorstep looking for Martin, hoping he has some information on Belinda's husband, but the women soon learn that the connections are closer than expected. As the two women piece together their stories and Kat's history, and make plans to leave, a massive earthquake takes place. They flee the house together with Kat, first to a temporary hospital, then to a city park filled with other refugees from the quake and subsequent fires. Eventually they make their way to Belinda's home south of the city, but soon learn that Martin has been there since she left. Sophie must return to the city to see if Martin is there, and if not, to file a missing persons report. That and the ongoing police interest in the case cause Sophie to worry about her own secrets that she hoped to leave behind. 

A story of relationships, those that mistreat others in a variety of ways, and what women might do to ensure their own safety and the safety of those they care about.

The Book Witch

Finished May 2

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

This novel started slow with me, but then became hard to put down. The main character here is Rainy March, who is one of many book witches. Her mother and grandmother were/are as well. Rainy showed early aptitude and has been active since she was fifteen. She is now twenty-five. She lives with her grandfather and their housekeeper, Mrs. Turner, in an old house called Pilcrow House in Fort Meriwether, Oregon. Rainy's mother disappeared for around a year just before she was born, but died shortly after her birth without revealing anything about her father. The only memento she has is an old copy of the first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock. 

This novel has an interesting structure. It is split into seven sections: romance, mystery, fantasy, nonfiction, young adult and horror, thriller, and science fiction. These names are suited to the actions in that section. I liked this sentence from the job description of a book witch "Ideal candidate should be willing to jump into and out of books, short stories, and the occasional epic poem." She travels into and out of books using an umbrella, using the phrase "Our revels are now ended" to exit the book, and is accompanied by her familiar, a Russian Blue cat named Koshka. The leader of her cover is Dr. Regina Fanshawe, who is described as a taller, angrier Judy Dench, and she is very critical of Rainy, often holding up Rainy's mother as an ideal to strive for. 

Like many readers of his books, Rainy has a crush on a book character known as the Duke of Chicago, whose noir mystery stories are set between the World Wars in Chicago. He is an actual English Duke, who came to his title after the death of all three of his brothers in World War One, and he fled his home to deal with his trauma and now works as a private detective. The fans call themselves Duckys. When a situation arises in one of Duke's books requiring a witch to enter the book and resolve it, Rainy insists on going. 

There are eight Black and Whites or rules that witches are expected to follow. These rules include include no eating, drinking, or sleeping within the books they enter as these activities can cause them to forget their own identity and purpose. 

As Rainy breaks one of the rules and becomes romantically attached to the Duke, she is discovered and becomes restricted until her grandfather becomes absent for an extended period and she is determined to find him. Her adventures take her into many other books from Through the Looking Glass, to The Great Gatsby, and to closed theme parks, book burnings, and many more interesting situations. 

There is so much fun and quirkiness in this book that it is definitely one of my favourite reads. Other things I love, such as: Plan C in a situation means crying. 

Other quotes I loved: "Pencils down" and "All stories are love stories if you love stories".

Fight or Flight

Finished April 30

Fight or Flight by Samantha Young

This novel focuses on Ava Breevort, who, as the book opens, is flying back home to Chicago from the funeral of a childhood friend in her hometown near Phoenix. The visit didn't go well for many reasons from her parents to her former friends. She's in line to upgrade her seat to first class when a large man pushes his way in front of her and takes the last upgrade. When the eruption of a distant volcano in Iceland cancels the flight entirely, she is at least able to get a first class seat on a different connecting flight. 

The man causing the annoyance is Scotsman Caleb Scott, a large man who looks intimidating, but doesn't intimidate Ava. For her the annoyance lingers, even when he intervenes for her from a harassing situation in the hotel restaurant in their connecting city. This leads to acknowledgement of a physical attraction between them that they act on. Ava had forgotten that she would see him again on the next day's flight, where the annoyance continues.

Back home, Ava is comforted by her best friend, an up-and-coming pastry chef, and by the demands of her busy interior design job. The firm she works for is in high demand, and she has a very demanding client at present. But one of her favourite clients ends up bringing Caleb back into her life and the two decided to pursue a temporary physical relationship while he's in town for business. Their relationship is intense and kept secret from most others in their life. But as his time in town gets extended and they spend more time together, we begin to learn about their past traumas that have led both of them to have issues around trust.

The writing is great and the characters come to life here. I particularly liked her young friend the chef. A very enjoyable read. 

Alchemised

Finished March 23

Alchemised by Sen Lin Yu

This long novel is fantasy set in a country in another world. It has a lot of elements of horror and some romance, but not done in a typical way. The main character is Helena Marina, and she came to Paladia as a teenager on a scholarship to a special alchemy school. Her father accompanied her, and although he is a skilled surgeon in his own country, he wasn't allowed to practice in Paladia. Helena trained as a healer, and the civil war in the country started around the time she finished school, but she decided to stay and help the government that was in place when she came. They have a philosophy and folklore of the leading family, the Holdfasts, being granted their leadership and abilities by the gods. But she has grown to learn that not all of these stories are based in fact. 

The rebellion came from the guild families, some of whom came to the school, but who were always made to feel lesser. They were led by someone who came from elsewhere, a shadowy figure who has the ability to grand everlasting life, including quick self-healing. Only those who have taken up this promise know the true cost.

The story begins after the war, where Helena is now a prisoner-of-war, about whom the authorities are very curious. She has had something done to her mind to reorganize her memories and they wonder what she is hiding. She doesn't know herself what was done to her, and she has no memories of much of the war. She is given to the High Reeve, who is expected to break the barriers created in her mind and find out any hidden information. His house is in the countryside, a gated estate, and the only ones there besides him and his wife, who resents Helena, are dead servants who have been reanimated by the Reeve. She is also watched all the time. The High Reeve is an accomplished alchemist and necromancer with an affinity for several metals. His home has iron embedded in it that he can use when needed. 

Part of this story is what really happened in the war, and we learn all the events and relationships, the loss that Helena can't remember. She has many secrets, and so does the High Reeve, and some of those secrets are shared.

This is a horrific war, where the rebels reanimate the people they kill and use them as soldiers. They are cruel and don't really care about anyone but themselves. During the war, they did experiments on those they captured, and created monstrous animals that lived in pain and because of their pain lashed out at all those they encountered. 

There is also a plan to use the women alchemists and necromancers from the defeated side as breeders with the winning men to create more skilled necromancers. 

This is a disturbing read, and I think it could have used some more editing to shorten it a bit, but it is also a book that draws you in, needing to know what happens to these characters. 

Forget Me Not

Finished March 21

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

This standalone psychological suspense follows Claire Campbell as she returns to her mother's home in small town South Carolina. She returns because her father has called her and told her that her mother broke her leg and could use some help. 

Over twenty years earlier, Claire's older sister Natalie, eighteen at the time, disappeared and while her body was never found, her blood was found on a shirt in a man's car and he was convicted of the crime. Claire always wondered what happened, and since her sister's room is basically untouched, she pokes around and finds a cardboard box of photographs. Some were from the summer job at a small winery that Natalie worked at earlier in the summer, some were of their family, and there was one of the man with the car. 

Claire's mom tells her she doesn't need her, and Claire is tempted to go back to New York, but she's recently quit her newspaper job and gone freelance, and hasn't been doing well, so doesn't have much finances. She's also sublet her place to someone. So instead she decides to try to find the winery Natalie worked at, and she does. But the Galloway winery is no longer open to the public, and the man she encounters wonders why she's there. On a whim, she agrees to work there for a month, earning some money, getting a place to stay, and maybe learning more about her sister. 

But then she finds a diary, that seems to be by the quiet woman married to the winery owner, and she is intrigued by what she reads. A story that both captivates her and scares her. The young man who she first met is friendly and she begins to feel at ease with him, but not so much the owner, who she finds a little creepy. There is no phone reception there, but she does manage to email a former co-worker back home about where she is and what she's doing. She finds, that while the work is physically strenuous, it is satisfying and calming. But the suspicions grow, as she learns more from the diary, and from other research she does, and she finds that she may not be acting as 'under the radar' as she thinks.

This book is eerie and creepy, as we learn along with Claire what's been going on out here and with the people she's met. Who can she trust, and what does her mother have to do with it all?

A Scottish Country Escape

Finished March 17

A Scottish Country Escape by Julie Shackman

This is the fourth book in the Scottish Escapes series, where each book is a standalone story. Here the main character is Elle Cassidy, and it is almost a year since her parents died in an accident. Since then, she moved back into their home where her grandmother has a suite to herself. Now she is ready to tackle her mother's newsagent shop, deciding to reopen it as a stationery shop, carrying a range of fine stationery as well as stationery items for children. As she is beginning her renovations to the shop, she has an encounter with a newcomer to the town, famous mystery author Dexter Grayling. He has ignored the signs indicating the narrow street is pedestrian only and not only nearly hit her and another local woman, but also had a condescending attitude that didn't include recognition of the situation or any apologies.

When the local woman, Linda Carlucci, has a strange reaction, muttering at him with her hand on her necklace, she doesn't think much of it until he returns soon after looking for Linda as he is sure that she laid a curse on him. Elle doesn't believe it, but her grandmother does, and urges her to help him.

As she spends time with Dexter, she changes her feelings about him, and an attraction is formed.

As Elle is dealing with the logistics of her work around the shop, and becomes involved in the fight to save their local forest trail, she does help Dexter. But the questions lead her into not only past events in their small town, but also into her family's past. 

This book has a mystery element, a paranormal element regarding the curse, and a romantic plot line for Elle. I really got a feel for the setting, and Elle's home and shop. I enjoyed the read, which is the second book I've read in the series. 

A Bramble House Christmas

Finished March 4

A Bramble House Christmas by C.J. Carmichael

This is the sixth book in the series, Carrigans of the Circle C, but the first I've read. The main female character is Willa Fairchild. As the book opens, she and her six-year-old son Scout are travelling to Marietta, Montana for a much-anticipated winter vacation. The trip is a gift from her most recent client, Mr. Conrad. Willa has worked as a private nurse since Scout's cancer diagnosis, which also marked the end of her marriage. Scout is now cancer-free and looking forward to engaging in normal activities for his age. Conrad learned enough of Willa's story to also include her in his will, something his family is surprised at, and suspicious of. 

Finn Conrad, his son, has given in to pressure from his family to find out more, and has booked into the Bramble House B&B under his professional name, Finn Knightly. He is a successful children's book illustrator. As he spends time with Willa and Scout, he learns more about them, and finds himself drawn to both of them. He also finds himself curious about his father's focus on Marietta, and begins to look more closely at the secrets in his own family history.

I liked both the main characters and found the plot believable. The setting is a real town, and is brought to life here, giving a cosy Christmas vibe. A light and enjoyable read. 

32 Days in May

Finished October 13

32 Days in May by Betty Corrello

This romance has an interesting twist to it. Nadia Fabiola has gone to her family's summer home in Evergreen on the Jersey Shore. She has had a life-changing diagnosis of lupus, and due to her symptoms has lost her job as an advertising director. She feels that she has lost control of her life and her body. Her mental health has suffered. She has recently begun working for one of her downstairs neighbours, Sophie, at her produce stand. She's also trying to keep her sister Liv and her parents from worrying about her.

When her rheumatologist asks her to show around his cousin, Marco, who will be house-sitting for him while his family is away, she is unsure. When she realizes that Marco the cousin is Marco Antoniou, the famous actor who has had his own setbacks, and is absolutely gorgeous, she agrees. Their first date is a crazy night, but it leads to an agreement to date each other for the rest of May, no strings attached. 

Nadia doesn't let Marco know about her lupus, and throws herself as much as she can into a normal life for the month. The two have great chemistry, but also connect in deeper ways. When the stress of some situations affects her health, she has to decide whether to come clean to him and take a risk on a real relationship.

Their dates take them not only to New York City, but also to Italy for Marco's commitments, and Nadia finds herself noting more hidden aspects of Marco. 

I enjoyed this read and the two main characters each trying to find fresh starts.

The Truth According to Us

Finished August 30

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

This is an historical novel set in the summer of 1938 in a small town, Macedonia, in West Virginia. Layla Beck is the daughter of a senator and niece of a man in charge of the Federal Writers' Project, one of the programs under the New Deal. She has refused to marry a man of her father's choosing, so he has cut her off financially and had her assigned to write a pamphlet on the history of Macedonia under the Federal Writers' Project. Layla has expectations of where she is being sent that are quite unlike the reality that she finds herself placed in. Layla's point of view is mostly shown through letters between her and her friends and family. 

She is boarding in the house of Jottie Romeyn, a woman with a strong personality whose household also includes two of her married sisters Minerva and Mae (except on the weekends when they visit their husbands), her nieces Willa, twelve, and Bird, as well as the girls' father Felix. Felix travels a lot for work and is only home occasionally. Willa is the main narrator in the book, and it opens with her and her aunt Jottie watching the town Decoration Day parade. Willa is observant and beginning to be interested in the nuances of the world of the adults in her life. At the parade, she watches as her aunt has encounters with two people she doesn't know, but notes. She has questions about them, her aunt, and her father, and begins to investigate. 

Meanwhile, as Layla arrives in town, she finds the various members of the household eager to help her in her research, as is the town librarian. She learns not only the stories that the town officials are eager to tell her, but also the lesser known stories, some of which contradict the official stories. 

We also see Jottie's point of view as she deals with a man from her past, Felix's expectations, and her own feelings. 

I really enjoyed seeing Willa discover the secrets of her family and community, Jottie bringing her own strong will to the fore for herself and those she cares about, and Layla discovering her own skills and asserting independence for herself. This novel deals with history that can sometimes be uncomfortable, but is also important to be able to deal with the world as it is for the characters. With the strong female characters, including Minerva and Mae, I enjoyed this novel immensely. 

The Square of Revenge

Finished August 8

The Square of Revenge by Pieter Aspe, translated by Brian Doyle

This novel takes place in Bruges, Belgium, and begins with an unusual crime. When a longstanding jewellery store owned by Ludovic Degroof is robbed, the police and owners are surprised and shocked to find that nothing was actually stolen. Instead, the jewels have been dissolved in jars of aqua regia, an acid. The intruders also left behind a scrap of paper with a strange square drawn on it. 

Inspector Van In is in charge of the case, but his superiors start getting involved almost right away, wanting to keep the crime out of the news. He soon finds himself teaming up with a new assistant district attorney, Hannelore Martens, and the two begin looking at the Degroof family more closely. 

Notes with this unusual square are found on letters sent to family members, and when one of Degroof's grandchildren is kidnapped and another destructive act is part of the price the kidnappers are demanding, their focus on the patriarch of the family grows more intense. 

There has been a lot of planning put into the crimes here, and the trails that Van In and Martens follow as they put together clues aren't easy to follow, sometimes leading to what looks like a dead end. 

This is a slow-moving mystery, with the intelligence of the two central figures standing out, and an attraction between them adding to the suspense. This is the first book in a series that looks promising. 

The Story Collector

Finished July 24

The Story Collector by Iris Costello

This story has three narrators in three different timelines. In 1915 London, Katarina has taken over the bakery started by her parents after they emigrated from Germany. But with the beginning of the Great War, public sentiment turns against her as a representative of the country England is at war with, and when rioters attack, she is lucky to escape with her life. Helped by an English friend, she ends up taking over an abandoned restaurant in a different part of the city, and calls herself Kat, changing her clothing style and acting like a good English woman. She still worries about her brother, who she argued with before her troubles, and who left for the continent. She also worries about her secrets being revealed. Kat has another skill besides baking, divination. She has read the Tarot from a young age, and senses spirits. She begins doing this again to help bring hope to the women she serves. 

In 1918, German nurse Miriam is serving in a prisoner-of-war camp and besides her medical work assists a fellow German doing language research. He is recording as many English speakers as he can, documenting the variation in language use. One of the soldiers admitted to the camp is mute. He never speaks, and no one knows his name. They call him Prisoner X. When Miriam is attacked on her way back to her room one evening, Prisoner X intervenes and she appreciates his help. They begin to grow close, but he is in danger due to his actions, and the Germans are sensing the end of the war isn't far away.

In the present day, Edie is grieving the violent death of her beloved husband, and decides to spend some time alone in Cornwall at the family cottage that once belonged to her great grandmother. As she begins some renovations on the cottage, she discovers a wooden chest with mysterious contents. When strange events begin to happen, she feels wary, worried about violence following her from London. But she continues to dig for the truth even as she begins a new art commission. 

As these three stories begin to converge in interesting ways, we see how secrets can take generations to come to light, and how the resiliency of all these women serves them well. 

A very enjoyable read. 

The Scarlet Papers

Finished July 16

The Scarlet Papers by Matthew Richardson

This spy thriller is very intriguing. The main character, Max Archer is an intelligence historian at the London School of Economics. He's published a couple of books, but they are in no way bestsellers, and he is barely making a living as an associate professor. His wife has left him for an investment banker and although they struggled with fertility, she is now pregnant with her new partner's child. 

When he gets an invitation to meet with a legendary retired spymaster called Scarlet King, he is very interested, but also very wary. Max had applied to MI6 himself years before, but had not been accepted. So his choice of subject as an historian is personal. There are no known pictures of Scarlet, and her background information is sparse. She was active for decades during the Cold War, and getting information from her would be a ticket to a promotion and would help him write the next book he is contracted for but is facing writer's block on. But it would also be a violation of the Official Secrets Act. 

He has questions about her motive and her reasons for choosing him for this information and the timing of her request to meet. The spycraft connected to their meeting logistics is complex and intriguing, and the information that he is given as teasers is explosive. Before he knows just what he's got himself into, he is already a subject of interest to the authorities and when the situation gets him on the verge of arrest, he finds himself on the run, not knowing who to trust. 

There is an extensive bibliography to this novel, showing the research that Richardson did in terms of coming up with the plot. This attention to detail is part of what makes this a great novel, but the writing style and character development are also key. From Max and Scarlet to the MI5 agent on his trail, we see the thought processes, the choices made, and the way each choice impacted the situation. Highly recommended. 

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. 

Mercy Snow

Finished May 19

Mercy Snow by Tiffany Baker

This story takes place in the mid-1990s in a small town in the mountains of New Hampshire called Titan Falls. A great many of the men in the town work at the local paper mill, run for generations by the McAllister family. There is another family that has owned land for generations as well, further along the Androscoggin river, the Snow family. The town thought that Gert Snow, the last of the them had died after going missing in the 1950s, until a distant relative named Pruitt showed up in the 1970s to claim it. When  siblings Mercy, Zeke, and Hannah roll into town in their old RV and pull it onto the family property they've come looking for Pruitt their father after their mother Arlene died. But Pruitt is dead as well, and so the three settle in. They've lived a nomad life, travelling around the country with their mother, Arlene until she died recently. As they discover the death of their father, they settle in, but find that the community feeling is against them from the beginning. Zeke has trouble finding work but Mercy finds a job assisting Hazel Bell at her sheep farm. 

When a teenage outing by bus results in an accident that has one girl dead and the bus driver, Hazel's husband Fergus in bad condition in hospital, the Snow family is soon drawn into the drama, and Mercy's efforts to work against that bring unexpected stirrings of other emotions to the town. 

The McAllisters are also involved as June brings her own feelings along with her husband's plans to work on the Snow family. 

This book reminds me of the books of John Irving, and would be a great read-alike for those that love his stories. The setting is a big part of the story, but the characters are also deftly drawn and have deep backstories. A great read. 

Summer in the City

Finished May 7

Summer in the City by Alex Aster

This novel is centered on 27-year-old Elle, a screenwriter with a contract for a big-budget movie that has leased several locations in New York City. Elle used to live there, but left for Los Angeles several years ago for work. Just before she left she had a bad encounter with a man and she fed off that anger for a while in terms of creativity. She has had writers block for a while, and while she had hoped to avoid going to New York with a screenplay set there and due at the end of the summer she really should. 

She agreed to housesit an apartment that is undergoing renovations and oversee the renovations, while living there. It is a beautiful large apartment that has only her bedroom and bathroom finished, and only her bedroom furnished. She will end up spending a lot of time on the living room floor planning out her script. It also has amazing views of the city, and there are only two apartments on that floor. 

Elle likes to work in coffee shops, and soon finds a great coffee shop with the right vibe, great coffee, and luscious pastries. But then she discovers that her new neighbour is "Billionaire Bachelor" Parker Warren, the man who incited first lust and then hate after assumptions he made when they met two years earlier. He's been her muse ever since. 

This new encounter and subsequent meetings break her writer's block and she is inspired again. 

When he makes a deal with her to take her to every location her screenplay requires, with her being his fake date for the summer for events he has to attend, things begin to change. He provides appropriate clothing for the fancy events she attends, and soon gets her out running in the mornings with him. 

Elle's career is a secret as she writes her screenplays anonymously and we only discover why late in the novel. She was raised by her mother to be independent and not to be beholden to any man who might want to control her. Her mother died when she was in college and she misses her a lot. The only person that knows her identity as a screenwriter is her best friend and roommate Penelope, who also knows her history and about her previous encounter with Parker. 

As Elle finds herself deviating from her usual reclusive behaviour when she writes, she finds herself making new friends in the city. She also finds that she and Parker keep surprising each other with details about their lives, personalities, habits, and actions. 

This is a story of second chances, but also a story of control and reaction to that control. Neither Elle nor Parker is perfect and we see issues with both of them arise here. Elle has always wanted to be in control of her own life, not beholden to favours from anyone, and this has led to some of her problematic issues. I found it very interesting to see her come out of her shell. 

The Keeper of Stories

Finished April 15

The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page

This novel follows a woman who works as a cleaner, dog walker, and organizer. Janice is a quiet woman. She doesn't try to draw attention to herself. When one of her regular customers, a woman she thinks of as Mrs. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, because she is often on the phone saying this, asks her to take on the job of organizing and cleaning her mother-in-law's home Janice is wary. She doesn't want to go where she isn't wanted. So when she meets the older woman, she makes an agreement with her, and her relationship with Mrs. B. begins. Mrs. B. tells her the story of someone she knew of, that they refer to as Becky, and the story is told in installments as Mrs. B. feels like continuing it. In return Janice will tell stories, but she is very reluctant to tell her own story, as she doesn't feel she has one. Mrs. B. knows that she does and is the first person that really sees that. 

Janice has always loved stories, not only the kinds found in books. She also loves the stories of people, and picks up odd bits of conversation and stories she hears and keeps them in her mind. She also looks at people and tries to figure out their story. There is a bus driver she sees regularly who she thinks looks like a well-travelled geography teacher. She would love to know if she's right. Janice lives with her husband Mike, but he is a man with little patience, who flits from job to job, never staying for long. She isn't sure what she ever saw in him. But she doesn't know what other options she has. 

Janice has a so Simon and sees him occasionally, on her own. He doesn't visit, but sometimes they meet for a meal. Mrs. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah is a nervous woman with a husband who is overbearing, preoccupied, and demanding, a man that Janice thinks of as Mr. No, Not Now. They have a dog Decius that Mrs. B. walks, one that she has conversations with. She can understand by the dog's expression what he is thinking and they talk often. The dog has very witty comments that I appreciated. 

Janice also works for a young widow Fiona, who has a child Adam that she worries about. Adam sees Janice with the dog she walks and begins to join her for walks and he really bonds with the dog. 

As Janice spends more time with Mrs. B. and with Adam, she finds herself caring about them and about others. 

I liked how most of this story is centered on Janice, becoming her story, but we also see what others think from time to time. These sections have relevance to Janice, as she gets to know people and as people begin to see her as a person. Janice also has a back story, with a sister who now lives in Canada, and a recent comment by her sister has her thinking more and more about this past. We gradually come to know it, and see Janice in a different light because of it. 

I liked to see Janice coming in to her own, valuing herself as others tell her she is, and to take risks for what she knows is right. 

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.