Book Review: "The Fine Art of Lying" by Alexandra Andrews

Look, I know that thrillers in general are super popular. But a book having twists shouldn’t automatically classify it as a thriller. If there are real questions that keep you guessing, it’s more of a mystery or simply fiction. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Although she moves in moneyed circles thanks to her wealthy husband, Clare sometimes feels like she doesn’t belong. She wasn’t raised among NYC’s elite like Jed was, and she knows her mother-in-law has never been impressed with her.

When she was young and growing up in upstate New York, it was art that brought her joy. She moved to the city after college, got a job at a museum, and started pursuing her doctorate. But then she met Jed, got married, gave birth to their daughter Sadie, and she put her work on hold.

But now that Sadie is in school, Clare is feeling restless and unmotivated. She can’t seem to make any progress on her dissertation but she wants to do something. The ultra-wealthy and connected wife of Jed’s boss introduces her to some influential figures in the art world, including Gabriel, a handsome dealer. Gabriel respects her knowledge and challenges her intellectually, but she can’t resist his charms, and they wind up having a tumultuous affair.

Suddenly living a double life, feeling guilty but not willing to give Gabriel up, takes its toll on Clare. And when she learns that he has a painting by the object of her dissertation in his apartment, she can’t miss that chance. But suddenly she finds herself in the midst of a brutal murder and a theft—and every clue points back to her.

I really liked the first half of the book more than the last half. The setup, the relationship, the murder—all of that was great, but the investigation and the “twists” kind of fell flat. I guess, as I said at the start of my review, I was expecting the book to be more thrilling. But it still was a captivating read.

Book Review: "Saoirse" by Charleen Hurtubise

This was a piece of surprise bookmail I’m so grateful for. Thanks so much to Celadon Books for the complimentary advance copy!

Saoirse is an Irish painter in the late 1990s, whose career is really taking off. She lives in Donegal with her partner and their two young daughters. But when she wins a major prize for her work, instead of excitement, she is worried. Because the more her name is out there, the more risk there is that the secrets she carries will be revealed.

In 1990, Sarah was a teenager growing up in Michigan. Her stepfather got her enmeshed in a world of danger, abuse, and crime, and she knew her life was at risk. With no other choice, she escaped to Ireland under someone else’s name.

With nowhere to turn, she meets a man named Paul on her flight to Ireland. He is returning home and invites her to stay with him and his family until she can get on her feet. But it’s not long before she realizes that Paul wants to control her, and when she falls in love with another man, she must find a way to disentangle herself from him.

During her time in Ireland she takes the name Saoirse, which means freedom. And as her art starts to gain recognition, it provides her both freedom and danger.

This is a powerful book that shifts back and forth between Sarah’s life in the U.S. and Sarah/Saoirse’s life in Ireland. The traumas she confronts may be triggering for some, but she’s really a character you want to root for.

Book Review: "Discipline" by Larissa Pham

“When I was a student, I had thought I could manipulate that gaze to a certain extent, that I had agency. That being desired gave me power. But what I learned then, and what I understood now, was that though one might thrust an oar into the river and think herself steering her own way, the current pushes on, uncaring.“

Christine has recently written her first novel and has embarked on a cross-country book tour. Her novel is a fictionalized account of a relationship she had with an art professor in graduate school. The end of the relationship affected her mental wellbeing so much that she dropped out of grad school and has never painted again.

As she travels from city to city, she reflects on the 10 years that have passed since leaving school. She reconnects with ex-boyfriends and former friends. She engages in conversations about what inspires her to create, and avoids questions about whether the novel is her story.

And then she starts getting emails from her former professor. At first he tells her that the book sharply differs from reality; in some cases, that is true. But as they communicate back and forth, the initial trepidations she had fade away. He invites her to go visit him at his home on a remote island in Maine.

The 10 years have aged the professor significantly. And while there are definitely moments where Christine’s anger resurfaces, they have some brief discussions about what happened between them, the consequences, etc. Can she forgive him and move on with her life?

This is Larissa Pham’s first novel and it is beautifully written and insightful. I wasn’t quite sure how the story would unfold and I was surprised by the powerful emotions I felt. This is definitely a character-driven novel so it may not be for everyone. I look forward to what’s next in Pham’s career!

Book Review: "My Friends" by Fredrik Backman

This book has been all over Bookstagram, and deservedly so. I’m a huge fan of Fredrik Backman’s, but I tend to love those of his books that are more serious and emotional. And he sure knows how to make me cry!

“Adults always think they can protect children by stopping them from going to dangerous places, but every teenager knows that’s pointless, because the most dangerous place on earth is inside us. Fragile hearts break in palaces and in dark alleys alike.”

You can obviously tell from the title that this is a book about friendship, but it is so much more than that. This is a story about loss, loneliness, the love we feel in our souls and the joy when that love is reciprocated. It’s also a story about rescuing those in need, even when you’re in need of rescue yourself.

In this book, as in his Beartown trilogy, some of Backman’s characters have known great pain, sadness, even hopelessness. Yet quite often, they still find the strength to endure, to experience joy, to love, even as their hearts are broken. That is one aspect that makes his books so meaningful and moving to me.

“He would often try to think that perhaps that has to be the case: that our teenage years have to simultaneously be the brightest light and the darkest depths, because that’s how we learn to figure out our horizons.” (I felt this quote in my soul.)

From the very first words in this book, I was reminded of a line from one of my favorite movies, Stand By Me. It goes, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” (Substitute 14 for 12, and that summed up so much of what made this book special.) I have no doubt this will be one of my favorite books of the year.

Book Review: "Miranda in Retrograde" by Lauren Layne

Over the past few years, Lauren Layne has become an auto-buy author for me. Her books are fun and funny, romantic and emotional, and I can’t seem to get enough of them.

Dr. Miranda Reed is an astronomer and a professor at Nova University in New York City. She’s a brilliant researcher and her classes are all well-loved. More than that, she’s become a bit of a celebrity, invited to provide scientific information on news programs, and she’s even guest hosted Jeopardy! a few times.

But Miranda is shocked when the university decides to deny her tenure. Has everything that she’s given her career to been a mistake? The administration encourages her to take a year-long sabbatical and then she can have a lesser position upon her return.

Miranda’s best friend tries to convince her to do something completely different, perhaps even life-changing. Why not study astrology and spend a year following the advice of her horoscope? It seems unfathomable for someone who once denounced astrology on television, but somehow she decided to give it a try. So she moves into her Aunt Lillian’s townhome for a year.

Her horoscope seems pretty spot-on a lot of the time. As she bonds with the grumpy artist who lives next door, she’s relieved that he’s not an astrological match, but the handsome father of a young girl she’s tutoring certainly is. But as her year progresses, has she just traded one set of rules for another? Is she capable of making her own decisions, based on her heart and not on science or the stars?

I really enjoyed this. I loved the banter between the characters, watching Miranda grow and change (or maybe not), and all the moments that made me smile. Did the stars make me read this?

Book Review: "Veridian Sterling Fakes It" by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

In her upcoming book (which is an Amazon First Reads pick this month), Jennifer Gooch Hummer takes us on a fun romp through the art world, where it’s often hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t.

Veridian Sterling is a recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and a talented artist. She’s ready for a show in a prestigious New York gallery (or even a not-so-prestigious one), but no one is interested in her work. It’s hard watching others you feel are less talented getting the breaks you think you deserve.

She is able to land a job as assistant to a high-maintenance gallery owner, who doesn’t seem to be the most ethical of people. And when Veri overhears that there is a lost Van Gogh painting for which another art dealer will pay a hefty finder’s fee, she figures she can get into the game.

Yet in her secret schemes with the dealer—who believes she has real artistic talent—she gets in way over her head. It doesn’t help that the dealer’s chauffeur is immensely handsome and seems to like her. Before she knows it, she’s being pushed into a scheme where the payoff can be high, but so are the risks. Can she keep faking until she gets what she wants?

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very quick read and yet I was fascinated by the supporting characters, many of whom are much more complex than you think. I definitely would like to see more of Myra, Major Cohen, Charles, Tate, and Veri’s mom—I know there are some fascinating stories there!!

I’ve been a fan of Jennifer’s since loving her first book, Girl Unmoored. I’m grateful to her and Lake Union for the advance copy of this; it really was an enjoyable ride!! The book publishes 7/1.

Book Review: "The Hearing Test" by Eliza Barry Callahan

Sometimes I’m so taken by the synopsis of a book that I read a few pages and then buy it without looking at any reviews. At times this experiment is successful and I find a gem I might not have otherwise known about.

Other times, however, it’s like only walking around the store once when you try on a pair of shoes—you don’t experience the discomfort until you’ve done a little more walking. And in this case, the book’s quirks weren’t evident until I got about 20 pages in, and I had already bought the shoes, umm, book.

In The Hearing Test, a young artist awakes one morning with “a deep drone in my right ear accompanied by a sound I can best compare to a large piece of sheet metal being rocked, a perpetually rolling thunder.” At first she thinks she might have water in her ear after a swim. But the doctors quickly diagnose her with Sudden Deafness, as she had lost low-end hearing.

This news throws her for a loop. The doctors don’t believe she’ll regain her hearing, and in fact, this could be a sign of a larger problem which might ultimately result in profound deafness. But while this is certainly worrying, she is determined not to let herself obsess over what might happen.

The book is essentially a record of her year—the interesting and the mundane things that occur. Many times it’s her recounting conversations she had with random people, conversations with so many extraneous details it’s like talking to a friend who is prone to veer off topic and onto other paths. It’s also a reflection on her happinesses and disappointments, her fears and triumphs.

Most of the book is told in a stream-of-consciousness style, without context for what the author shares. (Also, conversations are reflected with no quotation marks.) I think this was beautifully written—the language was so evocative—but it was mostly over my head. Ah, well…

Book Review: "The Paris Novel" by Ruth Reichl

It should come as no surprise that a book written by Ruth Reichl, former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine (which I miss so much), has some of the most vivid and sumptuous descriptions of food I’ve ever seen. And while my stomach was growling quite a bit, it was balanced by some mentions of food I’d definitely never eat, so no calories were consumed!

In 1983, Stella’s mother Celia passed away. They rarely saw each other, because Celia lived life elaborately and reinvented anything (or anyone) she didn’t like, while Stella felt lost without specific plans or routines. So imagine Stella’s surprise when she learned that Celia left her some money with the stipulation it be used for a trip to Paris.

She doesn’t quite understand why Celia would send her to Paris, but she quickly fell in love with the city. One day she comes upon a vintage dress shop and tries on an exquisite Dior dress. The shop owner urges Stella to buy it, saying it was made for her, so Stella does something impulsive for the first time in her life.

The shop owner tells her to go to a brasserie and order oysters, and Stella is dazzled by their taste. It is there she meets Jules, a wealthy art consultant in his 80s, who takes a liking to her. It’s not long before he’s introducing her to some of the finest French restaurants, indulging her love of art, and involving her in some of his schemes.

While in Paris, she becomes part of a community at the famed Shakespeare and Company bookstore and becomes obsessed with solving a mystery about a female artist from a time where women were not treated equally in France. She also discovers an absolute passion for food, which may be something she came by naturally.

Paris is such a wonderful setting for a book, and I thought this was lots of fun. I did think the subplot about the female artist dragged the rest of the story down a bit, but I still couldn’t get enough of the characters and their larger-than-life personalities. Il est bien fait! (Bravo!)

Book Review: "Anita de Monte Laughs Last" by Xochitl Gonzalez

A dual-timeline book that examines the art world as well as the sexual, racial, and power dynamics it stirs up, Anita de Monte Laughs Last was a very thought-provoking read. I really loved Xochitl Gonzalez’s debut, Olga Dies Dreaming, so I was really looking forward to this.

In 1985, a rising young artist, Anita de Monte, died under mysterious circumstances. Anita was married to famed artist (and womanizer) Jack Martin, but as her raw talent started gaining notoriety, it provoked Jack’s envy and his anger. While Anita’s death proved to be a scandal, the buzz was short-lived, and it wasn’t long before Anita’s talent was forgotten and Jack's career continued to flourish.

In 1998, Raquel Toro is an art history student at Brown University. Being one of only a few minority students, she felt ostracized, like she needed to work three times as hard to get the breaks her fellow students got. When she starts a relationship with Nick, an older, wealthy art student, she does reap the advantages—but at the expense of her pride, her independence, and her self-respect.

She plans to write her final thesis about Jack Martin, but while interning at a museum over the summer, she is introduced to the life and work of Anita de Monte. She realizes this artist, her talent as well as her tragic end and the influences she had over those in her cycle, is the real story that needs to be told.

The parallel narrative is an interesting one, shifting back and forth through Anita’s short career and her death, alternating with Raquel’s struggles and her discovery of Anita’s work. It’s fascinating and sad how both women felt the need to compromise themselves in order to make the men in their lives happy, and how their minority status often made them “exotic.”

While the pacing felt a little slow at times, I really liked this book. I’d imagine the struggles Anita and Raquel dealt with were very realistic, not just within the art world.

Book Review: "Hello Stranger" by Katherine Center

Sadie has been determined to follow in her late mother’s footsteps and become an artist. But her lack of success has certainly created a wedge between her and her surgeon father, who vowed he’d never give her a dime once she decided to give up medical school to pursue art.

And finally, she’s on her way. She’s placed as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society’s competition (a contest her mother was a finalist in when she died), and winning this could be the break she needs, financially and career-wise.

She’s ready to celebrate–and the next thing she knows, she’s lying in a hospital bed, in need of urgent brain surgery. Although her doctor says the surgery can wait until after the competition is over, her father forces her into having the surgery right away, because the medical problem she has was the same thing that killed her mother.

While the surgery was supposed to be fairly routine, Sadie is shocked to discover that the surgery left her with a “probably temporary” case of prosopagnosia, or face blindness. She can see perfectly, but when she looks at a person’s face, it appears to her as a jumble of mismatched parts. It’s tremendously difficult for anyone to deal with, but especially for someone who paints portraits for a living. Even when she encounters a person she knows, she doesn’t recognize them, because the lack of facial recognition throws off her perceptions.

As she tries to deal with the potential of having to live with this condition permanently, as well as confront the major family issues she has faced for years, she finds herself falling for two very different men at the same time. She keeps thinking about her dog’s veterinarian, imagining a life with him. But why does her mind keep wandering back to one of her neighbors, who seems like he’d be less of a suitable choice? Is she doomed to a life alone?

Katherine Center is definitely an auto-buy author for me. This was a sweet read, but not one of my favorites of hers. There’s a twist that I suspected very early on, and I thought the whole family dynamic was just too unbelievable and annoying for me, especially given the destruction caused and the reasons behind it.

Book Review: "The Sweet Spot" by Amy Poeppel

Amy Poeppel's latest is a sweet (of course!) and slightly zany story about friendship, family—both chosen and blood, revenge, and fresh starts.

Lauren, a sculptor, is unbelievably excited when famed designer Felicity starts selling her stuff. It will be an enormous career move for her, although the volume of orders makes it harder for Lauren to spend time with her husband Leo, a truly absent-minded professor, their three children, and a rambunctious dog.

What Lauren doesn’t know is that an off-the-cuff remark to Felicity gives her the motivation to make changes in her own life. These changes upend Melinda’s life, and she’s determined to make both Lauren and Felicity pay.

But the course of revenge never runs smoothly, and it’s not long before Melinda’s anger has caused ripples in several people’s lives, including Felicity, Lauren, and Olivia, a young woman who was essentially collateral damage in Melinda’s rampage.

It takes a baby left behind by its parents to bring Melinda, Lauren, and Olivia together, and soon their lives—and others’—become intertwined as things go off the rails in very interesting ways. Can friendships, second chances, even love flourish amidst this chaos?

I love the way Poeppel writes. I’ve enjoyed all of her books and I was eagerly anticipating this. She never disappoints; her books are funny, warm, and just so charming. I definitely finished this with a smile on my face!

Book Review: "Endpapers" by Jennifer Savran Kelly

It’s 2003. New York City is just starting to move forward after 9/11. Dawn works as a bookbinder at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, repairing old books while hoping to find the spark to reignite her own artistic efforts.

At the same time, she is struggling with her sexual identity. She is dating Lukas, who wishes she were a man, while there are days she isn’t sure what or who she really is. In a time before people generally understood the concept of nonbinary or genderqueer, Dawn’s exploration serves to complicate her relationship with Lukas, her colleagues, and her family.

One day while repairing a book she finds the cover of a pulp novel from the 1950s bound inside the back cover. She cannot figure out how it would’ve gotten there. But that’s only the start of the mystery. The cover features a woman dressed as a man, and on the back is a love letter from one woman to another, written in German.

Who were these women? What happened to them and their relationship? And why does this book cover speak to Dawn so much? Solving this mystery becomes an obsession for her, as well as an opportunity to avoid dealing with her concerns about her creative block, her relationship with Lukas, and the violence that always threatens the LGBTQ community. It's sad that many of the issues addressed in the book haven't changed much in 20 years.

This was so good. Thanks so much to Algonquin Books for inviting me on the tour for this. I found it so compelling, and I cannot get it out of my mind.

Book Review: "Now Is Not the Time to Panic" by Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson's latest novel is an absolutely excellent book about friendship, growing up, finding your place in this world, and the effect of art.

“How did you prevent your life from turning into something so boring that no one wanted to know about it?”

Frankie is 16. She’s a loner, growing up in Coalfield, Tennessee, ready to face another long, boring summer. She wants to be a writer but she doesn’t know if she’s any good.

One day she meets Zeke, who has moved to Coalfield to stay with his grandmother, hopefully just for the summer. Frankie and Zeke connect quickly and are determined to do something with impact this summer. They decide to create a piece of art that will get people’s attention but one that no one will know was created by them.

In a burst of inspiration, Frankie comes up with the phrase “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.” Zeke creates a drawing to accompany the phrase, and they create posters that they put up all over town. The posters create a sensation—no one knows what they mean or who is responsible, but they touch off a frenzy of imitators and panic throughout Coalfield, which leads to tragedy.

Twenty years later, Frances gets a call from a reporter who wants to write about the Coalfield Panic and believes she was behind the posters. This is a secret she's kept all of this time. Does she reveal the truth? What will happen if she does?

I thought this was absolutely fantastic, poignant and thought-provoking. I’ll read anything that Wilson writes!!

Book Review: "Woman on Fire" by Lisa Barr

Woman on Fire, Lisa Barr's newest book, is both a thriller and a story of family, legacy, betrayal, and courage. It feels like a movie—and has been optioned by Sharon Stone!

Jules Roth is a courageous young journalist, determined to work for legendary investigate journalist Dan Mansfield. After she talks her way into a job, she gets a top-secret assignment: a friend of Dan’s has asked him to find a famous painting, “Woman on Fire,” which was one of many works of art stolen by the Nazis years ago. The painting matters to Dan’s friend, renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum, for very personal reasons.

But Ellis isn’t the only one who wants the painting. Gallery owner Margaux de Laurent believes the painting is part of her family’s legacy, and she’s used to getting everything she wants. She’ll do anything she needs to in order to get that painting, and she has countless resources to do so, including those outside legal and ethical channels.

It becomes a game of cat and mouse, with Jules and Dan trying to find the painting and what could’ve happened to it through the years, and Margaux working to crush them and get the painting first. Everyone is a pawn, including Adam Chase, Ellis’ grandson and a tremendously talented artist in his own right.

Shifting between the late 1930s and the present, the book explores the all-too-real costs of war, its effects on the art world as well as familial legacy, and how the quest to find truth has unexpected results.

I love the way Barr writes, and this book hooked me from start to finish. There were some elements of thrillers I wasn’t fond of—particularly how the villains always know what is happening before it does—but I was totally immersed in the story and these characters. If you know art history, you’ll find this even more fascinating!!

Thanks to Get Red PR Books and Harper Books for inviting me on the tour for Woman on Fire and providing a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!! And thanks to my friend Louis for a great buddy read discussion as always!!

Book Review: "Confess" by Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover's book Confess is about the sacrifices we make for those we love.

Auburn was 15 when the love of her life died of a terminal illness. Now nearly 6 years later, she’s left her home and family in Portland and moved to Dallas. She hates her job (and isn’t much good at it), she knows few people, and she’s desperate to make ends meet. But she knows what she wants and is determined to get it.

When she sees a sign outside an art gallery advertising a job, she’s intrigued. And when she meets Owen, the artist, she’s even more intrigued. He paints pictures based on people’s anonymous confessions that they leave at the gallery door. Some are scandalous, some are sensual, and some are sad.

Auburn and Owen feel an intense, almost all-consuming attraction to one another. Both have secrets, particularly Owen, and the secrets he is hiding threaten any chance of a future with Auburn. But if he confesses, it could destroy everything Auburn wants most in the world.

Few people do all-consuming, heartbreaking insta-love as well as Colleen Hoover. This book was sad and had lots of twists and turns, many of which I wasn’t expecting, and I was totally hooked. It’s been a while since I’ve read one of her romance books and I’d forgotten how they stir up my emotions.

What’s interesting about a number of Hoover’s books is how young the characters actually are, but there’s no intense relationship quite like those when we’re young. Confess was definitely a love story with characters to root for. I love CoHo!!

Book Review: "The Last Time I Lied" by Riley Sager

Riley Sager's twisty mystery had me HOOKED! Can’t believe I waited so long to read The Last Time I Lied!

“What happened to Vivian, Natalie, and Allison wasn’t an accident. I know because I’m the one who caused it. Although their eventual fate remains a mystery, I’m certain that what happened to those girls is all my fault.”

Fifteen years ago, Emma attended Camp Nightingale. She was assigned to a bunk with three older girls, and found herself drawn to the self-proclaimed leader, Vivian. Cocky and cruel, yet vulnerable, Vivian took Emma under her wing, although no one was ever free from her sudden cruelty.

One night Emma awoke to find Vivian, Allison, and Natalie sneaking out of the cabin. Vivian told Emma she was too young to tag along. That was the last time anyone saw the three girls.

The mystery of their disappearance has haunted Emma since that night. She became an artist, and every painting includes the three girls, hidden beneath the elements Emma creates. Fifteen years later, Emma’s work catches the attention of Franny, the wealthy owner of the camp, and she makes Emma an offer: she’s reopening Camp Nightingale and wants Emma to work there for the summer.

For someone haunted by that one night, this could either be the move that brings closure or destroys her completely. Because there are secrets about that night that Emma has kept bottled up all these years. And she’s not the only one who’s kept secrets. Whose secrets might prove dangerous to a new group of campers or counselors?

It’s funny—summer camp is such a popular setting for horror movies and thrillers, but I went to camp for 10 summers and no one was murdered or attacked or disappeared. Did I miss out? Lol.

As many of you know, I have a tough time with thrillers more often than not because I usually figure everything out before the conclusion. I must say, even though I predicted one thing (although not quite the way it happened), this book kept me guessing, and I had to stay up and finish it. In my mind, you can't beat that!

I've now read three of Sager's books and The Last Time I Lied is definitely my favorite.

Book Review: "Perfectly Impossible" by Elizabeth Topp

It’s totally easy to hold your life together at the same time as your employer’s, right? Elizabeth Topp's Perfectly Impossible weighs in on that question.

Anna has been the private assistant to Bambi Von Bizmark, an immensely wealthy NYC matriarch, for a long while now. Her job is simple: make sure there are no surprises in the family's life and do everything perfectly. It’s always hectic because she never knows what she’ll be asked, what will be needed, or what she’ll need to remember, but she’s excellent at what she does.

Things are tense in the Von Bizmark household right now. Bambi and her tycoon husband are on the outs, but with them being selected as honorees for the Opera Ball, Bambi’s demands and mood swings are increasing exponentially. Anna has to walk many a delicate line between fulfilling Bambi’s wishes and not bankrupting the family, not to mention helping her employer accept reality, which isn’t easy.

Meanwhile, Anna, who really wants to be an artist, is struggling with getting attention for her work. She can’t figure out why it seems she’s better at being a private assistant than an artist, and that tension impacts her relationship with her boyfriend, Adrian, whose prestigious new job keeps him occupied and unable to support her the way she needs.

When roadblock after roadblock occurs as the Opera Ball approaches, Anna is finding it tougher to keep everything running smoothly. Will she be able to pull it all off? Can she make sure the Von Bizmarks are getting along in time for the Ball? And what will happen to her career and her own relationship?

Perfectly Impossible was a fun read about the excessive lifestyle of the NYC elite and the typical chaos a private assistant must face. So much of it seems over the top, but I totally believe people like this exist—if not worse!

Little A, Amazon Publishing, and Blankenship PR provided me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Book Review: "The Roxy Letters" by Mary Pauline Lowry

The Roxy Letters is a cute, quirky, epistolary novel.

Roxy’s life has hit a rough patch. Her financial situation is bleak, her love life is nonexistent, her job as a “deli maid” at Whole Foods (the original) is dissatisfying and often in jeopardy, and as an artist, she has no motivation to create. It’s gotten so bad that she’s allowed her ex-boyfriend Everett to move in with her, so she can get some extra income she needs to get out of debt.

The thing is, Everett isn’t that good with paying rent on time, or observing boundaries, so Roxy starts writing him letters, to remind him of his obligations and set some rules for their cohabitation (don’t come into her bedroom if the door is closed, don’t eat her food). And he also isn't around all that much, which defeats some of the purpose of why Roxy wanted him there in the first place.

But little by little, these letters become less about the rent and more Roxy’s way of reflecting her feelings—envy of one of her best friends, whose career is taking off while hers is stagnating; worry that she won’t find romance (or even sex); and frustration that her beloved city of Austin is becoming more commercial. (The biggest slap in her face is when a Lululemon opens where an old video store used to be.)

While she continues to write letters to Everett, they become more of a de-facto diary than actual correspondence. And as her life changes, the tone of the letters change as well, reflecting Roxy’s search for romance, better employment, artistic inspiration, and ultimate fulfillment.

This is a cute, light, wacky book. It would definitely be a good change of pace between heavier reads.

I liked this but didn’t love it. Sometimes the epistolary structure works (try Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members) and sometimes it doesn’t work as effectively. I felt like I would’ve liked to have gotten to know Roxy a little better and the letters kept her at a bit of a distance, but her voice is certainly unique!

Still, despite my issues, this was a fun, quick read.

Book Review: "Big Lies in a Small Town" by Diane Chamberlain

Is Diane Chamberlain's newest novel, Big Lies in a Small Town, worth all of the buzz it's been getting? Simple answer? Heck, yeah!

Morgan Christopher has seen better days. Once an aspiring artist, she’s serving a prison term for a crime she didn’t commit. And then one day, she gets offered an unbelievable opportunity, and her life changes again.

A legendary artist whose work she admired stipulated in his will that Morgan must be hired to restore an historic WWII-era mural to hang in a gallery that he had designed before his death. She has no idea how he knew her name and she has no experience with restoration, but if she does it, she’s free. Of course, there’s a very strict deadline, one that the artist's daughter is going to ensure she meets—or else.

The mural is in worse shape than anyone imagined, and there are some strange images included. The original artist allegedly lost her mind and disappeared before the mural could be finished. , but first she has to learn how to restore the mural and ready it to be hung in the gallery. It's no easy feat, especially given the short time period she has. But failure is not an option.

Morgan becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the artist. At the same time, she is struggling with trying to start her life again, although she is wracked with guilt about what happened in the accident that led to her prison term, as well as anger at the person who left her in the lurch. How can a person who has never been really given love or respect love or respect themselves?

In dual narratives, we follow the artist’s journey in 1940 and what happened to her, and we follow Morgan’s efforts to beat the clock and the damage that time has inflicted on the mural. The artist's story is one of being a stranger in a small town, jealousy, racial tension, and struggling with mental illness.

This is a really compelling, well-told book that I really enjoyed. I definitely saw there was potential for Chamberlain to take Morgan's story down several more melodramatic roads and I was so glad she didn't do that. I did think, however, that there were a few too many coincidences for my liking.

This is the first of Chamberlain's books I've read, but it won't be the last, as many friends have spoken very highly of her. This would probably be a really good movie or television miniseries!

Book Review: "Get a Life, Chloe Brown" by Talia Hibbert

Get a Life, Chloe Brown is a rom-com that really made me think. (Plus: super steamy.)

Chloe Brown is feisty and independent, but the chronic pain of her fibromyalgia leaves her choosing the safe path more often than not, and she doesn't let people help her for fear she’ll be a burden.

"She hadn't always been like this, a tongue with the tip bitten off, her feelings squashed into a box. But help and concern, even from the people she loved—even when she needed it—had a way of grating. Of building up, or rather, grinding down. Truthfully, guiltily, sometimes simple gratitude tasted like barely sweetened resentment in her mouth."

When she nearly escapes being hit by a car, Chloe realizes her life has lacked excitement, so she—a compulsive list-maker—puts together a list of items she wants to accomplish. Things like enjoy a drunken night out, go camping, and have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.

Although she and her building’s superintendent, the handsome Redford (Red) Morgan, seem to hate the very sight of each other, there’s much more to him than meets the eye. He’s artistic, kind to everyone (but her), and sexy as hell. Chloe starts to realize that maybe Red can help her cross some items off her list—perhaps in exchange for creating a website to sell his art.

Of course, if you read rom-coms, you know how often hatred masks chemistry and strong attraction to one another, and Chloe and Red are no different. But there’s far more to this story than meets the eye. Both are vulnerable, both bear the painful scars of past hurts which keep them from moving on. Can they allow themselves the luxury of giving in to their feelings, no matter what the risk?

"Love isn’t safe, as that story proves. But is it worth it?"

What struck me about this book is the amount of depth Talia Hibbert gave to both of her main characters, not just Chloe. It’s one of the first rom-coms I’ve read where the male character is as vulnerable as the female, and it really deepened the narrative and my investment in the story. I also thought Chloe’s fibromyalgia was treated with real seriousness—it’s rare you see a character in a rom-com deal with this sort of challenge, and I know that these are real battles that those living with fibromyalgia have to deal with on a daily basis.

This was really enjoyable, although as happens so often in this type of book, I wanted to shake these characters into saying what’s on their mind instead of assuming the wrong thing, to save all of us grief. But that won't stop me from eagerly awaiting Hibbert’s follow-up, which will feature one of Chloe’s sisters.