Book Review: "The Lost Story" by Meg Shaffer

Sometimes books make me tear up or cause me to get emotional. Sometimes they make me sob, and at times it’s happy sobbing. Meg Shaffer’s newest book had me happy sobbing really hard. I am in love with this book.

Jeremy and Rafe were best friends. They were pretty much inseparable. One day while on a class trip to Red Crow State Forest in West Virginia, the two boys go missing. Search parties comb every inch of the forest but the boys were never found. And then six months later, hikers find the boys, who have no memory of where they were.

Fifteen years later, Jeremy makes a living finding and rescuing missing girls and women. Rafe is more of a recluse, a talented artist, who bears physical and emotional scars from his time in the Forest. They haven’t seen each other since the days following their rescue.

One day, a young woman named Emilie finds Jeremy and asks for his help to find her older sister, who went missing from the same forest years before. Jeremy believes that Emilie’s sister is still alive, but they’ll need to return to the forest—and they’ll need Rafe to join them.

Jeremy knows where Emilie’s sister is because when he and Rafe were lost 15 years ago, they actually found themselves in a magical kingdom, where Rafe was a prince and Jeremy was a knight. But only Jeremy remembers those days, while Rafe thinks those memories are just dreams. It’s time for the truth to be revealed, for the once-lost boys to come to terms with memories and feelings they’ve kept secret.

I honestly cannot say enough about how much I loved this story. It’s a bit of a fantasy, but it’s also a beautiful story about love, friendship, blood and chosen family, and coming to terms with things we’ve kept hidden. I will read anything that Meg Shaffer writes!!

Book Review: "Prince of the Palisades" by Julian Winters

Wow, this was such a great book! I didn’t realize how much I needed a story like this until I was fully immersed in it.

Jadon’s parents are the king and queen of Îles de la Rêverie, a small island off the coast of Africa. When a drunken tirade of his goes viral and causes an outrage, Jadon is sent to California—where his mother grew up—to try and rehabilitate his image.

The palace hopes that some carefully crafted public appearances, along with attending a private high school, might show Jadon in a more favorable light. But no matter how hard he tries to be the prince he believes the people of Rêverie want, the more mistakes he makes. If he doesn’t clean up his act, he may be forever banned from returning home.

Things get even more complicated when he falls for Reiss, a pink-haired, movie-loving, aspiring film student. Reiss isn’t necessarily impressed with Jadon’s arrogance, but he can see the vulnerability and hurt in the young prince, and sees how much more comfortable he is when he is being himself and speaking his own mind.

This has glimpses of Red White & Royal Blue, but it goes beyond a sweet romance. This is a powerful story about being your authentic self and speaking out, even if it might not be what people want from you. It’s also a thought-provoking commentary on racial disparity, how young Black people have to act a certain way to be accepted.

I really loved everything about the story, including Jadon’s royal guard, his sister the crown princess, and the palace liaison. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Viking Books for the advance copy; the book will publish 8/20.

Book Review: "Dark Ride" by Lou Berney

“I like being ordinary. I enjoy the lack of pressure.”

Hardy “Hardly” Reed isn’t particularly ambitious or motivated, but that doesn’t seem to faze the 21-year-old one bit. He spends his days hanging out with his friends, getting high, and works as a scarer at a run-down amusement park. Even though his brother chides him for making nothing of his life, Hardly doesn’t care. He loves having no pressure or obligations.

One day, while looking to defer payment on a traffic ticket, he sees two young children sitting by themselves on a bench. When he goes over to check on them and see if they’re okay, they seem almost catatonic, not acknowledging his presence. Then he notices identical injuries on both children, and when their mother approaches, she quickly gets the children away from Hardly’s inquiring gaze.

Faced with a situation like this, Hardly would usually walk away and not give this situation another thought. But for some reason, the children’s expressions haunt him, so he calls Child Protective Services and leaves a message about what he saw. And while that should be the end of it, he gets no response from CPS, and the more research he does, he becomes convinced that CPS won’t be of any help. He knows in his heart that the only person that can help these kids is him, despite the fact that he barely takes care of himself.

As Hardly tries to figure out exactly who is abusing the children and the best way he can help, his friends and family try to dissuade him from getting further involved. But for the first time in his life, Hardly has discovered something–and someone–to fight for. He may not be the best person for the task, but he’s determined not to let the children down, even when he discovers he has gotten himself entangled in a situation far beyond anything he imagined.

I first discovered Lou Berney when I found his amazing thriller, The Long and Faraway Gone, several years ago, shortly after seeing another author I loved naming Berney one of the best authors he had read. I’ve read all of Berney’s books, so I was tremendously excited about this one.

Once again, Berney tells an incredible story. While I’m always a little dubious about books when ordinary people suddenly become investigators, Hardly is the most unlikely of protagonists, and his single-minded focus seems to make sense the more we learn about him.

I was utterly captivated by Dark Ride. I loved the choices Berney made here, instead of taking the expected paths that I feel would have ruined the story. I’ll definitely be waiting for his next book.

Book Review: "Go As A River" by Shelley Read

This is a moving and beautifully evocative story of a young woman who follows her heart.

It’s 1948. Ever since her mother, aunt, and cousin died in an accident, Victoria has become the woman of the house. She cooks all the meals for her father, brother, and uncle, not to mention the workers on her family’s Colorado peach farm. It’s a house full of tension, as all three of her family members have issues of their own.

One day she meets Wilson Moon, a young Native American man who has left his tribal land to pursue his own path. For the first time in her life, Victoria knows what it feels like to want someone and be wanted. But their time together is fleeting, because her town doesn’t like the idea of someone who is different having free will to do what he wants.

When tragedy strikes, she leaves home and escapes into the mountains, where she ekes out a solitary life for herself despite the challenges posed by the elements and her own limitations. But when she returns home, so much has changed. She soon learns of the government’s plan to flood her town, so she is determined to save all she can, especially her family’s peach orchard.

This is based on the true story of the destruction of Iola, Colorado. It’s an emotional story of love, betrayal, fear, isolation, friendship, and resilience. Victoria is a truly memorable character whose bravery and ingenuity in the face of adversity was moving and inspirational.

Book Review: "The First to Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

Sometimes it takes knowing you’re going to die to truly live.

It’s been a few years (five, to be exact) since Adam Silvera published They Both Die at the End. It was a gorgeous, emotional story of two boys who meet on the last day of their lives. But if you never read that or can’t remember it, that’s ok, because this is a prequel to that book.

It’s December 31, 2010. At midnight the world will change because Death-Cast will launch. It’s a service that calls people on the day they will die, in an effort to help them do and say all they need to before their life ends.

Orion figures he’ll be one of the first to get that call. He’s been living with a terminal heart condition and he’s been afraid to really live because he knows it could kill him. While at a crowded party in Times Square, he meets Valentino, a model who has just moved to NYC to launch his career and escape his homophobic parents.

The two boys feel an instant connection. And then shortly after midnight, a call comes that will change both of them forever.

Sure, this is a little predictable, but it’s just a lovely story. These two characters really stole my heart and left me a mess at the end. There are a few subplots that you don’t think will matter to the overall plot, but in the end, they do. (And there are a few Easter eggs for those who remember They Both Die at the End.

This is such a memorable book. Thanks to Storygram Tours, Epic Reads, and Adam Silvera for inviting me on the tour and providing complimentary copies of both books!!

Book Review: "Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story" by Lauren Myracle, illustrated by Isaac Goodhart

Victor lives a solitary existence, wracked with guilt about the death of his older brother Otto, and closing himself off to the world. The only bright spot is his job as a scientist, where he hopes to make significant contributions.⁣

Nora believes in living every day to the fullest. But that’s not just a mantra: she has a terminal illness that will rob her of everything—movement, speech, memory. She’s determined not to let that get her down until it’s time, and she has a plan.⁣

⁣ Victor and Nora have a not-quite meet-cute in the cemetery where his brother and her mother are buried. Little by little, Nora’s devil-may-care attitude thaws Victor’s frozen heart. But when he discovers the secret Nora’s been hiding, he’s determined to use science to save her—but what will the consequences be?⁣

⁣ This graphic novel, beautifully drawn and full of emotion, is essentially the origin story of Mr. Freeze, who resurfaces in Batman comics (and a movie). There’s no hint of his ultimate supervillain future here, but obviously there’s a tinge of sadness along with hopefulness.⁣

⁣ I’m a fan of graphic novels, especially ones with some emotional heft to them. I really enjoyed this.⁣

Book Review: "My Government Means to Kill Me" by Rasheed Newson

Rasheed Newson's debut novel is a moving, informative story of a young, gay Black man’s coming of age in 1980s New York City.

“…all great activists start off as young people who don’t really know what the hell they’re doing.”

Trey leaves his wealthy family in Indiana and turns his back on his trust fund and moves to New York City in the mid-1980s. He has very little money but refuses to compromise his values by hustling. He meets an interesting group of friends and explores his sexuality despite NYC being an epicenter of the AIDS epidemic.

After volunteering at a home hospice for those dying of AIDS, he gets pulled into the early days of ACT UP, an activist group trying to get the government to provide better support to those living with the disease. Along the way he tries to navigate his guilt about a childhood incident, deal with the demands of his family, and better understand the dynamics of sex and love.

This was a really good book that felt like a memoir. Trey is essentially dropped into an historical narrative and comes into contact with a number of individuals both key to the gay rights movement and those who caused trouble for it. Newson peppers the book with footnotes about different people and references in the book, and while many times I feel footnotes in books are distracting, these were really informative.

Having been a bit younger than Trey in the mid-1980s, I still vividly remember this time in history, and figuring out my sexuality a few years later was still as confusing, frightening, and complicated in the midst of uncertainty about AIDS. This was a fascinating story.

Book Review: "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir

Andy Weir's latest book, Project Hail Mary, blinded me with science.

I've been waiting to read this for a few months now, since I really enjoyed The Martian. So many friends have raved about it, and the book has appeared on a number of friends' year-end lists.

A man wakes up on a spaceship. He can’t remember his name or his mission, and somehow he’s the only one on the spaceship who survived. What happened? What’s his mission?

Little by little, it comes back to him. He’s Ryland Grace, a science teacher, and he was drafted into a multinational effort to save the world from a being that threatens the existence of humanity. He’s been asleep for a long time, and the window for him to act is rapidly closing.

It’ll take all of his scientific bravado plus help from one of the most unlikely of sources to save humanity. Will he prevail? Can the threat to our world be stopped?

Andy Weir is an excellent storyteller. This is definitely a story with heart and emotion and, of course, you’re hopefully rooting for Ryland to save the day. The thing is, however, this book has so much science that it made my head hurt.

Sure, you can skim some of it and some of it you can figure out, but after a while it just reminded me that there’s a reason I didn’t go to medical school and become a doctor, thus contradicting the requirement in the Torah that the oldest Jewish son practice medicine. (I kid.)

Book Review: "A Better Heart" by Chuck Augello

This is an immensely thought-provoking and poignant piece of fiction.

A washed-up actor and a capuchin monkey walk onto a movie set. Sounds like the set-up for an interesting joke, no?

But this really happens to Kevin, on the set of the first indie film he's directing. His father, actor Edward Stacey (so yes, the main character's name is Kevin Stacey), Guinness World Record Holder for most appearances in a motion picture, arrives in a yellow raincoat, toting a gun, a stack of cash, and an (apparently) stolen capuchin monkey. Kevin hasn’t seen his father in four years.

It turns out that the monkey, Henry, was a test subject in a research lab, and he was freed by animal rights activists. Now this monkey, along with others that were freed, is wanted by the FBI.

Kevin and Henry quickly develop a bond, and as he learns more about the horrible treatment of research lab animals, he agrees to travel cross-country with his father in an effort to save Henry. The trip is not without hijinks, reopening old wounds, and family drama, but Kevin is determined to do the right thing.

The book takes place over multiple periods of time, and is heartwarming, funny at times, and it makes you think about the ways lab animals are treated. (It’s a little graphic when they talk about it, but nothing is actually happening to the animals in the book.) It’s a sweet story, a little goofy at times, but just an enjoyable read.

Thanks so much to Suzy Approved Book Tours, Chuck Augello, and Black Rose Writing for inviting me on the tour and providing a complimentary advance copy of A Better Heart in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Book Review: "The Final Girl Support Group" by Grady Hendrix

The latest book from horror master Grady Hendrix, The Final Girl Support Group, wasn't quite the horror novel I was expecting, and that’s totally okay with me!!

First things first: if you have any trigger, be it graphic violence, murder, sexual assault, mentions of animal cruelty, etc.—this book probably has it, so be aware of that if you choose to read it.

“None of us have to be defined by the worst thing that ever happened to her. Unfortunately, those things have a bad habit of coming back and trying to kill us again. After a while, you start to realize that your life isn’t the thing that happens between the monsters, your life is the monsters.”

They’re the final girls—the ones left standing after the murderer is taken down. For more than a decade a group of them have been meeting secretly to provide each other support. While these meetings have meant a lot through the years, they’ve become a nuisance to some, which dismays Lynnette, for whom the group is the only contact she has with the outside world.

But when one of their own is murdered and related events occur, Lynnette realizes the paranoia she has had for years about someone trying to kill them hasn’t been as crazy as the rest of them thought. It’s up to her to figure out who’s behind this lashing out at the final girls before none are left standing after the second go-round.

Hendrix pays homage to the horror movies of the 80s and 90s with some fun touches (each of the chapter titles is a spoof on a horror movie title). There are also some surprising notes of emotion sprinkled throughout.

The thing is, though, for a book about a support group, there wasn’t a lot of time where the whole group was together, and that would’ve been cool. There also was a lot more telling than showing—I equate that to superhero movies when the villain has an overlong monologue about why they’ve wanted to destroy the world for so long.

I read this with my friend Louis, who was worried it would be too gruesome for me (I’m delicate that way), but in the end I think I liked it more than he did. It was a good read but I wanted more.

Book Review: "How Lucky" by Will Leitch

Will Leitch's new novel, How Lucky, is an utterly unforgettable, beautiful book about hope, friendship, and survival.

If you were to look at Daniel, you’d assume he was miserable. Since childhood he’s lived with a degenerative disease that has confined him to a wheelchair, mostly unable to speak, and he knows ultimately that this will be his death sentence.

But while Daniel may not be living the kind of life people envy, he has a full life. He has friends and a strong support system of people who care about him, a job for a regional airline, and living in Athens, Georgia, he loves to experience the jubilation of college football and how it transforms everything.

“Real life, mercifully, isn’t a thriller. Those things don’t happen to you, and they don’t happen to me. My life is nothing but small moments, and so is yours. We don’t live in a series of plot points. We should be thankful for that. We should realize how lucky we are.”

One morning Daniel sees a young woman walking down the street past his house. She does this every day. But on this day he sees her get into a car, and the next day he hears she has gone missing.

What could have happened to this woman? Daniel wants to tell the police what he knows, but will they believe someone like him? What Daniel doesn’t realize is he’ll set a chain of events in motion which could threaten his life—but he’d probably do it anyway for the sake of the young woman.

How Lucky is suspenseful, uplifting, funny, poignant, and utterly charming. It has elements of Rear Window but it’s a story all its own, with one of the most engaging and wonderful protagonists I’ve ever seen. It makes you think, it’ll make you smile, and if you’re like me, you’ll probably tear up.

Leitch did such a great job creating these characters and definitely did his research on what it's like to live with a disability like Daniel's. And extra points for commentary on the fact Glenn Close STILL hasn’t won an Oscar!!

Book Review: "Mistletoe and Mr. Right" by Sarah Morgenthaler

Mistletoe and Mr. Right by Sarah Morgenthaler is adorable and fun, and another example of why I’ve been loving holiday rom-coms lately.

In this book, we return to the quirky small town of Moose Springs, Alaska. Lana isn’t the most popular person in town since her family’s company bought up most of the town, and she plans to build luxury condominiums in Moose Springs. Many town residents would prefer to keep tourists away even if it causes businesses to struggle more.

And while the town makes its displeasure with Lana known, there’s something else wreaking havoc. Apparently there’s a moose in town that isn’t fond of Christmas decorations—so much so that it keeps destroying everyone’s displays. Lana volunteers to catch the moose in the hope that it might win her some fans. Yeah, that should go well.

One such person she doesn’t have to worry about is Rick, who owns the town’s struggling pool hall. He’s always had a thing for Lana, even though he gets totally tongue-tied around her. He knows they come from totally different worlds, and she’ll probably not be in town long, but he can’t help but fall for her, and she definitely feels the same.

How could you not love a rom-com that has a blind border collie that loves to wear clothes and matching hats, and a Christmas sweater-wearing hedgehog named Darla, not to mention a sweet love story? I love the town of Moose Springs (the setting of Morgenthaler’s last book, The Tourist Attraction) and the characters are just great. The one interesting thing is that I always feel like the characters seem much older than they actually area—I would have pegged Lana and Rick for their mid-40s, but that wasn't the case.

Mistletoe and Mr. Right took a little while to get going but I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for Morgenthaler’s third book in January!!

Book Review: “The Girl with the Louding Voice” by Abi Daré

Abi Daré's The Girl with the Louding Voice lives up to all the hype and praise, and then some!!

Adunni is a 14-year-old girl growing up poor in Nigeria. Her mother recognized Adunni’s intelligence and fought for her to get an education, but that ended when she died. Regardless of what she wants from her future, because of their poverty, her father sells her into marriage as the third wife of an old man desperate for male children.

“My mama say education will give me a voice. I want more than just a voice, Ms. Tia. I want a louding voice. I want to enter a room and people will hear me even before I open my mouth to be speaking. I want to live in this life and help many people so that when I grow old and die, I will still be living through the people I am helping."

Marriage, the demands of a husband, and the cruelty of one of his other wives are almost too much for Adunni to bear. And when tragedy strikes in her new home, she must flee, although she knows as a young woman most view her as nothing but property.

She winds up being taken to Lagos and is sold into servitude to a rich, cruel woman. She is treated horribly aand beaten routinely, but she tries not to let this woman or her philandering husband steal her dreams or make her believe she is nothing. It takes two people—the household chef and a woman in the same social group as her employer—to help try and save Adunni, but will it be too late?

What a book this was. It was brutal and emotional and utterly beautiful, but Adunni’s spirit is a shining light. She is honestly one of the most memorable characters I’ve ever read about. At times this is difficult to read and at times her broken English is distracting, but as she works to better herself it becomes easier to understand her.

Daré has created a masterpiece. The Girl with the Louding Voice is truly one of the best books I've read this year.

Book Review: "The Boy in the Red Dress" by Kristin Lambert

The Boy in the Red Dress is a fun, unique, and compelling story about living your life on your own terms—and trying to protect your friends.

It’s New Year’s Eve in New Orleans in 1929. Millie is running her aunt’s speakeasy while she is out of town. Everyone has come to the Cloak and Dagger to see Marion Leslie perform. This “boy in the red dress” is a consummate performer and Millie’s best friend.

That night, though, a young socialite is showing people an old picture of Marion and asking questions. Seeing her has truly upset Marion, as it reminds him of an earlier, horrible time in his life. But he’s also angry that this woman has shown up and he wants her to leave.

Before the clock strikes midnight, the woman is found dead outside the club. It appears she was pushed off a balcony, and her friends immediately accuse Marion of her murder. But Millie knows he couldn’t possibly be guilty, even if the police want nothing more than to accuse a boy who dresses as a woman to be punished.

Determined to clear his name, Millie starts her own investigation. She uncovers secrets, blackmail, illicit love affairs, and people bent on keeping her from the truth, but she doesn’t care. She’ll stop at nothing to figure out what happened, even if it puts her in danger.

As she mounts her own investigation, she has to deal with her own conflicted feelings between Olive, a young waitress at the club, and Bennie, the handsome bootlegger. But romance has to take a back seat until she finds the real killer.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. Despite the time period, I love how the book never made a big deal about anyone’s sexuality or how they choose to live. Millie is a conflicted teenage girl unsure of what her heart wants, but she will fight to protect anyone who tries to hurt someone she cares about.

This was a great story, so well-told and poignant at times. I loved these characters and would love to see another book with them!

Book Review: "The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)" by Rick Riordan

"Humans don't exist on the same level as the immortals. They can't even be hurt by our weapons. But you, Percy—you are part god, part human. You live in both worlds. You can be harmed by both, and you can affect both. That's what makes heroes so special. You carry the hopes of humanity into the realm of the eternal."

I mentioned last month that I had started participating in a buddy read of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series with some Bookstagram friends. We're reading one a month, and since I had never picked these up when they were initially released, this has been a fun discovery for me. (Here's my review of Book 1, The Lightning Thief.)

In Book 2, Percy has nearly made it through his entire seventh-grade year without getting expelled. But when a game of dodgeball in gym class turns dangerous, because instead of fending off the school bully and his minions he has to fend off some giant cannibals, everything starts to go awry. And before he knows it, he and his friend Annabeth, along with a new friend, Tyson (who has some special skills of his own), are headed back to Camp Half-Blood, because all of the demigods are in danger since someone has weakened the borders which protect the camp.

In order to save the camp, Percy and his friends have to travel to the Sea of Monsters, but that will be tough, since no one wants he and Annabeth to be heroes once again. But when they realize a close friend is in danger as well, they decide to go anyway. Once again, they'll face dangers they're not expecting, not to mention threats closer to home.

I enjoyed The Lightning Thief but found it at times to be a little too much tell and not enough show, as various characters described things to Percy and, as often happens in superhero movies, the evil characters have to dramatically explain their nefarious plans.

However, in The Sea of Monsters everything really hit its stride. I found Percy to be much more well-developed and all of the other characters were more complex—even the ones you're supposed to hate weren't as annoying! I particularly loved Grover and Tyson, a new character in this book.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I could totally see why kids and adults alike enjoy it!

Book Review: "Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Yeah, I’m about 15 years late to the party on this one!

I don’t know why I never read these books before. I was a huge fan of Harry Potter and other books like it, and I really liked the mystery series Rick Riordan wrote before he reinvented himself, but for some reason these never made it on to my radar. So when a friend suggested a buddy read of the series, I jumped at the chance.

I’m not going to do my usual plot summary because I’d imagine most of you know what these books are about, either because you’ve read these books or your children have. But suffice it to say that Percy Jackson is a kid who can never seem to stay out of trouble, because it always seems to find him. When he gets kicked out of yet another boarding school, his mother takes him to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods. The next thing he knows, he's on a quest to the underworld to try and get back Zeus' master lightning bolt, which has been stolen.

I thought this was a fun way to bring mythology to life (seeing as it has always intimidated me). I really enjoyed the characters, particularly Percy and Grover. While I felt the book took a long time to get to the real exciting stuff, I liked the journey that Percy and his friends had to take.

Since this was the first book in the series, there was a lot of explanation about things, a lot more telling rather than showing, but I’d imagine that will change as the series progresses.

Does this feel a little like a Harry Potter imitation? Maybe, but it's not too distracting.

I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series next month!

Book Review: "The Alice Network" by Kate Quinn

"Why did it matter if something scared you, when it simply had to be done anyway?"

Bravery can come from the least likely of sources. And in Kate Quinn's The Alice Network, she weaves together a story of some brave but unknown women from history with some fictitious ones.

In 1947, Charlotte “Charlie” St. Clair has been dragged to Europe by her mother. Charlie is 19, pregnant, and unmarried, and the plan is to go to Switzerland to have her “little problem” taken care of. But Charlie is less interested in dealing with her own issues and would rather try to find her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared during WWII.

Charlie escapes her mother’s clutches and flees to London to try and find a woman who supposedly can help her. When she meets Eve Gardiner, the woman is drunk, angry, and pointing a gun at Charlie, and refuses to help her. But when Charlie utters one man’s name, and the French city where Rose had supposedly gone during the war, Eve reluctantly agrees to help.

It turns out that Eve isn’t just a drunk older woman—during WWI she was a spy, part of the Alice Network, a group of women trained to ferret out information from the most dangerous of sources. Stationed in France, Eve was excellent at her job, until something goes awry, and a betrayal tears down the whole network. She bears the physical and emotional scars all these years later.

This is a great historical fiction book, alternating between Eve’s time in France in 1915 and Charlie’s 1947 efforts to find Rose. It’s intense, suspenseful, and emotional, and although it was a tiny bit too long, I really devoured it. I've heard Quinn's other book, The Huntress, is good as well.

It's funny: I often say that historical fiction isn't my thing because I'd much rather read contemporary stories than anything else. But strangely enough, all of the historical fiction I've read lately (without really considering it "historical") has been pretty great. So now I'm just a big contradiction, lol.

Book Review: "The Two Lives of Lydia Bird" by Josie Silver

Gotta love a book that has you sobbing in the wee hours of the morning!! Such was the case with Josie Silver's new book, The Two Lives of Lydia Silver.

Life can change in a split second. One second Lydia was waiting for her fiancé, Freddie, to arrive at her birthday dinner; the next second she learns that he was killed in a car accident on the way.

"It's probably for the best if the last time you do something momentous passes you by unheralded: the last time my mother collected me at the school gate, her hand reassuring around my smaller one, the last time my father remembered my birthday. The last time I spoke to Freddie Hunter as he dashed back to see me on my twenty-eighth birthday. Do you know what the last words he said to me were? Over and out."

Lydia and Freddie have been a part of each other’s lives since high school, and she has loved him since she was 14. She doesn’t know how to get through a day, let alone the rest of her life without him, but her family and friends try to help her navigate her grief.

One day she discovers a world where Freddie is still alive, and there, her life goes on from that fatal night. She cherishes every additional moment with Freddie and gets to envision picking out her wedding dress, the simple moments of sharing a life together. Little by little, though, she begins to see that even the fairytale life she's witnessing has its rough spots in unexpected places.

As she takes tentative steps to regain control of her life, she has to decide: live for what could have been despite its challenges, or live for now, and be present for those who love you. It’s a difficult decision for Lydia to make.

"There isn't a handy grief blueprint. You don't get over losing someone you love in six months or two years or twenty, but you do have to find a way to carry on living without feeling as if everything that comes afterward is second best."

Sure, the premise of the book is a little unrealistic, but I just found it so moving and beautifully told. I didn’t always love Lydia’s character but I just loved this story, and I so enjoy the way Josie Silver writes, having been totally besotted with her debut novel, One Day in December.

Book Review: "Wildland" by Rebecca Hodge

This isn’t a page-turner; it’s a page-flipper! I raced through this as fast as my pulse was racing.

Kat is planning a quiet month’s stay at a secluded cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She beat breast cancer a number of years ago, enduring surgeries, chemo, debilitating recovery. But now the cancer has come back again, and she’s not sure she has the strength for another fight, regardless of her daughter’s feelings.

While getting the lay of the land, she meets the occupants of the two nearby cabin, each is a man traveling with his child, but both couldn’t be more different. Malcolm, who has physical and, clearly, emotional scars of his own, is dealing with his adopted son, Nirav, while brash, demanding Scott is struggling with the challenges of his preteen daughter, Lily.

Both children are immediately taken with Kat, not to mention the two dogs she has found herself with. One night while both children are sleeping at her cabin, a lightning strike causes a fire which quickly starts to encroach on them. With no choice, Kat leads the children and the dogs deeper and deeper into the woods, hoping to escape the fire and hoping there’s a way they can be rescued.

Meanwhile, Malcolm and Scott frantically plan a rescue of the kids and Kat but are at the mercy of the fire and the authorities. And even when Malcolm is able to pull strings their efforts are hampered. Will their kids be safe? Will a woman with barely enough strength to fight her own battles be able to muster the courage to protect two children she barely knows? It’s a race against the elements, time, and the human body.

Even though I knew what would happen I couldn’t put this book down. There was a lot more complexity to these characters than you usually get in a thriller. Malcolm and Nirav could have been a book all their own. This is a book that gets your heart racing but also tugs at your heart. It also would be an excellent movie.

I’m grateful to be part of the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Kate Rock Book Tours, Rebecca Hodge, and Crooked Lane Books for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. I appreciate the opportunity!!

Book Review: "Lies That Bind" by Ashley Farley

You've got to love a book that hooks you from start to finish. Ashley Farley's newest book, Lies That Bind did just that for me, so much so that I read the entire book in just a few hours.

For 10 years, Eva has wondered whether her daughter, Reese, is still alive. Eva's husband was driving Reese home from college over Thanksgiving when they were in a single-car accident and he was killed, but Reese was nowhere to be found at the scene of the accident. Did someone kidnap her? Did she flee the scene for some reason? These are questions Eva has wanted to know the answer to for far too long, but she's never given up hope.

Maggie is moving from Oregon to Richmond, Virginia, where her new husband will be working. She got married on the rebound after the end of a long-term relationship, and her family all thought she did so far too soon. Eric is a good provider and seems like a stable man, but shortly after she arrives in Richmond she discovers that what seems too good to be true often is. What Eric wants more than anything is for Maggie to have a baby, but she's not ready—she wants to pursue a career as an investigative journalist. Quickly, though, Maggie realizes Eric will stop at nothing to ensure he gets what he wants.

One snowy day Maggie meets Eva, who lives across the street from her and Eric. Maggie is utterly transfixed when she hears about Reese's disappearance, and when Eric's controlling behavior becomes physically abusive, she decides to go undercover to track Reese's whereabouts. Her investigative work takes her from Virginia to Ohio to Washington, DC, as she tries to figure out what happened the day of the accident, what possibly could have made her flee, and more importantly, what would have kept her away all these years?

While the plot of Lies That Bind isn't necessarily unique, it builds on lots of twists and turns and secrets, so I'm going to stop my summary here. Farley has created some complex, flawed, fascinating characters, and there's lots of emotion and thought-provoking events to be had. I really couldn't get enough of this story. This isn't a thriller, although there are suspenseful elements, but more than that, it's just a great story.

I first became familiar with Farley after her last book, Life on Loan, which also completely captivated me, but in a different way. Lies That Bind has definitely cemented my status as a fan.

I'm so grateful to be part of the blog tour for Lies That Bind. Kate Rock Book Tours and Leisure Time Books provided me with an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!