Book Review: "Once and Again" by Rebecca Serle

In the Acknowledgements of her powerfully thought-provoking new book, Rebecca Serle said, “[This] is the first book that does not ask the question ‘How will it turn out?’ but instead ponders: ‘How do I sit with what has happened?’” I feel like that really sums up the core of this story.

The women of the Novak family have been given an extraordinary gift. Each has the opportunity to turn back time, once, to erase or redo something. When Lauren was 15, she learned about this gift, as her mother Marcella used hers to save Lauren’s father, who died in a car accident.

Once Marcella chose her moment to redo, although she felt relief, she also felt a great weight placed on her. Now she had no chance for a do-over, which made her more cautious and nervous about everything, particularly her husband’s actions. This definitely strains her relationship with Lauren.

Lauren and her husband Leo have been struggling with fertility issues. When Leo gets a job in NYC for the summer, he moves there, while Lauren returns to her childhood home on the Malibu shores. She misses Leo, although not the constant stress of IVF, and she enjoys surfing with her father and spending time with her grandmother, Sylvia. And Lauren still doesn’t understand why she and her mother can’t get along.

To her surprise, Lauren’s first love, Stone, returns home to care for his dying stepmother. As she watches his grief and reconnects with him for the first time in 10 years, Lauren’s feelings become jumbled. To rediscover her happiness, is there an opportunity to redo something?

Rebecca Serle always knows how to touch my emotions and get me thinking. I definitely cried a bit as I pondered what I would change if I had the chance—or would I? This really would be an excellent book club book, and it’ll certainly be on my mind for a long time!

Book Review: "Pinky Swear" by Danielle Girard

Another highly anticipated book exceeds my expectations! I really loved this thriller, both for the suspense and emotionally rich story. I love thrillers but it’s always a nice surprise when there’s emotional complexity as well.

They were inseparable best friends while growing up. Lexi, Mara, and Cate were always together, sharing gossip, secrets, and fierce loyalty. But a few weeks before graduation, tragedy struck, and the resulting guilt, anger, and hurt destroyed the friendships.

After no contact for 16 years, Mara shows up at Lexi’s door. She is hurt and frightened, on the run from an abusive, vindictive husband. Lexi is more than happy to provide Mara with a safe haven, and after a little time, it’s like there was no interruption of their friendship.

When Lexi confides in Mara about her fertility issues and the fact that her husband isn’t interested in having a baby, Mara steps in. She offers to be Lexi’s surrogate, and as Mara’s pregnancy continues, Lexi is full of joy and appreciation for her friend’s sacrifice.

Four days before Mara is due to give birth, she disappears. Lexi cannot believe what is happening. She is (fairly) sure Mara wouldn’t leave at this point in her pregnancy. Was she taken or did she flee? As Lexi tries to track her friend’s whereabouts, she realizes that there are lots of things about Mara that don’t add up. And some of these secrets date back to high school…

I’ve enjoyed Danielle Girard’s books before, but I was completely swept into this one. The suspense of figuring out whom to trust, along with the nostalgia of old friendships and the pull of motherhood, really made this an unputdownable read.

Book Review: "More Than Enough" by Anna Quindlen

“We never know what’s living inside the people around us. We only guess.”

Anna Quindlen’s books always fill me with emotion. Sometimes she makes me cry, sometimes she provokes anger, sometimes she leaves me smiling, and sometimes it’s a combination of one or more of these. But she always makes me feel something.

Polly is an English teacher at an all-girls private school. Having struggled with fertility issues, Polly has so much empathy and admiration for her students, and teaching is truly a labor of love.

Her closest friends are the three women in her book club (where they never read the books). These women have been there for each other through so much. As a joke, they buy Polly a DNA test kit, but they don’t expect her to actually do it. And then the test matches her with a secondary relative, but she can’t figure out the actual connection. So she begins a journey of self-discovery which leads to some revelations and some sorrows.

This book is all about relationships—parental, sibling, marital, friendship, and a desperation for motherhood. There are moments of beautiful loyalty, love, and anguish. And alpacas.

I really loved the characters Quindlen created here. I love the way she kept the book from veering into melodramatic territory and I loved the quiet moments as well. I thought this was beautiful.

Book Review: "Fun for the Whole Family" by Jennifer E. Smith

TFW you loved a book so much that you had to write a review immediately after you finished. Thanks so much to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advance copy of the book!!

The four Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, and twins Roddy and Jude—were an inseparable unit growing up. Their mother, an actress dreaming of her big break, left their family but would return for a few weeks every summer to take the four of them on a road trip. The destinations were never exciting but the trips were always memorable—until the events of one trip changed everything.

Now, as adults, it’s been three years since the siblings have seen one another and have barely communicated. But they get a text message out of the blue from Jude—now an Oscar-nominated actress—asking them to meet her in a small town in North Dakota in a few days.

Jude has called her siblings together because she has three secrets to share with them. Each has the potential to upend everything.

At the same time, each sibling is at a crossroads. Gemma, the oldest, who served as a surrogate mother for the others, wonders if she is pregnant—and if she wants to be. Connor, whose last book fictionalized their childhoods and angered his siblings, is divorced and has writer’s block. Roddy, a professional soccer player ready to retire, has the chance for one more season, but hasn’t discussed it with his future husband.

I love family drama, and this book was just so emotionally rich and compelling. The narration shifts between past and present and among the siblings, and the whole story was just so beautiful.

The book will publish 4/15/2025.

Book Review: "The Wedding People" by Alison Espach

It’s so hard at times to remember that you can’t tell what a person is struggling with just by looking at them. That’s certainly the case in Alison Espach’s newest book.

Phoebe arrives to check into the exclusive Cornwall Hotel in Newport, Rhode Island. She’s dressed to the nines but has no luggage with her. She’s surprised by the crowd at check-in but quickly discovers there’s a wedding at the hotel, so nearly every guest is attending the festivities. In fact, she’s even mistaken for a wedding guest given how she’s dressed.

The truth is, Phoebe is the furthest away from a celebratory mood. She’s actually hit rock bottom, as everything in her life has gone wrong. Her plan is to have a sumptuous meal, smoke a cigarette, and then end her life.

The last thing she expects is to run into the bride, Lila. Lila has painstakingly planned six days of pre-wedding and wedding festivities, and she’s taken everything into account. Everything, that is, except a hotel guest planning to commit suicide. Imagine what that will do to all of Lila’s plans! She does everything she can to keep Phoebe from taking her own life, even involving her in different events.

Despite the fact that these two women are strangers, both find it easy to confide in each other. Phoebe, much to her surprise, becomes enamored of Lila and the self-assurance she has, and before she realizes it, she’s being helped by people she doesn’t know, and helping them in return.

This is a beautifully told story, of those who come to the aid of people who need it most, and they might not even know it. While there are sad parts of the book, others are quite humorous, as some of the characters are just hysterically funny.

Book Review: "Josh and Gemma Make a Baby" by Sarah Ready

In Sarah Ready's new book, Josh and Gemma Make a Baby, Gemma doesn’t need much…just Josh's sperm.

Gemma is mostly happy with her life. She loves working for handsome self-help guru Ian Fortune and loves living in NYC. But one thing is missing: she wants a baby. And although she’s been told that she’ll never get pregnant, she’s determined to prove everyone wrong.

When she finds a doctor who tells her IVF is possible, she decides the best person to father the child is Josh, her brother’s best friend. He’s always been around her family, he’s handsome, laid back, and currently unattached, so he seems the perfect candidate. She’s shocked when he agrees, but they vow to keep their relationship strictly transactional—he can decide if he wants to be part of the baby’s life, and they’ll keep emotions out of it. (Because no emotions come from pregnancy or childbirth, right?)

Of course, the deeper they get into their IVF journey, the more intertwined their lives become. But Gemma has romantic interests in someone else and Josh isn’t interested in her, right? Does she even know what Josh’s life is like outside of this?

This was sweet, emotional, a bit slapsticky, and good-natured, for the most part. I didn’t love Gemma as a character, TBH, but I loved Josh and some of the supporting characters. There were some scenes that had me laughing out loud—and I’ll never look at a park bench the same way.

I also had trouble with the fat shaming Gemma endured, especially by her mother, and while I know this happens in real life, it set my teeth on edge a bit. I’d also imagine the fertility/IVF process may be triggering for those who’ve dealt with these issues.

Thanks so much to my friend Susan, who sent me a copy of this after she enjoyed it so much. I’m so glad I got to read it!

Book Review: "Immediate Family" by Ashley Nelson Levy

Ashley Nelson Levy's Immediate Family is a thought-provoking story of family, memory, and the bond between siblings.

The younger brother of an unnamed narrator asks her to give a toast at his wedding. Close while they were growing up despite the six-year difference in age, a rift has come between them in recent years.⁣

As the narrator tries to figure out what she wants to say in her speech she tells the story of their family. Her brother was adopted from Thailand when she was nine and he was three. She talks about traveling their with her parents to Thailand to get him, the stresses and worries they dealt with, and the struggles Danny faced growing up Asian in a white family.

Immediate Family is, in essence, a long letter from the narrator to her brother, chronicling their relationship as they grew older and the frictions their family experienced. But more than that, the letter details secrets she has kept, about the struggles she and her husband have experienced with fertility and the strains that is causing on their marriage.

This is an interesting and emotional story, but because it’s told in the second person, it often feels like you’re viewing it from a distance. There are some interesting narrative choices that the author makes—at times the narrator refers to her husband as “my husband” but at times, when she’s addressing her brother, she says “your brother-in-law.”

The author’s prose is spare and poetic, peppered with literary references and snippets from Danny’s adoption case file. All in all, it’s a unique read that shows how similar and how different each family’s struggles can be.

Book Review: "When We Blinked" by Stephanie Mack

After you’ve both been through so much, is a second (or maybe a third) chance at happy ever after possible? This is a question at the heart of Stephanie Mack's debut novel, When We Blinked.

Seraphina Jones thought she had it all, including marriage to her childhood sweetheart, a beautiful daughter after many fertility issues, and a great career. But after four years as a stay-at-home mom, she returns to her job with her marriage over and her daughter facing challenges due to her high sensitivity.

Encouraged by her friend and colleague to start dating again, she agrees to try a new dating app called Blinde, where no photos are exchanged so people build connections without physical attraction being the primary driver.

As she starts speaking to men on the app, things are going well at work—so well, in fact, that Graham, the handsome heir to the hotel company she works for, is interested in her. (Romantically, too.) Before she knows it she’s juggling a man named Jack on the app, flirting with Graham, and considering whether to try again with Connor, her not-quite-ex.

The thing is, Connor is actually pretending to be Jack in an effort for Sera to see another side of him she might have forgotten existed. Could this be the jumpstart they need to try again, or is Sera more interested in a fresh start?

Alternating narration between Connor and Sera, we see their relationship from its dreamy start through all of the challenges and heartbreaks they faced. And we see how both have changed—but is that enough?

I thought When We Blinked was a compelling and romantic story, with some drama. Faith also plays a role with these characters but it isn’t obtrusive, for those who don't prefer religious undertones. These characters and their story are very believable; you could imagine at least some of this happening to people you know.

I enjoyed being part of the tour for this book. Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours and Stephanie Mack for providing a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!

Book Review: "Everything After" by Jill Santopolo

Everything After, the third book by Jill Santopolo, is a beautiful, emotional story about the choices we make and the dreams we choose or choose not to follow, and how those choices shape our lives.

“Choices are made all the time. One choice doesn’t have to define a life.”

Emily is a psychologist at NYU, helping students navigate the things that are troubling them. Although the job weighs on her from time to time, she once was rescued by a psychologist and feels this is her way of paying it forward.

Emily and her husband, Ezra, a pediatric oncologist, have a good, loving marriage. Each draws strength from the other. They’ve finally decided they’re ready to start a family, and neither can wait to be parents.

When tragedy strikes, it reminds Emily of an earlier time in her life, when she was a musician, in love and performing with Rob. But when faced with tragedy and pain, Emily makes the difficult choice to put that side of her life away, and ultimately, that choice leads her down the path her life has taken, to being a psychologist and marrying Ezra.

When Emily hears a familiar voice on the radio, singing about the one that got away, her life is once again upended, and the secrets she’s kept for so long suddenly are revealed. Did she make the right choices years ago? Is she on the right path now? Will she have to abandon some dreams to pursue others?

What I love so much about Santopolo's writing is how she captures emotions of all kinds—love, grief, excitement, pain—and the trajectory of relationships. That talent is on full display here, and I was really moved by Everything After, even when I didn’t necessarily agree with a character’s behavior. (I also loved her first book, The Light We Lost, and enjoyed her second, More Than Words.)

This may be a difficult story for those dealing with or who have dealt with fertility issues, but it’s really a powerful and emotional read.

Book Review: "All Your Perfects" by Colleen Hoover

"If you only shine light on your flaws, all your perfects will dim."

Then: Graham and Quinn meet on one of the darkest days of their lives. Quinn returns home early from a trip and heads to her fiancé's apartment to surprise him. She finds Graham pacing outside the door, because his girlfriend is in the apartment, sleeping with her fiancé. Quinn cannot believe that her life has essentially fallen apart, but why can't she take her eyes off Graham?

Now: Graham and Quinn's marriage is falling apart, a little more each day. It seems like the things they've said—and even worse, the things they haven't said—have taken too much of a toll. How could they have gotten to this point given the intensity of their love for one another, their vows to do things differently than the relationships which have come before theirs? Is there anything that can be done to save their marriage?

"It's strange how I can miss a person who is still here. It's strange that I can miss making love to a person I still have sex with."

In All Your Perfects, Colleen Hoover traces the arc of a relationship, from the first spark until the moment where the participants have to decide whether to keep on fighting or to throw in the towel. Using chapters which alternate between past and present, she illustrates the minor faults and major cracks that threaten a relationship—the hurts, the mistakes, the lies by omission, and the overflow of emotions that sometimes get in the way of rational thought.

I found this book moving and powerful, yet frustrating at times. It deals with the issue of infertility and the emotional anguish it inflicts, so that may be a trigger for some who have dealt with similar issues. The characters are complex and flawed, and not always as sympathetic as they should be given what is transpiring. But Hoover's storytelling ability once again shines through, making this emotional story tremendously compelling even as your heart aches for these characters.

I can't believe I read my first CoHo book just last fall, and this is now my fifth. I love the way she pulls you into her characters' lives and immerses you in their emotions. While All Your Perfects wasn't quite perfect for me, I still devoured the book in just a few hours (thanks, bronchitis-related insomnia) and felt emotional when I was done.

Haven't read CoHo but love this genre? What are you waiting for?