Kingdom Of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

 

My thoughts

What a way to end a series. This book was perfect. It has all the excitement and feels you expect from Sarah J. Maas and from the other books in this series. 

How most of the people in the many kingdoms fought with Aelin was heartwarming. How she fought for her land was emotional. The friends she's made along the way through this series are everlasting. The love she found, no only with Rowan, but with all the characters that you will come to love is amazing. You'll feel Aelin's pain as she is enslaved by the brutal Maeve. The horrors that were inflicted on her. 

This book was exceptional. It brought you to a great ending. A huge war for many freedoms. To the destruction of many kingdoms and the downfall of some evil. To what may be Aelin's last breath. To Rowan's deep despair and sadness. To all of the people of Terrasen coming together. To many goodbyes. So many friendships found and everlasting. To an ending that is so dramatic that you will be holding back tears and awes. 

I enjoyed this series so much and hated for it to end but what an ending.

About

Aelin Galathynius has vowed to save her people ― but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. The knowledge that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, but her resolve is unraveling with each passing day…

With Aelin captured, friends and allies are scattered to different fates. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever. As destinies weave together at last, all must fight if Erilea is to have any hope of salvation.

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an explosive conclusion as Aelin fights to save herself―and the promise of a better world.

Two Good Men by S. E. Redfearn

 My thoughts

This author has done it again. I've read several of her books before and they were so good. Way different than this one but every bit as good. This is an edge of your seat story of what horrible things can be done. What some people do to children. What one man did to try and help. What another did in the name of justice. Or maybe didn't do....

The main character is Dick. Richard Raynes. His sister and nephew are two of the most important people in his life. Along with his two children. When a man named Otis is released from prison after serving for the rape of two young boys Dick's sister Dee is worried. Otis has promised to seek revenge for her testimony that helped send him away. When Otis turns up dead questions are asked. Not by local police but by an FBI agent by the name of Steve Patterson. He believes that he is doing the right thing by investigating Otis's suspicious death. He never expected Dee. And Dee's son Jesse. He didn't expect the feelings he was going to feel.

Dick is a Dr. A doctor of science or chemist. He has worked hard but ultimately made a few mistakes that may hinder his job. He is working on a cure for allergies. He also believes that children should be taken care of. Not used by pedofiles. Dick is a very smart man. Recently divorced, two and a half years. He loves his children and he wants a safe world for them and his nephew. What will he do to ensure that they are safe. What will he do to make life easier for any child he may know is in danger. And what will he do about Steve. Dee is falling for Steve and Dick wants her to be happy. But will she be happy with Steve?

This book is about a horrible thing. About the things that make some human's the worse scum ever. How can anyone want to hurt children. To take away their innocence. To ruin their futures. If you could stop these men would you? I would. No one should he allowed to run free if they desire a child. If they are capable of inflicting pain on an innocent child. If they desire a child they need to be taken care of. That is my opinion and nothing or no one will ever change my mind.

It's a dark read. It's a hard one. But it's written in a way that keeps you turning the pages until the very ending. This author makes you feel like you are there...

Thank you #NetGalley, #BlackstonePublishing, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five stars.

About

From the internationally bestselling author of In an Instant and Hadley & Grace comes Two Good Men, a searing drama about two men on a quest for justice—from opposite sides of the law.

Dick Raynes feared this day would come. Otis Parsons, a violent felon, has been released from prison, and Dick’s sister, Dee, is the one who helped put him there. Dick’s marriage is over, and his career is in shambles, so with nothing to lose, he sets out to do whatever it takes to keep Dee and her son safe. But Otis is just the beginning. Using his knowledge as a scientist to develop a formula able to predict those offenders most likely to strike again, he sets out to protect future victims the law is powerless to defend.

FBI agent Steve Patterson investigates crimes against those who have paid their dues for past mistakes, running a department he created after his son was killed by a vigilante mother who targeted the wrong person. Recognizing a disturbing pattern of untimely deaths in recently released felons, he sets out to discover who’s behind it. What he doesn’t expect is to find another chance at love—with the sister of the man he is chasing.

Dick’s sense of right and wrong is tested as he pursues and neutralizes the most dangerous threats, while Steve makes it his mission to stop this vigilante serial killer before he is labeled a hero. Both men pursue a noble cause, but only one can prevail.

The Undercurrent by Sarah Sawyer

 

My thoughts

This is a debut novel about a girl gone missing. To me this book could have been so good. It had so much promise. But the author overdid some things. The descriptions were overdone.

There could have been more about the girl who actually went missing. More than what I read at the ending.

It seemed to be more about Bee and her leaking breasts than anything. Yes it happens but in this case it was just used to fill space I believe. Also the parts of her and Leo. What was the point. Yes she had a crush when she was a kid but she was grown, married, with a newborn baby. Not even married that long. To think about Leo that way was in my opinion just too much.

Then the part about her twin brother. She hasn't seen or heard from her twin in seventeen years. I hardly believe that. They were twins. Even with his problems they would have at least talked over the years. With what happened to him there should have been more about what it did to him and maybe then I could have believed he would leave and never talk to his sister again. He talked to his best friend and his mother. But not his twin. I'm not sold on that.

Then the loss of a baby. That was a bit much too. Not the loss but that Bee actually named her baby after one that did not survive. One her mother lost. I just didn't like that part. It could just be me but it just didn't seem to fit. Especially since Bee was not that close to her mother.

This story is told from two timelines, 1987 and 2011. It is told from three perspectives, Bee in 2011. Her mother, Mary, in 1987. And Leo's mother, Diane, in 1987. I was not impressed by either mother. Not even Bee. Bee in my opinion was not a good mother or wife. I actually didn't like any of the characters. None made me feel anything other than anger. No tears or laughter. Just the anger.

Thank you #NetGalley, #ZibbyBooks, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

2.5 stars increased to 3.

About

An overwhelmed new mother becomes obsessed with the unsolved disappearance of a young girl from her small Texas hometown—and unearths her own family’s dark secret.


It’s 2011 and Deecie Jeffries’s missing person’s case in Austin, Texas, is still cold. New mom Bee, struggling with postpartum depression, is living in Portland, Maine, having left Austin–and those memories–far behind. Until Leo, her childhood crush and her estranged twin Gus’s best friend, suddenly resurfaces, drawing Bee back into their shared past.


Bee’s predictable life is upended, pushing her to return to her childhood home and piece together a neighborhood’s shattered history. Bee becomes consumed with a need to uncover the truth about Deecie’s disappearance and what happened to the families who lived across the field from one another—Gus, Leo, and their Mary, a homemaker, whose only escape is the local community theater, and Diana, a serious academic dedicated to her studies.


Told in multiple perspectives with two different timelines, The Undercurrent is a gripping portrait of motherhood, obsession, broken family bonds, and buried secrets.

Who Loves You Best by Marilyn Simon Rothstein

 

My thoughts

This book was a gem to read. So different from the books I've been reading. It was a light, happy, read. One that I didn't want to put down. A book that many grandmothers may be able to connect with in ways. It was funny, serious, adorable, family orientated. A truly lovely story.

When Lisa calls her mother Dr Jodi Wexler and asked if she can drop everything to come stay with her granddaughter Macallan, Jodi jumps at the chance. She hasn't seen her daughter or granddaughter in a while and looks forward to spending some time with them. Dr Jodi Wexler is a foot dr. She has a thriving business and moved to Florida for her husband. Now he is newly retired. 

You will get to know three grandmas in this story. Grandma Jo, Grannie Annie and Di. Grannie Annie is a twenty seven year old who lives with Di's first ex. The father of her boys. Di is Lisa's mother in law and a very successful realtor. Her face is on billboards and grocery carts. When these three are together things don't go to smoothly. Di is a domineering woman who can't accept that she is elderly. She refuses to let her granddaughter, Mac call her anything but Di. Grannie Annie is funny but has a lot going on. She's living with a man old enough to be her father. Or grandfather. And he's not the nicest of men. She has no one else besides Lisa, Brian and Mac, who all love her dearly. 

These three women have to learn to get along. To be the kind of women that Mac can lean on or learn from. They are each dealing with things. Things that the others don't know about. When Lisa drops a bombshell on her mother Jo things go a bit awry. But them being who they are they will figure out a way to deal. If the three grandmas can learn to get along. To be friends. To treat each other nice and stop all the petty things. 

I truly enjoyed this book. It was so well written and held my attention all the way through. I loved how things played out. The ending was perfect. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you #NetGalley, #LakeUnionPublishing, for this ARC. 

Five big stars.

About

A woman drops everything to spend more time with her grandchild, only to discover new truths about herself. A humorous, heartfelt, feel-good novel from the author of Crazy to Leave You.

For Jodi Wexler, a Florida doctor with a flourishing practice, only one thing’s the chance to spend more time getting to know her eight-year-old granddaughter, Macallan.

When Jodi’s restauranteur daughter asks her to watch Macallan in the Berkshires while she takes care of some business out of town, Jodi can’t say yes fast enough. Neither Jodi’s podiatric patients nor her just-fired, suddenly retired husband can keep her away. But when Jodi arrives, she discovers she’s not the only grandma at Lisa’s house. Lisa’s mother-in-law, Di—a hard-nosed real estate agent—has moved into the house. What’s more, there’s Grannie Annie, the twenty-seven-year-old girlfriend of Lisa’s oddball father-in-law. They’re not the only surprises. Lisa’s marriage is faltering even as her new restaurant is taking off.

As the competition for Macallan’s attention among the three “grandmas” increases, Lisa drops a bomb about her life that changes everything. Under pressure, and determined to help her daughter, Jodi must choose her next step. Her decision surprises everyone—Jodi, most of all.

Every Moment Since by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

 

My thoughts

A story that will break your heart. A story that will make you weep. But in it's way it also gives you some hope. Hope that lives can be built back. Families can move on. People can find some kind of closure.

Do not read this book if you know anyone who has had a child go missing. Or even have lost a child to violence. It's a sad one. It will bring on the tears.

A man writes a best selling novel. It's about his life. His life after a loss that he blames himself for. Thaddeus was only fifteen years old when his eleven year old brother went missing. His parents had made him take Davy with him to play games in the dark with friends. But TJ, as he was know, made his little brother go away and leave him alone. He wanted to drink beer for the first time. He wanted to be with his friends and enjoy the time he had to be out. Little did he know that would be the night his life changed forever. The night his brother would go missing. The night his mother would, in her way, blame him. He was just a fifteen your old child. 

This book takes you inside a family's loss. A family's destruction. A story that will stay with you for a while. For a good long while. It's so well written that you can feel the air. The anger. The sadness. You can feel the effects that this missing child has on the whole town. The man who was accused's feelings. How he had to live with the things said about him and to him. How one night can change lives.

This book was a very dark one. It was so sad and so filled with loss. When Davy's jacket is found they know that it won't be long before his body is found also. It's been twenty-0ne years. Any hope that he is alive is gone. Who could have done this. Who would have done this. I have to admit that I suspected the who from early one. I didn't know or have any idea how though and it didn't take away from this story in any way. The last parts made me weep big tears. The grief of this family was told in such a realistic way. Then the way they will finally move on. Possibly rebuild theirs lives. Together.

Thank you #NetGalley, #HarperMuse, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five big stars.

About

A small Southern town. An ordinary Saturday night. A little boy disappears without a trace.

Everyone in Wynotte, North Carolina, knows the name Davy Malcor. Knows the video clip of him juggling four balls, "All at the very same time!" Knows the Marty McFly jacket his mother made for his birthday that he wore proudly, and often. But no one knows what happened to him the night he went missing more than twenty years ago.

When the jacket is unexpectedly uncovered, the cold case reopens, and Davy's family is thrust into yet another media storm. But at the heart of the story are four people forever changed by one single Thaddeus Malcor, Davy's older brother, created the life of his dreams by writing a bestselling memoir about his family's experience and is enjoying success and notoriety as a result, even if the memoir doesn't quite reveal the whole story. Tabitha Malcor, his mother, is divorced and living alone, advocating for victims' rights and faithfully cataloging her regrets each week, never including her biggest regret of all. Anissa Weaver was just a kid herself when Davy went missing, and her connection to him is one she cannot reveal as she serves as the Malcor family's Public Information Officer. And, long suspected in Davy's disappearance, Gordon Swift has kept his head down and scraped together a decent life. But the new attention to the case makes it impossible to hide from the public, and the past.

With hauntingly vivid prose, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those who were left behind in the small Southern community as they pick up the pieces that remain and press forward into the light to find hope and healing.

The President's Lawyer by Lawrence Robbins

 

My thoughts

This is a debut thriller and wow it was good. I always worry about an author's first book being just a tad short of what I expect but this one was SO GOOD. I did figure out what was going on fairly early on but it didn't take away from the book at all. I could have been wrong. I wasn't. 

This is one of the best books I've read from a debut author. Actually one of the best books I've read. It had everything you could want. Characters that I despised. Murder. Accusations. Trial. Abuse. Infidelity. (not that I approve of this) Mental illness. A great wrap up. A great lead in. The only character that I liked was maybe Rob's son. And that is a maybe. 

The man accused of murder was the President of the United States of America. He was a jerk. He was not well liked. He did awful things to his friend Rob. Yet when he was accused of murder he called his best friend, Rob. Rob was a pretty good attorney. A lifelong friend. Someone that would do all he could to seek justice. But would Rob take this case. Could he take this case. Seeing how he was friends with Jack and had dated, not only the deceased, but Jack's wife. 

This book takes you into the courtroom. Lays it all out for you. Even parts that should tell you what is coming. If you look close enough. You get to know Rob, Jack, Amanda, and Jess. You also get to know Rob's brother, Evan. Rob's ex and their son, somewhat. You'll have a front row view of a trial and all it entails. It's such an easy read too. It was just that good. I loved how the author tied everything up. It's very obvious that he is a lawyer. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #Atria, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five stars.

About

A high-stakes legal thriller that is perfect for fans of John Grisham and Scott Turow following a Washington, DC, litigator who is hired to defend his best friend, the former President of the United States, against a murder charge.

After a long career as one of DC’s most powerful litigators, Rob Jacobson is faced with the case of a lifetime: the former President of the United States—his childhood best friend—has been accused of murdering his mistress.

Rob knows he’s the only one who can prove his friend’s innocence, but he is soon overwhelmed as he attempts to devise a strategy to defend an authoritative man with a taste for infidelity, serious anger issues, and unconventional sexual appetites. As the high-profile case unfurls, the troubled, intertwining pasts of the two men complicate Rob’s efforts and soon, doubts begin to grow in his head. Could his oldest friend truly be capable of murder or is something even darker at play?

Echoes Of Us by Joy Jordan-Lake

 

My thoughts

What a story. Or in this case a couple of stories told together in different timelines and from several prospectives. About friends. About women. About a war. This author did a fantastic job of weaving together a story that will have you turning the pages until the very end. How she makes the characters come together is perfection. Especially the sisters working on the party. The reunion party. Made me cry so hard. And gave me lots of smiles. 

This story has torpedoes hitting ships off the coast of Georgia. I know I've heard about that, but I had forgotten. It has the women who were allowed to fly planes. WASPs as they were called. How they were not considered military. (read the author's note for lots of info) How unfairly black men were treated who were serving this country and dying. Black women were not allowed to fly either. This book has so much in it. So much to learn and not forget. The POWs that were sent here from other countries. 

I loved most all of the characters in this story. They made it under my skin and right into my heart. The three who became such good friends. Dov, Will, and Hans. Dov was an instructor for the men who drove the fighter planes. Will was a big hearted young man who could fly but was sent to help in another way to help save many lives. Hans was a German POW who didn't like what was happening from the NAZIs. They all loved a young lady who went on to fly for the WASPs, Joannie. Joannie's twin Will also fought for his country. Hadley and Kitzie were the two hired to find out all they could and do the reunion. They found so much info. All of these characters were good and kind. 

This is a very good, emotional, and thought provoking book. One that lets you see another side of the war. From a town in Georgia called, St. Simons Island. I'd love to visit it someday.

Thank you #NetGalley, #LakeUnion, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five huge stars.

About

From the bestselling author of Under a Gilded Moon comes the soaring story of an unlikely friendship of three men and one extraordinary woman and the legacy they built—if their own secrets don’t destroy it.

In the midst of World War II, a Tennessee farm boy, a Jewish Cambridge student, and a German POW forge a connection that endures—against all odds.

But now everything that Will Dobbins, Dov Silverberg, and Hans Hessler fought for is at risk as their descendants clash for control of the corporation they founded together. In an attempt to remake its tattered corporate image, the firm hires event planner Hadley Jacks and her sister Kitzie to organize a reunion for the families on St. Simons Island, Georgia, the place that changed all three men’s lives forever.

As Hadley and her sister delve into the friends’ past, they uncover the life of the courageous young woman who links them all together…and the old wounds that could tear everything apart.

Told in dual timelines spanning World War II and the present, Echoes of Us follows the ripple effects of war, the bonds that outlast it, and the hope that ultimately carries us forward.