What Happened To The McCrays by Tracey Lange

 

My thoughts

This author is one of my very favorites. I've read both of her previous books and they were fantastic. This one is even better. The tear factor is 100%. It gives you a chuckle or three an you will fall in love with the main male character Kyle.

The main characters in this book are: Kyle, Wyatt, Casey, Danny and of course Star. Star is the German Shepherd you will love.

After a devastating loss Kyle leaves Potsdam, NY. He leaves without saying goodbye and the people who love him are upset with him. He could have said goodbye after all.

When Kyle finally checks his texts and sees he has quite a few he knows something is up. He has to go home because his dad has had a stroke and he needs to take care of him. Danny was a fireman. He was also a single parent to Kyle. Kyle had married the love of his life Casey. Casey's brother Wyatt has always lived with her. Since their mother died at a young age. Wyatt was in a terrible accident as a very young child and is in a wheelchair. He also has a thriving woodworking business in a shed behind their home. Star is the beloved family pet.

You learn about how Kyle and Casey came to become a couple. The love they shared and what happened to make them split. How they are both so messed up apart. Casey is a teacher and is filling in somewhat as a coach for the middle school hockey team. Kids that you will adore. When Kyle comes back he takes over being the coach and the kids thrive. They start playing so well and even place in the finals. What they do then will bring you to your knees. What they do for Kyle and Casey. It is a very emotional scene.

The love between these two main characters is one you can feel. While at the same time feeling the deep pain they each bear. This is a beautifully written love story and tragedy. It's a tearjerker but as with all of this author's books so far, it has a happy ending.

I adored this book. It gave me a few feels but the story is so overwhelming told that you will have the ugly cries. Have lots of kleenex handy. When you find out exactly what did Happen to the McCrays you get a big understanding of what pure pain and grief is. The author made this book real.

I also listened to the audio and it was done perfectly. The two narrators portrayed the characters exactly right. They made the emotions all the more realistic. From start to finish this book is great.

Thank you #NetGalley, #CeladonBooks, #MacmillanAudio, for this ARC. This is my thoughts about this book.

Five big stars and worth even more.

About

From New York Times bestselling author Tracey Lange, a poignant story about the resilience of family, the importance of community, and the magic of middle school hockey

When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.

The longer he’s home, the more Kyle understands the impact his departure has had on the people he left behind. When he’s presented with an opportunity for redemption as the coach of the floundering middle school hockey team, he begins to find compassion in unexpected places. Kyle even considers staying in Potsdam, but that’s only possible if he and Casey can come to some kind of peace with each other.

Full of love and hope, What Happened to the McCrays? takes an intimate look at both sides of a failed marriage and two people who must finally confront the awful pain of their past or risk being consumed by it.

When The Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

 

My thoughts

The story was good. Not great though. I believe it could have been much shorter without so many descriptions. I felt there were just too many. The main female, Raeve, was tough in ways but seemed to act kind of brash and smart mouthed. Even a bit childish. She could have been written a bit better. My opinion only. 

I adored the male narrator and thought the male character was great though at times he should have been stronger with his actions. 

The sex scene, only a couple, were a bit overdone. I don't mind sex scenes if done right but to me this seemed to be thrown in and used as filler. 

Overall this was good book. I’m glad there is a sequel coming to give it the much needed closure and more info on things. I enjoyed but did love this book. I listened to an audio while reading. I loved the narrators. They brought this book alive.

About

The Creators did not expect their beloved dragons to sail skyward upon their end. To curl into balls just beyond gravity’s grip, littering the sky with tombstones. With moons.

They certainly did not expect them to fall.

As a valued Elding Blade of the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to kill. To complete orders and never get caught. When a renowned bounty hunter is employed by The Crown to capture a member of the Ath, Raeve’s world is turned upside down. Blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself at the mercy of the Guild of Nobles—a group of dual-beaded elementals who intend to turn her into a political statement. Only death will set her free.

Crushed beneath a mourning weight, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to assuage the never-ebbing ache in his chest, his hunt for a moonshard lures him into the belly of Gore’s notorious prison where he stumbles upon something that rips apart his perception of reality. A shackled miracle with eyes full of rage and blood on her hands.

The echo of the past sings louder than the Creators themselves, and even Raeve can’t ignore the truths blaring at her from a warmer, happier time.
However.
There’s more to this song than meets the eye, and some truths …
They’re too poisonous to swallow.

When the Moon Hatched is a fast-paced fantasy romance for fans of witty banter and strong, sassy protagonists. Beneath the cover is an immersive, vibrant world with mysterious creatures, a unique magic system, and a love that blazes through the ages.

You Can't Hurt Me by Emma Cook

 

You Can't Hurt Me 

Emma Cook

ISBN: 9781335430489

Publication Date: November 5, 2024

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

My thoughts

A new to me author. This book was intriguing. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it but I have to admit it was good. A bit out there and unbelievable but still good. 

There are four main characters in this book: Anna who is the ghost writer, her brother Tony who is, well, her brother, Nate the author who lost his wife and Eva who is deceased and the subject of this book. Eva has a rare disorder. She feels no pain. Nate is a neurologist and very interested in Eva's condition. They fall in love and marry. Eva becomes a therapist. Then something goes awry. Nate comes home and finds Eva in her studio dead. Was it an overdose? Accident? Murder? Or possibly suicide? 

Anna is hired to ghost write a book for Nate. His story. The story of his life. It's a hard job but Anna does a brilliant job of getting to the bottom of things. Of how and why things happened. She has many questions and there are several obstacles in her way but she manages. Anna and Nate have a bit of chemistry but she also fears him. He has a bit of a temper. Anna finds Eva's journal and learns a lot. But does it give her the answers she is looking for or more confusion? How does Anna's brother Tony fit into this? What big secrets do Anna and Tony have? What will happen when or if it is revealed?

This book is a quick read and kept me turning the pages. I really wanted to know what happened. Who may or may not have murdered Eva. Or if she overdosed. I wanted conclusions. I was left just a bit scratching my head until I read the Epilogue. That summed it up pretty well.

This book lost one star because I found it utterly unbelievable. It was still good though so I won't say don't read it. I have to say grab it. Read it. See what it's all about. It's good. I enjoyed it and it did give me some of the feels I expect from a good story.

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

Four stars.  

About: 

Meet Eva, who can’t feel pain, and Anna, who can’t escape it. Everyone has heard about the case of Eva Reid. Ever since she was born, she’s felt no she can get a paper cut, break a limb and even give birth without feeling a single thing. Her life has long captivated the fascination of reporters and researchers—including Dr. Nate Reid, Eva’s husband and acclaimed scientist renowned for his work in the Pain Laboratory. Also among them is Anna Tate, a ruthless journalist with a dark past of her own. When Eva is suddenly found dead inside her home, it raises a flurry of questions around the last night of her life—and who might’ve been involved. Anna finds herself growing increasingly obsessed with Eva’s her protected, painless existence, her promising career as a psychotherapist and especially her toxic relationship to the alluring Dr. Reid, whom Eva met and married as his former patient. But what other secrets could they be hiding? When Dr. Reid embarks on the process of writing a book about Eva, an opportunity arises for Anna to work on it alongside him. As she slowly inserts herself into their home to uncover what’s fact and what’s fiction, shocking discoveries await her—and not everyone may come out unscathed…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emma Cook has been an editor at the Guardian for 16 years, commissioning on Guardian Weekend, editing her own section Do Something and now assistant editor and travel editor on the Observer magazine. She has written for a range of titles including the Guardian, the Independent, the Times, the Daily Telegraph, ES Magazine, Elle and Psychologies. She is an alumna of the Faber Academy's six-month Writing A Novel course, and You Can't Hurt Me is her debut novel.

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Excerpt:

1

7 December 2022, 7:30 p.m. 

I am a ghost in the room tonight. A shadow no one will notice, exactly as it should be. Guests arrive, flowing toward the heat and hum of the glass atrium at the back of the bookshop. Turning my back to them, I retreat farther into the deserted aisles of Anthropology, reach for a slim volume, inhale the flutter of air as my thumb zips through the pages. I wait for that aroma, dry and sweet, biscuits and sawdust to work its usual magic, a sensory hit that never fails to reassure me. Until now. Books used to be an escape. A window to another world that for a short time might alter me in some unfathomable way. But I’ve been too close to them, seen how they can taint and twist the truth. 

I slip into the atrium packed with a hundred or so more guests. It is easy enough to lose myself here, hovering at the back behind a pillar. I’ve been paid to melt away into the ether, but I doubt they’ll be looking out for me. 

So why risk coming along at all, what will it solve? His book is displayed on a table next to me in a tower of carefully spiraled spines, a DNA strand to show every angle. On top a hardback copy is perched upright, his name embossed across the front in glossy black. I imagine teasing out the bottom copy, watching them topple to the floor. The cover is luxuriant, creamy, a lily in one corner. It could be a bereavement card. 

In a way, it is. Loss in fifty shades of vanilla. In those pages resides a version of his wife, Eva, much-loved, much-missed, much-constructed, packaged up for public consumption. The other ghost in the room tonight. 

It is his back I see first as he walks through the crowd. Briefly he turns around and from my vantage point I watch him, this stranger who only three months ago I thought I knew so well. He pauses to chat to someone, draws his fingers through the back of his hair, letting his hand rest at the nape of his neck, something I know he does when he’s tired or anxious. He looks a little older this evening, a little grayer, a scattering of salt at his temples, a silvery haze of stubble at his jawbone. I see now, or is it wishful thinking, how the past few months have punished him too. He is leaner perhaps, his face more angular. His brow bones protrude a little, lending him an almost hawkish glare. 

From my vantage point, I spy an attentive young woman as she approaches him, offering up an open copy of the memoir, the shadow of a smile as they connect. Even from here I can see she is transfixed, caught up in whatever he is telling her, that way he has diverted the conversation and channeling it elsewhere. 

He pauses, bites his lip, and I see something new in his expression, a tentativeness perhaps as he excuses himself from the guest, disappears into his public persona. Slowly he climbs the spiral staircase to a gallery that circles the room and by the time he’s at the top, he has become Dr. Nate Reid, any shade of hesitation vanished. 

Priya, his editor, is already there, smiling down at the crowd. Everything about her is sharp and precise, the cut of her pale silk dress cinched at the waist, the razored line of her dark glossy bob tucked neatly behind each ear. She taps her ring against a champagne flute and the clamor subsides. 

“Hello, everyone. Thanks so much for coming tonight. I’d like to start by saying what a privilege and an honour it has been working on this book.” She turns and raises her glass to him, her hand touching his arm. 

“Nate’s instinct for storytelling is rare and inspiring. Many of us are used to hearing about Dr. Reid as a distinguished neuroscientist and TV personality, so it has been even more impressive to discover his gift for personal writing, his unflinching honesty and extraordinary ability to let the reader in.” 

As she hands it over to him, there’s a peal of applause. Unflinching honesty? Here’s to fantasy fiction. 

He clears his throat and steps toward the balcony edge. “I’d like to return Priya’s compliment and say how deeply satisfying it has been collaborating with her.” He touches her hand. “One silver lining in my journey is that it has brought me here tonight. To be here with so many friends who have given me their unstinting support. In a strange sort of way, it’s like Eva’s last gift to me. I feel very loved.” 

He falters, falls silent for a moment. 

Priya passes him a glass of water and there is a tingling anticipation as the silence stretches. 

“When I started this book, I was overwhelmed. My first thought was, why would anyone do this? Then I realized here is a golden opportunity. My chance to help others in a similar situation. There are more of us around than you’d think.” He looks down at us, as if seeking out other grief-stricken souls in the crowd. “No one can really bear the truth that every minute of our life hangs by a thread. However much we think we can script our own existence and try to ensure nothing bad can ever happen to us, it does and it will.”

His index finger silently strikes the iron balcony rail, in sync with the rhythm of his words. “To each and every one of us. Tonight, tomorrow, at some point. Of course, that’s why memoirs about grief are so popular. They’re a window to a world that one day we’ll all inhabit, if we haven’t already. It’s only a matter of time.” He grips a copy of the book, raising it up. 

“Eva was an extraordinary person, someone who radiated optimism, a hunger for life. As many of you are aware, she was best known as a sculptor, her work was widely regarded. She also made headlines around the world when I first diagnosed her with a rare medical condition, congenital analgesia, the inability to experience pain. But pain is nature’s alarm system helping to protect us, or as C.S. Lewis once put it, ‘God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.’ The value of pain is only evident when you see its absence. Which was why Eva was the most fearless person I ever knew, but the most vulnerable too.” 

Guests lean in, heads tilt and crane. One woman tucks loose hair behind her ear in the hope of catching more. That voice. Gentle, well-spoken. Articulate and low. Gravel and smoke. He’s lectured around the world, been interviewed by the New York Times and doorstepped by the Sun. As his reputation grows, his words became quieter, loaded with a particular power. 

A waitress passes with a tray of champagne and reluctantly I shake my head. It’s been five months since I touched a drink. Five months since that night at Algos House. Now I can’t help wondering if everything would have turned out quite as it did if I’d kept a clear head the whole time. I sip on a flute of orange juice, watch as he effortlessly ramps up his performance. 

“I wanted to examine how you carry on after something like this, how to accept the horror of it. To come back home one evening and discover, in an instant, that my wife had died. How do you begin to make sense of it?” 

How indeed. 

“Death is the great leveler, even for those who appear to be invincible.” He pauses, eyes shining. “Because it shows us who we really are, and reveals how much we truly love the person we have lost. Here’s to Eva. Tonight is for you.” 

He raises his glass as a tide of rapturous applause swells. It takes a moment or two, as the clapping subsides, to identify another noise in the crowd. A shriek. Like a contagion it spreads through the room, palpable and urgent. 

“Murderer! We know what you did!” 

I swallow hard. There are ripples of movement close to the door, security staff swarm, a scuffle ensues. “Justice for my sister!” she shouts, saying something else inaudible before she is bundled outside and removed from the event, leaving the crowd murmuring in her wake. I know I should leave but I’m frozen to the spot. 

Back up at the gallery, Priya steps steadily in front of him. “Well, I guess grief affects us all in different ways,” she says. “And hopefully Nate’s book will offer comfort and understanding to anyone who’s suffered great loss. As a publisher, I couldn’t ask for more. Nate’s on his way down now to sign copies so do buy one and see what all the fuss is about.” 

He appears, unphased, unflustered, his enigmatic reserve intact. There is nothing like the fury of a scorned woman to add intrigue, allure even. Priya knows this, so does he. Scandal swirls around him, somehow raising his stock rather than dimming it. I watch as he works the room. 

“Well, that was all highly entertaining, wasn’t it?” says a woman next to me, her breath ripe with wine and crisps. “Who was she?” 

“I’m not sure,” I lie. “Eva’s sister, I guess?” 

“Ah, the disgruntled sibling desperate for the true story to be told. Delicious.” She regards me for a moment and there’s a flicker of recognition in her eyes. 

She seems familiar, but I can’t quite place her. “Maybe a bit misery memoir for my liking,” she says, her tone conspiratorial. “But a great idea. Whoever got him to do it was completely on the money. Even more so if the sister doesn’t like it. I’m Jane. Jane Burton by the way. Mail On Sunday. And you?” 

I should have known; the over-highlighted hair and green quilt jacket are a giveaway. She swooshes the bubbles around her mouth and studies me as if I’m a puzzle to be solved. There’s that familiar glint in her eyes that I have grown to recognize down the years, a precise and very familiar brand of curiosity, watching from the sidelines, prying, insinuating, picking away. It’s part of the job, until it becomes part of you. 

“So you’re covering the book,” I ask. 

“Yes, we ran first serial last Sunday. Triumph over tragedy, the usual.” She shrugs lightly. “Still, if you cry, you buy, they say.” She smiles briefly, moves in a little closer so I can see a smear of fuchsia lipstick on her front tooth. I’m repelled by something in her that feels too close to home. I shudder slightly, step away from her, but she inches closer, as if we’re both coconspirators. 

“Good-looking, isn’t he? In that rather obvious way.” She crooks her head to one side, her eyes slide over him. 

“I guess, I hadn’t really noticed.” 

“What a horrible thing to happen. I don’t think you ever get over something like that, do you?” 

“I hear he’s doing pretty well.” 

“I wonder if he wrote it all himself?” Her steady look unnerves me. “A lot of them get help these days, don’t they?” 

“I wouldn’t know. If they choose to have a ghostwriter, it’s usually kept a secret.” A flush prickles my neck and spreads upward. 

I make my excuses and head for the exit, via Memoir & Autobiography for old time’s sake. The siren-call of those glittering lives on display spilling all—fame, grief, misery and addiction. “Read all about me, me, me,” they seem to echo, screaming for attention. I walk to the end of the aisle and stop in my tracks. There he is with Priya, standing just yards away. 

Something in me deflates, and I know that it’s all over. He talks quietly, rapidly, and Priya nods in affirmation, her head dipped. 

They carry on, deep in conversation. As I walk briskly past them toward the door, he looks up and our eyes lock. Priya reaches for his arm, but he pushes her away, starts toward me as I turn to the exit. 

“Wait,” he shouts after me. But I don’t turn back. I have spent too long under his skin and now it’s time to burrow out. I won’t be another acolyte like Priya. I don’t deserve Eva’s fate. 

I take off my heels, stuff them into my bag and start to run. Away from him. Still, I hear his voice, urgent and cracked, calling my name. I turn a corner and break into a sprint, my bare soles slap the cold wet pavement. Keep going, I tell myself, my breath ragged, my lungs burning. Only two questions keep circling. 

What did you do to Eva? 

What could you do to me?

Excerpted from YOU CAN’T HURT ME by Emma Cook, Copyright © 2024 by Emma Cook. Published by Hanover Square Press, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Desperate Deadly Widows by Vanessa Lillie, Kimberly Belle, Cate Holahan, and Layne Fargo

 

My thoughts

This was the perfect book for me now. It was so good and kept me turning pages. I laughed. I cried. I cringed. I had all the feels. Mostly I enjoyed all the laughter. It felt so good to laugh...

The follow up to Rich Young Widows, this was just as good. It starts out with excitement. The mayor is murdered and of course one of the strippers is accused of his murder. While she does look extremely guilty did she do it? Or could it have been her boss/friend. Maybe his wife. Or ex-wife. Maybe even his son. The list is endless. What did Mayor Tom do or not do to get himself murdered? 

This book is so good. It keeps you guessing and turning the pages. The four widows, Krystle, Camille, Justine, and Meredith, became fast friends after their husbands were killed in a plane crash that proved to be murder in Rich Young Widows. You got a good look into each of their lives. How they stood together through so much. Friendships are the best. Sometimes it's stronger than family. Or is a family. What these women go through in this book tests the bonds many times. But in the end they stand strong. No matter what.

I enjoyed this book so much. It was spot on terrific. A joy and pleasure to read. It was a fun read with a few twists thrown in for good measure. To keep you on your toes.

Thank you #NetGalley and #SourceBooksLandmark, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts. 

Five big stars.

About

The widows are back! Big hair and bigger lies collide in the highly anticipated follow-up to Young Rich Widows, where nothing's more dangerous than a widow with nothing left to lose.

Set in neon-drenched Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1987, just two years after a plane carrying four mafia-affiliated law-firm partners exploded over the Atlantic along with the cushy lives of their once wealthy wives. Now, Krystle fights to keep their fallen law firm afloat. Justine hustles as a lawyer-in-training. Meredith owns and operates the strip club where she once danced. And Camille orchestrates honey-pot schemes for scorned women–until one of her arrangements goes terribly wrong, and she becomes implicated in the debauched Mayor Tom's mysterious murder in the champagne room. With everything on the line, the widows must join forces once more. But as the conspiracy unravels beyond the mayor's demise, their search for justice pits first wife against second wife and widow against widow. With the widows' fragile bond now tested, will the women cement their friendships, or is loyalty a luxury they just can't afford?

In this thrilling expansion of the Widows universe, brimming with sloshed champagne, smeared lipstick, and lethal secrets, Desperate Deadly Widows unfolds as an edge-of-your-seat thriller where desperation wears stilettos, trust is a poker chip, and redemption comes at the cost of everything you thought you knew.

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri

 

My thoughts

How to begin this review. This was a perfect first novel. A debut to be so proud of. One that will take your breathe away. Make you shed tears and even give you a bit of hope in places. It also made me feel fear. Sadness. Some happiness. And possibly hope. Hope that if enough people read this and other historical WW2 books they will not let it ever happen again.

This book starts out in 2006 with us meeting Katrine. She got a call in the middle of the night that her mother was in the hospital due to a fall. She goes and gets her then takes her home. From there she learns so much about her mother's life. Allina is Katrine's mother. She's 86 years old and a fiesty woman. She's kept some secrets from her daughter. Some very deep secrets.

You meet Allina when she was young and find out what happened in her young life. What was done to the people in the small town where she had always felt so safe. What the Germans did to innocent people. Just because they could. Because they were quick to take. What happened when she was left and a high ranking officers made her feel safe. What he did before he took her to Hochland Home. A place where women were mated. It was a place where children were made and then sold to German families. There was no love given in this place. The children were trained from birth to be docile. To not be fussy. To just exists until they were placed in a home with parents who may or may not love them. Germany wanted lots of babies. Hopefully lots of male babies.

Allina's story is a love story. A sad story in so many ways. But also happy. She found love. She did a lot of good. What her and Karl do is so important. What they go through is both sad and happy. You get to know each of them and how things happened the way it did. It made me weep in so many places. A part of history that should be told and never forgotten. 

This book is well researched. Read the Author's Note at the end. It's a must. This author did such a good job of making this story real. Making those feelings come out. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

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

A must read. 

Five big stars.

About

Family secrets come to light as a young woman fights to save herself, and others, in a Nazi-run baby factory—a real-life Handmaid's Tale—during World War II.

In a sleepy German village, Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic: she works at her uncle’s bookshop, makes strudel with her aunt, and spends weekends with her friends and fiancé. But it's 1939, Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s family hides a terrifying secret—her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling.

One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.

The Sunflower House is a meticulously-researched debut historical novel that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families. Allina must keep her Jewish identity a secret in order to survive, but when she discovers the neglect occurring within the home, she’s determined not only to save herself, but also the children in her care.

A tale of one woman’s determination to resist and survive, The Sunflower House is also a love story. When Allina meets Karl, a high-ranking SS officer with secrets of his own, the two must decide how much they are willing to share with each other—and how much they can stand to risk as they join forces to save as many children as they can. The threads of this poignant and heartrending novel weave a tale of loss and love, friendship and betrayal, and the secrets we bury in order to save ourselves.

We Are The Brennans by Tracey Lange

 

My thoughts

An absolutely stunning debut. I read and enjoyed this authors second book THE CONNELLYS OF COUNTY DOWN and I'm looking forward to her next book, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MCCRAYS coming in January of 2025.

This is a very touching and loving family novel. The Brennans are a family that love one another no matter what. They have arguments and disagreements like most families but they are always there for each other. 

When Denny received a call from a cop saying his sister was in the hospital due to a bad wreck caused by her drinking and driving he got a flight and went to rescue her. He may have hesitated for a few seconds but he went. He loves his sister dearly. He loves his family. Two brothers and a sister, he also has a wife and a little daughter. Denny has a lot on his plate but he is still there for his family.

Sunday awakes in the hospital after a car wreck to find her brother there. She's grateful and very happy to see him. She goes back across the country with him. Home is where she needs to be. To heal both physically and emotionally. Sunday has a big secret that made her leave in the first place. She left the love of her life who has been a part of the Brennan family for many years. 

When all of the secrets are revealed you see this family stick together like no other. They are a strong force. Each has something going on but together they can overcome almost anything. Jackie is another brother to Sunday and he has held her deepest secret for five years. He tried to get her to tell but she was afraid and ran instead. When she finally faces what happened things take a turn. While the love of her life, Kale, is married and has a son their feelings for each other have not dimmed. What will happen to these two? Shane, the youngest brother, has a learning disability and his siblings rally around him always. This family has a lot of love to give. And a few secrets.

This was my BOTM choice add on. I am truly enjoying this author's books and look forward to her next one.

About

In the vein of Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes and Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest, Tracey Lange’s We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame―and the redemptive power of love―in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets.

When twenty-nine-year-old Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, bruised and battered after a drunk driving accident she caused, she swallows her pride and goes home to her family in New York. But it’s not easy. She deserted them all―and her high school sweetheart―five years before with little explanation, and they've got questions.

Sunday is determined to rebuild her life back on the east coast, even if it does mean tiptoeing around resentful brothers and an ex-fiancé. The longer she stays, however, the more she realizes they need her just as much as she needs them. When a dangerous man from her past brings her family’s pub business to the brink of financial ruin, the only way to protect them is to upend all their secrets―secrets that have damaged the family for generations and will threaten everything they know about their lives. In the aftermath, the Brennan family is forced to confront painful mistakes―and ultimately find a way forward, together.

Dancing With Dragons by Jenni Ogden

 

My thoughts

This is my second book read by this author. It's a very touching and emotional story. The story of a young lady who loves the beauty of the sea. She was suppose to be a ballet dancer before the loss of her mother.

The hope she has of saving some of the creatures in the sea. How she survived losing her parents and then her brother leaving. The prejudice she was forced to witness because she chose to befriend you young Aboriginal boy who loved to watch her dance on the beach. 

Gaia and her brother were being trained for the ballet. Their mother had been a ballet dancer and wanted her children to follow in her footsteps. The family lived on a farm where they worked the land. Sold vegetables in the market to make money. They didn't have electricity. Their parents wanted them to live off the land. They lived in a remote area with only a neighbor and his wife. 

One day Gaia and her finds Sea Dragons in the water and is mesmerized by them. She knows they are a rare one to see and is so excited. But that night something horrible happens and her life takes a whole new path. She loses both parents in a fire and is badly burned herself. Her brother received burns but nothing like she did. After this Gaia pretty much isolates herself from people. 

Gaia makes new friends. She deals with a lot of prejudice and violence because of a young boy who she befriends. While dealing with the possibility of losing the peaceful and tranquil life and the beauty of the sea to people who only want to take land and build resorts. They don't care about the wildlife. She does. 

This is a very sweet book. A good read with a good feel to it. Aside from the prejudices that is. It's told in a beautiful way that just draws you in and keeps you turning the pages. To me it was a fast read. One I just couldn't put down. 

The Epilogue was beautiful. Gave me chills and a few happier tears. Also do not skip the Author's Notes. A lot of great info there.

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

Five big stars.

About

GOLD: 2024 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS (IPPYS), BEST FICTION, AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND-AOTEAROA/PACIFIC RIM

SILVER: 2024 READER'S FAVORITE BOOK AWARD FOR LITERARY FICTION

SEMI-FINALIST 2024 THE BOOKLIFE PRIZE

From Jenni Ogden, author of multiple-award-winning 'A Drop in the Ocean', comes another evocative story of friendship, coral reefs, and marine conservation for book-club readers.

It is the late 1970s and teenagers Gaia and her brother Bron live with their parents on their isolated property on Western Australia’s Coral Coast. Intensively trained for a career as a professional ballet dancer by her mother, once a Principal Dancer in the American Ballet Theatre, Gaia also loves snorkeling over the coral reef that borders their small market garden. Then comes a day that changes her life she discovers a rare pair of dramatically colored seadragons, their courtship dance over the coral spellbinding, and that night she loses her entire family and her dancing dream. Two years later she returns to the abandoned property, determined to live off the land. For years her only friends are the wild animals of the bush and reef, and Mary and Eddie, an Aboriginal couple who work for the racist farmer on the neighboring property — until one morning Jarrah, Mary’s 11-year-old orphaned nephew, is entranced when he sees Gaia dancing on the beach. As an unlikely friendship between these two lonely and scarred people deepens, they discover that when you lose everything the only way to survive is to open your heart.

A Very Bad Thing by J. T. Ellison

 

My thoughts

The exact book I needed at this exact time. This book kept me turning the pages and guessing all the way through. I did figure out parts but that ending blew me away. I did not see that one coming. 

A famous author is dead. Was it murder or an overdose? Did someone want her gone and if so, why? Who would do this to such a beloved author. Loved by everyone it seems. Well maybe not everyone...

So many things come out in this story and it's easy to keep them straight. Three young women. What can they possibly have in common. An excon who may or may not have had something to do with Columbia's death. He's served his time so maybe he is innocent. 

This story definitely keeps you guessing. Keeps you hoping things will be ok for some of the characters. Most are very likable. Only one is questionably unlikable. There are a few more murders to read about. A very old case that you learn a lot about. A man who went to prison for that murder. A woman who was involved and did time also. A young mother. 

Yes this book keeps you interested. Keeps you wanting to know more. Keeps you guessing. And you'll be wrong about some of it. You might figure out parts. This is a good thriller. One of the best I've read.

About

From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has—and everyone she knows.

A great writer knows when to deliver a juicy plot twist. But for one author, the biggest twist of all is her own murder.

With a number of hit titles and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood.

Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?

The Lies We Leave Behind by Noelle Salazar

 

My thoughts

Noelle Salazar is fast becoming a favorite of mine. She writes books that hook you from the start and proceed to hold you captive. They pull at your heartstrings. Make you think. Give you hope. 

This is a love story and a WW2 story about two people who are fighting. One fighting for the betterment of the world. The other fighting to keep the soldiers alive. 

William is a soldier. He wants nothing more than to keep people alive. To give them the freedoms to live the way they wish. To practice their faith and live in their homes free from the worry of being sent to camps. Or killed and left in the streets. While there is not talk about this you just know that is why he is the way he is. He's a good man. 

Kate is a nurse. A naval flight nurse. She flies with wounded soldiers. They are taken to the area hospitals and tended. Kate helps them. She is a good nurse. Dedicated to her life. To her part in the war. To helping as many as she can to survive. Kate has a few secrets but she's a good and very decent person. She's been through so much in her life already yet still keeps on giving. 

When William and Kate meet it's magic. Kate fights her feelings but eventually she can't fight it anymore. They fall deeply in love and intend to marry. To move back to the US and start a life together. As soon as this war is over. 

William goes back to war and Kate goes looking for her sister who she thought had died eight years earlier. What happens to Kate now is so sad. So hopeful. Kate realizes that she is pregnant and can't wait to tell William. But life gets in the way. Or war that is. On her quest to find her sister Kate has to go back to the home she lived in as a young girl. Face some demons. She goes through so much. 

This book is told from two time lines. In 2003 by William. In 1944-1945 by Kate. You get to know each character and a few other characters along the way. You get a good look into each of their lives. How things happen the way they did and how it plays out. 

As with most historical novels this one brought some big ugly tears to my eyes. I also had a couple of chuckles. I wanted things to be a certain way. Of course I did. But this author did such a good job. I was not disappointed at all. From start to finish this book held me. It moved me. It was excellent. 

A must read.

Thank you #NetGalley, #HarlequinTradePublishing, #MIRA, for this ARC. 

Five big stars.

About

For readers of Kate Quinn and Beatriz Williams, this sweeping story follows a fearless nurse who must leave love behind when duty calls her back to the front.

Somewhere in the Pacific, 1943. Kate Campbell is a nurse who bravely flies back and forth from the front to rescue wounded soldiers, amid long days, harsh conditions and often dangerous weather. Driven by a deep personal need to help in the war effort, she is disappointed when an accident leaves her injured and sends her home to New York. By the time she's healed, the war has moved on, and rather than being returned to her post in the Pacific, Kate is sent to the English countryside.

There, Kate comes face-to-face with the enemy and confronts the heavy toll of violence while tending to the soldiers in her care. She never intended to fall in love, but despite herself, she falls for an officer with a broken femur, startling blue eyes and a wicked sense of humor. For the first time, Kate sees a future for herself. But before she can pursue it, a secret from her past calls her to duty, and she'll have to travel back into danger one more time to rescue a part of herself she'd left behind. But will she make it back? And if she does, will her future still be waiting for her if she does?