Tag: women’s fiction

The Last Chance Matinee (The Hudson Sisters: Book 1) by Mariah Stewart

The Last Chance Matinee: A Book Club Recommendation! (The Hudson Sisters Series 1) by [Stewart, Mariah]

Title: The Last Chance Matinee

Author: Mariah Stewart

Publisher: Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books

Date of publication: March 21st, 2017

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Romance

Number of pages: 432

POV: 3rd person

Series: The Hudson Sisters

Last Chance Matinee – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

From New York Times, bestselling author Mariah Stewart comes the first novel in her all-new series, The Hudson Sisters, following a trio of reluctant sisters as they set out to fulfill their father’s dying wish. In the process, they find not only themselves, but the father they only thought they knew.

When celebrated and respected agent Fritz Hudson passes away, he leaves a trail of Hollywood glory in his wake—and two separate families who never knew the other existed. Allie and Des Hudson are products of Fritz’s first marriage to Honora, a beautiful but troubled starlet whose life ended in a tragic overdose. Meanwhile, Fritz was falling in love on the Delaware Bay with New Age hippie Susa Pratt—they had a daughter together, Cara, and while Fritz loved Susa with everything he had, he never quite managed to tell her or Cara about his West Coast family.

Now Fritz is gone, and the three sisters are brought together under strange circumstances: there’s a large inheritance to be had that could save Allie from her ever-deepening debt following a disastrous divorce, allow Des to open a rescue shelter for abused and wounded animals, and give Cara a fresh start after her husband left her for her best friend—but only if the sisters upend their lives and work together to restore an old, decrepit theater that was Fritz’s obsession growing up in his small hometown in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Guided by Fritz’s closest friend and longtime attorney, Pete Wheeler, the sisters come together—whether they like it or not—to turn their father’s dream into a reality, and might just come away with far more than they bargained for.

My review:

The Last Chance Matinee starts off with a bang. The reader is introduced to Allie, an alcoholic, out of work television producer, Des, a former child star who now takes in foster dogs and helps with rescue organizations and Cara, a free-spirited yoga instructor who is still reeling from her divorce and the death of her father and mother. It is at the reading of a will that a bombshell is dropped, their father had two wives and two families. His East coast and West coast families and all 3 women are sisters. But what shocks them, even more, is the stipulation but on the will. Allie, Des, and Cara have to live in their father’s hometown and restore a theater. If any of the sisters leave before the renovation is complete, then none of them get their inheritance.

I am going to say, I really liked this book and I really liked Fritz. He had such a huge presence in the book and he genuinely had his daughters’ best interests at heart…even if they didn’t think so. I kinda felt bad for him too. He was in a marriage that he felt that he couldn’t get out of and he made mistakes that he was trying to make up for in his last months. I think giving them the theater to restore was his way of getting them together so they could get to know each other.

Allie, I couldn’t stand. She was such a witch with a b and she was so freaking negative. Listen, I totally get that she was upset when she found out about Cara but she was such a jerk to her afterward. I mean, Cara had nothing to do with the choices that her father made. Actually, she was a by-product of those decisions. I so wanted to yell that into the book. She was also very much so hung up on her ex-husband and I couldn’t believe that she started pumping her daughter, Nikki, for information about a woman that she suspected he was dating. Hello, they are divorced and he can date whoever he wants. Let’s also not forget her drinking. That is a huge problem. Oh, and she is very resentful of Des, too. Going back to when she was 12 and Des got her own TV show. The woman needs a therapist, stat.

Des, however, I really liked. I actually connected with her on so many levels, it wasn’t even funny. She was very accepting of Cara and she dealt with Allie beautifully. She also had a passion for rescuing/fostering dogs which I really enjoyed reading about. She understood that her father wasn’t happy with her mother and she understood (well kinda understood) why he did what he did.

Cara, I felt awful for. Her ex-husband left her for a very close friend, they are getting married and then she finds out that her father was a bigamist and she has 2 sisters. But she dealt with it graciously but she didn’t take anything from Allie about her mother being “the other woman”. She was a free spirit too, thanks to her hippie mother raising her that way (it isn’t a bad thing) with a wonderful outlook on life. I mean, she celebrated her ex getting married with a bottle of champagne with Joe….lol.

There was a twist in the book that took me by surprise and it went beautifully with the end of the book. I honestly can’t wait to see what book 2 brings and to see if it lives up to book 1!!!

How many stars will I give The Last Chance Matinee: 4

Why: I enjoyed reading this book. It was fast-moving with characters that I could connect to. It would be a perfect beach/pool book.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language. Otherwise, a pretty clean book.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Crossing in Time (Between Two Evils: Book 1) by D.L. Orton

Crossing in Time (Between Two Evils, #1)

Title: Crossing in Time

Author: D.L. Orton

Publisher: Rocky Mountain Press

Date of publication: May 1st, 2016

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Number of pages: 558

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Between Two Evils

Crossing in Time – Book 1

Lost in Time – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (via Goodreads):

Race against the clock through a dystopian nightmare. Climb naked into an untested time machine (carrying only a seashell and a promise). Wake up twenty years younger on a tropical beach, buck naked and mortally wounded, with your heart in your throat. 

This is a journey of love, loss, and redemption that will make your pulse gallop and your palms sweat, have you laughing out loud through your tears, and leave you flush with the sublime pleasure of falling in love.

My review:

Crossing in Time is a fast-paced dystopian/science fiction book that shows that love can cross time. The book alternates between Diego and Isabelle points of view and tells a love story that transcends time. It also tells the story of Harry, an unsuspecting college professor who is working on deciphering the mystery of a large metal ball that took out a hotel and its connection to an upcoming apocalyptic event. Fast-paced, Crossing in Time will keep you on the edge of your seat and wondering what is coming next while watching Diego and Isabelle’s love story unfold.

Isabelle was one of my favorite people in the book. She was so spunky and didn’t take anyone’s crap. From the beginning of the book, where she was buying the gun from the guy outside the burnt out Wal-Mart to dealing with her ex-husband (who I couldn’t stand) to her relationship with Diego…..she was strong. It was a hit with me because I love strong female characters. Even in situations which could be perceived weak, she was strong. A lot stronger than I could have been.

Diego, I liked too. You could see that he adored Isabelle. Everything he did in the book was for her……even in the later parts of the book. Even when he was separated from her, his thought was with her. Again, a big hit with me because this is a romance that will survive anything.

The romance between Diego and Isabelle took my breath away. The way it was written, the way it came across was beautiful!!!

The science fiction aspect of this book was interesting.  The clues left in the globe really didn’t make sense to me at first. But the more I read and the more that was revealed, they made perfect sense. This is also where Harry’s part of the story came into play. He was working on deciphering the clues when they are deciphered, it is found out to be the plans for a time machine. What I liked about this was that the author didn’t make it work right the first, second or third time. Heck, they weren’t even sure if it was going to work when they sent Isabelle through and didn’t know it worked until they figured out that the shell could be tracked. I loved it!!!

The end of the book was bittersweet. I was happy because of certain events that happened but also sad because of the unknown (if you want to know what I am talking about, read the book). The way the book ended definitely lead into book 2 and I can’t wait to read that one and see where Harry, Diego and Isabelle stories end up.

How many stars will I give Crossing in Time: 4

Why: I really enjoyed reading the book. The characters were memorable and the plot line was great. It did lag a bit in the middle but definitely recovered from it. The science fiction part of the story was original and well written too.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, language, violence

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Entangled( Ages of Invention: Book 1) by S. B. K. Burns

Entangled (Ages of Invention Book 1) by [Burns, S.B.K.]

Title: Entangled

Author: S. B. K. Burns

Publisher: Self-published

Date of publication: December 6th, 2016

Genre: Paranormal, Time Travel, Science Fiction, Romance, Steampunk, Women’s Fiction

POV: 3rd person

Number of pages: 277

Series: Ages of Invention

Entangled – Book 1

Can be read out-of-order from series: Yes, the first book in series

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

She’s Hume’n, a member of the lower class, with one chance to change her life… In an alternate, twenty-first century Boston, Dawn Jamison is a hair’s breadth away from earning her doctorate—a degree that would allow her entrance into the upper class, to become the unemotional and self-disciplined Cartesian she is now only pretending to be. To reach her goal, all Dawn must do is overcome her forbidden attraction to the Olympic-class weightlifter Taylor Stephenson who’s just crashed her lectures on past life regression. She must also teach her group of misfit students how to travel back into their past lives—and, oh, of course, figure out how to save the great scientists of the early eighteenth century before they’re inextricably caught up in a time loop.

He’s Cartesian, a member of the upper class, and supposed to know better… Coerced by his politically powerful, wheelchair-bound brother into spying on Dawn’s past-life regression classes, Taylor knows better than to give in to his desire to claim Dawn as his own. But his past-life entity, eighteenth-century Colin, has no such inhibitions. When Taylor and Dawn meet up in Scotland in the 1700s, all the discipline he’s forced on his twenty-first-century self disintegrates in the past, leaving only his overwhelming lust for Dawn’s past-life double, Lily. Unable to escape their sexually obsessive past, Dawn and Taylor find themselves in a race against the clock at the epicenter of a world-altering time quake of their own making.

My review:

Entangled is a fast-paced science fiction/steampunk romance. Told in 3rd person, the reader gets to follow Dawn Jamison, a bright young woman, in the lower class caste called the Hume’n, who is on the verge of getting her doctorate degree. By getting that degree, Dawn will be allowed into the upper class, a caste called the Cartesian. Her mentor is a brilliant scientist, Richard Stephenson, who is suspicious of her caste and asks his brother, Taylor, to spy on her. Taylor, an Olympic athlete who is questioning if he really is a Cartesian, agrees….only find out that he is immensely attracted to Dawn.

But Taylor is hiding his own secret….from Dawn and his brother. See, Taylor is able to travel back in time through lucid dreaming and he always ends up in the body of Colin, a brilliant young mathematician in the 1700’s. What he doesn’t know is that Dawn is able to go back in time too and she is Lily, a young female alchemist (aka scientist) and that both he/Colin and Dawn/Lily are going to be caught up in a time vortex brought on by their time traveling….as well as other factors.

***********************************

I really enjoyed reading Entangled. It is the type of book that is slow going, and it was for the first two chapters, but once it gets going, it really captures your attention and imagination. I mean, this world is separated into two castes….the Humens and the Cartesians. The Humens are considered a lower caste, the poor, and they make their life decisions on what can be derived through their senses and emotions and not just their rational minds. Because of their beliefs, the Humens are not allowed to get advanced degrees in anything. Meanwhile, the Cartesians believe that rational thinking and stoic detachment is the only way to get ahead in life and for the most part, they are successful. They are the upper class, the higher caste.

Dawn was one of my favorite characters. She was dedicated to keeping her Cartesian disguise so she could get an advanced degree, something that Humens are not allowed to do. She is a devoted sister to her twin brother, Max and a devoted friend to Naomi, a brilliant young hacker. She also is an expert on past lives and has been chosen to teach a class about them to a bunch of students who are on the verge of failing out but what Naomi is convinced is a think tank of some sort.

Taylor, I was kinda “eh” on at first. I don’t know why I was “eh” on him but I was. It wasn’t until the scenes with his brother that I started liking him and then when he got involved with Dawn, that I really started liking him. I also like that he questioned if the caste he was born into was really for him. I mean, he was an Olympic athlete but he was questioning why he didn’t like looking at himself flexing in the mirror.

The time travel scenes were very interesting in the fact that they took over the body of the person they were supposed to be. Like Dawn was Lily, an alchemist (aka scientist) who really liked the guys and was a witch and Taylor was Colin, who was a brilliant mathematician and who had the hots for Lily. But as soon as they started interacting with other people, the timeline got screwed up…badly. To the point where certain events in history never happened and were replaced with other events….if that makes sense.

The sex scenes between Dawn and Taylor were very steamy. Of course, the first sex scene between them was a little awkward and that was only because they were in Lily and Colin’s body. The second time was the same thing except they were at Taylor’s house and they ended up breaking the sexual curse by having sex and achieving orgasm. Every time after that, though, was very hot and very steamy.

What I really liked, though, was that girl power prevailed throughout the entire book. When one of the secondary storylines went haywire (the Q computer and that’s all I am saying about it), it was Naomi and Rasana, a preteen form Dawn’s class that she was teaching, that made it right. I also like the different spin on the witch burnings and how they were “saved”. (read the book).

The storylines were all merged and ended by the end of the book. They were all pretty much ended on a good note. What I did like was that the author left the book open for book 2.

How many stars will I give Entangled: 4

Why: What I liked the most about this book was the time travel and the steampunk elements in it. The romance was pretty good too.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Explicit sex and some mild violence

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Always by Sarah Jio

Always: A Novel by [Jio, Sarah]

Title: Always

Author: Sarah Jio

Publisher: Random House Publishing – Ballantine

Date of publication: February 7th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Chick Lit

POV: 1st person

Number of pages: 289

Series: No

Where this book can be found: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

From the New York Times, bestselling author of Blackberry Winter and The Violets of March comes a gripping, poignant novel about the kind of love that never let’s go, and the heart’s capacity to remember.

While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, at one of Seattle’s chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can’t believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister.

When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense everything connected and felt “right.” But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what and whom she wants.

Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she’s willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.

My review:

A bit of a warning, this book is a tear-jerker from the beginning. I was a bit surprised at how early the tears started in the book for me. I went into reading Always knowing that it was chick lit and chick lit always turns me into a mushy mess. I just wasn’t expecting it by Chapter 2.

While I sympathized with Kailey, I was kinda annoyed with her. She should have told Ryan what was going on with Cade from the beginning, instead of keeping secrets. I mean, her boss (who was super supportive and unlike any boss I have known) and her best friend were voices of reason. “Tell Ryan. He’ll understand.” She doesn’t and then gets upset when Ryan finds out and he gets upset. What was he supposed to be? Happy that she is devoting all her time to helping the one man who disappeared on her 8 years earlier. The fact that he was at least understanding showed what a great guy he was.

Even before she realized it, I could tell that Kailey was still in love with Cade. I mean, she went and hunted him down after she saw him outside the restaurant. She became his advocate when the hospital decided that people who had insurance and were rich had more priority over those who were poor and didn’t have insurance (which is an unfortunate reality for most people these days).

Speaking of that, the love story between Cade and Kailey took my breath away. They loved each other so much and it just came off the pages. Like any couple, they had their problems. So when he disappeared, I could see why Kailey was devastated.

But what sold me on the book was the realistic insight to homelessness. People who are homeless are treated like they are below other people. All because they don’t have the money or a place to live. People are under the incorrect assumption that most homeless people are drug addicts. Not true. A huge majority of people homeless are people who used to have a house and a job and through unfortunate events are living on the street. There are not enough shelters to keep up with a growing homeless population….which was correctly portrayed in the book also. As was people’s views of them. A little compassion can go a long way because you never know, you could be that person on the street. At the end of this review will be a link to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Click on it to learn more about how to help shelters in your community.

I did like the ending of the book and felt that the story had come full circle.

How many stars will I give Always: 5

Why: This was a genuine tear-jerker of a book. Like I said above, I started crying about the 2nd chapter and didn’t stop. The love between Cade and Kailey was so real, so raw that it came off the page.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

National Coalition for the Homeless

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Separate Lives by Kathryn Flett

Separate Lives by [Flett, Kathryn]

4 Stars

Publisher: Quercus (US), Quercus

Date of publication: December 6th, 2016

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Where you can find Separate Lives: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Your partner of ten years, and the father of your children, receives a text. You happen to see it.

‘Start living a different kind of life … P 🙂 xxx’. You don’t know anyone with the initial P, so what’s with the smiley face and the kisses?

Narrated by Susie, her partner Alex and the mysterious ‘P’, Separate Lives is an achingly funny, moving and honest portrayal of marriage and adultery. These characters are never less than totally human. You’ll have met people like them. They might even be you.

My review:

This book is a tear-jerker and it is painful to read such a raw rendition of a relationship that is on its way out. Told from Susie’s point of view, from letters that P writes to her mother and through text messages/emails sent by Alex, it is heartbreaking.

I loved that it was so raw and that nothing was faked. There were a few super funny scenes (the ones where Susie walks in on Phil and Harriette is hilarious) and some that are heartbreaking (the chapter when Susie realizes that it is over and is trying to co-exist with Alex really pulled at my heartstrings).

The ending was a HUGE surprise, even though I did somewhat call it in the middle of the book.

I would give Separate Lives an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Separate Lives. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Serene (A Dr. Rachel E. Color-Me-Mystery: Book 1) by Jim Musgrave

Publisher: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Member’s Titles

Date of publication: July 17th, 2016

Part of a series: Yes

Which series: Dr. Rachel E. Color-Me-Mystery

Serene – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

This is the mystery that establishes Dr. Rachel Edelstein as a sleuth with a super-power. Raised on an ashram in California, she is molested by Guru Bhagwan Sharma, but he pays for her college education after her parents are found dead inside a lab working on a secret experiment called “Serene.”

While working as a psychiatrist in the Israeli Army, she treats two IDF soldiers who had also been members of the Omshanti ashram back home. When they are murdered in a strangely anti-Semitic way, and no DNA evidence can be found, she decides to resign her commission and return to California to try to solve the murders.

After she teams up with another Jewish psychiatrist, Dr. Jacob Stein, who attends the same Kaballah study group, she is recruited by a scientist who worked with her parents on Serene. Dr. Joshua Lawrence implants the beta test device in her brain, but instead of allowing her to control her own libido, she is able to see the sex traumas of others.

This is the first mystery in a series that features illustrations that can be colored by the reader. Watch for more Dr. Rachel Edelstein and Dr. Jacob Stein Techno-Mysteries.

My review:

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. It is part adult coloring book and part mystery. I made the mistake of leaving my Kindle on with one of the pictures up, and my 11-year-old had a look. She had no clue what it was but still.

If I had the paperback (or even hardcover) of the book, I would have been coloring in those pictures. They looked fun to color and did go with the story.

The story, itself was also decent. In the beginning, it was all over the place, which is something I hate in a book. Once I got past Rachel’s backstory, the story progressed. The author did an excellent job keeping who the bad guy a mystery until the end.

Rachel had overcome a lot in this book. Her parents moved her to a commune when she was 10. She was chosen as a “bride of passion” and raped when she was 12. Then her parents died. That’s a lot for a kid, and Rachel has issues. She returns to the commune after two IDF soldiers are murdered in horrific ways. She agrees to become the beta tester for a project that her parents were working on when they died.

I won’t say much about the book after that point. I will say that it is full of androids, bizarre sexual practices, and one woman who is looking for answers.

I did like that the Kabbalah was mentioned here. Rachel was a student of it, and the author did get into some of what it is about, but not enough. I wished that he did because I find it fascinating.

The end of the book was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting the killer to be who it was. I am pretty good at figuring out mysteries, and this one I didn’t and it still chafes at me.

How many stars will I give Serene? 4

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes but with a warning about the coloring book pages.

Age range: Adult

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Clementine and Claudia by Piper Milton

Clementine and Claudia: A gripping historical romance novel of two sisters divided by love and war by [Milton, Piper]

Publisher: Silvertail Books

Date of publication: September 22nd, 2016

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

There are more than two sides to every love story…

The First World War is raging and sisters Clementine and Claudia are coping in very different ways. Clementine is a nurse on the front line, doing her best to save the lives of soldiers wounded while serving their country. Claudia, on the other hand, is living the good life in England, deliberately oblivious to the horrors her sister and so many others are living through. When they both meet their perfect man, their already fractured relationship is tested in ways they could never imagine.

The début novel from Piper Milton, Clementine and Claudia is a powerful and beautifully written story of romance and war for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, and a wonderful addition to the romantic traditions of Penny Vincenzi, Soraya Lane, Brief Encounter and Downton Abbey.

My review:

This book was so slow at the beginning that I almost DNF’d. Stress almost. Once I got past the first couple of chapters, the book started to pick up steam and move along.

I loved the historical aspect of this book. I loved that it took place during World War 1. The author did an excellent job world building. I could picture the bomb and air raid sirens going off. I could hear the battlefield in my ears along with hearing the moans and groans of injured patients.

I did have an issue with the romance part of the book. I want my romance from that period to be sweet and innocent. This one was twardy, and it was almost dirty.

I know people can’t help who they fall in love with. I wished that the author chose a different road for her characters. Cheating on your spouse isn’t cool, and I felt for Charles in that scene. And in the scene where he let his wife go to be with the one she wanted. I was so sad about that.

The ending was what I expected because I knew that the star-crossed lovers would be together.

How many stars will I give Clementine and Claudia: 3

Why: A wonderfully written, vivid historical piece that was written as a historical romance. For me, the romance fell flat and like I said in my review, was twardy and almost dirty.

Will I reread? Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends? Maybe

Age Range: Teen

Why: Sexual situations (but never gotten into detail) and description of wartime violence (including an amputation of a leg).

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**