Review: Girl Before Mirror by Liza Palmer

In Girl Before Mirror by Liza Palmer, Anna Wyatt is fighting to make her mark in the world of advertising. Relegated to smaller accounts with a target audience of women only, Anna is frustrated as she bumps up against the glass ceiling. She is also facing challenges in her personal life - at forty with a failed marriage behind her, Anna has been on a "time out" from romance and dating but she is starting to realize that, as with her professional life, she is going to have to go after what she wants to get a different outcome. When she is introduced to a self-help book, "Be The Heroine, Find Your Hero", it plays a role in bringing her professional success -but not in the way you expect. As she buys into the Be The Heroine philosophy, she realizes it translates into her own personal life and she begins to combat her long held beliefs about her worth and whether she can risk much to win in love. 

Anna Wyatt grew up with a demanding father and a mother who virtually ignored her children. Anna took care of her younger brother, Ferdie, and tried to provide him with the love she never received from her parents. This upbringing left her with some well-established guards which limit her in her relationships. Following her divorce from a husband to whom she never opened up, Anna has placed herself on a dating sabbatical and essentially opted out altogether. When she looks around the table at her birthday dinner, however, she realizes she wants more than she is getting out of this opt-out approach and the germ of change is planted.

Professionally, Anna is also frustrated by being limited in the ad agency to only small accounts with products focused on women. She sets her sights on Quincy Pharmaceuticals and sees an in road via a neglected body wash that has not been actively promoted by the company. She drafts a proposal that ties into the "Be The Heroine, Find Your Hero" theme and gets an audience with the team that manages the product at Quincy. Her proposal resonates and Anna finds herself at the Romance Writers Conference working the connections with her proposed ad campaign. By focusing on a theme that resonated with her and articulated what many women feel, Anna has landed on professional success.  She also finds a love interest at the conference in Lincoln Mallory, a Brit visiting the hotel for business. Lincoln challenges all of Anna's well-established guards and she struggles to take the chance that she knows will bring her success in her personal life.

My Thoughts
I am a fan of Liza Palmer's books - Conversations with the Fat Girl and Seeing Me Naked are two of my favorites. I remember underlining passages in both books because I felt they perfectly expressed my own thoughts and reflections.  I found myself doing the same with this book - Anna's struggles with self-confidence and living safely rather than pursuing what she really wants are so well captured by the author and I suspect will resonate for many women. There were times, however, that I felt this book covered too much ground - there was the story line about Anna's campaign for Quincy, story line about her relationship with Lincoln and then the story line about Ferdie. Each was rich but I felt the book could have been better with a focus on only two out of the three. This was not my favorite book by the author but does have her dialogue laced with humor and wry observations.

Review: The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee: After the ultimate betrayal by her husband, Portia Cuthcart flees her proper, wife of a politician life in Texas and takes up residence in the garden level of a NYC townhouse previously owned by and left to her by her aunt. Portia has many fond memories of summers spent there with her Aunt and hopes returning there will bring her some comfort. Practically, she is broke and the inherited townhouse gives her a place to live. Her sisters, also living in NY now, sold their floors of the inherited townhouse to financier Gabriel, who lives upstairs with his two young daughters. Portia's talent for cooking which is tinged with a bit of magic in that she has visions compelling her to cook dishes which turn out to be exactly what someone needs has her tending to the two young girls in no time. As she gets more involved with their family, and especially complicated Gabriel, Portia begins to question why she has tried to suppress her gift.

Portia grew up at the feet of her grandmother who owned a restaurant in Texas called the Glass Kitchen. Like Portia, her grandmother had the gift and could divine what a customer needed before they even understood that they wanted or needed it and why. This ability to provide comfort with food but on a level much deeper than satisfying a craving or physical hunger, kept the restaurant bustling. When her grandmother dies tragically, though, Portia blames the gift and immediately closes the restaurant and attempts to suppress her culinary instincts. By the time she arrives in NY, she is still trying to shut down those instincts but when she meets Gabriel's young daughters, Ariel and Miranda who are so in need of comfort after the recent death of their mother, it becomes more and more difficult to deny cooking what they need and Portia begins to value the unique gift she has to bring people comfort and healing.

My Thoughts
This book successfully brings many themes together - sisterhood, acknowledging and embracing who you are, and transformation achieved through healing. Sprinkle that with some romance and the foodie culture and you have a delightful book. Although I liked Portia as a character, my favorite character was Ariel. As a young girl with the weight of her mother's death on her shoulders, Ariel tries to cope with humor and a precocious way of seeing people for who they really are;  but she is still only a young girl and grappling with so many emotions. I found her funny but also touching and wanted to take of her myself.

I also enjoyed reading about the delicious meals whipped up by Portia. The descriptions were vivid and included all the senses. Beyond that, however, was the description of the experience which was always more of the focus than just the taste of the food or the nourishment it offered. For example:

For a meal to work truly, it must be an experience. From the moment a guest arrives in the Glass Kitchen to the moment they set their napkin down, they must be enchanted. More importantly, the giver of the food must believe that they have the power to enchant. No person, whether she is a scientist or a cook, can find success if she doesn't first believe that she has power in her hands-not to use over people but to use for the good of another. Food, especially, is about giving.

Who wouldn't want to eat a meal prepared by someone with a philosophy like this? The Glass Kitchen transports you into just such a meal many times over.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Review: On the Rocks by Erin Duffy

On the Rocks by Erin Duffy: Abby is engaged to her college boyfriend and trying on dresses at Vera Wang in Boston's Back Bay when she learns, via a Facebook update no less, that her fiance Ben has announced that their relationship is over. Abby is reeling and slides into a depression during which she isolates herself and develops an unhealthy relationship with Ben and Jerry's. Her close friend Grace, who has her own problems in the relationship department with her boyfriend who is married and also her boss, wants to pull her friend out of the depths of despair and suggests they join a summer share in Newport. Reluctant but hopeless, Abby agrees and, with the help of the Newport sun and shore, begins to pull herself out of the hole. Will she be able to bounce back completely or will modern dating and social media continue to haunt her?

Abby and Grace are joined in Newport by their neighbors Bobby, an unemployed attorney and Wolf, a German recently arrived in the US whose forays into understanding American idioms provides welcome comic relief. Bobby takes on almost an older brother role for Abby - he tells it like it is and generally frustrates her but also looks out for her and senses she was badly hurt and needs a little help. He is determined to push Abby back into the world of dating with all its pitfalls and tries to educate her on how guys operate especially in a dating world filled with tweets, texts and Facebook status updates. Humiliated by her fiance via Facebook, Abby is understandably reluctant to engage in dating and resents how much social media has infiltrated modern dating - she yearns for a more old-fashioned courtship.

My Thoughts
This book was the perfect antidote to the winter blues (which have been particularly long this year!) - even the cover is beachy and summons memories of my own summer beach house shares. Abby is a likable character and it was heartening to watch her find her footing and get her confidence back as the book progresses. The story was told with funny, witty dialogue and you felt as if you were sitting on the couch  in Newport with Abby, Grace, Wolf and Bobby knocking back margaritas and snacking on chips.  I highly recommend this book for your beach bag this summer!

For other perspectives, check out the TLC Book Tour Stops

Review: Four Friends by Robyn Carr

In Four Friends by Robyn Carr, we meet Gerri, Andy, Sonja and BJ who all live on the same block in Mill Valley. As the book opens, there are really three friends and the outsider, BJ. Gerri, Andy and Sonja meet every morning for a walk and marvel as BJ speeds by on her daily run. One by one, each of the walkers experience turbulence in their marriages and lean on each other for support far greater than accompaniment on a morning walk. Even BJ breaks down her walls and is drawn into the circle of women and offers support.

The first marriage to crumble is Andy's; it is her second marriage and she grieves more about being twice divorced than the loss of her second husband. Her contractor, Bob, offers companionship as he finishes up the kitchen renovation in the wake of her depositing her husband's belongings on the front lawn. Bob is different from the young, pretty boys Andy has generally dated and she is surprised at her feelings for him. While Andy is moving on with Bob, Sonja's husband George abruptly informs her he is tired of the clean living, zen lifestyle she has imposed upon him. Sonja, a practitioner of yoga and meditation, becomes undone at the break-up of her marriage and plunges into a deep depression. Surprisingly, it is BJ who sees the seriousness of Sonja's condition and presses Gerri and Andy to intervene. Her leap to help Sonja breaks down the wall she has put up and the women begin to learn of her difficult history.

The main story, however, centers around Gerri and her marital issues. Married to Phil with three adolescent children, Gerri believes her marriage to be solid and considers Phil her best friend. They are so focused on keeping everything moving with their two demanding jobs and children with the usual assortment of crises that Gerri has lost sight of the fact that there is little romance in their marriage. It is brought to her attention when she learns that Phil had an affair a number of years ago. Gerri is shaken to the core by this news and promptly moves Phil out of the house while they attend counseling and try to salvage their marriage.

My Thoughts
This book was an easy, enjoyable read and it was fun to sit in on this group of friends as they managed through their trials. The character that resonated the most with me was Gerri - her feelings for Phil and the future of their marriage were multidimensional and believable. Her story was also the best developed and was really the centerpiece of the novel.  The other women and the friendship between the four was a supporting cast to Gerri and Phil's story. Most readers will be able to see themselves or their friends in one or more of the women.

The Theory of Opposites by Allison Winn Scotch

The Theory of Opposites by Allison Winn Scotch: Willa Chandler-Golden is contentedly living in NYC with her husband Shawn - they live a predictable, but she believes happy, life. The daughter of a renowned self-help author who has risen to fame with his theory that everything happens for a reason and the individual has no real control of their own life, Willa has allowed life to "happen" to her. Until now, she has been quite happy with the hand fate has dealt her; when her husband imposes a break on their marriage and she loses her job, however, Willa wonders if she can, and should, take control of her life.

Willa comes from a colorful, eccentric family.  In addition to her Dad who is in love with himself almost as much as his fame, there is her brother Ollie who teaches yoga to the rich and famous and her sister, Raina, who is a successful attorney with two kids (and a Xanax habit). Willa plays the role of "Switzerland" in the family - keeping the peace while letting them all have their way - unfortauntely, this has prepared her for a life in which she makes few choices and allows others to lead her. Happily married to Shawn and in a job she enjoys, she sees little wrong with the way her life has turned out through her lack of choices.  When Shawn decides her wants a break from their content marriage and cites frustration with Willa's complacency, Willa is forced to question whether her "leave it all to fate" approach is in her best interest and if it is really leading her to fulfillment.

Reeling from the loss of her husband and job,Willa sets out to live differently and to take some risks. Her friend Vanessa is only too happy to help her and pushes her daily to face her fears. Being a TV show producer,Vanessa naturally decides to turn this journey for Willa into a show opportunity and Willa is thrust into a reality episode of a show similar to Amazing Race or Survivor. This insanity aside, Willa comes to some significant revelations on her journey and begins to challenge her Dad's theories and recognize that she had unwittingly bought into them.

My Thoughts
Last year, I read The Song Sounds the Same by Allison Winn  Scotch (my review) and really enjoyed it so I was excited to read her latest.  Interestingly, this is her first self-published novel and she has written in this article about what prompted her to take that route and the experience.

Willa is a great character and one I found myself cheering for - I can relate to allowing things to happen "to" you rather than making things happen in your own life. Although I sometimes found her inertia infuriating, I also understood how hard it is for Willa to take charge and chart the course of her life. The writing is engaging and the book explores an interesting concept - how much of our life is of our own making and how much of it can be attributed to fate?

At times, some of the far fetched plot ploys seemed unnecessary - the "break" imposed by Shawn with the bizarre rules and the stint on the reality show. The book really has a lot to say and the story and the characters could easily stand on their own without the stunts. They did, however, add some levity to the story as did the antics of the crazy Chandler-Golden clan - I was very entertained by her family! This is a fun, enjoyable book which really gives you something to think about  -a winning combination!

I received an e-galley of this book from Edelweiss 

Review: The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins: Honor Holland is thirty five and can hear her eggs dying off one by one. She has been pining after Brogan for years but he really sees her as a good friend rather than a love interest and Honor suddenly comes to terms with that fact and realizes she has wasted too many good years pursing Brogan. Tom Barlow is an Englishman who wants to continue to live in the US to be near Charlie, the young son of his dead fiance. When he loses his work visa, he starts to look for someone to marry in an effort to get a green card. Tom and Honor are thrown together and this relationship of convenience starts to have meaning for both of them.

Honor is the "good girl" of the Holland family. She expertly runs the business side of the family vineyard, Blue Heron and even volunteers at the local assisted living facility. As she watches the rest of the family, however, find happiness in their lives she is more and more aware of how alone she is without someone to share her life. This perfectly primes her to take a chance with Tom even though she is not immediately charmed by him. Tom is also unsure about Honor and a marraige of covenience but he cares so much for Charlie, he is willing to do anything to stay near him. The more time Tom and Honor spend together as they get ready for their wedding, the more attracted they become to each other.  They begin to allow themselves to see their future less as a business transaction and more as a partnership with real passion.   Of course, the path from transaction to passion is not a straight line and Tom and Honor's fledgling relationship alternates between moments of real happiness and moments of frustration and doubt.

My Thoughts
Since reading My One and Only (my review), I have been a fan of Kristan Higgins - this is the third book of hers that I have read (review of Somebody to Love). Each of her books features a strong female protagonist with a crisis of the heart.  Her writing is witty, especially in the scenes with her self-deprecating heroine, which ups my enjoyment of the books.

At times, in this book, I got a little frustrated with the on-again, off-again nature of Tom and Honor's relationship.  I guess it is realistic considering the premise of their marriage of convenience but still found myself wanting to take the two of them and shake them!

The Perfect Match is the second book in the Blue Heron series - although you don't have to have read the first to follow this one (I have not read the first book yet) because each book seems to feature a member of the Holland family so they can really stand alone while those that enjoy the supporting characters in a book can read more about one of them in another book in the series.  Which brings me to perhaps my favorite element of this book - the Holland family.  They are a large, diverse but close-knit family and I found the scenes which included them were among my favorites.  I will definitely be going back to read the first in the series and anxiously await book 3 to visit more with the Holland family!

I received an e-galley of this book from Netgalley

Review: Painted Hands by Jennifer Zobair

In Painted Hands by Jennifer Zobair, we meet Zainab Mir, Amra Abbas and Rukan, three American Muslim women who grew up together as best friends. Now adults, the women are successful in their careers and have managed to dodge their family's attempts to marry them off and move them into the traditional wife role they would like them to play. Amra is an in-demand attorney at a top Boston firm and firmly on the partner track. Her hours are long and all-consuming. Zainab is a political consultant and communications director for a feminist candidate for office in Boston - she espouses controversial positions by mainstream standards and certainly by those of her conservative Muslim family. Rukan is considering marriage to a non-Muslim which has shocked her family. The novel provides a glimpse into the dilemmas that face many young women - balancing career aspirations with desires to have a husband or kids and the selection of a spouse that a family does not support - but offers that glimpse through the lens of the Muslim-American experience.

My Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed this book - it is well-written and the characters are engaging. As I reflected on what captivated me about this book, I first thought it was the view into a world that is not written about much in contemporary literature. The experience of young Muslim-American women grappling with modern dilemmas like how to balance work and home life or the choice of a spouse which dismays a family, is not one widely seen in literature today. I was fascinated by the Muslim traditions and the cultural expectations placed on women. In addition, the author skillfully created multidimensional characters in these three women. It would be easy for them to all fit cultural stereotypes and be very similar to each other simply because of their common background.  Instead, they are distinct from each other and have their own story.

On reflection, however, I realize that the women's Muslim American background is a layer in this story but not the entire story. At the core, they are just modern, educated women facing the challenges we all face. What I was drawn to was their similarities to me and not to their differences. Amra, Zainab and Rukan's experiences are similar to my own and those of my friends  - their differences make the story perhaps more compelling but what I responded to most was how well their stories resonate. This is a smart, entertaining read.

You can read other reviews of this book from those on the TLC Book Tour .

Review: The Partner Track by Helen Wan

The Partner Track by Helen Wan: Ingrid Yung is a rising star at the Manhattan law firm of Parsons Valentine and Hunt LLP. She dedicates herself to meeting the many demands of the partners and after almost nine years of glowing reviews, she is firmly on the "partner track". As the daughter of Chinese immigrants, Ingrid feels a tremendous amount of responsibility to be successful in an effort to repay her parents for all their sacrifice. As the announcement of new partners nears, Helen is asked to take on an important deal and to close it in record time. She gladly takes on the challenge but is less enthused when she is asked to be a champion for the firm's diversity initiative. Can Ingrid bear the burden of her parent's expectations, be the firm's diversity darling and close this major deal on her way to partner?

Ingrid Yung attended Yale undergrad and then Columbia Law before arriving at Parsons Valentine. Working in NYC at a top law firm fulfilled a dream that had taken root at a young age. While visiting a friend of her parents in Manhattan as a young girl, Ingrid looked out the window of their exclusive apartment building and mused:

I could not stop looking and looking out that window, at the deep violet hue spreading across the sky. It felt as if the day's humiliations were draining from my body, and I was waking up fresh. I had never wanted to belong to anything more than to that shimmering landscape of office towers lit up against the dark New York sky. Each individual glittering box of light - like gems strung along a necklace - seemed to me to be a tiny, oblong window onto success, acceptance, respect, that is to say, a place in the world. 

Getting to NYC and into one of those glittering boxes of light has not been easy - Ingrid has succeeded against a lot of odds. All the women who started at Parsons Valentine with her eight years ago have now left the firm; some left to pursue careers with less challenging hours and expectations while some left to have families. Ingrid is surrounded by an "old boys club" where subtle, and often not subtle, gender discrimination abounds. Being a "two-fer", a woman and person of color, Ingrid has also faced thinly veiled racism. With single-minded focus, however, Ingrid has ignored these obstacles and succeeded by keeping the prize of partner squarely in her sights. With the advent of the diversity initiative, however, Ingrid is beginning to give more consideration to the sleights and inequities she has faced.

My Thoughts
This smartly written debut novel takes on big topics like the glass ceiling and racism but packaged in a story line that makes these bigger themes very accessible. Ingrid is an appealing heroine - she is smart, direct and just flawed enough to make a reader like her and most importantly, to relate to her. She has a touch of idealism but is not naive and although she is bothered by the lack of diversity at the firm and the lack of women at the top, she wants to make partner more than anything else. That raw ambition is impressive.

As a woman in corporate America, I saw much in this book to which I can relate. The subtle discrimination that takes place when men at the top of the ladder give opportunity and access to those that look a lot like them is very real and you ignore it at work at your own peril. I don't believe that is is deliberate but that it represents an unconscious bias and one we must all stay vigilant in order to ensure fair play for everyone.

Finally, I could relate to Ingrid's feelings as a first generation American. The quote above reflects thoughts not unlike my own about living and working in NYC. The theme of fitting in and being accepted as the daughter of immigrants is not a primary one in the novel but the author weaves it in expertly and it serves to further flesh out Ingrid's character. I definitely recommend this debut novel!

I received an ARC of this book for review from Wunderkind PR. 

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

In The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, we meet three women who casually know each other but whose lives are actually quite entwined. We watch their lives collide as the story unfolds and see what each woman's limit is for forgiveness and how much they are willing to endure to keep their families intact.

Tess Curtis has recently learned that her husband and her cousin are in love and want to pursue their relationship. Tess considered her cousin her best friend and trusted her implicitly so she feels "had" by both of them and regrets not looking closer at their growing relationship. She takes their young son and returns to her mother's home in Sydney to gather herself after the shocking news. She is surprised to run into her ex-boyfriend, Conor Whitby, when she enrolls her young son at the local school.

Rachel Crowley's seventeen year old daughter was murdered twenty years ago and Rachel is still haunted by the fact that her murder was never solved. Hardened by her grief, Rachel continues to pursue her own theories of who killed her daughter. She firmly believes Conor Whitby killed her daughter and as she faces the fact that her son is taking her only joy, her grandson, all the way to New York City, Rachel's need to see Conor pay becomes fervent.

Cecilia Fitzpatrick is an uber-mother - she heads all PTA activities, runs a successful business selling Tupperware and never appears anywhere about town or at her children's school with even a hair out of place. Her polish is appealing if a bit intimidating. When she discovers a letter addressed to her by her husband instructing her to read it in the event of his death, she is perplexed. She becomes even more perplexed when she mentions her discovery to her husband and he reacts strangely. Cecilia can't resist the temptation and ultimately opens the letter; the letter is the catalyst for the collision of the women's lives and where they discover how they are connected.

  My Thoughts
The Husband's Secret is a wonderfully enjoyable read. We learn about each of the women and the crisis they are facing before we finally see the secret revealed - in fact, the secret is not revealed until well into the book. The story is alternately told from each of the woman's point of view and the reader gets to know to know them and understand what they face.

The author does an excellent job of walking the fine line of telling a serious story and creating a "light read".  There were many funny moments in the book but enough meat to make it a story you really want to settle in with for an afternoon. I will definitely be looking for other books by the author.

I received a copy of this book at BEA 2013. 

Review: All The Summer Girls by Meg Donohue

In All The Summer Girls, Meg Donohue tells a story of three childhood girlfriends who return to the summer house at which they created enduring memories but also suffered a great loss. Now adults, each at a crossroads in their lives, they return to Avalon, NJ for a girls weekend in an effort to repair their friendship but also to heal themselves in order to move past their individual crises.

As students in Philadelphia Friends School, Kate, Dani and Vanessa were best friends. The three girls were very different from each other  - straight-laced Kate thrives on lists and order, Dani is a free-spirit with disregard for rules and convention and Vanessa is confident and rapidly growing into her striking good looks. Despite their differences, a close friendship is formed among the girls and they spend each summer at the shore in Avalon, NJ. Kate's twin brother, Colin, is also part of their group is much loved by each of the girls. When Colin drowns in the ocean the summer before their senior year in college, it devastates each of the girls, taints the Avalon shore for them and silently drives wedges between their friendship.

As adults, the women are still quite different from each other and more mature versions of their adolescent selves. Kate is a successful attorney in a Philadelphia law firm and still thrives on order in her personal and professional life. Dani has been wandering since college - she lives in San Francisco attempting to write her first novel while she runs through a string of jobs. Vanessa is now married and living in NYC and recently chose to quit her job and stay home with her young daughter, Lucy. Each woman is facing a crisis in their personal lives as they decide to reunite at the shore for a girls weekend. They are tentative with each other and Colin's death still remains as an unhealed wound for each woman.

My Thoughts
Meg Donohue has struck an interesting balance with this book - part beach read, part serious exploration of women's friendships. For about 10 years, I took part in a summer share on the Jersey Shore so when I saw the cover and read the synopsis, I expected (and looked forward to) a lighthearted romp of boozy weekends in the summer sun. This book was less about weekends at the shore and more about the role the shore played in cementing these women's friendships and whether it can bring them back together and heal them as adults. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed getting to know the women and the peeks offered of the shore. A perfect read  in the waning days of summer.

Review: Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky

Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky: Charlotte and Nicole were childhood friends and together they spent summers at Nicole's family's house on Quinnipeague Island, Maine. As adults, they grew apart when Nicole married Julian and fell into a career blogging about the farm to table movement while Charlotte traveled as a successful journalist. They are reuniting on the island for the summer in order to work together on a cookbook about the "Quinnie" specialties and the magic of the island and its locals. As the summer progresses, each woman reveals secrets which has the potential to destroy their recently rediscovered friendship.

 Charlotte was raised by irresponsible parents who practically neglected her; she found comfort in her friendship with Nicole and Nicole's parents became like parents to Charlotte. She spent many summers with them on the island of Quinnipeague in Maine. Charlotte feel in love with the island and the comfort she found there with Nicole's family. Due to her rough childhood, Charlotte always had an edge and was stronger than the more meek Nicole. Nicole is more trusting and less sure of herself and she relies on Charlotte to lead. After the girls grew apart and Charlotte didn't return to Quinnipeague for Nicole's father's funeral, Nicole still felt like the needy friend constantly connecting with Charlotte by email and tracking her career. What she didn't know, however, was that Charlotte desperately wanted to connect again with Nicole and to find comfort again on the island. When Nicole approached her about helping on the cookbook, Charlotte jumped at the chance.

 Through the love of the island and the work on the cookbook, the women begin to repair their relationship. As the summer goes on, however, each reveals secrets to each other than dramatically change their relationship. Nicole begins by revealing that her husband of ten years, Julian, has MS and the progression of the disease threatens his career as a surgeon. More than that, however, it is threatening their marriage as Julian swears Nicole to secrecy about the disease and shuts her out as she tries to help him. Charlotte has a history with Julian which is unknown to Nicole but in light of Julian illness, Charlotte feels compelled to share it with Nicole.

  My Thoughts
The cover of this book drew me in with its beautiful fields of lavender and the shoreline in the distance. In much the same way, the author drew me to Quinnipeague with the descriptions of the island's protective locals and the magic of the herbs which are endemic to the island. The island is a character in the book and it has a power over the two main characters in the book - Nicole and Charlotte. It feels as if their friendship could not be repaired or weather the revelations anywhere else but the island. Their shared history on the island (and maybe that salt air?) keep them committed to working through their issues and trying to recapture a little of what they had on the island as children.

Barbara Delinsky weaves a story with many twists and turns and works in multiple interesting, current topics. Those include progress in the treatment of MS, the farm to table movement, and umbilical cord blood banking. All of this, coupled with wanting to see how things progressed for Julian and whether Nicole and Charlotte could mend their relationship, kept me reading. Definitely a perfect summer read - or maybe a winter read when your mind needs to escape the dreary winter and get to a beautiful island!

Review: The Love Wars by L. Alison Heller

In The Love Wars by L. Alison Heller, Molly Grant is an associate at a premier Manhattan law firm and has recently moved into the matrimonial division where she is dealing with the demise of the marriages of the rich and powerful. In addition to their demanding clients, Molly and her colleagues are managing the demands of their high maintenance boss and partner in the firm, Lillian. As her clients argue over custody and who is going to pay the other's legal fees and Lillian's demands become ever more insistent, Molly questions why she has sold her soul to this profession and the firm, Bacon Payne.

 Molly comes from a humble background with parents that own a small store and they are immensely proud of their daughter, the attorney. It is partially a sense of obligation to her parents for all they sacrificed that keeps her working at the firm even though the hours are grueling and she doesn't always like her clients or some of her colleagues. She is due is large bonus at the five year mark and she hopes to pay off her parent's mortgage with the bonus which keeps her motivated despite the demands and her occasional struggles with insecurities about her ability to perform. She has difficulty relating to her clients and their "problems" like the successful banker who is bringing her soon to be ex-husband to court over custody of their cats. But Molly is touched by one client, Fern, who seeks the firm's help with the custody agreement between she and her ex-husband. Robert Walker is a powerful media mogul and since the couple's divorce, he has been alienating the children from Fern and denying her visitation. The firm is courting Mr. Walker as a corporate client and they don't want to touch this matrimonial case so Lillian instructs Molly to move Fern along and make recommendations to other firms. When none of those firms help Fern, Molly "goes rogue" and begins helping Fern independently.

While Molly deals with the dissolution of other's relationships, her own love life has suffered.  Relationships have definitely taken a back seat to her career. An old college boyfriend is back in the picture and there seems to be a spark with Henry at work but it is hard to differentiate between a spark and someone with whom you spend 60+ hours per week! Is Molly too busy to get involved or has bearing witness to and trying to help her clients navigate the messy space when a relationship sours made her wary of getting involved?

 My Thoughts
Molly is an immensely likable character  - she has faults but she also has values and is often motivated by the right things.  Her ability to see through the antics of her clients and colleagues resonates and serves to make her an interesting observer of the crazy world of divorce proceedings and custody agreements.  As Molly goes to great lengths and personal risk in helping Fern, the reader sees a character who understands right  from wrong and looks to even the score between the powerful and those without tremendous resources.

I have a lot of friends who have worked in large NYC law firms and many feel the same way as Molly - overworked and constantly questioning why they are doing what they do.  Like Molly, the author is also a divorce attorney which I am sure helped her get this struggle just right - the story did not feel cliched. This is definitely a great read and, like The Devil Wears Prada, will make you appreciate your own job no matter how tough it might be!

Thank you to Books Sparks PR for providing a copy of this book for review.

 

And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry

Kate is a accomplished woman in her thirties with her own boutique and a close-knit family. Despite appearing to have it all, she is haunted by the decision she made as a young adult to give up her newborn girl to an adoptive family. She is also haunted by unfinished business with her high school sweetheart and father to her daughter, Jack. Other than a letter they write to each other each year on their daughter's birthday, Jack and Kate have not seen or talked to each since Kate announced she was pregnant. When Kate brings Jack back into her life and her daughter finds her, Kate is within striking distance of having everything she ever wanted but can she be happy?

 Kate and Jack have been in love since high school and have sweet, first love aspect to their relationship; even though they attended college in different cities, they stayed together through the distance. When Kate took a job while Jack attended law school in Birmingham, however, the two began to grow apart. Kate seemed ambivalent about their relationship - she stayed on at her job in Arizona even though Jack wanted her to be with him in Birmingham. Shortly after their last night together before they broke up, Kate discovers she is pregnant.  She goes to Birmingham to tell Jack and informs him of her decision to give the baby up for adoption. It is a sad decision for both of them but Jack has moved on to a new relationship and Kate doesn't feel ready to give a child what she feels a child deserves. Fast forward thirteen years and Kate is now in a relationship with Rowan and he is on the brink of proposing but Kate still has not told him about the daughter she gave up for adoption thirteen years ago or that she and Jack exchange letters each year on their daughter's birthday.

My Thoughts
 And Then I Found You is based on author Patti Callahan Henry's own experience when her niece contacted her sister years after her sister had given her up for adoption. The fact that this is based on a real experience shines through in the description of Kate's loss following the adoption and the constant presence of her daughter as she moves through her life. In addition, the author does a great job in painting Kate's family, the big role they play in her life and their own feelings about the niece and granddaughter they never got to know.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and read it in almost one sitting.  The story moves back and forth between present and the time at which Kate gave her daughter up for adoption and it also switches between Kate/Jack/Rowan's story and Emily's (Kate and Jack's daughter) story. This allows you to see many sides of the same story and also allows parts of the story to be revealed slowly which kept me reading. My one quibble with the novel is Kate's ambivalence about her relationship with Jack which continues into adulthood  - I had a hard time relating to that and found myself irritated with her constant waffling between Jack and Rowan. Despite that element, the book is a quick read with a very moving story line. Recommend

I received an ARC from Wunderkind PR for review

Review: The Good Woman by Jane Porter

The Good Woman by Jane Porter introduces us to the Brennan sisters - Meg, Bree, Kit and Sarah- but the story focuses on Meg. Margaret Mary Brennan Roberts has always been the "good girl" - she is the responsible older sister, wife and dedicated mother to three. A perfectionist, she keeps the many plates of this busy family spinning from sports commitments and dance recitals to family birthdays.  All this and she works full time at a Napa winery as their marketing coordinator.

Lately, however, she is feeling under appreciated by her husband and beginning to question her need to always do the "right" thing. Feeling weighed down by her many commitments, Meg is tired and feels depleted. In addition to her busy home life, Meg is also entrenched in the many issues faced by her family.  Her sister Kit has been in a ten year relationship with Richard and there is no proposal in sight despite the fact that Kit very much wants to get married and have children.  Sarah's pro baseball player husband, Boone, cheated on her and Sarah has felt insecure in their relationship since. Being the protective older sister, Meg wants to protect her sisters from these hurts and her heart aches to see them struggle in their relationships.  Perhaps the most devastating family news, however, is that their mother's cancer is back and has metastasized.

Just as she is feeling insecure in her relationship with her husband and frustrated by the lack of passion they share lately, Jane's boss Chad takes an active interest in her. He pays her all the attention her husband does not - complimenting her on her clothes and appreciating the work she does for the vineyard. Pulled in so many directions and feeling under appreciated, Meg is especially vulnerable to this attention and she struggles with her conscience which warns that she is in dangerous territory.

My Thoughts
I have long been a fan of Jane Porter's contemporary fiction and when I started The Good Woman I was reminded of just how much I enjoy her books.  The characters come to life and feel like those you know in real life - your sisters, best friends and book club members. Meg, in particular, rang true for me - I see much of myself in her.  Even though I am not married with kids, I can relate to being the first born, being a perfectionist and feeling very obligated all the time. At one point in the novel, Meg's father recounts a story from Meg's childhood; she insisted on getting ready for school all by herself and finally came downstairs dressed in pants and a skirt. Her parents thought it was funny and were prepared to let her go dressed as is because Meg was so very proud of getting ready on her own.  At the last minute, her Dad changed her shoes because she had them on the wrong feet - Meg was devastated and said she just wanted to get it right.  She was hard on herself even as a young girl - her Dad reminded her that she came that way - her parents didn't cultivate that in her. My Mom says the same thing to me  all the time.  I get Meg.

This book is the first in a trilogy (the second book, focusing on Kit and entitled The Good Daughter is already out) - I am definitely looking forward to continuing to read about the Brennan sisters. 

Review: Hedge Fund Wives by Tatiana Boncompagni

Hedge Fund Wives tells the story of newly minted HFW, Marcy Emerson, and her adjustment to life among the super wealthy and the NYC social scene. Marcy and her hedge fund manager, John, have recently arrived to Manhattan from Chicago; John's star is rising in the world of finance and he expects Marcy to help it ascend by playing the role of society wife perfectly. Meanwhile, Marcy feels out of place among the catty wives and the unrelenting focus on extravagant dinners, private jets and expensive clothes. She comes from much more humble beginnings and had a career of her own before moving to NY - she finds it difficult to eschew all that for lunch at Bergdorf's and charity events. Will Marcy learn to navigate the world of hedge fund wives or will those wives get the best of Marcy?

As Marcy walks into the baby shower honoring the wife of one on John's colleagues, she is distinctly out of place in her pink puffer jacket as she breezes past a rack of fur coats in the expansive lobby of one of the wives. When she is given a chilly reception by some of the wives, Marcy feels even more out of place. Fortunately, she sits next to one of the more down to earth wives, Jill, who has her own career as a magazine  publicist. Jill introduces Marcy to Gigi and the three become fast friends with Jill and Gigi showing Marcy the ropes of the HFW role and community.

And Marcy needs her friends - despite her best efforts to be the perfect hedge fund wife, Marcy can't seem to please John. His own insecurities become evident as he feels the need to have the perfect apartment decor (he has decided the Emerson's "design niche" is eco-conscious), serve the perfect wine and food and move in only the most exclusive social circles. Jill and Gigi provide much needed relief from John's constant demands - in those friends, Marcy also gains perspective. Despite how wonderful their lives may appear on the outside, Gigi and Jill both struggle with their marriages and confirm that money doesn't buy happiness.

My Thoughts
This is a fun, entertaining book. It is always interesting to peer through the glass at the lives of the rich - watch as they shop, dine and celebrate. In that respect the book delivers - we dip in and out of the chic NYC department stores and restaurants such as Bergdorf's and Lever House and see the inside of palatial NY apartments. At the same time, it is also gratifying to see that those with money have their own challenges and chief among them is often the money.

This book in not unique - there are a lot of women's fiction books which give you glimpses into society life in NYC.  In fact, this book reminds me a lot of The Recessionistas which I read a number of years ago.  Both books cover the social lives of the NYC finance sector in the post 2008 economic collapse.  Unlike The Recessionistas, however, Hedge Fund Wives has a likable protagonist - Marcy is smart with good values in a shark tank of beautiful but vapid wives.  If you are looking for a quick read and like to peek into the NYC social scene, I recommend this book.

Review: The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch

In The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch, Nell Slattery comes to consciousness in a Iowa hospital after she has survived a deadly airplane crash. Only she and another passenger survived - the remaining 158 passengers were killed instantly. Nell, however, has suffered a brain injury and is completely unable to remember anything. As she tries to piece together her life, she is dependent on family and friends to help her recreate the life she cannot remember but each has an agenda and selectively withholds information from Nell in an effort to protect her or to protect themselves.

Nell is intent on re-creating herself - they are clues that she may not have been the most likable person - but she needs to understand who she was in order to create someone different. Nell Slattery decides shortly after awakening that she will allow a local Iowan reporter, Jamie, tell her story. It is a big break for Jamie and his research provides Nell with an unbiased view into the past she cannot remember. The others in her life - husband Peter, sister Rory and mother Indira, may each know more about her life than Jamie but they also tell a slightly modified version as they try to hide things from Nell. For example, Nell's father left when she was younger and her mother keeps telling Nell half-truths in an effort to re-write that history. But Nell doesn't want a cleaned up version of her past - she wants the truth so she can understand what shaped her, who she was and what she needs to change if she is going to be a different person.

 In talking to those closest to her, in addition to acquaintances, Nell learns that she had a hard edge and that she could cut someone with her quick tongue and dismissive barbs. She catches herself behaving the same way at times after the accident and muses about how much of her personality she can really effect and how much is just inherent. She also observes that she lived her life "in beige" - her clothes are neutral, she had a joyless relationship with her husband and she seemed to find enjoyment in very little. She existed in her life without really living it. Courageously, she takes the tragedy of the accident as an opportunity to change herself and especially to really live in the moment. One gift of losing your memory is that you cannot live in the past.

My Thoughts
The Song Remains the Same explores how experiences shape you versus what is hard-wired into your personality. The story is well-written and the author beautifully handles the introspective aspects of this book as Nell considers who she was but more importantly who she wants to become. By wrapping that introspection, however, into an appealing narrative with a likable main character facing family dysfunction with which many readers can relate, the author succeeds in creating a quick read with much to offer. A perfect New Year read as many of us consider what we would like to change in the coming year!

Review: Dune Road by Jane Green

Dune Road by Jane Green takes place in an affluent bedroom community in Connecticut shortly after the financial crisis of 2008.  Kit Hargrove is recently divorced from her husband, Adam, and has transitioned from her life as pulled together wife of a Wall Street banker to single Mom of two trying to find her identity. With her new job as assistant to author Robert McClure, her outings with girlfriends Charlie and Traci and her neighbor Edie who is like a mother to her, Kit has the building blocks to move into the next phase in her life.

Although Kit initiated the divorce from her husband, she has mixed feelings about leaving her marriage behind.  First and foremost, she worries about the effect of the divorce on her children as they shuttle between Kit's and her ex, Adam's, houses. She also finds herself starting to ask why she left her husband and if she gave up too quickly. She was a Wall Street widow as her husband spent long days in the city and then expected her to host and attend social functions - their marriage had been reduced to taking care of the children and looking good on her husband's arm.  As he comes to pick up and drop off the kids now, though, she feels sparks of the feelings she had for him when they were first together and her life as Wall Street widow seems far away. Charlie and Traci  try to support Kit through this and are excited when she meets a new man  - they think this is just what she needs to move on.

My Thoughts
I am a big fan of Jane Green and have enjoyed all of her books (my review of Another Piece of My Heart and Promises to Keep); this one, however, is my least favorite. There was nothing particularly bad about it . . . but nothing spectacular either. The characters didn't seem to have their usual depth and I felt fairly apathetic towards them. There is a mystery thrown into some of the sub story lines which does keep the book moving but there wasn't quite enough suspense.

Although this books was not my favorite among Green's, other reviewers felt differently. Check out Sarah's review and Swapna's review for a different perspective. 

I am looking forward to Green's upcoming book and hope it lives up to her many books that I have loved and that Dune Road is an anomaly for me.

Review: Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook

Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook tells the story of Deirdre Griffin who is trapped in an unsatisfying life as assistant to her new age guru brother, Tag. She is completely eclipsed by his fame and even other members of their family overlook her as they scramble to meet Tag's needs. Things come to a head at one of Tag's events and Deirdre reaches a breaking point; she drowns her sorrows in vodka and makes a desperate social media plea to get voted on to Dancing With the Stars. With that, her life is transformed - the wallflower begins to bloom.

Deirdre Griffin is a very likeable character - she has a complicated relationship with her eccentric family made all the worse by the fact that their lives are intertwined in support of Tag. Deirdre lives in a converted sheep shed on Tag's property and her two sisters and parents all work for Tag in some way. Deirdre feels invisible within her family even though the work she does for Tag is integral to his success - they all take her for granted and she has reached her limit. When her on-again, off-again boyfriend comes to tell her his new girlfriend is pregnant and they are getting married, it puts Deirdre over the edge and convinces her something needs to change in her life.

Dancing with the Stars is looking for a replacement for a star that has to leave unexpectedly one season and they put the choice out to the people - the public is encouraged to nominate and then vote for who they next want on the show. In a drunken, emotional haze, Deirdre uses her social media savvy and her brother's fame to get herself voted on to the show. She ignores any regret she feels when she sobers up and heads to LA, cutting ties with her crazy family. While in LA, Deirdre is transformed physically and she works through her complicated relationship with her family.  

My Thoughts
 This is a fun, entertaining book with a likeable main character and a vivid cast of secondary characters. Like the author's Life's a Beach (my review), the dialogue in this novel is witty and I can see it translating to the screen very well. While it doesn't go very deep, the story is well developed and I did feel like I really got to know Deirdre. I think many of us can relate to feeling insecure and trapped in the background so you cheer for her success. Throw in the popular Dancing with the Stars and the result is a light, quick read with a lot of appeal.

I linked this post to the Weekend Bloggy Reading event at Serenity Now

I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via netgalley

Review: The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

In The Midwife's Confession , author Diane Chamberlain weaves a complicated but very readable story that uncovers the secrets friends keep from each other. Tara, Emerson and Noelle met in college and remained close through adulthood even living near each other. When Noelle commits suicide, Tara and Emerson are shocked and they get their first clue that there is much about their friend that they didn't know. They knew she loved being a midwife and that she was eccentric but they didn't realize she was suffering. When they uncover an unsent letter Noelle left behind, the get a glimpse into the cause of her suffering but that is only the beginning of the secrets Noelle held.

 In addition to the storyline of Tara and Emerson unraveling the mystery of their friend Noelle's secret, there are a few secondary storylines that ultimately connect to the main storyline. At the book's opening, Tara has lost her husband, Sam - he was killed in a car accident and Tara and her daughter Grace are slowly adjusting to the loss and learning to have a relationship with each other. Grace was closer to Sam than to her mother; that, coupled with the typical mother/daughter teenage conflict adds another stress as they grieve. Grace struggles with feeling separate from her mother and does not see any similarities between them; without her father to buffer her relationship with her mom, Grace is filled with resentment and pulls further away from her mother. Tara is trying to move on following her husband's death but feels his loss acutely every day. She spends time with her husband's friend and partner because it makes her feel close to Sam. Through her relationship with him and the investigation she and Emerson do into Noelle's death, Tara also discovers that her husband may have held some secrets on Noelle's behalf.

Anna Knightly, the intended recipient of Noelle's letter, heads the Missing Children Network. It is an organization she became involved with when her oldest daughter, Lily, disappeared from the hospital shortly after she was born. She was never found but Anna hopes to help other parents of missing children through her work leading the network. Her second daughter, Haley, is facing a recurrence of leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. It is not lost on Anna that Haley's sister Lily would likely have been a match but she tries to put those thoughts aside as she goes public about Haley's condition in an effort to find a match in time. How are childless Noelle and Anna connected? What was Noelle confessing to Anna as she started her unfinished letter?  

My Thoughts
What I have laid out above may seem complicated but Diane Chamberlain expertly weaves it all together and I never felt lost as I read the book. As I have found in all of her novels, the characters are very well drawn and that makes it easy to identify them as the novel moves from storyline to storyline. The element of mystery created by Noelle's suicide and the discovery that she had a huge secret kept the novel moving and created just the right amount of suspense. I highly recommend this one - the author is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of the book club hosted by Great Thoughts

The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain

The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain explores the obligations and bonds of parenthood through the stories of three sets of parents who are all loosely connected. At the center of all of the stories is four year old Bella - the adults in the novel all try to do what is best for the young girl amidst challenging circumstances. How will they protect Bella while trying to overcome their own pasts and demons?

Travis Brown was nineteen when his daughter Bella was born and he has taken care of her alone for the past four years. He is obviously devoted to the little girl and doesn’t dwell on any regrets over giving up college or missing out on his early adulthood. As the novel opens, Travis has lost his job and is struggling to make ends meet. He worries about how he will care for Bella while looking for a job. He meets Erin in a coffee shop and notes her easy manner with Bella and a plan is hatched.

Erin is living in a rental apartment near the coffee shop because she is taking time away from her husband, Michael. After the loss of their daughter young daughter Carolyn, the couple are having problems connecting as they work through their grief differently. Erin cannot fathom rejoining “the real world” by returning to her job as a pharmacist while Michael has thrown himself into his work. She prefers to spend her time on a support group website for parents who have lost children; she heads to the coffee shop because it is anonymous and offers wi-fi. Her anonymous bubble is burst when Bella and Travis come in one day and Erin finds herself drawn to the little girl.

 Robin is the fiancee of Dale Hendricks who is the son of a political family and running for Mayor of Beaufort, North Carolina. Although she is aware that the Hendricks family have groomed her, Robin feels fortunate to be marrying Dale and to be joining the Hendricks family. She has much to feel thankful for - she suffers from a congential heart abnormality which limited her growing up as her overprotective father restricted her activity in order to protect her weak heart. So as not to give anything away, I won’t say how Robin is connected to Bella - it is better revealed in the book.

My Thoughts 
This is the second book by Diane Chamberlain which I have read (review of The Lies We Told) and it did not disappoint. Told from the viewpoints of the three narrators, the characters are all very well developed without including unnecessary details which distract from the story and slow down the pace of the read. I found I liked most of the characters and wanted to see things work out for them as the story progressed - I could even read a sequel that focused more specifically on Erin. I am interested to see how things turn out for her and Michael. All in all, this is an enjoyable read with well developed characters - a great way to spend a few afternoons.

Find additional reviews of the book, guest posts and clues to the scavenger hunt on the other blog tour stops.

You can chat live with the author on Thursday, May 31 at 3pm ET on Booktrib.com

I'll be there - will you?

Thank you to Erin from Media Muscle for providing a review copy of the book