Forgive Me Not was not what I was expecting, it really wasn’t my cup of tea as my personal preference is to eschew high angst and constant c
My Review:
Forgive Me Not was not what I was expecting, it really wasn’t my cup of tea as my personal preference is to eschew high angst and constant conflict. Yet the book was well written and a thought-provoking family drama, and certainly gave me pause in my own thinking as it squeezed my heart and put a few hot rocks in my throat. Having dealt with more than my share of addicted and/or prevaricating personalities, I had a hard time appreciating the main character of Emma. Emma had been a rather heinous problem child and abandoned her family after causing and leaving them with yet another appallingly hideous mess. She was the worst type of manipulative and selfish party girl and had been for quite some time. After she finally hit bottom and found an impetus to clean up in rehab, she slowly and carefully went about her recovery and sincerely attempted to make amends, but she didn’t seem to fully realize just how much she needed to atone for.
Emma returned to her small village but not to the open arms she was hoping for; her family and the entire community at large were having none of it as they were struggling with their own hard times - and they were more than done with Emma. Every single one of them doubted her veracity, and for good reason. I didn’t blame them. Not one bit. I’ve jettisoned people for far less. But it was rather unnerving for me to consider if maybe, possibly, I should have given some of those a third chance. Although this was probably Emma’s thousandth chance… But there are some acts that cut extra deep and just aren’t forgivable, and Emma had committed far too many of those, and repeatedly, and to my horror - with little consequence.
The writing was insightfully observant and evocative with several interesting storylines involving the small and quirky little village and its unique inhabitants. To end on an upbeat, I do have yet another new addition for my Brit List with “mithering,” which Mr. Google defined as to irritate or pester. I cannot wait to start employing its use.
Merged review:
My Review:
Forgive Me Not was not what I was expecting, it really wasn’t my cup of tea as my personal preference is to eschew high angst and constant conflict. Yet the book was well written and a thought-provoking family drama, and certainly gave me pause in my own thinking as it squeezed my heart and put a few hot rocks in my throat. Having dealt with more than my share of addicted and/or prevaricating personalities, I had a hard time appreciating the main character of Emma. Emma had been a rather heinous problem child and abandoned her family after causing and leaving them with yet another appallingly hideous mess. She was the worst type of manipulative and selfish party girl and had been for quite some time. After she finally hit bottom and found an impetus to clean up in rehab, she slowly and carefully went about her recovery and sincerely attempted to make amends, but she didn’t seem to fully realize just how much she needed to atone for.
Emma returned to her small village but not to the open arms she was hoping for; her family and the entire community at large were having none of it as they were struggling with their own hard times - and they were more than done with Emma. Every single one of them doubted her veracity, and for good reason. I didn’t blame them. Not one bit. I’ve jettisoned people for far less. But it was rather unnerving for me to consider if maybe, possibly, I should have given some of those a third chance. Although this was probably Emma’s thousandth chance… But there are some acts that cut extra deep and just aren’t forgivable, and Emma had committed far too many of those, and repeatedly, and to my horror - with little consequence.
The writing was insightfully observant and evocative with several interesting storylines involving the small and quirky little village and its unique inhabitants. To end on an upbeat, I do have yet another new addition for my Brit List with “mithering,” which Mr. Google defined as to irritate or pester. I cannot wait to start employing its use....more
Strong people don’t always make the right decisions; they excel at moving on from the bad ones.
… when you walk into the room and she lFavorite Quotes:
Strong people don’t always make the right decisions; they excel at moving on from the bad ones.
… when you walk into the room and she looks at you… the earth turns a little slower on its axis.
Like the ebb and flow of the ocean, the inhale and exhale of breath, life depends on the coexistence of holding on … and letting go. It’s how we navigate this life, mere children struggling to cross the monkey bars without falling.
Denial blurs good judgment almost as much as whiskey.
Kindness is the hardest thing to accept because it requires true vulnerability to feel it.
I swear I see my own soul in the depths of his eyes, storms chasing the sunset.
My Review:
I have the worst book hangover ever after working through all the feels of this one – oh my! Jewel E. Ann excels at breaking my heart and putting it back together, and she has accomplished this fete several times in each of her beautifully written stories. Her prose is profoundly poignant and heartbreaking, compelling, cleverly insightful, deliciously witty, and painfully perceptive.
Written from a dual POV I was quickly sucked into an addictive and angsty vortex and slotted into the thick of it, fully invested, completely immersed, and living within her characters’ skins while seeing through their eyes, and feeling their discomforts and shame when they struggled and failed, as all real people do. I am staggered by the agility and depth of her crafty storytelling and know it will take me some time to recover from the heady spell of her word voodoo. I’m reluctant to leave these characters behind. ...more
He was frightfully boring. And he made me boring. We were boring together. For some reason, I didn’t feel comfortable being myself wheFavorite Quotes:
He was frightfully boring. And he made me boring. We were boring together. For some reason, I didn’t feel comfortable being myself when I was around Dr. Miles. And, fine, I knew I would never be the belle of any ball. But I could be quick-witted and a decent conversationalist. There was just something about being in Dr. Miles’s presence that leeched all interesting thought from my head.
It was like having permission to stare when I’d spent a lifetime looking away.
I laughed lightly before remembering myself. I’d forgotten what this was like— being charmed by, Nicolas. I could feel him tugging the amusement out of me like a string.
My Review:
I keep trying to like period historical pieces as I loved Downton Abbey, but I struggled with this tale as constant angst is just not one of my favorite things. While I admired the feminism of the main protagonist, Eliza, I found her insecurity and emotional immaturity annoying and tiresome as her inner conflicts were pedantic and tedious. While the writing style was easy to follow, the storylines and pacing were incrementally slow, repetitive, and rather monotonous. I adored the effervescent and patient character of Nicholas but I wanted to sigh and give Eliza a kick in her bussle. ...more
My dad laughs. “I hate to break it to y’all, but she never oohed and ahhed over any of you like she does this baby. What they say, aboFavorite Quotes:
My dad laughs. “I hate to break it to y’all, but she never oohed and ahhed over any of you like she does this baby. What they say, about grandkids being your reward for making it through parenthood, is right.”
Those Erickson boys are finer than a frog hair split four ways… or five, I guess.
I will not cry today. I know the old song about it being my party and I can cry if I want to, but I don’t want to.
My Review:
The storylines were carefully built and slowly paced although still engaging. The storylines featured and carried over endearing and authentic characters from previous installments. The main character of Willow was admirable yet also rather heavy on the angst, which isn’t one of my favorite things, although I enjoyed the arc of her blossoming confidence and steamy romance and appreciated the welcome hits of wit and humor provided in the other characters' encounters. There is one more brother to go, the grumpiest of the bunch, I’m already curious....more
She tried the front door, expecting it to be unlocked for some reason, but found that they’d locked up before leaving. Seems silly to Favorite Quotes:
She tried the front door, expecting it to be unlocked for some reason, but found that they’d locked up before leaving. Seems silly to think about securing a house when the thing you’d most want to secure it against already happened. That’s like coming in from a bad storm and putting on a rain coat.
A little known thing about crime scenes, which Dale had not been aware of previously herself, is that once the police are done asking questions, and stomping around photographing things, marking things of interest to test or dust for prints, they leave you with the mess. Anytime you hear of a neighborhood shooting, or a suicide, or an arson, just picture people, on the darkest days of their lives, having to clean up all that horror.
That’s a thing that you don’t fully realize, until you’ve lost someone very close to you. It’s a thing that’s almost impossible to even describe. The away-ness of death. The gone-ness of it? It’s otherworldly. Ghostly, as a whole. like you yourself are a little less part of the living, just for having taken in the cold loss that it leaves behind.
My Review:
Other than a rather gruesome scene at the beginning and the first few chapters dealing with the aftermath, the storylines are mainly one woman’s inner musings and personal struggle with grief. While there were glimmers of keen insights and her profoundly visceral reactions to touchstones, the vast majority of the writing ground down into a rather tedious recitation of the minutiae of her deep depression as her life fell apart. I was invested in the first third of the book and felt the potential, but not being a fan of constant angst, I found the remainder to be rather dull while I kept waiting for something to spark. Alas, the last two-thirds of the book failed to engage....more
I had no idea what my face was doing. In my mind, my eyes were wide with disbelief, my mouth opening and closing like a fish, my nostrFavorite Quotes:
I had no idea what my face was doing. In my mind, my eyes were wide with disbelief, my mouth opening and closing like a fish, my nostrils flaring with a barely contained exasperation. But outwardly, I must have been maintaining some semblance of control, because my brother was grinning at me like they’d just presented me with the greatest gift.
A four-year-old had lapped me twice and I officially left the last of my dignity back with my real shoes. I wasn’t going to see it again as long as I was wearing these wheeled bad boys.
Pat did appear to like animals way more than people. I had no doubt that she’d dangle a small toddler in front of an alligator if one came up the street.
I don’t regret giving you my heart, Phoebe. I just wish you’d taken more care with it.
My Review:
No serial killers were harmed, nabbed, or met during this story, although the main character of Phoebe had a somewhat disturbing lifelong fascination with them, to the extent of making them the focus of her doctoral dissertation on True Crime. Can you say, twisted sister?
These cleverly constructed and slyly paced storylines contained an odd dichotomy with an extremely angsty, graceless, and dark main character fleshed out and implanted into wryly humorous observations, heart-squeezing inner musings, a fledgling romance she wanted no part of, smoking hot sensual love scenes, and smirk-worthy comedic scenarios.
Phoebe was an acquired taste and difficult to fully appreciate most of the time as she was a smart yet prickly nerd with a sharp tongue. She was socially awkward and inwardly focused, yet self-sabotaging. I wanted to give her a pinch or ten and smack her with my Kindle more than once. Although she began to grow on me, bit by bit. Alicia Thomspon is a wily and insightful raconteur....more
He was covered in tattoos. They didn’t just peek out of the sleeves of his shirt. No, this man wore his tattoos like clothes. They blaFavorite Quotes:
He was covered in tattoos. They didn’t just peek out of the sleeves of his shirt. No, this man wore his tattoos like clothes. They blanketed his arms and came out of the top of his shirt and onto his neck.
My finger brushed the paper and I felt a spark of something. Something that felt bigger than me… It was like coming alive. It was electric and it lit me up from the inside until I felt like all of the stars above my head were suddenly all living inside of me.
He was one big contradiction I couldn’t get enough of. His tattoos and attitude screamed bad boy, but his mind? It screamed nerd. I loved it.
I don’t just love you to that moon and back, baby. I love you to Pluto and back even if it would take me nineteen years to get there and back.
“Man, if I knew all it took was coffee to get a proclamation of love, I would have started with that sooner.” She took the coffee from my hand while holding up the blanket with the other and shot me a sassy look. “This isn’t just coffee, Adam. This is nectar of the gods.”
My Review:
Sizzle and snap, this was smokin’ hot and fever-inducing. While the first installment was angsty YA, the second half was adult-rated with breath-stealing sensuality and angsty adulting. Oddly, I didn’t seem to mind despite my abhorrence of constant contrived conflict. The characters were sympathetic and endearingly appealing while struggling with relevant issues, although I did want to give them each a few smacks to the back of the head from time to time. I adored Adam, he was such a romantic. The storylines were angsty yet intriguing and taut with flinch-inducing family drama and tensions that remained tautly held throughout. I had trouble putting my Kindle down. Amie Knight has mad skills. ...more
He was covered in tattoos. They didn’t just peek out of the sleeves of his shirt. No, this man wore his tattoos like clothes. They blaFavorite Quotes:
He was covered in tattoos. They didn’t just peek out of the sleeves of his shirt. No, this man wore his tattoos like clothes. They blanketed his arms and came out of the top of his shirt and onto his neck.
My finger brushed the paper and I felt a spark of something. Something that felt bigger than me… It was like coming alive. It was electric and it lit me up from the inside until I felt like all of the stars above my head were suddenly all living inside of me.
He was one big contradiction I couldn’t get enough of. His tattoos and attitude screamed bad boy, but his mind? It screamed nerd. I loved it.
I don’t just love you to that moon and back, baby. I love you to Pluto and back even if it would take me nineteen years to get there and back.
My Review:
I am devastated and would be fuming at the heinous cliffhanger if I didn’t already have the next installment locked and loaded on my beloved Kindle. I rarely peruse YA and I initially felt a bit tricked into reading a genre I generally avoid, but I soon didn’t mind that at all. The storylines were angsty yet intriguing and taut with flinch-inducing family drama and tensions that remained tautly held throughout. I had trouble putting my Kindle down. Amie Knight has mad skills. ...more
Something was expected of her, something that might change the course of what was transpiring, but whatever it was felt just out of reFavorite Quotes:
Something was expected of her, something that might change the course of what was transpiring, but whatever it was felt just out of reach, like a word one might search for and though it shimmies around the tongue, it can’t be called up.
His voice is a painful thing in my ear that has settled in the corners of my mind like broke glass. I cannot bear the feel of his words.
She reaches across the table and takes his hand in hers. It’s so big, has always been so big around hers. She squeezes and he lifts his other hand from his lap, places it over hers. She knows now that she had been miraculously caught in the depths of a fall, cushioned by this man with the deepest of hearts.
My Review:
This was an intensively emotive read that was so perceptively written it was startling. I tumbled right into this itchy, prickly, and heart-squeezing tale and I grew to love these oddly compelling and uniquely crafted personalities. The characters weren’t people I would ordinarily seek out to spend time with yet they become so very knowable to me and I found their story addictive and gripping.
The storylines were cunningly crafted and maddeningly paced with intriguing, painful, and cringe-worthy elements that will stay with me for quite some time. Yet even those uncomfortable events were painted in an uncommonly personable and deeply observant manner and were so very thoughtfully presented that I found an odd wetness seeping from my eyes and hot rocks in my throat as I gasped to catch my breath. I am astounded by the quality and depth achieved by a first-time novelist. Shawn Nocher is definitely one to watch and was quickly added to my list of new favorites....more
Magda was shouting. She never shouted. Her eyes were black and hard, as if someone else was using them.
It’s come at a price, believe mFavorite Quotes:
Magda was shouting. She never shouted. Her eyes were black and hard, as if someone else was using them.
It’s come at a price, believe me – being with men whose values are as twisted as Himmler’s corrodes a little piece of your soul. But if it means I can help decent men keep their jobs and old friends get to safety, close is where I have to be.
He was of medium height and medium build and his hair was thinning. He had the kind of pasty complexion that suggested long hours in dark rooms. He was so completely unremarkable, he didn’t seem real.
That’s the worst of these things, Nina; that’s what I never wanted you to have to learn. There’s always a choice that isn’t a choice. It’s always impossible to save everyone.
There has been talk of a memorial on the platform the death trains went out of, but… Every time a plaque is installed there, it gets stolen. Sometimes I wonder what kind of people are still living here.
My Review:
This was an intense and tragic read yet Ms. Hokin’s writing was extraordinarily poignant, well-crafted, and thrummed with a taut and anxious tone throughout due to the constant peril her characters faced in both timelines. The storylines were rife with family drama, intrigue, subterfuge, and the constant danger of discovery. I was quite taken by the quality of the characters' development as the individuals were realistically flawed and believable human beings who made serious errors yet were well-intentioned and endearing, even though I often wanted to give them a pinch or two. ...more
Dad hated bears, Mum hated golf, and I was pretty certain they hated each other.
Kirsty begged me to take her back... It was a differenFavorite Quotes:
Dad hated bears, Mum hated golf, and I was pretty certain they hated each other.
Kirsty begged me to take her back... It was a different technique each time from tears to seduction to pleading temporary insanity because she loved me so much and couldn’t bear being away from me. I never understood that logic. If you miss someone, you send them a text, you look at a photo, you sniff their clothes. You don’t play a game of hide the sausage dressed as a canine.
My Review:
I devoured this engaging and captivating tale, it was full of interesting and heart-squeezing storylines that while tragic and angsty, were so well written and expertly tempered with levity and quirkiness that I didn't seem to mind at all. I adored the main characters although there was a period where I wanted to give Jemma a few hard pinches and a much-needed kick to her posterior to dislodge her cranium. The path of this couple's relationship was a zigzag route of false starts and bad timing, and I wanted to groan with frustration for them with each near miss. The writing was easy to follow, informative, well-paced, and held my complete attention throughout. I adored the gradual melding of Flash Gordon/Thor/Indiana Jones and the Deputy Head Bear-Keeper. And I scored two fun new additions to my Brit word list with tiddly which is slightly drunk, and nithered which is used in northern UK and Scotland to describe the effects of extreme cold such as intense shivering....more
Her dress probably cost more than my monthly salary, and I didn’t even have to look down to know that her nails had been My Rating:
3.5
Favorite Quotes:
Her dress probably cost more than my monthly salary, and I didn’t even have to look down to know that her nails had been buffed and polished more than even her wine glasses at home. And those were meticulously polished daily with silk cloths and steam from filtered water by housekeepers wearing gloves.
Clayton may be eye candy, but Andrew was some weird whole-person candy for me.
One thing that I had learned while dating Clayton— you didn’t need to be best friends with someone to share gossip. Drama was the most infectious of diseases, and no amount of social distancing could eradicate it, only slow the rate of spread.
I hadn’t realized until now how exhausting it was to argue with yourself. You knew all about your own weaknesses and, unlike arguing with others, you couldn’t slam the door and leave.
My Review:
I struggled with this one and am waffling in how to rate it as while I enjoyed the clever lashings of humor and sensual steam, the emotional tones were far from balanced due to the overload of angst and constant conflict, which is just not my jam. But if angst is your friend, you would most likely be a happy camper and bouncing in your chair. Amongst the angst, poignant heart-squeezing threads were noted and Ms. Wen’s smoking hot sensual scenes had me gasping during their happier phases.
The storylines were original and the writing was easy to follow, colorfully described, and pulled sharp visuals to my mind’s eye throughout perusal. The main characters were likable but as a couple, they took turns annoying me with their on-again/off-again, back and forth, and panic modes became a bit tedious, yet I remained invested in the story and curious about the mysterious secrets they each hid from the other....more
Nothing got past the old folks in this town. They might have been deaf, but they heard everything; blind but somehow could see a trespFavorite Quotes:
Nothing got past the old folks in this town. They might have been deaf, but they heard everything; blind but somehow could see a trespasser from a mile away.
I don’t want him digging into my past for dirt because my life is a damn landfill.
With a glance around, he leaned in and spoke in a lower voice. “I might not seem like it, but I’m not terrible with women.” “Don’t let him lie to you,” Gypsy said from a few tables away. “He’s terrible. Clueless, really. He hasn’t even asked me out yet.” She continued to eat her garlic knots, her brows high and incredulous. “I’ll get to it when I’m ready!” He turned away from her and hunched his shoulders. “See? Can’t even keep ‘em away.”
“The quiet ones are always trouble.” Gypsy laughed. “They’re tougher nuts to crack, but well worth it.” “I think you’re the only nut here,” Roy said over his shoulder, “and you’ve already cracked!”
My Review:
This installment was quite busy and had a bit of everything; tragedy, a fledgling romance, a newly minted family, decades of toxic family drama, piles of angst, and welcome hits of humor and Ms. Collins’s unique brand of snark. The storylines were easy to follow and alternated between causing me to smirk and squeezing my heart. I adored Bayden, he was the perfect, highly supportive, and extremely patient BBF. He was so perfect he could only exist in a book. I am enjoying this new series and already curious to see what will be coming next with brother number three. ...more
Since my husband’s death, I’d been making foolish decisions. Buying stuff I didn’t need, not being able to follow my instincts, losingFavorite Quotes:
Since my husband’s death, I’d been making foolish decisions. Buying stuff I didn’t need, not being able to follow my instincts, losing and misplacing things, my brain scatty and unfocused. I couldn’t rely on myself to do the right thing. It’s a strange feeling when you can’t trust your intuition anymore. I was a cat without whiskers, a black sky without stars.
There were several “Klinics,” though, in and around Zurich. One was a sort of “quack” place— not that I’m against alternative medicine— but when someone has stage four cancer, a colonic irrigation, suction massages, and injections of mistletoe (really?) are unlikely to do the trick.
My Review:
I struggled with this book, valiantly I might add, as I despised ALL the characters, and I do mean ALL of them. I only had positive feelings for the dog. The human characters were either manipulative and vile beings, stone-cold sociopaths, selfishly annoying, or in the case of the main character - incredibly limited in functioning brain cells. One character had snarkily noted, “How you ever got to be an attorney, I’ll never know” I had the same thought - all the way through - how could she have been so gullible?
But then again, I couldn’t seem to help myself either. I wanted to unravel this tangled mess as I was curious to know the real secrets buried beneath all the sinister maneuvering and deceit, and I had a feeling those secrets would be huge. While the pacing of the vast majority of this tense tale was agonizingly slow, the last few chapters zipped and pinged with action-packed and clever twists and reveals that almost made up for the disappointing lead-up, almost. The wily author did keep me reading with cunning elements and an intriguing premise, but the framing and tedious execution were a disappointment and could have been so much better. ...more
I’m worried. A man packing a woman’s bag with what he feels is deemed necessary can only lead to disaster.
My Review:
I struggled, and vaFavorite Quote:
I’m worried. A man packing a woman’s bag with what he feels is deemed necessary can only lead to disaster.
My Review:
I struggled, and valiantly I might add, but this story just wasn’t my cup of Darjeeling as it was a full-on angst fest with painful and OTT wallowing, and angst is not, and will never be, my friend. As such, the first 30% was bordering on torture, but that was nothing compared to the tragedies that later befell the deeply mired characters and tossed the story into a listless stall. Sigh, the storylines were heaving with devastation, loss, family dysfunction, depression, and keening grief. However, I was rewarded for making it to the end as the satisfying HEA that was all the sweeter.
I have no intention of being cruel, really I don’t, I never do. The sad reality is that often our behavior will do it for us, unwilled Favorite Quote:
I have no intention of being cruel, really I don’t, I never do. The sad reality is that often our behavior will do it for us, unwilled and unwilling. My silence is the very best example.
My Review:
Never have I read prose so elegantly detailed with an uncommon poignancy of tiny movements that continually plucked at my heartstrings while taunting my inquisitive nature to an unbearable level. The characters were devastatingly fractured, highly idiosyncratic, and oddly captivating. Narrated from a dual POV in two separate sections, each was evocatively written in an arresting style that held me transfixed to my Kindle while growing increasingly fretful and taut with tension. Ms. Greaves is a crafty and cunning wordsmith who kept me ensnared and suspended in an eager and avid state of curiosity. I was engaged, engrossed, and intrigued by the characters, their history, and the prickly and precarious unfolding story of their guarded present. And all this from a debut author. I am in complete and utter awe. ...more
… she had seemed jumpier than a bag full of frogs.
Don’t make any jokes, but I really did fall and couldn’t get back up.
We’re all afraiFavorite Quotes:
… she had seemed jumpier than a bag full of frogs.
Don’t make any jokes, but I really did fall and couldn’t get back up.
We’re all afraid, Olivia… You can’t make it through life without it. The trick is figuring out that the thing you need is just on the other side of that fear. The only way you can reach it is by going right through the center of it.
My Review:
While the premise of the story was interesting and topical, I struggled with this book and not that the writing wasn’t up to par, as the author’s writing style was easy to follow. My issue is more to do with my personal preference as high angst and constant discord just isn’t my jam, and this tale was heavily loaded with both internal and interpersonal conflicts as well as annoyingly stubborn characters. The storylines were relevant and relatable yet developed ever so slowly with considerable repetition and retreading of the five characters’ inner turmoil and protracted grief, which had me tapping my little foot while waiting for the tale to progress and the storylines to advance. It was at the 90% mark when all systems finally hit their boiling point and - Whoa Nelly! The secrets were uncovered and feelings were revealed at a rather furious and frantic rate as I thankfully hurdled toward that highly prized HEA conclusion. ...more
Alicia came with him a few times, then suddenly stopped helping out. As far as I can tell, she’s very busy being a “media personality.Favorite Quotes:
Alicia came with him a few times, then suddenly stopped helping out. As far as I can tell, she’s very busy being a “media personality.” Given she hasn’t had an acting or modeling gig for at least a decade, “media personality” seems to mean she spends her mornings at the gym and her afternoons with her socialite friends, hoping she’ll make it into the frame of a paparazzi photo so she can complain about her lack of privacy.
Here, more than anywhere, I feel his absence. The room smells like Dad— his aftershave and deodorant linger in the air. This scent is warm hugs on sad days, and laughter over the breakfast bar, and suffering through the sheer boredom of the old black-and-white movie marathons he so loved to inflict upon us on rainy weekends.
Mrs. Hills and Aunt Nina insisted on taking me out for a bachelorette party the weekend before the wedding. I protested furiously at this, mostly because I wasn’t exactly excited by the idea of suffering through two octogenarians offering me sex advice.
“For your generation, these problems have names, and because they are defined, solutions can be found for them. But for my generation, we didn’t have access to those solutions and it made life endlessly complicated… and for women like your mother, endlessly cruel.” Two weeks ago I stuffed a script for Prozac into my tote bag, and it’s still there— resting between baby wipes and spare pacifiers and my purse. I clutch the strap tighter in my hand… Sometimes moments of change happen during quiet conversations like this, when a simple shift in perspective empowers you to make a choice you just haven’t been able to make before.
My Review:
I finished Kelly Rimmer's latest work with tears in my eyes and hot rocks in my throat, a condition I had experienced several times during my perusal of this poignant and keenly written piece. Poignant is the word that keeps circling in my gray matter, and while accurate, poignant falls short of doing justice to this thoughtful penned story. Let me add a few more adjectives and adverbs in my paltry attempt to express my scattered thoughts, including - profoundly insightful, real-world issues, extremely relevant, heart-squeezing, painfully honest, highly emotive, sensitively handled, cleverly nuanced, masterfully written, and brilliantly paced. Ms. Rimmer seems to have an adept and nimble skill at walking the line of both sides of a controversial subject and deftly and thoughtfully exposing the grim disparities, inequities, and nitty-gritty parts that neither side can ignore. I covet her mad skills and will ever remain her ardent fangirl for life. ...more
This tale was laden with blindly stubborn characters in conflict with each otheFavorite Quote:
Yeah, I’m a walking episode of Jerry Springer.
My Review:
This tale was laden with blindly stubborn characters in conflict with each other and angst, oh, the angst. Despite a heavy dose of my least favorite things, Ms. Michaels still managed to hold my attention with an enticing and interesting premise, complex and alluring characters, and heart-squeezing and sizzling plot lines. I’m already primed for the next brother’s installment. ...more
She wished she could grab a handful of his ashes and scatter them in all the places they’d loved. She wished they were like seeds and Favorite Quotes:
She wished she could grab a handful of his ashes and scatter them in all the places they’d loved. She wished they were like seeds and in planting them, they’d bring him back. That in sowing them in the quarters of the world that they’d loved, she’d be able to capture moments as if they were happening all over again. That by bringing him back in that way she’d feel that she was being held by him once again and somehow his seed would settle inside her and they’d go on to have the family they’d dreamed of.
‘You don’t want to talk about it because it hurts. Some things are better left unsaid. Some things are better dealt with by eating ice cream.’ And just like that, Tabitha had been schooled by a fifteen-year-old. Because how could she argue with that.
My Review:
This was a slowly evolving and heart-squeezing women’s fiction tale of loss and family drama. This stubborn young widow must have lost her mind for taking on two obnoxious, challenging, and troubled fifteen-year-olds twins and a medically involved newborn as her first attempt at fostering children; in addition to living out in the middle of nowhere and without transportation. I would have needed a fully stocked wine cellar, bars on the windows, and an Uber and therapist on speed dial before even considering such an insane scheme. This was my introduction to the taut storytelling of Catherine Miller, and her angsty tale was thoughtfully and perceptively written with observant insights while teasing and poking at my curiosity as she doesn’t let us in on the actual events of the day that changed everything until 84% into the book, and by then, I had puzzled out the correct scenario that was, thankfully, far afield of my initial assumption. ...more