Right Before Your Eyes

ELLEN SHANMAN

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Delta, 2007.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Had I not joined Parrot for dinner that night, everything would have been different.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I thought this was going to be a book along the lines of what’s often referred to as “women’s fiction”. I mean the title sounds like that’s what it will be. To my surprise, it was much more along the lines of “chick lit”. Not that there’s anything wrong with that - I’ve read and enjoyed a lot of chick lit in my day, though not recently, and it’s not something I seek out these days. But I gotta tell you, I loved this.

First off, Liza’s best friend is named Parrot. I mean, how perfect is that? No explanation of how she came to be named Parrot, or even if that is indeed her given name and not a nickname, though I believe it’s the former.

Liza is your typical chick lit heroine, and yet she’s not. She’s a playwright, though she has no career yet to speak of and supports herself temping. She’s funny, self-deprecating, everything a chick lit heroine is, and yet she’s a little deeper than many. Her aunt is a famous actress, and as much as she loves and admires her aunt she’s also a little put out that her aunt has not offered to use any of her connections to help Liza’s career move along. See, she may be a playwright, but she hasn’t actually written anything that anyone has seen.

Anyway, Liza and Parrot are at a restaurant one night where their conversation catches the attention of the preppy Wall Street Ivy League guys at the next table who snicker, then invite them to a bar. Parrot latches onto one of the guys, leaving Liza standing at the curb with another, George, and anxious to get away, she slips and wrenches her ankle. George insists on taking her to the hospital, and while sitting in the waiting room they bicker and bicker, until finally Liza is called back and George leaves. And now she meets Dr. Tim. And wow, he’s just awesome, and they have some cute banter.

Since Parrot is now dating George’s friend Kirk, George and Liza occasionally cross paths, and he’s an ass and Liza hates him. He always seems to be laughing at her, and she always seems to look like an idiot in front of him. I liked Dr. Tim, I did, but the more Liza saw of George the more I looked forward to seeing him again. I’m a big fan of bickering banter, and Liza and George were both pros at that.

“Parrot told me.” “I was afraid you were inside my head.” “Not yet. I’m not going in there unarmed.”

But it’s not all about Dr. Tim and George. There’s Liza’s career, as someone finally wants to put on one of her plays, and then a reality TV show about the theater wants to focus an episode on the director and follow him through the casting process, rewrites, etc., to the opening, but things don’t go quite as Liza expects. I guess she doesn’t watch reality TV, because who in the world would thing that’s going to end well.

I’ll stop now. I realize this book isn’t for everyone, but it was definitely for me, and I’m really sad the author apparently only wrote one other book.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Outspoken playwright Liza Weiler left Yale with everything she thought she needed to make her mark on the New York stage. So why, nearly a decade later, is she answering phones in a convent, sharing an apartment with a sanctimonious museum curator, and waiting for her “real” life to finally begin? The truth is, Liza is a little too close to the specter of failure, standing in the shadows of her legendary actress aunt and firebrand best friend, Parrot, and constantly comparing herself to any number of people who just seem braver, happier, and more sure-footed than she is.

But like any great drama, Liza’s life only needs one good twist. Which is exactly what happens when she turns her ankle on the way out of a downtown nightspot and falls into the arms, nearly simultaneously, of a suspiciously gallant Wall Street prince and a practically perfect ER doc. Suddenly Liza not only has a couple of men in her life, but her play has fallen into the hands of an uber-hip theater director. All this is pointing toward a spectacular ending, but perfection isn’t Liza’s thing. So now she’s going to discover how much of a mess she can make of a seemingly good thing...and how terrifying, slightly tragic, and utterly hilarious a little success can be.

Derailed

 JAMES SIEGEL

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Warner Books, 2002.

How acquired: Bought

First line: I spend five days a week teaching English at East Bennington High and two nights a week teaching English at Attica State Prison. 

(For Goodreads synopsis, scroll down.)

My thoughts: I bought this book way back in 2008 because I had watched the movie. I always want to read a book after I watch the movie adaptation because the book is (almost) always better. By the time I finally pulled this book off the shelf to read, I realized I had almost zero memory of the movie, other than the fact that Clive Owen's character has an affair with Jennifer Aniston's character. 

Normally I wouldn't have much sympathy for a man who cheated on his wife, but the author made me actually care about Charles and feel sorry for him when his life started imploding. On a Monday morning Charles boards the train, and then realizes when the conductor comes around that he's forgotten to buy a ticket. The lovely Lucinda steps forward and pays his fare for him. And so begins an acquaintance which turns into a few meals together, which turns into a hot tryst at a hotel, which turns into their worst nightmare. 

I loved the writing, the author's voice. I was sucked in fast and mesmerized, as Charles' life goes off the rails. I was rooting for him. I don't want to say much more. If you read this book, you need to experience it the way I did, not knowing what would happen next, thinking Charles might have a handle on it, things might be ok now, and then there's a twist and the unexpected happens. 

It's dark, I'll tell you that. The scene in the hotel room, when Charles and Lucinda are about to leave after their tryst and the first unexpected happening happens, is horrifying and a bit graphic. If I didn't have a job to go to, I think I could've read this book straight through in one or two days. 

I have got to find more of Mr. Siegel's books. 

Goodreads synopsis: Successful ad exec and loyal family man Charles Schine has never missed the 8:43...until today. He's late for his usual ride, but he's right on time for his worst nightmare. Sitting across from him on the 9:05 is the type of woman he's only dared to dream about. He takes a risk, breaks a vow, and soon his life is spiraling violently out of control. He betrays his family. A man is murdered. And a small fortune is lost. Now Charles must begin the most perilous journey of all--the fight to get his life back on track. 

In a Holidaze

CHRISTINA LAUREN

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, Gallery Books; Unexpected publication 10/6/20. 

How acquired: NetGalley. 

(For the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

My thoughts: I was excited to read this after seeing the synopsis - “Love Actually meets Groundhog Day” - and because I've heard so many things about the authors but hadn't yet read any of their books. 

It took me a bit to get into the story, partly because there are so many people staying at the cabin that I had a little trouble keeping up with who was who. But once the object of Mae's affection is elevated from supporting character to central, I got swept up very fast. And then it didn't take long for all the other characters to get straightened out in my head. 

I have nothing bad to say about this book. I loved Mae, and after she wishes for the universe to show her what would make her happy and jumpstarts the time traveling, I was a little excited everytime she woke up to find herself back on the plane, flying to the cabin for the holidays. Her reaction after one of those times made me laugh out loud. This was just a fun read. Whether Mae was talking one on one with Theo or Andrew, the sons of her parents' best friends, or when everyone was together in a big group. I'm not a cold weather person and do not care for snow at all other than to just look at, but the contest to build the best snow creature seemed like a lot of fun, as did the scavenger hunt.

A couple of themes of the book, in my opinion, are family and tradition. Mae's parents have been friends with Theo and Andrew's parents since college, along with two of the other men at the cabin, one here with his own family, and the other, Benny, who quickly became my favorite. Theo and Andrew's parents own the cabin, and the group have been spending Christmas there together every year as long as Mae can remember. They're not all related by blood, but they are chosen family. But as Mae relives the days, some of the traditions – that snow building contest, for example - get shaken up, with happy results. Learning that this may be the last year they all get to spend at the cabin, however, devastates Mae. Another theme that fit the story was finding yourself. Mae had to do some soul searching to figure out what she was doing wrong each time she got sent back in time, and ultimately what needed chaning in her life.  

A wonderful, feel good book, that had me crying happy tears at the end. 

Goodreads synopsis: It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Touch of Smoke

KARISSA LAUREL

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Red Adept Publishing, 2019.

How acquired: Received from the author for review.

First line: The day I left Evansville, I twisted my rearview mirror until it reflected the ceiling of my daddy's '61 Apache and not the road behind me.

My thoughts: Isn't that cover gorgeous?

The paranormal aspect of this romance unfolded very slowly, and I loved the way that happened. Rikki has returned home to Evansville after being away three years. Arriving in town, she's greeted with a little hostility and a lot of hurt from her friends and family over the way she took off. She's here to face her demons and get some answers about the death of her best friend. The narrative jumps back and forth between the present and the past. We follow Rikki apprehensively greeting her mother, her friends, and her former love, Owen, who she blames for Mina's death. In between those chapters, we go back three years and follow Rikki as she first meets and falls for Owen. There are hints about the paranormal aspect sprinkled throughout the two narratives, and we gradually learn more about Owen and his abilities. And when it's finally revealed just exactly what Owen is, or rather why Owen is the way he is, it was quite a departure from the usual paranormal tropes.

Owen is also former military, which ticks one of my boxes, and I was quickly enamored with him. And I really liked Rikki as well. Watching their relationship slowly develop was fun.

“I'm named after my dad.”

"Was he hoping for a boy?”

I balled a fist. “Were you hoping for a fat lip?”

Along with a little humor there's a bit of brooding and plenty of angst without dipping into depressive.

But the ending threw me a little. The narrative is in first person POV from Rikki, and the logical part of my brain couldn't understand how Rikki could be telling us the story at the point. Unless there will be a sequel or a second book. We don't necessarily get an HEA, but there is the possibility of one so that didn't bother me.

Overall, I enjoyed this romance from a new to me author. Her other books, based on the synopses I read, sound a little intriguing but not something I would normally choose to read, not being a big fan of mythology, but I liked her writing here well enough that if I come across them I'm very likely now to pick them up. And I do hope that there will be another book about Rikki and Owen, or at least set in their world. I'd gladly read about Luke next.

Goodreads synopsis: Three years ago, Rikki Albemarle watched her best friend die at the hands of a supernatural evil. Certain she was slated to be the next victim, Rikki fled her small Smoky Mountain hometown, vowing to never come back. Plagued by nightmares and knowing she's the only one who believes Mina's death was no accident, Rikki returns with hopes of finding answers and holding the killer accountable.

Rikki is convinced the key to unlocking the secret of Mina's death lies with Owen Amir, the alluring young army vet who once claimed her heart. But the deeper Rikki digs into Owen's past, the more she's torn between the urgings of her heart and her memories of him on the night Mina died.

After falling further into the rabbit hole, Rikki lands at the feet of an ancient and powerful evil determined to finish what it started years before. To survive, she'll have to make a decision: believe Owen is the monster she always feared he might be or trust him enough to stay and fight for a second chance at love.

Into the Jungle

ERICA FERENCIK

Stats for my copy: egalley, Simon & Schuster, 2019.

How acquired: Received from the publisher via NetGalley for review.

My thoughts: I loved THE RIVER AT NIGHT, by this same author, so much that when I saw this on NetGalley I immediately requested it without even bothering to read the synopsis.

This book could be subtitled Everything You Never Thought You Wanted to Know About the Amazon Jungle. Talk about harsh living. I can't imagine I would last even a week in the conditions that Lily and Omar lived in.

Omar is a native Amazonian. Lily is an American who has recently aged out of the foster care system and is living in Bolivia, working in a hostel for room and board with two other young girls. She has a meet cute with Omar one night and falls in love. When tragedy strikes the small village of Ayachero, where Omar is from, Lily travels home with him. She's not particularly welcomed by most of the villagers. Omar's mother in particular does not care for her at all.

From there we get an eye-opening look at daily life in the jungle, where a majority of a person's time is spent just surviving. The descriptions of the jungle and the myriad plants and creatures found there are evocative. Lily is an incredibly strong protagonist. Growing up in the foster care system hardened her, but Omar gets past all her defenses and sweeps her into a quick moving romance. You know it had to be true love if she's happy making a home in a remote village where the heat can be oppressive and the work is never ending. 

I very much liked both Lily and Omar. Told in first person POV, we get to know Lily very well. It's a great character study, with plenty of action thrown in. The secondary characters, seen through Lily's eyes, are also well written, from villagers to missionaries to evil poachers to an amusing river pilot named For God's Sake. They are all quite vivid.

And then along with all the hardships to overcome there's heart breaking tragedy. I can't imagine wanting to ever visit the Amazon, but I am quite interested in reading more about life there. I look forward to whatever Ms. Ferencik comes up with next!

Goodreads synopsis: Lily Bushwold thought she’d found the antidote to endless foster care and group homes: a teaching job in Cochabamba, Bolivia. As soon as she could steal enough cash for the plane, she was on it.

When the gig falls through and Lily stays in Bolivia, she finds bonding with other broke, rudderless girls at the local hostel isn’t the life she wants either. Tired of hustling and already world-weary, crazy love finds her in the form she least expected: Omar, a savvy, handsome local man who’d abandoned his life as a hunter in Ayachero—a remote jungle village—to try his hand at city life.

When Omar learns that a jaguar has killed his four-year-old nephew in Ayachero, he gives Lily a choice: Stay alone in the unforgiving city, or travel to the last in a string of ever-more-isolated river towns in the jungles of Bolivia. Thirty-foot anaconda? Puppy-sized spiders? Vengeful shamans with unspeakable powers? Love-struck Lily is oblivious. She follows Omar to this ruthless new world of lawless poachers, bullheaded missionaries, and desperate indigenous tribes driven to the brink of extinction. To survive, Lily must navigate the jungle--its wonders as well as its terrors—using only her wits and resilience.

Restoree

ANNE MCCAFFREY

Goodreads synopsis: SHE WAS A RESTOREE

KIDNAPPED  Torn from Earth by a bizarre and nameless black force, Sara had no idea where she was or why she was in a beautiful new body...

ENSLAVED  Controlled by brutal guards and tamed by terror, she could not comprehend her role as a nurse for a man who appeared to be an idiot...

AWAKENED  But once she discovered that the plane she had been brought to was Lothar and that the man she was caring for was its Regent, Sara knew they had to escape -- and fast.

And when they did, they became fugitives on a world of multiple evils -- bound together on a daring adventure that would either join them for all time...or separate them forever!

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Del Rey Books, 1982.

How acquired: Book Mooch.

First line: The only warning of danger I had was a disgusting wave of dead sea-creature stench.

My thoughts: When I was young, late teens/early twenties I think, I devoured all of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books, but I never read any of her other books. About ten years ago I did read one of her non-science fiction/fantasy books, THE LADY, which I enjoyed. But after starting a reread of the Pern books, I decided I wanted to branch out and began collecting everything of hers I could find. RESTOREE was her first published novel, so it seemed like the perfect place to start.

The writing put me in mind of Mary Stewart, though I haven't read anything by Stewart in several years. Sara is walking in Central Park one minute, then the next minute she is nursemaid to a nearly catatonic man on a different planet, with her memories of the events in between hazy. For the first part of the book I was completely captivated as Sara becomes more aware of her surroundings and the man she is caring for, and then as she and Harlan escape from a sanitarium and travel to (relative) safety. After that, some of the fascination wore off as Sara found herself involved in the politics surrounding Harlan. But towards the end it picked up again, and overall I really enjoyed it.

I'm on a quest now to read all of Ms. McCaffrey's other books, preferably in publication order, which should probably take me about ten years or so! 

The Stepmother

CLAIRE SEEBER

Back cover copy: Jeanie and Matthew are a happily married couple who both have teenage children from previous relationships. No one said it would be easy to raise a blended family under one roof but Jeanie and Matthew are strong. They will make it work. And whilst Jeannie's stepdaughter Scarlett rejects her, Jeanie will just have to try harder to win her over. But Jeanie has a past. A terrible secret she thought she'd buried a long time ago. And now, it's coming to the surface, threatening to destroy her new marriage. Someone is playing a terrifying game on Jeanie and she must put a stop to it once and for all. After all, a fairytale needs a happy ending...Doesn't it?

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Bookouture, 2016.

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts: I went into this book with high hopes because I loved LULLABY, the only other book I've read by Ms. Seeber. Too high. The book never really gripped me until about the last eighth. I never connected with Jeanie, who narrates for us. Jeanie's sister, Marlena, also provides occasional narration, and I actually liked her better, even though we see less of her. The back cover copy says “Jeanie and Matthew are strong”, but I definitely did not get that impression of Matthew and I didn't like him at all. If his mother had been around he would've been a mama's boy, but instead he was still letting his ex call the shots.

I have several more of Ms. Seeber's books, and I will keep reading her, in hopes that LULLABY wasn't a one off. But if I'd read this one first, I wouldn't have rushed out and bought everything else of hers I could find.

The Poison Tree

ERIN KELLY

Back cover copy: In the sweltering summer of 1997, strait-laced, straight-A student Karen met Biba – a bohemian and impossibly glamorous aspiring actress. She was quickly drawn into Biba's world, a for a while life was one long summer of love. But every summer must end. By the end of theirs, two people were dead – and now Karen's past has come back to haunt her...

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Hodder & Stoughton, 2011.

How acquired: Via BookCrossing.

First line: I let the telephone fall from my hand.

My thoughts: And another fantastic new to me author! Claire Seeber, Peter Swanson, and now Erin Kelly. I've already hunted down and collected most of Seeber's and Swanson's back list (plus preordered Swanson's newest), and now my Discover card will get another workout as I hunt down everything Ms. Kelly has written. For a long time my go to has been romance, but these three authors are sending me on a new and wonderful path!

Told in first person POV by Karen, the narrative bounces back and forth between the present and the past. In the past, Karen meets Biba and is mesmerized by her, and by her Bohemian drug-fueled life's-a-party lifestyle. Not so much by Rex, though in the present we know that she and Rex are a couple and have a daughter. We also know that Rex was just released from prison for murder, but we don't know who died or when.

I love Ms. Kelly's writing, it's as mesmerizing as Biba is to Karen. As Karen tells us her story, she drops tantalizing little hints or alludes to something that happens later, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat waiting for the big reveal, and grasping at each secret that finally came to light. Guessing who would die, and then second guessing myself. With good reason, as I was completely wrong.

A five star read for me, and I'm upset that none of the platforms I subscribe to - Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Acorn TV – have the movie version available! I need to see it! 

The Kind Worth Killing

PETER SWANSON

Synopsis from Goodreads: On a flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning Lily Kintner. Over martinis, the strangers play a game in which they reveal intimate details about themselves. But what begins as playful banter between Ted and Lily takes a turn when Ted claims, half-seriously, that he would like to kill his wife. Then Lily surprises him by saying that she’d like to help.

Back in Boston, Ted and Lily forge an unusual bond and talk about the ways Ted can get out of his marriage. But Lily has her own dark history she’s not sharing with Ted. As Ted begins to fall in love with Lily, he grows anxious about any holes in their scheme that could give them away. And suddenly the two are pulled into a very lethal game of cat and mouse, one in which both are not likely to survive when all is said and done.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, William Morrow, 2016.

How acquired: Borrowed from my mom.

First line: “Hello, there,” she said.

My thoughts: While at my mom's house, talking about a book we'd both recently read and loved (LULLABY, by Claire Seeber), I commented that it made me want to read more of that genre. My mom promptly disappeared into her room and reemerged with this book in hand. I started it the next day and whizzed through it.

The chapters start out alternating between Ted, who just discovered his wife is cheating on him with their contractor, and Lily, who he meets in an airport bar. The find themselves on the same flight, and Ted spills the whole story to Lily, admitting that he'd like to kill his wife. And Lily, rather than being shocked, says she will help him do so.

As they take turns narrating, both in first person POV, we learn more about how Ted and Miranda met, and Lily's unconventional family, along with some secrets from Lily's past (although she does not share that information with Ted). They plot and plan how to murder Miranda and Brad, the contractor, and when the time is almost nigh, holy plot twist! Something right out of left field, and the twists and turns just keep coming.

This is a fast paced and engrossing book. I feel like I can't say too much about what happens without getting spoilery, but I was glued to the pages. The character's narrative voices aren't very distinctive, but that's literally the only complaint I can come up with. A brilliant and unexpected read, and I've already pre-ordered the author's next book and bought one of his previous books. 

Michael Tolliver Lives (Tales of the City, Book 7)

ARMISTEAD MAUPIN

Synopsis from Goodreads: Michael Tolliver, the sweet-spirited Southerner in Armistead Maupin's classic Tales of the City series, is arguably one of the most widely loved characters in contemporary fiction. Now, almost twenty years after ending his ground-breaking saga of San Francisco life, Maupin revisits his all-too-human hero, letting the fifty-five-year-old gardener tell his story in his own voice.

Having survived the plague that took so many of his friends and lovers, Michael has learned to embrace the random pleasures of life, the tender alliances that sustain him in the hardest of times. Michael Tolliver Lives follows its protagonist as he finds love with a younger man, attends to his dying fundamentalist mother in Florida, and finally reaffirms his allegiance to a wise octogenarian who was once his landlady.

Stats for my copy: Hardback, HarperCollins, 2017.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Not long ago, down on Castro Street, a stranger in a Giants parka gave me a loaded glance as we passed each other in front of Cliff's Hardware.

My thoughts: I loved the first five Tales of the City books, but the sixth book was a disappointment for me. I did not like the person Mary Ann had become after being a local celebrity went to her head. By the end of the book I quite actively disliked her. But this seventh book, set twenty years later, is about Michael, and was just as enthralling as the first five books.

Unlike previous books, this one is just Michael's story, and the narrative is even in first person, his point of view. Other characters are still around of course – best friend Brian and his (and Mary Ann's) now grown daughter, Shawna, and an elderly Anna Madrigal. Thack is long gone, but Michael is still living in the same house, and is now married to the sweet and much younger Ben.

Michael tells us his story with wit and deprecation. We follow him to Florida, where he visits his ailing mother and ultra-religious brother and sister-in-law. Michael refers to them as the biologicals, and his other, more accepting and loving family, the characters mentioned above, as the logicals, a term I love.

My favorite quote in the book:

“As she fiddled with the piping on the slipcover I could see that her hands were the only place where her age was evident. I've noticed this about myself as well. We can fool ourselves about our changing faces, but our hands creep up on us. One day we look down at them and realize they belong to our grandparents.”

I had this exact revelation a couple of years ago, when I looked down one day and saw my grandmother's hand. Which overjoyed me, as I adored her and miss her.

Mary Ann is now living in Connecticut with her second husband, but she does make a brief appearance towards the end of the book, where she and Michael have an awkward and stilted reunion (and under trying circumstances), and then she breaks down and cries and insinuates that there was more to her moving away than the advancement of her career. She's not redeemed in my eyes, and I'm hesitant to pick up the next book, MARY ANN IN AUTUMN. But I do look forward to the last book, THE DAYS OF ANNA MADRIGAL, and I cannot skip a book in a series, so I'm just going to have to trust Mr. Maupin to bring Mary Ann full circle and make me like her again.

I zipped through this book in a day and a half, giving up some sleep to do so, something I don't have the energy for very often. But it was that good.

Lullaby

CLAIRE SEEBER

Synopsis from Goodreads: For Jess, the much-needed family outing with her wealthy husband and newborn Louis is a chance to get her troubled marriage back on track. But when Mickey takes Louis for a stroll, they don't come back. And the next time Jess sees her husband, he's in a hospital, his memory shattered…and he's the prime suspect in their son's disappearance. 

Amid a media frenzy and skeptical police, Jess is learning fast that disturbing secrets surround everyone she thinks she knows—her charming, unreliable brother; her envious sister; Louis's vivacious young nanny; and the elegant ex-wife Mickey won't discuss. The only thing Jess can trust is her desperate, determined instinct. For the clock is ticking down, and someone will do whatever it takes to make her precious baby boy their own…

Stats for my copy: Mass Market paperback, Worldwide Library Suspense, 2012.

How acquired: Borrowed from my mom.

First line: Later, I couldn't think whose idea it had been to visit the Tate that day.

My thoughts: I was sucked into this book from the first few pages. I probably never would've picked this book up based on the title or the cover, so I am so glad my mom recommended it and loaned me her copy! Not far in I kept thinking why had I not heard of this book before, or seen any buzz about it? Then I realized it was first published some ten years ago.

Jess and her husband, Mickey, and their eight month old son are having a rare day out together, when they get separated in a crowd, and then the husband and son just vanish. Mickey eventually turns up in a hospital, beaten and bruised, and with no memory of what happened.

The narrative is told by Jess in first person point of view, and her fear and terror at losing her son are palpable. As the search and police investigation drags on she becomes more and more desperate and unraveled. As you would when you're child is missing.

I loved Silver, the lead detective. I loved how he always called her “kiddo”, until she snapped at him to stop, and then the word still kept trying to slip out of his mouth. Jess was often frustrated with the investigation, feeling that the coppers aren't doing enough quick enough, which might be a natural reaction to the situation, but she also already had a dislike for and distrust of police to begin with. As we learn more about her background and her childhood the reason for that is slowly revealed.

A tense and gripping book, while also being a good character study. I think this is going onto my list of all time favorites, and I will definitely be looking for more of this author. 

The River at Night

ERICA FERENCIK

Synopsis from Goodreads: Winifred Allen needs a vacation.

Stifled by a soul-crushing job, devastated by the death of her beloved brother, and lonely after the end of a fifteen-year marriage, Wini is feeling vulnerable. So when her three best friends insist on a high-octane getaway for their annual girls’ trip, she signs on, despite her misgivings.

What starts out as an invigorating hiking and rafting excursion in the remote Allagash Wilderness soon becomes an all-too-real nightmare; a freak accident leaves the women stranded, separating them from their raft and everything they need to survive. When night descends, a fire on the mountainside lures them to a ramshackle camp that appears to be their lifeline. But as Wini and her friends grasp the true intent of their supposed saviors, long buried secrets emerge and lifelong allegiances are put to the test. To survive, Wini must reach beyond the world she knows to harness an inner strength she never knew she possessed.

With intimately observed characters and visceral prose, The River at Night “will leave you gasping, your heart racing, eyes peering over your shoulder to see what follows from behind” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author). This is a dark exploration of creatures—both friend and foe—that you won’t soon forget. 

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Gallery/Scout Press, 2017.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Early one morning in late March, Pia forced my hand.

My thoughts: I don't even know where to start. I'm not an outdoorsy person. I have a phobia of water that is over my head. I can't swim. I have no desire to camp out or commune with nature. I would never in a million years even consider going white water rafting. I would never survive in the wilderness. And this book just reinforced and justified all of that. But I do love to read survival stories, and this one is absolutely gripping. Not just the story, though. I loved the author's voice, her evocative way with words.

The hunter took us in one by one, as if we were words in a sentence he was trying to understand.

The narration is in first person POV by Wini, the most reluctant member of the trip. She'd much prefer to bask on a beach in the sun somewhere, but Pia, the natural leader of the group, enthusiastically drags them all to Maine, where they meet up with their guide for the trip. All four of the women are beautifully written, as are the descriptions of the terrain over which they must first hike, and of course the main character of the story, the vast, tumbling river.

In the distance, our destination: smoke-blue mountains obscured and then revealed by morning fog. I felt equally pulled and repelled. What did the mountains care about our plan to climb them, rafting the waters that divided them? They had eternity before us, and eternity after us. We were nothing to them.

The river isn't the only danger the group faces over three long days. But I feel like anything else I say would be a potential spoiler. So I'll just say this book is terrifyingly terrific.  

Down & Dirty (Lightning, Book 1)

TRACY WOLFF

Synopsis from Goodreads: This hard-bodied football star is used to scoring. But he needs all the right moves to get past a fiery redhead’s defenses in a steamy standalone novel from the bestselling author of Ruined.

Emerson: Talk about bad first impressions. I have too much riding on this job to show up late on my first day looking like the winner of a wet T-shirt contest, all thanks to an arrogant quarterback who drives like he owns the road. Hunter Browning thinks that because he’s famous, he can fix everything with a smile and a wave of his hand. He’s too bronzed, buff, and beautiful for his own good. Or mine. I can’t let on that I’m a fan . . . no matter how much fun we’d have in the sack.

Hunter: Hitting that puddle was my best play since winning the Super Bowl with a touchdown pass. Sure, it’s not my preferred way to get a girl wet, but I’ll make an exception for Emerson Day. She’s got a sharp tongue and a red-hot temper, even with her soaking clothes plastered to her every curve. Now I know exactly what my next play will be: hire Emerson as my personal real-estate agent, save her job—and see if I can take her off the market.

Stats for my copy: .pdf ARC, Loveswept, 2017.

How acquired: Instafreebie.

My thoughts: This story combined elements that I like with elements that I'm not crazy about, and it all worked. I love an alpha hero. Cocky, arrogant, bring it on. Professional football player and star quarterback Hunter delivers. Witty, cutting banter will always draw me in, and Hunter and Emerson delivered. I laughed out loud several times at their exchanges. A hero who enrages the heroine. Score another point for Hunter. A hero with young kids. Ok, they aren't actually Hunter's kids, but a niece and nephew are close enough. A heroine who turns her nose up at the hero's money and fame. While secretly awed (because she is a football fan), Emerson refuses to let that show, which of course makes her different from every other woman Hunter knows, and therefore more desirable. (Although there is a scene involving a hundred dollar bill that was hilarious.) Characters falling deeply in love in a very short period of time. Not a big fan of instalove, as I like watching a relationship grow, but doesn't bother me too much. First person point of view, present tense. My least favorite tense. But Ms. Wolff does it so well it didn't bother me at all. So score one for her.

Throw in some mega sexy times, and a lot of heart. I cried. More than once. Hunter is the kind of man I would find insufferable in real life, but as I got to know him, and to understand him, I adored him. The narrative alternates between Hunter's and Emerson's points of view, but I felt it was a little more his story than hers. Which was just fine by me. I loved this book. 

Summer Doctor

CHARLES H. KNICKERBOCKER

Synopsis from Goodreads: This is a novel about a very unusual kind of a doctor. Daniel van Dine, M.D., is inclined to wear coveralls, a flannel shirt, and hip-length fisherman’s boots, and he has a sense of humor. He is a nonconformist and a humanist with a keen sense of history. His religious inclinations are rather strong. He is constantly seeking the reason for human suffering and pain. He feels that a deeply personal doctor-patient relationship is more important than the glamor of medical progress.

Dr. Dan decides to locate on a remote island off the cost of Maine. Here, he will be very busy ten weeks out of every year, for Juniper Island is a summer resort. Here, also, he will be lonely, for the conditions in the winter are primitive and the island is inhabited then only by stubborn and cantankerous fishermen.

This is Dr. Dan’s own story of his first three years on Juniper Island. He treats his patients with compassion and individual understanding. He discovers that a doctor can learn more from his patients than he is ever taught in medical school.

Among his patients and neighbors are a much-married millionaire, a fisherman with a curious sense of ethics, a gloomy anthropologist, a violent artist, and a displaced cleric. Among the women who influence him are a city fashion editor, an ex-chorus girl, a spinster librarian, a gin-loving Indian midwife, and an unusual adolescent. One of these manages to marry him. Also, he owns a dog, a mangy hound answering to the unlikely name of Slob.

Dr. Dan tells his story with wit and wisdom. His career is one of growth, and he reaches certain conclusions of interest to doctors and patients alike.

Stats for my copy: Hardback, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1963.

How acquired: From my mom.

First line: “Where is this Juniper Island?”

My thoughts: Young doctor is discharged from military service after serving as a medic in the Korean war, and finds he has no desire to begin his civilian life practicing medicine in a big city where doctors and patients maintain a purely professional relationship and don't actually get to know each other. He remembers vacationing on Juniper Island as a child one summer, and decides to relocate, showing up on the island with no plans in place, nowhere to stay, and no way to actually get back and forth between the island and the mainland since the only bridge was washed away. But with the help of an local he quickly finds himself trading his brand new Thunderbird for an old rusty boat and a fixer upper of a house.

Dr. Daniel van Vine, or Doc as he becomes known, didn't really know what he was getting into, but I loved the way he just barged ahead practically on a whim and set up shop, or rather practice, in his new home on the island. The locals are all pretty colorful characters, and Dan's first person narrative about his interactions and exploits with them are amusing, and filled with lots of slightly philosophical ruminations on life. Some of the conversations about women and their role in society were quaint and antiquated, but the book was written over fifty years ago, so it didn't bother me. I am glad, however, that doctors today do not share Dan's belief that:

“...far too much attention is paid, by doctors and patients alike, to the problem of high blood pressure. I could practice just as good medicine, and my patients would live just as long, and more happily, if I threw away my blood pressure machine, but I don't dare.”

When my prescription for my blood pressure medication expired and I wasn't able to get it renewed right away I went off my medication for almost two weeks, and by the end of that second week I felt like I was going to have a heart attack if I did anything that required the least exertion!

Overall I really enjoyed this chatty and engaging book, and I think I'll look around for the author's other books.