Mini Review: Mrs. Saint and the Defectives by Julie Lawson Timmer

Mrs. Saint and the Defectives by Julie Lawson Timmer

Published: August 1, 2017

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Markie, a fortysomething divorcée who has suffered a humiliating and very public fall from marital, financial, and professional grace, moves, along with her teenage son, Jesse, to a new town, hoping to lick her wounds in private. But Markie and Jesse are unable to escape the attention of their new neighbor Mrs. Saint, an irascible, elderly New European woman who takes it upon herself, along with her ragtag group of “defectives,” to identify and fix the flaws in those around her, whether they want her to or not.

What Markie doesn’t realize is that Mrs. Saint has big plans for the divorcée’s broken spirit. Soon, the quirky yet endearing woman recruits Markie to join her eccentric community, a world where both hidden truths and hope unite them. But when Mrs. Saint’s own secrets threaten to unravel their fragile web of healing, it’s up to Markie to mend these wounds and usher in a new era for the “defectives”—one full of second chances and happiness.

My Thoughts

In Mrs. Saints and the Defectives, we met Markie who has decided to move to another town after a humiliating divorce with her son and is trying to pick her life back together and moving on. She decides she will move and keep to herself to lick her wounds but soon she realizes that nothing beats neighbors, most notably Mrs. Saint, who want to care and soon friendships blossom and Markie is richer than she ever realizes.

What I loved most about this novel is…well, everything! I loved the quirky neighbors and how they rally together to pull Markie out of her funk. I enjoyed how though Markie had everything in her previous life she now sees how much more she has since her fall from grace. She realizes that money isn’t everything and how friendships and people truly caring about you is worth more than anything in the world. This is truly a gem of a story one that is a pleasure to read and demands to shared with everyone.  

Review: The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer

The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer

Published: May 12, 2015

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Format: via Edelweiss

Challenges: 2015 NG/EW

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Sensible thirty-six-year-old Sophie Anderson has always known what to do. She knows her role in life: supportive wife of a successful architect and calm, capable mother of two. But on a warm summer night, as the house grows quiet around her and her children fall asleep, she wonders what’s missing from her life. When her husband echoes that lonely question, announcing that he’s leaving her for another woman, Sophie realizes she has no idea what’s next. Impulsively renting a guest cottage on Nantucket from her friend Susie Swenson, Sophie rounds up her kids, Jonah and Lacey, and leaves Boston for a quiet family vacation, minus one.

Also minus one is Trevor Black, a software entrepreneur who has recently lost his wife. Trevor is the last person to imagine himself, age thirty and on his own, raising a little boy like Leo—smart and sweet, but grappling constantly with his mother’s death, growing more and more closed off. Hoping a quiet summer on the Nantucket coast will help him reconnect with Leo, Trevor rents a guest house on the beautiful island from his friend Ivan Swenson.

Best-laid plans run awry when Sophie and Trevor realize they’ve mistakenly rented the same house. Still, determined to make this a summer their kids will always remember, the two agree to share the Swensons’ Nantucket house. But as the summer unfolds and the families grow close, Sophie and Trevor must ask themselves if the guest cottage is all they want to share.

My Thoughts

Sophie is blown away when her husband tells her he wants a divorce. She has always been a devoted wife and mother but when the news hits her she decides she wants time for herself and her kids, a summer of fun and relaxation for once without thinking of her husband first and their troubles at home. Due to a mix up she finds herself sharing a beach house with Trevor. Trevor whose eccentric wife has just died finds himself at the beach house trying to console his young son and his feelings about his mom. Two different people with two different sets of parenting come together seamlessly. From the start both just to fit together so well that you can’t help but want to see them get together.

I like how we see them deal with each other and their problems instead of sweeping them under the rug. They help each other where the one is weak the other is strong, building the ultimate friendship that is a must in any relationship but of course nothing goes off easy. There are problems they have to deal with, his… how will his son react…hers she still is married and does she want to start something so serious so soon plus she has  issues with the age gap…it’s only like 4 years [GET OVER IT Sophie!]

I have been a huge fan of Nancy Thayer for a while now but I must say this one is my favorites by a long shot. The characters are wonderful, the storyline is amazing and I just felt this was a complete and rich story and I couldn’t ask for anything more. This is a MUST summer read!

Review: The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

Expected Publication: June 17, 2014

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

With the glass kitchen, Linda Francis Lee has served up a novel that is about the courage it takes to follow your heart and be yourself. A true recipe for life.

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . . and never cook again. But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream. The Glass Kitchen is a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.

My Thoughts

*Warning*

Do not read this book while hungry! Scratch that even if you aren’t you will be at some point! This book is a wonderful tale of Portia who after getting divorce and trying to escape the gossip mill in Texas she flees to NYC to be near her sisters. After finding out her husband cheated on her with her best friend she tries to reevaluate her life. Raised by her grandmother Portia has this magic when it comes to food. She sees meals and has no ideal while but she knows she must just cook it for someone will need it. While she was married she suppressed these visions and was the ideal political wife to her husband, now that she is in NYC her visions are so powerful she can’t help but succumb to them.

She soon meets her neighbor Gabriel and his daughters who are recovering from a broken past of their own. As soon as she meets them her visions are off the charts, she soon is drawn to make dishes even though she has given up cooking. She forms a relationship with Ariel on of the daughters and soon one with Gabriel. Although they bump heads at first soon Gabriel and Portia’s chemistry is undeniable. Portia knows she is brought into their lives for a reason. Her meals not only heal them but herself as well.

Gabriel’s past has secrets of his own; he is dealing with being a single father to two teen girls and has no idea what he is doing. On top of that he is dealing with his mother and his younger brother who basically just wants money and will do anything to make Gabriel pay even if it means destroying the family. The secret is one that honestly I didn’t see coming.

One of the stars of this book is indeed the food. Talk about mouthwatering! However the food isn’t just there as simply food. Every ingredient tells a story. Every dish is as important as a character. The smells and taste takes one back to a time and place just like a song can. I love how there are even recipes at the end of the book….awesome!

This book is the perfect summer read. I love the idea of redemption, family, food and most importantly love. The idea of second chances runs although this book and how food brought it all together. This is one touching read that you will be dying for seconds when you’re done.

WoW [66]

Waiting on Wednesday [WoW] is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee  

Expected Publication: June 17, 2014

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Synopsis...

Linda Francis Lee has served up a novel that is about the courage it takes to follow your heart and be yourself.

A true recipe for life.

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . . and never cook again. But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream. The Glass Kitchen is a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.

Why I Can’t Wait…

One word Texas! I love any and everything that has to do remotely with my state. Plus I just seems like a great summer read and I need a some straight up fiction in my life right now.

Feel free to link me to yours, I love to see what’s the next big read.

Review: The Widow Waltz by Sally Koslow

The Widow Waltz by Sally Koslow

Published: June 13, 2013
Format: Finished copy via publisher
Publisher: Viking
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary via Goodreads

Georgia Waltz has things many people only dream of: a plush Manhattan apartment overlooking Central Park, a Hamptons beach house, valuable jewels and art, two bright daughters, and a husband she adores, even after decades of marriage. It’s only when Ben suddenly drops dead from a massive coronary while training for the New York City Marathon that Georgia discovers her husband—a successful lawyer—has left them nearly penniless. Their wonderland was built on lies.

As the family attorney scours emptied bank accounts, Georgia must not only look for a way to support her family, she needs to face the revelation that Ben was not the perfect husband he appeared to be, just as her daughters—now ensconced back at home with secrets of their own—have to accept that they may not be returning to their lives in Paris and at Stanford subsidized by the Bank of Mom and Dad. As she uncovers hidden resilience, Georgia’s sudden midlife shift forces her to consider who she is and what she truly values. That Georgia may also find new love in the land of Spanx and stretch marks surprises everyone—most of all, her.

 Sally Koslow’s fourth novel is deftly told through the alternating viewpoints of her remarkable female protagonists as they plumb for the grit required to reinvent their lives. Inspiring, funny, and deeply satisfying, The Widow Waltz explores in a profound way the bonds between mothers and daughters, belligerent siblings, skittish lovers, and bitter rivals as they discover the power of forgiveness, and healing, all while asking, what is family, really?”

My Thoughts

The Widow Waltz is a tale of a widow whose life is turned upside down after the sudden death of her husband. Georgia Waltz and her daughters lived a very comfortable life, however while dealing with the aftermath and settling her husbands will she is dealt another unbelievable blow. He left her virtually penniless. While trying to find out what all he was doing with their money she finds out something she could never imagine…her adoring husband was having an affair. While I won’t spoil the book for you, the book continues with how she deals with these new found revelations and other things you can’t believe.

I enjoyed the storyline and the cast of characters. It explores how one learns to deal with the things that life throws are way. Showing how no matter how bad you think you have it, it all eventually gets better and you become way stronger than you could ever have predicted.

This is a wonderfully written story of hope, family and most important self-discovery, which allows us to know that we aren’t alone when life throws us obstacles.

Review: The Glass Wives by Amy Sue Nathan

The Glass Wives by Amy Sue Nathan

Expected Publication: May 14, 2013
Source: Finished copy provided by publisher
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Rating: 4/5

Summary via Goodreads

Evie and Nicole Glass share a last name. They also shared a husband.

When a tragic car accident ends the life of Richard Glass, it also upends the lives of Evie and Nicole, and their children. There’s no love lost between the widow and the ex. In fact, Evie sees a silver lining in all this heartache—the chance to rid herself of Nicole once and for all. But Evie wasn’t counting on her children’s bond with their baby half-brother, and she wasn’t counting on Nicole’s desperate need to hang on to the threads of family, no matter how frayed. Strapped for cash, Evie cautiously agrees to share living expenses—and her home—with Nicole and the baby. But when Evie suspects that Nicole is determined to rearrange more than her kitchen, Evie must decide who she can trust. More than that, she must ask: what makes a family?

My Thoughts

First and foremost I truly enjoyed this book. I read it in almost one sitting; I haven’t done that in a while. I loved this storyline of an unconventional family and how they come together after a tragedy. It’s a different twist on a subject we’ve seen before. What would happen to a broken family after a family member passes. How does the ex and once mistress now “wife” co-exist? Would they really have to? Or do they simply move on with each other’s respective lives?

These are some of the questions answered in Amy Sue Nathan's new book.  Never been married or having children I wondered if I could even relate. Needless to say I could and did. I could come into this fresh and seeing and understanding both Evie and Nicole’s sides and opinions.

Even though Evie questions having Nicole in their lives she’s a big enough person to do what’s best for her children in spite of her past feelings. Honestly I don’t know if I could do that if I were in her shoes. Then I thought back to the title. It's not only their last names. I see it as a reflection of each woman. How they see themselves in each other. Even though the situation may not be “normal” for some it works for them and the kids. However what is “normal” these days? The definition of family is changing every day and I for one am a believer in doing what works best for YOU. One shouldn’t care what others think or say. At the end of the day no one’s opinions should matter but your own.

Amy Sue Nathan wrote a wonderfully written book showing us family isn’t always merely by blood sometimes it’s friends, ex’s, neighbors or even strangers. It’s what you make out of it that truly counts.