Mini Review: Stolen Things by R.H. Herron

Stolen Things by R.H. Herron

Published: August 20, 2019

Publisher: Dutton

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis

“Mama? Help me.”

Laurie Ahmadi has worked as a 911 police dispatcher in her quiet Northern California town for nearly two decades. She considers the department her family; her husband, Omid, is its first Arab American chief, and their teenaged daughter, Jojo, has grown up with the force. So when Laurie catches a 911 call and, to her horror, it’s Jojo, the whole department springs into action.

Jojo, drugged, disoriented, and in pain, doesn’t remember how she ended up at the home of Kevin Leeds, a pro football player famous for his on-the-field activism and his work with the CapB—“Citizens Against Police Brutality”—movement. She doesn’t know what happened to Kevin’s friend and trainer, whose beaten corpse is also discovered in the house. And she has no idea where her best friend Harper, who was with her earlier in the evening, could be.

But when Jojo begins to dive into Harper’s social media to look for clues to her whereabouts, Jojo uncovers a shocking secret that turns everything she knew about Harper—and the police department—on its head. With everything they thought they could rely on in question, Laurie and Jojo begin to realize that they can’t trust anyone to find Harper except themselves . . . and time is running out.

My Thoughts

Stolen Things seemed like a read I would’ve read in one sitting and by the premise, I wanted to but once I started reading it wasn’t what I thought it would be. I thought this was a thriller about a mother trying to get her daughter back and while it was it took different turns that I couldn’t get invested in. 

Laurie thought she knew her daughter but when she calls 911 and Laurie who is a dispatcher answers she finds out her daughter has been hanging with some shady people. Jojo’s best friend has been involved with some older men who are police officers and seeing how Jojo’s father is one this isn’t good. Plus when someone is found dead and Jojo doesn’t know how she ended up drugged and maybe even raped her mother doesn’t know where to start to find out the truth.

While all of this sounds good and parts are really good overall I found that too much stuff was happening. There were a lot of characters and there were so many issues being thrown at you I couldn’t keep track of them at times. This was an okay read but honestly, me going into this thinking it was about something else might have not made me fully get into it.

Mini Review: Go Ask Fannie by Elisabeth Hyde

Go Ask Fannie by Elisabeth Hyde

Published: April 10, 2018

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis

Everyone has baggage. The Blaire siblings are just taking theirs home for the long weekend.

When Murray Blaire invites his three grown children to his New Hampshire farm for a few days, he makes it clear he expects them to keep things pleasant. The rest of his agenda–using Ruth and George to convince their younger sister, Lizzie, to break up with her much older boyfriend–that he chooses to keep private. But Ruth and George arrive bickering, with old scores to settle. And, in a classic Blaire move, Lizzie derails everything when she turns up late, cradling a damaged family cookbook, and talking about possible criminal charges against her.

This is not the first time the Blaire family has been thrown into chaos. In fact, that cookbook, an old edition of Fannie Farmer, is the last remaining artifact from a time when they were a family of six, not four, with a father running for Congress and a mother building a private life of her own. The now-obscured notes written in its pages provide tantalizing clues to their mother’s ambitions and the mysterious choices she once made, choices her children have always sought without success to understand. Until this weekend.

As the Blaire siblings piece together their mother’s story, they come to realize not just what they’ve lost, but how they can find their way back to each other. In this way, celebrated author Elisabeth Hyde reminds readers that family survival isn’t about simply setting aside old rivalries, but preserving the love that’s written between the lines. 

My Thoughts

In Go Ask Fannie we have the Blaire siblings who all come home to help deal with their father. This is well written family drama that showcases the dynamics between each sibling and how no matter how long you can be apart when family comes together it can be a beautiful but also hectic thing. I enjoyed the family dynamics between the characters and how each while flawed in the end do love and care for one another. There is nothing I love more than a good family novel and this one was pretty good.

Mini Review: 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

Published: October 1, 2019

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Sophie wants one thing for Christmas-a little freedom from her overprotective parents. So when they decide to spend Christmas in South Louisiana with her very pregnant older sister, Sophie is looking forward to some much needed private (read: make-out) time with her long-term boyfriend, Griffin. Except it turns out that Griffin wants a little freedom from their relationship. Cue devastation.

Heartbroken, Sophie flees to her grandparents' house, where the rest of her boisterous extended family is gathered for the holiday. That's when her nonna devises a (not so) brilliant plan: Over the next ten days, Sophie will be set up on ten different blind dates by different family members. Like her sweet cousin Sara, who sets her up with a hot guy at an exclusive underground party. Or her crazy aunt Patrice, who signs Sophie up for a lead role in a living nativity. With a boy who barely reaches her shoulder. And a screaming baby.

When Griffin turns up unexpectedly and begs for a second chance, Sophie feels more confused than ever. Because maybe, just maybe, she's started to have feelings for someone else . . . Someone who is definitely not available.

This is going to be the worst Christmas break ever... or is it?

My Thoughts

10 Blind Dates is a fun and cute holiday read that will definitely make you smile and give you the feels! We met Sophie who is ready to enjoy the Christmas holidays with her boyfriend but her boyfriend has other plans. He decides to break up with her and so she spends the holidays with her huge family who has other plans for her. They all decide to fix her up on 10 blind dates and they make a contest out of it. Sophie plays along and while some dates are better than others she likes spending time with her family and old friends including her grandparents’ neighbor. While she still has feelings for her ex she knows stepping back that he wasn’t the right one for her, she feels like there is someone better for her out there.

This was definitely a fun read, her family is something I can relate to. This read had me thinking of my own crazy family, in the sense how when we are together its so much fun and how we have each other backs in the time of need. The relationship she has with her grandmother is so sweet and enduring that it hit me in the heart. This is one read I highly recommend! If you want something funny and sweet this will get you out of any reading slump.

Review: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

Published: August 6, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Dover, Massachusetts, 1969. Ginny Richardson's heart was torn open when her baby girl, Lucy, born with Down Syndrome, was taken from her. Under pressure from his powerful family, her husband, Ab, sent Lucy away to Willowridge, a special school for the “feeble-minded." Ab tried to convince Ginny it was for the best. That they should grieve for their daughter as though she were dead. That they should try to move on. 

But two years later, when Ginny's best friend, Marsha, shows her a series of articles exposing Willowridge as a hell-on-earth--its squalid hallways filled with neglected children--she knows she can't leave her daughter there. With Ginny's six-year-old son in tow, Ginny and Marsha drive to the school to see Lucy for themselves. What they find sets their course on a heart-racing journey across state lines—turning Ginny into a fugitive.

For the first time, Ginny must test her own strength and face the world head-on as she fights Ab and his domineering father for the right to keep Lucy. Racing from Massachusetts to the beaches of Atlantic City, through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to a roadside mermaid show in Florida, Keeping Lucy is a searing portrait of just how far a mother’s love can take her.

My Thoughts

Keeping Lucy is the touching tale of Ginny who goes to lengths to try to get her daughter Lucy back. It’s the late 60’s and Ginny is giving birth when she wakes up she finds out her daughter Lucy has been taken away from her. She later finds out that Lucy has Down Syndrome and given the time there was no other option but to put children who they consider “different” away in orphanages. Ginny was also told Lucy had other problems health wise and this was the best for everyone involved.

A couple of years pass and Ginny finds out that Lucy isn't in the type of place she thought she was. The place isn't fit for anyone and Ginny and her best friend decide to visit Lucy and take her for the weekend but once she is there and sees things for herself she decides Lucy will never go back and from there on it's Ginny and Lucy against the world.

They go on a road trip and Lucy soon begins to open up but only after Ginny sees how Lucy has suffered in that place. She begs her husband and his family, who are very powerful back home, to help but Ginny soon sees she might have to do this alone. Since she didn't have a choice, in the beginning, she takes a stand now and chooses the love for her child over everything and everyone.

Keeping Lucy made me an emotional wreck. The storyline is amazing and touching about a mother whose child was literally taken from her without her permission. She worries if Lucy will even know who she is. However, once they lock eyes Ginny’s heart is complete and Lucy knows this is her mama. This shows us the lengths a mother will go for her child and no matter what others think about Lucy, Ginny cares and will fight for her. If you want a heartwarming read look no further than Keeping Lucy.

Review: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Published: Scribner

Publisher: May 28, 2019

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

A profoundly moving novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the bond between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness.

Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne—sets the stage for the explosive events to come.

Ask Again, Yes is a deeply affecting exploration of the lifelong friendship and love that blossoms between Francis and Lena’s daughter, Kate, and Brian and Anne’s son, Peter. Luminous, heartbreaking, and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood—villains lose their menace and those who appeared innocent seem less so. Kate and Peter’s love story, while tested by echoes from the past, is marked by tenderness, generosity, and grace.

My Thoughts

Ask Again, Yes is the story of two families who endure a tragedy and how they overcome and try to move on from it. Francis and Bruce were two rookie cops who worked briefly together but later find themselves neighbors. When they moved in Francis wife, Lena wanted and needed a friend but Brian’s wife Anne was very closed off from the get-go. Soon Kate, Francis and Lena daughter and Peter, Brian and Anne’s son become close friends. Over the years we see their friendship grow and they become each others consent.

Peter has always known his mother is different than other moms, she has episodes and doesn't come out of her room for days or weeks and her highs are highs but her lows are really low. She continues to have these manic episodes and Peter doesn't know what exactly is wrong with her and his father is no help at all. She needs help but doesn't know what to do and all of this comes to a head one night and what happens as a result of it could end Peter and Kate’s friendship but also tie the families together forever.

This novel spans over 40 years and shows us overtime how these two families lives are embedded into each other. We see Peter and Kate grow up and apart but are always thinking of each other until they finally reunite. Kate’s life while it has its struggles family wise isn't as hard as Peter's. His family life is all but destroyed after that one night, his mother is in a mental institution and his father basically leaves him behind with his uncle never to be heard from again. Of all the characters I felt for Peter, his life is the one that could've destroyed him but his uncle and Kate were two people who wouldn't give up on him. As he got older he family problems and his past got the better of him which led to a dark period in his life but once again Kate was there to help him through it.

This is a story of love, friendship, hardships, mental illness, and addiction. We get the highs and lows of these two families who were destined to come together for better or worse. I loved the spanned of decades and how we see them grow and overcome their demons with help from each other. Ask Again, Yes is a wonderful yet gritty story at times that shows us we can overcome anything in life.

Review: Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Published: June 11, 2019

Publisher: Atria Books

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Do we change or does the world change us?

Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise.

Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?

In her most ambitious novel yet, Jennifer Weiner tells a story of two sisters who, with their different dreams and different paths, offer answers to the question: How should a woman be in the world? 

My Thoughts

Jo and Bethie are sisters but their lives followed different paths. Bethie is the wild child, growing up in the free lovin' 60s she enjoyed and partook in all that the decade offered. She was the one who always gave her mother trouble but no one really knew why. What was it in Bethie that made her this way? We see why later in the story, how she experienced some pain and tragedy in her childhood. 

Jo, on the other hand, had her secret knowing very early on she was gay and in love with her best friend but decided to never let anyone know. She went on to get married and have children, never letting her true self be happy and living the life she wanted and deserved until later on in life.

We see both these sisters lives evolve and how they each went from kids to adults and trying to find their niche in this world. Neither one had an easy life, both having hard lives and never really coming into their own until they were grown. This book was rich in storylines, the way we see these sisters go through decades is amazing and seeing them struggle at times pulls at your heartstrings.

Mrs. Everything is a well-written story with its focus on family, love and coming into your own with elements of feminism. I loved that it has strong female characters that many of us can relate to, and while some of the topics touched upon in this book can be tough to some, I believe its things that can help some people also. This is one book that I highly recommend for anyone who wants an honest to god amazing read.

Review: Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Summer of ‘69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Published: June 18, 2019

Publisher: Little Brown and Co

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 4/5 

Synopsis

Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century! It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket: but this year Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, a nursing student, is caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests, a passion which takes her to Martha's Vineyard with her best friend, Mary Jo Kopechne. Only son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother who is hiding some secrets of her own. As the summer heats up, Teddy Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, a man flies to the moon, and Jessie experiences some sinking and flying herself, as she grows into her own body and mind.

My Thoughts

I’ve always been obsessed with the 60’s it was a fascinating time in history so when I heard Elin Hilderbrand newest novel was focused during that time I knew I had to read it. Summer of ‘69 focuses on The Levin family. We met Jessie who is thirteen and this is the summer when everything changes for her. We get the stories of her siblings Tiger who is in Vietnam, oldest sister Blair who is married and pregnant but doesn't know if she still wants to be and is struggling with her husband who wants her to be a housewife while she loves her independence. Middle sister Kirby who is in school but is drawn to protests and the civil rights movement and wants to make a change in this world. All of this while the world is changing and with historic moments thrown in Summer of ‘69 is one year no one will ever forget.

Jessie is the main voice of this novel, it's her coming of age story of a girl who is simply trying to figure out this thing we call life. She doesn't want to spend her summer in Nantucket with her grandmother but she is forced to by her parents and while there she learns a lot about growing up and falls in love for the first time. She is dealing with grown-up issues and is hoping her family can survive all that is happening during this crazy summer. The family is on edge hoping Tiger can make it back home and that the war will end. That takes a toll on everyone but especially their mother and that takes a toll on her marriage. This novel focuses on everything from love, marriage, family, to the war.

Summer of ‘69 is a compelling story of family, secrets and is a coming of age story that also spotlights the historic moments in history that take place during this time. It's an interesting story one that spotlights every member of the family but never makes you feel overwhelmed by all the characters. Every character has a distinct voice and their stories are all very interesting. While this is a departure for Elin Hilderbrand I loved this read. Her dive into historical fiction was great and I loved it. This is another winner from her and one novel that makes for the perfect summer read.

Mini Review: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Published: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Simon and Schuster BYR

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

My Thoughts

Second Chance Summer is the touching story of one family trying to make their Summer the most memorable yet. Taylor and her family decide to go to their Summer house after years of not going but this Summer is different, you see her father is gravely sick and this might be his last Summer. So they go to the one place where they have the best memories and hopefully this Summer will make them closer and they can focus on the good. 

Taylor loved her Summers in the Poconos, she had a best friend and her first love there, but her last Summer there she lost her best friend and she left her crush without a word. Being back feels strange yet comforting but once she runs into both of the people she left behind this Summer just became more complicated than Taylor wanted.

Second Chance Summer is all about family, friendships and love. We get the aspect of her family and them dealing with their dad and his illness and how that will have a huge effect on the family not only this Summer but for the rest of their lives. Despite her world falling apart all of this has made her family closer and stronger. We also have Taylor just trying to figure out life and trying to repair relationships from her past. I loved how this story was so real and it was touching and showed us how growing up is a very hard thing to try to navigate. Morgan Matson gives us a well-rounded story and spotlights teen life at its best, this is one book that is the perfect thing to read during the Summer.

Review: The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry

The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry

Expected Publication: June 4, 2019

Publisher: Berkley Books

Format: via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home--until she learns of her dad's failing health.

Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the family's Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sisters' rift. While Alzheimer's slowly steals their father's memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. As his secret past brings Lena's own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home.

My Thoughts

After finding out the ultimate betrayal on her wedding day Lena left home and never spoke to her sister again and only came home if she never saw her sister either. However, after a call from her brother she comes back home after her father is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and her family needs her help.

She is close to her brother who has taken it upon himself to care for his dad and now runs the family business, a pub he knows his father needs the family more than ever and calls on Lena and her sister in hopes they bury the hatchet and come together for their father’s sake. Growing up Lena always felt a distance of sorts from her mother but never knew exactly while but soon she will discover a long kept secret while sorting out her father’s belonging. This happens when they agree to have a party in honor of their father in hopes of celebrating his life before the disease takes all his memory away.

In time we learn why Lena ran off from her family and why she and her sister don’t talk. We also learn why Lena always felt like a stranger in her own family and why her father was so close to her.

This is a story with secrets coming out of every angle, which I loved! I felt like it was the gift that kept on giving, with layers upon layers being peeled back and the truth being revealed. I felt as if there were two storylines being told one was the conflict between Lena and her sister and the other the secret her father held from her.  Both were amazing stories and tied together beautifully, I especially felt as if Lena finally came into her own and made peace with herself in the end.

The Favorite Daughter is an amazing story with a great storyline about family and forgiveness. While forgiving others is great I find that forgiving within yourself heals yourself like nothing else. It gives you that inner peace that nothing else or no one can give you. This is a great book for the summer one that needs to be thrown in your beach bag and be read by the pool, beach or simply in the comfort of your home.

Review: Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Expected Publication: May 7, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via Publisher

Rating: 4/5    

Synopsis

Drue Campbell’s life is adrift. Out of a job and down on her luck, life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a twenty-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried – to Drue’s eighth-grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job.

It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance – her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach, a charming but storm-damaged eyesore now surrounded by waterfront McMansions.

With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm, spending her days screening out the grifters whose phone calls flood the law office. Working with Wendy is no picnic either. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she goes from unwilling cubicle rat to unwitting investigator and is drawn into a case that may – or may not – involve her father. With an office romance building, a decades-old missing person case re-opened, and a cottage in rehab, one thing is for sure at Sunset Beach: there’s a storm on the horizon.

My Thoughts

In Sunset Beach the newest novel by Mary Kay Andrews we met Drue who is basically down on her luck and estranged from her father ever since her mother’s death. She is working at a bar to make ends meet but she soon reconnects with her father who offers her a job and gives her the house that belonged to her grandparents. As much as she doesn't want anything from him she does need a job so she accepts and as soon as she gets there she realizes he has remarried [again] to her ex-best friend from childhood.

Brice is a lawyer and takes up all kinds of lawsuits so when a woman comes in wanting more money from the death of her daughter Drue realizes that there is something there to check out. She feels like someone tried to cover up something and this poor woman deserves justice for her daughter so she makes it her mission to uncover the truth. In time Drue discovers not only this truth but also another that she will regret finding out. We get dual storylines in Sunset Beach, we also get a mystery of sorts that took place decades before and the players in this one hit closer to Drue than she ever expected.

I really enjoyed this novel I loved how we got two storylines and how they slowly came together in a nice way. The pace was perfect and you definitely got caught up in all the mystery that this book had to offer. I went into thinking this was a light fluffy beach read but this one had a lot of depth to it and as a fan of mystery, I really liked that she played this element to perfection here. This is one Summer read that will have you hooked from the very beginning and will leave you completely satisfied.

Review: Drawing Home by Jamie Brenner

Drawing Home by Jamie Brenner

Expected Publication: May 7, 2019

Publisher: Little Brown and Co.

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Summer has started in idyllic Sag Harbor, and for Emma Mapson that means greeting guests at the front desk of The American Hotel. But when one of the town's most famous residents, artist Henry Wyatt, dies suddenly, Emma learns he has mysteriously left his waterfront home - a self-designed masterpiece filled with his work - to her teenage daughter, Penny.

Back in Manhattan, legendary art patron, Bea Winstead's grief at her lifelong friend and former business partner Henry's passing turns to outrage at the news of his shocking bequest. How did these unknown locals get their hands on the estate? Bea, with her devoted assistant Kyle in tow, descends on Sag Harbor determined to reclaim the house and preserve Henry's legacy.

While Emma fights to defend her daughter's inheritance, Bea discovers that Henry left a treasure trove of sketches scattered around town. With Penny's reluctant help, Bea pieces them together to find a story hidden in plain sight: an illustration of their shared history with an unexpected twist that will change all of their lives.

Drawn together in their battle for the house, Emma and Bea are forced to confront the past while facing a future that challenges everything they believe about love, fate, and family.

My Thoughts

In Drawing Home we met Emma and her daughter Penny who live in Sag Harbor and have formed a life there. Emma is a single mom and Penny her daughter, who suffers from OCD are just living their lives until one day when a dear friend dies and it changes their lives forever.

Penny befriends Henry who is an artist and over time they form a friendship and Henry helps out Penny with her art. So when Henry unexpectedly dies Penny is hurt to her core but is speechless when it's revealed that he left everything to her in his will. No one is more surprised than Henry’s old friend Bea who when she finds out goes to Sag Harbor thinking she is the heir to his will. Bea is determined to get what she thinks is hers but over time she soon realizes that Henry brought her there for other reasons.

Emma is just trying to be the best mother she can be, she has been a single mom since Penny was little but suddenly Penny’s dad has come back into the picture call it a coincidence or not but since Penny got this big inheritance he suddenly wants sole custody. Her life is turned upside down trying to fend off her ex and now Bea who wants to take her down and a daughter who she can't see eye to eye with, what is Emma to do?

In time Penny and Bea begin to spend time together mainly because Bea wants to see why Henry would leave all his belongs to Penny but as she begins to truly see Penny she soon realizes what a talented kid she is and why Henry felt the way he did about her. She begins to feel bad about the way she has treated her and about all she has done to her and her mom.

I really enjoyed this novel about family and how you can find it in the least expected places. The way Jamie Brenner gives us characters that you never thought could come together but in the end, they do. I loved how through all the bitterness and arguments forgiveness still shined through. What started out as strangers and rivals, in the end, gave us family and showed us its never too late to see the good in one another.

Review: The Southern Side of Paradise by Kristy Woodson Harvey

The Southern Side of Paradise by Kristy Woodson Harvey

[Peachtree Bluff #3]

Expected Publication: May 7, 2019

Publisher: Galley Books

Format: arc via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

With the man of her dreams back in her life and all three of her daughters happy, Ansley Murphy should be content. But she can’t help but feel like it’s all a little too good to be true.

Meanwhile, youngest daughter and actress Emerson, who is recently engaged and has just landed the role of a lifetime, seemingly has the world by the tail. Only, something she can’t quite put her finger on is worrying her—and it has nothing to do with her recent health scare.

When two new women arrive in Peachtree Bluff—one who has the potential to wreck Ansley’s happiness and one who could tear Emerson’s world apart—everything is put in perspective. And after secrets that were never meant to be told come to light, the powerful bond between the Murphy sisters and their mother comes crumbling down, testing their devotion to each other and forcing them to evaluate the meaning of family.

My Thoughts

In Kristy Woodson Harvey’s final installment in her Peachtree Bluff series, we once again visit the Murphy family. In each of the previous books, we get the story of each sister and this one focuses on the youngest sister Emerson. Emerson is an up and coming actress who since she has been back home has had a health scare and has reunited with an old love. She is trying to deal with all of this and is also trying to find her way in life. She loves her sisters and mother but she has doubts about her upcoming marriage, especially when her and her fiance can't decide on where to live, she has to go back for work and he doesn’t want to leave Peachtree, and it doesn't help that a man from her past in L.A. has found his way to Peachtree and her feelings are getting the best of her. I felt that Emerson had so much thrown at her in this novel between her health scare and relationship problems to her career plus finding out the truth about her family but I felt she was the most well-rounded character. She was the one who I felt grew the most in the series. Just as in life, she didn't see any of the things that happened to her coming but they suited her well and made her complete they were her blessings in disguise.

While this story mainly focuses on Emerson we also get a glimpse of her mother’s story and her life with Jack. She is finally at a place where she can feel free to love him like she wants to without worrying how this will affect her daughters but still THAT secret looms over her and she knows that this final secret has to be told in order to be free. She has always put her family first but now she needs to live her own life and that means a future with Jack, however, someone from his past is determined to get him back and Ansley doesn't know if she has it in her to fight this fight. The story of Ansley and Jack was a long time coming and their story was one I was pleased with, it truly showed how true love can endure the test of time.

I fell in love with the Murphy women from book one and this last book is the perfect send-off. I felt that everyone’s stories wrapped up nicely and everyone got their happily ever after. I loved how Kristy Woodson Harvey gave us complex yet strong women who fought for what they wanted and stopped at nothing to get it. What I loved most about this series was that the overall message and theme is family. While they might have fought and disagreed with each other when it came down to it they had each other's backs. Nothing was too hard that together they couldn't conquer. I will miss these women and their stories so much but I am so glad I got to know them and thank you, Kristy Woodson Harvey, for giving us a group of women who showed us that family dynamics can be both entertaining and emotional yet heartwarming all at the same time.