A Million Little Things/ Susan Mallery/ 368 pages

This is book 3 in the Mischief Bay Series. This book centers around Zoe, her friend Jen and Jen's mom, Pam, who became a widow in the first book of the series. Zoe is tired of the rut she is in since she left a going-nowhere relationship but she isn't sure what to do. Her friend, Jen, is obsessed with her toddler and worried because he isn't talking. So Zoe turns to Pam, who seems to have it all together. She gets more than advice from Pam. But there's complications along the way -- as there always is. Fans of Susan Mallery will enjoy this latest installment of the series.

American Housewife:stories/Helen Ellis/188 pgs.

This is a darkly funny, disturbing--at times, irreverent--collection of stories appealing to women. It's a fast read which will have the reader laughing out loud, or in some instances, cringing!

The Husband's Secret / Liane Moriarty / 396 pages / 11 Discs

This book follows the intertwining stories of Tess O'Leary, Rachel Crowley, and Cecilia Fitzpatrick and how one singular event, one singular secret has woven their lives together in ways they never would have thought possible.  When we meet Tess, she's leaving Melbourne, her husband, and her cousin (who's also her husband's lover) behind and fleeing to Sydney with her son to mourn her destroyed marriage in the familiarity of her childhood home.  Rachel Crowley is mourning the death of her long-ago murdered daughter as well as coping with the anger she feels for her son and daughter-in-law as they decide to uproot their family and move to New York for two years, taking Rachel's grandson, the light of Rachel's world, with them.  And Cecilia, she has just found a letter, that once opened is going to change the fate of all three women in one crazy and life-altering way.

This book is perfect for those readers who love a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  It contains characters for seem very real.  Moriarty captures the voice of each women splendidly, and tells a story that readers won't soon forget.

The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright (316 p.)

After her mother dies and her long-time boyfriend leaves her, Che Milan travels to London to fulfill a promise to spread her mother's ashes along the Canterbury Trail in England.  Che joins a group of women who are also making this sixty mile pilgrimage from London to Canterbury.  The leader of the tour is an English professor of Chaucer.  She tells the group that they will choose a theme and each person will have a day to share their story (real or fictional) that follows the theme.  The theme she presents to them is "love." The individual stories will move you, make you think and even make you laugh.  There is plenty to talk about in a book club after reading this book!

Heroes Are My Weakness / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 367 p.

Heroes Are My Weakness / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 367 p.

Annie Hewitt is down to her last dollar.  She an down-and-out character actress.  Kid's puppet shows, coffee shop waitress, and dog walker cannot pay her bills.  She desperately needs the inheritance her mother left her at Moonraker Cottage.   According to her mother's contract, she must stay on Peregrine Island two months a year or forfeit the cottage.  Peregrine Island is where horror writer Theo Harp lives.  The man who turned against her and almost caused her death when they were teenagers.  Now she must live in the shadow of Harp House on an frozen island along with a widow who murdered her abusive husband, a mute little girl, and islanders who cannot leave things alone.   Then someone is ransacking her cottage, shooting at her, and playing tricks.  What's going on?  And is this the time of romance??????

Best of Me / Nicholas Sparks / 292 pages / Contemporary Romance

In the small town of Oriental, Amanda Collier, a beautiful teenage girl from a wealthy and respectable family, falls in love with Dawson Cole, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks with a notorious criminal family. Alas, their relationship is doomed because neither of their families approve of the romance and they eventually part ways. However, their love was so intense and passionate that neither of them can forget the other. Twenty-four years later, after the death of their mutual friend, Tuck, they are brought back together again. 

I don't know if it's because I've read so many of Nicholas Spark's books but I found this novel to be very predictable. I also found the plot to be unbelievable and far-fetched, for instance, how many men would go their whole life without having a romantic relationship, or even have a one-night stand with another woman, all because they can't get over their first love? 

This novel was quite similar to Nights in Rodanthe and The Notebook, which is how I was able to guess how things would end for Dawson and Amanda halfway through the novel! And I guessed about that little twist on the final page about 30-40 pages before the end. It was extremely obvious! 

I found it hard to connect with the characters (probably because the story was so far-fetched and unrealistic) but I did feel sorry for Dawson. [Don't read the next sentence if you don't want the ending spoiled for you - The poor bloke had such an awful life, first he was abandoned by his mother, physically and emotionally abused by his father, lost his one true love, lived a lonely desolated life and then finally when he has a chance for happiness, he gets MURDERED! ]

If you're new to Nicholas Sparks novels, you will probably like this one a lot better than I did. 

One Plus One / Jojo Moyes / 368 pages

What can I say? I simply fall in love with Jojo Moyes' writing and her characters. I can feel the tension between them almost as though I'm sitting in the backseat, watching this story play out.

This latest tells the story of Jessica Rae Thomas, a single mom, working 2 jobs trying to stay afloat and barely succeeding at all-- but not without giving it her best shot and having relentless optimism. Her modern family consists of her stepson, Nicky-- who struggles with bullies and guy liner, and her daughter Tanzie-- a maths genius. Enter in Ed Nicholls, one of her patrons in her cleaning business. Ed is recently on trial for insider trading. Fate brings these two together and the dynamic between them is palpable.

I fell in love yet again with these characters and am left wanting to know what they are doing now...

ARC provided by Goodreads Firstreads Program-- THANK YOU!!!

Silver Bay / Jojo Moyes / 338 pages

Ignore the little tag-line on the front cover – “You have nothing to lose but your heart” – because this book is not the heap of slush that that phrase would imply. (Publishers must really annoy their authors sometimes, because I suspect that Jojo Moyes would have taken those simpering little words and thrown them overboard to rot on the beach.)

Silver Bay is a sparsely-populated paradise in New South Wales where Lisa McCullen is hiding herself and her daughter Hannah from past tragedies and communing with the whales which pass by on migration every year.  Then, real-estate developers arrive in the shape of Mike Dormer who has come to scope the place out for a hotel and leisure complex designed to make mega-bucks for his boss in London, his future father-in-law. The different pace of life, the beauty, the whales, the dolphins, Hannah – and Lisa - all get to him, however, and his priorities change.

This is a well-crafted book with an interesting plot-line revealed in appropriately timed snippets. It is written from the alternating first-person point of view of each of the main characters which serves to bring them alive extremely well. It can sometimes be difficult to remember whose skin you’re in as it is difficult to write an authentic voice for everyone from an 11-year-old girl to an Aussie beach-bum who thinks he’s God’s gift to women, but confusion is surprisingly rare.

As the story of Lisa’s past life is gradually unfolded, along with the tales of the other residents of Silver Bay, there are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you reading, and although you know from the start there’s going to be a happy ending (it’s a romantic novel, okay?) the actual ending is so impossibly happy that you really don’t foresee it. I cried, dear reader, real tears......

The Girl You Left Behind / Jojo Moyes / 384 pages / Historical Fiction

This book is all about a painting during wartime World War I, but don’t let that put you off.   The setting of two different time periods is well presented and it is very clear in which era you are. In fact when it turned to the 21st century and then went back to 1917, it was almost as if you were in a time machine, revisiting the familiar story you had left behind. The author created a dilemma for me over what the main 21st century character did regarding the painting, did I agree?, didn’t I?, it changed with each page.  A fabulous story that I will remember for a long time to come.  

The writing in this book is exquisite. I don’t use this word lightly, I dislike wordy, over descriptive writing, where the writing distracts from the story. Not so with this book, this writing is at its best with excellent use of the English language such as “cacophonous daylight”. The characters are very well drawn and realistic, you find yourself caring about what happens to them. I found myself being absorbed by the book, turning pages eager to discover what was going to happen next. Thinking about the characters even when I wasn’t reading the book. It is a book with twists and turns, a few surprises, one so shocking I actually cried out (luckily I was at home at the time!). 

Heroes Are My Weakness / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 367 p. 5 Gold Rings Dec. Challenge

Annie Hewitt moves into her late mother's place on a Maine Island.  She arrives during a snow storm.  She's broke.  She needs a place to recuperate from an illness.  She aspires to be an actress.  At 33 that looks like it won't happen.  She is working as a children's ventriloquist.  Even though her puppets are packed in their red suitcases, they pepper her with advice, comments, and taunts.  She returns to the island where Theo Harp lives; the same Theo once tried to kill her.  And the girl who saved her, Jaycie Mills, works as his housekeeper.  All Annie wants is to find her mother's legacy and leave without meeting anyone.  She is drawn into the island life and especially to a very young mute child.  She realizes that the teen Theo Harp is different from the adult Theo.    This is a contemporary romance that sparkles with humor.  It has shades of the Gothic novels like Whitney, Stewart, and  Du Maurier, the villain lives alone and secluded in a castle atop a hill; and who's sister died sailing.  The puppets are characters in themselves.  They take on helping the mute girl.  They, through Annie, convince Theo that he isn't the villain but a hero in disguise.

Mr. Miracle/Debbie Macomber/ pp 272 (October 7,2014)

Harry Mills is given his first assignment as a guardian angel. He is supremely confident that he can help 24 year old Addie Folsom get her life straightened out. She has returned home in time for the holidays. Her plan is to sign up of classes at the community college and avoid her childhood nemesis and next door neighbor, Erich Simmons.

This is the latest Debbie Macomber Christmas romance so we know that her plans won't work out in the way she envisions. It is a sweet book that will not disappoint fans who have read the other Christmas angel books. Harry, the newest angel, is a fun character who learns as much as his charge.

Woman of Fortune by Kellie Coates Gilbert 336 pp

 Claire Massey is living the dream.  She's married to a successful Texas business man, her daughter is marrying an up and coming politician, her sons are also successful and her husband is still crazy about her. Then her husband is arrested for fraudulent cattle investment scheme. All but one friend disappears.  Her daughter's engagement is broken.  Her sons begin to distance themselves from the family.  When her husband, Tuck, is convicted for fraud, she must start a new life on her own with very little.  The obvious thing to do would be to divorce her husband - as her mother recommends - and make a new life with someone else taking care of her. That's how the book begins, Claire visiting her husband in prison asking for a divorce.  The book delves into what brought her to that point and what happens afterward.

Unlike many Christian fiction books, the characters are fallible and make mistakes as they are reacting to this life changing event. 

The book I read was an advance copy from Netgalley.  I hadn't read this author before but I will definitely be looking for the rest of this series.

Mrs. Kimble / Jennifer Haigh / 400 p.

This is a personal look into the lives of three women who were all married to the same man over the course of 25 years in the 1960s to the 1980s. It is the pitiful story of how one man can affect the lives of the women who put their trust in him.

Analysis
Author Jennifer Haigh is possessed of impressive literary talent, although it took me halfway through the book before I appreciated what she was trying to do. What she does is create honest, individual characters who all deal with their life circumstances in unique ways. One woman is handles things with maturity while another totally loses control of her life. There are no cookie-cutter characters here.

The historical depiction of American in the late-90s is interesting. The author presents an America that is not perfect but is very different from the one we have today. And the portrayal of the children in the story is heartwrenching.

Recommendation 
Another person who read this book called it a "manhater" book, but I disagree. It is true that this book will likely appeal more to women than men, especially to women older than 30. But, rather than a novel about gender issues, this book is a depiction of how the decisions of one person can affect the lives of those around them. While one of the male characters is truly worthy of some ill feeling, not all men  (albeit few) in the book  are so bad. The book shows women strong and weak and children affected by abandonment.

If you are seeking a feel-good story, this is not it. It is a serious book for readers looking for a novel that deals with the consequences of human dishonesty.

The Lion Is In/Delia Ephron/282 pages

Tracee and Lana are running away from their lives when they meet Rita, also a runaway woman. A car accident strands them on a rural highway in North Carolina, and they seek shelter in what appears to be an abandoned building. In fact, it is a nightclub that features Marcel, a retired circus lion. They start working at the nightclub to make enough money to repair the car and be on their way. As we learn about their different reasons for running, they start to rebuild their lives and face truths about themselves.

This was my book club selection for October. It has a slow start, but then picks up and is fairly entertaining. It's not a must-read but if you're in between books and waiting for a reserve, then this could fill the void nicely.

Rose Harbor in Bloom/Debbie Macomber/322 pgs.

This is standard Debbie Macomber, and the second entry in her Rose Harbor series. Macomber uses Rose Harbor Inn as the centralizing factor in her book. The reader learns about the owner, Jo Marie Rose, and some of the guests visiting the Inn: Mary Smith, a businesswoman battling cancer, and  Annie Newton, rebounding from a broken engagement, and hosting a 50th wedding anniversary party for her grandparents. Also, there is Mark Taylor, an all around handyman in Cedar Cove, but somewhat of a mystery to the other Cedar Cove residents.  Each character has his or her own story, and this is where Macomber shines. She develops the characters in such a way that the reader views them as old friends or neighbors. She leaves the reader looking forward to the next book in the series.

The People of Forever Are Not Afraid / Shani Boianjiu 338p.

Everyone knows about the Israeli military.  Everyone knows that women are also required to join for a certain amount of years after high school, and this book follows the lives of three young female friends as they go from high school to the army and back to civilian life.  You have Yael who is a weapons instructor and experiences training on a base.  Lea is a checkpoint officer and experiences some of the harsher realities of being in the military.  Avishag patrols the border between Israel and Egypt to keep any illegal materials or people from entering Israel and also witnesses some unspeakable things that affects her later on in life.  It can be a little difficult to follow because each chapter is about a different girl and her story at different times in her life, but the stories are very entertaining and definitely keep you intrigued as to what happens next.  This is not necessarily a “war” book filled with military jargon and exercises, but moreso the struggle of the female person trying to find herself within the military and life after.  What does one do after service?  Can they all still be friends even though they all served in different places and experienced different things or has their experiences made them different people?  Emotions vary throughout the book and with the reader.

Probable Future / Alice Hoffman 322 p.

The Sparrow women unusual gifts (able to discern liars, to know other's dreams, or even to sense another’s future) bring upheaval into their lives and their relationships even to the edge of catastrophe when Stella’s father is jailed for suspicion of murder when he reported Stella’s foretelling of a young woman’s violent death giving all the Sparrow women and their loves a great shakeup in this telling of their lives and their ancestors.

Sugar Queen / Sarah Addison Allen 276 p.

Books she will need to read just appear magically for Josey Cirrini, self-judged as a sorry excuse for a Southern belle especially a rich heiress; Finding Forgiveness intrudes into her presence repeatedly as waitress Della Lee Baker makes Josey her tough love project starting with Josey's addiction to sweets, moving to her love life and beyond as Josey's life expands dramatically, sometimes cataclysmically as family secrets are exposed when Della Lee makes Josey's closet, a her safe hideaway.  Della Lee engineers a meeting between Josey and Chloe.  Chloe loves books, and they too, appear as she needs them, even to following her; a connection?

Peach Keeper / Sarah Addison Allen 273 p.

Southern Willa Jackson catches Colin Osgood's eye as she secretly observes the restoration of her family's old Victorian home, when he returns to Walls of Water, South Carolina to landscape the Madam for his sister, Paxton; Willa and Paxton are thrust into a friendship as they work to solve long-dead family secrets surround the skeleton found in the roots of a old peach tree--and something magical seems to be at work too.

A SURREY STATE OF AFFAIRS / by Ceri Radford / 273 Pages

A Surrey State of Affairs is a debut novel and the story is written as a year's worth of blog entries by Constance Harding, a woman in her early 40’s.  She is a devoted (possibly overly so) wife and mother to husband Jeffrey, adult son Rupert, and 18-year old daughter, Sophie.  Unfortunately for Constance, she has absolutely NO CLUE what is really going on with the members of her family.  Each day she blogs about her experiences in a very naive but often, quite hilarious fashion.  

Constance is also very British – she is ever so polite and never curses.  But if she does post a (spur-of-the-moment!) reaction to something upsetting, she will apologize profusely in her next post and ask her readers to please, PLEASE forgive her outburst!  Radford's novel is for those who enjoy Women's Fiction and humorous novels about a woman learning to live with changes in her life and family.

Appeal factors: Funny, Light, Fast-paced