The Fifth Letter/ Nicola Moriarty / 278 pgs

I didn't realize until I finished reading this book by Nicola Moriarty that she is the sister of Liane Moriarty. I've read a number of Liane's Australian-set novels and liked them. The Fifth Letter is also set in Australia. Four women have been friends since middle school and they try to get together every year for a vacation together. They are now in their thirties and have gone to the beach (in the winter!) for a week. The organizer of the group, Joni, decides that they should all write an anonymous letter divulging a secret they've never shared with each other and then they'll read one letter aloud each night. This alone would make for quite a story but it also turns out that someone wrote a "fifth" letter. They wrote that letter first, then changed their mind about the secret they wanted to reveal and wrote a different letter to be shared. Of course Joni finds the fifth letter. Much drama ensues.

While I thought this was well-written, it took a while to get going and I didn't think the secret in the fifth letter was really all that "holy cow, I can't believe it!" Let's just say I was honestly glad to see someone getting psychiatric help at the end of the story. And I have to say that the epilogue, especially the very last line, was just too much. I think the author thought she was being clever but my reaction was just "ugh."

The Unexpected Duchess/Valerie Bowman/368 pgs

I am an unabashed lover of historical romance but this, unfortunately, was not my cup of tea (pun intended, though really no cup is my tea because I do not care for tea!). Lucy is an outspoken young miss who never learned to curb her tongue and scares off all the gentlemen. Derek is a war hero who was just created a duke. He promised his dying soldier friend that he would marry a lady named Cassandra. Cassandra is Lucy's friend and she doesn't want to marry this new duke because she's in love with someone else. So she asks Lucy to use her sharp tongue and help her scare off Derek. As generally happens, Lucy and Derek end up falling for each other. This would definitely be considered a Regency romp. There are funny parts but the characters seem very young, and honestly theywould have been more at home in a contemporary novel than a historical. Still, Bowman writes well and if you are looking for something lighthearted and fun, this just might be YOUR cup of tea.

The River at Night/ Erica Ferencik/ 304 pgs

This story of 4 long-time female friends who decide to take a whitewater rafting trip in Maine starts out very slowly. Once the four inexperienced women arrive at their destination and meet their guide, however, the adventure begins. And really, though it's labeled a mystery/suspense, to me this was more action/adventure. Although it's a strange mix of action written in a very literary style. I found this distracting but others might not. This becomes a tale of survival and while I was on board for that, I was disappointed in the twist that occurred about 3/4 of the way through the story. Still, this was the worth the read for descriptions of the Maine wilderness alone.