REVIEW: Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand

 

OUR REVIEW: 

I saw this recommended recently by a fellow book blogger and thought I'd give it a try. Golden Girl is a quick, interesting read filled with many different characters grappling with the death of Vivian Howe. We get alternating narratives from Vivian in the Beyond, her children, and other outsiders as everyone tries to piece together who killed her and how they're going to live without her. 

Engaging and satisfying to the very end--a great beach read. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3RnqmMC

SYNOPSIS:

On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she's assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them.

From the Beyond, Vivi watches “The Chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her own youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. But when hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes—with or without a nudge of help from above—while Vivi finally lets them grow without her.

With all of Elin’s trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, and picture-perfect homes, plus a heartfelt message—the people we lose never really leave us—Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.

REVIEW: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

 REVIEW: 

I'd seen this novel a several bloggers monthly reading lists and grabbed it when it became available on my Libby App. I found the beginning and promising, though as it continued, there were times when I felt like it was a slog. But then! Then I got to the last part and realized that that slog was what I needed to really feel the punch at the end. And let me tell you that ending...that ending made my heart race and my anger elevated and it took me forever to fall asleep because that ending was just ughhhhhh. 

Came for the mystery. Stayed for the commentary on climate change. Was conquered by that ending. My god. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4kg6QOX

SYNOPSIS:
A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.

REVIEW: Can't Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

 

OUR REVIEW:

Listen, y'all. There's no way this review will be worthy of Can't Get Enough, The Skyland Series, or Kennedy Ryan because my talent isn't in wordsmithing, so excuse my clumsiness in trying. 

First of all, let me just say that I know that this series had to end, that, unfortunately, it couldn't last forever, but mannnnnn I really could use a zillion more books in this series. These women are so powerful in their sisterhood, their vulnerability, their loyalty, and their persistence to being fully who they are and striving to become who they want to be. They're so well built, from the mind of their creator, that they seem fully formed and so real to me that I wish that I could turn a corner and find them, know them, and one day be lucky enough to call them friends. We should all be so lucky to have friends like the three women featured in this series. 

In Can't Get Enough, we finally get into the story of Hendrix-the fiercest of fierce. We get to know her and understand her, to see behind the curtain, to see that getting to know her means that she's who we've always known her to be, and then some. She's funny and observant and passionate. She's loving and giving and always out for what's best for those around her. She's good at taking care of everyone and self-aware enough to know when she needs to take care of herself. She's not afraid to ask for what she needs and wants and isn't afraid to walk away from things that won't serve her, her family, her friends, or her clients. I love at how deeply she loves and how she isn't afraid to be loved--when she admits that she wants Mav and allows him in to her world, she doesn't continually put up roadblocks--when she's in, she's in. 

As with all Kennedy Ryan novels, the characters in Can't Get Enough face some realistic and terrible challenges that show that we still have such a long way to go in the world. These are handled carefully and thoughtfully, as usual, giving us opportunities to consider how to pick up the mantle of these fights and support the needs of our neighbors and friends. 

This series has been such an absolute joy. I love the found family, sisterhood-ness of it all. I also love that the men who are lucky enough to be with these women are evolved versions of the species-replete with thoughtfulness, strength, vulnerability, and love. I love that all three of these women were well into their adulthood and were confronting adult problems, with messy options, and not always easy conclusions. I loved that secondary plot points featured such a wide range of issues to consider and think about. I loved it all. And while I'm so very sad to see this series end, I know that as long as Kennedy Ryan is writing, she'll continue to deliver engrossing, entertaining, enlightening, and fun reads that will capture our hearts and minds. Can't wait to see what she releases next. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4hmPxcR

SYNOPSIS:

Hendrix Barry lives a fabulous life. She has phenomenal friends, a loving family, and a thriving business that places her in the entertainment industry's rarefied air. Your vision board? She’s probably living it.

She’s a woman with goals, dreams, ambitions—always striving upward. And in the midst of everything, she's facing her toughest challenge yet: caring for an aging parent.

Who has time for romance? From her experience, there's a low ROI on relationships. She hasn't met the man who can keep up with her anyway. Until...him.

Tech mogul Maverick Bell is a dilemma wrapped in an exquisitely tailored suit and knee-melting charm. From their first charged glance at the summer's hottest party, Hendrix feels like she’s met her match. Only he can’t be. Mav may be the first to make her feel this seen and desired and appreciated, but he’s the last one she can have. Forbidden fruit is the juiciest, and this man is off limits if she plans to stay the course she’s set for herself.

But when Maverick gives chase—pursuing her, spoiling her, understanding her—is it time to let herself have something more?

REVIEW: Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

OUR REVIEW:

I am a sucker for Abby Jimenez's novels and the second it hits my kindle, I'm pushing anything else aside and diving in. Even in the novels of hers that I didn't rate 5 stars, I enjoyed them so much, I'd go back to them at any time to read them. 

In the case of Say You Remember Me we get the love story of Xavier and Samantha and their most perfect first date that then leads them into a very long distance relationship. Over the course of months, they try to not be together but neither of them are able to stop the ache that develops any time they think about a future without the other. The reasons they can't just up and move and make it work are completely reasonable but that won't keep you from feeling angsty and frustrated for them. All you want is for them to figure it out and see them together forever, because you have zero doubt that they must be. 

In the midst of all of this is Samantha's caretaking of her mother, the complicated relationships she has with her family, and trying to balance all of that with work and her love of Xavier. Meanwhile Xavier is trying to figure out how to make enough money to get to her as often as possible, while maintaining his new vet practice and not completely lose it all. So complicated. So frustrating. So worth the read. If I have any complaint, it's that I wasn't quite ready to see their story end...but isn't that always how I feel with Abby Jimenez's novels? Why yes, yes it is. 

BUY IT:https://amzn.to/3RVHMQC

SYNOPSIS:

There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.

 

REVIEW: The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

OUR REVIEW: 

Late last year I saw this novel pop up on several BEST OF lists and added it to my always growing TBR list. Recently I was between novels and looking for something a little more contemplative so I reserved this on my Libby App and was able to begin it almost instantaneously. I didn't know much about it but found myself quickly absorbed by the life of Clover Brooks, a death doula. Her job was so fascinating to me-so honorable and kind-that I had a hard time understanding why she seemed so hesitant about telling people what she did. As she told the story of her life to this point, it became a little more clear as to why she seemed to isolated and alone, which just increased my sadness for her. This novel wasn't all deep nuggets of wisdom, though; there were nosy neighbors, terrible dates, and funny incidents along the way. 

I enjoyed The Collected Regrets of Clover; it was sweet and different and while it didn't give me some earth-shattering life altering pearls of wisdom, it did give me some things to consider and it was definitely a good read. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3Gwk6Qf

SYNOPSIS:

What’s the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you can’t give yourself a beautiful life?

From the day she watched her kindergarten teacher drop dead during a dramatic telling of Peter Rabbit , Clover Brooks has felt a stronger connection with the dying than she has with the living. After the beloved grandfather who raised her dies alone while she is traveling, Clover becomes a death doula in New York City, dedicating her life to ushering people peacefully through their end-of-life process.

Clover spends so much time with the dying that she has no life of her own, until the final wishes of a feisty old woman send Clover on a road trip to uncover a forgotten love story—and perhaps, her own happy ending. As she finds herself struggling to navigate the uncharted roads of romance and friendship, Clover is forced to examine what she really wants, and whether she’ll have the courage to go after it.

Probing, clever, and hopeful, The Collected Regrets of Clover is perfect for readers of The Midnight Library and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine as it turns the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life.