May - merry month?

source

May was a full month in quarantine life, but became a busy month with the start of boat season and getting our garden up to speed.  So I read the same as last month, I am setting an extreme goal for June to finish 30 books for the month!

1. Lake Season by Denise Hunter

2. Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter

3. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

4. Administrations of Lunacy by Mab Segrest

5. The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck

6. The Perfect Secret by Steena Holmes

7. Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

8. Dune Drive by Mariah Stewart

9. The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck

10. The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton

11. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

12. Can't Look Away by Donna Cooner

13. Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman

14. The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes

15. The Summer House by Lauren Denton

16. The Good Fight by Jana Kramer and Mike Caussin

17. The Magnolia Sisters by Alys Murray

18. I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman

19. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

20. Head Over Heels by Hannah Orensetein

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 6,580

Where having I been Reading?:
North Carolina

New York

Utah

Georgia

Portland, ME

Tennessee (2)

Maryland

New York City, NY 

Massachusetts (2)

Texas

Hawaii

Czech Republic

Alabama

California

Montana

Review: Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Publisher: MIRA

Pages: 384

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Beauty. Wealth. Success.

She’s got it all.

And it all should’ve been mine.

When Eleanor Hardwicke’s beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by a gut-wrenching secret: the man she’s grieving isn’t really her dad. Eleanor was the product of an affair and her biological father is still out there, living blissfully with the family he chose. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate Eleanor seeks him out, leading her to uncover another branch on her family tree—an infuriatingly enviable half sister.

Perfectly perfect Victoria has everything Eleanor could ever dream of. Loving childhood, luxury home, devoted husband. All of it stolen from Eleanor, who plans to take it back. After all, good sisters are supposed to share. And quiet little Eleanor has been waiting far too long for her turn to play.

Kritters Thoughts:  Eleanor Hardwicke starts this book devastated that her dad's days are numbered as he is battling an illness and with a horrible relationship with her mother and sister, she is aware that when he dies she will be saying goodbye to a notion of family.  Until she finds out that as he was dying he revealed that he is not her biological father and she actually has more family out there.  She wants to find this other family and see if she can connect and grow how she has always defined family.  

I went into this book with the cover that is presented ready for sinister and crazy right off the bat and this is more of a slow build and actually more of a family drama.  The sinisterness comes into play at the very end and some great twists and turns, but this book is about family and trying to define family however you need to and what family can look like.  

I liked how Hannah Mary McKinnon wrote characters.  The character arcs are just genius.  From where Eleanor starts to where she ends is just a great journey and yes it is fiction, but it was believable to see Eleanor end up where she did.  

i was surprised when I finished this book that this was my first read of Hannah Mary McKinnon.  Although this one didn't go as I had predicted, I still loved it and want to dive into her backlist.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

  Ebook 2020 Challenge: 46 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Harlequin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Dune Drive by Mariah Stewart

Dune Drive by Mariah Stewart

 

Publisher: Pocket Books

Pages: 388

Format: ARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Always believing she was an ugly duckling, Chrissy Jenkins thought she had finally turned into a swan when her real-life Prince Charming swept her off her feet. But as his true character began to crack his perfect facade, Chrissy realized that not only was she better off without him, but that she was the only one who had the power to transform her life.

Returning to her ancestral home on Cannonball Island for a family wedding, Chrissy is reintroduced to a legacy she’d all but forgotten. In choosing to stay on the island, she reboots her life, successfully reinventing herself as a sous chef at the Inn at Sinclair’s Point just over the bridge in St. Dennis. But despite her newfound self-confidence, she still doesn’t trust her taste in men. So when she meets Jared Chandler, a handsome ship salvager staying at the inn while he conducts a nearby recovery operation, Chrissy’s certain she can keep him as a friend—even though he’s everything any woman would want in a man. As fellow newcomers, together they discover the charm of the historic bayside town and explore the idyllic island.

But when Chrissy agrees to be Jared’s date for his father’s wedding, they embark on a weekend that will find them each seeing the other in a completely different light, one that will change their lives forever. 

Kritters Thoughts:  The twelfth book in a series and I started the series with this one.  The thing about romance series is that you can start anywhere because each book in the series centers around a different character in the "universe" or one that recently moved to town.  I tend to like to start at the beginning even in these series, but I decided to risk it all and start on this one.  I could tell while reading this book that there was backstory for some of the extra characters that I was missing, but I didn't feel as though it took away from the story of the two main characters.  

This book focused on Chrissy and Jared.  Chrissy moves back to the small town where she has spent a lot of time with her great grandmother.  She is escaping a bad situation and has no idea what is next for herself.  Jared is just in town for a job.  He has friendly connections to the small town, but this isn't a place he would call home until . . . 

As in all romance books, the reader knows we will end in a happy ending, but I always rate romance books on two things.  One, I rate on the sexy times in the books.  I tend to like the books that have less sexy times and have more plot and when an author really leans on growing the relationship to move the story instead of leaning on the sexy times to move the story.  This one did just that, the relationship was a great slow burn, no insta love and it allowed for a great plot to build.  The other thing that I rate romance books on, that this book did well was, the thing that is 2/3 into the book that may break up the couple.  There is always something that takes the couple apart and they must overcome to get to the happy ending and I loved the one for this book!  Of course, I won't spoil, but I loved it.

I am a fan of Mariah Stewart and really want to make it a goal to catch up on her backlist.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

 Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

I had a busy weekend last weekend, getting ready for the boat season, so I missed getting this post up.  This is two weeks worth of reading.

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck

The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Can't Look Away by Donna Cooner

Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman

The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes

The Summer House by Lauren Denton

The Good Fight by Jana Kramer and Mike Caussin

Victoria's War by Catherine Hamilton

Currently Reading:

The Magnolia Sisters by Alys Murray

Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume

Next on the TBR pile:
Sweet Pea Summer by Alys Murray

Review: Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter

 Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter 

Publisher: Thomas Nelson 

Pages: 320

Format: book 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Rising Hollywood star Mia Emerson is looking for a safe place to land in the wake of a public breakup and scandal, and she finds it in the lake town of Bluebell, North Carolina—the location of her canceled honeymoon. She wants nothing more than to hide and wait for the tabloids to die down.

Soon after her arrival at the Bluebell Inn, Mia meets Levi Bennett, who runs the inn along with his two younger sisters. Drawn to one another from the start, Mia trusts Levi to keep her location from the press, and Levi confides in Mia about the financial state of the inn—a secret he’s been keeping from his sisters.

When Mia and Levi discover an old journal that hints at a rare diamond necklace hidden in the inn, they set off on a treasure hunt to find the long-lost heirloom. What they don’t expect to surface are feelings they thought were safely locked away. Mia and Levi must decide if falling in love again is too big a risk—or if it will uncover a treasure of its own instead.

Kritters Thoughts: The second in a series and although this book centers around a different sibling, I would completely suggest starting at book one.  This book focuses on the older brother Levi and an up and coming Hollywood star Mia Emerson.  Levi came home to help his sisters renovate their home into an inn and is contemplating returning to Colorado and the life he had before the tragedy and in walks Mia.  Mia is escaping some drama that she got wrapped into in California and needs a quiet place to regroup.

As in the first book, this is a romance story with a great plot.  As this is by a Christian fiction author, the romance story lacks the sexy times scenes that you can see in most romance books.  I like this because then the author can't lean on a sexy scene to move the plot forward, instead there is plot and creative scenes where the characters interact and woo and flirt!  Also as in the first book, this one has secrets that when revealed could possibly cause drama and I enjoyed reading to see how the characters were going to react and if they could overcome the situation.

There will be a bit before the third in this series releases and I can finish the trilogy and am assuming that this third book will focus on the youngest sibling, Grace and her story as she is now a high school graduate and must make some big life choices!

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

 Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Lake Season by Denise Hunter

Lake Season by Denise Hunter

Publisher: Thomas Nelson 

Pages: 352

Format: book 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  When their parents die in a tragic accident, Molly Bennett and her siblings pull together to fulfill their parents’ dream: turning their historic home back into an inn.

Adam Bradford (a.k.a. bestselling author Nathanial Grey) is a reclusive author with a bad case of writer’s block. Desperate for inspiration as his deadline approaches, he travels to a North Carolina lake town, the setting of his next novel. There he immediately meets his muse, a young innkeeper who fancies herself in love with his alter ego.

When Molly finds an old letter in the walls of her inn she embarks on a mission with Adam to find the star-crossed lovers and bring them the closure they deserve. But the guest she invites along has secrets of his own. Past and present collide as truths are revealed, and Molly and Adam will have to decide if love is worth trusting.

Kritters Thoughts:  The first in a series about a set of siblings who have come home after they tragically lost their parents in a car accident.  Molly and Levi return home to their younger sister Grace who has two years left of high school and are able to finish the renovations to the inn that their parents were doing and provide Grace a place to finish school.  

This first story centers specifically around Molly.  She is a lover of romance stories and is a big fan of the bestselling author Nathaniel Grey who is an author who has always hidden his identity.  Unbeknownst to Molly, he arrives in this small North Carolina town to regroup and outline his next novel.  He is in need of some inspiration and Molly and her family inn is the perfect place.

This was a great first story in a series as it set the place and location to the story and introduced the reader to the entire family while also telling a complete story about one of them.  I loved Molly.  She was such a great character to set the stage.  She is the middle sibling and felt as though she was the glue that held the family together.  I enjoyed the story arc between her and Adam Bradford.  I love mistaken identity and secrets and watching as all of them come out and seeing how the character will react to the truth.  

Denise Hunter does a great job of combining the romance genre and giving a great plot while keeping it true to the Christian fiction roots and leaving out the steamy scenes, but still having a great love story.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Review: Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin

Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin 

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 384

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  After her former band shot to superstardom without her, Claire reluctantly agrees to a gig as a playgroup musician for overprivileged infants on New York’s Park Avenue. Claire is surprised to discover that she is smitten with her new employers, a welcoming clique of wellness addicts with impossibly shiny hair, who whirl from juice cleanse to overpriced miracle vitamins to spin class with limitless energy.

There is perfect hostess Whitney who is on the brink of social-media stardom and just needs to find a way to keep her perfect life from falling apart. Caustically funny, recent stay-at-home mom Amara who is struggling to embrace her new identity. And old money, veteran mom Gwen who never misses an opportunity to dole out parenting advice. But as Claire grows closer to the cool women who pay her bills, she uncovers secrets and betrayals that no amount of activated charcoal can fix.

Kritters Thoughts:  Claire left a band before it really hit big and she doesn't know what her future looks like now.  She wants to stay in the business of music, but doesn't know what to do next.  She returns to a job she had prior to the band where she is playing for kids group.  A playgroup invites her to be their musician where they meet out of someone's apartment in NYC and she gets integrated into the group very fast.  

With women of all sorts of different personalities and creeds, the playgroup was greatly diverse and I loved getting to know all the women and their reactions to new motherhood.  All the women were first time moms except one and Gwen was glad to be the mom expert of the group.  Even though I am not a mom, I have a love for mommy drama books.  This seems weird to say but I enjoy reading about mom guilt and I think this is because even though I don't have kids we can all feel a little bit of guilt about where you spend time and if you are using and spending your time to the best of your ability and in the places that matter to you most.     

I went into this book a little blind and was happily surprised by some of the things that happen, so I will be a bit vague because I would love for each of you to experience the book just like I did.  I will say that there were some great and satisfying twists and turns and the plot and the characters kept me reading where I read this one in one satisfying sitting!

This was my first Laura Hankin read and I was excited to see that there is one book in her backlist, so I hope to read it very soon!

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

   Ebook 2020 Challenge: 41 out of 100   

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

Publisher: Park Row

Pages: 336

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Everyone has a secret they’ll do anything to hide…

Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa—discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold.

For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.

Kritters Thoughts:  I have read half of Heather Gudenkauf's books and each keep me completely on the edge of my seat until the end.  Told through multiple perspectives and even some therapy transcripts and some news articles, this book had interesting ways to move the story along.  Eva Knox disappeared 25 years ago and with the discovery of a new piece of evidence her friend, Maggie, who is now a police officer in their hometown is reopening the case and will revisit all of the details as an adult and will hopefully find her killer and close the case.  Eva gets the chance to tell the timeline of the day she died through her own words as we flashback in time and Maggie and Eva's sister Nola also get opportunities to move the story along from their viewpoints mostly told in the present day.  

I absolutely adored this book.  I loved the switching of perspectives.  It was edited well, so the reader doesn't get lost at all and it is obvious as to the time and place, so the story moved quickly along.  I didn't write down the characters for this one, but it could help so you can remember key facts about each one and how they relate to the others.    

I rate mystery/thriller books based on who the killer ends up being and if I am ok with how the clues led up.  Don't worry I will not reveal who it is, but I will say that I am happy with the outcome.  I was glad it was someone who was there throughout the story and didn't come out of left field at the end and had the same amount of want to have Eva and her secrets shut down than almost anyone else in the story.

I have been trying different genres in the midst of the quarantine and each have their own special way to distract me from the news and the pacing of a mystery/thriller has often taken the cake.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

 Ebook 2020 Challenge: 42 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Park Row.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley

The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 656

Format: ARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Electra d’Aplièse is a woman who seems to have it all: as a top model, she has beauty, fame, and wealth. But beneath the glittery veneer, she’s cracking under the pressure of it all. The last straw comes when she finds out her father has died and she turns to alcohol and drugs to ease the pain. As friends and colleagues fear for her health, Electra receives a shocking letter from a complete stranger who claims to be her grandmother.

In 1939, Cecily Huntley-Morgan arrives fresh from New York to Lake Naivasha in Kenya for the exciting chance to stay with her godmother, the famous socialite Kiki Preston. But after a sheltered upbringing, she’s completely astounded by the hedonistic antics of the other ex-pats in the infamous Happy Valley set. Celia soon grows to love her stunning but complicated new home, and she even accepts a proposal of marriage from Bill Forsythe, an enigmatic older cattle farmer. After a shocking discovery and with war looming, Cecily feels isolated and alone. Until she meets a young woman in the woods and makes her a promise that will change the course of her life forever.

Kritters Thoughts:  The sixth in a series where each book focuses on a different sister in this unique family.  You definitely don't need to read these in order, but I do suggest at least starting with book one as it sets up the ins and outs of the family and then you can hop around the family if you choose.  I enjoyed reading them in order as it goes in birth order and I always wonder if there is something to do with how a person grows up depending on their birth order and size of their family.  

Electra is the baby of the family and has relied on her beauty for years and when her father dies she takes a stroll to rock bottom with alcohol and drugs.  Thankfully her friends and coworkers help her get on a path to healing while at the same time she meets her biological grandmother who has a story to tell her of her ancestry.  This story is told in the other storyline in the book.  Each storyline, Electra's and her family's past are both novel size, but expertly woven together to create this epic story.  

When I read a book that has dual narratives I can tend to lean towards one or the other, but not so in this one.  They are both weighted the same and have such fantastic characters to follow that there was no skipping one for the other!  Electra's family story starts with a white woman venturing to Kenya for a fun vacation that extends to more and it does take a bit to figure out where Electra's grandmother comes into the story, but it was so worth the wait!  

I don't want these books to end!  I wish there were many more stories than the seven told in the first book.  It is sad to know that this series will be ending very soon.  

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

 Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Administrations of Lunacy by Mab Segrest

Administrations of Lunacy by Mag Segrest

Publisher: The New Press

Pages: 384

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  A scathing and original look at the racist origins of psychiatry, through the story of the largest mental institution in the world.

Today, 90 percent of psychiatric beds are located in jails and prisons across the United States, institutions that confine disproportionate numbers of African Americans. After more than a decade of research, the celebrated scholar and activist Mab Segrest locates the deep historical roots of this startling fact, turning her sights on a long-forgotten cauldron of racial ideology: the state mental asylum system in which psychiatry was born and whose influences extend into our troubled present.

In December 1841, the Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum was founded. A hundred years later, it had become the largest insane asylum in the world with over ten thousand patients. Administrations of Lunacy tells the story of this iconic and infamous southern institution, a history that was all but erased from popular memory and within the psychiatric profession.

Through riveting accounts of historical characters, Segrest reveals how modern psychiatric practice was forged in the traumas of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Deftly connecting this history to the modern era, Segrest then shows how a single asylum helped set the stage for the eugenics theories of the twentieth century and the persistent racial ideologies of our own times. She also traces the connections to today’s dissident psychiatric practices that offer sanity and create justice.

Kritters Thoughts:  An in-depth look at not only a mental institution, but the people and the time and place that it existed.  This mental institution was large and located in an interesting place especially at an interesting time in our nation's history - the south pre and post Civil War.  With its location it had a trying relationship with race relations and how that fits into mental health. I have read other books, mostly historical fiction about mental institutions and the study of mental health and this was a different look at how it fits in the surrounding time.     

I initially started reading this book via audiobook and had to stop and return it after three chapters as it wasn't keeping my attention and wasn't working for me, so I switched to ebook form and finished it reading that way.  

The parts that I loved about this book were when it focused on a doctor or a patient inside the halls.  The moments where the author took the reader outside of the asylum didn't interest me as much.  I understand that she was trying to give context to what was going on at the same time, but for me those parts took up too much space and took away from the central reason for the book.  

I didn't deduct any "points" from trying to read the audiobook and it not working out.  I blame the narrator and I would never have that impact my review in the negative.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

  Ebook 2020 Challenge: 43 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Westman PR.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Bark Park by Brandi Dougherty

Bark Park

by Brandi Dougherty

Publisher: Andrews McNeel Publishing

Pages: 96

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Scout's a little dog with a big appetite for solving mysteries with her friends! From Epic! Originals, Bark Park is an adventure-filled series about the strange things that happen at Scout’s local dog park.

With a little sleuthing and a lot of blueberries, Scout follows her nose to help her friends Maggie, Rocky, and Gus solve the mysteries of the popped ball, the cone of shame, and the missing bone! 

Kritters Thoughts:  I don't typically review kids books here, but I am always a fan of a dog themed book, so I thought I would read this one and give some thoughts.

There are three chapters in this book and each is almost a little short story in and of itself.  Each is a small mystery that Scout wants to solve in the dog park.  From a punctured ball to a missing bone, they were cute and sweet and would be perfect for an early reader or even younger to be read to.  

This is a book that I will be ordering for my niece and nephew to enjoy and to even learn a little bit more about dog life.  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 26 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Perfect Secret by Steena Holmes

The Perfect Secret by Steena Holmes

Publisher: SH Press

Pages: 344

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Everyone has secrets — some deadlier than others

She was on cloud nine after accepting an offer of a lifetime. A simpler life that what you she was accustomed to. What could go wrong?
 
Starla Bishop learned to survive in the foster-care-to-jail system in New York City. There she learned the tools and skills she put to work later to con jewel thieves, drug traffickers, and mobsters out their fortunes. Now fresh out of her latest stint in jail, she accepts a too-good-to-refuse offer—a perfect life on a silver platter. Starla has everything she ever wished for: a simpler life, a normal life, a new start with new job, a straight job—a receptionist for Soil and Springs Landscaping run by a famous botanist. And it got even better—a whirlwind romance and engagement to her boss’s charming ex-husband.
 
But everything comes with a price. When bodies start turning up in the gardens of her employer, Soil and Springs Landscaping, Starla and her fiancé are hauled into jail for questioning. The revelation of Starla's secret, previous life and her special skills make her a prime suspect.
 
How much does Starla want the perfect life, and did she use her special skills to keep it,  or is this just her biggest con yet? The shocking truth is closer than anyone thinks?
 
Everyone has secrets, some worth killing for.

Kritters Thoughts:  Starla Bishop has a checkered past, so if something is going on it could be easy to blame her.  She left prison and ended up in the perfect situation with a great job, a car and a place to live, but sometimes things are really too good to be true.  Told in almost two different timelines - the current as she has been brought in by the police to be interviewed in regards to her bosses who may be serial murderer and the other timeline goes months into the past when she is exiting jail after four years and she begins this job with these interesting characters.

I liked Starla as a character, but you could tell early on that the reader wasn't getting the whole truth from her and/or anyone else!  This was a book where you couldn't trust anyone, but for me it didn't bug me a bit.  I just knew that someone in the mix was guilty and was prepared to keep reading to figure it all out.  For me that is when I can say the pacing was just spot on with the book and I find that pacing for me matters most when you are reading a mystery/thriller because the book needs to be continuously moving forward, so you don't feel stuck in one spot without a clue or discovery to move the reader forward to the resolution.  

I knew before reading this book that I loved Steena Holmes, but I was nervously excited to read her first foray into the mystery/thriller genre and I think her writing combined with great pacing made for a great debut in the genre.  I hope she keeps writing in this genre.  I want more!

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 20 Challenge: 44 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from the author.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: My Kind of People by Lisa Duffy

My Kind of People by Lisa Duffy

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 352

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  On Ichabod Island, a jagged strip of land thirteen miles off the coast of Massachusetts, ten-year-old Sky becomes an orphan for the second time after a tragic accident claims the lives of her adoptive parents.

Grieving the death of his best friends, Leo’s life is turned upside down when he finds himself the guardian of young Sky. Back on the island and struggling to balance his new responsibilities and his marriage to his husband, Leo is supported by a powerful community of neighbors, many of them harboring secrets of their own.

Maggie, who helps with Sky’s childcare, has hit a breaking point with her police chief husband, who becomes embroiled in a local scandal. Her best friend Agnes, the island busybody, invites Sky’s estranged grandmother to stay for the summer, straining already precarious relationships. Their neighbor Joe struggles with whether to tell all was not well in Sky’s house in the months leading up to the accident. And among them all is a mysterious woman, drawn to Ichabod to fulfill a dying wish.

Kritters Thoughts:  Sky has been orphaned and the most recent type was very tragic and she has been left in the custody of one of her mother's best friends.  He has moved from Boston to this island to take are of Sky, but his husband isn't quite sure this is the life he wants.  Also on the island who play a part in the story are Maggie and her husband, Pete, who is the police chief of this small town and their neighbor Joe, who had an accident which has kept him from doing his job and his passion of construction.  A few other neighbors and folks make appearances, but these are the main players in this book.  

Sky is the main character and she is going through a major life transition in this book.  It is her coming of age story, but the book gets to be more than that with these other characters around her going through their own adult dramas.  I loved having a younger character going through a major life change while surrounded by adults who in different ways don't have their shit together either!  It was refreshing to see those play side by side.  Nothing more frustrating than perfect adults by a young adult who is having a hard time.  

Maggie for me was the other character that I loved following the most.  She was going through some major mid life crisis without her child around and trying to figure out how she wants the back half of her life to look like.  I loved that she was able to step in and be a female lead for Sky and that she had both love and friend drama at the same time in the same book.    

Beware that I may have shed a few tears at the end of this one and I am not typically a book cryer.  I won't hit at why the tears happened, but I was so surprised when they did!

I have read one of Lisa Duffy's backlist, still have one I need to read - The Salt House.  After enjoying this book so much, I am pushed to get "caught" up with her books and read that one and then anticipate what comes next!

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

  Ebook 2020 Challenge: 40 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.