Summer Reading Reviews 2023Unpublished

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5 STARS

Kept me on edge of seat! Didn't realize 2 additional stories were included in that book. They weren't as exciting. My rating is for the title book.

3 STARS

Action, intrigue as only Lee Child can convey. Did not like ending. Too many unanswered questions.

-Anonymous

4 STARS

Anthony Doer's is a Pulitzer Prize winning story and it does not disappoint. All the Light We Cannot See is an wonderfully written, poignant, and powerful novel that deserves every bit of praise it has received. It explores themes of love, loss, sacrifice, and the power of hope. It is a timeless tale that will stay with you long after you turn the final page, and it is a must-read for anyone who appreciates masterful storytelling and richly drawn characters.

2 STARS

Summer travel took me to Prince Edward Island, a destination known for one claim to fame: Anne of Green Gables. I never read the book as a child so I bought a copy to read on the way. The book is half made up of lush descriptions of the island's countryside and farmland found (and the descriptions truly do justice to the gorgeous scenery), and half made up of monologues of young Anne's musings. Much to my dismay, I did not find myself enjoying Anne as a character. She's long-winded and overdramatic, childlike traits that I guess make her appeal to many other readers. In my case, I was happy to have read it to recognize the landmarks on my trip, but I would never recommend it to someone generally.

-Lauren L.

5 STARS

Reacher uses his brains & brawn along with some of his former elite team to thwart a terrorist plot. Hard to believe how he overcomes near impossible odds.

4 STARS

A dark look into the lifestyles of wealthy Manhattanites with summer homes on Fire Island. What I predicted was going to be a light beach read suddenly got heavy. The social commentary got me to pause both during and after I read it. Would be a conversation-starter, for sure, as a book club choice!

-Lauren L.

3 STARS

The Bandit Queens by Parini Schroff centers around Geeta, an abandoned spouse who resides in a community where her neighbors all gossip that she secretly murdered her husband. Used to being shunned as a supposed "witch," she is surprised when female neighbors instead start asking for advice on how to... dispose of their spouses. This book is laden with social commentary, both on the Indian caste system and on how women navigate adult female friendships. A bit of an unbelievable plot, but FIERCE women characters that you will find yourself rallying behind as you read.

Lauren C.

5 STARS

Can history classes ever be interesting or exciting? Yes! If students were to read a book like this in English or history class! This is the underappreciated story of how a young slave managed to perform the extraordinary feat of piloting a Confederate military transport gunboat (the CSS Planter), out of the Confederate harbor of Charleston, South Carolina in May 1862, past five confederate harbor forts to the Union blockade and then to the Union-controlled enclave in the Beaufort-Port Royal area. He then handed over the vessel to the Union, along with the guns and ammunition it was carrying and that were meant for the Confederate soldiers. He was instrumental in convincing President Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union army. He later became a politician during the Reconstruction era and authored a bill for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory education system. Great read!

-Vivian H.

4 STARS

Bruni, an acclaimed New York Times journalist writes his non fiction account of losing considerable vision in his right eye, with the threat his left eye might also one day be affected.. The optical nerve damage he sustains during a rare stroke, severely impacts his personal and professional life. Typing, observing, and being able to report accurately leave him devastatingly at a loss. He writes with honesty about his medical care, some of his physicians leave a lot to be desired, but others are compassionate and able to guide him accurately. In his personal journey to accepting a life changing condition, he recounts the stories of others who have faced even more threatening conditions. He learns what makes life bearable , for life cannot always be controlled and bend to our will. This is honest writing, assuring the reader that while all problems cannot be solved, Bruni takes comfort in the paths and opportunities that can be accessed to allow him to live a wonderful life. He gives us lessons in what is important for fulfillment. His family and many friends are his support system, and he writes with great affection for them, including a heartwarming segment about his dog, who is indeed an inspiration. Bruni's story is optimism combined with a dose of realism, worthy of reading.

-Edie S.

5 STARS

The author, Christian Cooper, is the “Central Park Birder” who had an encounter with an ”entitled” White woman, who falsely accused him of harassing her, after he asked her to leash her dog in an area of the Park where this is mandatory. This well-written and interesting book goes way beyond this episode and is the memoir of a Black, gay kid who was essentially saved thanks to his hobby of watching birds. This hobby validated his existence and gave him an outlet from the otherwise secret life he had to lead to conceal his sexuality from his friends and family.

Beyond his passion for birds, Cooper talks of his travels, his activism for Black and LGBTQ rights and his family life. He describes his difficult relationship with his volatile father, and then their shared interests for Black activism and nature.

He was the first in his family, not only to go to college, but to Harvard. He then worked as a creator at Marvel Comics, where he introduced the first openly female lesbian character, Victoria Montes. He also introduced the first openly gay male character (Yoshi Mishima) in Star Trek, the Starfleet Academy series.

Interestingly enough, his encounter in Central Park occurred the same day that George Floyd was murdered by the Minneapolis Police (May 25, 2020). His experience in the Park actually provided a platform for his birding experience to be recognized, and he now hosts a show on National Geographic about birding.

-Vivian H.

5 STARS

5 STARS

It's London in 1940, WWII has begun and bombs are falling. Beatrix is eleven and her parents arrange to send her to live with a family in Boston- the Gregorys. Beatrix becomes part of the family, becomes a daughter they never had to the parents and a young sister to the two boys. Each August family goes to their own island in Maine and those memories stay with her when she returns to England when the war ends. It's a beautiful first novel that I couldn't put down and didn't want to end.

-Carol S.

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5 STARS

Absolutely loved this book. I read the online reviews in the summer reading group and decided to give this book a try. I'm so glad that I did. It's a wonderful story which spans the years from 1940-1977. Bea is an 11 year old girl whose family sends her to America to live with an American family to keep her safe from WWII. The connection that she makes after living with this family for years is lifelong. It's a great read and I couldn't put this one down.

4 STARS

Interesting quick read for fans of the Harry Potter movies. He explains what it was like to be part of some of the biggest movies of all time, but also the difficulties of life after playing Draco Malfoy.

4 STARS

4 STARS

4 STARS

This book got better the more you read. Funny with time travel and a main character and author with autism.

-Caitlin R.

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5 STARS

-Anonymous

Because of the book I am inspired to travel the world. She tells of her travels from the perspective of a Black American female. It discusses safety which is a plus. However, she seems to have an inside advantage every where she travels given her profession. Great book. I will continue to reference it as I travel.

4 STARS

-Stanley B.

5 STARS

4 STARS

Cloud Cuckoo Land is a time-sprawling journey that tells the story of one book's meaning across generations. The novel is set in various eras - from hundreds of years ago to decades into the future, you are transported into the lives of those closest to the titular novel.

While not the type of novel you pack with you on your way to the beach, it was a different story that felt fresh, and is a good complement to Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. The way he weaves the narratives together reinforces his great writing, though the story itself lacks in the major twists and turns that I gravitate towards in fiction.

-Ian M.

5 STARS

One of my favorite books of the summer. Starts off light enough that you can enjoy it as a beach read, but ends in such a wholesome and emotional way that I found myself crying on my sofa at the conclusion.

Clover, a woman who experienced more than her usual amount of loss and grieving in her formative years, lives an introverted lifestyle. Her work requires her to develop some deep relationships, which transform her life significantly. This is a coming-of-age novel in some ways, as well as a romance novel, and wraps up in an unexpected way that delighted me.

-Lauren L.

3 STARS

I have always been a Daniel Silva groupie, devouring his novels and becoming enmeshed in his characters' lives.: Gabriel Allon, Eli Lavon, Mikhail Abramov, and the entire crew of the renowned Israeli intelligence office. Not to mention America's CIA and foreign diplomats. In addition, his personal story of his wife Chiara and twins Irene and Rafael become your family as well. I am devastated to say this novel falls short of what I have come to expect. I, who read his first 19 novels non stop (binge reading), found this latest story more like reading a newspaper than a page turning novel. It is the Russian-Ukraine crisis that fills the pages, and an in depth scrutiny of Vladimir Putin. Granted there is some intrigue with a beautiful thief, there is the ongoing restoration of paintings by Allon, the search for a stolen Vermeer, worth 250 million dollars, actually based on fact, but something was missing for me, this time. There were snatches of excitement, but not enough for me to give this a rave review. Sorry Mr. Silva, but I admit I will wait for your next book, which will come out next July, and hope the fire has not been doused. Someone of your stature certainly deserves another chance, from the likes of me.

-Edie S.

5 STARS

The scope and drama of this novel literally takes your breath away. Its pages are filled with the lives of a family. Ordinary lives do not remain ordinary. Its chapters are short, bringing you to resolution quickly. Happiness, tragedy, and all that falls in between move the reader quickly to the unexpected. It questions how a loving parent can become hated, how a loving husband can become indifferent, it questions how a mother, the mainstay, can become rejected. It is a book not to be missed. The writing is exceptional.

-Edie S.

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5 STARS

Someone suggested this book at the June meeting of the BYOB group. Wonderful read about a woman - her youth, marriage, three kids, trouble with marriage etc. it all comes full circle. I couldn’t put it down.

-Carol S.

5 STARS

Second in a trilogy, which I continue to enjoy, looking forward to the last installment. Love the different worlds he creates!

-Erika D.

5 STARS

Alex Cross is injured so his friend, John Sampson, takes over to find out why he and Alex were targets. He proceeds to uncover who is trying to take over the United States government and why. This is another thriller in the Alex Cross mysteries.

4 STARS

Having seen the memorial to the Morro Castleon the Asbury Park Boardwalk, I was intrigued to learn there was a newly released book set on the ship. Great read, even if you don't have the context of the semi-local historical event. This book is heavy on both romance and revenge, and contains a fairly predictable plot "twist" that made me feel like the slyest reader ever when I predicted the ending mid-way through!

-Lauren L.

4 STARS

This book was definitely different, strange and weird but it keep me reading. It was sometimes funny, dramatic and a murder mystery all in one.

5 STARS

Wowsa! I never expected the ending to this harrowing tale of a rape victim and his family. It is an ending that will literally leave you speechless. The author, a former attorney, investigates the upcoming trial of a brutal rape that turns a family upside down. The dynamics of the family reveal what each member might do to vindicate and support the pain of the defendant. I am reluctant to say too much so as not to give away what is around each corner. The family, the detective who investigates, the perpetrator of the crime, and a character from the past keep you riveted. Hold on to your seats, you will have no idea what is around the corner. Great read.

-Edie S.

4 STARS

Useful book for anyone who is thinking of becoming pregnant.

-Anonymous

5 STARS

This is a fantasy novel, about two rival journalists, Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, who cross paths in more ways than one. It's a story about love, war, and hope. To say that I loved this book would be an understatement! I've thought about it every day since I finished it. I will warn- it's marketed as YA, but personally, I felt that it didn't read as such- besides the main characters being 18 and 19 years old. Highly recommend, to anyone in the need of a beautiful love story.

-Anastasia S.

3 STARS

-Anonymous

_________________

5 STARS

The Door to door bookstore is a heartwarming, easy-to-read tale of a bookstore employee and an unlikely new friend. For those who have read A Man Called Ove, imagine a quicker read, with a bit less beauty in the writing, but with a generally more upbeat feel.

I found this to be the type of light reading I needed for the summer, but for those who like a drama with higher stakes, this likely falls short. What the book sacrifices in character development it makes up for in succinctness.

-Ian M.

2 STARS

Started off strong but I had to push myself to finish, and then wished I hadn’t. The ending was disappointing.

-Megan L.

5 STARS

Hearth warming & breaking story of a 16 year old boy's love story from first realization through adulthood & his tender interactions with family & friends. Could not put this book down.

5 STARS

Tara Westover writes a memoir about her life as part of an ultra conservative family. Her parents do not trust the government. Their children are born at home and do not have a birth certificate. The parents do not believe in sending their children to school but have them work in the family’s junkyard instead. Tara wants to be educated and is admitted to BYU without a high school diploma. Her education then takes her Cambridge. This memoir shows how a person can persevere and achieve their dreams against all odds.

5 STARS

5 STARS

Another great summer read from Elin Hilderbrand. This book is hard to put down once you start reading it. Five Star Weekend is a story about Hollis Shaw, a woman who suffers a tragedy. She hears about a woman who brings together four friends from various times in her life for a fun filled five star weekend. Hollis decides to do the same thing with four of her friends and plans a wonderful weekend. Her weekend is filled with fun, delicious meals and unexpected experiences.

5 STARS

GIRL IN PIECES is an aptly named novel. It is the SHATTERING story of a teen aged girl, one of many who cuts herself to relieve her inner turmoil. This novel is classified as a Young Adult read, however, it is an easy crossover for any adult. While the subject matter is depressing, the author carries you along on a ride that is eye opening. The characters are seedy, unlikeable, until you see the reasons for their dependence on drugs. Everyone has secrets, as do all humans. The secrets in this novel are deep, hurtful, and monstrous. This novel takes you to places you don't want to know, but you learn that not everyone leads a perfect life. It is compelling and difficult to stop reading. Its message reveals the underbelly of society and how many cope. They are deserving of understanding and compassion. A good and important read.

-Edie S.

3 STARS

3 STARS

Brain surgery leaves a portrait artist with a condition called "face blindness," which complicates both her professional and romantic lives. This is a Hallmark movie of a book-- light, enjoyable "chick lit."

-Lauren L.

3 STARS

Somewhat interesting plot but was fairly easy to guess what was going to happen. A lot of the story lines seem left open.

-Anonymous

4 STARS

5 STARS

This compelling WW2-era novel is about the lives of three women who come together in their fight against censorship in Nazi Germany and America. I loved learning about the American Services Editions and their inspiration to the soldiers on the front, a bit of history I never knew. Readers will identify with the complex and endearing characters who honor the guardians of books: librarians.

-Deb L.

5 STARS

Found it hard to put down this fast moving complicated murder mystery. Piece by piece the Memory Man & his new partner work their magic.

-Anonymous

3 STARS

4 STARS

This was the sweetest middle grade book. I saw it in my children's school library and was interested in picking it up. This book is about a little girl and her mother who travel to a very small town to spend the summer with her grandparents because her grandpa is ill. I loved it and I'll be reading it to my kids soon!

-Anastasia S.

4 STARS

3 STARS

Very slow start but did pick up towards the middle of the book. Nina, a young woman with an affluent family, faces challenges as she tries to figure out who she is. The ending was kind of predictable. I'd say it was an ok read.

4 STARS

This is THE BOOK to read as we honor Pride throughout the month of June. While following a fictional young, gay, male character's experience, readers are transported to 1980s NYC. It's a work of historical fiction that is so emotionally moving. It's also a major learning opportunity-- nearly every page has detailed footnotes showing the ways in which historical facts integrate into the character's storyline.

-Anonymous

5 STARS

Touching history of his parents' hard work through the Great Depression & Army Corps of Engineering building great dams in the Midwest & how it affected his career development & hope for our country.

4 STARS

4 STARS

I saw that this YA graphic novel was becoming a show on Netflix and wanted to read it to see if it was appropriate for my kids to watch. I ended up loving it! It was about a young girl who can shapeshift who becomes the sidekick of the kingdoms villain and the trouble that ensues. No one is as they seem in this one! It's always a bit more complicated than expected. I'm excited to see the show with my kids soon!

-Anastasia S.

4 STARS

A refreshing creative novel.

4 STARS

I find the Michael Bennett mysteries very entertaining, fast moving & heart warming with aspects of his family life with wife, 10 children & priest grandfather. I marvel how he can manage his sharp detective skills while being a great family man.

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4 STARS

-Abby P.

4 STARS

This book rotated through characters in and seeking relationships and was hard to put down. It left each chapter on a cliffhanger and had some surprise twists. It was not great writing but engrossing kind of like a soap opera.

-Caitlin R.

2 STARS

This book was recommended by so many horror fans! Perhaps my expectations were too high based on that, but I found this book incredibly slow and boring. I listened to the audiobook rather than reading the physical copy in hopes I'd be more engaged. Our Wives Under the Sea is about a woman who welcomes home her wife who had been lost for months at the bottom of the ocean. But something is off with her wife. The chapters go from one woman's POV to the other but I still feel like nothing happened. Not recommended!

-Anastasia S.

1 STAR

This novel has been touted as a prizewinner, international best seller, and powerful. I have to disagree with all the wonderful press it received. It is the story of Nazism in France and the Resistance during WWII. I am accustomed to Holocaust literature written by the likes of Anthony Doerr and All the Light We Cannot See. I am accustomed to Speilberg's Schindler's List. So the premise of this book was intriguing. A postcard with four names written on it is sent to the home of concentration camp survivors many years after the war. It is not signed. Who sent it, why those names? The plot is so disjointed, I could never keep track of which character is speaking, the drama and suspense, usually prevalent in a war story was completely missing. I cannot help but wonder how this novel became a best seller. It is labelled as autobiographical fiction. The author's name is used for one of the characters. I was never able to tell when the author was speaking through her character. The characters were not interesting and poorly developed. The ending did not satisfy the quest of learning who sent the postcard. I forced myself to finish the book only to see who sent that card. Another disappointment. The climax was uneventful. Why did The Postcard receive such acclaim?

-Edie S.

4 STARS

If you like puzzles this book is for you. This mystery revolves around a writer of puzzles who is trying to save a woman in prison who is accused of a murder.

4 STARS

-Abby P.

5 STARS

4 STARS

5 STARS

Tana French, a respected award winning mystery writer, tells of a retired Chicago police officer who moves to a small beautiful village in Ireland. Her characters are warm and likeable, from the pub drinkers with their pints to the tea drinkers with their mugs. The dialogue (in Irish dialect) is warm, humorous, and easy to understand. This reader would move to that village immediately. But slowly, without fanfare, the climate changes. A young man goes missing, his younger sibling enlists the aid of Cal, the retired policeman. The movement in the search is without crisis, there are no dramatic moments. The plot is all about finding the older brother. With a steady pace, the close community slowly reveals an unexpected underside. The ending is startling, a surprise of major proportions. The seeming humanity of the villagers belies the truth. Tana French is a master of leading the reader down paths one never expects.

Edie S.

5 STARS

5 STARS

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston was so much fun to read! It's a story about a woman who inherits a magical apartment, that time travels seven years in the past... but only when it wants to! This was such a wonderful, funny, and sweet book. I highly recommend it. Don't forget the tissues!

-Anastasia S.

4 STARS

Kept me guessing right until the end. Great twists & turns. Characters are so human & believable...good, bad & ugly!

4 STARS

Kathleen Held's life is changed in one night. Not because her home caught on fire. Not even because she discovered her aspiring politician husband escaping the fire with his assistant, with whom he had clearly been involved intimately. Her life changes because the paparazzi photographs from that night reveal a large menstrual stain on her pants. Kathleen's photo goes viral on social media. She contends with the public opinion, along with her ruined marriage and the challenges of rearing her young adult daughter.

As you read The Society of Shame, you'll alternate between empathizing with Kathleen and cringing with secondhand embarrassment over some of her decisions. After reading, you'll then mentally unpack all the topics the book addresses. The book satirizes many elements of contemporary culture (cancel culture, growing social activism, heightened attention to previously stigmatized topics, etc.) and could be a treasure trove of book club discussion topics.

For anyone looking for a book that could appeal to a wide variety of readers (i.e., people of different ages, people with different political leanings), I'd recommend this one. Roper writes in a way where it's never quite clear how the author intends for readers to feel about the politically- and societally-charged events of the novel. For that reason, I think people with differing perspectives all could enjoy the read, perhaps even while coming to vastly different conclusions. Many opportunities for discussion with this one.

-Lauren L.

5 STARS

Wow! This book had me hooked right from the beginning & only got better right up to the end. It tells the hard luck stories of 2 very different women & how their meeting under extremely antagonist circumstances enriches their lives & those around them.

4 STARS

An interesting well written novel.

2 STARS

I was disappointed in this book. I had to force myself to finish it. I did not feel empathy for the characters who were murdered or the detective & psychologist who pursued the killer because something was lacking in the way they were portrayed.

2 STARS

I traded books while on vacation, swapping the book I read during my departure flight for something new to read on the way home. I wound up with a Colleen Hoover book and figured, after a year of seeing her name spread like wildfire, that I was well overdue to give her books a try.

Verity is suspenseful, but all the build-up doesn't lead to as significant a plot twist as I anticipated. I felt the plot sort of just fizzled out. While there is some resolution, one big question is left open-ended, which may be great for book club conversations, but left me a bit disappointed. I don't think I get what all the hype is about.

-Lauren L.

Cute and quirky story about a young woman who is obsessed with rom-com movies and wants her life to be one.

Enter a handsome hulky movie who she encounters and the book takes off from there. Filled with other kooky characters makes the book funny and a quick read.

4 STARS

Does not disappoint. Fascinating tale of the heart warming encounters of this gifted wedding planner.

5 STARS

5 STARS

Another great read from Mary Higgins Clark. If you enjoyed Where Are The Children, you will enjoy this book. It picks up where the first book ended and now the children are adults and another child is missing.

-Helen S.

5 STARS

Once I started reading this book, I could hardly put it down. This is a story about the lives of four families and their secrets. I would highly recommend reading The Whispers.

Helen S.

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5 STARS

Another reader reviewed this book earlier in the summer, and their review intrigued me. Count this as another five-star review for The Whispers! The character development is on point. You'll be shocked by characters' actions, yet never find them to be out-of-character or unbelievable. The strong character development, coupled with some well-timed plot twists, function in tandem to create such a riveting story.

-Lauren L.

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4 STARS

-Abbie P.

5 STARS

David Burroughs is in prison for the horrific murder of his three year old son, Matthew. After being incarcerated, for five years, David’s former sister-in-law, Rachel, visits him with a photo. In the background of the photo Rachel believes believes she sees Matthew. This is an exciting book that you will thoroughly enjoy.

5 STARS

Not your usual Baldacci novel, primarily known as suspense and legal thrillers. This novel could not be further from those. It is a story that actually draws from Baldacci's ancestors' past in the coal mining mountains of Virginia. It is reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, particularly the nail biting trial at the end. Cotton Longfellow, an attorney, is the counterpart of Atticus Finch. A heartwarming drama filled with the struggles of a poor family, corruption, and the injustice that large corporations can inflict on rural America. A great summer read, whose characters are sympathetic, evil, and all that falls in between.

-Edie S.

1 STAR

Ugh, this book falls so short. It's trying to be sort of like The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, but it doesn't come anywhere close! I worked as a middle school English teacher for a long time and when I first started this book, I thought to myself, "This seems like it's more of a young adult book than an adult novel." By the middle of the book, I thought to myself, "This book is written more poorly than my students' writing pieces..." The character development and pacing of the plot are both quite weak. Even worse, the crux of the story involves the main character competing in a contest to solve highly complex riddles. Yet, the author used some of the most common riddles that we've all likely heard time and time again in classrooms, from elder relatives, etc. It's laughable; I have no idea how this got published, LOL. Just go read the House in the Cerulean Sea instead.

-Lauren L.

3 STARS

I don't think I've ever read satire for my own enjoyment before. I've read works of satire, but it was because they were on high school's or college's required reading lists. I checked out Yellowface by R. F. Kuang because I saw it garnering positive reviews on bestseller lists, not because I knew the premise. I was shocked when I realized by the third chapter that the story was satirical.

A criticism of the publishing industry, Yellowface features a narrator whose internal dialogue and decision-making will make you cringe from start to finish. Seemingly every sentence from the narrator's perspective induces secondhand embarrassment. As someone who works in the field of online content development, though, many of the plot points felt uncomfortably reflective of my own workplace encounters. I highly recommend this for anyone working in HR, media, or content/curriculum development.

4 STARS

There is a review printed on the back cover of this book that compares it to the HBO TV series, White Lotus, but as if it were retold from the points of view of characters Lucia and Mia. I don't think I can review the book any better than that.

If you haven't seen White Lotus, You Can Trust Me is a suspenseful thriller that follows two nomadic female friends in their escape from what I can only call a sort of "Epstein island." The best thing about this book is that author Wendy Heard is able to place her characters in such vulnerable settings without reducing them to the "damsel in distress" archetype. Her protagonists are quick-thinking, loyal, and self-sufficient. While reading, you'll not only be rooting for their successes. You'll also absorb quite a bit of street-smarts as they describe the ways in which they read people/situations and respond in moments of crisis.

-Anonymous

5 STARS

A great read about the Aston family. Stephen Aston is a renowned, 60 year old heart surgeon who is getting married to a much younger woman while his wife is still alive and suffering from dementia. This book has many twists and turns as two sisters react to their father’s impending marriage.

3 STARS

Interesting & fast moving Who Done It. Had too many details of computer & security hacking which I skimmed over & I guessed the culprit too early on.