women’s relationships

Pretend with Me by Emily Mayer

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I was asked by my friend at Author Marketing Experts if I’d like a copy of this book, and, to be honest, the cover didn’t catch my eye as much as the description did:

Description:

One phone call was all it took to upend my entire life in completely unexpected ways.

Whoever said that you can’t go home again was a liar. After the senior year from hell, I had spent a decade trying to avoid Beacon Hill and its residents. My luck came to a sudden end after daddy had an incident with a rotted floor. In and out, I promised myself. I was just there to help my parents for a week or two tops.

Things in Beacon Hill hadn’t changed much since I’d been home last. Mama still worked at the hub of gossip known as Trixie’s, Mrs. Thomas still made the best chicken salad in all of Georgia, and my sister was still the devil in a pushup bra. And of course, the St. James family was still local royalty. Our very own version of the Kennedys.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, not only is my sister back in town after a failed modeling career, she’s also engaged to Macon St. James. The golden boy of Beacon Hill, and the star of every single one of my teenage fantasies.

The biggest surprise of all was Holden St. James. I thought he would be one of the villains in this story, but I was learning that I had been wrong about a lot of things. And Holden just might be worth coming home for….

This story was laugh out loud funny. I thought perhaps it took place in Beacon Hill, Boston – but it takes place down south and it looks to be the start of a series. The characters are at times a little wacky and the main character’s inner dialogue was quite humorous. I don’t read many romantic comedies, but I did enjoy this one.

Here’s a bit about the author:

Emily Mayer is a best-selling author and a book lover with a capital L. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find her in the kitchen burning dinner with a book in her hand or tucked away in one of her favorite reading spots promising “just five more minutes.” In addition to books, Emily is addicted to coffee, dogs, and cat videos. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and dog, both of whom are very good boys.

You can find her at http://www.EmilyMayerBooks.com

Thank you for my copy!

Veil of Doubt by Sharon Virts

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Ms. Virts’ publicist offered me an e-galley of Veil of Doubt and I’m so glad that I said yes! What an intriguing and captivating read! I could not help but be amazed that this story is based in fact. Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction! I could not put this book down as I struggled with “did she? Or didn’t she?”

This is my first opportunity to read Ms. Virts’ writing and I could tell that she had spent hours researching this true court case. Her story immerses you into the 19th century and the morés of that time. Her characters have a rich depth to them; and even though they are not perfect, I sympathized with them.

Here’s the scoop:

When a mother is charged with murder in a town already convinced of her guilt, can defense attorney Powell Harrison find truth and justice in a legal system where innocence is not presumed? 

Emily Lloyd, a young widow in Reconstruction-era Virginia, is accused of poisoning her three-year-old daughter, Maud. It isn’t the first death in her home—her husband and three other children all died of mysterious illnesses—so when Maud succumbs to an unexplained malady, the town suspects foul play. Soon Mrs. Lloyd is charged not only with poisoning the child but also with murdering her children, her husband, and her aunt. 

Enter Powell Harrison, a soft-spoken, brilliant attorney who recently returned to his Virginia hometown to help his brother manage their late father’s practice. Approached to assist in Mrs. Lloyd’s defense, Harrison initially declines, worried that an infanticide case might tarnish their family’s reputation. But as details about the widow’s erratic behavior and her reclusive neighbors emerge, Harrison begins to suspect that an even more sinister truth might lurk beneath the family’s horrible fate and finds himself irresistibly drawn to the case.  

Based on a shocking true story, Veil of Doubt is part true-crime thriller, part medical and legal procedural. Perfect for fans of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace and filled with rich period detail gleaned from exhaustive research, Veil of Doubt delves into the darkness of the South during Reconstruction, exposing intrigue, deception, and death. 

Here’s a super book trailer that the author created that does a great job giving the background of this story and her personal connections to the characters:

About the Author:

Photo from SharonVirts.com

Sharon Virts is a successful entrepreneur and visionary who, after more than twenty-five years in business, followed her passion for storytelling in the world of historical fiction. She has received numerous awards for her work in historic preservation and has been recognized nationally for her business achievements and philanthropic contributions. She was recently included in Washington Life Magazine’s Philanthropic 50 for her work with education, health, and cultural preservation.

Sharon’s passion truly lies in the creative. She is an accomplished visual artist and uses her gift for artistic expression along with her extraordinary storytelling to build complex characters and craft vivid images and sets that capture the heart and imagination. She is mother to four sons—James, Lucas, Zachary, and Nicholas—stepmom to Ben and Avery, and “Nana” to ten-year-old Charlie and toddler Bodhi. She lives in Virginia with her husband, Scott Miller, at the historic Selma Mansion with their three Labrador retrievers Polly, Cassie, and Leda.

I discovered that Sharon has a historical fiction bookclub through her website with some of my favorite reads already on there! I signed up immediately (even though I know that I will not always be free to join in) at SharonVirts.com.

Thank you so much for including me on this latest release and giving me the opportunity to read and review!

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for: The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar

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Harper-Collins had SO MANY great choices for tours for this fall that I could hardly restrain myself! As you know, I love historical fiction, so I was drawn to this novel about a young seamstress during the 1920’s who is learning to navigate life as a young adult. I loved the character of Zora and I loved a glimpse into life during that time. I read a lot of WWII novels, and WWI, but I haven’t read a lot about the Roaring 20’s and/or Prohibition times. I also know next to nothing about sewing and fashion design, so this was interesting to me, too. This book toggled in time, but only at the beginning and end (can be helpful if you find a lot of time switching confusing!).

Noelle Salazar is such an engaging writer! If you love her books, you will love this one, too. Thank you so much for my e-galley and for letting me be part of the tour.

Here’s the scoop:

The Roaring Days of Zora Lily

Author: Noelle Salazar

ISBN: 9780778305200

MIRA Paperback Original 

Publication Date: October 3, 2023

Buy Links: Not affiliated with BBNB

HarperCollins.com: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-roaring-days-of-zora-lily-noelle-salazar?variant=41016586567714 

BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-jazz-girl-original-noelle-salazar/19574911?ean=9780778305200 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-roaring-days-of-zora-lily-noelle-salazar/1143092714?ean=9780778305200 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0778305201/keywords=historical%20fiction?tag=harpercollinsus-20 

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780778305200 

Social Links:

Author Website: https://www.noellesalazar.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noelle__salazar/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noellesalazar 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noelle_salazar 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18424925.Noelle_Salazar 

Author Bio: 

Noelle Salazar was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where she’s been a Navy recruit, a medical assistant, an NFL cheerleader, and always a storyteller. As a novelist, she has done extensive research into the Women Airforce Service Pilots, interviewing vets and visiting the training facility—now a museum dedicated to the WASP—in Sweetwater, Texas. When she’s not writing, she can be found dodging raindrops and daydreaming of her next book. Her debut The Flight Girls, was an instant bestseller, a Forbes Hypable book of the month, and a BookBub Top Recommended book from readers. Her second novel, Angels of the Resistance: A Novel of Sisterhood and Courage in WWII was also published to wide praise including an Amazon Editors’  Fiction Pick of the Month. Noelle lives in Bothell, Washington with her family.

Book Summary: 

Set during a period of rapid social and technological change, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily follows a struggling young seamstress from her long nights sewing costumes in the smoke-filled speakeasies of Seattle to designing gowns for Hollywood’s biggest starlets.

2023, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History: A costume conservator is preparing an exhibition featuring movie costumes from the 1920s to present day. As she gingerly places a gown once worn by Greta Garbo on a mannequin, she discovers another name hidden beneath the designer’s label, leaving her to wonder—who is Zora Lily?

1924, Seattle: Poverty-stricken Zora Hough spends her days looking after her younger siblings while sewing up holes and fixing hems for clients to bring in extra money, working her fingers to the bone just to survive. But at night, as she lies in the bed she shares with one of her three sisters, she secretly dreams of becoming a designer like Coco Chanel and Jeanne Lanvin.

When her best friend gets a job dancing in a club downtown, Zora is lured in by her stories of music, glittering dresses and boys. She follows her friend to the underground speakeasies that are at once exciting and frightening—with smoke hanging in the air, alcohol flowing despite Prohibition, couples dancing in a way that makes Zora blush and a handsome businessman named Harley. It’s a world she has only ever imagined, and one with connections that could lead her to the life she’s always dreamed of. But as Zora’s ambition is challenged by tragedy and duty to her family, she’ll learn that dreams come with a cost. 

Unsettled by Patricia Reis

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I really enjoyed reading this novel of a family’s experience as settlers in the Midwest and the secrets that got passed down through generations. I loved the main character, an independent, women’s studies researcher, who is searching a bit for herself as she searches for clues to her family’s history by using a photo and information that her recently deceased father left for her. The story toggles in time and you get to know the story of those in the picture and what lay behind their seemingly placid façades. “Aunt Kate” provides an interesting parallel to Van and their stories highlight the role of women in the family and in our society, both now and in the past.

Here’s the overview:

Family Secrets. A genealogical quest takes Van back 100 years to the Iowa prairie in search of an ancestor no one has claimed.

As Van Reinhardt clears out her father’s belongings, she comes across a request penned by her father prior to his death. Examining the family portrait of her German immigrant ancestors that he has left her, Van’s curiosity grows about one of the children portrayed there.

Meanwhile in the 1870s, Kate is a German immigrant newly arrived in America with only her brother as family. When she and her brother split, she eventually finds her way back to him, but with a secret.

Van revisits the town and the farm of her ancestors to discover calamitous events in probate records, farm auction lists, asylum records and lurid obituaries, hinting at a history far more complex and tumultuous than she had expected. But the mystery remains, until she changes upon a small book – sized for a pocket – that holds Tante Kate’s secret and provides the missing piece.

A big thank you to my friends at Sibylline Press (who publishes “brilliant women over 50”) for sending me this one!

Here’s some info on the author – who is having her fiction debut with this novel!

Author Patricia Reis is a Midwesterner at heart. In the mid-1800s, her German immigrant ancestors pioneered a farm in southwestern Iowa and their portrait gave her this story. She has lived on both coasts and currently resides in Portland, Maine where she is active in Maine Writers and Publishers. She spends six months of each year in Nova Scotia. Reis holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin, an MFA from UCLA and a degree in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara. She also maintains a private practice of psychotherapy for women. Reis’s memoir, Motherlines: Love, Longing, and Liberation (SheWrites Press, October 2016) won a gold medal for memoir from Independent Press Publishers. Along with numerous essays and reviews, she has published several nonfiction books.

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

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I just love the writing of Fiona Davis (The Lions of Fifth Avenue among others) so I was excited to get her latest read off Net Galley. This was a fun story for me since we love the Rockettes and the Holiday Spectacular, and my mother used to tell me stories of seeing them in NYC in the 1940’s (she wanted to be one but at 5’0 was too short!). This story was an interesting mix of mystery, romance, and historical fiction. And it has quite a bit of truth to it (beyond the Rockettes!) in that there really was a “mad bomber” in NYC at that time who was a disgruntled worker from an electrical company.

Thank you for my e-galley. I’ll be recommending this one to others who enjoy historical fiction of this period. Ms. Davis has a way of making the past come alive through her attention to details. You won’t be disappointed!

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Magnolia Palace: A thrilling story about love, sacrifice, and the pursuit of dreams, set amidst the glamour and glitz of Radio City Music Hall in its mid-century heyday.

New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer. 

Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling. 

As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.

Harper-Collings Blog Tour for: Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon

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I’m starting off my fall blog tours participation with a feel-good story about a young woman whose life is pretty much going nowhere until she has the chance to find herself and create her future when her aunt leaves her a villa in southern France.

Here’s the scoop:

Main Character Energy 

Author: Jamie Varon

ISBN: 9780778334200

Park Row Books Paperback Original 

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

HarperCollins.com: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/main-character-energy-jamie-varon?variant=40992983482402 

BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/main-character-energy-original-jamie-varon/19278298?ean=9780778334200 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/main-character-energy-jamie-varon/1142651724? 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0778334201  

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780778334200?AID=10747236&PID=7310909 

Social Links:

Author Website: https://www.jamievaron.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamievaron/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamievaron 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamievaron 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21746179.Jamie_Varon 

Author Bio: 

Jamie Varon is an author, branding expert, course creator, and graphic designer living in Calabasas, California. Her nonfiction book Radically Content was published in 2022 with Quarto and is currently being adapted into a feature film with Camilu Productions LTD. Main Character Energy is her debut novel.

Book Summary: 

“This book absolutely dazzled me from the opening scene until the very last page. Highly recommend!” 
—Jenn McKinlay, New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading

“a sparkling debut” -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Poppy Banks would rather be writing mysteries than writing listicles for her dead-end job at Thought Buzz. But after a series of rejections, she’s ready to accept life on the sidelines as a plus-size woman. Her aunt Margot is the one person unwilling to give up on her niece’s dreams and tells her so at their secret yearly lunches.

But all of Poppy’s beliefs about herself are challenged when her beloved aunt dies and leaves her niece a grand surprise—a trip to her villa in the French Riviera. There, she learns her aunt intends to leave her stunning villa and secretive writer’s residency to Poppy—if she can finish her novel in six months.

When the writing countdown begins, Poppy realizes she has more to confront than her writer’s block. Family drama, complicated romances and self-doubt all threaten to throw her off course. In this fun and heartwarming debut, Poppy must decide if she can live up to her aunt’s—and her own—desire to be the main character in her own life.

I loved this story of Poppy, but I honestly did not like Poppy at the start of the book. She was so self-centered and throwing a big pity party for herself that it was a bit annoying; but she changes, and that was great to see. I liked the romance in the story and I particularly liked that Poppy was described as plus-size so she seems authentic and real, and her problems and self-doubt and self-pity seemed believable.

This is Varon’s debut novel, so I look forward to others in the future from her!

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for THE PARIS AGENT by Kelly Rimmer

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Kelly Rimmer may just be my favorite author. I love her writing and her stories. This historical fiction novel was another top read for me– focusing on three female SOE operatives in France during WWII. It was suspenseful and exciting, and toggled between WWII and current day (well, it was more like the 1970’s but close enough!).

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour! If you love WWII stories with strong female protagonists, don’t miss The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer!

The Paris Agent : A World War II Mystery 

Kelly Rimmer

On Sale Date: July 11, 2023

9781525826689

Trade Paperback

$18.99 USD

368 pages

ABOUT THE BOOK:

For fans of fast-paced historical thrillers like Our Woman in Moscow and The Rose Code, Rimmer’s brilliant new novel follows three female SOE operatives as their lives intersect in occupied France, and the double agent who controls their fate.

Twenty-five years after the end of the war, an aging Marcel Augustin is reflecting on his life during those perilous, exhilarating years as a British SOE operative in occupied France—in particular the agent who saved his life during a mission gone wrong, whose real name he never knew, nor whether she survived the war. Piqued by her father’s memories, Marcel’s daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers that resurrects the unrest and uncertainty from that period of his life. What follows is the story of Eloise, Josie and Virginia, three otherwise ordinary, average women whose lives intersect in 1943 when they’re called up by the SOE for deployment in France. Taking enormous risks to support the allied troops with very little information or resources, the three women have no idea they’re at the mercy of a double agent within their ranks who’s causing chaos within the French circuits, whose efforts will affect the outcome of their lives.

As Charlotte’s search for answers continues, new suspicions are raised about the identity of the double agent, with unsettling clues pointing to her father, and more mysteries are unearthed from the last days of the war about the eventual fates of Eloise, Josie and Virginia.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kelly Rimmer is the worldwide, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of The German Wife, The Warsaw Orphan, and The Things We Cannot Say. She lives in rural Australia with her husband, two children and fantastically naughty dogs, Sully and Basil. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. Please visit her at www.Kelly.Rimmer.com 

SOCIAL LINKS:

Author website: https://www.kellyrimmer.com/

Facebook: @Kellymrimmer

Twitter: @KelRimmerWrites

Instagram: @kelrimmerwrites

BUY LINKS: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-paris-agent-kelly-rimmer/18794141?ean=9781525826689

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-paris-agent-kelly-rimmer/1143459526?ean=9781525826689

Books A Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Paris-Agent/Kelly-Rimmer/9781525826689

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Agent-Kelly-Rimmer/dp/1525826689

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN by Viola Shipman

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I’m always so thrilled to be part of the Harper-Collins tours as I almost always LOVE the books I get to read for them! This was true for the latest one I just finished: Viola Shipman’s Famous in a Small Town. I love Shipman’s writing and have read many of his previous novels. The stories are ones I can connect with and I tend to love the characters. I find them heart-warming with uplifting endings. They remind me a bit of books by Fannie Flagg.

Here’s the scoop:

Famous in a Small Town

Author: Viola Shipman 

On Sale June 13, 2023

Publisher: Graydon House

Paperback Original

ISBN 978-1525804854

Price: $18.99

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/famous-in-a-small-town-viola-shipman?variant=40980279459874 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/famous-in-a-small-town-viola-shipman/1142722523  

BookShop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-champion-of-good-hart-viola-shipman/18794129?ean=9781525804854 

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1525804855/keywords=fiction?tag=harpercollinsus-20 

Social Links:

Author Website 

Twitter: @Viola_Shipman

Facebook: Author Viola Shipman

Instagram: @Viola_Shipman

Goodreads

Author Bio: 

VIOLA SHIPMAN is the pen name for internationally bestselling LGBTQIA author Wade Rouse. Wade is the author of fifteen books, which have been translated into 21 languages and sold over a million copies around the world. Wade chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen name to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction. 

Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Michigan Notable Books of the Year and Indie Next Picks. He lives in Michigan and California, and hosts Wine & Words with Wade, A Literary Happy Hour, every Thursday.

Book Summary: 

Fried Green Tomatoes meets Midnight at the Blackbird Café in USA Today bestselling author Viola Shipman’s FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN, a heartwarming story about intergenerational friendship and self-discovery, set in beautiful Northern Michigan.

In 1958, 15-year-old Mary Jackson became the first woman ever crowned The Cherry Pit Spittin’ Champion of Good Hart, Michigan, landing her in the Guinness Book of World Records, and earning her the nickname Cherry Mary. Nearly 80 years old at the story’s start, Mary runs The Very Cherry General Store, a business that has been passed through three generations of women in the family. While there is no female next of kin, Mary believes the fourth is fated to arrive, as predicted by “Fata Morgana,” a Lake Michigan mirage of four women walking side by side.

Becky Thatcher (yes, like the Mark Twain character), an Assistant Principal from St. Louis, has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend and heads to Good Hart for a healing girl’s trip with her best friend. When Becky drunkenly spits a cherry pit an impressive distance, Mary urges her to enter the upcoming contest, and wonders if Becky could be the woman she’s been waiting for. 

Inspired by, and paying tribute to, Michigan’s National Cherry Festival, to the Tunnel of Trees, to lake life, and to the beauty of intergenerational friendship, FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN is “full of summertime delight…and sweet, nostalgic charm” (Heather Webber, USA TODAY bestselling author of Midnight at the Blackbird Café). 

Bursting with memorable characters and small-town lore, FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN is a magical story about the family you’re born with, and the one you choose.

“[A] charming coastal tale.”—KATIE COURIC MEDIA

“Fans of nostalgic small-town charm and quirky characters will love Viola Shipman’s latest book for summer.”

—READER’S DIGEST, Best Summer Books 2023

“Famous in a Small Town is a beautiful reminder to…fully embrace the magic that lives inside you.”

—Heather Webber, USA Today bestselling author of Midnight at the Blackbird Café

Thank you for my ARC galley and for making me part of the tour!

The Glass House by Beatrice Colin

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The good people at Flatiron Books offered me a copy of Beatrice Colin’s new novel: The Glass House. I absolutely loved this historical fiction novel, centering on two very different sisters-in-law: Antonia and Cicely.

Cicely has come to Scotland with her young daughter in order to wrap up her father-in-law’s estate. Sent from India by her botanist husband, who is trekking around in search of plants, she lands outside of her comfort zone in her husband’s family and the Scottish society and culture of the time (early 1900’s). Cicely is a strong woman and is not about to let anything or anyone stop her from gaining what she needs to make a good life for her daughter. Meanwhile, daughter of the house, Antonia, assumed the estate would be hers. She has sacrificed just about all her earthly wants and desires, hopes and dreams, to care for her father and the manor, and she’s not ready to give it all up. The glass house is the greenhouse on the estate, where delicate seedlings take root; but even seemingly hardy plants can wither and die if not cared for.

Here’s the overview from the publisher:

Description

Beatrice Colin’s The Glass House is a gorgeously transporting novel filled with turn-of-the-century detail and lush blooms, about two women from vastly different worlds

Scotland, 1912. Antonia McCulloch’s life hasn’t gone the way she planned. She and her husband, Malcolm, have drifted apart; her burgeoning art career came to nothing; and when she looks in the mirror, she sees disappointment. But at least she will always have Balmarra, her family’s grand Scottish estate, and its exquisite glass house, filled with exotic plants that can take her far away.

When her estranged brother’s wife, Cicely Pick, arrives unannounced, with her young daughter and enough trunks to last the summer, Antonia is instantly suspicious. What besides an inheritance dispute could have brought her glamorous sister-in-law all the way from India? Still, Cicely introduces excitement and intrigue into Antonia’s life, and, as they get to know one another, Antonia realizes that Cicely has her own burdens to bear. Slowly, a fragile friendship grows between them. But when the secrets each are keeping become too explosive to conceal, the truth threatens their uneasy balance and the course of their entire lives.

If you love a solid historical fiction piece, with strong female protagonists, this is a great choice! Beautifully written, Colin’s writing vividly portrays the Scottish countryside and people of another era.

So many choices in this book that affect others in their outcomes; this book really makes you stop and think how your actions can affect others.

I read that the author has passed away from cancer in 2019, which is heart-breaking. She was only 55. It is nice that her stories live on.

Thank you so much for sharing this novel with me through Net Galley!

Blog Tour for Robyn Carr’s Sunrise on Half Moon Bay

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I was thrilled to be asked to be part of the blog tour for this book. I love stories about sisters (I have two myself) and I love when books have women starting over in mid-life successfully (let’s just say I relate). These characters were very likable and there was a theme of finding oneself and also forgiveness in this novel, and it made me love it even more.

Thank you for letting me be part of the Harlequin tour for this book and for my e-copy!

Highly recommended for a clean read about women starting anew, family, friendship, romance, and life!

Also – hope I can say this – this is not your mother’s Harlequin. Back in the 1970’s/80’s Harlequin paperbacks were pretty racy looking and seemed like they could be “fluffy”. I love their current line of novels that feature strong women that are over 35 and dealing with life’s obstacles.

Description

Sometimes the happiness we’re looking for has been there all along…

Adele and Justine have never been close. Born twenty years apart, Justine was already an adult when Addie was born. The sisters love each other but they don’t really know each other.

When Addie dropped out of university to care for their ailing parents, Justine, a successful lawyer, covered the expenses. It was the best arrangement at the time but now that their parents are gone, the future has changed dramatically for both women.

Addie had great plans for her life but has been worn down by the pressures of being a caregiver and doesn’t know how to live for herself. And Justine’s success has come at a price. Her marriage is falling apart despite her best efforts.

Neither woman knows how to start life over but both realize they can and must support each other the way only sisters can. Together they find the strength to accept their failures and overcome their challenges. Happiness is within reach, if only they have the courage to fight for it.

Set in the stunning coastal town of Half Moon Bay, California, Robyn Carr’s new novel examines the joys of sisterhood and the importance of embracing change.

Author Bio:


Robyn Carr is an award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than sixty
novels, including highly praised women’s fiction such as Four Friends and The View From
Alameda Island and the critically acclaimed Virgin River, Thunder Point and Sullivan’s Crossing
series. Virgin River is now a Netflix Original series. Robyn lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit her
website at http://www.RobynCarr.com.