Luanne Oleas

What a great premise! You end up living with your fiance's best friend's ex-fiancé when they dump both of you to be with each other. Yes, Peter dumped Daphne the night before their wedding to be with his long-time best friend Petra. This left Daphne unhoused when Peter kicked her out and “thoughtfully” arranged for her to move in with Miles, who was Petra's former fiancé. The back stories of all the characters played heavily into this situation devolving into an unbelievable mess that seemed to work to everyone's advantage. The depth in which [a:Emily Henry 13905555 Emily Henry https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1573928938p2/13905555.jpg] built her characters, especially Miles and Daphne, makes this story work flawlessly. In addition, you never feel an “info dump” of that backstory. It evolves almost without the reader knowing until odd relatives begin showing up in Miles and Daphne's already cramped apartment.The dialog of each character is outstanding, conveying the story and making you laugh at the same time. It makes you believe there is someone out there who is quirky enough to work as your best friend, soulmate, or worst enemy.The surprise ending hit me like a ton of bricks that meant I was reading, falling asleep for 20 minutes, then reading more to know the ending. Trust me, the ending is worth whatever amount of sleep you lose to get to it.

[b:Summers at the Saint 195790574 Summers at the Saint Mary Kay Andrews https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697249850l/195790574.SY75.jpg 197724423], a hefty story (448 pages) by [a:Mary Kay Andrews 21387 Mary Kay Andrews https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1616599433p2/21387.jpg], earned every page. I thought initially it seemed like a big book [b:Summers at the Saint 195790574 Summers at the Saint Mary Kay Andrews https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697249850l/195790574.SY75.jpg 197724423] because I was reading the “large print” edition (696 pages), but I'm glad I was. By the time I got halfway through the book, I didn't want to put it down and the large print edition let me read well into the night. . . long after my eyeballs normally would have given out. The book is somewhat a cast of 1000s, but, oddly, I didn't have trouble keeping track of them all. The author does a good job of reminding you who is who, especially if a character hasn't been mentioned in a while. This is a technique that usually goes unnoticed when done well, which it was. I wasn't flipping back through what I'd already read to figure out who someone was.I liked that the main character (Traci Eddings) was a little more mature while many of the other players were younger. We could see the story through a more thoughtful, mature viewpoint while the craziness of youth played out. I liked the setting as well, a resort on the coast in Georgia. A little southern charm never hurts. Traci ran the resort while the younger characters were working there, something Traci herself had done when she was younger before marrying into the resort-owning family. The Eddings were both good and bad—but when they were bad, they were awful! But, the same went for the young employees. Some fine, upstanding people, some cold heartless jerks. Of course, the sexy love interest for Traci, named Whelan, didn't hurt either.The action was non-stop. The conniving, the secrets, the danger just kept coming. It's the kind of book you almost break your arm patting yourself on the back for having found and read. Now I have to check out more [a:Mary Kay Andrews 21387 Mary Kay Andrews https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1616599433p2/21387.jpg] books. I hope they are all as good as [b:Summers at the Saint 195790574 Summers at the Saint Mary Kay Andrews https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697249850l/195790574.SY75.jpg 197724423].

This barely made the cut for my “Summer of Smut” reading. . . NOT because it was a bad story (it was terrific) but because it was low on the smut scale.... and HIGH on the plot and characterization scales.I adored [b:Just for the Summer 195820807 Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3) Abby Jimenez https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1692118145l/195820807.SY75.jpg 197775193]!! I kept hearing about this book and Jimenez's writing while perusing literary agents who represent what I write. So many asked for writing “like Abby Jimenez,” so I thought I should check her out.I love the concept of this book. Two people who seem to be the person dated just BEFORE the soulmate comes along. Emma read Justin's description of “the curse” on reddit. He explained how every girlfriend who broke up with him went on the marry the next guy she met while he remained unattached. Emma realized this was happening to her as well, so she commented on his post. In the end, they schemed that if they dated one another, and then broke up, they would both go on to find their soulmates. So started the summer of their discontent. Unfortunately, instead of just having the month or six week long affair, with the required 4 dates and one kiss, they ended up starting to like each other which wasn't the plan. . . but who didn't know that would happen?What does happen is both character have obstacles placed in their lives that do two things: - Help them learn what each is really made of - Discover that they really can't be together. . . wrong place/wrong time/wrong lifeWhat happens next is a fascinating story of self-discovery (and the tiniest bit of smut) that leads them both on a new path. And because it's essentially a romance, you might guess that the HEA will happen, you just won't guess how.If you want to read about how family dynamics can totally mess with your love life, read this book. You'll find the storytelling a grade above most romances. In fact, the romance is really secondary to a fascinating tale.

Normally, I can storm right through Hazelwood's books, but this one took me a minute (read: days) to get into. I'm glad I persisted.

I think because I was a) not feeling well and b) wasn't used to the world building that this story required. I understand her world-building when it comes to STEM, but Vampyres (with a “y”) and Weres (for Werewolves) threw me for a loop.

However, I like Misery, the main female character, and her snarky approach to everything, her brother, her life, kids, you name it. It's what kept her sane through all the shuttling around in her childhood, where she was sent to live with humans by the Vampyre Council, headed by her father. She was a token known as Collateral in exchange to keeping the peace. It's how she met her best friend, Selena Paris, and the rift between Human, Weres, and Vampyres mostly controlled her adulthood too.

She was donated to be a bride to the head/alpha Werewolves, again as a token of peace between cultures. It wasn't a smooth transition for either Misery or Lowe, the alpha Were and her new husband.

By the time I understood all of this culture swapping, and some of the quirks involved in each, I wholly bought into the story and it went much quicker.

I'm not the vampire/werewolf type when it comes to reading so it surprised me that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. In the end, some of the animosity between cultures reflects what we see in the real world today. However, I think the sex is better in the book than in my real world.

A+. Read it.

OMG, I just finished this book and I don't want it to be over. I want Sam and Sadie's story to go on forever. They're my video-game programmers/geeky friends now, and I want to know what they do every day.[b:Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow 58784475 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636978687l/58784475.SY75.jpg 89167797] is a masterpiece on human behavior. [a:Gabrielle Zevin 40593 Gabrielle Zevin https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1503541462p2/40593.jpg] makes each character so real we feel their joy and pain. Even their grief.I worried I didn't know enough about video gaming to really get into this book. My gaming life barely exists. A few rounds of Oregon Trail, a little PacMan, and summer fling with Kings Quest IV about sums it up. Turns out, that's really all I needed.I think I loved the asides about video games the most: “To design a game is to imagine the person who will eventually play it.”Or the thought that having a gaming partner is a more precious connection than a spouse. It was also a reminder of times I lived through. The before and after of 9/11. A conversation overheard by Sam and his mother about the 1984 Olympics, where Mary Lou Retton got a perfect 10 and how some guys in a diner said: “She never would have won if the Russians hadn't boycotted. It's not a victory if the best players aren't there.” When Sam asked his mother if that was true, she said:“Even if what he says is true, I think it's still a victory. Because she won on this day, with this particular set of people. We can never know what else might have happened had other competitors been there. The Russian girls could have won, or they could have gotten jet-lagged and choked.... And this is the truth of any game—it can only exist at the moment that it is being played. It's the same with being an actor. In the end, all we can ever know is the game that was played, in the only world that we know.”From that excerpt, you can see how the author can write believable dialogue. It's that way throughout the book. There's the perfect stuff we all want to say (and think in our heads) and then there's the inadequate stuff that comes out of our mouths that is forced to suffice as communication. This author gives us both. She especially good at letting us know what the characters hide from other characters in order to be kind, smart, or vengeful, which in the end usually turns out to be harmful to the relationship.Marx was also a well-drawn character who complemented the fever of gaming that Sam and Sadie shared. Once he was out of the picture, Sam & Sadie struggled to communicate at all. He was almost an interpreter for them. I love the ending. It's the circle of life. READ THIS BOOK.

What I love most about this book—and I do love it—is that it didn't seem contrived in the way most romances do. I believed the subplots that bolstered the main one about Eli and Rue's relationship.

It seemed real that a corporate takeover or slimy executive could cause mistrust in one's personal life, enough mistrust to derail a relationship.

Rue was naturally hesitant in her most normal interactions with other human, male or female, with the exception of sex. That was just a clinical necessity to her that could be handled matter-of-factly. The more dispassionately (here's my list of preferences and deal-breakers, take ‘em or leave ‘em.) Really there was always someone willing to play the sex game for one night because she didn't believe in second meetups. That was for people who wanted more than she could offer.

Eli thought he could be equally dispassionate, but he was fooling himself. His whole life had been one passionate act after another. Life had pushed him hard and he was managed, like a genius and skilled ice skater, to stay upright. And moral.

The fact that the two of them struggled to connect, Rue especially, wasn't helped by the jobs they had. His: corporate takeovers. Hers: the corporation being taken. It was a scientist (her) and a numbers guy, both finally making the money they needed. Really needed. Their desired outcomes, business-wise, were polar opposites. Of course they couldn't have a connection. Nothing permanent. She was willing to settle for less. He was willing to settle for anything, but that didn't seem like it would work.

BTW, the sex is hot, hot, hot.

Ali Hazelwood hits it outta the park with this one. Give it a read.

I sort of jumped into Book #3 of the Brown Sisters series by [a:Talia Hibbert 17088554 Talia Hibbert https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1544037896p2/17088554.jpg], but that's only because the others weren't available at the library. I'd been hearing Hibbert's name come up, associated with some pretty incredible praise in my “Summer of Smut” (TM) reading. The praise was warranted.This quirky book with its quirky love interests turned out to be good company while I was sick with kidney stones. (I'm only recommending the book; avoid kidney stones.)Eve Brown was a true classically spunky dame. Her ability to carry on through life travails with a smile on her face kept the book light-hearted, even when her love interest, Jacob, could be a grump. However, all was revealed eventually about both characters off-the-wall reactions to each other. I'm not sure if this was a grumpy-meets-sunshine romance or enemies-to-lovers, or both, or if it matters. But it was definitely one where both parties thought they were doing the right thing by restraining their emotions for the other. After eventually passing that phase while working together at Jacob's B&B, things got steamy rather quickly. DO NOT MISS THE SCENE WITH THE PURPLE THING. I won't say what it is, but it's a hoot. Along the way, the characters learn enough about each other to understand why they are alike and why they both struggle with normal, everyday things. I won't spell it out, but it make total sense when it's revealed.I'll have to go check out the books about Eve Brown's sisters, Chloe and Danika. Read this book!!

I think Piper Bellinger is my new favorite character in rom-com literature. It's because [a:Tessa Bailey 6953499 Tessa Bailey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1634304355p2/6953499.jpg] has written a lovable airhead better than anyone. It's not Piper's fault that she's real world clueless. Her sheltered upbringing has left her great at selfies, makeup, and partying, but nothing that would prepare her to leave her natural habitat, L.A., for an obscure fishing village in the Pacific Northwest. However, once she is banished there, her lovable look at life follows her, as does her more pragmatic sister. In hopes of being taught a lessons, her stepfather has sent her to the village where her real father lived before his untimely death. Worse yet, she has been sent there with very little in the way of funds. Enter a fishing captain who is just as clueless about social media as Piper is about fishing boats. Opposites don't attract in this case. At least not immediately. I think my favorite part of the book was when Piper went to dinner, necessitated by a cooking mishap, with the aforementioned captain of fishing boat, Brendan Taggart. He asked Piper to explain why she had said she was spending the next three months in Westport.“Why exactly are you in Westport? . . . You said three months. That's a pretty specific amount of time.”Beneath the table, her leg began to jiggle. “It's kind of an awkward story.”“Do you need a beer before telling it?”Her lips twitched. “No.” She closed her eyes and shivered. “It's more than awkward. It's humiliating. I don't know if I should give you that ammunition.” [Note: Until this point, there interaction has been adversarial.]Man, he'd really been a bastard. “I won't use it against you, Piper.”She speared him with those baby blues and seemed satisfied with whatever she saw. “Okay, just keep an open mind.” She blew out a breath. “I had a bad breakup. A public one. And I didn't want to be labeled social media pathetic, right? So I mass texted hundreds of people and broke us into the rooftop pool at the Mondrian [a hotel]. It got out of control. Like, police helicopter and fireworks and nudity out of control. So I got arrested and nearly cost my stepfather the production money for his next film. He sent me here with barely any money to teach me a lesson. . . . and force me into being self-sufficient. Hannah [her sister] wouldn't let me come alone.”Brendan's fork had been suspended in the air for a good minute. He tried to piece it all together, but everything about this world she described was so far from his, it almost sounded like make-believe. “When was this?”“A few weeks ago,” she said on an exhale. “Wow, it sounds worse all strung together like that.”Let me just admit, as a writer myself, I wish I had written that. Or the whole book for that matter.I highly recommend you check out this book.

On the recommendation from a friend, I read [a:Nic Saint 8132159 Nic Saint https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1598905453p2/8132159.jpg]'s mystery, [b:Purrfect Murder 50385637 Purrfect Murder (The Mysteries of Max, #1) Nic Saint https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578658406l/50385637.SY75.jpg 55760781]. I'm not normally a “whodunit” reader, so maybe it's my unfamiliarity with the genre that colors this review.I found it entertaining, but not over sophisticated. Some days, that's just what I want to read. But the talking cats and their perception of human's lives seemed less feline and more juvenile.I did enjoy the story and I stuck with it know the resolution of two of the main story threads. Who killed Paulo Frey, an author and victim of the “purrfect” murder, referenced in the title. Also, was the new cop in the small town of Hampton Cove a upstanding guy or was he someone who carried on an affair with an official's wife in NYC and got drummed out of the NYPD for it?The first story thread was answered sufficiently, thanks to the cats' detective work. The second, well, I guess that's what sequels are for. Overall, I enjoyed the read but often found it a little on the juvenile side. I would have liked to have seen the main love interest fleshed out more. Did Odelia, the cats' owner, ever get it together with the new cop with the soap opera name, Chase Kingsley? It started at as a enemies-to-friends sort of trope, but left the reader out of any key scene between them. However, it is a murder mystery, not a romance.The four main cats did have distinct personalities. In ways, they were more three dimensional than the humans in the story.

I happened upon [b:The Cafe at Beach End 74890593 The Cafe at Beach End RaeAnne Thayne https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677904557l/74890593.SY75.jpg 98826178] in the grocery store and thought it looked entertaining. It's the first book I've read by [a:RaeAnne Thayne 116118 RaeAnne Thayne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1447635609p2/116118.jpg], but it won't be my last. I'm normally drawn to smuttier (read: spicier) books, but Ms. Thayne handled the emotional end deftly when describing the budding relationships between both Meredith & Liam and Meredith's cousin Tori & Sam. The depth of the secondary characters made them more than caricatures. Even the pets (two dogs, Jasper & Shark) had distinct personalities. Both Meredith and Tori has legit reasons to not get into a romantic relationships. Though the two women, cousins, co-own a cafe, they are anything but partners. They were close as kids, but life definitely got in the way. They only have the remnants of a long-ago friendship, one that neither believes can be salvaged. The on-going struggle between the cousins is as intriguing as their connections with their love interests.While many romances proceed at a scorching pace to get to the bedroom, this book is more akin to real life. The hopes, the hesitations, the awkwardness, the connection are all emotions we've felt when we first begin to have feelings for someone. This author makes it real.I enjoyed this and will be reading more of [a:RaeAnne Thayne 116118 RaeAnne Thayne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1447635609p2/116118.jpg].

As soon as I learned that [a:Ali Hazelwood 21098177 Ali Hazelwood https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1611084228p2/21098177.jpg] was “The Queen of STEM romance,” I knew I had to read at least one of her books. Dashing through the library, it was as if [b:Love, Theoretically 61326735 Love, Theoretically Ali Hazelwood https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681476644l/61326735.SY75.jpg 96703712] jumped out at me.I love, love, love the main character, Elsie Hannaway, an overeducated physicist who settles for less, constantly. Why is this so believeable? Any woman who has ever worked in STEM (aks science, technology, engineering and mathematics) knows what a male-dominated field it is and how hard it is for a woman to get anywhere. So Elsie does what a lot of women, in or out of STEM do. She molds and remolds herself constantly to be what she thinks others want. She takes people-pleasing to the next level, to the point where she really doesn't know who she is, what she likes, or what she wants. (How many of us have been there?)What's great about this book is that when she meets the love interest, Jack Smith, he isn't the kind who says, “I love you just the way you are. You're perfect.” No, he loves who he thinks she really is. Then pushes to find out who that is. His honesty policy has Elsie peeling back the layers of personas she's used, wondering if she can ever really be just herself. Does she even know who that is? She finds she's been lying to her roommate (“Yes, I like that movie too”), her mother (“I'd be happy to straighten my brothers out for you”), and even her mentor, a nefarious scientist, who calls her “Elise” (not Elsie) and she doesn't even correct him because she believes she's lucky he even helps her.Elsie's bundle of insecurities only seem heightened when the intricacies of the plot get deeper. Will she find herself? Be herself? Rise to her full potential? Nothing is a given. I'm off to read another Ali Hazelwood book. Did I mention it was steamy in all the right ways? It was.

This amazing story covers over a century of Harlem history in the guise of a love story.

Ricki Wilde was named after her father Richard Wilde, literally Richard Wilde Jr. (The gifts were already engraved, so they just went with it.) In 2024, she attempts to escape from her proper southern upbringing in Atlanta. Her interest in her family's vast mortuary empire only extends to the flowers displayed at the services. She's the daughter who doesn't belong. Her three older sisters love towing the family line—each with their own franchise of the family business. Her mother defers to her father and others, if deferring can be defined as drinking away your objections.

As an outcast, Ricki manages to escape to New York City, Harlem to be exact, and opens her own flower shop, thanks to a generous benefactor, Della. Della's husband's funeral was a Wilde Mortuary affair, but neither Della or Ricki belong in Atlanta. They return to NYC and the elderly Della was happy to give her new “adopted” granddaughter, Ricki, the basement storefront (and apartment) in her history-laden brownstone.

But it doesn't take long for Ricki's success to stall. And meeting a dark stranger doesn't help. If you like time travel, you might like this book, even if it's drastically different from most time travel books.

Ricki's relationship with Ezra (the Breeze) Walker, a pianist, should never have occurred. But they couldn't avoid each other. Between the Harlem history and too many chance meetings to be chance, Ricki and Ezra do what they can to avoid one another. Ricki because she got too much on her plate and a lousy track record with men to get involved. For Ezra, his avoidance of Ricki has more to do with his strange history and what danger that might pose to her.

Beneath all the flower and history is the music. The song that Ezra has been trying to write longer than most composers live. But it all comes to ahead February, 2024, a leap year that hoodoo, not voodoo, has chosen.

I love this book and the characters. Occasionally, the slips in the POV pulled me out of the story, but overall, it's a very worthy tale of forbidden love and the extent lovers will go to.

You can read the first half of this book in public. The dialogue and narrative are next level.

I would not read the second half of this book in public. Don't take it to the coffee shop for a quiet chapter or two. Unless you are über friendly with the local barista.

Charlotte Stein hits it outta the park with this book, especially it the ballpark is empty and has a small bed.

Sunshine (aka Mabel) attempts to ghostwrite Grumpy (Alfie's) memoir. Despite her sunny disposition and his gruff exterior, they were both raised on the other side of the tracks. That early, you-aren't-worthy attitude stay with both through life, minimizing their successes. Mabel, being on the chunky side, wants to be cheery and invisible. Alfie finished a exemplary football career with aches for every great play feels his own lack of self-confidence. His reputation for only dating supermodels doesn't help Mabel.

They're amazing discussions while they get to know one another really soar. He doesn't want to let her in; she's gotta pry him open—first to write his memoir, but secondly to peel back his layers to find it something tender exists underneath.

Their NDA, uncertainty, and ill-timed remarks seem to stifle what should be a great love affair.

Again, you've been warned. Read the second half of this book at home. Alone. Or with a very willing partner. It's got smoke.

I really loved [b:The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend 25573977 The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend Katarina Bivald https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1452107441l/25573977.SX50.jpg 25758335]. If you love books and you're a romantic, this is the book for you. I'll admit that it took me a bit to get into it, but I never considered putting it down. It was always intriguing. It just wasn't a fast read for me. (This could be me more than the author.)It's supposed to be Sara's story about how she comes from Sweden to Broken Wheel, Iowa to visit a pen pal, another book lover, who sadly dies before Sara arrives. But the town steps in to play host and it becomes the story of how Sara affects every other living person in Broken Wheel as much as what happens to her. Anyone can tell you the plot, but I'll mention a few things I found fascinating.There's a section of the novel that describes when Penguin first began mass-producing paperbacks in 1935 and the publisher started the Armed Forces Book Club.“Best of all was the fact that the smaller paperback format fit easily into their uniform pockets. “It was especially prized in prison camps,” Penguin's official history claimed. Which Sara had always thought was a particularly sad sentence.But, still, it said something about the power of books. Not that they would somehow lessen the pain of war when someone beloved had died or create world peace or anything like that. But Sara couldn't help thinking that in war, as in life, boredom was one of the greatest problems, a slow, relentless wearing down. Nothing dramatic, just a gradual erosion of a person's energy and lust for life.So what could be better than a book? And a book that you could fit in your jacket pocket at that.” Of course, this is the book all librarians should read. And if you really love books, you'll love some of the ways Sara thinks about them.”. . .Tom thought she preferred [books] because they were happier than life, but even within their pages, people were dumped and broke up and lost those they cared about. And in life, just as in books, people eventually moved on to new loves. There was no difference between books and life there. Both involved happy and unhappy love stories.Of course, with books, you could have greater confidence that it would all end well. You worked through the disappointments and the complications, always conscious, deep down, that Elizabeth would get her Mr. Darcy in the end. With life, you couldn't have the same faith. But sooner or later, she reminded herself, surely someone you could imagine was your Mr. Darcy would turn up.” If you get the chance to read this book, don' t pass it up.

After struggling through a book of short stories by another author, it was refreshing to read [bc:Maybe Someday 62967882 Maybe Someday (Maybe, #1) Colleen Hoover https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666362550l/62967882.SY75.jpg 24878180] by [a:Colleen Hoover 5430144 Colleen Hoover https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1464032240p2/5430144.jpg]. Again, this great storyteller presented star-crossed lovers in an unexpected, angst-ridden relationship. Sydney has just been betrayed by her best friend/roomie and her lover when the story starts. (What a hook, huh?) A guitar-playing neighbor, Ridge, invites her in from the rain with her two hastily packed suitcases. That's how the story all began. Where it went from there kept me entranced for three days. Other reviewers can tell you about the plot, but I like to remember what the book meant to me. In the throes of moving house, I hadn't had time to read. Plus, all my books were packed, and I had yet to find the library in my new city. So, when the unpacking started, I grabbed the first book I found that I hadn't read and started it. And started it. And restarted it. I finally got about halfway through and just gave up. It was well-written by an NYTimes bestselling author. I even liked parts of it. I just couldn't get into it. I would look at the book and then go doom-scroll.Did I lose my love of reading somewhere? I knew that Colleen Hoover's books always went down like hot chocolate on a cold night for me. I found the library and placed a hold on one of her books. It finally came in and from the moment I brought it home, I realized I still loved reading. I love reading about a deep relationship with struggles and complexities. I love characters that ruminate over their predicaments. I'm an overthinker and I want characters I read to be just as ponderous. Overall, there were parts of this book that were hard to believe. Sure. A deaf guitarist? Well, Beethoven was deaf, but he wasn't born deaf. Anyway, I was willing to suspend my disbelief because I like the escape this book provided. Five stars for sure, four of which come from just having a book restore my love of reading.

Holy cow! The fact that [a:Joe Clifford 3461130 Joe Clifford https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1701358885p2/3461130.jpg] survived his ordeal with addiction and still possessed with enough brain cells to write a complete book is nothing short of a miracle. However, if you've every had even the remotest contact with an addict, the family members of an addict, or just read about them, you can start to understand the reasons for the behavior by reading [b:Junkie Love 17656909 Junkie Love Joe Clifford https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1365639108l/17656909.SY75.jpg 24643936].The fact that the author has a foreword that warns that he thinks (but isn't sure) that most of the story is true is borne out in the story itself. He recounts details of places and actions that probably would be best forgotten by most of us. The fact that he had the wherewithal and fortitude to recall and write down the details serves as a warning to us all. Not only is this nearly a horror story in living color, it's also well written with imagery that evokes every sense. You can see the dilapidated surroundings of his place in Hepatitis Heights in San Francisco. You can feel the heartache and shame. The wild cast of characters is an array of diversity that oddly enough, can make you both laugh and cry. You can smell the bus rides and showerless days and sense the hopelessness in such vivid detail that at times, I had to stop reading. Still, the books was unputdownable. Even when I agonized over the latest low that author hit, I soon picked up the books again. I knew he must have survived the ordeal since he wrote a book about it and he's still alive. Still, there was nothing in the story that guaranteed he would make it, especially when the mathematical odds were given. They definitely weren't in his favor. This should be required reading for anyone affected by addiction, which really means everyone alive.

I'd give this book ten stars if I could. I finished reading in sprints. I'd sleep two hours, read a chapter or two, then sleep two more hours. I not only couldn't put it down, I am moving and I needed to pack it. But I had to finish. I love this book. It's about an era I lived through and didn't understand. Mostly because I was dating a veteran at the time and I couldn't understand what he had gone through. And he didn't talk about it with me. I knew he started life as a country boy who loved to hunt and fish. The military took these skills and made him a sniper.I watched him suffer through fits of depression, addiction, and an inability to commit or sleep or do a dozen other things. This book explained so much to me. What he went through, his bad dreams, and how that poisoned our relationship. Oddly enough, I received a phone call 30 years after our breakup with an apology. I also didn't understand that either until I read this book.The Vietnam “Conflict” was not well understood. I protested with veterans which gave me a different perspective than the average peacenik at the time. So part 1 of the book helped me understand the war years, and part 2 helped me understand the aftermath. I can't believe a book of fiction, though well researched, could affect me so deeply. It seemed all that the protagonist Frances (also my middle name) went through, was directly connected to me, even down to the city where the book ended which was where my relationship ended with my vet. I don't think this is a book I could read again. My emotions are still that raw, always have been when a quandary persists in your life for decades. Now I know more. I think I understand. It's a good and peaceful feeling with just a touch of sadness and regret.That's how this tremendous book affected me. I doubt anyone who lived through the war years could be unaffected. It was not just a great read; it was a learning experience. Thank you, [a:Kristin Hannah 54493 Kristin Hannah https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517255843p2/54493.jpg]!

What an amazing voice this author has!! I can't believe how real his Jewish and Black characters sound.

This is a fantastic tale that revolves around a deaf orphan, but he barely has a part. It's really the story of a several communities, all outside of White society which must rely on each other, no matter how much they dislike that idea.

The tale starts with Moshe's music theater, recounting all the great acts he books in the early 1920. Moshe is a Jewish immigrant who ends up living on Chicken Hill, a neighborhood of mostly Black inhabitants. Most of the Jewish residents left, but Moshe's wife, Chona, insists they stay. She runs the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store for mostly Black clientele.

Moshe employs Nate to keep his theater running. Nate has a checkered past that he keeps from everyone, even his wife Addie. They take in a deaf/mute nephew, but turn the child over to Chona for safe keeping when the state authorities find out the child is with Nate & Addie.

The crooked doctor, the scheming characters Fatty, Big Soap, and Paper, the Jewish temple's water problem, Bullis the egg man, the Pennhurst Sanitorium, and a loan shark, all have a hand in making this complex tale come to life. I couldn't it put down.

This book took me places besides back in time. The story started in the Scottish Highlands, moved to Oxford, then London, and ended somewhere I didn't expect.I love all of [a:Evie Dunmore 18775709 Evie Dunmore https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1548783382p2/18775709.jpg] books in the four-book The League of Extraordinary Women (TLOEW) series, and [b:The Gentleman's Gambit 75293479 The Gentleman's Gambit (A League of Extraordinary Women, #4) Evie Dunmore https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677050625l/75293479.SX50.jpg 85846264] is no exception. I love that when the author writes historical fiction, she doesn't gloss over the historical part and yet still incorporates the sizzle I love. Catriona is not your basic Victorian-age, Scottish damsel in distress. She's a bright woman, easily speaking multiple languages, who can take care of herself. Her past experience with men has taught her that she's not the marrying kind. When the mysterious and exotic Elias Khoury happens upon her in an awkward way, it only affirms that her feelings about the male gender are correct.I love how a smart woman's dilemma was explained. In some ways, it's still true.“He wasn't the first to use her for her brains or connections; everyone she had fancied before him had done it and patterns were nothing if not consistent. There was a cruel irony in finding herself reduced to the very thing she had worked so hard to cultivate, her academic position. It was as though a woman could have either a brain or a heart, and whichever way, she was allowed only half a life.”I love the suffrage aspect in all the TLOEW books, but this one has an added dimension. The pilfering of Phoenician sculptures and what it might take to return them to their native lands. There were times I thought I couldn't keep up with the twist and turns of this book and the multitude of characters, but the author led me carefully by the hand through the story to its unexpected conclusion. It is interesting how Elias sneaks into Catriona's heart (and she into his) only to have their connection prohibited by social norms and timing. It seems they will have to be content with what little time they have together. And believe me, they make the most of it. This is another great tale and I'm so glad I read it.

This author ([a:Joe Clifford 3461130 Joe Clifford https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1701358885p2/3461130.jpg]) has got game and a distinctive voice to go with it. While trying to gallop along with plot of [b:Skunk Train 49045976 Skunk Train Joe Clifford https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575250740l/49045976.SY75.jpg 74473807], I often had to step back to take in the setting. The depiction of the places intrigued me as much as the characters themselves.Not only is 15-year-old Kyle out of his depths when it comes to large amounts of money, crooked cops, and the Mexican cartel, his upbringing in a small northern California town didn't prepare him for much. Maybe smoking pot and riding his bike. Certainly not dealing with the seedier sides of San Francisco and Los Angeles. And nothing had prepared him for someone as cool as Lizzie.A story that starts with a gruesome murder and progresses with a balls-to-the-walls chase is enough to keep anyone reading into the wee hours. It doesn't seem like the place an innocent love story might bloom. But wait... these characters have depth. Their backstories are deftly woven into the storyline so slyly, it's almost unnoticed, but so crucial. I've read several of Clifford's books, but this is one of my favorites. Definitely worth a read. You can go to the bad side of town without the risk, but with all of the color.

It's been a while since I've been able to indulge in a new Alice Hoffman book. For me, it's always the literary equivalent of eating chocolate.[b:The Invisible Hour 62919793 The Invisible Hour Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1686761095l/62919793.SX50.jpg 98737242] is like dark chocolate, my favorite. It holds all the magical elements that [a:Alice Hoffman 3502 Alice Hoffman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1590599928p2/3502.jpg] is so adept at creating. It like reading a long, intricate dream. I loved the whole premise of connections between mothers and daughters as well as the indescribable bond between readers and authors.Ivy's story to escape judgment regarding her own unplanned pregnancy in a remote commune gracefully evolves into her daughter Mia's escape back to the “real” world for a chance to live free (and invisible.) Ivy's husband, head of the secret community, haunts Mia's every attempt to live her own life. Hoffman warns us about men like him. “Some people are who you think they are. Some people hide the wolf inside of them, but you can hear them howl.”So what does that all have to do with [a:Nathaniel Hawthorne 7799 Nathaniel Hawthorne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1291476587p2/7799.jpg]? I'm so glad you (well, I) asked. It's was Mia's prohibited trip into a library and her love of his book [b:The Scarlet Letter 12296 The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404810944l/12296.SY75.jpg 4925227] that gave her the courage to escape. Why? Here's how Hoffman explains our undeniable need for a good book.“Real life is unbelievable. Souls are snatched away from us, flesh and blood turn to dust, people you love betray you, men go to war over nothing. It's all preposterous. That's why we have novels. To make sense of things.”Mia is able to connect with Hawthorne in a way only a deft writer of magical realism could connect them. Even though I haven't read The Scarlet Letter in ages, it all came back to me anew with a interpretation that is so poignant in our women's rights-challenged world. Don't just read this book. Live in it. Dream of it. Let it carry to you to places you thought you couldn't go.

This is an awesome international thriller with a well-developed main character. Most female protagonist can be a little lovestruck or self-involved, but Genevieve “Blade” Broussard, an impalement artist (aka knife-thrower) bucks that trend. She's equal parts independent, susceptible, and suspicious

I like that the story moved along an invigorating clip. No long ramp up before the action starts. No saggy middle. Great ending. At times, I found it hard to put the book down and go to sleep. A great problem to have when reading a book.

There were just enough descriptive details to give me a sense of place, but nothing that slowed down the action. The author did a wonder job of describing foreign locales in a fresh way. The supporting characters were intriguing, each an asset to the overall trajectory of the story.

I'm not normally one who likes to read series, but I'll definitely be following Blade's adventures. Great start for a debut author.

I really didn't want this book, [b:The Dutch House 44318414 The Dutch House Ann Patchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552334367l/44318414.SY75.jpg 68864841] to end. I grew fond of Danny, the narrator, and his sister Maeve. In many ways, it was more Maeve's story than Danny's, though the tale was told with his perceptions. [a:Ann Patchett 7136914 Ann Patchett https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1371838720p2/7136914.jpg] can tell a story like no other author. She only tells you what you need to know. She leaves the rest for the reader to fill in the blanks. Even though a house was at the center of this story, she didn't spend a huge amount of time describing it. She only stopped occasionally to give the reader the gist of what it looked like and, trust me, I was able to build a fantastic, three-story house around those details. After all, what house has a Delft mantle on the fireplace or blue sky painted on the dining room ceiling?I love that she followed Danny (and Maeve) from childhood through adulthood, skipping the unimportant bits and dwelling on the points that made me ache for their losses and celebrate their wins. It struck me that house that Maeve and Danny lived in as children could have such an overarching effect on their lives, even after they were no longer living there. And there can't be another villain as horrible as Andrea, or one who got her comeuppance better. Even then, I couldn't quite celebrate her fate. Yes, Patchett even made me like the bad guy. If you are hungry for some new friends, read [b:The Dutch House 44318414 The Dutch House Ann Patchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552334367l/44318414.SY75.jpg 68864841]. But I warn you, you'll be sad to see it end.

[b:The Red-Hot Blues Chanteuse: A Viola Vermillion Vaudeville Mystery 195877195 The Red-Hot Blues Chanteuse A Viola Vermillion Vaudeville Mystery Ana Brazil https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1696822412l/195877195.SX50.jpg 197850761] provides a rollicking good romp through the early 1900s in San Francisco! The twists and turns were numerous and unpredictable. Viola Vermillion (formerly Viola Clark) is the center of this murder mystery with her fellow vaudevillians providing a load of color and suspicion.When Viola first hits town with her lover/pianist Stu, she's over the moon having her name on the marquee at the Pantages Theatre. Her enthusiasm is short-lived when she finds her accompanist in the balcony, dead. Suspicion immediately falls on Viola, but she soon realizes, she doesn't know Stu half as well as she thought she did.Troubles mount exponentially. Stu's mysterious past only seems to get murkier the deeper Viola digs. Soon she's wondering how it all connects to her sister's untimely death, her own bout of the flu, and a red notebook. To compound her troubles, her act is about to be cancelled, i.e. her livelihood, if she doesn't find another pianist FAST. She's a little wary of the good-looking Jimmy Harrington, who uncannily knows how to play most of her songs already. Still, she's out of options and hires him against her better judgement.Author [a:Ana Brazil 17217287 Ana Brazil https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507682441p2/17217287.jpg] captures the time period and location perfectly. Not only does she describe the landmarks of San Francisco with period accuracy, but she give the reader a historically correct perspective of the USA in the post-WWI era. The country, reeling from both the war and the Spanish flu pandemic, gives rise to vaudeville and a lust for entertainment that weary citizens desperately need.Whether you enjoy a first-class mystery or a story with an historical perspective that explores the plight of employees who have no clout, either in the theatre realm or in the labor force, you'll thrive on this book. Crooked munitions tycoon Thaddeus T. Rutherford plays a fierce villain with more hateful characteristics than most. It's no wonder Jimmy keeps his connection to Rutherford under wraps as long as possible.I was delighted to reach the end of this book and find that there would be more mysteries for Viola and Jimmy to solve. The unrequited sexual tension between the two was undeniable. . . but how long could it be denied? Well-placed inconveniences and interruptions kept this reader guessing and ready for the next book in the saga. Well done!

I almost gave up on this book and I'm so glad I didn't. I didn't know where the author was going with it. It took me a while to figure out who the protagonist was and who was the antagonist. Once I sorted that out, it became a very engaging read.

The previously unknown half-sister, Steph, summed up the story in one sentence, while talking to Abby, the main character.

“Your family is f*ed up.” She continued by saying, “Abby, I want us to be sisters, and for our sons to be cousins.... But I don't need two fathers—I have a great one. And your brother? Well, I'm not interested in being around that kind of rage.”

If you have ever wanted to read a book about a family more dysfunctional than your own, this is the book for you. I know it made me feel a whole lot better about my relations.

Adam, the patriarch, is bipolar. He raised Abby and Ken alone when his wife died. Now that Abby and Ken are grown up, they have their own issues. This issues tend to ripple out to everyone they know. However, the characterization for each one is so spot on, you're driven to keep reading.

The climax is more like a car wreck happening before your eyes, but completely intriguing. If you get to this point in the book late at night, I have bad news for you. You aren't putting the book down and you aren't getting any sleep.

Check out Little Monsters. It's a whale of a tale!!