Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

 Yes, I did receive this book as an ARC and with that said I am going to be brutally honest about what I thought of this book. I also find (looking over the other reviews) that I may be alone in my opinions. The low rating may be because of my age or maybe my taste in books. But this is how I genuinely feel about this book.

I must say that I was very disappointed. I expected an adult novel and what I got was a young adult (at best) novel. I might even go as far as saying that this was a novel for teenagers.

This was a novel that deals with jealousy, envy, crushes that lasted forever, among other trivial things. They were just the most childish people I have ever met. The most honestly written parts dealt with death and illness. I could not connect (as an adult) with any of the characters. Some were annoying others pretentious and, others unrealistically portrayed. The author took more time describing the surroundings and everyone's love for the island than she did in having the characters grow. I also saw a lot of problems with the storyline/timeline, and that kept taking me out of the zone.

Had the characters grew in any manner, I would have been thrilled, but they did not. I would have loved this book as a teenager, but as a mature adult, I did not.

*ARC supplied by the publisher.


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Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have to say what a downer this book was. If there was a situation filled with angst, it was in this book. Considering that this book spanned seven decades and some of them the most tumultuous in history, it is no wonder that I found myself deeply depressed while reading it! However, because I lived through a lot of these historical events, I found myself unable to put this book down.

This book, in my opinion, will be perfect for book clubs filled with people of a certain age, younger people who like to learn about modern history from the perspective of the generation who lived it, women (since this book was filled with women's issues) and the Lesbian community.

This book dealt with issues such as -bigotry, racial matters, political unrest, Lesbian issues, rape, drug addiction, cancer, early death, teenage angst, and so much more. There was very little to make you smile in this book, but a lot that will make you think and remember what life was like back then and really, still is.

*ARC supplied by publisher.


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The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry

The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I very rarely recommend books to anyone as I know that peoples tastes are varied. However, I feel I must recommend this one to a variety of readers.

First of all, I think that book clubs would get a wonderful bang for their buck with this book. This may sound as if it is a light fluffy read, but it is an intense, deep, soul searching, well-crafted read. It is a multi-layered story with dealing with a mystery, dealing with a loved one with an Alzheimer's and a long-ago betrayal by a sister.

If you are dealing with anyone with Alzheimer's this may be a book you are interested in -unless you are looking to escape and then I recommend you stay far far away.

I choose not to recap this book for fear that I might give something important away. I loved this book, but in some ways, I hated it too. It was an emotional roller coaster read for me. This book had me feeling anger, grief, curiosity, and discomfort.

I felt anger at Coleen's family for how they felt about her sister (tho I could eventually understand it), frustration at what Colleens' father was going through and how it was handled and who eventually was blamed (sort of) for it conclusion.

I disliked how the author went into length prose and overly deep inner dialoguing but I can see why it was done.
And I really did not like nor seem to be able to connect with Beckett (you'll see!)

Still, this was a rich and fulfilling read.



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The Friends We Keep by Jane Green

The Friends We Keep by Jane Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 1/2 stars

This was a very engaging read that covers the decades of the eighties until today. that in itself was an interesting ride for me. People of a certain age mainly think a historical is set in the fifties or earlier -I am glad to see that some writers are taking into consideration that the '70s and '80s are now a bit 'historical!

I almost gave up on this story when I found it contained one of my most disliked tropes in female fiction and that is making the friends a white woman, a foreign or another skinned woman, and a gay man. However, for this book, it really worked.

This book deals with so many issues of the day and some of these issues continue even now. For instance - fat shaming leading to drug use, alcoholism and AIDs. There was no gay bashing and for that, I was very thankful.

This book was filled with very serious problems, unexpected deaths, surprises, and a wonderful resolution. It is not a light fluffy read by any means, but I would still consider it a great beach read and I would recommend this book highly.

*ARC supplied by publisher


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The Brides of the Big Valley: 3 Romances from a Unique Pennsylvania Amish Community

The Brides of the Big Valley: 3 Romances from a Unique Pennsylvania Amish Community by Wanda E. Brunstetter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

3 Short Stories of Love in a Unique Amish Community In an area of Pennsylvania called The Big Valley, a uniquely blended Amish community thrives in which 3 distinct groups of Amish identify themselves by the colors of their buggy’s top—white, black, or yellow. Join New York Times Bestselling Author Wanda E. Brunstetter, her daughter-in-law, and granddaughter in experiencing the stories of three young women who search for faith and love within this special place. Deanna is a widow who sees her second chance of love slipping away. Rose Mary is at a point in life where she must choose the path of her faith and the right man to walk with her on it. Leila is burdened with family responsibilities and wonders when she will ever start a family of her own.

Review:

I'm very sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book as much as I had expected to. Two out of three of the stories were very depressing (in my opinion), yes they did have the romantic HEA, but with daily life...not so much. The first story could almost be considered a tragedy.

The second problem I had was with how the forward was written. This book contains at least three different sects f the Amish and the author of the forward never did give an adequate enough description of the sects for me to fully understand them.

Novella 1 - Deanna's Determination -this was a story of tragedy overcome.
Novella 2 - Rosemary’s Resolve -this one was about an English youth falling for an Amish girl and what they had to overcome.
Novella 3 -Leila’s Longing -this one is a bit more difficult to describe in one sentence. I had problems with understanding Leila's issues (I thought for a while that she had mild Autism) and I also found that the tragedy that befallen Leila' family was unnecessary to forward the story.

*ARC supplied by publisher.


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