Review: Meredith, Alone

Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There are many trigger warnings in this book. However, here are the ones that I think would affect the most people:

Self-cutting, rape, thoughts of suicide, and parental abuse, among other things.

Did I love this book? No, I can't really say I loved it. I personally couldn't connect with Meredith, but perhaps that is because I'm not a total agoraphobic. (just a little!) This book also left me a bit depressed. However, I found some of the secondary characters a little unbelievable, and the conclusion was a bit abrupt.

I can admit that this is a very important book and seems to have been well-researched. It was gripping, and the manner in which it was written was interesting. Sort of like a journal with flash-backs added in. I do admit that I couldn't put it down, but again, I didn't love it.

It was a fascinating look into the life of an agoraphobic and her struggle to leave the house. Isn't it fascinating that the ease of computers makes it so easy to be agoraphobic?

*ARC supplied by the publisher Grand Central Publishing, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: She has a full-time remote job and her rescue cat Fred. Her best friend Sadie visits with her two children.  There's her online support group, her jigsaw puzzles and favorite recipes, her beloved Emily Dickinson, the internet, the grocery delivery man.  Also keeping her company are treacherous memories of an unstable childhood, the estrangement from her sister, and a traumatic event that had sent her reeling.

But something's about to change. Whether Meredith likes it or not, the world is coming to her door.   Does she have the courage to overcome what's been keeping her inside all this time? 

Review: Worthy Opponents

Worthy Opponents by Danielle Steel
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I need to think about this a little more before I write a solid review. This is a very quick read perfect for the beach.

Okay, I've thought some more about this book, and this is what I think. I had problems with the first two chapters. They were extremely long, and the reason for this is that they give the entire background of both of the protagonists -Spencer Brooke and Mike Weston. It was a bit much to gulp down all at one time.

The rest of the book was interesting, if a bit unbelievable. Spencer is trying to keep her dream alive, and Mike wants to take her dream and own it himself. Spencer's dream is an elite store that was founded by her Grandfather. Mike wants to take that dream and make it something it was never meant to be.

One of the unfathomable parts is how so many tragedies can befall a store and a dream before one gives up. Well, in this book, it takes at least three disasters before Spencer admits that she needs help. This will work in Mike's favor.

However, because this is a romance, things will romantically work out, and the dream remains bigger and even better!

Happy (and typical) Fairy Tale ending.

*ARC supplied by the publisher Delacorte Press/Random House, the author, and NetGalley.

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Synopsis:  From #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel comes a powerful novel about a woman running her family’s luxury department store and the wealthy investor who threatens to take it over.

Spencer Brooke always knew she was destined to be CEO of her grandfather’s business—the most respected and luxurious department store in New York City. Brooke’s has been at the center of every happy memory she has, but it hasn’t been an easy journey. Seven years after her father’s death, her life is very different from the days when she walked through the store with her grandfather as a young girl. She may be the owner of Brooke’s, but she’s also now a divorced single mother of twin boys. And with the ever-evolving landscape of the fashion industry comes new challenges for Spencer and the legacy she’s inherited.



Mike Weston is known for making enormous profits by transforming small businesses into bigger, more successful ones. With his marriage at a breaking point and his children grown up, investing is where he thrives—where he can build something greater. And Brooke’s feels like the perfect opportunity. Yet the firm’s beautiful and savvy CEO turns down the offer before they even meet.



Spencer has no interest in outside investors meddling in her family business; her grandfather never saw the need for them, and neither does she. She refuses to be tempted by Mike’s offer, despite her big dreams of expanding the store. But when bad luck strikes, suddenly she is backed into a corner.

Review: The Quarantine Princess Diaries

The Quarantine Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

We all know by the synopsis what this book is about. It's about Mia and her family and extended family living through the first year or so of Covid and being quarantined! This series has now been running for 22 years!

I thought this book was an adult novel, but I'm not sure. The character of Mia is so immature that I wondered if she had ever grown from her introduction to this series. When I looked this up to see how long this series had been running, I was amazed to see that the very first book was for kids 11 years old and up...it sure has changed since Mia is married. However, she still acts very immaturely, and I can't suspend my disbelief enough to envision her running a country.

The issues I had with this book are the massive amounts of politics, political correctness, wokeness, and anti-America/Americans are 'idiots' trope. This is from an author who was born in Indiana!

If you are totally left-wing, you will love this book-if you are very strongly right-wing, you may hate it. Hopefully, you are somewhere in the middle and will find you enjoy the messages you will receive from this novel.

These issues aside, it is a cute, fast-reading book for days when you don't want to overthink what you are reading.

*ARC supplied by the publisher, NetGalley, and the author.

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Review: The Friendship Breakup

The Friendship Breakup by Annie Cathryn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I ended up loving this book even though, at first, I didn't really like Fallon. And the rest of the women in this book? Oh, dear, what wonderful *ithches they were! Perhaps the reason I loved this book was because I'm older and have already lived through things like this?

This book ends up being a personal growth novel as well as a good gossipy back-stabbing *ithchy book. And let me tell you, sometimes I could really use a good one of those!

Fallon wonders what she has done to have her best friend ghost her, ignore her, yell at her, and take all her other friends away. At this point, I was snorting at the childishness of this, and then I though-oh, wait, that had happened to me too, and I did spend a lot of time worrying about what I had done to deserve treatment like this. So I could easily see myself in this position.

What we do eventually learn is that Fallon had a major issue when growing up that helps her be so unsure of herself.

Fallon has a wonderful hobby of making chocolates, so all you chocoholics may want to keep that in mind! She has a wonderful family, a great husband, and a good therapist, so that all helps, as well as Fallon making some new friends.

I think that this book is going to be going on my comfort read shelf for when I need a boost and some giggles,

*ARC supplied by the publisher Alcove Press, NetGalley, and the author Annie Cathryn.

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Review: A Cold Day for Murder

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is being offered (as well as 10 others in this series) on Kindle Unlimited. There is a new book coming out on April 13th, 2023.

I'm not going to write a synopsis of this particular book for you since it has been done by other reviewers and done so very well. What I am going to tell you is that if you do pick up this book, you will most likely do as I did and have to get the rest. You will feel a need to devour them and find out just how Kate can live in such an inhospitable place (if you don't know what you are doing). These books are a combination of police procedural and mystery (later books have a tiny tad of romance, but not in a typical way) that feature one of the strongest women protagonists I have ever read about. During this series, Kate will suffer adversity like you may never have read about before, and there is even one book that very nearly made me give up on the series because it was just so harrowing. But I promise you your curiosity will get the best of you, and you WILL go back!

With this the first novel in the Kate Shugak series, we learn enough about why Kate has come back to Niniltna . She seems to be in hiding and licking some wounds. But reading the entire series is the only way to get the fullest view of why she is the way she is. Sometimes cranky, quick to judge (yet almost always right) loving, sexy, strong of body and soul, and a friend you really want at your back.

This is a fascinating read for anyone that dreams of going to Alaska and a special cautionary tale for those that dream of moving there and living nowhere near a big city.

Kate suffers from a Grandmother and 'Aunties' that want her in a more traditional role of the modern Aleuts, while fighting for the Native's rights to land, money, aid etc. But Kate will do what is right and correct - for her while taking a serious stance on what she comes to think of as her 'people' - those who are her friends and family. Don't mess with Kate; she gets even. And especially don't mess with her during "break-up" when the back of winter is finally broken, and the river starts thawing!

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