Let it Snow

If you’re looking for a sweet Christmas read this winter, this is it!  Set in Nantucket. Who wouldn’t want to grow up there and live on island as an adult?  This book offers that perfect escape. 

Christina is a native Nantucketer. At 30 years old, she has a toy store on the island. She loves children but has not yet met Mr. Right. One day a 9 year old girl comes into the store with her mother. Christina sees the girl, Wink, slip a sticker book into her pocket. The mother is rather harsh. Wink ends up helping Christina out a few days a week.  Wink is the granddaughter of a wealthy islander who has just moved there year round. A grumpy, old (65), very wealthy man!  

Christina meets Wink’s uncle, Andy, a handsome, single man. Ummm, you can imagine what happens there!

This is a delightful story of love and friendship in a storybook setting. The author illustrates what is really important in life- love, friendship and kindness.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 

Leopard at the Door

I admit that I know little about Africa and it’s history. This is a wonderful story and white European immigrants who settled land in Kenya. Rachel returns home after attending school in England. Her mother is dead. Her father lives with Sara and her son Harold. She tries to adjust to living in remote Kenya again, but the past haunts her. Will she survive the unrest as Kenya natives fight for their native land back?  Will she survive the stress of relationships?  An amazing story of a strong woman.

The Golden Hour

I have read several of Beatriz Williams books and enjoyed them. This one is no exception. Historical fiction- my favorite genre. Most of the book is set in the Bahamas. The story is told about 2 different women: Lulu and Effriede. You don’t find out until the end of the book how their lives are intertwined. Lulu is a journalist who moves to the Bahamas to write about the life of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, exiled in the Bahamas. There is intrigue, espionage and murder. Effriede is married to German royalty. After the birth of her first child, she enters a sanitarium for the blackness that occurs after the birth of her son. She meets a man there that becomes the love of her life. The story occurs before and during WW2. How are the lives of these 2 very different women intertwined?

After the End

I wasn’t sure I wanted to read this book. Anytime a child dies, it’s just sad. Pip and Max have a son almost 3 years old who has a brain tumor. After surgery and months in PICU, a choice has to be made. Should he be treated aggressively or allowed to die with dignity?  Max wants aggressive treatment, Pip does not want him to suffer any longer. On opposite sides, they end up in court. He dies at 6 1/2 years old. That is also the end of their marriage. 

Max moves from the UK back to Chicago. Pip begins working again as a flight attendant. She dates Lars, Max dates Blair. Pip has a daughter. Max is the father. Who did they end up with?

I enjoyed the story. The author did a great job developing the characters. I did have a little trouble trying to figure out which scenes were reality and which were “what if’s”.

The Dearly Beloved

There are people who are sent to us for a reason. Are they sent by God?  James and Charles become ministers. Charles had a strong calling, James doesn’t. James marries Nan, a ministers daughter, who makes him a better person and minister. Charles marries Lily, an atheist. How can she possibly believe in a God who took both of her parents away at a young age?  A God who sends her an autistic child?

Charles and James are appointed to co-minister at a Presbyterian church in NYC. Life will present trials and tribulations that will cause both of them to question their faith. Can we remain true to ourselves and live a purposeful life?

The Secrets We Kept

A story about how Boris Pasternak’s book Doctor Zhivago was smuggled out of Russia and published around the world. It involves characters at a secret agency of spies in Washington, DC. The love story of Boris and Olga, his muse who inspired the character Lara in his book, is central to the story. This debut novel for this author is based on a true story. An intriguing story.

Drops of Cerulean

A debut novel by an author from Houston. The setting is Houston from the 1930s to present day. Ilona is the daughter in a a Greek family. She is expected to marry a Greek and work in the family’s diner business. She longs to be a teacher. She marries into a prominent Irish Houston family causing estrangement from her family. She’s never really accepted by her husbands socially prominent family. Tradgedy befalls her. She has a disagreement with her son right before her death causing him to blame himself for her death. The son is not accepted by the extended family because he is gay. And then there’s this girl Dephina who feels she has a connection to Ilona. Hmmm.

Mrs. Everything

Jo and Bethie are sisters. They couldn’t be more different. Growing up, Jo was rebellious and Bethie was the good child. As adults, just the opposite.  As the book begins in the 1960s, life was very conventional, conservative. Jo is attracted to women. She dreams of being a writer. She finishes college, becomes a teacher, marries and has three girls. When is it time for her to live her authentic life?  Bethie begins college involved with the drug culture, drops out and flounders for 10 years. She meets someone who changes her life. The story of Jo and Bethie and those in their lives is so heartwarming. Families are messy. They’re not the neat packages others think they are.