Invisible

Antonia had a horrible childhood.  She grew up with a narcissistic mother who aspired to be an actress and a father who worked night and day.  She was raised by babysitters and shown no love whatsoever.  Her father resented her mother, who had aspirations to be an actress, who abandoned the family when Antonia was a child.  As she was growing up, Antonia had no contact with her mother.

She wants to be a writer of screenplays.  This displeases her father as he thinks she really wants to be an actress as her mother.  After Antonia finishes high school, she goes to college at NYU and has interesting summer internships in the film industry. She has a wonderful friend in college and begins to see what loving family looks like.  

Can Antonia find love in her life?  Will she achieve a career as a screenwriter?  Who will mentor her?  It's all vey intriguing.  It is amazing that Antonia is strong enough to not let the lack of love she experienced in life deter her in any way.  

Who doesn't love a Danielle Steel book?  I love the main character of a strong woman, like Antonia, who overcomes such diversity.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

The Nantucket Beachfront Inn

 

Ava is an attorney in NYC.  She and her 2 best friends are at their peak career-wise, but their life is unfulfilled.  Ava has triplets who have grown up and are living on their own.  She loves her NYC condo, but her job leaves her overworked, washed out and longing for something different.  But, finances keep her where she is.  Her previous husband cleaned out her savings on his way out.  

She befriends an older man, a client of hers who leaves her a huge home in Nantucket in his will, much to her surprise..  It comes at a perfect time in her life.  What better use for it than a beachfront inn in Nantucket?  The story includes her friends, her children, her mother and others on Nantucket.  

I am a sucker for any story set in Nantucket.  There's something so enviable about that beachfront, carefree life.  This story includes not only strong women, but relationships and struggles in life.  The author did a great job in creating a positive environment for the characters.  They were not whiners who blamed everyone else for their problems.  They were self-driven and showed they were responsible for changing their own lives.  And it's the first in a series of 8 books!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to review this book.