REVIEW: Sundaes With Nora by Anna Garner

Title: Sundaes with Nora (Sweet Dreams #2)
Author: Anna Garner
Publisher: Anna Garner
Publication Date: February 2015
Genre: Chick-Lit
Buy the Book: Amazon

Description: Nora Finch has a sweet life. She’s married to one of San Francisco’s wealthiest venture capitalists, she lives in a gorgeous old Victorian mansion in one of the city’s most sought-after neighborhoods, and she just launched an ice cream business with her two best friends, Cricket and Lindsay. However, exactly one week after Sweet Dreams opens its doors to the public, Nora’s husband, Kenneth, informs her he wants a divorce. Talk about bad timing. Now, on top of the tremendous pressure she feels to drive sales, Nora has to deal with the breakdown of her marriage, adjust to a more frugal lifestyle, find a new place to live and prepare to dip her toes in the dating pool for the first time in four years. If that weren’t enough, everyone keeps trying to get her to “process” her feelings. For an overachiever like Nora, juggling the demands of a new business along with a total overhaul of her personal life should be doable…right?

My Thoughts: Sundaes with Nora picks up where Sugar Spun Sister left off. Cricket, Nora and Lindsay have opened Sweet Dreams and they are still basking in the thrill and excitement of venturing out on their own, working for themselves. I was so excited to receive this story because I absolutely adored the first book and I was dying of curiosity to see how the girls made out fulfilling their dreams. Sounds divine, doesn’t it. For Nora Finch, it would be, except her husband, Kenneth, has just asked her for a divorce. Apparently, he feels she has lost her edge, has become weak and no longer has the killer instinct in the corporate world that attracted him to her in the first place. Nora is heartbroken and humiliated, obviously and with the stress of getting the business up and running, she now must worry about finding a place to live that she can afford and doesn’t want to burden Cricket and Lindsay with her personal drama.

I loved this story. Nora came across as a strong woman who can conquer the world and bring giants of industry to their knees immediately in the first book. The Nora in this book is not the hard as nails gladiator I believed her to be. She’s strong on the outside but carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She soldiers on with grace and does a pretty darn good job of dealing with her personal issues and working her tail off to market Sweet Dreams. My admiration and respect for her grew by leaps and bounds.

It was wonderful hanging out with Nora, Cricket and Lindsay again. The story flows seamlessly, the characters are so likable and easy to relate to, you can’t help but empathize with them. Ms. Garner does a beautiful job creating the perfect world for these characters that drew me in so completely, I didn’t want the story to end.

My Final Verdict: I really hope this series continues. Nothing pulls on my sweet tooth the way ice cream does and I really would like another scoop.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Sundaes with Nora from the author in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Lending A Paw by Laurie Cass

Title: Lending a Paw (A Bookmobile Cat Mystery #1)
Author: Laurie Cass
Publisher: NAL
Publication Date: December 2013
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: With the help of her rescue cat, Eddie, librarian Minnie Hamilton is driving a bookmobile based in the resort town of Chilson, Michigan. But she’d better keep both hands on the wheel, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride…

Eddie followed Minnie home one day, and now she can’t seem to shake the furry little shadow. But despite her efforts to contain her new pal, the tabby sneaks out and trails her all the way to the bookmobile on its maiden voyage. Before she knows it, her slinky stowaway becomes her cat co-pilot!

Minnie and Eddie’s first day visiting readers around the county seems to pass without trouble—until Eddie darts outside at the last stop and leads her to the body of a local man who’s reached his final chapter.

Initially, Minnie is ready to let the police handle this case, but Eddie seems to smell a rat. Together, they’ll work to find the killer—because a good librarian always knows when justice is overdue.

My Thoughts: I enjoy the cozy mystery genre because they typically are lighter, more humorous and whimsical than the grittier mysteries and when I’m not in the mood for the intensity that the harder mysteries oftentimes will bring, I’ve had excellent luck with the cozier variety.

This story is the first in a series featuring Eddie the feline who makes himself more than comfortable aboard a bookmobile and the librarian he adopts. I usually like stories that feature a dog or cat as one of the central characters and this one is no exception. Eddie has a lot of personality and communicates very effectively. The problem is he isn’t allowed on the bookmobile and I spent a lot of the story just waiting for him and Minnie to get caught by her supervisor, who has quite a large stick up his rear end.

For me, the story dragged a bit and seemed to veer away from the mystery and sleuthing, but everything works out in the end and Eddie’s presence on the bookmobile remains a secret, for now.

My Final Verdict: There are currently nine stories in this series and I’m looking forward to Eddie’s next adventure on the bookmobile.

REVIEW: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Title: The Silent Patient
Author: Alex Michaelides
Publisher: Caladon Books
Publication Date: February 2019
Genre: Thriller / Suspense
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him...

My Thoughts: A gripping and intense story about a woman who appears to have the perfect life and marriage. She is a talented painter, married to a very successful fashion photographer. They live in a beautiful home in a very posh neighborhood. Alicia’s life takes a downward spiral one evening when her husband comes home late and she shoots him multiple times and then becomes near catatonic, never uttering another word.

An explosive premise creating more questions than answers to Alicia’s actions kept me engaged throughout the entire story. Why did she kill her husband? Why is she not speaking? Her guilt was never a question as she was found with the weapon and the forensic evidence proved her guilt. The reasons why she did it appear to be locked in her mind and she isn’t telling anyone.

Theo was an interesting character. He has followed Alicia’s case from the beginning and is excited at the opportunity to be Alicia’s psychotherapist. He is determined to be the one to unravel the secrets locked away in Alicia’s mind, to get her to open up and speak about what happened. I kept wondering why he was so interested in Alicia’s case and what was driving him to near obsessive measures to reach her. He’s a likable character and appears to care about his silent patient’s well-being. Alicia is a murderer and there were moments that I truly believed she would kill Theo, but I felt a lot of empathy for her. I was rooting for Theo to succeed and break Alicia out of her self-imposed prison.

This story takes the reader into the lives of both Alicia and Theo, both present-day and in the past. The author does an excellent job of creating characters that are easy to relate to but are also intriguing and very mysterious. He has a brilliant talent of writing the scenes so descriptively that the reader feels they are more than a casual observer or bystander. The plot flows easily and the transitions between present-day and the past are smooth.

My Final Verdict: There are some major twists and turns in this story that I did not see coming and it completely blew me away making this my favorite book of 2020. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an interesting story with characters who will shock and surprise the reader to the very end.

REVIEW: The Power Of Love by Kemberlee Shortland

Title: The Power Of Love
Author: Kemberlee Shortland
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Publication Date: October 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Christmas Holiday
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN

Description: When Elaine Donovan discovers she's pregnant, she hesitates telling her husband, Ethan. They're newlyweds and plan to wait until they're ready to start a family. Ethan surprises her by accepting early parenthood, embracing the idea more fully than either of them expects.

When they receive bad news after a prenatal exam, both must face that their charmed lives are about to come crashing down around them.

Do Christmas wishes really come true? Elaine is staking her life on it!

My Thoughts: This book has a happy ending, but what a heart-wrencher it was getting there! Kemberlee Shortland is a master at pulling on my heartstrings with this highly emotional story of newlyweds Elaine and Ethan who face the hardest of announcements at a pre-natal exam. I loved how this couple has a love for one another that brings them closer together with the arrival of bad news instead of tearing them apart.

The story flows smoothly and I really liked Elaine and Ethan. Their emotions come alive on the page, in bright color and sound. I felt like I was in the room with them praying alongside them for a Christmas miracle.

My Final Verdict: This is a short and quick read that readers looking for a little boost to their reading pile should grab a copy.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of The Power Of Love from the author in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas by Darcie Boleyn

Title: A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas
Author: Darcie Boleyn
Publisher: Canelo
Publication Date: November 2016
Genre: Chick-Lit / Women’s Fiction / Christmas Holiday
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN

Description: Lucie Quigley hates Christmas. It’s the time of year when everything goes wrong in her life. So this year, when she’s asked to be a bridesmaid at her friend Petra’s Manhattan wedding, she jumps at the invitation to escape the festivities.

Dale Treharne has been best friends with Lucie for as long as he can remember. He’s used to looking out for his oldest friend and when she asks him to be her plus one, he can’t seem to find a reason to refuse. Instead, he sees it as a way to help Lucie get through what is, for her, the most miserable time of the year.

In New York, as the snow starts to fall, Lucie and Dale start to realize that their feelings run deeper than just friendship. But can they overcome their pasts, and make it a very merry Manhattan Christmas?

My Thoughts: I had high expectations with this book to really make the charm and whimsy of Christmas explode around me. Christmas in Manhattan sounds wonderful and it was, but it just took too long for Lucie and Dale to get there. Instead, I felt like too much time was spent lying to family and friends about their fake relationship as an excuse for missing Christmas and how they will “break up” when they get back.

I also felt completely uninformed and in the dark about what happened to Lucie’s mother and why she hates Christmas. Hints are dropped all over the book with a large thud that took me out of the story wondering what happened and wishing they would spit it out already.

What I really liked about this book is the real relationship Lucie and Dale have. The one they are ignoring, or trying to. The deep love and friendship they have for one another is something few people find but most of us spend a lifetime looking for. I loved how Dale is there for Lucie, day or night, rain or shine. It was obvious to me how deeply his feelings for Lucie are and how hard he tries to hold it inside. I was very happy when they finally got honest with one another and bared their hearts and souls.

This book has a lot of interesting characters and I had a difficult time understanding how Lucie and Petra were even friends, much less having Lucie be a bridesmaid. However, the starts and stops I had to endure in the beginning were made up for by the interesting twist the story takes when Lucie and Dale get to Manhattan. I loved the horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park and going to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and ice-skating.

My Final Verdict: Although this book had a lot of moments that dragged for me, I liked the story overall. I thought Dale and Lucie were good characters and their emotions were so raw and powerful in their intensity at times. I even felt a little compassion for Petra by the end. This was a good choice for my Christmas themed stories and readers who think Manhattan at Christmas time is the place to be should give this one a look.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.