REVIEW: Just the Way You Are by Lynsey James

Title: Just the Way You Are
Author: Lynsey James
Publisher: Carina
Publication Date: May 2015
Genre: Chick-Lit
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN

Description: Dear Ava,
How do you start writing a letter to someone, six years after breaking their heart?

Ava is unlucky in love as well as in life. The new office bitch has landed the dating column Ava wanted, and she can't remember the last time she had a second date. It's a good thing she has best friends Max and Gwen to pick up the pieces.

Deep down, Ava knows the reason why one date never turns into two - she's in love with someone else. Someone she's never even met.

It all started six years ago, with a letter from a secret admirer, Mr. Writer…but then they suddenly stopped and Ava was heartbroken.

Now the letters have started again and Ava knows it could mean winning back the dating column at work. This time she's determined to unmask Mr. Writer...and find out once and for all if he's Mr. Right or Mr. Very Definitely Wrong!

My Thoughts: Highly predictable, but good story about a woman looking for her Mr. Right who is right under her nose. I enjoyed the premise of a secret admirer writing anonymous letters to Ava beginning six years prior. As suddenly as the letters began, they mysteriously stop after she is stood up by the letter writer. Ava has never forgotten him or gotten over what might have been had he shown up.

When the letters begin arriving again, Ava is filled with hope that the outcome will be much different and begins an investigation to determine who the admirer is. So, this story is quite predictable in that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who the letter writer is, but the bigger questions of why he didn’t show up six years ago and why he is resuming the letter writing now were significant and needed answering.

With her best friends, Max and Gwen along for moral support, Ava creates a list of potential suspects and begins to meet them to see if they are the one. Ava has a lot of trust and abandonment issues so I was more interested in what would happen once she learned who he was. In addition, Ava is developing a story reuniting a couple who missed their happily ever after fifty years ago, which really appealed to me and left me anticipating the outcome of that more than Ava learning who her admirer is.

The story moved at a decent pace and held my interest for the most part, though I was thoroughly frustrated with Ava for pushing the love of her life away. I understood why she does, but it still annoyed me. Perhaps if Ava had gotten out of her own head sooner, she would see what everyone else could clearly see standing right in front of her.

My Final Verdict: Fans of chick-lit romances as well as stories of second chances will enjoy this book. I recommend this story to all readers who enjoy a happily ever after and don’t mind a bumpy ride getting there.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Just the Way You Are from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Arrangement by Kiersten Modglin

Title: The Arrangement (The Arrangement #1)
Author: Kiersten Modglin
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Publication Date: July 2021
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Ainsley Greenburg is a fixer.
It’s what she prides herself on.

So, when she realizes her marriage is at its breaking point, she makes a decision to repair it, no matter the cost. Approaching her husband to propose the arrangement is supposed to be the hard part, but Peter agrees to the salacious plan almost immediately.

The rules are simple:
They will each date someone new once a week.
They will never discuss what happens on the dates.

Soon, though, the rules are broken, turning terrible mistakes into unspeakable consequences.

When the only person they can count on to keep their darkest secret is each other, new questions and deceits surface. Can they truly trust the person they share a life with, or will the vicious lies that have mounted over the years destroy everything they’ve built?

Once, Peter and Ainsley vowed to stand together forever, but as they push boundaries of deception, suspicion, and temptation, each begins to wonder if ’til death do us part may come sooner than they’d intended.

My Thoughts: First time reading this author’s work and won’t be my last. I was very intrigued going in and a little taken aback at the logic Ainsley deploys to save her marriage. “Hey, honey, we are going to get on a dating app and see other people.” Wait, what? Not surprising that Peter readily agrees, though he struggles with the idea of Ainsley sleeping with the men she is seeing.

In a nutshell, what we have here is a marriage imploding under the weight of all the lies and secrets flying around. Seems to me that agreeing to start seeing other people to reignite the spark you once felt for one another while keeping what you are doing with these other people a secret has disaster written all over it! But that’s just me, I guess. I prefer to deal openly and honestly with people. Ainsley insists to Peter they have no more secrets and by the end of the book, it appears all (and I mean ALL) of the deep, dark and uglies have reared their heads. We shall see, dear readers, as this is the first book in a series and I am convinced that we have not yet begun to see the depths Ainsley and Peter will sink to in order to save their marriage or keep their actions in this book a secret. Ironic how everything they are doing requires keeping it secret, but Ainsley is adamant that there be no secrets between them. How is that working for you, Miss Ainsley? I think you’re going to be in over your head and things are going to get really ugly for you. I can’t wait to find out!

My Final Verdict: This story is a wild rollercoaster of a ride that requires the reader to hold on tightly with a white-knuckled grip. There are so many twists and turns, one could get whiplash, but the entire experience left me picking my jaw up off the floor. I highly recommend this book to readers who love to be shocked with surprise twists and like a front-row seat into other people’s drama and emotional baggage.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of The Arrangement from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Husbands by Chandler Baker

Title: The Husbands
Author: Chandler Baker
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: August 2021
Genre: Thriller / Mystery / Women’s Fiction
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Chandler Baker, the New York Times bestselling author of Whisper Network, is back with The Husbands, a novel that asks: to what lengths will a woman go for a little more help from her husband?

Nora Spangler is a successful attorney but when it comes to domestic life, she packs the lunches, schedules the doctor appointments, knows where the extra paper towel rolls are, and designs and orders the holiday cards. Her husband works hard, too... but why does it seem like she is always working so much harder?

When the Spanglers go house hunting in Dynasty Ranch, an exclusive suburban neighborhood, Nora meets a group of high-powered women--a tech CEO, a neurosurgeon, an award-winning therapist, a bestselling author--with enviably supportive husbands. When she agrees to help with a resident's wrongful death case, she is pulled into the lives of the women there. She finds the air is different in Dynasty Ranch. The women aren't hanging on by a thread.

But as the case unravels, Nora uncovers a plot that may explain the secret to having-it-all. One that's worth killing for. Calling to mind a Stepford Wives gender-swap, The Husbands imagines a world where the burden of the "second shift" is equally shared--and what it may take to get there.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this story about a couple going through the challenges of life, raising a toddler with another one on the way, managing careers and household, while trying to navigate the burden of the roles we have within our marriages and the fair division of labor once our second job as spouses and parents begin. I liked Nora and Hayden and thought they were pretty typical of most couples, but Nora’s resentment about how much she does compared to what her husband does is quite telling. This is a common issue in most households and, if left unchecked, creates most of the arguments between couples.

It doesn’t surprise me that Nora is quite taken with the community of Dynasty Ranch, where she and Hayden are house-hunting. Upon meeting some of the other wives in the neighborhood, Nora is impressed at the careers these women have, while raising children and they all have husbands who bend over backwards to help out!

For me, the story takes on a Stepford Husbands feel when one of the husbands stops to help Nora change a flat tire and appears to be quite distressed that his chores aren’t completed. Nora doesn’t seem to think too much about it and when she and her husband begin seeing one of the residents for couples therapy, she is quite impressed at her husband’s change in manner, attitude and behavior. It doesn’t take long to see where the story is heading, but the getting there was quite interesting and entertaining. The last few chapters of the book were pretty intense and held some surprises for me that I wish had been managed differently, but overall, an enjoyable story.

My Final Verdict: Fans of domestic thrillers and mysteries will enjoy this story and the heightened anticipation of what is coming next will add to the thrills. I recommend the audio version for the dramatic scenes and visualization the story brings.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of The Husbands from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: What Happens in Tuscany by T.A. Williams

Title: What Happens in Tuscany
Author: T.A. Williams
Publisher: Carina
Publication Date: January 2015
Genre: Chick-Lit / Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN

Description: From rainy England…

Katie never imagined her life was perfect. But when she finds herself on a rainy street, soaked to the bone and with only a cheating boyfriend and a dead-end job keeping her in town, she knows something has to change. Which is what leads her to Iddlescombe Manor, to be companion to Lady Victoria Chalker-Pyne – the only 25-year-old Katie’s ever met who hasn’t heard of Twitter, thinks camisoles are de rigueur, and desperately needs an education in the 21st century!

…to the Tuscan sun!

But it wouldn’t be an education without a summer holiday – and where better than Tuscany? Decamping to Victoria’s family villa, it’s soon clear that the valley really does have it all: sun, sea…and some seriously gorgeous neighbours. The only question is: when the weather’s this hot, the wine is this smooth and the local men are this irresistible…will Katie ever want to make the journey home?

My Thoughts: First time reading this author and though the story was good, I never felt fully engaged with the characters and events. The constant detailed description of the oppressive heat in Tuscany started to grate on my nerves and pulled me out of the story numerous times. I get it, summer in Tuscany is HOT! Also, the author kept referring to one of the characters constantly by his first AND last name. I found that odd as none of the other characters were addressed in this manner and there was only one character in the story named Paul, so trying to figure out who Paul was and where he fit into the story wasn’t an issue.

I liked Katie and Victoria and though Victoria is painfully naïve and gullible, she has a lot of potential to grow and hold her own. I would be interested to see how she fares upon returning to London to attend college and pursue her law degree.

My Final Verdict: Readers who love stories set in exotic locales, like Tuscany, will probably enjoy this story. I prefer less emphasis on the weather and would rather focus on the interpersonal relationships.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of What Happens in Tuscany from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.