Lost You

Libby needs a break. Three years ago her husband split, leaving her to raise their infant son Ethan alone as she struggled to launch her writing career. Now for the first time in years, things are looking up. She's just sold her first novel, and she and Ethan are going on a much-needed vacation. Everything seems to be going their way, so why can't she stop looking over her shoulder or panicking every time Ethan wanders out of view? Is it because of what happened when Ethan was born? Except Libby's never told anyone the full story of what happened, and there's no way anyone could find her and Ethan at a faraway resort . . . right?

But three days into their vacation, Libby's fears prove justified. In a moment of inattention, Ethan wanders into an elevator before Libby can reach him. When the elevator stops and the doors open, Ethan is gone. Hotel security scours the building and finds no trace of him, but when CCTV footage is found of an adult finding the child wandering alone and leading him away by the hand, the police are called in. The search intensifies, a lost child case turning into a possible abduction. Hours later, a child is seen with a woman stepping through an emergency exit. Libby and the police track the woman down and corner her, but she refuses to release Ethan. Asked who she is, the woman replies: "I'm his mother."

I loved Haylen Beck's previous novel, Here and Gone, so much that I didn't hesitate to request an early copy of his newest novel as soon as I saw it on Netgalley.  I will admit that I didn't like it as much, but it was still a solid story.  I found the topic of surrogacy and the all legal and non-legal ways that it can go wrong so fascinating.  The novel also explored that unconditional love that a mother has for her children and to what lengths she will go to protect them.  I would definitely recommend this book and will pick up whatever he writes next as well!

            * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

The Escape Room

 

Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are ruthlessly ambitious high-flyers working in the lucrative world of Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive. Getting rich is all that matters, and they'll do anything to reach the top.

When they are ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, dark secrets of their team begin to be laid bare.

The biggest mystery to solve in this lethal game: What happened to Sara Hall? Once a young shining star—”now gone but not forgotten”.

This is no longer a game.
They’re fighting for their lives.

I originally requested this book because I have such a love for escape rooms, any and all kinds.  I will never say no to an escape room.  And while I understand the title, the book is about so much more than the average 60 minutes to escape games you may have played.  The story has depth, flawed characters and an intensity I truly enjoyed.  It's the exact type of thriller book that's often my favorite because it has a finance and legal theme mixed with the story.  There were some things that happened in the story that seemed a little out there, but in the end I didn't care, I blew through this book!  

 
          * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

Keeping Lucy

Dover, Massachusetts, 1969. Ginny Richardson's heart was torn open when her baby girl, Lucy, born with Down Syndrome, was taken from her. Under pressure from his powerful family, her husband, Ab, sent Lucy away to Willowridge, a special school for the “feeble-minded." Ab tried to convince Ginny it was for the best. That they should grieve for their daughter as though she were dead. That they should try to move on.

But two years later, when Ginny's best friend, Marsha, shows her a series of articles exposing Willowridge as a hell-on-earth--its squalid hallways filled with neglected children--she knows she can't leave her daughter there. With Ginny's six-year-old son in tow, Ginny and Marsha drive to the school to see Lucy for themselves. What they find sets their course on a heart-racing journey across state lines—turning Ginny into a fugitive.

For the first time, Ginny must test her own strength and face the world head-on as she fights Ab and his domineering father for the right to keep Lucy. Racing from Massachusetts to the beaches of Atlantic City, through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to a roadside mermaid show in Florida, Keeping Lucy is a searing portrait of just how far a mother’s love can take her.

The first 40 pages of this book absolutely wrecked me!  The image of Lucy being taken away from her mother, Ginny, and then going inside Willowridge will stay with me for a long time.  To think that a place (or places) like this ever existed chills me to the bone.  From there we follow Ginny and Marsha's road trip to protecting Lucy at all costs.  While I enjoyed the road trip, I wanted more of a fight against the school.  I understood why she left.  It was a different day and age than we are in today, but I wanted to see her stand up against them more than I wanted to read about her running away.  However, it was very endearing to experience the relationship develop between Ginny and Lucy.  The author writes in such a relatable way that it really stood out.  The ending felt rushed and tied up a little too nicely in my opinion.  Overall a very solid novel and I look forward to picking up more books by T. Greenwood in the future.   

  

       * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

Everybody, Always

What happens when we give away love like we're made of it?

In his entertaining and inspiring follow-up to the New York Times bestselling phenomenon Love Does, Bob Goff takes readers on a journey into the secret of living without fear, constraint, or worry. The path toward the liberated existence we all long for is found in a truth as simple to say as it is hard to do: love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits.

Driven by Bob’s trademark storytelling, Everybody, Always reveals the lessons Bob learned--often the hard way--about what it means to love without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. From finding the right friends to discovering the upside of failure, Everybody, Always points the way to embodying love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible. Whether losing his shoes while skydiving solo or befriending a Ugandan witch doctor, Bob steps into life with a no-limits embrace of others that is as infectious as it is extraordinarily ordinary. Everybody, Always reveals how we can do the same.

Bob Goff seems like an amazing human being!  I think it would be wonderful to just sit in a room with him and listen to him tell stories.  Even more so, I'd love to talk to him about an issue or problem and let him help me solve it because I just know it would be beyond anything I could even think or dream.  Love Does, his first book, sits proudly on my favorites shelf and I recommend it all the time.  I can't say I loved this one quite as much, but I don't think that would be possible anyway.  I know this book gets some criticism because Bob's perspective is one of privilege, but I think that's unfair.  He's not asking us to become rich and save the world.  He's using his resources to make the world a better place and show love to everyone.  We can do that, one person at a time in our corner of the world as well, no matter what resources and privileges we have.  That's the great thing about showing love, it's completely free!!  Please do yourself a favor and pick up this book and Love Does, read it and pass it on!

        * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

A Stranger on the Beach

There is a stranger outside Caroline's house.

Her spectacular new beach house, built for hosting expensive parties and vacationing with the family she thought she'd have. But her husband is lying to her and everything in her life is upside down, so when the stranger, Aiden, shows up as a bartender at the same party where Caroline and her husband have a very public fight, it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.

As her marriage collapses around her and the lavish lifestyle she's built for herself starts to crumble, Caroline turns to Aiden for comfort...and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aiden's obsession with Caroline, her family, and her house grows more and more disturbing. And when Caroline's husband goes missing, her life descends into a nightmare that leaves her accused of her own husband's murder.

When I read the premise of this book it had a ton of potential, but it just didn't deliver in a way that I enjoyed overall.  My rating is a 2.5 stars, because, in all honesty, it fell flat.  It seemed predictable and therefore it just didn't hold much suspense for me while I was reading.  I kept reading because I was sure that I was missing something and it would surprise me, but it just never did.  I read and loved the author's previous novel, It's Always the Husband.  Because of that, I would still pick up another novel by this author.  Her writing is easy to read and I know it's there, it just missed the mark for me in this one.

   

             * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

     

Last Summer

Lifestyle journalist Ella Skye remembers every celebrity she interviewed, every politician she charmed between the sheets, and every socialite who eyed her with envy. The chance meeting with her husband, Damien; their rapid free fall into love; and their low-key, intimate wedding are all locked in her memory. But what she can’t remember is the tragic car accident that ripped her unborn child from her. Ella can’t even recall being pregnant.

Hoping to find the memories of a lost pregnancy that’s left her husband devastated and their home empty, Ella begins delving into her past when she’s assigned an exclusive story about Nathan Donovan, a retired celebrity adventurer who seems to know more about her than she does him. To unravel the mystery of her selective memory loss, Ella follows Nathan from the snowcapped Sierra Nevada to the frozen slopes of southeast Alaska. There she discovers the people she trusts most aren’t the only ones keeping secrets from her—she’s hiding them from herself. Ella quickly learns that some truths are best left forgotten.

I hate to admit this, but I almost gave up on this one.  It was feeling predictable and cliche, but I am so happy that I stuck with it!  I have enjoyed Kerry Lonsdale's previous novels, so I was really excited to receive a copy to read and review.  The author does a great job of writing characters you can cheer for and be frustrated with all at the same time.  It's not a perfect book, but it's a great story that I would recommend you pick up this summer.  If you enjoy it, I'd explore the authors backlist titles as well!        

  

         * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

 

The Stationery Shop

Roya is a dreamy, idealistic teenager living in 1953 Tehran who, amidst the political upheaval of the time, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood book and stationery shop. She always feels safe in his dusty store, overflowing with fountain pens, shiny ink bottles, and thick pads of soft writing paper.

When Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—she loses her heart at once. And, as their romance blossoms, the modest little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square, but suddenly, violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she resigns herself to never seeing him again.

Until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did he leave? Where did he go? How was he able to forget her?

The Stationery Shop is a beautiful and timely exploration of devastating loss, unbreakable family bonds, and the overwhelming power of love.

This book was beautiful, plain and simple.  I loved it so much I purposefully took longer to read it because I just didn't want to get to the end.  This will definitely be one of my favorite reads of the year!  The writing just totally drew me into a story about 2 teenagers falling in love in Iran, a country I knew very little about, but came to care about so much.  I love a book that explores the history and choices of the characters and how it can alter their lives.  This is a beautiful story you won't want to miss!    

           * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *