Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson

Women's Fiction

Shandi and her little boy Natty are moving to Atlanta, after her father offers up his condo so she can be closer to college. Her best friend Walcott is helping with the move and the three stop at a Circle K on the way. Shandi and Natty go inside to get some drinks where a cute man looks lost looking at laundry detergent. Coming up with a thousand ways to approach him, she doesn't really notice another man enter the shop with a gun. He charges the cash register and robs the store but before leaving, a police officer enters the store and the robber shoots her. Realizing he can't leave, the robber takes everyone in to the back and both Shandi and the cute man, William, relive past events in the fear of not having any future ones.

Shandi gave birth to Natty a virgin. She has chosen to forget the day Natty was conceived but in the back of the Circle K, she starts to remember being drugged that night. William lost both his wife and kid in a car crash exactly a year ago. He forbid anyone from mentioning his wife's name infront of him shortly thereafter but starts to relive courting her during high school and remembering how much love they had for each other.

Having read quite a few of Jackson's books in the past I was looking forward to this one. She does a fantastic job of writing imperfect southern women. Shandi isn't the best character Jackson has written but she is typical to Jackson's writing. She's southern, she makes the reader like her, and she has many flaws that she acknowledges and tries to sort out. I think this is part of the reason why I like Jackson's books so much. The characters know they aren't perfect and they usually try to sort things out.

Also typical to Jackson books, this one was very easy to get in to. I started reading and felt like I couldn't stop. I needed to find out what these characters were hiding from themselves and how they were going to get past their issues.

Despite all this, by the time I completed the book and put it down, I felt a little bit let down. There were two reasons for this. The first was that the ending was crammed with revelations. In about 20 pages, there were two plot twists which made me feel like there wasn't enough time to digest what was happening and get resolution out of it. The second was the story of rape that seemed to get played down as not being a big deal. It's not surprising that the rapist himself tried not to make a big deal out of the rape, but when other characters started going along with it, it bothered me. Rape is rape, regardless of the back story that goes along with it.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for letting me be a part of this book tour.
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First Line: "I fell in love with William Ashe at gunpoint, in a Circle K."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Isle of Palms

Isle of Palms by Dorothea Benton Frank
Women's Fiction

Anna Abbott grew up on the Isle of Palms(IOP) and moved away when her mother died and her emotionally cold grandmother and controlling father took her to Mount Pleasant to live. However the IOP has been in Anna's heart for a long time. Anna was date raped at her senior prom and has a daughter, Emily.

Anna married her best friend Jim who is gay and for 10 years they raised Emily together. Emily has just finished her first year in college and Anna decides to buy a small house on IOP. And if that is not enough Anna loses her hair dressing job and decides to start her own salon.

This is a book about the low country which I love. It is so nice to read about areas one is familiar with. The book is woman's fiction but also romance with a good dose of humour.

I could not understand the lack of anger which seemed to surround the rape. Maybe this is because of her beautiful daughter but it might also be because so many years have passed. There were a lot of quirky friends and neighbours which lead to a fun read even though the plot is a little feeble

First Line: "Okay."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

The Friday Night Knitting Club

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Women's Literature

Georgia Walker is a single mother who owns a yarn shop in Manhattan. The club consists of her daughter Dakota, a 12-year-old, who flits in and out of the club with baked goods and entrepreneurial ambitions; a widow named Anita who is Georgia's mentor; an academic named Darwin ; a 40-year-old single woman named Lucie who fools a date into getting her pregnant; an aspiring purse designer and part-time worker in the shop named Petra ; Georgia's best friend, named K.C. in her mid-40s hoping to get into law school; and Georgia's childhood friend Cat who is a wealthy wife bored to tears.

When Dakota's father, James comes back into Georgia's life, Georgia's life becomes even more hectic than it already is. James wants to spend more time with Dakota and also Georgia. Dakota loves having a dad around and loves the gifts she gets.

Anita is Georgia's sounding board and mentor. She is a widow but her children are now grown and living elsewhere. Marty the downstairs Deli owner is interested in Anita.

Darwin, Lucie, Petra and K. C. all have their own issues which the other members of the knitting club help them with.

The pattern at the end of the book is for a scarf and I would have expected to see the sweater pattern that everyone in the club was knitting. ???

This was an okay book. It seemed to me that the story has been done before and was not as smooth as it should have been.

First Line: "The hours of WALKER AND DAUGHTER: KNITTERS were clearly displayed in multicolored letters on a white sandwich board placed just so at the top of the stair landing."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Winter Garden

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Woman's Fiction

Meredith and Nina Whitson are sisters who have grown up with a cold, disapproving mother. Each of them coped in their own way. Meredith did so by having a family, running the family's apple orchard, and becoming a super achiever. Nina coped by becoming a world famous photojournalist taking pictures in grief stricken areas of the world, constantly travelling and running away.

When their beloved father falls ill he extracts a promise from Nina that she will get her mother to tell the Russian fairy tale story that they had loved as children. But he wants Nina to get her mother to tell it through to the ending which the girls have never heard. When he dies the sisters and their mother are pulled in opposite directions, each dealing with the grief in their own way. Meredith throws herself into her work alienating her husband, Nina runs away to Africa and Anya, their mother, sits in her garden even in the winter in her nightgown and looks to be becoming more and more forgetful.

Nina finally turns toward home and starts her mother telling her and the reluctant Meredith the Russian fairy tale. A tale about a young girl and her fairy tale prince and their falling in love in Leningrad. Only it is really their mother's tale about Leningrad and the infamous siege of Leningrad.

This is such a wonderful tale. I especially enjoyed the historical fiction portion about the siege of Leningrad. The ending was such a great surprise and so up-lifting and just plain feel good. Great book!!

First Line: "On the banks of the mighty Columbia River, in this icy season when every breath became visible, the orchard called Belye Nochi was quiet."

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Rating:

(4.0/5)

Best Bet

Best Bet by Laura Pedersen
Women's Fiction

Hallie Palmer is all set to graduate college in graphic arts. She has a job in the city and she plans to move there with her boyfriend, Craig. As she is packing up to leave, she receives a call to report to the dean's office. Evidently her old college advisor steered her wrong and she is a few credits short for a degree. The college will pay any expenses but she has to earn her degree.

An opportunity to travel the world and earn those pesky credits is offered. She will be helping a professor by dropping wallets with money in them to see what the citizens of various countries do. It fulfills her sociology requirement and on the trip is Josh, a major heart throb.

Hallie decides to go and Craig suggests they start to see other people. Hallie is on the road with an eclectic band of cohorts. At the end of the trip, Hallie finally sees that what is at home is the best and she is in love with Craig, but is it too late??

This is the fourth book about Hallie but is a stand-alone. Pedersen writes a story interwoven with very quirky characters. There are a number of very unusual situations which are amusing. Evidently a lot of these events have truly happened which makes for interesting suppositions about what really took place. This is a book about family, friends and fitting in. It also explores the 'jitters' one gets when making those big decisions about relationships. Pedersen writes in a light breezy style which is easy to read and enjoyable.

First Line: "The good news is that I've had only one roommate this past semester."

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Rating:

(4.0/5)

The Christmas Secret

The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere
Women's Fiction

Christine Eisley is a single mother of two small children. She works as a waitress trying to make ends meet as her ex provides little child support. Her ex is not above making her life difficult with his demands to see his children when he wants to use them against her.

When an elderly woman suffers a heart attack at the end of Christine's driveway, Christine helps her and makes sure she is okay before going to work late once again. The inconsistency of baby sitters and this latest incidence causes her boss to fire her and it is just before Christmas. Later that day her landlord decides Christine will never make good on what is owed and tells her to vacate by the end of January. Christine's world just keeps getting worse and worse.

Jason has been down-sized as an accountant and with the holidays right around the corner firms are just not interviewing. He goes back to his small hometown to work with his grandfather who owns Wilson's department store. Jason feels the job is far beneath him and his grandfather sets out to try to teach him the department store is all about the people who work there. The elderly lady Christine (Christy) saved happens to be Jason's grandfather's assistant. One of the tasks is for Jason to find the Christy who helped but she has vanished.

Christine gets a job at Betty's Bakery and be-friends all the local customers. They all help each other and they are the ones that end up giving Christine the greatest gift of all.

I enjoyed reading this very up-lifting book. This is a book of friendship, loyalty, love and hope with a generous dash of miracle thrown in.

First Line: "I didn't know my father; it's how my mother wanted it or maybe what he wanted."

The Christmas Secret at Chapters
Rating:

(4.0/5)

The Shop on Blossom Street

The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
Women's Fiction

Lydia Hoffman has opened up a yarn shop on Blossom Street. She wants to affirm her life now that she is cancer-free. In order to gain some business Lydia offers beginners a lesson on "Knitting a Baby Blanket". Three ladies show up.

Jacqueline who is a high society snob dislikes her daughter-in-law and now finds out she is to be a grandma. This blanket will show 'good faith'.

Carol who has been through two IVFs is about to begin another set which will be her last. She believes this is a sign of a pregnancy without mishaps.

Alix who was caught with her roomie's drugs will do this for community service. Maybe knitting is a way to control her anger.

Each of the ladies is completely different and they end up learning about themselves and forming deep friendships.

First Line: "The first time I saw the empty store on Blossom Street I thought of my father."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Pen Pals

Pen Pals by Olivia Goldsmith
Women's Fiction

Jennifer Spencer, financial whiz, agrees to take the 'rap' for her fiancee Tom on insider trading charges. Tom has agreed to make appeals and get her out quickly and in the meantime she will be at a country club jail. Not so!! Tom is a rat and soon Jennifer, besides being dumped is at Jennings Correctional Facility in an orange jumpsuit. Jennifer is rich, spoiled and self-absorbed.

After a very rocky beginning, Jennifer finds herself on Movita's team along with Suki, Cher, and Theresa. Jennifer starts to learn how to help other people by first getting a guard fired. Upon learning that Jennings is going to be privatized, Jennifer starts to think about making the biggest investment of her life.

This book is a very interesting story about female correctional facilities and turning your life around. Jennifer starts out as a snob and find out what really counts in life and who your real friends are.

First Line: "All Rise."

Rating:

(4.0/5)