When We Believed in Mermaids
By
Barbara O'Neal
There is nothing like the connection of love between two sisters and the bonds they share throughout their lives. This book is the story of two sisters, Josie and Kit, who are so close to each other growing up that it seems nothing would ever separate them from each other. Their bond is unbreakable, or so it seems. Secrets, heartaches, doubts, suspicions, and broken trust....will they be able to overcome so many hurtful events and find their sisterness again?

This story is about what can happen in life. Josie and Kit have a very awful and painful childhood with parents who are on the edge of neglectful. Josie and Kit come to depend on each other to survive and grow up. There is a wonderful character named Dylan who enters their lives and becomes a "big brother" and looks out for them. He has come from a troubled past himself. But events happen and their lives are turned upside down.

I fell into the pages of this book. It took me into the lives of these characters and wouldn't let me go. The narrative alternates between Kit's and Josie's points of view. As the story takes place in the current time, there are "flashbacks" to fill in the pieces of the broken lives they grew up with. Ms. O'Neal wove these pieces together like a masterpiece. My heart was broken for the heartaches and tragedies that Josie and Kit endured. It felt myself wanting to draw them in. To be there for them and heal their hurts. There was so much emotion in this book for me. I cried, I ached, I pulled for them to find their love for each other again. Would they be able to find it in their hearts to forgive and mend their relationship back to what it was?

I love the setting in this book. I felt like I have experienced Auckland and the beauty that it possesses. I was on the beaches with Kit and Josie. I was in the surf and feeling the solitude in the water surfboarding. I saw the landscapes and terrain. It was so descriptively written. A perfect setting for two girls who believed in mermaids growing up.

There was a bit of mystery written into the story, too. Sapphire House is intriguing. What happened to the famous actress, Veronica Parker, who was living in there? It was a thread throughout the book and a fascinating aspect to the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved being in the pages and connecting with the characters. I was yearning for them with all my heart. I went on a journey into the hearts and souls of these characters. It's one I'll remember for a long time.

I want to thank Lake Union, Netgalley, and Ms. O'Neal for the honor and opportunity to read this wonderful story. This is a five star read for me.

The Escape Room
By
Megan Goldin

Escape rooms seem to be all the rage these days! Well, this Escape Room is outrageous! How hard can it be to escape an elevator? Right? Just take this elevator ride and it all becomes clear how difficult it really is. It's a "ride" that took me into the dark side of the financial district in NY and the "behind-the-scenes" of the cut-throat business of this fictional company called Stanhope & Sons. It's eat or be eaten in this story. Each person for themselves.
An escape room sounds like the perfect corporate team-building activity to bring colleagues together for the betterment of the company. This team-building event takes place in an elevator from which the four co-workers, Vincent, Sylvie, Jules and Sam find themselves trapped in. It's their "mission" (which they have no option to refuse) to figure out the clues that are hidden in the elevator in order to escape. They have no idea what's in store for them!
This story alternates between two POVs. The first, of course, is the group stuck in the elevator. The second is Sara, a co-worker who is the last to be hired by the company. The gaps in the story are filled in as the group in the elevator find themselves learning things about each other that they don't want revealed. Sara's part of the story is what happens that leads up to the team-building event. It works well by weaving the stories together and how each character affects the others. It's not always a good thing especially trapped in an inescapable elevator.
The characters, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie and Sam are perfect for this story. Greedy, vindictive, snooty and mean. They aren't welcoming or someone I'd personally want anything to do with. I found myself not caring if they "escaped" at all. Then there is Sara. She's been dealt a rough way to go but she tries her best and I wanted her to succeed. She is the good to the bad in the book.
The whole book had me trying to figure out why these four were called to the Escape Room. What was the point? I had to keep turning the pages to know what was the reason. Each person had no clue what they were doing in there and why. What is the motive? Oh, the secrets that come out! Suspicions abound!
"That he was the architect of some twisted Machiavellian plot to lock them together in the tiny claustrophobic space-an escape room from which they'd been unable to escape."
This book is a captivating scenario that would be a worst nightmare of being trapped in a pitch black elevator. It's an unimaginable elevator ride! I will probably never think of an elevator the same way again. BUT.....I'm thinking there might be more to this ride? I would love if there is.
I want to thank St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book, Netgalley for an ARC of this book and Ms. Goldin for writing this book!

Gold Digger
By
Rebecca Rosenberg

Rebecca Rosenberg has brought history to life in this un...put...down...able book about Baby Doe Tabor! This is the genre of book that I love to read and I was thrilled with the opportunity to read an ARC copy! This fascinating woman in American history, particularly Colorado history, was beautiful, determined, strong and most of all a survivor. She endured the gamut of difficulties that life and society threw at her because of her strong will and the love she had for Horace Tabor.
Ms. Rosenberg has captured the essence and beauty not only of Baby Doe but also of Colorado. The descriptions she writes are so vivid and incredible. I grew up in Colorado with my dad taking me to many old ghost towns in the mountains and this book brought all those places to life as bustling, crowded places that brought miners in search of their fortunes in their hunt for silver and gold. From the clear, blue skies and streams to the scents of the pines. From the hardships and reality of what mining entailed to the high society of the Denver elites, I was living this tale of ups and downs with Baby Doe.

Ms. Rosenberg built this book upon the real life of Baby Doe Tabor and the history surrounding her. It's a wonderful "look" at who she was. The research, the history, the background to the characters is all brought together in a magnificent book that reads like it could be made into a top rated movie. I didn't want the book to end. I wanted more of Baby Doe and to my surprise! There is going to be a sequel! Silver Dollar! I will be waiting with great anticipation for what happens next in Baby Doe's life!

This book exceeded all my expectations and gave me an adventure back in history that I will never forget. I love Colorado. I love the rich history of that state. Ms. Rosenberg brought all that to me in this book plus so much more. I loved the adventure!

There are passages that are so profound and speak of the talent Ms. Rosenberg has at expressing the written word.
"The Matchless was a symbol of everything they stood for; tenacity, courage, and most of all, luck. Was that why he never let it go? He kept it for her."
"Love is like a wild horse, impossible to tame," she said. "The horse takes you places you never thought you'd go. But if you hold on tight, it always leads you home."

This is the second book by Ms. Rosenberg that I've read and highly recommend both. The first one is The Secret Life of Mrs. London. I am so looking forward to her next book, too! I want to thank Ms. Rosenberg for the honor of reading her amazing novel! I would give it way more than 5 stars if possible and I highly recommend her books!  

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
By
Kim Michele Richardson
This book is one of the reasons I love historical fiction so much. It's based on the WPA Pack Horse Library Project and the Kentucky Blue People. It is set in the 1930s and is in a very depressed area of Kentucky. I learned so much reading this book about the people, this program and how bad racial division was in that time.

This is the story of Cussy Mary Carter who is a Pack Horse Librarian and also a blue skinned woman. She travels through the back woods of Kentucky to the remote poverty areas and to people who basically have nothing. On top of that, because she's blue skinned, she's looked down upon as inferior and racially unequal. I love the story of Bluet...what the people on her pack horse route call her. She is so kind hearted and has so much compassion. They love her. She loved bringing the written word to the poor who would otherwise never have books, magazines or anything written to read. She is connected to the families and cares about them very much. Her side kick is an aging mule named Junia. She is cantankerous and also very perceptive. She trusts only Bluet. She protects her. I fell in love with this mule. There were many passages that I felt anxious for them both but together they accomplish their goal of delivering the books and reading materials to the people.

This story is written in the dialect and language of the Kentucky back woods people. It gave the book even more elements of authenticity about the subject and how much these people didn't have. It's a coal mining community and the poorest of the poor worked in the mines. I was taken into these back woods and hollers with Bluet and found myself loving the families and people she cared so much for. There were other characters in the book that were not likable but they also brought the reality of how coloreds and blues were actually treated...as inferior human beings. It was a trying time back then for them.

This passage spoke about that:
"Nary a townsfolk, not one God-fearing soul, had welcomed me or mine into town, their churches, or homes in all my nineteen years on this earth. Instead, every hard Kentucky second they'd filled us with an emptiness from their hate and scorn. It was as if Blues weren't allowed to breathe the very same air their loving God had given them, not worthy of the tiniest spoonful He'd given to the smallest forest critter. I was nothing in their world. A nothingness to them."

I was in this book totally and completely. I couldn't put it down. Ms. Richardson writes so that I was in the Kentucky hollers, in the dilapidated cabins, with the starving and hungry families. I was on the remote trails with Bluet and hearing the wilderness sounds and smelling the smells. I had strong feelings all over the emotional map. It was a total immersion of an experience in the lives of the characters and "living" in the pages in this book.

This book is up there with one of my best reads so far this year.

I want to thank Bookish and Ms. Richardson for the amazing opportunity to read this book! It's been a journey that I will cherish and remember for a very long time.

I would love to give it way more than 5 stars! It's a must read in my opinion.

The Book Club Killer
By
Brianna Johnson
The book club killer is out on a mission for justice. Or revenge. There's a deeper motive this killer has underlying in the killings. It's a planned out process to that ultimate goal.
This book was a fast and intense read. For me it was very graphic in the descriptions of the killer's actions and the choice of killing options. It's written with a switch back and forth between the killer's POV and Agent Parker's POV. This worked well in the telling of this story. The killer would add a new "chapter" to the book by leaving pages at the crime scene. This is an interesting aspect in the book. It pulled the book together very well. The killer was very adept at playing a game with Agent Parker and the leads that didn't pan out.
Here is a passage that was interesting from the killer's twisted mind:
"No one ever wanted to die and my ultimate goal was to only kill who deserved to die. People who ruined other's lives or hurt someone could meet their fate by me."
This is not normally my type of genre to read but I found it pulled me in. I had to know how this book would end. Interestingly, there is an opening for a sequel and a continuation of the "game" the killer has started.
Thank you, Ms. Johnson for the copy of your book. This is my own and honest review of this book.

Cliffside Bay
Christmas Wedding
By
Tess Thompson
What a perfect way to celebrate a Christmas in July book by reading Tess Thompson's Cliffside Bay Christmas Wedding! I love snow globes and for me this story was like picking one up and looking in at the beautiful setting of Emerson Pass, Colorado with characters anticipating the dream wedding. It's peaceful and beautiful with so much promise. Then the irresistible temptation to shake it and watch the snow swirl and fall happens. I picked up this book and knew I was going to step into this snow globe and attend a celebration with my wonderful friends from Cliffside Bay.
Just like shaking the snow globe and things start to swirl and look like magic, so does this story. This is a fairy tale wedding that just might not come to be with some of the unexpected surprises and bombshells that drop. But just like a snow globe, the peacefulness settles and prevails. This cast of characters are full of love and compassion. There is nothing that will prevent the lovely angel, Lisa and her handsome groom, Raphael, from pledging their love to one another.
There are so many ways this story touched my heart. It has so much love swirling throughout the book. It pulled at my emotions and I loved being a part of Lisa and Raphael's love story. From the arrival of the guests to Emerson Pass, to the preparations and the Rehearsal Dinner and the heart touching speeches honoring Lisa and Raphael, to the wedding ceremony itself, it was a wedding to remember.
I was honored to "attend" this perfect wedding written by one of my favorite authors. Ms. Thompson always takes me "home" to be with family and characters I love spending time with.
This snow globe of a book is a wonderful read.
I want to thank Ms. Thompson for the ARC copy and the joy I had in attending this occasion.
Here's to Lisa and Raphael! AND to the future love stories I can hardly wait to read! YAY!

Where the Crawdads Sing

By

Delia Owens
"The problem with a good book is that you want to finish the book but you don't want to finish the book."
This is how I felt reading Where the Crawdads Sing. I was gifted this book and it's one of the best book gifts I have ever been given. I was drawn into the story and couldn't/didn't want to come out of it. The author wrote a story that had my heart aching for the life Kya found herself abandoned to. Living in a shack, in a marshland, relying on herself to survive. Ms. Owens writing is so wonderfully descriptive that I could envision every little detail and felt like I was actually in the marshes, watching nature and boating in the bay, trying to survive with Kya. The strength she had to fight and survive, the resourcefulness she had to figure out and to protect herself, and the loneliness she had to fill with the critters in her world held me captivated. It was a book that took me on this journey that was so astoundingly beautiful but yet painfully tragic in so many ways.
I highlighted so many passages that were touching, descriptive and really visually painted this touching story....
Kya: "That's what nobody understands about me." She raised her voice, "I never hated people. They hated me. They laughed at me. They left me. They harassed me. They attacked me. Well, it's true; I learned to live without them."
"Standing in the most fragile place of her life, she turned to the only net she knew---herself."
"Let's face it, a lot of times love doesn't work out. Yet even when it fails, it connects you to others and, in the end, that is all you have, the connections."
"What d'ya mean, where the crawdads sing? Ma used to say that." Kya remembered Ma always encouraging her to explore the marsh: "Go as far as you can-way out yonder where the crawdads sing."
I have been touched to my core reading this book. It is absolutely one of the best books I have ever read. The way it's written, I could see the story in my mind perfectly. I love this book. It was written with a timeline that blended from the past, 1930's to the book's present time, late 1960's. It worked perfectly for me.
This is Ms. Owen's first novel and I'm blown away. I can't wait to read what she writes next!
I am in an end of the book haze just savoring what I read.
This is a book I would give way more than five stars if I could.