Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: In An Instant

In an Instant

by Suzanne Redfearn

About In An Instant

In An Instant

Thriller/Women's Fiction

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (March 1, 2020)

Paperback: 331 pages

ISBN-10: 1542006589

ISBN-13: 978-1542006583

Digital ASIN: B07NVD1276

A deeply moving story of carrying on even when it seems impossible.

Life is over in an instant for sixteen-year-old Finn Miller when a devastating car accident tumbles her and ten others over the side of a mountain. Suspended between worlds, she watches helplessly as those she loves struggle to survive.

Impossible choices are made, decisions that leave the survivors tormented with grief and regret. Unable to let go, Finn keeps vigil as they struggle to reclaim their shattered lives. Jack, her father, who seeks vengeance against the one person he can blame other than himself; her best friend, Mo, who bravely searches for the truth as the story of their survival is rewritten; her sister Chloe, who knows Finn lingers and yearns to join her; and her mother, Ann, who saved them all but is haunted by her decisions. Finn needs to move on, but how can she with her family still in pieces?

Heartrending yet ultimately redemptive, In an Instant is a story about the power of love, the meaning of family, and carrying on…even when it seems impossible.

Review: I don't think I can do this book justice in a review. It is just absolutely amazing and heartbreaking and just all the things that make you not want to put a book down EVER.

This  book about an accident that results in the death of a teenager and how all the survivors move on or try to, will just take all your emotions and get them in a total tizzy.

Finn, dies in an automobile accident that includes her bff her mom, dad, older sister, two family friends and their daughter.

Finn is left as a spirit to watch them as their lives crumble. Throughout most of the story, and even at the beginning, I found their mother hard to like. She was very self absorbed and I just didn't warm to her, even as the events unfolded. Sure she was strong and had great instincts, but ultimately, I hated her.

Mo is the character I loved and also Chloe, when it comes to the survivors. I had a hard time wrapping around the actions of Aubrey and Ben, who were to be married a few months after the accident? My little brain kept going, PEOPLE DIED and you aren't postponing the wedding?

But perhaps it is best not to discuss whether I liked certain characters or not. Its more what this story is about. Survival and the aftermath of loss.

And the two things that happened while they were in survival mode will leave you gobsmacked. (No spoilers..but SCREW YOU Bob!)

This book is super emotionally charged. There was another book I read awhile back that made me feel the same way was Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. Similar only in that they involved the death of young person, but both left me in tears as I read them and both are books that I will recommend to anyone that asks for a great read. Just make sure you have a whole lot of tissues handy, because you will need them.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Suzanne Redfearn

Suzanne Redfearn is the award-winning author of three novels: Hush Little Baby, No Ordinary Life, and In an Instant. In addition to being an author, she’s also an architect specializing in residential and commercial design. She lives in Laguna Beach, California, where she and her husband own two restaurants: Lumberyard and Slice Pizza and Beer. You can find her at her website, SuzanneRedfearn.com, on Facebook at SuzanneRedfearnAuthor, or on Twitter @SuzanneRedfearn.

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

February 26 – Laura`s interests – SPOTLIGHT

February 27 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW  

February 28 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

February 29 - Gimme The Scoop Reviews – REVIEW

March 1 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – SPOTLIGHT

March 2 – eBook addicts – REVIEW

March 3 – This Is My Truth Now – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 4 – A Chick Who Reads  REVIEW

March 5 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT

March 6 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

March 6 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 7 – The Book Diva's Reads – SPOTLIGHT

March 7 – StoreyBook Reviews - SPOTLIGHT

March 8 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW

March 9 – That's What She's Reading – REVIEW  

March 10 – Christy's Cozy Corners – SPOTLIGHT

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TLC Book Tours Book Review: Stay

Join us for an Instagram and review tour for

STAY

About Stay

Hardcover: 298 Pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (December 3, 2019)

An unforgettable novel about the power of friendship and kindness by the New York Times bestselling author of Pay It Forward.

In the summer of 1969, fourteen-year-old Lucas Painter carries a huge weight on his shoulders. His brother is fighting in Vietnam. His embattled parents are locked in a never-ending war. And his best friend, Connor, is struggling with his own family issues. To find relief from the chaos, Lucas takes long, meandering walks, and one day he veers into the woods.

There he discovers an isolated cabin and two huge dogs. Frightened, he runs. And the dogs run with him. Lucas finds unusual peace in running with the dogs, and eventually he meets their owner, Zoe Dinsmore. Closed off and haunted by a tragic past, Zoe has given up. She doesn’t want to be saved. She wants out. But Lucas doesn’t want her to go, and he sees an opportunity to bring more than one friend back into the light. It’s either the best or worst idea he’s ever had, but Lucas isn’t giving up on Zoe or Connor.

Their unexpected connection might be the saving grace that Zoe thought she’d lost, that Connor needs, and that Lucas has been running toward.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: There are books that you read and they become just that, books you read. Then there are books like Stay, that become part of who you are.

Lucas' story becomes one that lingers. Hist desire to fix everyone in his life that needs fixing will tug at your heartstrings. He is after all only 14. He's what you'd call an old soul. I loved him instantly and I knew from the first pages that his life was an emotional roller coaster.

Set in the Vietnam Era, the story was bound to deal with turbulence, but there was more than just the political turbulence in this book. He is dealing with parents that have a failing relationship, a friend that's depressed and now a new friend Zoe. Oh and a brother that is home injured from the war.

Its a story of mental illness and addiction, and caring, always caring. Its what will draw you to Lucas. He is so full of caring that it will make your heart want to burst at times.

It was a beautiful story, though not really what I'm used to. I'm more a happily ever after kind of girl, and though lives are fixed and saved, not everything is happy. Of course, Catherine Ryan Hyde writes more about real life, and anyone who is alive knows that life is anything but happily ever after. Its complicated and full of ups and downs and not everyone rides off into the sunset.

This was such an amazing story of friendship and love that will probably make you shed some tears.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Catherine Ryan Hyde

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than thirty published and forthcoming books. An avid hiker, traveler, equestrian, and amateur photographer, she has released her first book of photos, 365 Days of Gratitude: Photos from a Beautiful World.

Her novel Pay It Forward was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) for its Best Book for Young Adults list, and translated into more than twenty-three languages for distribution in over thirty countries. Both Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow List, and Jumpstart the World was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. Where We Belong won two Rainbow Awards in 2013, and The Language of Hoofbeats won a Rainbow Award in 2015.

More than fifty of her short stories have been published in the Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and many other journals, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts and the bestselling anthology Dog Is My Co-Pilot. Her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and nominated for the O. Henry Award and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in The Best American Short Stories.

She is founder and former president (2000–2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation and still serves on its board of directors. As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with AmeriCorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.

Connect with Catherine

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram tour:

Monday, December 2nd: @simplykelina

Tuesday, December 3rd: @theliteraryheroine

Wednesday, December 4th: @beauty_andthebook

Wednesday, December 4th: @one_more_paige

Thursday, December 5th: @thebookend.diner

Friday, December 6th: @beritaudiokilledthebookmark

Friday, December 6th: @books_with_bethany

Sunday, December 8th: @novelgossip

Monday, December 9th: @bluntscissorsbookreviews

Tuesday, December 10th: @wellreadtraveler

TBD: Saturday, December 7th: @thats_what_she_read

Review tour:

Tuesday, December 3rd: Helen’s Book Blog

Wednesday, December 4th: Book by Book

Thursday, December 5th: The Bookend Diner

Friday, December 6th: Audio Killed the Bookmark

Friday, December 6th: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, December 9th: Christian Chick’s Thoughts

Monday, December 9th: Blooming With Books

Tuesday, December 10th: Girl Who Reads

Tuesday, December 10th: Wellreadtraveler

Wednesday, December 11th: Run Wright

Thursday, December 12th: I’d Rather Be Reading at the Beach

Thursday, December 12th: From the TBR Pile

Friday, December 13th: Not in Jersey and @notinjersey

Monday, December 16th: @readingmama_reviews

Tuesday, December 17th: Write Read Life

Wednesday, December 18th: The Sketchy Reader and @thesketchyreader

Thursday, December 19th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Friday, December 20th: Palmer’s Page Turners

Monday, December 23rd: Patricia’s Wisdom

Saturday, January 4th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Friday, January 10th: A Chick Who Reads

Book Review: The Promise Between Us

About The Promise Between Us

• Paperback
• Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (January 16, 2018)

From the bestselling author of The Perfect Son comes a hopeful tale of redemption, renewal, and the promise of love.

Metal artist Katie Mack is living a lie. Nine years ago she ran away from her family in Raleigh, North Carolina, consumed by the irrational fear that she would harm Maisie, her newborn daughter. Over time she’s come to grips with the mental illness that nearly destroyed her, and now funnels her pain into her art. Despite longing for Maisie, Katie honors an agreement with the husband she left behind—to change her name and never return.

But when she and Maisie accidentally reunite, Katie can’t ignore the familiarity of her child’s compulsive behavior. Worse, Maisie worries obsessively about bad things happening to her pregnant stepmom. Katie has the power to help, but can she reconnect with the family she abandoned?

To protect Maisie, Katie must face the fears that drove her from home, accept the possibility of love, and risk exposing her heart-wrenching secret.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review: Have you ever read a book that made you uncomfortable? This is one of those books and I don't mean that in a bad way either.

If you don't know anything about OCD, and I admit that I don't, seeing the behavior Katie displays is unsettling. She has visions of harming her child. These visions get so bad she abandon's her family.

As the story plays out Katie reconnects with her former family and discovers her daughter has OCD as well. Maisie, who is called 'Mazing Maisey by her family, is a sweet girl, probably the most lovable child, I've read about in a book. You want everything to go right for her. You want to fix her.

I found I wanted to do the same for Katie as well. She really came across as broken and she needed some glue to put her pieces back together again. I loved how they worked together to overcome their illness. Katie proved herself to be a good mother, tackling her own demons to help her child.

At first glance, Callum seems like the best dad on the planet. I really started out liking him. By the end of the book I had run a gamut of emotions when it came to him. I think I tolerated him at the end, mostly because of his past.

Lilah is the character I wanted to like but I absolutely couldn't. She was a good woman and a good mother, even though the odds were stacked against her.

I loved how against all odds (cue the Phil Collins song) everyone came together for the best of Maisie and they became one strange family.

I also loved that Katie was able to find her own second chance with Ben.

Barbara's writing really resonates with the reader, and at times I feel like she's a friend, and because sometimes the things the characters said sounded an awful lot like me, especially when Lilah described herself as a Heffalump.  I also liked that Callum, was a Whovian and both he and Maisie were Trekkies. I love me some fictional geeks. 

This book is utterly phenomenal and one that will stick with you long after you've finished it. This book is a must read.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Barbara Claypole White

Bestselling author Barbara Claypole White creates hopeful family drama with a healthy dose of mental illness. Originally from England, she writes and gardens in the forests of North Carolina where she lives with her beloved OCD family. Her novels include The Unfinished Garden, The In-Between Hour, The Perfect Son, andEchoes of Family. The Promise Between Us, a story of redemption, sacrifice, and OCD, has a publication date of January 16^th, 2018. She is also an OCD Advocate for the A2A Alliance, a nonprofit group that promotes advocacy over adversity. To connect with Barbara, please visit www.barbaraclaypolewhite.com, or follow her on Facebook. She’s always on Facebook.

Book Review: The Rose Girls

Author: Victoria Connelly
Title: The Rose Girls
Publisher: Lake Union
Publish Date: June 1, 2014
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Thirty-year-old Celeste Hamilton’s life is at a crossroads: she has just left a disastrous marriage, and her estranged mother has recently died, leaving the family’s rose business in jeopardy. Reluctantly, Celeste returns to the family home, a moated manor house in Suffolk, to help her two younger sisters sort out the estate and revive the business.

Having endured the fallout from her mother’s Narcissistic Personality Disorder when she was younger, Celeste is filled with self-doubt and crippling insecurities. But she must find the strength and courage to take charge and make some tough decisions to keep the old house from falling down around them.

The Rose Girls is an uplifting, tender and romantic story of courage, perseverance and the healing power of family.

Review: The Rose Girls is the story of three sisters who are trying to save the family rose business and the family home, which is crumbling around them.

Celeste, Gertie and Evie all have their secrets and all have been adversely affected by their mother's narcissistic personality disorder, but in different ways.

I enjoyed the story, especially as the sisters became closer to one another, but Gertie and Evie had such problems, that this book should have been longer to address how they came to be where they were at this point in their lives, and with Celeste, I would have liked to have known more about her failed marriage.

Where I liked all the sisters, I did find the story flat in that respect. Even when it came to displaying how their now deceased mother was really horrible, I would have liked more backstory when it came to the other sisters. She treated them all badly, but you really only see how bad through Celeste's memories.

Then there was Julian. He's the man in charge of selling the paintings. He had feelings for Celeste and his brother has the same issue has their mother. His feelings are so obvious, but Celeste keeps him at arms length and almost wrecks her chances with him.

I wanted more from these relationships, only Evie's wasn't disappointing, but at least two of the three sisters had a happily ever after.

The real star of the show is Esther, a tenant in the cottage at the manor, who they move into the main house. She's a lovable curmudgeon. I loved how she really brought the sisters together.

I was happy about the final outcome for the manor. I found myself wanting to shout suggestions to the sisters many times throughout the book.

This was a lovely read to pass the time. It was good, but not spectacular.

Rating: 4 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: The Welcome Home Diner

About The Welcome Home Diner

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (October 10, 2017)

Betting on the city of Detroit’s eventual comeback, cousins Addie and Samantha decide to risk it all on an affordable new house and a culinary career that starts with renovating a vintage diner in a depressed area of town. There’s just one little snag in their vision.

Angus, a weary, beloved local, is strongly opposed to his neighborhood’s gentrification—and his concerns reflect the suspicion of the community. Shocked by their reception, Addie and Samantha begin to have second thoughts.

As the long hours, problematic love interests, and underhanded pressures mount, the two women find themselves increasingly at odds, and soon their problems threaten everything they’ve worked for. If they are going to realize their dreams, Addie and Samantha must focus on rebuilding their relationship. But will the neighborhood open their hearts to welcome them home?

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. Where I loved all the food descriptions in this book Sam and Addie sometimes made me want to scream just a little, especially with their romantic lives. Addie in particular drove me crazy. Her four year relationship seemed so unrealistic, not to mention the house. I can't imagine how a house that seems so dilapidated could be inhabitable and that code enforcement wouldn't be on their case. Then there's her relationship with David. I really hated them together especially their love life. They were a bit nauseating at times with their love.

The story is told from Sam and Addie's point of view and in first person, which occasionally made it hard to deal with, especially at the beginning when they were in the same moment.

Of the two characters, I have to say I liked Sam the best. She was more real. I wanted good things for her. I really hated the way her relationship with Uriah turned out. I wanted better for her. She deserved it.

This book is about love and relationships and food.  All of these are complex and fabulous, and they are full of emotion. There's a lot of drama going on in this story, as the girls have definitely ruffled some feathers in opening the diner. Addie is definitely the type of person you expect to find on Pantsuit Nation. Both girls have a "I must save the world attitude" which is good but at times downright annoying in others.

Part of the drama involves a troll that is trying to damage the reputation of the restaurant. When this troll goes on to attempting to hurt a child, things get ugly.

Oh and did I mention the food and the wonderful descriptions?  Oh and there are great recipes at the end. I really want to try the cabbage roll and the tzatziki recipes.

This was an enjoyable read.  Great for a weekend afternoon.

Rating: 4 flowers

TLC Book Tour Book Review: Abby's Journey

About Abby’s Journey

Paperback: 238 pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (February 14, 2017)

Twenty-year-old Abigail Turner has only known her mother, Claire—who died shortly after she was born—through letters, videos, postcards, and journals. Abby’s father, Josh, has raised his precious daughter himself, but his overprotectiveness has become stifling. Abby longs to forge out on her own and see the world after a childhood trapped indoors: she suffers from bronchopulmonary dysplasia, which means a case of the sniffles can rapidly escalate into life-threatening pneumonia.

But when Abby’s doctor declares her healthy—for now—her grandmother Millie whisks her away to Europe to visit the Christmas markets that her mother cherished and chronicled in her travel journals. Despite her father’s objections, Abby and Millie embark on a journey of discovery in which Abby will learn secrets that force her to reevaluate her image of her mother and come to a more mature understanding of a parent-child bond that transcends death.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Steena Holmes offers a tender and heartfelt exploration of parental love and a daughter’s longing for connection in the poignant next chapter following Saving Abby.

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Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: I read Saving Abby last year. Check out my review here. Flash forward 20 years and we are now seeing how Abby is doing.  The story of how Abby came to be born was depressing to say the least, so I was expecting something similar here. The book is most definitely emotionally charged.

She has a chronic lung condition, that has kept her home bound most of her young life. She gets an all clear from her doctor that she can start to live a more normal life. For her that mean traveling to Germany with her grandmother on a trip that her mother had wanted to take years ago.

Abby's dream is see the Christmas Market's in Germany and Austria, and who wouldn't want to. Well, her father, who is terrified for her health, for one. I felt terribly sorry for Josh, because his life is so different from the one he had with Claire and it made me terribly sad for him. 

The trip also gives her a chance to see the places her mother wanted to see and get to know things about her mother as well. The excitement Abby feels is so real, that the reader becomes excited right along with her. (I wanted to make the trip with her)

In London, however, she reads a letter her mother wrote before she was conceived that leaves her confused. If you haven't read Saving Abby, some of this story will feel foreign to you, especially about.

The letters from Claire to her loved ones and Abby's journal really make this book feel personal. 

Abby is a much more endearing character then her mother was. Her rebellion at wanting the trip so badly and even her desire to live on her own were understandable.

I also loved her friendship with Sam, who is a character that was first introduced in Saving Abby.

I loved the young tour guide that had a crush on Abby. I wish there could have been a touch of romance there, because it could have provided some levity in this book. For all the happiness of the trip for Abby, there's always the undercurrent her poor health leaves on everyone, and you know that it will rear its ugly head.

That was once again my only gripe with the story. If Abby's lungs were bad and she'd need hospitalized I had a hard time wrapping my head around putting a sick girl on a plane. Heck with as sick as she was one of the days, she went to the Salzburg Market one evening.

I also liked that things were resolved with the letter and that part of Claire's past that is starting to affect the present.

This book was totally engrossing and a quick read. I hope there's more to this family's story to tell. 

Rating: 5 flowers

TLC Book Tour Book Review: Lift and Separate

About Lift And Separate

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (December 1, 2016)

Marcy Hammer’s life has been turned upside down. Her husband, the head of a global brassiere empire, didn’t think twice about leaving her after thirty-three years of marriage for a 32DD lingerie model. Now Harvey the Home-Wrecker is missing in action, but Marcy’s through thinking about what a cliché he is. What she needs now is a party-size bag of potato chips, a good support system, and a new dress.

Striking out on her own is difficult at first, but Marcy manages to find traces of humor in her heartbreak. Even while devastated by Harvey’s departure, she still has her indomitable spirit and her self-respect. She has no intention of falling apart, either, even when her adult children drop a few bombshells of their own and she discovers a secret about her new, once-in-a-lifetime friend. Life may be full of setbacks, but by lifting herself up by her own lacy straps, Marcy just may be able to handle them all.

“Lift And Separate is a laugh-out-loud, heartwarming story that begs to be a blockbuster starring Nicholson and Keaton and shares the vulnerability, wisdom, and brilliance of Nora Ephron’s Heartburn.” —Jennifer Belle, bestselling author of High Maintenance

“Lift And Separate takes us on a funny but moving journey through heartbreak, hilarity, betrayal, and healing. Marcy Hammer is a hammer indeed! Rooting for her all the way, one is exhilarated by the journey Marilyn Simon Rothstein gives her without ever burning a single bra! Hip-hip hurrah!” —Lanie Robertson, writer of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, the Tony Award–winning play 

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: Lift and Separate is a story about one woman's life with all its ups and downs. If you are a fan of Dorothy Benton Frank, you'll love Marilyn Simon Rothstein. 

Before I say anything about the book, I have to say that the cover is just fabulous.

It features a woman of a certain age, Marcy, whose husband leaves her, after having an affair with a much younger woman. (as in about the same age and some of their children)

I had a hard time relating to Marcy in the aspects of her life revolving around her marriage, as I've never been married. I wanted to shake her when she spend so much time wanting Harvey back. He seemed such a useless human being. He runs Bountiful, a not quite as popular as Victoria's Secret lingerie company.

In the course of Marcy and Harvey's separation, Marcy's mother falls, and learns she has cancer.

Let me stop here, because this was the one part of the story that really frustrated me. Marcy's mom falls and they discover cancer...BUT WE NEVER LEARN WHAT KIND!!! And Marcy's treatment of the oncologist made me want to hit her.

The only good thing that came out of her mom's illness was Candy, who was a great friend, the kind we all wish we could find. Only she has a connection to Marcy's daughter, and not in a good way. Let's just say her daughter Elisabeth is involved with someone close to Candy.

There's a lot of drama and there are loads of tears, lots and lots of tears, as two of the characters lose parents. 

Through the course of the book, we see Marcy starting to pick up her life, dust it off and start over. I liked the difference from the needy woman desperate to keep her husband to a woman ok with how her life is going.

This was a very satisfying read, and I loved how the title of the book really played a huge part of the story.

Rating: 4 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: Beauty and Attention

About Beauty and Attention

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (October 25, 2016)

The riveting story of one brave young woman’s struggle to free herself from a web of deceit.

For misfit Libby Archer, social expectations for young women in Rochester, New York, in the mid-1950s don’t work. Her father has died, leaving her without parents, and her well-meaning friends are pressuring her to do what any sensible single girl must do: marry a passionate, persistent hometown suitor with a promising future. Yet Libby boldly defies conventional wisdom and plans to delay marriage—to anyone—by departing for her uncle’s Belfast estate. In Ireland, Libby seeks not only the comfort of family but also greater opportunities than seem possible during the stifling McCarthy era at home.

Across the Atlantic, Libby finds common ground with her brilliant, invalid cousin, Lazarus, then puts her trust in a sophisticated older woman who seems to be everything she hopes to become. Fraught with betrayal and long-kept secrets, as well as sudden wealth and unexpected love, Libby’s journey toward independence takes turns she never could have predicted—and calls on courage and strength she never knew she had.

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Purchase Links

Amazon | Books a Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: This book made me think of the Masterpiece Series on PBS.  Its a shame it wasn't a little longer because I really could see it, maybe as a one of thing.

I didn't realize that it was a retelling of Henry James' Portrait of A Lady until I had finished it. (Not that I ever would have known because I'm not a reader of the classics, no matter how much I try)

Libby is young woman in the 50's who finds herself alone after the death of her father. I'm not sure why they used the term orphaned, since Libby was an adult.

She wants to find herself, so to speak, before doing what was expected of her, though I have to say, I felt bad for Casper. I kind of felt she treated him rather poorly. However, I think had I been in her place, I would have wanted to see something of the world before settling down, and not many women in the 50s would have a chance to stay with family in Europe.

Because of the length of the novel (just a little over 200 pages) I felt that the characters could have been developed a bit more. The only character I found that had spunk was Libby's friend Henrietta.

This was a dramatic book, but the events in Libby's life got separated and seemed disconnected at times...You'd jump from one part of her life and then suddenly you'd be months ahead.

This was an enjoyable read, but I found myself wishing it were a little bit longer so that you could fill in the gaps.

Rating: 4 flowers

About Liz Rosenberg

The author of more than thirty books for adults and young readers, Liz Rosenberg has published three bestselling novels, including The Laws of Gravityand The Moonlight Palace. She has also written five books of poems, among them 2008’s Demon Love, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and After Great Grief, forthcoming from the Provincetown Arts Press. Her poems have been heard on NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion. Rosenberg’s books for young readers have won numerous awards and honors and have been featured on the PBS television show Reading Rainbow. A former Fulbright Fellowship recipient, Rosenberg teaches English at the State University of New York at Binghamton, where she earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She lives in Binghamton with her daughter, Lily, and a shih tzu named Sophie. Although she has homes in New York and North Chatham, Massachusetts, her heart is still in Ireland.

TLC Book Tours Book Review: In The Blue Hour

About In the Blue Hour

Paperback: 316 pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (November 1, 2016)

Elise Brooks dreams of a car accident on an icy road. Weeks later, her beloved husband, Michael, is killed in just such a crash. Now, overcome with grief and uncertainty, Elise believes his spirit may be following her in the form of a raven, trying to tell her something from beyond the grave.

Accompanied by Tom Dugan, an engineer and scientist who does not believe in psychics, mediums, or the hoodoo “conjure woman” they encounter on the road, Elise navigates the rituals and omens of the spirit world in an attempt to unravel the mystery of her husband’s message.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books a Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: Sometimes there are books you need a little more time to process after reading them. This is one of those books for me.

Its different from what I usually read.

I did enjoy learning about Native American's and their culture and folklore.

It took quite a bit to really grasp what I liked and didn't like about this book. It was an enjoyable read, but the pacing was terribly slow.  Elise's journey to find out what her husband was trying to tell her just took way too long for me, though I did enjoy her journey.

The book was a comfortable read, which sounds strange, but that's the best word I can use to describe how I felt the story.

It was one I didn't blow right through. I read it at a very leisurely pace, which is really how Elise's journey felt to me.

Elise's husband died tragically less than a year prior and she dreamed what happened to him and she has guilt that she could have done something to prevent it.

Then there's the raven that keeps showing up along with a piece of art that he had made of a raven. These things reaffirm her belief that her husband is trying to tell her something from the beyond.

She meets a psychic who gets her started on her journey by introducing her to a man that helps her and her widow's and orphan's group.

The people she met on her way were wonderful and unique. Tom was the perfect foil for her and her friend Monica. He's the critical thinker, and a bit of geek and a nerd, and truth be told, quite lovable.

Through a series of coincidences or through fate or whatever you call it, she meets some wonderful people that give her more to think about when it comes to her husband's message. Then she also gets a seed of doubt from her best friend, which results in a rather climatic event.

The ending was a unique twist but unsatisfying as well. It was very unexpected and totally out of the blue. (Pun intended) I was pleased with the results, but in a way was also let down because of all the expectations that the reader gets while Elise makes her way to Tennessee.

Rating: 4 flowers

TLC Book Tour Book Review: The Survivors Guide To Family Happiness

About The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (October 25, 2016)

Three women, three lives, and one chance to become a family…whether they want to or not.

Newly orphaned, recently divorced, and semiadrift, Nina Popkin is on a search for her birth mother. She’s spent her life looking into strangers’ faces, fantasizing they’re related to her, and now, at thirty-five, she’s ready for answers.

Meanwhile, the last thing Lindy McIntyre wants is someone like Nina bursting into her life, announcing that they’re sisters and campaigning to track down their mother. She’s too busy with her successful salon, three children, beautiful home, and…oh yes, some pesky little anxiety attacks.

But Nina is determined to reassemble her birth family. Her search turns up Phoebe Mullen, a guarded, hard-talking woman convinced she has nothing to offer. Gradually sharing stories and secrets, the three women make for a messy, unpredictable family that looks nothing like Nina pictured…but may be exactly what she needs. Nina’s moving, ridiculous, tragic, and transcendent journey becomes a love story proving that real family has nothing to do with DNA.

“Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe, 2014, etc.) is a generous storyteller, creating characters who are both complex and unexpected while being wholly relatable.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Maddie Dawson has been a longtime favorite writer of mine because she has the gift of tapping into the emotions and complexities of a woman’s heart and effortlessly combining tension with joy. She’s done it again with The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness. Put it on your list of not-to-be-missed fiction.” —Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, cofounder of She Reads and author of The Things We Wish Were True

“Like authors Liane Moriarty and JoJo Moyes, Maddie Dawson is one of those gifted writers who spins seemingly comic, romantic tales that tackle our most universal longings for love, connection, and family. In her newest book, she delivers the story of two sisters given up for adoption. Their journey to discover each other and the mother who gave them up is by turns heart-wrenching and laugh-out-loud hilarious. I loved every witty sentence.” —Holly Robinson, author of Chance Harbor and Beach Plum Island

“Maddie Dawson has done it again. Witty, warm, and full of insights into life’s maddening complexities, her novels should come with a warning label: May cause tears, laughter, or all of the above.” —Sarah Knight, bestselling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck

“In this heartfelt novel, Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe, 2014) weaves together the stories of three very different women who are bound by blood, delving deeply into the true meaning of family.” —Booklist

Purchase Links

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Review: When I started this book, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it to the end. I have to say from the start, Nina was a character I had problems with . She was so flighty and unlikable to me. 

I can't pretend to understand how someone that is adopted might feel, but while she was grieving for the lost of her adoptive mom, she was worried about finding her "birth" mother. OK, Nina calls her, her "real" mother. I took exception to that, because in my eyes, just because a woman pops out a baby doesn't make her a mother. A mother is someone that gives love and care to a child.

It was really her love interest, Carter that started to get me to warm to her and how desperately she wanted to have family connections. She was definitely very persistent and that's what really made me come to like her. Then there were Carter's teenage children, Tyler and Indigo (Kayla). Indigo really takes to Nina and helps her along the way when it comes to her search for her mother.

In the course of things, she finds she wasn't adopted from birth. She was actually with her mom for awhile and she has a sister. The two of them connect haphazardly.

Lindy is everything that Nina is not. She's settled with her high school sweetheart and has a family and a great career.  The development of the relationship of these two sisters is the other thing that makes the story. Nina wants all the family she can get, whereas Lindy is more cautious, but they slowly bond and become friends as well as sisters.

Then there is the unraveling of their mother's story. Pheobe is a character that you have a myriad of feelings for. She's had an interesting and messed up life. As her story unravels you feel more and more sympathy for her.

This book is so full of quirky characters that you can't help but love for all their faults and flaws.

It took awhile to get into the story, but once I did, I really came to enjoy it.

Rating: 4 flowers