Next Year, for Sure

Next Year, for Sure
by Zoey Leigh Peterson

Kathryn and Chris have been together for nine years, when Chris mentions an interest in another woman.  Kathryn encourages Chris to go out on a date with Emily and it escalates from there.

Why would Kathryn encourage her boyfriend to go on a date with someone else?  Does she feel her relationship is so solid with Chris that even if he goes on a date, or a couple of dates, or it turns into a fling, that their relationship will be fine?  It seemed a little crazy.

Kathryn tries to pretend she's cool with it, but it does bother her to see Chris dating Emily.

I kept reading to see where this crazy idea was going to end up.  The ending wasn't too surprising.  Chris is an idiot. 

The Color of Lies

The Color of Lies
by C.J. Lyons

Ella, a senior in high school, lives with her grandma; her parents died when she was little.  A rare medical condition called synesthesia runs in her family.  It affects family members different.  Her grandma see sound,  her uncle tastes words.  For Ella she sees color that reveals people's emotions.

One day Ella meets Alec, a journalist working a story about her parents.  For some reason, she can't see any color around him, which is odd as she always sees colors revealing people's emotions.

Alec tells Ella that her parents were murdered.  It changes everything as she was never told the truth of what happened to her parents.  But is that the truth, or is there more to it?  Alec and Ella eventually discover the truth.

I liked this one, it was a good story.  The elements of synesthesia made it a little different, made the character of Ella interesting.  And I was eagerly reading trying to find out what had actually happened to her parents.  They were murdered, but I wasn't sure who was involved.  

A Friend of the Family

A Friend of the Family
by Lauren Grodstein

Pete has a successful career, has long been married and has a 20 year-old son.  His family has long been good friends with a couple who has a troubled daughter.  She is 31 and something bad happened when she was a teenager.  

Pete is very disturbed to see his son with their daughter.  He thinks she will wreck his son's future.  He has bailed his son out of trouble before.  His son dropped out of college after a few semesters and he really wants him to go back.  Pete loves his son and just wants the best for him, however, he seems clingy and just won't let his son go off and just find his way.  

This was a good book.  The ending had me a bit wondering what happened.  It makes me think of an unreliable narrator, did something happen that Pete isn't telling us.  I'm still not sure as something just didn't add up at the end.   What really happened with Lauren?  Why did her gown have blood?  Where did she go?  Was she telling the truth when she was talking to Pete at the end of the book?  (Which in that case, she is an absolute monster and no wonder he didn't want her anywhere near her son.)

It was interesting the difference between Pete and Lauren's dad.  Both love their children, just different.  Lauren's dad loves her even if she did something horrible and just wants to see her.  Pete loves his son, but wants to control his son's life, and flips out over small changes.

Fearless 2: Twisted; Kiss; Payback

Fearless 2: Twisted; Kiss; Payback
by Francine Pascal

The next set of books featuring Gaia, a high school student, who lacks the fear gene and is a black belt in karate and very good in other self-defense.  Gaia's hobby seems to include beating up bad guys in the park.

Twisted

A serial killer has been going around slashing and killing woman who look just like Gaia.  Gaia and Sam are both concerned and worried about Gaia.

Kiss

Sam is torn between Heather and Gaia.  Heather is his girlfriend, but he feels as if he is in love with Gaia.  At the same time Ed has feelings for Gaia too, which Gaia is unaware of.

Payback
Gaia lives with a friend of her father's.  For some reason, Ella, his wife is acting strange and dislikes Gaia.  I would like to continue reading the series to find out what's going on with that.  It was hinted at the Ella wasn't who she seemed, almost like she was a spy working for the other side.  What does that have to do with Gaia?

Heather is jealous when her boyfriends Sam is very worried when he sees someone on tv hurt wearing Gaia's jacket and he is panicking thinking that Gaia has died.

I looked and there are several more books in this series, which is great as I would like to continue reading them.  However, I don't see anymore available at my local libraries, which is too bad as books are expensive and I normally borrow my books.  I'll have to look around and see if I can't find the rest of the series somewhere as this has been a fun series to read so far.

The One You Can't Forget

The One You Can't Forget
by Roni Loren

Rebecca is a successful attorney, on her way to making partner.  In her spare time she has to help her father with his campaign.  

Wes is broke after his divorce when his ex-wife basically took everything.  He was on the verge of opening a restaurant that had a lot of publicity and would have likely done well.  He lost the restaurant because of the divorce.  

One day Rebecca is mugged and Wes helps her.  She is a survivor from a school shooting from years earlier so the mugging leaves her shaken.  Rebecca soon realizes that one of her past clients was Wes's ex-wife.  He soon realizes the same and there is some drama.

This was a cute story, a nice romance.  The characters were likable.  It looks like this is book #2 in a trilogy.  I was able to read the story and enjoy it without having read book #1.  However, I am adding the other two in the trilogy to my reading list.  And i'm not sure if this is a trilogy or if that is just what the author has written so far, as this last one didn't come out too long ago.

The Lying Woods

The Lying Woods
by Ashley Elston

Owen foster is at his boarding school when his mom comes to drop a bombshell on him.  His family owns the largest business in town and his father has embezzled millions, drained employee's retirement accounts and then disappeared with all the money, leaving his family behind to deal with the aftermath.

Owen returns back home from boarding school, since the family can no longer afford to take him.  Owen and his mother have to deal with the aftermath.  People lost money, they lost their retirement and they are angry.  They take it out on Owen and his mother.  They assume that Owen's mother knew about it.  She didn't. 

Between alternating chapters, it goes back to summer 1999 to Owen's parents.  

It was a good story, I liked it.

Attachments

Attachments
by Rainbow Rowell

Lincoln has started a new job that he doesn't care for.  He works nights and he is to monitor staff email.  The job was't what he thought it was going to be when he applied and interviewed to be an "internet security officer."  Certain words or phrases will make staff emails pop over to him for review to make sure staff aren't breaking company policy.

In this mix are Beth and Jennifer, who are nonstop chatting back and forth.  Lincoln soon starts reading their emails back and forth and finds them hilarious and interesting.  Instead of giving them a warning to knock it off, he continues reading the emails.  And he eventually starts to fall for Beth. 

The book was amusing, thought at the same time a bit creepy having someone's job to just read emails back and forth among staff.

 The nonstop back and forth between Beth and Jennifer made me think more of instant messaging back in the day more than emailing back and forth.  The novel was set in 1999, and I remember being on instant messenger a lot around that time.  This was before you could just send a text to someone.

I picked this book up as part of a local library's program.  They were having a special mystery book program in February, where they wrap up books, write a brief description on the outside and you check one out.

The Passage

The Passage
by Justin Cronin

This novel was made into a television series and that is why I wanted to read it. I have been watching the show and have liked it but I have read comments about people being upset that the show is so much different from the book.  So I wanted to read the first book at least.

In summary, the government is experimenting on humans, convicted criminals on death row.  They are trying to find a cure for diseases and what they create instead are vampires.  The doctors think they would be more successful if they experiment on a young child. 

This is where Amy and Brad Wolgast come in.  Amy is the abandoned young child who is about to fall between the cracks, when she is picked to be their guinea pig.  Brad Wolfgast is working for them and has been bringing people in.  He doesn't feel right bringing a child in the mess and becomes a father figure to Amy.

Amy is infected but she becomes different from the others.  She is not completely human anymore, and she is not a vampire.

Then the book jumps and it's in the future.  The infection has spread across the country, humans are very few as there are patches of them here and there, trying to survive.  Trying in vain to keep lights going to keep the infected out.

 I keep reading wanting to find out what happened to Amy and Wolgast.  I would have liked more of the period between after the infected broke out, Amy and Wolgast were in hiding and then the sudden big jump in the future.  However, the book is pretty thick, so unless you broke it up into a couple books, that might have just been too much getting into that part of the story too.

The novel was pretty good, there are definitely differences between the book and the show, but I still enjoyed both.  I'm going to add the next one in the series to my to-read list as I would like to see where this goes.

Sweet Valley High, Three Novels: Double Love, Secrets & Playing with Fire

Sweet Valley High, Three Novels:

Double Love, Secrets & Playing with Fire

by Francine Pascal

Double Love

In Double Love, Elizabeth and Jessica both have their eye on Todd.  Todd likes Elizabeth, but Jessica keeps getting in the way, flirting with him, telling him how popular Elizabeth is, seeing other boys, etc.  It makes you wonder if the only reason Jessica wants Todd is because she knows her sister likes him.

Jessica also goes out with a troublemaker one night that ends up her being taken home by the cops.  In a mix-up, they think she is Elizabeth and soon rumors are going around school about Elizabeth being in trouble with the cops.  

I didn't really like Jessica in this novel, she just seems so self-centered.  In other books in the series, she's decent, just not this one.

Secrets

In Secrets, Jessica is nominated to be the prom queen.  Jessica worries that another girl, Enid, will win, so she tries to sabotage Enid from winning.  Enid has a secret, and Jessica tells Enid's boyfriend, Ronnie.  Ronnie becomes jealous and angry and they break up.

Luckily, Elizabeth steps in and fixes things so in the end Jessica has a surprise herself.  It's been a while since I read these books, I don't remember how selfish Jessica always was.  Elizabeth was my favorite as a kid.

Playing with Fire

In Playing with Fire, Jessica is dating Bruce.  Bruce is popular and very rich.  It was odd to see Jessica running around getting treated like dirt.  I don't know why Jessica wants to be with him when he doesn't treat her very well.

This was a change from the last two stories in this book as Jessica wasn't being selfish.

Overall I enjoyed this book, it was fun to read these again since I read them as a kid.  I have read a couple of Francine Pascal's novels where Elizabeth and Jessica are in their thirties and it's interesting to read who they end up with down the road and how the author switches things around.

The Intermission

The Intermission
by Elyssa Friedland

Johnathan and Cass have been married for 6-years; The novel is told in alternating chapters between the two.  They have decided it's a good time to try to start a family, and on the night they were to start trying for a baby (they waited after a certain amount of time for Cass to get off of her birth control and for the hormones to all leave her body) Cass tells her husband she wants a break.

How horrible as Johnathan wasn't expecting this.  He was expecting them to start a family, not to become separated.  They live in New York, and Cass ends up moving across the country for the "intermission" that they have decided of six months.

They decide to rotate their dog every month to the other person.  Now, flying across the country every month just to switch a dog around sounds expensive and just ridiculous.  What a mess this would have been if they had already had children.  It just would have confused them since they weren't sure if they were going to stay together or not.

When I read, I like to be rooting for my main character.  And these were both, well, a bit annoying.  I particularly did not care for Cass.  She just seemed self-centered.  Johnathan wasn't perfect either, but between the two I liked him better.

I'm not sure I cared for the ending.  Spoiler: maybe such a flaky couple shouldn't be together. 

Fearless

Fearless
by Francine Pascal

Gaia is 17 years old and was born without the gene for fear.  She has trained in different forms of karate, self defense and forms of combat and is very good at it.  Her mother is dead and she hasn't seen her father in years.  She lives in New York City with a friend of her father's and his wife.

In Gaia's spare time she seems to enjoy walking around the city, coming across as harmless, and then a mugger will try to attack her and she takes them down.

Along the way she makes a few friends, Ed, who is in a wheelchair; and some new enemies, Heather, who she spills coffee on and then finds out she kinda likes her boyfriend, Sam.

This was a fun first book.  She is an interesting character.  For some reason this reminded me of Christopher Pikes The Last Vampire/Thirst series.  I really enjoyed that series, so that makes it promising to want to continue reading more of this series.

The Ruling Class

The Ruling Class
by Francine Pascal

This novel about high school rotates mainly between Twyla and Myrna.  

Twyla is the new girl at school, her family is poor, yet she is at a school that is filled with rich people.  She is not popular, more of your average every day student.  I was rooting for her, I wanted her to somewhat fit in, make friends, etc.

Myrna is obsessed with Jeanette Sue and follows her around like a puppy dog.  It's sad how Myrna thinks she is such good friends with the clicky group and they just make fun of her and she doesn't see that. She's really naive, but it made for some amusing reading.

I don't know why Jeanette Sue was considered popular at the school and everyone was following her every move.  She was annoying.

This novel reminded me of "Mean Girls."  It was a fun, quick read.  I enjoyed it when Twyla was getting people together to get revenge on "the ruling class."  The ending did give me a laugh.  I was expecting a light, fun read and that's exactly what it ended up being.

The Sometimes Daughter

The Sometimes Daughter
by Sherri Wood Emmons

As the title says, the sometimes daughter, Judy is sometimes a daughter as her mother is constantly in and out of her life.  

Judy is born in a tent at Woodstock. Her mother Cassie is a flaky flower child, going to protests, eventually getting involved with a cult, drinks, and does drugs.  Judy's father, Kirk, loves Cassie, but he changes, starts going to school to get a law degree and wants a stable home for his daughter.  Cassie and Kirk end up divorcing.

The mother floats in and out of Judy's life causing such a conflict of feelings for Judy.  Judy wonders why she isn't good enough for her mother to stick around.  She wonders if the mother she will see will be the loving, caring, mother or the one who will be selfish, have a crazy rant, and just make life miserable.  

Kirk still loves Cassie, and you see him and Cassie's parents keep trying to help her as she is involved in drugs and then her mind is just really messed up after getting out of the cult and near missing a near mass suicide.  

Cassie didn't have a good relationship with her mother, the few times Cassie's mother is in the book, she comes across as a very cold woman.  Cassie's father seems to care, it just looks like history repeating itself with a father who is home and cares and a mother who does not.

The novel goes from Judy's birth to Judy as a teenager, where she starts making poor decisions.  She gets into drugs, and there is another incident that is another poor choice and I do not agree with how she handles that.  Lucky for Judy through all this she has a father that is there that cares about her, and a stepmother who also genuinely cares.

Spoiler.
Abortion is murder.  Then you find out that Cassie had a baby a couple years before she had Judy and she gave that baby up for adoption.  And then shortly after Judy has an abortion, she finds out that her stepmother is pregnant and they are all happy.  So they are happy about that baby, yet murder the one.  

Overall it was an interesting book, it could be a good book discussion book.

Power Play: Sweet Valley High #4

Power Play: Sweet Valley High #4
by Francine Pascal

Jessica has started a new club at school called the Beauties, a group that will beautify the area with community service such as flowers.  Jessica wants to fill the group with popular, pretty girls from the school.  So when Robin is interested in joining the group, Jessica is not happy.  Robin is slightly overweight and not one of the popular students.

Jessica comes up with crazy ideas that Robin must pass in order for her to be eligible to join the club.  Elizabeth is determined that Robin get to join the club, so she helps Robin pass the tests (which Jessica is not aware of.)

It was a fun story.  In the end, Robin doesn't care to be in the group and seems smarter and to have moved on.  Robin is also taking better care of herself at the end of the novel and has an amazing transformation.  She's running, has a personal trainer, and she mentioned her mom being behind her and that there is also a nutritionist.  This doesn't sound like a crash diet, just her eating healthier and starting to exercise, that's a good thing.  

I'm pretty sure I read this one years ago when I was younger.  The author must have gone back and edited it a few years back when it was republished, because when I read it, no one would have been sending emails back and forth.

The New Order

The New Order
by Karen E. Bender

A mixture of short stories, the common theme seems to be dreary, depressing and the just plain weird.  Every once in a while I'll read a book of short stories, though I normally tend to not be a fan. I want more depth in a story, depth that a short story tends to not give me.

The first story is "Where to Hide in a Synagogue," where two older friends are going around a synagogue discussing the best place to hide if there were an active shooter.  Morbid.  But then this happens more and more these days.  Just sad.

In "The Elevator" a young woman is alone in an elevator with a strange man when he then comments how he could rape her, gropes her, then disappears.  She is absolutely terrified to ever ride in an elevator alone with a man after that.  One day she gets stuck in an elevator alone with a man again and panics when it breaks down.

In "Three Interviews," a middle aged women is desperate for a job.  She has three interviews lined up that day, and each interview becomes weirder than the last.  It was just a weird story.

A woman is campaigning for office in "Mrs America," and it's tearing her family apart.

This is not mentioning every story in the book, just some of them. 

I thought the best story in the book was "The Department of Happiness and Reimbursement."  This takes you into another world, where many don't have jobs, and the few that do work very long hours and are not always treated well.  The main character works at an office that takes complaints from workers and sends them the reimbursements.  This one story made me glad that I picked this book up, it was pretty good.

This Could Change Everything

This Could Change Everything
by Jill Mansell

One letter changes Essie's life forever..... Essie writes a letter up as a joke that was never meant to get sent, and then it does, to everyone in her mailbox.  The letter includes a brief rant about her boyfriend and his mother--who also happens to be her boss.  After the letter is sent, she loses her job, her boyfriend, and her apartment (she was living with her boyfriend.)

Essie goes on to find a new job, a new apartment, and makes new friends along the way.  In the long term, it ends up being a good thing that this letter was sent as she eventually becomes happier than she would have been had she stayed with that loser boyfriend and job she didn't care for.

This was a nice, light, quick story.  A bit of of fluffy read, not likely to be memorable, but still enjoyable.

Sugar Land

Sugar Land
by Tammy Lynne Stoner

It is 1923 Texas, and Dara realizes she has fallen in love with her best friend.  The problem is that her best friend is a woman, and this is 1923, and it's Texas.  Being publicly lesbian will lead to a very difficult life.  They are treated as criminals and looked down upon.  She doesn't want a life like that.

So she takes a job at a prison for men, working in the kitchen.  Since she likes women, Dara feels like this would be a safe place for her to basically hide out.  She is terrified of being found out.  Interestingly, her friend keeps writing her letters, and how she would go public with Dara and they could be happy.  Dara eventually has the letters sent back.

When Dara has been at the prison for ten years, the Warden suddenly proposes.  She didn't see it coming, but she goes on to have a decent life with him.  He is a good man and treats her well.  Dara now has two stepdaughters.  

It was interesting how she always seemed to treat the one stepdaughter better than the other, maybe because she felt like she could understand the one stepdaughter better and relate to her more.  I felt bad for the one daughter, Debbie, Dara always seems to be short with her.

I liked this novel, it was something a little different.  Reading how terrified Dara was when she realized she was a lesbian, and she honestly feared for her life.  It's different from these days.  How different would her life have been if she had been public with her friend, but she might not have lived long it was so dangerous.  

The Sweet Life: The Serial

The Sweet Life: The Serial
by Francine Pascal

I was pretty excited to read this one.  When I was kid I was always reading Sweet Valley kids and Sweet Valley twins.  It's one of the series I read as a kid that made me like reading so much.  Jessica and Elizabeth are twins which sounded like fun and to kid me they seemed so cool.

In this novel, Jessica and Elizabeth are in their thirties.  Elizabeth is a reporter at the LA Tribune and Jessica is successful in her PR career.  Jessica is married, has a two year old son, but things are shaky with her husband, Todd.  And Elizabeth is with Bruce, a very rich man, who is accused of rape.  Elizabeth investigates and there seems to be some truth to the accusations, which don't add up to the man she has lived with for three years.  Something is off and both twins work on helping Bruce; Elizabeth starts investigating and Jessica starts handling the PR.

Also in this novel, Lila, becomes a reality TV star.  She decides to fake a pregnancy in an attempt to get more liked on the show and to keep her husband.  The twin's brother also has a baby with his partner in this book.

Sometimes you feel like you are almost eating popcorn reading a book, it is just such fun you are just eating it up.  Some of the stuff, okay, many parts, were just over the top and I just loved it.  I really wanted to keep reading when I got to the end.  I should go and read more of the old series, they are just such fun.

Katerina

Katerina

by James Frey

This one ended up to be different from what I expected when I read what it was about at the library and added it to my stack of books to check out.  

What I read: ".... is a sweeping love story alternating between 1992 Paris and Los Angeles in 2018.  At its center are a young writer and a young model on the verge of fame, both reckless, impulsive, addicted, and deeply in love. Twenty-five years later, the writer is rich, famous, and numb, and he wants to drive his car into a tree, when he receives an anonymous message that draws him back to the life, and possibly the love, he abandoned years prior."

Well, okay, that sounded like a good story.  A tale of two people in 1992 and 2018.  I have read other books that have jumped between two time periods, or a couple characters and they have been good.

After starting it, I read a little and then started looking at reviews.  I have not read A Million Little Pieces, his controversial book that was sold as a memoir and then later people found out that he embellished parts.  Some people said Katerina was a bit of a memoir.  I take it he took pieces from his real life and embellished them, since well, this is a novel and he can.

This is the first James Frey book that I have read and I wonder if this is his normal style of writing?  There was a paragraph that went on for two pages, and it seems a bit, well rambling.  The really long paragraphs can make it hard to follow, especially when many times I'm reading while the kids are playing and they like to interrupt me.

I only got about a third of the way through this book before just deciding to move along.  I always have a stack of books to read, and if I'm not enjoying a book I will just move on.  There is no reason to suffer through a terrible book I'm just not into.

City of Ghosts

City of Ghosts
by Victoria Schwab

This one was a pleasant surprise. I was at the library with my youngest and meant to bring in the book I was currently reading.  Of course I forgot it in the car (like I normally do.)  My son was having fun with the Legoes so the chances of talking him into walking outside with me to get something from the car wasn't too high.  I might have been able to convince him to walk over to the adult area, but instead I scanned around where the new junior fiction section was and this one caught my eye.

Cassidy can see ghosts and her best friend, Jacob, is a ghost.  Her parents are a part of a ghost-hunting team, that seem a bit, well, clueless.  Here they are trying to hunt ghosts and their own daughter can actually see them, but they don't know that.

Cassidy meets Lara, another person who can also see ghosts.  And then there was the bad guy, or woman, Red Raven that Cassidy and Lara need to stop.

This was a fun, light, ghost story. I will read the next one when it comes out.

Been there, done that

Been there, done that
by Carol Snow

Kathy is a reporter in her thirties, yet she looks younger and could pass for 18.  She is always carded when she orders alcohol, which is a nuisance.  And her looking younger gets her an undercover assignment that she has mixed feelings about: posing as a college freshman to try to undercover a scandal at the school.

This book sounded like fun. I'm in my thirties and having the character go back to school and be confused by the younger 18 year olds would be amusing and I thought I would relate to the main character since we would be similar ages.  

This book also made me think of the Drew Berrymore movie: "Never been Kissed" and maybe something Meg Cabot might have written. 

However, it kinda fell flat and was a bit boring and a little disappointing.  I liked the idea of the book, it just kinda lost my interest only about halfway through the book.

The Great American Read: The Book of Books

The Great American Read: The Book of Books

Explore America's 100 best-loved novelsby Jessica Allen & PBS

Oh, this one was fun.  This included 100 of the best-loved novels in America.  Each novel would include more info about the author, a synopsis of the novel, and a little more info about each, such as why it was so popular.  All the extras really made this fun and interesting.

Some of the books I was familiar with, some I had read, and there were new ones I hadn't heard of that will be added to my to-read list.  I also liked how there was such a variety of books in the list.  It was as list of the best-loved, not the 100 best well-written.  Which means that there was the Harry Potter series, Jane Eyre and even 50 Shades of Grey.  Variety.  

It was well done and some thought was put into choosing the books.  

The Shape of You

The Shape of You
by Georgia Beers

Personal trainer Rebecca is forced to teach a "be your best bride" workout class to a group of soon-to-be-Brides.  She doesn't look forward to teaching this class and one of the woman, Spencer, stands out to her.

I was disappointed with this one.  I thought the part about working out would be interesting, since I enjoy working out.  The plot sounded cute, a women is signed up for a workout class meant for brides-to-be.  It sounded like this would just be a fun read.

No.  It wasn't.  I didn't care for any of the characters, there was no depth.  It was just blah.  When I started reading the book I didn't realize it was a lesbian romance, well okay.  That doesn't change how the characters were so blah.  

Pass on this one, it was boring.

What was Mine

What was Mine
by Helen Klein Ross

This novel is told from multiple perspectives and you read how a kidnapping of a child effects multiple people, the birth mother, the child, the kidnapper, the sister of the kidnapper and more.

Lucy keeps it hidden for two decades that the child everyone thinks she adopted, was actually kidnapped.  Lucy desperately wanted a child but she was unable to conceive with her husband.  They try IVF, but that doesn't work for them.  And IVF is expensive and they can only afford to try for so long.  

One day she see a baby at IKEA with no-one around.  She goes from taking the baby to the front of the store so they can call the mother, to outside to "get fresh air" and she soon has the baby in her car and she is driving away.  It was sad how after she kidnaps the baby she already has all this baby stuff to take care of a baby as she had hoped for a baby for so long and had a room ready for years.

The birth mother is devastated and never stops hoping to see her child again.  She feels guilty for turning away from her child while talking on the phone.  

Through an odd sort of events the birth mother and Mia are reconnected.  Mia is devastated to learn the truth.  Lucy ends up fleeing to China to avoid persecution.

What I liked about this novel was the multiple perspectives.  You read about the heartbreak Lucy goes through wanting a child to her heartbreak as she is in China away from her daughter.  You read about the heartbreak of the birth mother wondering about her child all these years.  And you read about the heartbreak of Mia discovering that who she thought was her mother really isn't.

I did feel like the ending was incomplete.  Lucy should be in jail, not in China hiding out.  She kidnapped a child.  She could have legally adopted a child instead of stealing someone else's baby.  This novel did a nice job of giving Lucy's perspective of why she did what she did, but she she still deserves to go to jail.

Finding Home

Finding Home
by Melanie Rose

A woman is in car crash during a blizzard and doesn't remember who she is.  During the blizzard, she is taken in by Vincent.  Vincent has a 6-year old daughter, Jadie, who has cystic fibrosis and hasn't spoken in two years since her sister died and mother disappeared two years ago.

The woman doesn't remember what her name is so she decides to go by the name Kate.  When Kate arrives at Vincent's house, Jadie suddenly starts speaking again. 

In order to try to remember her past, a friend hypnotizes Kate, but instead of remembering who she is, she starts to remember a Kitty who lived over 100 years ago.  Soon it's discussions of ghosts and reincarnation as they try to figure out what is going on.

It was a decent read, I have read another book by this author, Life as I knew it, and that one was better than this one.  But I would read this author again.

To the Bridge

To the Bridge: a true story of motherhood and murder
by Nancy Rommelmann

Amanda Stott-Smith drops her children off of a bridge in Portland, Oregon.  Four-year-old Eldon dies and seven-year-old Trinity survives.  Amanda is arrested and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

How terrified must those small children to have been to have the one person who should love them the most try to hurt them.  It's horrifying.  

I thought the point of this book would be to dig into the past and go into why she would do such a horrifying thing.  The author goes through records, meetings with lawyers, interviews to try to dig into the past and maybe into why.  

Amanda had a troubled past, a dysfunctional marriage, and a life filled with alcohol.  I left the book thinking that the reason she did this was just because she is one of those terrible people and she tried to murder both of the kids just to hurt her children.

How awful for Trinity to grow up knowing her mother tried to murder her and murdered her younger brother.  And for the older son who will wonder if that day would have turned out different if he had gone with, would he have been able to stop his mother.  

The Betrayals

The Betrayals
by Fiona Neill

Rosie and Lisa are best friends and their families are close.  Or they were close until one day the two families are torn apart.  Lisa has an affair with Rosie's husband, Nick.  After that, they no longer speak.

This novel is told from multiple characters.  It's eight years after the affair started and you see how that moment of betrayal has changed people.  Lisa and Nick are still together.  Rosie doesn't trust another serious relationship and goes through meaningless flings.  Max is in school, still feeling like he should help take care of his sister.  His sister, Daisy has anxiety and OCD.  It was bad eight years ago when her family fell apart and now she is in the middle of it happening again.

What I did like about this book was the depth of Daisy and just getting into her anxiety and OCD.  And how the family being torn apart affected everyone.

What I did't care as much was it seemed a little long.  Towards the end I was wondering where this was going and then after all that the ending didn't feel complete.

Bad Man

Bad Manby Dathan Auerbach

Ben is 15 years old when he is at the grocery store with his younger 3-year old brother Eric.  Ben looks away briefly and Eric disappears.  

It is five years forward and Ben is haunted by that day.  He misses his brother and keeps looking for him.  His stepmother is depressed and only leaves the house once a year to go and get a birthday present for Eric, to sadly stack in his room.  

Ben finds a job at the grocery store where Eric disappeared.  The family does need the money, though his parent's tell him to work somewhere else, anywhere else and that they will be okay.  

This one did not end how I would have liked it too.  I so wanted Ben and Eric to be back together and to have a happy ending.  I should have known this book wasn't going to go there.

It did go into a nice depth of the devastation the family is going through when Eric goes missing.  The whole family is devastated and they desperately want Eric back.  Ben feels guilty, what if he hadn't looked away, what if that day had turned out different?  It also comments how people around town didn't pay any attention to the missing person flyers.  And that is true.  How often do we all just walk by those posters without a second glance.  That alone is something to think about.