☺️☺️☺️☺️🌗

by: Nita Prose

Description:

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.

My Review:

This book was selected to read for a local book club that I just joined. When I read the description, I wasn’t sure it would be my “cup of tea” (which is funny because there is a lot of tea drinking in the book). As I started reading, I recognized right away that the main character was Autistic. Because it was written from her mind and perspective, I thought at first it might be hard to relate to her (even though I have a neurodivergent child and most definitely have ADHD myself) but it didn’t take long for me to start developing and affection for her and wanting to steer her out of trouble as I read. I ended up really enjoying this book and it became one of those that you think about the characters and miss them long after you finish reading.

☺️☺️☺️☺️

By: Rebecca Serle

Description:

Where do you see yourself in five years?

When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.

My Review:

This book surprised me…multiple times. I thought I had a good idea how it was going to predictably play out from the start. It took a turn more than once and in a good way. It kept me interested, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t have high expectations in the beginning. But after finishing it, I can say it’s one of those books that you think about for a few days after reading and even miss.

😊😊😊😊🌗

by: Laura Dave

Description:

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.

With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbreaking turn.

My Review:

I really, really enjoyed this book. It is keeps you invested and guessing. The characters are relatable and not sugar coated. I really liked this Author’s writing as well. I could visualize everything so easily in my mind, but she didn’t spend an annoying amount of time describing things. I really could see this book being a movie and I definitely would see it!

😊😊1/2

by: Celeste Ng

Description:

“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet. So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue-in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart.

James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family-Hannah-who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened. A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another”–

My Review:

I struggled with how I felt about this book and what I would say about it pretty much the whole time I read it. In my own words, I would say that it is about how different members of a family perceive their family dynamic. It touches on some big issue. Most of them very briefly and I wouldn’t say it is actually “about” any of them at all. As a mother, I found the characters- especially the parents, unrelatable. I disagree with most of the description above which makes it sound like they were an “ordinary family” and an “ordinary home”.

There were a lot of loose ends and I felt like it ended with no closure or clear outcome. Or maybe I lost interest a little and was not paying full attention towards the end. Either way I have a lot of questions. I have seen a lot of great reviews about this book, so maybe it just wasn’t the right time for me to read it. I wouldn’t NOT recommend it, but if you are expecting a thriller or to fall in love with the characters of a book, this probably isn’t the book for you.

Buy it on Amazon: https://a.co/d/8OJIrLt

See more of my reviews: https://happyaccidents.heathernealphotography.com/category/book-reviews/

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by: Colleen Hoover

Description:

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

My Review:

Ok, so after reading and LOVING Verity, I was excited to read another book by Colleen Hoover. And maybe having a whole collection by her in my future without having to research what book to read next for a while. So I picked up Ugly Love and was excited to get started. I did a little digging on the internet to try and decide which of her books to read next and while there are some hard-core fans who love all of her books, I found some mixed reviews on her books in general. Several mentioned that Verity was the only halfway decent one so I slightly questioned whether I would enjoy another book by her but I went in with an open mind.

Ugly Love is about…nothing. Well, I take that back. It’s about sex. There is also a fairly deep and potentially interesting story hidden on a page and a half or two pages every other chapter, but the chapters in between are 8-10 pages of leading up to, during, after and reminiscing about sex. The main female character is a nurse who supposedly works all the time and according to the description of the book “doesn’t have time for love” yet she is never actually at work in the book and seems to have plenty of time for “other things”. The only way I remembered she was a nurse at all was the occasional mention of her wearing scrubs (usually because they were being removed) and I don’t get the impression that she doesn’t want a relationship at all in the actual book. This is the extent of the depth of her character. Oh, besides the fact that she falls for a cute guy that flat out tells her he only wants one thing from her and she decides it’s ok to let him use her because he’s super cute and apparently she doesn’t respect herself at all. I find it disturbing that so many young women and even girls are reading this book not only because of the sexual content, but because of the weak, shallow female main character. There is a pretty bow that is a ridiculous turn of events plopped on the final chapter and then as if that weren’t enough the epilogue delivers an equally predictable yet unrealistic cherry on top. I know many people love this book, but I was pretty bored and only read through it as quickly as I did so that I could move on to something else.