Book Review: The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Paradise Problem
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication date: May 14. 2023
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction/romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Christina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

It’s no surprise that a new Christina Lauren book is fun, fast-paced, steamy, and full of delicious plot twists… right? I’m happy to share that The Paradise Problem continues this author duo’s winning streak — CL fans will be over the moon.

In The Paradise Problem, Anna Green is having a Very Bad Day. She’s been fired from her terrible convenience store job by its terrible 18-year-old manager. Her decrepit car has been sideswiped and damaged. Worst of all, her crappy job was her one means of attempting to pay off the mounds of medical debt related to her father’s chemo treatments. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that her artwork has failed to sell, and she hasn’t heard from her agent in a year.

So Anna is not in a great place when “West” Weston (aka Liam) knocks on her door needing her help. Five years earlier, she married Liam (on paper) so they’d qualify for campus housing… but when he moved out, she signed divorce papers, or so she believed. It turns out that the papers stipulated a divorce further in the future (along with a nice buyout) — and while Anna thinks it’s weird that they’re still technically married, she doesn’t see the problem. The time is almost up, after all.

The catch is, Liam’s sister’s wedding is coming up, and his family is demanding that he attend with his wife. Yes, his fake wife (that would be Anna), who he’s also told them is a busy medical student (okay, well, she was pre-med back when they shared an apartment.) Liam desperately needs Anna to come to the wedding, play the part of loving wife, and get him through the big family event. Once they make it to their five-year anniversary, Liam’s inheritance will be secure, and they can safely divorce. As incentive, he’s offering Anna a huge payment in exchange for her play-acting, which will more than cover the medical bills, and even give her enough breathing room to focus on her art. How could she say no?

Once they zip off to the private island (via Singapore) where the wedding will be held, it’s like something out of Crazy Rich Asians (if it had a baby with Succession). These people are so elitist and over the top that it’s impossible not to just laugh at how ridiculous they are. The money is insane… and Liam’s family is just awful. His father is a controlling pig, and his mother exudes wealthy passive-aggressiveness with every breath she takes.

And yet… Anna actually starts to enjoy some parts of this little escapade, especially sharing the over-water bungalow with Liam and getting to appreciate the hotness she never fully noticed back when they lived together.

I won’t go too far into the details — but use your imagination, and picture two hot, interesting, awesome people forced into constant close proximity on a gorgeous tropical island. To say sparks fly is putting it mildly. But on top of all this romantic chemistry, there’s a non-romantic plot too! Liam’s family is messy (and not in a good way). With Anna’s support, he has to navigate the awful family dynamics and try to come out of it unscathed, and no, it’s not just about the money. There’s more at stake than initially meets the eye, and getting to the bottom of it all is a big piece of the fun of this book.

My quibbles are truly very minor. Within the big lie about being happily married, why maintain the lie about Anna being a medical student, with stories about fake med school attendance and projects overseas? This seems like a detail that Liam could have explained away — the family has never met Anna and Liam has kept his distance from them, so surely he could have said she changed careers at some point? As is, this is the piece of the lie easiest to trip Anna up with, and it seems like it needlessly complicates an already complicated situation.

Another minor issue for me — Liam’s name! He’s introduced as West, his family calls him Liam, his name is actually William… Even writing this review, I wasn’t sure which name to use!

For those who like to know the steam levels in advance: Some scenes are more explicit than suits my taste, but fans of the open door approach will love it. I tend to enjoy the “implied” rather than “shown” approach to these scenes, and in The Paradise Problem, we see all! This didn’t stop me from enjoying the book in the slightest… I just sort of wanted to look away from time to time.

Overall, this book was a terrific read, and I finished it in one day. Seriously, I just couldn’t stop!

The Paradise Problem revolves around an intriguing set-up, opposites-attract characters in a fake (but getting more real by the second) marriage, an ultra-luxury setting, and crazy family politics. It’s a blast, plain and simple.

Christina Lauren fans will be delighted… and for anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure yet of experiencing one of their novels, The Paradise Problem is a great place to dive in. Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys contemporary romance with more than a pinch of humor and outstanding chemistry between lead characters.

8May2024

Book Review: Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time, #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Disturbing the Dead
Series: A Rip Through Time, #3
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: May 7, 2024
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley
Rating:

Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1890s and the other in the present day. The A Rip Through Time crime novels are a genre-blending, atmospheric romp from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends―and feelings―in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn’t that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

Kelley Armstrong is rapidly becoming a must-read author for me. Disturbing the Dead is the 3rd book in her excellent A Rip Through Time series… and I’ve also been head-over-heels for the A Stitch in Time series (of which I’ve read half so far). While both series have a timeslip/time travel element, they are completely different in tone and focus… and I’m loving them both.

A Stitch in Time has a romantic focus, with a woman slipping through a “stitch” that allows her to travel back and forth between our world and the Victorian era. Each book in the series has a different woman as the main character, but in all cases, travel back and forth is possible, and the characters must learn to fit in and blend in where they land, while also sorting out the complications of love across time.

In the A Rip Through Time series, a different core concept comes into play. 21st century detective Mallory Atkinson accidentally gets pulled through a rip in time during a visit to Edinburgh. When she is attacked and strangled in a dark alley — and the same thing happens to a young housemaid in the exact same place but in the 19th century — Mallory’s consciousness ends up inhabiting the housemaid’s body.

(There’s a lot more to it, so check out my review of the first book for more details).

Fortunately for Mallory, Catriona is employed as a servant in the home of eccentrics, a brother and sister who are devoted to science and social reform. Dr. Duncan Grey is an undertaker and the unofficial coroner of the Edinburgh police force; his sister Isla is a widow known for her independent thinking and her skills in the chemistry lab. Over the course of the first two books, they come to understand that the person they knew as Catriona isn’t actually Catriona any longer. They befriend Mallory, and her knowledge of 21st century police work and forensics quickly makes her an integral part of the household.

Here in Disturbing the Dead, six months have passed since Mallory’s appearance in their midst. Mallory has been promoted and is now officially Duncan’s assistant. Besides Duncan and Isla, police detective (and close family friend) Hugh McCreadie is also in on Mallory’s secret. Together, this group uses Mallory’s advanced knowledge to carry out investigations and apply a more rigorous scientific approach to Victorian era police work.

The action kicks off with an invitation to a mummy unwrapping. Egyptian artifacts and archaeology are all the rage, and Sir Alistair Christie is hosting a party to share his latest find. When the mummy is unwrapped, however, a very fresh corpse is discovered inside, and Mallory and Duncan find themselves once more in the thick of a complicated murder investigation.

The mystery is the driving force of the novel, and it’s a good one, with plenty of subjects, clues, motives, and red herrings. There’s also a very entertaining side plot about a pulp writer who’s started publishing lurid accounts of Mallory and Duncan’s exploits, much to their embarrassment (and Mallory’s annoyance, as the writer portrays her as an empty-headed girl whose main function is to look impressed — and sexy — while Duncan makes all the discoveries).

One of the many delights of the series is seeing Mallory being herself in the 19th century. Unlike the situation facing the characters in the Stitch in Time series, Mallory doesn’t need to make an effort to conceal herself or blend while amongst her friends. Yes, she must adapt to the time by dressing in corsets and adopting the appropriate social customs, but at home, her speech and knowledge are full of 21st century expressions, swearing, and casual sharing of unknown facts.

“Like people in my world who still think you can catch the common cold — or catarrh — by going out in cold weather, despite the fact we’ve known for generations that it’s caused by a virus.”

“Catarrh is caused by… what?” Gray says.

“Whoops. Sorry. Spoilers. Moving right along…”

She’s just so much fun, and scenes of her with Isla and Duncan are always a delight.

He opens his hand to reveal a derringer pistol. I may let out the kind of noise others make on seeing a puppy.

There a shocking development in the latter half of the book that left me gasping and dismayed. I did not see that coming! The author does a fabulous job of making the situation (no spoilers!) vivid and real, and yet also manages to pull off a great resolution to this particular twist.

Overall, Disturbing the Dead is a fantastic addition to a great series, and I can’t wait for more! Highly recommended — but definitely start at the beginning of the series.

7May2024

Top Ten Tuesday: May Flowers

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is May Flowers — open to however we want to approach it (titles, covers, plots, characters…)

I’m going with flowers in the titles, and to challenge myself, I’m only including books I’ve actually read. I also decided to see if I could come up with 10 without repeating any flowers… although I couldn’t resist adding in all the “rose” possibilities after the fact.

Here are ten books for my May Flowers list:

Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke
A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire
Peony by Pearl S. Buck (want to read)
Dash & Lily‘s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette van Heugten
A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian
White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Oh, okay, here are a bunch of rose books from my shelves!

Hmmm, I supposed I could have save all these rose books for a future freebie post! Oh well… I’m having too much fun to wait.

What books have you read with flowers in the title?

If you wrote a TTT post this week, please share your link!

6May2024

The Monday Check-In ~ 05/6/2024

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

Life.

We’ve been finishing up our home repair project this past week — just a few small touch-up items left to do, and then we’re done! It’s nice not to have tarps and dust everywhere…

What did I read during the last week?

Once again, a week zoomed by with barely any time to read. I managed to finish one audiobook and one ebook, and that’s it. My finished books this week:

Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13) by Patricia Briggs: An audiobook reread — now I’m ready for the next book in the series, coming in June! My review from my first time reading this book is here.

Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time, #3) by Kelley Armstrong: This author is so consistently great! I loved this newest book in her excellent Victorian/time travel/mystery series. Review to follow within the next few days.

Pop culture & TV:

I finished season 3 (the final season) of A Discovery of Witches. I don’t understand why such great books feel so flat in the TV adaptation. The cast is strong and it’s all quite nice to look at… but the pacing and presentation are slow and (I hate to say it) pretty dull and uninvolving. What a letdown. (Still looking forward to reading the next book in the series though…)

Fresh Catch:

Two new hardcover books this week:

Yes, more Kelley Armstrong! And a new collection of Seanan McGuire stories is a must for me.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren: Started on Sunday afternoon, and I’ve been racing through it! I’m at about the 50% mark — it’s so much fun.

Now playing via audiobook:

Where Have All the Boys Gone? by Jenny Colgan: An early book by a favorite author. I needed something super light this week, and this audiobook seems to be working!

Ongoing reads:

My longer-term reading commitments:

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 88%.
Damn Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45 by Maggie Craig: Over at Outlander Book Club, we’ve started a group read of this non-fiction book, discussing one chapter each Friday. So far, we’ve only read the preface — we really get going this week, starting with chapter one.
Howards End by E. M. Forster: My Classics Club Spin book. I’m reading it via Serial Reader, and loving it. Progress: 36%.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

30Apr2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Reasons I’ve DNFd books

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Petty Reasons You’ve DNF’d a Book.

I can’t quite go with this topic — I don’t consider any reason for DNFing to be petty. I read for my own enjoyment — no one pays me to do it (can you imagine?) and the only stake I have is the pleasure I get from reading. If a book isn’t working for me, for any reason, I don’t feel bad (or petty) if I put it aside.

Here are a few reasons why I might DNF a book:

Wrong book, wrong time: Sometimes a book just doesn’t suit my mood in the moment. These are books I may come back to at some point… but not always.
Misleading cover and/or synopsis: A book that’s blurbed as laugh-out-loud funny or that has a cute contemporary cover — and then turns out to be heavy or overly serious — can be a real turn-off.
Unexpected graphic violence: I know what to expect when I pick up a horror novel, and that’s a choice I make. But I don’t want to encounter guts and gore out of the blue.
Purple prose: Bad metaphors, weird descriptions, sentences that I have to stop and parse — if the writing itself isn’t enjoyable, then even a compelling story will lose me.
Unsatisfying world-building: When the world-building (especially in fantasy) isn’t well-enough developed – or at the other extreme, is so overly complicated that it’s impossible to follow — I pretty much check out.
Nonsensical plotting: Plain and simple, it has to make sense… or at the very least, have a smidge of logic.
No oomph: This might be kind of vague, but if a book doesn’t grab me in the first 10-20%, I’m not going to stick with it.
Obnoxious formatting issues: I don’t mean for ARCs — I know to expect formatting issues with these. But for finished books, some types of formatting drive me batty, including novels that over-use footnotes; no chapters (not acceptable to me in anything but short stories or novellas); not using quotation marks (ugh).
Late or disconnected sequels: This may be a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”, but if a sequel comes out waaaaay after the previous book, I just may not care enough to put the pieces back together. I’ve found myself DNFing when I realize I can’t be bothered to figure out where the story left off or what I’m supposed to remember from a few years back. Similarly, if a book is billed as a sequel but only has a vague connection to the previous book, I may not feel like making the effort to keep going.
It’s just a matter of taste: Beyond the reasons above, sometimes a book simply doesn’t appeal to me, and there may not be a specific reason. Could be the writing style, or the subject matter, or the tone… but I’ve had many experiences where a book just hasn’t worked me (even though it might be great for someone else).

What might make you DNF a book?

If you wrote a TTT post this week, please share your link!

29Apr2024

The Monday Check-In ~ 04/29/2024

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life.

It’s been an eventful week — first Passover (really nice Seder with friends), then lots of progress on a home-repair/remodel project (yay for a new shower and a repaired staircase!), and a weekend with decent enough weather to get outside and enjoy.

What did I read during the last week?

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger: Finished late last week, and just got around to posting a review, here.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth: An immersive thriller, really well told. My review is here.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau: A funny, fast-paced take on the fake-dating trope. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

It dawned on my that I never got around to watching the final season (#3) of A Discovery of Witches. I loved the books way back when, but every single episode, I struggle to keep my eyes open. It’s just so sloooooooow. But, I’m powering through — it’s a good refresher before I finally read Time’s Convert and get ready for Deborah Harkness’s upcoming new release (The Black Bird Oracle) this summer.

Fresh Catch:

I couldn’t resist treating myself to this pretty hardcover, to go with my other books in the Stitch in Time series.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time, #3) by Kelley Armstrong: This author is so consistently great! I’m excited to be starting the newest book in her excellent Victorian/time travel series.

Now playing via audiobook:

Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13) by Patricia Briggs: I’m loving this audiobook re-read! Should be done in the next few days.

Ongoing reads:

My longer-term reading commitments:

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 86%.
Damn Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45 by Maggie Craig: Coming soon! Over at Outlander Book Club, we’ll be starting a group read of this non-fiction book at the end of this week, discussing one chapter each Friday. Interested? Contact me for more info!
Howards End by E. M. Forster: My Classics Club Spin book. I’m reading it via Serial Reader, and really loving it so far. Progress: 21%.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

28Apr2024

Book Review: Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie
Author: Jackie Lau
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: May 7, 2024
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A charming rom-com about a young woman’s desperate attempts to fend off her meddling mother…only to find that maybe mother does know best.

Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.

Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. You’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he’s just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they’re forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious he thinks he’s too good for her.

But now that Emily is her family’s last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There’s only one solution, clearly : convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom’s meddling. He reluctantly agrees.

Unfortunately, lying isn’t enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates—including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class—so they’ll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark’s not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn’t so ugly after all…

In this cute fake-dating romance, Emily realizes that the best way to get her mother to stop pushing Mark Chan on her… is to pretend to date Mark Chan. Emily is the only unmarried daughter in her large family, and she knows that all her immigrant parents want is for her to have a steady, successful career, own a nice home, and marry an eligible man. That’s not asking too much, is it?

Unfortunately for her mother’s dreams, Emily, while a published author, still has to work as a barista to make rent on her shared apartment, and struggles to find time and energy to finish edits on her second novel and finally develop the great new idea she has for her next book. She’s well aware that she’s a disappointment, and it’s hard to take… and the fact that Mark Chan is the perfect guy that every Chinese parents dreams of is not helping matters. Finally pushed too far, Emily proposes a fake-dating scenario, and surprisingly, Mark agrees.

But just pretending to go on dates isn’t working, since Emily’s mom has eyes and ears everywhere, and soon the couple realizes that they’ll have to actually go on dates together in order to keep up the charade. As they spend time together, Emily starts to realize that there might be more to Mark than she assumed (the fact that he has an adorable cat named Ms. Margaret Muffins certainly helps), and… gasp… are they actually developing feelings? But that would mean that her mother (another gasp!) is right!

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie is a funny, engaging blast that’s easy to tear through in a day. Emily’s varied predicaments had me laughing out loud, and I really enjoyed seeing the world through her eyes. There’s a lot going on beneath the humor and silliness, including dealing with more serious issues around parental expectations, family pressure, and how easy it is to misinterpret other people’s actions, no matter how well meaning they are.

My only quibbles with this book are (a) I don’t necessarily felt like I got the best handle on Mark as a person — he’s a delicious fake (then real) boyfriend, but his personality remained a bit of a cipher, and (b) the big crisis that’s obligatory at the end of any contemporary romance here felt a bit uneventful. Thankfully, the crisis isn’t about a huge misunderstanding between Emily and Mark, but even so, it’s something that feels unimportant to me, and has a weirdly magnified effect.

Putting those two minor issues aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Having read the author’s two previous novels (Donut Fall in Love and The Stand-Up Groomsman), I wasn’t surprised by how much fun this book is. Jackie Lau is great at creating engaging, funny characters and putting them in relatable but over-the-top situations.

If you enjoy light-hearted romance with plenty of humor — plus great exploration of family dynamics and expectations — definitely check out Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie.

27Apr2024

Book Review: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Darling Girls
Author: Sally Hepworth
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: April 23, 2024
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley (also won a copy in a Goodreads giveaway)
Rating:

SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER… Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.

If you’ve read any books by Sally Hepworth, you know to expect twists, turns, and then even more twists. Darling Girls delivers them all, and packs in plenty of complex relationships and emotions as well.

In Darling Girls, we meet Jessica, Alicia, and Norah — a chosen family of sisters who came together through traumatic years as foster children. Despite the terrible experiences they endured as young teens, their relationship has been the bedrock of their years since then. Now adults, they’re all dysfunctional in different ways, but their sister bonds are the one constant that keeps them grounded.

When bones are found under the demolished home where they once lived, they’re summoned back to the town of Port Agatha to give statements to the police. What actually happened at Wild Meadows? Whose bones could they be? And are the sisters witnesses or suspects?

Through flashback chapters, we learn more about their childhood. Jessica was the first to be fostered with Miss Fairchild, a seemingly lovely woman whose farmhouse and grounds appear to be ideal for a small child. And at first, everything is perfect. Miss Fairchild dotes on Jessica, encourages her to call her “Mummy”, and never wants them to be apart. There are downsides, of course: When Jessica begins attending school and talking about new friends, she’s quickly shut down. No one is allowed to replace Mummy as the center of Jessica’s life.

Years later, when Miss Fairchild also takes in Norah and Alicia, Jessica’s world is abruptly changed yet again, as she’s reprimanded, punished, and pushed aside. But Miss Fairchild’s iron control is slipping — she hadn’t anticipated the girls’ bond or that they might start to question her rules and her methods.

It’s best not to know much more than that when reading Darling Girls. The characters are quite interesting — the sisters all have lasting scars from their years in the foster system, and their trauma manifests in different ways. The depiction feels realistic, and it’s sad and scary to read. At the same time, the chosen family is beautiful in its own way, and I loved seeing the unwavering support that Jessica, Norah, and Alicia provide to one another.

Being a Sally Hepworth book, I knew to expect to have my expectations up-ended, and that’s exactly what happened. I’m not a frequent thriller reader, but diving in every once in a while and going along for the roller coaster ride is quite fun.

As with all books by this author, Darling Girls is immersive and impossible to put down. It made me think, it gave me a few chills along the way, and it definitely kept me on my toes. Check it out!

24Apr2024

Book Review: The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The River We Remember
Author: William Kent Krueger
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: September 5, 2023
Length: 421 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

On Memorial Day in Jewel, Minnesota, the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. The investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.

Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

The River We Remember was my book group’s pick for April, and we were fortunate enough to have a zoom chat with the author. I myself was late in finishing, so I attended the chat having only read half the book… but that’s okay. He was gracious and engaging, the group avoided giving spoilers on the central mystery, and all in all, it was a wonderful event. And then I finished the book the next day!

OUR LIVES AND the lives of those we love merge to create a river whose current carries us forward from our beginning to our end. Because we are only one part of the whole, the river each of us remembers is different, and there are many versions of the stories we tell about the past. In all of them there is truth, and in all of them a good deal of innocent misremembering.

In The River We Remember, a Minnesota community is rocked by the violent death of one of its leading residents. Jimmy Quinn was not loved — not by a long shot — but as the biggest landowner in the area, he was powerful, connected, and in many cases, someone to fear. Lots of people would have had grudges, resentment, even hostility, but was his death murder, suicide, or just a gruesome accident?

The story unfolds through the eyes of multiple characters living in the small town of Jewel. Chief among these is Sheriff Brody Dern, a veteran of WWII with visible and invisible scars and a complicated personal life. At various points, though, we see through the eyes of many different people — there’s a sense of the community being the true main character. All the people we meet — deputies, a diner owner, teen boys, local farmers, a lawyer, a reporter — are connected and have histories that weave together, with their actions affecting one another in an intricate chain of events.

The mystery of Jimmy Quinn’s death is the central plot thread of the novel, but as this unfolds, we encounter themes around war and survival, guilt, growing up with violence, generational trauma, and the ripple effects of hate, bigotry, and racism. There’s also the concept of home — what makes a community, a piece of land, or even a specific person feel like home? Where do people find belonging?

I won’t go further into plot details, but will sum up by saying that while the mystery has a satisfying resolution, the true beauty of this book is the outstanding character depictions. Each of the people we meet are distinct and have complex inner lives that come into play as they interact. The whole is emotional and evocative, allowing the reader to experience the time and place of the story in a way that feels authentic and powerful.

Simply put, The River We Remember is a beautiful novel. This is my third book by this author (I also loved his two other stand-alones, This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace), and I look forward to starting his long-running Cork O’Connor series.

23Apr2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon. I’ve done plenty of posts about my unread books, so at first I thought I’d skip this week’s TTT rather than repeat myself… but the thinking about the key word soon, I realized I could work with it!

Some of these have been on my shelves for a long time now, and some are more recent additions, but all are books I want to read sooner rather than later. I’m not making any commitments (those never seem to work), but here are ten I hope to get to this year (or maybe next?):

The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood: Bought on a whim about a year ago.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: It’s been years and years. This one is on my Classics Club spin list, and I’ve been waiting for its number to come up! (I suppose I could finally just read it anyway, but it’s nice to have the spin as motivation.)
Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery: I only came to LMM’s books as an adult, and have been on a mission to read as many as possible ever since! I picked up the two Pat books a couple of years ago.
A Turn of the Tide by Kelley Armstrong: This is a more recent addition. I added it to my shelves last year, but now that I’m finally reading the series (this is #3), I expect to read it quite soon.
The Return by Rachel Harrison: I added the Kindle edition to my library a couple of years ago.
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler: Maybe this is cheating a bit — I bought this last year, and I know I’ll be reading it soon since it’s my book group’s pick for June.
Needful Things by Stephen King: I bought this a few years ago to take on vacation; didn’t end up reading it that time, but maybe this summer?
Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant: Bought a copy on my daughter’s recommendation a year or two ago.
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala: Another one I bought to take on a trip and then didn’t read, but I keep packing it in my travel bag just in case.
Theft of an Idol by Dana Stabenow: I also finally started this series this year after stockpiling the books as they came out, and intend to read this one in the next few months.