Category Archives: Fiction/Literature

This is the second book I have read by Jennifer Joyce. She has a wonderful imagination for situations and a real knack for dialog. I enjoy reading her books and the characters are life-like even when they are put in impossible situations (such as in this book.) It’s best to put aside reality and just enjoy the flow of the story.

Joyce and Calvin Neil are a couple with two children. Like most couples, they have begun to take one another’s efforts for granted. Each of them are so involved in their own daily grind and situations, that they don’t see what the other has to contend with.

Things come to a head just as the book starts. When Calvin doesn’t take Judy’s mince pies out of the oven in time (and they burn slightly), it is the start of a story which involves a Freaky Friday element.

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I’ve been a fan of Kristan Higgins for many years. I’ve enjoyed her various books, both stand-alone novels and series. Those books were primarily romances but they always made me laugh and made the characters come alive to me so that I rejoiced as their tales ended happily.

In recent years, Ms. Higgins has moved away from romantic comedies and have ventured into the land of fictional literature. Her stories have taken on a depth that was lacking in her earlier, shorter novels.

“Now That You Mention It” is just such a novel. From it’s opening line “The first thought I had after I died was: How will my dog cope with this?”, it grabbed my attention and I found myself reading it in segments and then, at odd times of the day when I was alone, I would think through what I had read and than apply it to my own life.

I shared a lot of similar past events with Nora Stuart, the main character of the story. From abandonment issues, to being the smart but not well loved teenager, relationship issues and much more, I could relate to this character. As she progressed through her issues, I did as well. I was even in the hospital recovering from literally the point of death (from a severe pneumonia) as I started reading the book. So, coming back from the brink of death was something very much on my mind.

I laughed a lot (as I always do with Ms. Higgin’s books.) I cried even more as Nora went on her own road of discovery by searching into her past. Her relationships with mother, her sister, her niece, her father and others in her current life and in her past were explored and held up to the test of her life in the present.

To say I enjoyed this book is not enough. It made an impact on my life in a positive way. I’ve been changed by reading it. For a novel to have that kind of effect on me is unusual and is a bar that very few books have risen to. I recommend it highly.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

Reading this book was both an enjoyment of the writing style and a real desire to talk some sense into the main character. It was almost painful to read as Jane (the main character of the story) careened from bad decision to bad decision without reflecting on the reality of her life goals.

Jane has decided that it is time to begin dating again after having broken up (one year ago to the day) with her long-term relationship with her high-school sweetheart. Having been involved with Bob for nine years (since she was 16), now at 26, Jane isn’t too sure of how she will find “the one” that she feels will be out there waiting for her beck and call. Her focus is narrowed onto this and all other individuals and goals in her life are set aside as she is sure she will end up with her partner within months if not weeks.

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I discovered Elizabeth Cadell’s books as a teenager years ago. I loved her gentle slice of life stories and quickly read every book our small library had in stock.

As an adult, I found that Ms. Cadell’s books were out-of-print and very difficult to find. I obtained the ones that I could but others, such as this book, remained too far out of reach for me to buy.

I was thrilled to find this title available on Kindle and purchased it and waited for the right time to read it (when I could enjoy the author’s delicate humor.) The story is right in line with the rest of her books. A lovely slice of life of a family and events that one is allowed to peek into.

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Robyn and Sydney are two young women with a common type of problem. The problem is that the parents make too much of or think too little of their daughter’s love life.

Robyn is a wonderful, down-to-earth music teacher at a local school. Her boyfriends are artsy without much plans for the future. Sure, she is having a great time with her main squeeze but her parents (who are rather artsy themselves!) want more for her. Robyn knows that spending the holidays with boyfriend and family will not be the happiest of times for anyone (except her boyfriend who appears to be oblivious to slights.)

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This is a lovely story about Sydney Ragsdale and her young ten-year old daughter starting over again in a small town. Sydney is running away to lick her wounds after finding out that her husband has been cheating on her for years. She and her daughter RayAnne head to Hopewell, North Carolina to live in the house that her grandparents left her.

She has a few marketable skills but, like many women, was out of the workplace for years raising her daughter. She has the promise of a job and a roof over her head but has to deal with attitude from RayAnne who didn’t want to leave Atlanta or her dad. RayAnne doesn’t quite get that it was her father who walked out on the family.

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I have read the prior two books in this series, “The Disenchanted Widow” and “The Misremembered Man”. It was delightful to once again touch base with the characters in the Tailorstown series.

The story revolves around two story lines, although woven in are, to others who have read the series, the familiar characters of Jamie McCoone and Paddy and Rose McFadden.

Ruby Clare, at 33, is the oldest of three sisters. The other two are twins May and June who are in their twenties and who treat Ruby poorly. Ruby has been crushed by the recent death of her loving father. Her mother is not so loving, to say the least. Mammy seems to be doing her best to crush Ruby – especially with threats of having her institutionalized, while at the same time, being the loving and nurturing mother to her other two daughters. Ruby has become the stay at home dogsbody daughter who cares for an uncaring and petulant mother. She is at a transitional period in her life and she tries to deal with her overwhelming grief.

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“Blogger Girl” is the first book by Meredith Schorr that I have read. I generally read mysteries, chick-lit and a few romance books as well. This book definitely falls into the chick-lit category.

Kimberly Long is a legal secretary by day and a chick-lit book blogger/reviewer by night. This caught my attention because, early in my own career, I was a paralegal who both wrote and designed by night. I could well understand the crush of things to do that Kim was constantly battling with.

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“The Disenchanted Widow” is the story of Bessie, a widow who runs away from Belfast with her young son, stopping only to take a few prized possessions with her. She is running from a brutal IRA enforcer who was on the outs with her late and unlamented husband. She ends up in a small town with a very interesting cast of characters. The book is a slice of life – not a mystery or a romance. Some of the dialect was a little difficult to follow but the storyline made up for this. The author took a very difficult time in history and was able to insert a charming story into the period.

I enjoyed the novel and look forward to more by Ms. McKenna in the future.

This is a lovely story about a farm, Jamie, who has had a very tough go of it. He lived his first ten years in a cruel orphanage. It is also about Lydia, who is the woman Jamie begins to correspond with. Lydia is a woman who has lived her life under the oppressive rule of her mother. She has decided it is time to live a bit. The correspondence between the two is touching but it is very obvious that these two are ill-sorted on many levels.

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