Great reads for adults and children!
#GoodNightBody #NetGalley
I love the cover of this book that promises to help kids get to sleep. Using practices from mindfulness, specifically the body scan, this cheerfully illustrated title helps kids to calm down with a nightly routine. It just might help the adults too!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Children’s for this title.
Pub date: 07 February 2023
First off, I was drawn to this book by its appealing cover. I then discovered that this is a novel based on the TV series Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries. That was an enjoyable spin off of the Phryne Fisher mysteries, written by Kerry Greenwood and also a TV series. So, I was primed to enjoy this title and I did. However, you could know nothing about Phryne of Peregrine and still come away from this read having been entertained.
As the book opens, an Australian Department Store has had a bridal fashion show and one with a fatal result, at that. What happened? Who did it? Trust that the case will be resolved in part thanks to Peregrine.
Who is she? Peregrine is the niece of Phryne Fisher of the Adventuresses fame. She has disappeared leaving her closest, and down on her luck relative, to move into her home, her car and to share some sleuthing talents.
All in all, this is a delightful light read. Hopefully more books will be published in due course.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 31 January 2023
Spend: Summer on the Island
Highly recommended
FREE
Would you like to go back? Return to Virgin River by Robyn Carr
#TheSeasideLibrary #NetGalley
Before Covid I had never read a book by Ms. Novak. I started with One Perfect Summer and just kept going, also reading Summer on the Island, The Bookstore on the Beach, and When I Found You. All of these were enjoyable women’s fiction titles; each had a good setting storyline and characters. So, of course, I was eager to read this new book by the author.
The story takes place in a seaside community. Three friends grew up there. Ivy stayed and runs the library. Cam stayed; he became a talented architect. Ariana worked in New York in the publishing industry; she comes back to spend time with her grandmother.
The three all know of a tragic event that occurred when they were in high school. A girl went missing. What will be stirred up as events from the past spill into the present?
This book is a bit more of a mystery but retains many elements of the author’s talent for writing women’s fiction. I enjoyed this novel but did think that it had a bit of a slow start.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 11 April 2023
#FifthAvenueGlamourGirl #NetGalley
Readers will be drawn to this book by its inviting cover. They will stay to read the story.
Estee Lauder became one of the best known women in the cosmetics industry. Now her name is attached to companies, charities, exhibits and more. Once, though, she was a woman trying to find her way.
As this story opens Estee is selling face creams and treatments out of a not very deluxe beauty parlor. Readers learn that she is the main support of her husband and young son, Leon. Estee is fortunate to have ambition and a strong belief in her self and her products. She will need those qualities.
At this salon, Estee meets a young woman who is down on her luck. Gloria has a father who committed the sorts of crimes that nowadays we would associate with someone like Madoff. Her difficulties and bad publicity cause Gloria to take on this new name. She also has to navigate so much more than she was raised to do in her life of wealth and elegance. Horrors! The first job of this formerly wealthy woman is as a shampoo girl.
This story about Estee is told through Gloria’s eyes. It is also the story of Gloria. Read along as these two women find their way in 20th century America.
This book is recommended to readers of both historical and women’s fiction. It is definitely worth a look to see how the real Estee and fictional Gloria are entwined and help one another.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 25 April 2023
#HappinessForBeginners #NetGalley
Carole Matthews is one of those authors, like Jill Mansell, who can be counted upon for a fun, light read. In this novel, readers meet (and will like) Molly. She runs a farm with animals whose names I will not give away. The farm is a bit special as it serves as an alternative school. When a new, tricky student, and his father arrive, the stage is set for the rest of the story. Readers will turn the pages in this relaxing novel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Group UK for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 21 February 2019
