Sheila Roberts delivers a unique take on Jane Austin's Emma in this cute and sweet holiday romance that has lots of humor, heart and holiday spirit alSheila Roberts delivers a unique take on Jane Austin's Emma in this cute and sweet holiday romance that has lots of humor, heart and holiday spirit all rolled up in one big entertaining book. With her trademark style, Ms. Roberts delivers a perfect book to enjoy on a cool Autumn night and the reader will get lost within Frankie's well meaning if not welcomed help to her friends and family. I just loved all the characters here, from Frankie to Mitch to Elinor and beyond.
Meet Frankie Lane in the town of Carol. She runs Holiday Happiness and is determined to make sure her friends and family find they're happiness, despite it blowing up in her face. Her track record is a little singed but I just love how Frankie's heart is always in the right place, even if what she wants for others is also what she needs as well. Sometimes its easier to help others while ignoring what is lacking in your life at that moment. The characters are all relatable and quite entertaining. I fell in love with the charming town and the characters there and felt it made the story pop even more. The characters are well rounded and literally step off the pages as I read THE MERRY MATCHMAKER.
Sheila Roberts delivers a wonderful holiday story in THE MERRY MATCHMAKER and I couldn't put it down. With every page I flipped, I fell more in love with the town and the residents there. This is an author who gives her readers a wonderful story every time and keep them highly entertained from beginning to end. Here's hoping Ms. Roberts delivers more wonderful heartfelt stories in the future.
**This is an Objective Review and not an Endorsement**...more
**spoiler alert** Allison Brennan introduces us to the Angelhart family and their PI business. I love family drama stories and she combines this with **spoiler alert** Allison Brennan introduces us to the Angelhart family and their PI business. I love family drama stories and she combines this with a case that spirals into Margo's and her family's orbit in ways neither side was expecting. Add in a sub-plotline that kept me just as glued tot he pages of YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME till the very end. Ms. Brenan delivers a solid and highly entertaining new series in this diverse and unique family. I loved all the characters a lot, especially Margo. She is the main player in this first book in the Angelhart Investigations series and she's a character I would love to meet for drinks and dinner one night. She's complex, determined and independent. One character I totally fell in love with right off the bat. With each introduction to Margo's family member's and some intriguing secondary characters, I found YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME such a great read, I couldn't put it down.
Allison Brennan is a talented storyteller that delivers her first book in her new series a fun, twisty ride from start to finish. With a cast of characters as different from one another that captures the reader's imagination, a backdrop of Arizona that gives me a longing to go back for a visit and a fast paced storyline, the reader is taken on a ride that they will enjoy from start to end. Get ready for Angelhart Investigations and the Angelhart family, warts and all.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement. I received an E-Copy ARC from the publisher via Netgalley....more
**spoiler alert** It’s the Roaring Twenties and for Alice Jones, it was a time of jazz music, finding where she belongs and how to be part of a life s**spoiler alert** It’s the Roaring Twenties and for Alice Jones, it was a time of jazz music, finding where she belongs and how to be part of a life she dreams about in New Rochelle, NY, outside New York City. When she meets Leonard ‘Kip’ Rhinelander, she finds a love she thinks is like her parents and a life she finally belongs in. But Kip is from the upper crust of society, son to a prominent white real estate family and for Alice Jones, a daughter of English Immigrants, her mysterious ancestry is one the upper echelon's of society whisper about even though she is white though she has heard the rumors of her family’s ancestry that she dismisses as idle gossip. Until Leonard and Alice elope and then all hell breaks one month later. Devastated and determined, Alice, at first, tries to hold her head high and keep her love for Kip alive even as his family brings her nothing but trouble. Vilified in the news, Alice and her family are dragged through the mud as the court of public opinion delves into their lives and publishes every rumor and gossip about Alice. When Alice meets Marvel Cunningham, a reporter who sees Alice as a tabloid sensation but as Alice and Marvel’s friendship deepens, Marvel sees the person that’s the real Alice, not the tabloid caricature that is vilified every day in the press. For the trial of Rhinelander vs. Rhinelander is more about a woman holding onto her love for a man but it will force both women to see who they real are and who they can be.
The TRAIL OF MRS. RHINELANDER is one filled with twists, turns and more at a time in history when society judges you on everything from who you marry to your ancestry. Denny S. Bryce’s newest book (coming July 2024) delivers a look into a time where jazz clubs’ rule, prohibition is in effect and upper society is the leader in society in places like New York City and beyond. For myself, delving into this time in United States history was fascinating and a little disturbing. The way Alice and her family were besieged by the press was awful as well as hints at how the press ruled during that time frame. There was no internet or 24-hour news cycle back then but as articles the author used for research showed in the book, it was a cutthroat time in journalism and being a woman in that field that was dominated by men is a risky venture for any woman dreaming of reporting the news in newspapers and magazines. The story flowed smoothly, and the characters were intriguing, especially as the author delves between Alice’s life in the 1920’s and then in the 1940’s. I found the actual facts behind the story of THE TRIAL OF MRS. RHINELANDER to be a fascinating one and I appreciated how rich the author did in capturing the main character, Alice Jones, and her family.
THE TRIAL OF MRS. RHINELANDER is a story that will capture the interest to all who enjoy historical fiction and is based on a true story. This was the first book of this author I have read, and I am eager to see what else she has published to dive into. It’s an interesting premise that delves into a story that enthralled me and captured my imagination. If you enjoy a different sort of historical fiction, then try THE TRIAL OF MRS. RHINELANDER and settle in to get lost within the pages of a story that will leave you breathless.
**spoiler alert** Sheila Roberts newest women's fiction book is centered around Karissa Newcomb and her daughter who moved to a new town to start over**spoiler alert** Sheila Roberts newest women's fiction book is centered around Karissa Newcomb and her daughter who moved to a new town to start over after a particular devastating divorce and Karissa struggles to let her guard down after she was betrayed so horribly by her husband. A fresh start, a new job and soon new friends as her neighbors make her and her daughter feel at home in their new home and city. I love this author's past books and found her newest book, THE BEST LIFE BOOK CLUB, to be full of heart, friendship and more within the pages. It started out slow for me to get into the book but by midway, I was thouroughly enjoying the characters immensely and found myself rooting for everyone to get their own happy ever after. The writing is swift and entertaining, filled with some intriguing though at times predictable moments but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story of Karissa and her new friends adventures.
The reader meets Karissa, her daughter, Macy, with her neighbors, Alice, Margot and Alice's sister, Josie, soon all become close friends and when they start a book club the fun begins even as each character finds their own issues coming unpacked and learn how to jump start their lives in a way that brings them happiness...if they are brave enough to grab a hold of it. I got to admit, I loved Josie the most. She had a caustic wit about her that hid a tender heart and had me snickering several times throughout the book. Margot and Alice are really fun and interesting women that befriends Karissa and her daughter. What I loved the most about these characters are how they built up one another whenever the other was beaten down with insecurity and doubts. That tribe of friends was a perfect for me to rally behind as they learned to find joy and purpose again as their lives moved in ways that left them wondering what was going on. The books they read and discussed became part of their story individually and collectively which made me eager to see within the story if these characters took heart to what they learned from them even as they scoffed over it all in private. The author does an amazing job in keeping each character unique and so different from one another that I never felt like they were just 'dialing it in' so to speak. The characters were wildly entertaining and kept my attention through out the book.
THE BEST LIFE BOOK CLUB is more than a story about friendships but about each person's journey in life as it tosses curveballs that can make those weaker curl up and whimper. Ms. Roberts delivers a powerful story about the magic of friendship, family love and more as each of the main characters finds their true purpose in life and a friendship that delivers more than a superficial moment of emotion but a richer and much deeper love between all four of them that makes the reader keep reading till the very end. This is such an uplifting story that I was sad to see it end. I can't wait to see what else the author has in store for her readers as we discover Gig Harbor and the residents there that make me long to visit. If your looking for a perfect spring book club book or read, then I highly recommend THE BEST LIFE BOOK CLUB that delivers, laughs, promises, friendship and more within its pages....more
When her parents perish in a tragic accident, Cosima Saverio takes over as head of the family and at the family business, a luxury haute couture ItaliWhen her parents perish in a tragic accident, Cosima Saverio takes over as head of the family and at the family business, a luxury haute couture Italian leather brand. Struggling to process her grief, run the family business as well as help her two siblings: Allegra, who survived the accident that took their parents lives and left her with a spinal injury and her brother, Luca, who prefers to party, women and not make anything in his life. Add in taking care of a four-hundred-year-old Palazzo that has been in their family forever in Venice. At twenty-three, Cosima is struggling but she survives and manages to keep things in balance at the expense of her personal life. But things take a turn when after many years married to her job, she meets Olivier Baynard who is the founder and owner of France’s successful ready to wear handbag company A brief conversation turns into a tour of the Saverio workshop and that turns into a friendship that just might be what Cosima needs at this juncture of her life. Life has a way of throwing curveballs and when Cosima’s brother, Luca, loses a significant sum of money, she has to decide if bailing her wastrel brother once again or maybe this time let him fend for himself for the first time in his life. When the stakes become even higher, Cosima will need the strength to make the right decisions that will not cause her to lose everything she has worked so hard for since twenty-three.
PALAZZO is a tale of family, tragedy and resilience wrapped up in the pages of the latest Danielle Steel book. This author is a hit or miss with me, but PALAZZO delivers on keeping my attention and kept me glued to the pages. Maybe it was the complex cast of characters to the exotic settings of Italy and France that kept me entertained but overall, this book hit all the high nots for me as a reader. The setting is as lush as the Italian landscapes to characters that had me rooting for Cosima to find her way after a tragedy in her family. But what worked for me was how one woman’s life was turned inside out at such a young age and she found the strength to move on, to keep things moving in the right direction, maybe at the expense of her personal life, but it gives the reader a sense of who this main character is as well as her relationship with her siblings. I did enjoy Allegra and how the author doesn’t shy away from her injuries and makes her an upbeat person dealing with a disability that is now part of her life. I liked how Allegra was described in the book and kept me entertained with her bubbly personality. I really was rooting for Cosima to see the light in regard to her brother and in the end, it was a satisfying resolution on that aspect.
PALAZZO delivers family drama, and tragedy, resilience, love and more all wrapped within its pages. For this latest Danielle Steel book, I really recommend it if you enjoy family dynamics, entertaining and complex characters that feel real within the pages and issues that deal with any family amid tragedy and family dynamics.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement....more
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