Over the Teacups - Short Reviews

I read a number of books I don't fully review, so I have decided to start acknowledging them here in short reviews - which lets face it - are the best!

Why?I chose this one for the Better World Reading Challenge - category: by a person of color.

 I have been meaning to try a Beverly Jenkins book and this gave me the incentive.

Plot

It introduces Bernadine a 50 something woman who buys up a town that is in trouble and helps it out. She has quite a few millions to spare after a successful divorce!  House renovations are fun so a whole town in Texas has to better - right!

As well because Bernadine has a degree in social work she brings into the community some children to foster, and various people do. They are a very interesting bunch.

What Appealed to Me?

The variety of characters - all who add to this story and Bernadine herself who while wealthy is so down to earth and open to helping others. It's also a light book, with a funny turn of phrase every so often that had me chuckling. It has some very poignant moments too. And some serious issues that are touched with a light hand. Probably not overly realistic but I'm reading for enjoyment here.
 (4 stars)

And so... this is the first in a series set in this town. I own a copy of the paperback version of Bring on the Blessings. I've ordered the next book!

Why? Do you need to ask? It has bookshop in the title what other reason do I need! I have listened to at least one other by this author and liked it as well.

Plot.  Two summer friends end up back at the beach house they knew as children. Lainey lost her mother there when she was 13 yrs and has never got over it - lost as in went missing.  Bonnie is a doctor who had something go wrong in the emergency room and she is awaiting the outcome. And she has just left her husband. As well there is her daughter Piper who has a few issues.  Mimi runs the bookshop and she knows what her buyers need to read, not what they might want.

What Appealed to me? I loved this story of three women, lost somewhat, at turning points in their lives. It was thought provoking as well. It was about loss and love, making mistakes, finding out who you really are. I listened to the audio version of this book and the three narrators were excellent. I think this will be one of my favourite books of 2017.
5 stars.
And so... I will certainly read more  Patti Callahan Henry books at some point.

Why? I noticed on the bookshelves in the shop and as I was looking for a book set in Asia for the BetterWorld reading challenge, I decided to buy and read it.

Plot. Dragon Springs Road  is about a young Eurasian girl - Jialing. It is set in Shanghai in the first quarter of the twentieth century, when women in China of all kinds had a difficult time. However Eurasians were especially despised. Jialing is left one day by her mother and when discovered becomes a bond servant. She befriends one of the girls in the house and even receives some education through missionaries. However the family's situation changes and Jialing is on her own as a young women having to find her way. One attribute Jialing has is resilience and the help of Fox - a Chinese Spirit who watches over her.

What Appealed to Me? The setting and learning about the way of living in China at that time. The fantasy aspect of the story where Fox was involved. There were some really touching moments  in the book and I liked the bravery on Jialing's part.   Plus  things worked out and the way the book ended was very satisfactory for me. Well worth reading.
5 stars
And so... It was good for me to diversify my reading a little.

The Beach at Painter's Cove. Shelley Noble

Published:William Morrow
Date: June 15th 2017
Format:e-ARC
Pages: 432
Genre: Mainstream Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating:
            

The Whitaker family’s Connecticut mansion, Muses by the Sea, has always been a haven for artists, a hotbed of creativity, extravagances, and the occasional scandal. Art patrons for generations, the Whitakers supported strangers but drained the life out of each other. Now, after being estranged for years, four generations of Whitaker women find themselves once again at The Muses.

The Beach at Painter's Cove by Shelley Noble brings us into the lives of the Whitaker family in an old family mansion. It is a multi-generational family, a little unusual and certainly dysfunctional, and very certainly not ordinary.

Issy is called home from her work in a museum by her young niece Mandy. She and her brother and sister Stephanie have been dropped off at their great - grandmother's house by their mother who has then disappeared. Arriving home Issy finds bills unpaid and her grandmother Leo in hospital and her aunt Fae trying to hold things together.  

Fortunately for Issy she has good friends in Chloe and Ben, who are there at every turn as Issy tries to deal with the situation she finds at the house. Worse is yet to come, its possible the house will need to be sold and her rather selfish mother, sister and uncle are yet to descend on her.

I liked Issy, she is responsible and ultimately caring, she loves her grandmother and aunt and wants to do right by them. She has reservations and anxieties about being sent from the house and the memories she has of her own childhood. Yet she seems to be the most rounded human being in her family.

Another character that I felt sympathy for was Fae, she appears to be well a little fay, she is arty and a little out of the ordinary, but her heart too was in the right place and she has made sacrifices for the good of others.  I liked especially how she could see where twelve year old Stephanie was coming from and was able to connect with her in a special way. I totally agreed with Fae's final choice.

There is plenty of family drama, some mystery, a tiny amount of romance and some growth for most of the characters.  Living in the Whitaker family would never be dull.

On Second Thought. Kristan Higgins

Published: HQN Books
Date: 31st January 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 480
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                  

Ainsley O'Leary is so ready to get married—she's even found the engagement ring her boyfriend has stashed away. What she doesn't anticipate is for Eric to blindside her with a tactless breakup he chronicles in a blog…which (of course) goes viral. Devastated and humiliated, Ainsley turns to her half sister, Kate, who's already struggling after the sudden loss of her new husband.

Kate has always been so poised, so self-assured, but Nathan's death shatters everything she thought she knew—including her husband—and sometimes the people who step up aren't the ones you expect. With seven years and a murky blended-family dynamic between them, Ainsley and Kate have never been overly close, but their shared sorrow dovetails their faltering worlds into one.

On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins was a read that I couldn't put down. I came back to it any time I had, other things I thoroughly enjoy were put aside. I was totally hooked into this book, I laughed and at times a few tears slipped down from the sheer perfection of some of the relationships and how they worked out.

The book is told from the point of view of two sisters. Kate the older one, not long married to Nathan has found the love of her life and is hoping for a child, until the unthinkable happens and a freak accident takes him from her. She becomes the widow, encased in a grief locked inside her. Nathan's family are very much part of this story and the way the relationship with Kate develops is very interested - especially Kate's mother-in-law. 

Ainsley is the younger sister, they share the same father but not the same mother. However Candy has raised Ainsley and while Ainsley doesn't quite feel the love there, she finds a few surprises along the way.  Ainsley has been in a very long term relationship with Eric, the guy with the size of an ego that blinds him. He is a total ass. Ainsley is so kind and caring and loving she hasn't really seen him for who he really is.  When it all turns to custard it turns out Ainsley and Kate begin to share things never shared before and the development of their relationship is deeply satisfying.

I warmed very much to both sisters, perhaps Ainsley a little more at first, but both of them are wonderful women, finding their way together through tough times. There extended family provide extra entertainment and Gram Gram - Candy's mother and the girls grandmother is totally incorrigible and a load of fun.

While this book is more than romance there are a couple of wonderful guys also in the story who really 'get' the women and are there for them. 

On Second Thought was a delectable, delightful read - it hit all the right buttons for me, I was captivated by every part of it.

Mulberry Moon. Catherine Anderson.

Published: Berkley Publishing - Jove.
Date: 3rd January 2017
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 448
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                  

Sissy Sue Bentley has worked hard to make it on her own, and she doesn’t need another man in her life. From her alcoholic father to the men she’s dated, who were after only one thing, they are nothing but trouble. Except Ben keeps showing up whenever she really needs help. Sissy struggles to deny her growing feelings for him—but soon Ben’s tender concern has her hoping for a happier future.

Then her past comes barreling back into her life, and it will take more than the love in Ben’s heart to hold them together.

Mulberry Moon was another very enjoyable read from Catherine Anderson. Her small town story, filled with family and supportive towns people, animals and drama, all add up to a very good read. I love the cover of this book and the Indian saying that goes with the mulberry moon.

Ben Sterling is the hero of the story and like all other Catherine Anderson heroes, a fine man with values and respect for himself and others. And with a mother that always expects the best of her sons! He turns his hand to helping Sissy who has overloaded herself with chickens and really doesn't have too much idea about how to care for them. The chicken part of the story is a lot of fun and well actually... very informative. As well Ben has a very trusty puppy named Finnegan who is downright adorable.

On the other hand Sissy is without family and setting up a business single handedly in Mystic Creek. She has guts and determination and is beginning to make a success of her small cafe. The people in town like her and are beginning to watch out for her.  Her family background is the opposite of Ben's one.  She had the bad luck of an abusive father and a battered, abused mother. Escaping there clutches was the best thing Sissy ever did.

It doesn't take long for Ben to become smitten with Sissy, however although she likes him her background means she is not going to trust easily. But Ben has a plan - wait her out and don't crowd her.

There is plenty of action in the story, it is well paced, peppered with extremely delightful animals and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Bishop's Girl. Rebecca Burns

Published: Odyssey Books
Date: September 2016
Format: Kindle
Pages: 320
Genre: Historical/Contemporary Fiction
Source:Author
Rating:
            

The body had no name. It was not supposed to be there...

Jess is a researcher on a quest to give the one-hundred-year-old skeleton, discovered in the exhumed grave of a prominent bishop, an identity. But she's not sure of her own - her career is stalling, her marriage is failing. She doesn't want to spend hours in the archives, rifling through dusty papers in an endless search for a name. And when a young man named Hayden makes clear his interest in her, Jess has to decide what is most important to her.

The Bishop's Girl by Rebecca Burns was a fascinating and intriguing read. Weaving its way through various time periods in a way that wove together a complex story, which  linked together extremely well.

Jess is an archivist working for a demanding researcher - Waller, he has spent many years trying to find out the name of the mystery woman buried with a bishop in France during the First World War. How did that happen? DNA says they are related, but how?  Eventually Jess after much painstaking work links up with another researcher at her work place and together they begin to untangle the mystery.

At home Jess' marriage is going through a time of crisis, her husband is remote, her older son a typical teen and her daughter a little bewildered from what is happening around her. I felt sorry for Jess, as the intimacy from her marriage seems to have disappeared, but will she find it elsewhere? 

We are also taken back to Greece, to England and to France in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century learning about the people who populated the letters that Jess was reading and researching. I don't want to talk too much about the plot because much of the satisfaction of this book is seeing it all revealed.

The characters are very real and ordinary. Yet complex. What stands out is the question about how well do we know others? What secrets do they carry? What hurts? What are the motives for certain actions? People are multi layered. 

I appreciated Jess' efforts to find and name the unknown girl, to give her a place and have her remembered. To ultimately care and respect this young woman.  

All I Ever Wanted. Lucy Dillon

Published: Hachette NZ
Date: 29 November 2016
Format: Paperback
Pages: 406
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Hachette NZ
Rating:
                          

Nancy is four, nearly five. She talks all the time. But then, one February morning, everything changes, and Nancy stops talking.

Eva is forty-four, nearly fort-five. She didn't expect to be the third wife of a semi-retired bad boy Michael Quinn fell in love. It was the love of a lifetime for them both - until Mickey dies suddenly, leaving Eva alone.

While Nancy's parents negotiate their separation, the question of weekend contact is solved when Patrick volunteers his siser Eva's house. It's plenty of room for her to get to know a niece and nephew she's barely met.

The fortnightly presence of two children in her peaceful, grown-up home initially drives Eva to exhaustion, but as spring turns to summer, a trust slowly forms between an anxious little girl and a woman who realised too late that what her soul years for is the love of a child.

All I Ever Wanted is a book that drew me in and had me hooked into the lives of the various characters in the book. 

Nancy is a small four year old, full of life, until she makes a wish that comes true, and she is so traumatised by it she stops speaking. She is a sweet little thing and I love her relationship with a dog.

Joel is ten and it seems like he bounces of the wall at times. He exudes energy and enthusiasm. Sometimes that lands him in small time trouble. Yet he is kind and thoughtful and always has an eye out for his young sister Nancy.

Patrick is their Dad, we aren't given his point of view in the book so at times it was hard to get a read on him. He certainly has his annoying qualities and at times I was ready to totally despair of him. Yet these qualities were balanced by others that redeemed him, and so I was holding an open mind for him - just!

Caitlin, his wife and mother to Nancy and Joel, I found equally frustrating. At times she was rather in my view irresponsible and while she rightly resented some things about Patrick, she still had faults of her own that needed some attention. Yet she is a wonderful mother and her children are at the centre.

Eva is Patrick's sister, widowed after a shortish marriage, she is just beginning to re-evaluate her life and to see what she wants now. I loved her the most, and along with her two dogs - Bumble and Bee - she is very integral to the story. My favourite scene in the book involves her and the dogs. Won't give away who else is there as well!

All the characters develop in the book in satisfying ways. All of them could be your next door neighbour. They weren't idealistic amazing people, but like you and me, facing the challenges thrown at them, sometimes well and sometimes not.

It was my first time reading a Lucy Dillon book, and I will certainly be very happy to read  other books by her. 

Faithful. Alice Hoffman

Published: Simon & Schuster
Date: 1st November 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 272
Genre:Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
              

What happens when a life is turned inside out? When love is something so distant it may as well be a star in the sky?

Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future. In New York City she finds a circle of lost and found souls—including an angel who’s been watching over her ever since that fateful icy night.

From the very first lines of this book, I knew I was in the hands of a master storyteller and writer. I was immediately sucked in and just lived every minute of it with Shelby in Faithful by Alice Hoffman. 

Imagine feeling responsible for a car accident (even though it was one of those accidents on an icy road) where someone is so seriously injured that they are in a coma for evermore. That happens to Shelby and it sends her into a spiral of depression, anxiety and self harm. 

However the one thing about Shelby is she was a good person before the accident and however bad things get for her, however bad she acts, there is a heart that beats inside her, that is still her. While she doesn't recognise it at first her mother is there for her, a mysterious black angel who leaves postcards is there for her, even the boyfriend she sends away is good for her. 

She also makes friends with Maravelle and her family of three children - and while Shelby maintains she doesn't like children, watch what happens.  

I loved the way Shelby one step at a time, made her way back from the throes of self harm, self hate and depression. Reaching out to others was key. She was especially caring of dogs, and for awhile I was afraid she was going to turn into a reclusive dog lady, with an apartment full of dogs and little else. 

Definitely a very satisfying read and I will carry this one around in my heart for quite a while.