Must Read

Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes



Yet another winner from Jojo Moyes.  She has a fantastic voice that keeps the reader engaged throughout the story.  More importantly, she is able to juggle dynamic characters and their backstories, developing relationships that make you empathize and wonder how things will ever be resolved.  This story takes place on the coast of Australia, in a small town supported only by a thin stream of tourists interested in the seasonal whale watching.  Once a large land development firm sets their eyes on the town, it becomes a fight for the whales, a fight for a way of life, and a fight for love.


Lazy Weekend

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway


I didn't give this one a "Must Read" because it got tripped up in its own concept.  The idea is that there are certain people throughout time who, when faced with a life changing event which is often death, are able to zip forward in time.  These people are managed by a time traveling organization, The Guild, that takes care of their acclimatization in their new time period.  While Nick is starting to enjoy his new life, he knows that he left behind the one love of his life; so when The Guild creates an exception to the rule of no time travel back to your former life, Nick is confronted again with the opportunity to both find his love and help save the time spectrum - of course this is where the time traveling concept gets overly complex.  Overall, not a bad story, but I probably won't purchase the sequels.

London Belles by Annie Groves


I got this book from an iBooks sale a few months ago.  It chronicles four women with widely different personalities and circumstances, living together in boarding house in central London while coping with the change brought on by impending war and German air raids.  It's not a horribly compelling story, most likely because it was meant as an intro book for a series, but definitely worth consideration for a lazy weekend.

Thirty-Two and a Half Complications by Denise Grover Swank


This is the 5th book in the Rose Gardner series.  I plowed through the first 4 back in April, and loved this new book equally as much.  Now the wait until November's release of the 6th book...

Skip This

The One and Only by Emily Griffith



A Joe Paterno-esque 56 year-old football coach, a football obsessed Texas town, and a young woman (Shea) with daddy issues.  The coach is Shea's best friend's dad.  Shea hooks up with her best friend's dad!!  I basically skimmed the rest of the book after that.  Oh and there's also some suspected domestic violence that was swept under the rug for the good of the college football program.  Nice! (note the sarcasm) I have not read any of Emily Giffin's books, but I have seen the movie for Something Borrowed where the main character sleeps with her best friend's fiancee, so really one could say I should not have been surprised by the plot of The One and Only.  I guarantee it's the last Emily Giffin book I will read, or partially read in this case.  When I looked it up on Goodreads, the number of 1-star ratings was too many to count.  Thankfully, I received this book as part of my PopSugar monthly subscription box, and it wasn't a direct purchase.

Top Secret Twenty One by Janet Evanovich


 I love the Stephanie Plum character and the books, but I strongly feel that the story line started to deteriorate a few books ago and now is completely exhausted.  Janet Evanovich should exert more energy on her newer series.