The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club by Julia Bryan Thomas --
College friends and roommates Tess, Caroline, Merritt, and Evie join a
reading club hosted by Alice, the town's bookshop owner. Pretty good.
The Last Breath by
Kimberly Belle -- After living abroad for sixteen years, Gia returns to
Appalachia to care for her father who is dying from cancer. He was
convicted of her stepmother's murder, but is coming home to die - or
await another trial. An OK book.
The Only One Left
by Riley Sager -- Kit takes a job caring for a lady rumored to have
killed her parents and sister over fifty years ago. While caring for
Lenora Hope, she learns more of the story of what happened back then.
Pretty good one.
Hello Stranger
by Katherine Center -- Sadie is excited when she's chosen as a finalist
in an art competition, but when a medical situation leaves her with
face blindness, she struggles with what to do. Because the competition
is in her speciality: portraiture. Meanwhile she meets Joe and the nice
veterinarian Oliver Addison, and deals with a father who doesn't care
about her very much and her evil stepsister Parker.
Save What's Left
by Elizabeth Castellano -- A rather humorous look at one woman's life
after she moves from Kansas to a beach town in New Jersey. Pretty cute.
A Traitor in Whitehall by
Julia Kelly -- Days after she begins a new job in the war effort,
Evelyne discovers a murdered coworker. She teams up with David Poole to
investigate who could have killed Jean, and also the two work to uncover
a mole.
How Can I Help You
by Laura Sims -- Margo is a former nurse who changed her name and
started working in a library. Patricia is a trained librarian stuck in a
rinky dink library where her work at the reference desk includes people
calling to ask her the number for the car part store and how far one
town is from another. Yet Patricia finds Margo intriguing...especially
since Margo let it slip that she left her nursing job mid-shift due to
hospital politics. Who does that?
Ladies of the Lake
by Cathy Gohlke -- A good story about four friends who met at a ladies'
school in Connecticut around the time of the first world war. Adelaide,
Dot, Susannah, and Ruth promised to be there for each other through
thick and thin. Alternating between their days at school and then as
adults, this book was an enjoyable read.
Good Bad Girl
by Alice Feeney -- Patience is a young care worker in a home for old
people, and she sneaks Edith's dog up to her every once in a while. She
lives above the art gallery of a guy who wants her to spy for him.
Meanwhile Clio is trying to afford the fees for her mother's care while
Frankie is looking for her runaway daughter. This book was a bit
confusing to get into, but got better as more of the story unfolded.
Confessions on the 7:45
by Lisa Unger -- Selena and her family are dealing with the
disappearance of the children's nanny, meanwhile Anna aka Martha aka
____ is perfecting her con. The women meet on the 7:45 train. Pretty
good if you like these types of books!
The Grandmother Plot
by Caroline B. Cooney -- Freddy is a twenty-six year old who likes
making things with glass. He also is the one selected to care for his
grandmother who has dementia so he moves to Connecticut for that. He
visits her in her memory care home, and meets interesting characters.
Oh, someone is murdered. This was an ok book.
Blood Will Tell
by Heather Chavez -- Frankie is a single mom who balances life with her
son Julian, being a math teacher, and trying to keep track of her
younger sister, Izzy. Izzy has issues with drugs and drinking too much,
and Frankie often bails her out of her troubles. In this book Frankie
investigates what happened five years ago when Rachel died, and also why
was her truck involved in an AMBER alert?
The Air Raid Book Club
by Annie Lyons -- Gertie is a widow thinking of selling the bookshop
she ran with her beloved husband, but then the war happened and her
friend Charles approaches her about taking in a German Jewish child.
Which she does. Hedy is fifteen and things are rough for a while as the
two come to terms with living together. Pretty good story.
The Paris Agent
by Kelly Rimmer -- This book is told from the perspectives of Eloise
and Josie who were SOE agents in the war. Also, Charlotte is the
daughter to an agent, Noah, who in the 1970s tells his daughter about
his wartime activities. Whereas she always thought he was a mechanic in
the war, she found out he was a spy. Pretty good.
The Favor
by Nicci French -- When Jude is contacted by a highschool boyfriend
eleven years later, she agrees to Liam's request to meet and do a favor
for him. But when he never shows up at their meeting place, Jude
questions her agreement to help him.
The Neighbor's Secret by
L. Alison Heller -- These book club members are dealing with a lot and
more than one neighbor has a secret. Annie has a relationship she wants
to keep hidden, and her daughter Laurel is acting out. Jen is scared
that she's raising a sociopath, and wants answers for - and a school
that will accept - her son Abe. Lena has her own long-held secret about
the night a young man died. Whewie! This book was pretty good.
The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by
Melanie Dobson -- This book alternates between the voices of Chloe in
present times, and Amelia, Birdie and a few other characters in the
past. Chloe runs a candy shop on one of the Thousand Islands where Poppy
Pendleton disappeared decades ago. She and a reporter named Logan try
to solve the mystery. Meanwhile Chloe is watching a young girl who
showed up, but refuses to say where she's from.
Dark Corners
by Megan Goldin -- Rachel Krall is a podcaster invited to Florida by
the FBI because a prisoner they suspect of several murders is getting
ready to be released. Using an old Instagram account, Rachel goes
undercover at a local convention for social media influencers in order
to learn more about a popular influencer Maddison who has gone missing.
Pretty good.
She Started It
by Sian Gilbert -- Anabel, Tanya, Chloe, and Esther were shocked when
someone from their past invited them to her hen weekend, an all-expenses
paid trip to a private island in the Bahamas. Why is Poppy wanting
these particular women to be part of her wedding? They bullied her in
school! Granted, that was ten-plus years ago, but still.
The Swindler's Daughter
by Stephenia H. McGee -- This book was ok, nothing special. Lillian is
stunned when her father dies and leaves her his property. Why is she
stunned? Well, all her life her mom claimed to be a widow, but it turns
out, her parents were never married and Liliian's dad was alive until
just recently. She travels to the place her father lives to settle the
estate, and meets a family living in her dad's house.
