Dorothea Benton Frank
This book was my favorite of the bunch, even though it was a little different than I anticipated. In this story, you'll follow a couple over a span of about 20 years, as they vacation together in Charleston with another couple. Using the voice of both the husband, Adam, and the wife, Eliza, you'll see the changes in the couples and their children as the years progress, including how things left unresolved turn into larger issues. I was concerned a couple of times that things would take a turn for the (adulterous) worse, but thankfully, I was wrong. I happen to love both the coast, and The South, so this book was already a perfect fit for me, but the main character, Eliza, is a home cook, and the author's descriptive and detailed account of her meals and the ambiance surrounding their holiday tables was the extra touch needed to make this book stand out as my favorite. It's an added bonus that you'll also travel to Europe with the same attention to detail and ability to paint a picture of a setting beautifully.
Here's a review from Amazon:
"New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank returns to her magical Lowcountry of South Carolina in this bewitching story of marriage, love, family, and friendship that is infused with her warm and engaging earthy humor and generous heart.
One enchanted summer, two couples begin a friendship that will last more than twenty years and transform their lives.
A chance meeting on the Isle of Palms, one of Charleston’s most stunning barrier islands, brings former sweethearts, Adam Stanley and Eve Landers together again. Their respective spouses, Eliza and Carl, fight sparks of jealousy flaring from their imagined rekindling of old flames. As Adam and Eve get caught up on their lives, their partners strike up a deep friendship—and flirt with an unexpected attraction—of their own.
Year after year, Adam, Eliza, Eve, and Carl eagerly await their reunion at Wild Dunes, a condominium complex at the island’s tip end, where they grow closer with each passing day, building a friendship that will withstand financial catastrophe, family tragedy, and devastating heartbreak. The devotion and love they share will help them weather the vagaries of time and enrich their lives as circumstances change, their children grow up and leave home, and their twilight years approach.
Bursting with the intoxicating richness of Dorothea Benton Frank’s beloved Lowcountry—the sultry sunshine, cool ocean breezes, icy cocktails, and starry velvet skies—Same Beach, Next Year is a dazzling celebration of the infrangible power of friendship, the enduring promise of summer, and the indelible bonds of love."
Bunmi Laditan
If you're a new mama, a seasoned mom, or looking forward to a future including motherhood - this book is worth a quick read. In this book, you follow the main character's quest to become the perfect mom according the the advice dished out by her favorite blogger. Gluten free, organic, and gentle partenting failure led to many laughs on my end, and helped me reflect on the years of being a new mom in a way I hadn't for quite some time. I actually longed for the mess of that season when I finished the book, and it totally shed a new light on those early years of motherhood that are such a blur in hindsight. Trust me on this one - you'll want to hug this girl by the end of the book.
Here's Amazon's review:
"There are good moms and bad moms—and then there are hot-mess moms. Introducing Ashley Keller, career girl turned stay-at-home mom who's trying to navigate the world of Pinterest-perfect, Facebook-fantastic and Instagram-impressive mommies but failing miserably.
When Ashley gets the opportunity to participate in the Motherhood Better boot camp run by the mommy-blog-empire maven she idolizes, she jumps at the chance to become the perfect mom she's always wanted to be. But will she fly high or flop?
With her razor-sharp wit and knack for finding the funny in everything, Bunmi Laditan creates a character as flawed and lovable as Bridget Jones or Becky Bloomwood while hilariously lambasting the societal pressures placed upon every new mother. At its heart, Ashley's story reminds moms that there's no way to be perfect, but many ways to be great."
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Going into this book, I assumed it was going to be an easy, fairy tale, romance novel. I had no clue how the main character would have trouble choosing between her husband and her fiance, but the more I read, the more I felt conflicted, as well. In this story, the main character, Emma, loses her husband to a helicopter accident, and eventually he is presumed dead. Years later, she learns to move on and move home, meets someone, wrestles with the guilt of her new feelings, and surrenders to love. It is then that her husband is found, and the remainder of the story focuses on her conflict and how she ends up making a choice - which she does. Either way she chose, it would've ripped my heart out and filled it all at once, so it's no surprise that I was a sobbing mess by the end.
Here's Amazon's review:
"From the author of Maybe in Another Life—named a People Magazine pick—comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life.
In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.
On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.
Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.
That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.
Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?
Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying."
Liz Fenton
This was a lighthearted, quick read, and honestly - I'd recommend it to a college aged woman, or young adult. However, the character was likable, and this was a book I could pick up and set down a few minutes at a time. This is about a woman, essentially left at the altar, who discovers that she can use her Facebook status as a genie in a bottle. She attempts to rewrite her future and discovers that she may not know what's best for her after all. I was disappointing in the ending, and the details didn't wow me, but I don't regret reading it, it was sweet, fun, and a good break between heavier content.
Here's Amazon's take:
"What would you do if you could literally rewrite your fate—on Facebook? This heartwarming and hilarious new novel from the authors of Your Perfect Life follows a woman who discovers she can change her life through online status updates.
Kate is a thirty-five-year-old woman who is obsessed with social media. So when her fiancé, Max, breaks things off at their rehearsal dinner—to be with Kate’s close friend and coworker, no less—she goes straight to Facebook to share it with the world. But something’s changed. Suddenly, Kate’s real life starts to mirror whatever she writes in her Facebook status. With all the power at her fingertips, and heartbroken and confused over why Max left her, Kate goes back in time to rewrite their history.
Kate's two best friends, Jules and Liam, are the only ones who know the truth. In order to convince them she’s really time traveled, Kate offers to use her Facebook status to help improve their lives. But her attempts to help them don’t go exactly as planned, and every effort to get Max back seems to only backfire, causing Kate to wonder if it’s really possible to change her fate.
In The Status of All Things, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke combine the humor and heart of Sarah Pekkanen and Jennifer Weiner while exploring the pitfalls of posting your entire life on the Internet. They raise the questions: What if you could create your picture-perfect life? Would you be happy? Would you still be you? For anyone who’s ever attempted—or failed—to be their perfect self online, this is a story of wisdom and wit that will leave you with new appreciation for the true status of your life."
Laurie Gelman
Here's my big disappointment. This book could've been SO GOOD. The story line is fun, the character is sassy but likable, but the amount of vulgarity and divisive speech among women kept me from finishing the book. The idea is that this mom, who is the Kindergarten class mom, has been around this block once already. Her older kids are college aged and she has a son now in Kindergarten, so she's taking a no-nonsense approach to this whole class mom deal, including recording response time to emails and not allowing requests for conference times, etc. The language was an unnecessary distraction to the fun idea, so for me...it was ruined.
Here's the Amazon review:
"Jen Dixon is not your typical Kansas City kindergarten class mom―or mom in general. Jen already has two college-age daughters by two different (probably) musicians, and it’s her second time around the class mom block with five-year-old Max―this time with a husband and father by her side. Though her best friend and PTA President sees her as the “wisest” candidate for the job (or oldest), not all of the other parents agree.
From recording parents’ response times to her emails about helping in the classroom, to requesting contributions of “special” brownies for curriculum night, not all of Jen’s methods win approval from the other moms. Throw in an old flame from Jen’s past, a hyper-sensitive “allergy mom,” a surprisingly sexy kindergarten teacher, and an impossible-to-please Real Housewife-wannabe, causing problems at every turn, and the job really becomes much more than she signed up for.
Relatable, irreverent, and hilarious in the spirit of Maria Semple this is a fresh, welcome voice in fiction―the kind of novel that real moms clamor for, and a vicarious thrill-read for all mothers, who will be laughing as they are liberated by Gelman’s acerbic truths."
Here's my video review if you's like more info:
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