What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins

This debut novel has been getting all the buzz lately. It’s slightly different than a normal book I would pick up, but I’m anxious to see what everyone’s talking about!

Thank you Riverhead Books for my gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: After the shocking death of two teenage boys tears apart a community in the Pacific Northwest, a mysterious pregnant girl emerges out of the woods and into the lives of those same boys’ families–a moving and hopeful novel about forgiveness and human connection. In misty, coastal Washington State, Isaac lives alone with his dog, grieving the recent death of his teenage son, Daniel. Next door, Lorrie, a working single mother, struggles with a heinous act committed by her own teenage son. Separated by only a silvery stretch of trees, the two parents are emotionally stranded, isolated by their great losses–until an unfamiliar sixteen-year-old girl shows up, bridges the gap, and changes everything. Evangeline’s arrival at first feels like a blessing, but she is also clearly hiding something. When Isaac, who has retreated into his Quaker faith, isn’t equipped to handle her alone, Lorrie forges her own relationship with the girl. Soon all three characters are forced to examine what really happened in their overlapping pasts, and what it all possibly means for a shared future.

What a beautiful, heartbreaking story. If you loved “Where the Crawdads Sing”, I think you’ll really enjoy this one! This is more than just a typical “coming-of-age” story and not quite a mystery novel. I think that’s what I like best about it. The writing is breathtaking, especially for a debut author! This is one of those books that will stick with you for a long time. Highly recommended!

5/5 Stars

How To Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway

I treated myself last night to an at-home spa night with this book in hand because…well who DOESN’T want a spa night with a book in hand?!

Thank you Harlequin and Graydon Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: By day, Mel Strickland is an underemployed helpdesk tech at a startup incubator, Hatch, where she helps entitled brogrammers—”Hatchlings”—who can’t even fix their own laptops, but are apparently the next wave of startup geniuses. And by night, she goes on bad dates with misbehaving dudes she’s matched with on the ubiquitous dating app, Fluttr. But after one dick pic too many, Mel has had it. Using her brilliant coding skills, she designs an app of her own, one that allows users to log harrassers and abusers in online dating space. It’s called JerkAlert, and it goes viral overnight. Mel is suddenly in way over her head. Worse still, her almost-boyfriend, the dreamy Alex Hernandez—the only non-douchey guy at Hatch—has no idea she’s the brains behind the app. Soon, Mel is faced with a terrible choice: one that could destroy her career, love life, and friendships, or change her life forever.

Well, I’ve done it again. I devoured a book in one sitting! The bathtub water was mighty cold for sure! This was adorable! I especially loved the female STEM aspect in this book (speaking as a female scientist by trade myself). We need more good role-model books like this! The only thing I struggled with in this book is understanding Mel as a character. I really thought I had her all figured out, but each chapter surprised me. I felt like I was constantly going, “What are you doing Mel? I didn’t think you would do/say that!” It added for a fun twist into figuring out where the story would go. Super cute and easy read! This one comes out July 30th, 2019 and you can pick up your copy here!

4/5 Stars

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas

I’m a sucker for time travel novels. And, isn’t this cover beautiful?! Thank you crooked lane books for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads: In 1967, four female scientists worked together to build the world’s first time machine. But just as they are about to debut their creation, one of them suffers a breakdown, putting the whole project—and future of time travel—in jeopardy. To protect their invention, one member is exiled from the team—erasing her contributions from history. Fifty years later, time travel is a big business. Twenty-something Ruby Rebello knows her beloved grandmother, Granny Bee, was one of the pioneers, though no one will tell her more. But when Bee receives a mysterious newspaper clipping from the future reporting the murder of an unidentified woman, Ruby becomes obsessed: could it be Bee? Who would want her dead? And most importantly of all: can her murder be stopped?

I LOVED the premise of this book – a story about 4 women scientists who’ve developed the ability to travel through time (woohoo, go girl science power)! The problem with this one was how quick the story went. I wanted more detail about how their scientific discovery went in the beginning of the book. The first few chapters were so crucial, I just felt like they flew by! The story takes a quick turn to focus on a murder mystery, almost leaving the revel of discovery behind in the dust. A very unique story, but I just wanted more.  I’m not sure if I liked having to switch to the mindset of being between a sci-fi novel, contemporary fiction novel, and a mystery.

3/5 Stars

The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain

I have just recently become a Diane Chamberlain fan. Where has she been my whole life!? I have a lot of catching up to do with her books, but this was a great place to start.

Thank you St Martin’s Press for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Carly Sears has recently lost her husband in the Vietnam war and just found out that her daughter that she’s pregnant with has a fatal heart condition. For it being 1970, there is no sucess rate for the pregnancy. Carly is devestated. In comes her brother-in-law Hunter with a life-changing soultion. He can help her travel to the future to get the procedure needed and save her daughter’s life. Does she decide to make the travel? Does her daughter survive?

This book captured my attention right away and I could not put it down. I don’t want to give away too many details about this one because I feel like it spoils the whole experience for you if I do. I will say that about half way through the book, I got mad. I felt all the frustrations of Carly and I wanted to throw the book across the room. But, I digress….I had to keep going to find out what happened and I’m so glad I did. The twist at the end of the book was so well worth it and the ending was absolutely perfect.

4/5 Stars

Lies She Told by Cate Holahan

Books with twists are my guilty pleasure. I’m obsessed with them as of lately. I had heard that this was full of them so I, of course, dove right in.

Lies She Told is a story about an author (pretty cool set-up in a novel) who is simutaneously writing a book while living out her life. The novel is set-up so that every other chapter is either her novel or about her personal life. In her personal life, her husband’s coworker is missing and it’s causing conflict in their marriage. At the same time, she’s second guessing as to what truly is going on with her real life vs. what’s going on in her novel. There are a BUNCH of twists in the end that I don’t necessarily want to give away here that involve finding out what happened to the coworker and who is at fault.

This was a super easy read. I finished it in just a few hours one night while my husband was playing his new video game (hah!). The problem with this one, for me, was that there were TOO many twists. It was like the author got too excited about the story line and couldn’t make up her mind as to what she wanted the ending to be. The storyline seemed to go back and forth SO many times, I was actually getting frustrated about it. I was almost mad that I wasted my evening reading it. I will be forward and say I’m not a huge fan of multiple viewpoints in stories and I actually read the two storylines separate from each other. I actually really appreciated doing that instead of reading both stories at the same time. I did enjoy the storyline of her infertility as I, too, have endometriosis (I am EXTREMELY blessed that I don’t have infertility though thanks to my multiple surgeries I’ve had at a young age). I don’t think it was described as accurately as it could have been, but I can appreciate when author’s put it in their novel. Can’t say I would want to pick this one up ever again.

2.5/5 Stars

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer

I’ll be honest, I was (and admittedly maybe still am??) a Twilight fan. I started reading the books when they first came out years and years ago. So, every time I see a new book by Ms. Meyer, I feel like I just HAVE to read it. I hadn’t thought about her in a while and just recently came across this novel. I really enjoyed The Host and was quite excited to dive into this one.

The Chemist is about a ex-government secret agent who is on the run from her former boss. She has been given a second chance at her job (essential a second chance at safety and her life) by following up on a potential drug bust case. She takes it cautiously and, in turn, meets twin brothers. One of the twins is on the run from his boss, while the other becomes her lover. Obviously, the job is NOT what she expected it to be. Thus, cue the exact typical Stepehnie Meyer story line.

I gave it a good try, I really did. I just couldn’t even finish it. I was so dissapointed because I thought she really could have had potential when diving into a new genre of thriller/suspense. It literally read the exact same way as all of her other books did. I read 3/4ths of the way in and just jumped to the last chapter to still not even leave impressed. Don’t get me a wrong, I am a sucker for romance, but this was just so predictable and dry, I almost felt nothing. I was grabbed in by the first few chapters, but it just left me hanging from there. It completely dragged on. Sorry Stephanie, I’ll just stick with going back to reading the Host when I want to indulge myself in your writing again.

 

2.5/5 stars