tracyt223's reviews
1431 reviews

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is the next book in the Dream Harbor series.  In this one, we meet Archer who has been living his best life in Paris as a renowned chef, determined to get his Michelin star.  He then finds out that he has a daughter, Olive.  He had no idea that she even existed, she was the product of one of his many flings and the mother, Cate, never told him and was raising Olive on her own.  Suddenly he finds that he has to step up and be a father to this little girl and has to give up his dreams and move to the sleepy little town.  He gets a job at the local diner and tries desperately to revamp it, much to the dismay of the town.  He needs help with Olive so he can work, they Mayor suggests Iris, whose life is in turmoil and she's barely scraping by.  Although she really doesn't want to be a Nanny, it's an offer that she can't refuse.  It's a live in position and she really needs this for some stability in her life.  Olive is sad and struggles to connect with her new Dad.  Iris really helps bring her out of her shell and bring the family together.  Just one problem, these two have chemistry that is off the charts.  They try to manage their desires for Olive's sake, but of course that plan doesn't go well.  Can they both overcome their issues and make this little family work?

I was a little leery going into this one because it can be tricky to write a romance novel with a small child in the mix, but somehow Laurie managed to pull it off and create a really good story.  As always, I had fun spending a little time in Dream Harbor and connecting with some of the other townspeople.  Thank you to @netgalley and @harper360 for this #gifted copy.  Looking forward to the next one!

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.” This is probably the best opening line of a book I have ever read! It grabbed me from page one and kept me totally enraptured until the very last page.

This novel is such a perfect genre mashup and explores so many different themes, the power of first love, grief and loss, a love triangle, a mystery with courtroom drama. The story weaves perfectly from the present day in the 60's to the past timeline which sets up the events that take place in the current time. These characters were so richly drawn and I felt such empathy for all of them. I was brought to tears more than once and felt so emotional throughout. The setting of the English farm was so rich as well, you felt as though you were there with them.

I was completely swept away by this story and devoured it in two days. The writing is just beautiful and I didn't want it to end. I am so glad to see that @reesesbookclub picked this for the March read, this author deserves all of the attention and accolades this will bring. I've also heard rumors that this has been optioned by Reese also, and I think this would be amazing brought to life on the screen. I can't wait to read more from this author, she has such a way with storytelling. Thank you to @netgalley and @simonandschuster for this gifted copy. I can't recommend this one enough, go pick it up now and thank me later! Beth, Frank and Gabriel are not characters I will soon forget. This book will definitely be in my top 10 of the year. 

Really boring, did not care about these people at all.

Dominic Salt and his three children live on a remote island off the coast of Antarctica, called Shearwater. The island is home to the world's largest seed bank. The waters are rising and soon the island will be uninhabitable. All of the other researchers have already left and the Salt family will only be there a few more weeks finishing up saving and sorting the seeds. After a huge storm, a mysterious woman washes up on the shore, barely alive. They take her in and help nurse her back to health. As we go on, we learn that all is not what it seems and that both Dominic and the woman, Rowan have secrets to hide. As Rowan keeps growing closer to the family she slowly starts to uncover some things. They must decide whether to put aside their differences to work together to save the seeds and themselves. There are lots of twists and turns in this atmospheric story. The island is so well described and definitely becomes a character itself. As the tension continues to mount, you feel like you are trapped on the island with them. The writing is really beautiful and keeps you right in it until the end.

The multicast narration was excellent and really added to the atmosphere of the story. I thought it was maybe a bit long, but overall a great read! Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for this gifted, advanced listeners copy. If you love climate fiction with a bit of mystery and suspense, give this one a try!

 

This story starts out with CeCe, who has traveled to Montana to plan her wedding to Charlie.  She is staying at his family's lake house while he stays in LA with his busy medical career.  Since she will be there alone for a month prior to the wedding, he sends his college friend and wedding officiant, Garrett to check on her and see if she needs any help.  The two meet and do not get along at all at first.  Garrett is very gruff and not very friendly to CeCe.  Garrett's life seems stalled out, he's a baggage handler at an airport and suffers from lasting effects from a long ago tragedy.  Of course this doesn't last for long and the two start to become closer as the wedding draws near.  After Charlie arrives, several of the family and wedding guests start to get a horrible stomach flu.  You start to wonder if the wedding is even going to happen.  The events that unfold from here put their friendships in peril and lead CeCe to question her decisions.  We then follow these three and their families over the course of the next 50 years, and we see the repercussions of their actions and deep scars from past traumas as well.  

This story is tragic, painful and really raw.  Although I didn't really find any of these characters particularly likeable, I couldn't help but be drawn into their story.  I couldn't imagine how it would be a happy ending for everyone.  My other issue with this book is the writing style.  the chapters were very long and then you would flip the page and all of a sudden we have jumped storylines and time also.  It was very jarring and somewhat took me out of the story trying to figure out who was narrating and what time frame we were in.  But I am glad I stuck with it and did end up really enjoying it.  

I can see why this is an Oprah Book Club pick, there is so much to unpack with this one and I think it will make for great discussions.

This novel starts with a shocking murder at Angie and David's home.  This event completely tears apart this family.  David knows they need an attorney to help the family and turns to Martine, an older lawyer in their small town who is looking towards retirement, but David talks her into taking the case.  Martine is much more than just an attorney, she is the mother of Angie's former high school love, Julian, who now lives in New York City.  This scenario throws Angie and Julian together and they must confront their past and the tragedy that happened so long ago.  

This book had so many emotions and really explored family loyalty, grief, guilt carried by long buried secrets and the meaning of true forgiveness.  In the face of extreme circumstances, how much would you be able to forgive.  The quote that really stuck out was “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”   I loved how this one really made you stop and think, and try to figure out just how much you would be willing to forgive in certain circumstances.  

There was just one little part that I would have liked a little more information, that kept it from being a true 5 star read, but I think that is more of a me problem. Overall, a truly fantastic debut that I couldn't put down! Highly recommend!

Another fun time at Rebel Blue Ranch!  This time we finally get Teddy and Gus' story.  They've shared a rivalry for years and years,  She's the best friend of Gus' little sister, so Teddy has always been around.  But suddenly, when Gus needs help with his daughter, Teddy seems to be the surprising answer.  With forced proximity, they soon begin to realize this tension may be something else.  I enjoyed watching them figure this one out.  There was a really sweet storyline between Teddy and her Dad, Hank as well.

My only small complaint is the overuse of the nicknames, I think this came across even more on the audiobook.  Too much "Teddy Baby" and "Sunshine".  Otherwise, I really enjoyed this one just as much as the others in this series.

I loved closing out the year of 1883 with our dear friend, Emma and the rest of St. Crispian's. I thought this book was perfectly done. There was of course Emma's signature wit and humor, but there was a lot more heart in this one as well. We got to see more deeply into her grief concerning Maxwell, I found these parts so touching. The relationships have continued to develop in this one too. We learn more about The Tennant, The Vicar and The Duke. I cannot wait to see what happens in the future with them. The Christmas celebration was perfect and had me tearing up a little too. The next year will be interesting as Emma comes gains her majority. Hopefully Cousin Archibald will get some of his due! 

Frankie is a sweeping novel, spanning decades.  Starting in post-war Ireland, to New York City to London.  As the novel begins, Frankie is in her 80's and has injured her ankle and needs a caregiver to come in and help her at night.  Enter Damian, he arrives to a somewhat closed off and cold woman, but slowly over time she warms to him and begins to tell her amazing story.  Reliving everything brings her back to life and gives her a purpose.  Damian can't help but fall under the spell of her fantastical life.  She starts as a child, living under very difficult circumstances and follows her as she strives for a better and happier life.  This life takes several dramatic turns and I was totally riveted to the story.  Graham Norton can write such richly drawn characters and I felt Frankie was someone that I knew too.  His storytelling is also second to none!  This was my second book of his that I have read, and this one has definitely put him in the auto-buy author category for me!  I also want to check out more of Norton's backlist titles.  

Frankie's life made me sad at times and also made me laugh out loud.  She wormed her way into my heart and she's a character that I won't soon forget.  A true story of friendship, love and finding yourself and what truly makes you happy in life.  A must read!

This was definitely a fast paced and very atmospheric quick, popcorn thriller.  It's about what you expect from Frieda, which is a good time, but it was definitely not my favorite of hers.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.  After "the crash" she is rescued by a big, burly man and she's not sure if she can trust him or not, but she really has no choice.  He takes her to his cabin that he shares with his wife.  Things definitely devolve from there.  It's a locked room type of thriller that has quite a bit on tension.  I thought the ending was pretty good, with a twist I did not see coming.

What didn't work for me as much was that the book seemed like such a similar story to Stephen King's Misery.  And the big one that I've seen several others mention is the way overuse of the nickname "Tuna" for her baby.  I did not need to hear that in my ears quite so many times.  Otherwise the audiobook was well done.

I will continue to read Freida of course, she's always here for a fast paced thriller that keeps you turning the pages!