Twenty crime stories by the creator of Jack Reacher, never before collected
For the past twenty years, Lee Child has been one of the bestselling authors in the world, thanks to the popularity of his iconic and instantly recognizable hero Jack Reacher. But even at the height of Reacher’s fame, Child’s short story writing was not confined to the series; throughout the course of his career, he published tales about a range of characters on both sides of the law, including assassins, a body guard, CIA and FBI agents, gangsters, and more. Meticulously plotted and packed with Child’s trademark action and suspense, this collection shows the author’s mastery of the short form.
In “Ten Keys,” a drug-dealing hit man feels that he must unburden his fears and guilt to a stranger. A rookie cop in “Normal in Every Way” is assigned to the department’s file room, where he makes connections to historic dates that could lead to solving crimes. A methodical bodyguard quits his job when he’s outsmarted. A military mission is planned to perfection. A potential worker for the Manhattan Project is carefully surveilled by an FBI agent. A killer preys on other killers. Taken together, these stories are a riotous calamity of criminals and crime fighters; individually, they are expertly crafted, piercing tales that hit hard enough to leave a mark.
Review
This is a set of short stories written by one of my favorite authors, Lee Child. Every one is a bit different but yet, they all seem the same.
Some of these tales I enjoyed more than the others. Now, I am not a fan of short stories but this author is the reason I read these. But, towards the end of these stories, I was ready to move on. Like I always say…read it for yourself and form your own opinion.
The narrator, Edoardo Ballerini, did pretty well with all the different situations and voices.
I received this audiobook from the publisher for a honest review.
From the author of The School for German Brides and A Bakery in Paris, this captivating historical novel set in nineteenth-century Paris tells the story of Claire Eiffel, a woman who played a significant role in maintaining her family’s legacy and their iconic contributions to the city of Paris.
Claire Eiffel, the beautiful, brilliant eldest daughter of the illustrious architect Gustave Eiffel, is doted upon with an education envied by many sons of the upper classes, and entirely out of the reach of most daughters. Claire’s idyllic childhood ends abruptly when, at fourteen, her mother passes away. It’s soon made clear that Gustave expects Claire to fill her mother’s place as caregiver to the younger children and as manager of their home.
As she proves her competence, Claire’s importance to her father grows. She accompanies him on his travels and becomes his confidante and private secretary. She learns her father’s architectural trade and becomes indispensable to his work. But when his bright young protégé, Adolphe Salles, takes up more of Gustave’s time, Claire resents being pushed aside.
Slowly, the animosity between Claire and Adolphe turns to friendship…and then to something more. After their marriage in 1885 preserves the Eiffel legacy, they are privileged by the biggest commission of Eiffel’s career: a great iron tower dominating the 1889 World’s Fair to demonstrate the leading role of Paris in the world of art and architecture. Now hostess to the scientific elite, such as Thomas Edison, Claire is under the watchful eye not only of her family and father’s circle, but also the world.
When Gustave Eiffel’s involvement in a disastrous endeavor to build a canal in Panama ends in his imprisonment, it is up to Claire to secure her father’s freedom but also preserve the hard-won family legacy.
Claire Eiffel’s story of love, devotion, and the frantic pursuit to preserve her family’s legacy is not only an inspired reflection of real personages and historical events, but a hymn to the iconic tower that dominates the City of Lights
Review
Well…Aimie Runyan has done it again. I loved The School for German Brides. And this one is right up there with it!
This story follows Claire Eiffel and her family. Her father was the amazing architect behind the Eiffel Tower. When her mother passes away, Claire does her best to be everything to everyone in the family. She even became her father’s private secretary. This change in her life leads her to give up her dreams of becoming an artist herself.
I love a book that has me researching. I immediately started looking up Claire Eiffel. She was truly a lady ahead of her time. And this story captivated me all the way through.
Claire is strong willed but because of the time period she lived in, she was constrained, in more ways than one. But, she left her mark!
Need a wonderful, well researched, historical tale…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.
I received this novel from the author for a honest review.
SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER • Two detectives: one human, one AI. And a case that will test them both.
“Wildly original, heartfelt, funny, and properly thrilling, this is the kind of fresh and fearless debut I just adore.”—Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark, a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick
Winner of the Crime Writers’ Association’s John Creasy New Blood Dagger Award and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year
Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her intuition, honed through years of on-the-beat police work. Picked to lead a pilot program that has her paired with Lock, an AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity)—a hologram that is activated by a device on Kat’s wrist—Kat’s gut reactions about people and motives come up against Lock’s statistical calculations and data analysis that can be devised in seconds.
But as the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help when the case begins to target Kat personally. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line, can the pair work together to solve the mystery in time?
A dazzling debut from an exciting new voice, In the Blink of an Eye asks us what we think it means to be human.
NOMINATED: Capital Crime’s Overall Crime Book of the Year; Crimefest’s Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award
Review
Kat’s husband passed away from cancer and now it is just her and her son. She has just returned to work as a cop after her bereavement leave. She has been asked to be a part of a new trial program. It involves AI. It does not take Kat long to figure out this is not exactly what she thought it would be.
Kat is a character I very much liked. She is a bit of a smart aleck but she has a soft side. She is also intelligent! So, pairing her with an AI hologram really intensifies her personality. And she soon realizes they will have to work together to catch a killer.
I am surprised I enjoyed this as well as I did. I at first thought it was going to be a bit more science fiction with all the AI stuff. But the story took over and I was hooked. I loved the way the author wove in the AI hologram and soon I was thinking of him as a person. Very unique.
I enjoyed the way this tale unfolded. It definitely had me guessing all the way through.
Need a good crime thriller…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest opinion.
Where murder mystery and family saga collide—with deceptively charming Charleston as a backdrop.
As a middle child, Boston native Kathryn Moore has always struggled to fit into her nouveau riche family and would rather do anything than carry on with the family business. Her aspirations lie in more artistic pursuits: to become a writer like her uncle, which strains her already turbulent relationship with her mother.
After Kathryn’s uncle, her mentor and confidante, dies tragically in a car accident, she learns he has bequeathed his Charleston home to her, and life changes in ways she never could have predicted. But was his untimely death an accident or is the truth more sinister than that?
As she grapples with his death and delves deeper into the circumstances surrounding it, Kathryn struggles with visions she has little control over. She can’t help but wonder if the act of logging them into her notebook along with her story ideas etches the visions into reality. Could she be responsible for all the misery left in her wake—including her uncle’s death?
Review
Kathryn’s uncle, Gray, has just tragically passed away in a car accident. She has inherited his house in Charleston. She cannot fathom why he would do this. Yes they were close, but she never dreamed that he would leave her his home. After she arrives to inspect the house to put it on the market, she starts to discover not everything is as it seems.
Kathryn has always wanted to be a writer like her uncle. But her mom has done everything in her power to keep this from happening. And while she is in Charleston, Kathryn starts to come into her own. She not only pushes back against her overbearing mother, she discovers more about herself and her strengths start to show.
This is a wonderful family drama full of mystery and family secrets. I enjoyed young Kathryn, especially as she develops her courage. Then there is the setting of Charleston and this old house…such charm and possible paranormal activity! Perfect for a fall read! Add in the circumstances surrounding Gray’s death and you have a fast paced tale you do not want to miss.
Need a fabulous family drama…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today! This releases September 17!
I received this novel from the author for a honest review.
One horrific sentence, delivered in an impersonal phone call, changes Celine Thompson’s life in a second. But when she’s asked to identify his body, what she discovers sends everything she thought she knew about her life crashing down.
This man is not my husband.
But who was the man who died driving Tate’s car? How did he have Tate’s possessions and, more importantly, why do they sport identical tattoos?
We’re going to find him.
When Tate doesn’t answer his phone or arrive home after the accident, Celine fears the worst. Still holding on to hope her husband may be alive, Celine is desperate to track Tate down and figure out what’s going on before it’s too late. The only problem? There are dark truths waiting to come out that are so atrocious she won’t ever be able to look away from them.
As she begins to put together the pieces of the mysterious day her husband went missing, it paints a picture of a man she never really knew. Is it possible Tate is still alive, or is she wasting her time searching for someone who will never be found? And if he is alive, how will they ever survive all that she’s unearthed?
With time running out, Celine must push the limits of the law and her safety to shed light on the secrets that have been hiding in the dark corners of their life together. In doing so, she may just uncover the final missing piece to the puzzle surrounding her husband’s fate.
Someone is lying.
Someone is missing.
Someone is guilty.
In this menacing, dark, and completely twisted domestic thriller, million-copy bestselling author Kiersten Modglin deep dives into a marriage riddled with lies, a couple with wicked secrets, and a woman who will stop at nothing to discover the truth about her husband’s disappearance. Forget everything you think you know…
Review
Celine has just been notified that her husband has died in a car crash. She goes to identify the body and she realizes it is not her husband. Where is he?!? Celine soon discovers her husband may not be the person she thought. She begins to uncover many secrets and lies!
Y’all know I love this author! And this book is creepy, intense and wicked. The hunt for the truth will keep you on your toes! And don’t mess with Celine…she does not take no for an answer!
I love a tale that has me guessing and then it gets very twisty and this book nailed it!
The narrators, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw; Chad Ackerman; Evan Sibley; Melissa Kay Benson, are the best! I love a good tag team to go along with a great mystery!
Need a great guessing game…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
An absolute delight of a magical tale.” —Louisa Morgan, author of The Age of Witches, on Small Town, Big Magic
A witch cursed to tell the truth, and the man who won’t let her lie to herself anymore…
Cursed by her own mother to always tell the truth and one of the only half-witches around, Ellowyn Good has never considered herself an equal part of the Riverwood coven. But when the Joywood, the evil rulers of the witching world, target her directly, she begins to wonder why they want her gone.
She’ll need to work with her newly formed coven to survive, which includes dealing with her first love, past wreckage and a whole new complication she didn’t see coming. With their fates in the balance, Ellowyn will have to learn to trust Zander again—or be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Assuming they all survive the Joywood’s latest bid for absolute power over the witching world…
Review
Ellowyn is only half a witch. She has never thought of herself as especially talented in the witch department. But, when she is targeted by the evil rulers of Joywood, it takes the whole coven to protect her and her child!
This is one of my favorite fall series. I enjoy these wonderful characters, especially Ellowyn. Her interactions with Zander just tickle me. She is determined NOT to be in love with him. But, believe me, she is! And now that she is pregnant with his child, he is extra special to her. These two end up fighting for more than their child, they end up fighting for their lives. And Ellowyn is definitely in the most danger.
I enjoyed the witch fights, the spells and the ghosts in this story! And the characters are the best!
Need an all around good witchy read….THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
A love letter to books and reading. This debut is catnip for any book geek. I just loved it.” —Cesca Major, author of Maybe Next Time, a Reese’s Book Club Pick
A story of second chances and new beginnings, this is a love letter to books—and a love letter to life
Still reeling from a recent tragedy, Erin Connolly knows she needs to start living, but has no idea how. When she accidentally donates her favorite book—a heavily annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird containing a memento she can’t be without—to a local little community library, she’s devastated. But then the book turns up a week later, back in the library with fresh notes in the margins, along with an invitation in a copy of Great Expectations to meet her newfound pen pal.
A life-changing conversation, written only in the margins of beloved classic books, begins between Erin and her Mystery Man. Following each other through the pages of their favorite novels as the book exchange continues, they both begin to open up, falling into a friendship…and maybe something more.
But Erin and her pen pal have a shared history that neither of them has guessed. Faced with painful reminders of the past—and the one person she swore never to forgive—Erin finds herself at a crossroads. One that could change her life forever.
A book-lovers dream! References to the following classics can be found in The Book Swap.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
MANSFIELD PARK
THE GREAT GATSBY
MIDDLEMARCH
BELOVED
ON THE ROAD
THE BELL JAR
Review
Erin finally decided to quit her job. She knows she needs to do something new, she just has no idea what. When she accidentally donates her heavily annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird containing a memento she can’t be without to a local little community library, she’s devastated. She checks this little library daily. It is soon returned back to this little library and it is full of new comments. This opens up secret conversations with a mystery man!
Erin is a bit of a hot mess. She is still grief stricken and she has some issues she just can’t shake. Then there is James. He is struggling through life as well. His mother is bipolar and he blames himself for it. But, both of these characters struggle to come into their own. And they do it separately for the most part, or rather, they have no idea they have helped each other through their margin notes.
Parts of this book are brilliant! I loved the book references and the way they wrote notes to each other is adorable. This is very unique and creative. Then there are parts that are just a tad slow, the beginning especially.
This story is more than just a love story. It encompasses grief, heartbreak, bullying and family issues. So, it will definitely give you lots of emotions!
Need a wonderful romance with tons of book references…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
In this hopeful debut about the silent struggles of motherhood, three very different women want custody of the same two little girls—and learn they have more in common than the children they’re fighting for.
Determined to be a better mother than her own, Hannah has devoted her life to her daughters. She ignores her increasing exhaustion and isolation as a widowed mom—until a disastrous mistake lands the girls in foster care.
Julie is single and lonely and dreams of being a mother. After infertility issues lead her to foster parenting, she falls head over heels for Hannah’s daughters. The more she bonds with these sweet, precocious girls, the more she worries about their previous home life and becomes intent on finding a way to keep them.
Recently forced into retirement, Elaine is devastated by the way her daughter, Hannah, has shut her out. When she discovers her granddaughters are in foster care, she resolves to rescue them from the system: her one chance at a parenting do-over.
Each woman thinks she’s the best possible mother, but none understands the full truth. Old hurts, long-held secrets, and budding new relationships collide as they fight for the girls who could make them a family.
Review
Hannah has recently lost her husband. She has two little girls. And Hannah is spiraling! Due to a unique situation, her children have been taken away from her. She is struggling with this fact, and refuses to accept help in any shape form or fashion.
There are so many emotions that the reader experiences in this tale. I found Hannah’s situation so tragic. But I also found her to be so stubborn. There is a southern saying, “ you are biting your nose off to spite your face.” It basically means, don’t be so stubborn that you hurt yourself in the process. Hannah tended to do that on more than one occasion. She frustrated me. But, who is to say, that I would not have done the same thing. Anything to save my kids!! Hannah‘s heart was definitely in the right place, even if she didn’t go about it in the correct manner.
Then there is Hannah’s mother, Elaine. She is a piece of work. But I absolutely love the way this story turned out. You have to read this to find out! And believe me, you do not want to miss it!
The narrator, Eva Kaminsky, could not have been better!
Need a fantastic book from start to finish…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
MAGICAL MEET CUTE Author: Jean Meltzer Publication Date: August 27, 2024 ISBN: 9780778334415 Format: Trade Paperback Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing / MIRA Price: $18.99
From the author of the buzzy The Matzah Ball comes a romantic comedy for fans of Sally Thorne, about a lonely potter who drunkenly creates a golem doll of her perfect match—and meets the man of her dreams the next day. Is he the real deal…or did she truly summon a golem? Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy. Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone.
That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right? When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory… But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.
About the Author:
JEAN MELTZER studied dramatic writing at NYU Tisch and has earned numerous awards for her work in television, including a daytime Emmy. She spent five years in rabbinical school before her chronic illness forced her to withdraw, and her father told her she should write a book? just not a Jewish one because no one reads those.
Faiga Kaplan, otherwise known as Faye to her friends, ran her hands down the long shaft of her latest clay creation. An earthenware vase—at least three feet in length and bearing a perfectly crafted slit for sunflowers at the top—lay on her studio table. Having been painted twice and forged through fire in her kiln, it was now ready for placement in her storefront window. All she had to do was get the heavy, hulking piece of pottery through the first floor of Magic Mud Pottery without breaking it.
Cautiously, she lifted the vase from the table. Peeking out from the sides, carefully managing her balance with each step, she creeped slowly past the tables and chairs of her studio, bumping over the threshold into the hallway, heading through the first floor. She was halfway through the old wooden building, by the center staircase, when she felt something mushy and wet beneath her left foot.
Faye didn’t need to look down.
She knew exactly what she had stepped in.
“Hillel.” Faye groaned, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.
Carefully, she put the vase down beside the staircase, turning her attention to inspect the damage now seeping through her pink sock.
“Hillel,” Faye called out again. “I’m serious. Get in here!”
Hillel, a hairless and toothless Chinese crested, peeked around the corner. Faye had adopted the pathetic-looking creature when he was ten years old. At the time, she had considered it a mitzvah, a good deed, in the wake of a dreadful breakup. She thought she could funnel all her love into this poor creature—a dog riddled with back acne and without a home—and he would adore her forever.
“I know you did this on purpose,” Faye said, lifting one foot up to display the mess.
Hillel twisted away from her, tail up, his tiny butthole pointed straight in her line of vision. She swore that dog could speak English.
She also knew that his constant accidents had nothing to do with tummy troubles. After all, Faye was a responsible pet owner. She had taken Hillel to the vet a dozen times, run every expensive test to see if there was something physically wrong with him, only to be told that the tiny monster was in perfectly good health. Indeed, the vet had promised her that Hillel would likely live another decade. No, he defecated all over her apartment for the same reason Stuart had called off their engagement. She was too much.
“Keep acting this way,” Faye warned, narrowing her eyes in his direction, “and I’ll send you to go live with Nelly. You can wear frilly doll dresses and be the guest of honor at her Second Glance Erotic Parties for the rest of your natural existence.”
Hillel strolled past her, unconcerned, before landing on a mess of blankets and pillow squares waiting for him by the storefront window.
Faye had made the tiny bed for Hillel there so he would be comfortable. She figured he could watch the people walking down Main Street, see the customers before they entered her store. It was also the sunniest, and therefore warmest, spot in her building, an absolute necessity for a dog without any fur. She did everything for Hillel. She gave him her best. Devoted her love, time, and energy to his well-being. And what did Hillel do in response?
Crap all over her.
The thought had crossed her mind more than once to return him to the shelter.
Faye never did, of course. No, as it turned out…no amount of snarling or defecating in high-traffic areas, or trying to bite her with his gummy, toothless mouth, would ever steer her heart away from the four-legged fur demon.
The reason being simple enough. She had made a promise to Hillel. She had stood outside Woodstock Animal Shelter, placed him safely in the front basket of her bike, and told him in she would care for him, and protect him—and never betray his love on a snowmobile in Lapland—until the bitter end.
Perhaps loving someone to the bitter end had always been her downfall.
Her mind wandered to her ex-fiancé, Stuart, when most applicably her nose wrinkled. The scent of dog feces was beginning to take up residence.
Faye hobbled on one foot up the stairs to the second floor. Finding her way to the bathtub, she set about cleaning up her foot.
For the last three years, Faye had been the sole proprietor of Magic Mud Pottery. She lived above her store and studio in a quaint one-bedroom apartment.
Magic Mud Pottery was one of a handful of quirky old buildings made of wood and painted in bright colors that dotted the bucolic downtown of Woodstock, New York. Set between large trees, and dotted by pride flags and double-hung windows, it was the type of town that, no matter the season, smelled like burning wood and cinnamon.
Her apartment was small, but as a single woman, she didn’t need much space. Plus, she had gotten an amazing price. On the second floor, a cozy bedroom sat towards the back of the building, overlooking a fenced-in yard and garden. In the front, a tiny living room was divided from a half kitchen by a counter. A bathroom rested in between.
As an old building, the layout—but especially the kitchen— was all types of weird. While the oven, stove, and sink were on the second floor, the refrigerator was too tall for the upstairs kitchen alcove. And so it sat downstairs, right behind the front counter, where Faye often rang up customers.
At first, it was a problem. Especially at night, as Faye often liked to sneak downstairs in nothing but her skivvies and have a late-night snack. But Faye quickly realized that most everyone who owned a business in downtown Woodstock lived elsewhere, and so, even though she had invested in curtains, she never bothered to use them.
Beyond all these things, she liked the quirkiness of the building. The fact it was strange and unusual. It reminded her of an apartment she had lived in on the Lower East Side while a young lawyer in Manhattan, with a shower in the kitchen and a bathroom outside the apartment, just down the hall.
Faye was finishing cleaning up when the bell above the front door to Magic Mud Pottery rang out.
“Faiga,” a voice called out moments later.
She recognized the voice as belonging to Nelly, who owned the building next door, where she ran the business Second Glance Treasures.
It was a gentle, lovely name for a store that was essentially extra storage space for a woman who had taken the hobby of hoarding to a professional capacity. Perhaps Faye was being too hard on the eccentric octogenarian. But No-Filter Nelly—as Faye sometimes called her behind her back—was a frequent, though not always welcome, visitor.
“One moment,” Faye called out.
Quickly, she finished drying off her foot. Spraying down her bathtub and the floor, she popped downstairs. Nelly was standing by the storefront window, arms crossed, her entire forehead wrinkling in displeasure.
“It smells like a porta-potty in here.” Nelly grimaced.
Faye huffed. “Hillel had an accident again.”
“Again?” Nelly looked towards the dog. “Maybe you should take him to the vet.” “I’ve taken him to the vet,” Faye reminded her for the ten thousandth time. Grabbing a towel and some pet odor remover, she bent down to the floor and began cleaning up his mess.
“Can I help you with something, Nelly?”
“I was wondering if you’re going to Single in the Sukkah tonight?” she asked.
“I’m not planning on it.”
“Why not?” Nelly said, following her. She always followed her. “Only twenty-four dollars a participant. For a good cause. Plus, you might meet someone.”
Faye tossed the turd in the trash. “I’m not interested in meeting anyone right now.”
“Why not?”
Faye slammed the lid shut. “You know the reason.” “Because you were dumped by your fiancé of seven years after a snowmobile accident in Lapland?”
Faye had first met Stuart Wutz during law school. After a seven-year engagement, the two-week escapade she had painstakingly planned to Lapland was supposed to be a pre-wedding getaway, a chance for them to have some fun before planning for their wedding, three months away, moved into hyperdrive.
Instead, everything about the trip had been a disaster.
Stuart complained constantly. About the cold. About the food. About his hemorrhoids. He nearly caused an international incident when he found out the hamburger he was eating was made of reindeer meat. But it wasn’t until that fateful snowmobile ride—when Stuart skidded out on a slick of ice, crashing into a snowy embankment—that their decade-long relationship came to an official end. Bringing her vehicle safely to a stop beside him, racing to check that he was okay, she was shocked when Stuart had stood up and lobbed his own attack.
You’re too much, Faye. Everything you do, everything you are… it’s just too much. No wonder your own mother couldn’t stand you.
The wedding was off. Faye was thirty-one years old, and having given Stuart the best years of her life—the best of her reproductive years, too—back to being single. It was more than betrayal. It was more than a hurt. It was an avalanche of pain that she had barely escaped from. And yet, she couldn’t completely blame Stuart for what had happened. He was simply a trigger point in a snowslip that had been building since her youth.
“So, you had one bad experience,” Nelly said.
“Not just one,” Faye grumbled.
“So, you had multiple bad experiences,” Nelly said, unfazed. “Lots of people hurt and disappointed you. Because of this, you give up on love forever?”
Faye spun around. “I don’t need a mother, Nelly!”
Her words pierced the air and turned into ice. “Everyone needs a mother,” Nelly said, simply.
Faye scoffed, hardening herself against the admission. Against the confession. She had already had a mother in her life, and she sucked. Some nights, she could still feel the pain in her wrist—in her fingers—from where her mom had permanently disabled her.
Faye twisted away from Nelly. “If you’re done pestering me about—”
Nelly cut her off. “So come for the synagogue. They always need money.”
“How about I just write them a check and spend the night reading a book and eating hard kosher salami by myself?”
Nelly grimaced. “This is fun for you?”
“Yes, Nelly.” Faye threw her hands up, exasperated. “This is fun for me. Because I like being alone. More important, I’m better alone. I have no interest in meeting a man, starting a romantic relationship, or getting married. Going to a Singles in the Sukkah event would be the equivalent of false advertising.”
Faye made her way back through her pottery studio. Picking up her vase, she turned to place it in her storefront window. And that was when she saw it. The vase she had thought was perfect…had a tiny bubble at the bottom.
“Haman’s hat,” Faye huffed. She tried not to use curse words.
“What’s wrong?” Nelly asked.
Faye shook her head. “I must have missed an air bubble before drying.”
Clay held memory. If you did something wrong at any part of the process, it would be reflected in the final work. A fingerprint at the edge. A lip all misshapen and wonky. A warp or scratch in the otherwise smooth facade, or worse…the entire thing exploding, shattering completely, when placed into the kiln for firing. Clay, contrary to popular belief, was not an easy material to work with.
“I’m just gonna throw it out,” Faye said, attempting to move it out of her window.
“Wha!” Nelly stopped her with both hands. “Why would you throw this out? You’ve already spent time to make it.”
“Because it’s awful,” Faye snapped back. “No one is going to want a vase with a bubble sticking out of it!” And because looking at that bubble was a constant reminder of all the things her mother had stolen from her.
Faye was only seventeen years old when it happened. When her mother—in another one of her random and totally unjustified rages—woke her up from a sound sleep because she had accidently left clay out on the kitchen table. Grabbing Faye by the wrist and pulling her out of bed, she dragged her down the hall to clean up the supposed mess. Faye could still recall the sensation of her hand being twisted the wrong way, the sound of it snapping as the bone broke. But most of all, she remembered screaming for her father to help her.
The abuse Faye had endured as a child changed her. She lost the scholarship to a prestigious art school in Manhattan where she was planning to study ceramics. She became wholly focused on protecting herself, remaining independent… Changing paths, she became a lawyer instead. And when she met Stuart, she thought she had found the safe, unconditional type of love that she read about in her romance novels.
Instead, her clay memory bubbled up and formed blisters all over their love. She became someone unrecognizable. Desperate to keep Stuart happy—desperate to prove she was someone loveable and worthwhile—she lost herself completely. The break up had been hard, but when she looked at her life now, at Woodstock and Magic Mud Pottery, she was grateful. What life had taught her, most of all, was that she had to protect herself.
When maths teacher Zoe Swift meets the irresistibly funny and charming Jack Damon at her friends’ wedding, sparks fly faster than you can say the square root of sixty-nine.
And when Jack turns up at her school, newly recruited as a supply teacher, she can’t ignore the intense effect he has on her when their paths cross in the corridors. But Zoe is still reeling from her husband’s recent jaw-dropping betrayal and adjusting to life as a single mum to two teenage kids. She’s not sure if she’s ready to open her heart to a fling with a younger man.
As Zoe and Jack’s connection grows deeper, their undeniable chemistry and Jack’s steadfast support help Zoe rediscover the good things in life: her love of a good dance, the soothing power of takeout, the secret thrill of receiving a well-timed chicken emoji and the wonder of multiple orgasms…
But with complicated family dynamics and co-parenting with her ex to manage, a sizeable age gap, and Jack’s uncertainties about his future to factor in, she’s about to find out that love isn’t always a simple equation.
Can Zoe accept this gift from the universe and take a chance on a far-from-textbook romance?
Get ready to laugh, cry and fall head-over-heels in love with this emotional and uplifting romantic comedy about healing after heartbreak, finding the courage to pursue your dreams, and recognizing true love when it’s staring you right in the face. An uplifting, unmissable listen for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Mhairi McFarlane, Beth O’Leary, Sex Education and Teachers.
Review
Zoe just discovered her husband has been cheating on her…with her friend! Needless to say, she is devastated and having a hard time. Enter Jack! Jack and Zoe hit it off from the very start.
Jack is a great character! He is strong and steady and he knows just what Zoe needs and when she needs it. He sees her struggling with life and kids!
Then there is Zoe! She did not deserve the hand dealt to her. But she comes into her own.
I enjoyed these two together and their banter is just adorable! There are several places that I laughed out loud!
The narrator, Abigail Hardiman, is cute as a button! And she even did the children well!
Need an adorably funny romance…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
reecaspieces 