reecaspieces

Overview

The search for happiness turns a woman’s life upside down in a warm, quirky, and bighearted novel about the joys and chaos of finding love by the bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners.

After too many dates, thirtysomething Mimi Perkins is still single, unmoored, and longing for love. So when Ren Yardley—a handsome, divorced fellow drama teacher and single father—falls in love with her and proposes, she’s sure this is at last the good news her psychic predicted.

Soon after proposing, Ren receives the devastating news that his ex-wife has been in a debilitating car accident, prompting him to temporarily move back into his former home to care for her and his daughters. The unfailingly loyal Ren also wants to keep Mimi close, so she packs up her life in New York City and follows him to New Haven, Connecticut. There, she finds a job and unexpected community at a quirky local daycare. But as time goes by, it begins to seem that Ren and his estranged family might be slowly reuniting, and Mimi has to figure out what she’s willing to fight for and what she needs to let go of.

One thing is for sure: she would have never guessed that her psychic was right after all. Life’s twists, turns, and disasters just might lead her to unexpected happiness.

Review

I fell in love with Maddie Dawson when I read The Magic of Found Objects. I have been a fan ever since!

This story follows Mimi Perkins. She has been floundering in the love department her whole life. So, when a good-looking, divorced colleague, Ren, falls in love with her, Mimi is sure she has found the one.

Ren’s ex-wife has a tragic car accident and it derails everything Mimi has dreamed of. Ren moves back into his former home to take care of her and his daughters. This leaves Mimi floundering again to find out where she belongs.

Mimi is a great character. She believes in psychics and good luck charms. She is also some on who never gives up. She stays in this relationship until it is unhealthy for her. But don’t worry…life has some great plans for her! You need to read this to find out!

Need a good romance with twists and turns for a road trip…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel for a honest review.

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Overview

A divorced perfumer navigates an uncertain but fresh new start in life in a poignant and witty novel about self-discovery by the USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids.

Nikki Bridges has it good. An enviable home in an upscale neighborhood, a heavenly-scented hobby making personal-blend perfumes, a cherished daughter, and comfortable rituals with a husband she loves. How was she to know it would all blow up with her husband’s affair, a blindsiding divorce, and an identity crisis she never saw coming?

With little money, less work experience, and a modest apartment, Nikki is tentatively moving on. Along the way: a waitressing job, a bond with an empathetic group of friends, and reentering the dating game at fortysomething. Luring her out of her funk is Niraj, an ex-Londoner with twinkling eyes and a hint of cinnamon and ginger. For the first time in a long time, Nikki feels a warm summer flush—and with it, a spark of inspiration.

On a liberating quest for self-expression and the courage to follow a dream, Nikki is blending the pieces of a new life into a fragrance that is uniquely and passionately her own.

Review

Nikki is recently divorced and now her house has blown up. The boiler needed to be replaced and she failed to get it done. Now she is living in a modest apartment and waiting tables at a local restaurant. She has dreams that she put on hold in her marriage and she wonders if she can ever make them come true.

Nikki is such a great character. She is truly struggling after her divorce. But, she struggles on! She makes some good and bad decisions. I just love her new friends. All are quirky and have their own issues. But they come together and form a unique family.

I will say, I wanted a bit more about the perfumes and memory connection. I relate to smells and memories and I just expected a bit more in this department. This is minor. The characters and the story are a fun escape you do not want to miss.

Need a story about life, love and happiness…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

FULL OF MYSTERY, MAGIC, DARK COMEDY, AND HEART.” ―Deesha Philyaw

“AN INTIMATE NOVEL, BY TURNS BRACING AND HILARIOUS.” ―Maurice Carlos Ruffin

“PROFOUNDLY MOVING.” ―Ben Fountain

“THE NOVEL’S FINAL PAGES WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS.” ―Jonathan Escoffery

Still reeling from a sudden tragedy, our biracial narrator receives a letter from an attorney: he has just inherited a plot of land from his estranged white grandfather. He travels to a beach town several hours south of his home with the intention of selling the land immediately and moving on. But upon inspection, what lies beneath the dirt is far more complicated than he ever imagined. In a shocking irony, he is now the Black owner of a former plantation passed down by the men on his white mother’s side of the family.

Vercher deftly blurs the lines between real and imagined, past and present, tragedy and humor, and fathers and sons in this story of discovering and reclaiming a painful past. With the wit and rawness of Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, Devil Is Fine is a gripping, surreal, and brilliantly crafted dissection of the legacies we leave behind and those we inherit.

Review

A biracial, author and professor has just lost his son. He is having a terrible time coping with his grief. When he discovers he has inherited a plantation from the white side of the family he decides to go and see what this is all about. He discovers more than he ever expected.

Y’all! This is one beautifully written book! This author has some of the best prose! As a matter of fact…I have read thousands of books in my life and this is one of the best first chapters I have ever read.

I am singing this author’s praises, but I was a bit confused throughout the story. This is the reason for the 4 star rating. I think that this story is above my head in some places. Or maybe I am not as in tune to my feelings as I need to be to follow exactly what the author wants to portray.

This story is full of grief, emotion, symbolism and life lessons. It is hard to know how you will react upon the death of a child. So along with the hard issues in this novel, it also has quite a bit of humor. There were several places I laughed out loud.

Need a story which will have you thinking and pondering…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

Daphne and Amber Parrish are thrust back into each other’s lives upon the resurgence of a long-forgotten threat, forcing a vicious game of cat and mouse where everything is on the line, in this thrilling sequel to the million-copy-bestselling Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish.

“Delicious and shocking, The Next Mrs. Parrish is an incredibly entertaining and compulsive tale of revenge and deception you won’t want to miss.”—Jeneva Rose, New York Times bestselling author of You Shouldn’t Have Come Here

Amber Patterson Parrish has come a long way. Hard work and immaculate planning turned her from invisible wallflower to prominent socialite, though there have been bumps along the way. Less than a year after her husband Jackson’s tax-evasion scandal, Amber reigns supreme over the Bishops Harbor community. But with Jackson being released from prison, Amber’s free time—and money—is vanishing.

Meanwhile, Daphne Parrish left Bishops Harbor after her divorce from Jackson, swearing she would never go back. But when one of her daughters runs away from home, desperate to see her father, Daphne agrees to return for the summer for their daughters’ sake. Jackson swears he’s a changed man, but Daphne knows all too well that he can’t be trusted.

When a ghost from Amber’s past emerges looking for revenge, these three figures find unlikely allies in one another. But who is playing who? When all is said and done, they’ll have to fight tooth and nail for everything they have left in this zero-sum game.

With shocking turns and entertaining characters, The Next Mrs. Parrish will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about duplicity and betrayal.

Review

Daphne has got to return to Bishops Harbor. Her oldest daughter is insisting on seeing her dad. Daphne never dreamed she would have to go back. She thinks she is stronger now and can handle seeing Jackson. She also thinks she is prepared for anything he can throw at her…but is she?

Then there is Amber. She is the one married to Jackson now. But she has her own agenda and she is not going to wait on Jackson for any of her plans.

This story has a lot of moving parts and the manipulations are over the top! I am in the minority on my review. I just did not like anyone in this book! I mean…honestly…too awful for words. And don’t get me started on one of the children…I would have had to do more than her mom did to her for her bad behavior. I think she made me the maddest of the bunch. And that is saying something.

Now, I love Liv Constantine’s books and I have read several of her books and have given all of them 5 stars. This one just did not sit right with me. It just seemed a bit disjointed and rough around the edges. But don’t worry…I am still going to sit on pins and needles waiting on her next one. This one is just not my favorite.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

THE PARIS WIDOW 

Author: Kimberly Belle

Publication Date: June 11, 2024

ISBN: 9780778307976

Format: Trade Paperback

Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing / Park Row Books

Price $18.99

From USA Today bestselling author Kimberly Belle comes a deliciously twisty new thriller following a married couple vacationing in Paris whose trip takes a dark turn when the husband goes missing, dredging up secrets from both of their pasts, perfect for fans of THE PARIS APARTMENT.

When Stella met Adam, she felt like she finally landed a nice, normal guy – a welcome change from her previous boyfriend and her precarious jetsetter lifestyle with him. She loves knowing she can always depend on Adam, which is why when he goes missing during a random explosion in Paris, she panics. Right after what is assumed to be a terrorist attack, she’s interviewed live on TV by reporters, begging anyone who knows anything about her husband’s whereabouts to come forward and is quickly dubbed “The Paris Widow.”

As the French police investigate, it’s revealed that Adam was on their radar as a dealer in the black market for priceless antiquities, making deals with very high-profile and dangerous clients. Reeling from this news and growing suspicions about her husband, Stella can’t shake the feeling that she’s being followed. And with Adam assumed dead, she realizes that whoever was responsible for the bombing will come after her next. Everything – and everyone — that Stella has tried to keep in her duplicitous past might be her only means of survival and finding out what really happened to Adam.

An irresistible and fast-paced read set in some of Europe’s most inviting locales, THE PARIS WIDOW explores how sinister secrets of the past stay with us – no matter how far we travel.

Review

Stella and her husband, Adam are on a trip of a lifetime. They are on their final stop in Paris and enjoying every minute…until there is a random explosion at a cafe and Adam is now missing!

Stella turns Paris upside down looking for Adam. But, during this process she learns quite a few things about her husband she never expected. Everything she thought she knew about her husband is a lie. And now her life is endanger too!

This story just keeps building and building as Stella tries to uncover the truth. Stella is a tough woman and she just gets tougher and smarter as this story moves along…and moves along it does. This is fast paced and exciting and left me breathless in places.

This book takes you all over Paris! And what a chase it is! Talk about keeping me entertained all the way through!!! I loved the intensity…and the lies!

Need a great tale to keep you glued to the pages…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Author Bio:

Kimberly Belle worked in marketing and nonprofit fundraising before turning to writing fiction. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, Kimberly lived for over a decade in the Netherlands and currently divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam. She is the bestselling author of The Marriage Lie, Three Days Missing, Dear Wife, as well as The Last Breath, The Ones We Trust, Stranger in the Lake, My Darling Husband, and The Personal Assistant.

Social Links:

Author website: https://www.kimberlybellebooks.com/ 

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/kimberlybelle 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KimberlySBelle 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimberlysbelle/ 

Buy Links:

HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-paris-widow-kimberly-belle?variant=41107486801954 

BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-paris-widow-original-kimberly-belle/20673937?ean=9780778310723

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-paris-widow-kimberly-belle/1144012778?ean=9780778307976 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=paris+widow&i=stripbooks&crid=4KU7XSQ0O5YV&sprefix=paris+widow%2Cstripbooks%2C83&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 

Overview

Harkening to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, pthis high-tension thriller follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them—from Ruth Ware, the New York Times bestselling author who “is turning out to be as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime” (The Washington Post).

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she agrees to try out with him.

A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla finds herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples—Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana—in order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.

Review

Lyla ends up following her boyfriend, Nico, to an audition for a reality show. This is not something she wants to do at all but Nico needs this. The next thing she knows, she is in the middle of an island in the Indian Ocean with no cell phone and no way off.

Well, Lyla has gotten herself in a mess. She has the good intention of getting kicked off this island first. But it turns out, Nico is the first to go. Then it all goes downhill from there and you will need to read this to find out!

When I first started reading this book, I was not a fan. The reality show premise was just not doing it for me, especially the section where they all meet. Lots of characters and not a lot substance. But, as the tale moved along, it got better and better. It is a bit far fetched but the intensity just keeps building.

Need a good thriller with an ending with a punch…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

It is May 2014, and Dr. Klara Lieberman—forty-nine, single, professor of archaeology at a small liberal arts college in Maine, a contained person living a contained life—has just received a letter from her estranged mother, Bessie, that will dramatically change her life. Her father, she learns—the man who has been absent from her life for the last forty-three years, and about whom she has long been desperate for information—is dead. Has been for many years, in fact, which Bessie clearly knew. But now the Polish government is giving financial reparations for land it stole from its Jewish citizens during WWII, and Bessie wants the money. Klara has little interest in the money—but she does want answers about her father. She flies to Warsaw, determined to learn more. 

In Poland, Klara begins to piece together her father’s, and her own, story. She also connects with extended family, begins a romantic relationship, and discovers her calling: repairing the hundreds of forgotten, and mostly destroyed, pre-War Jewish cemeteries in Poland. Along the way, she becomes a more integrated, embodied, and interpersonally connected individual—one with the tools to make peace with her past and, for the first time in her life, build purposefully toward a bigger future.

Review

Klara has just discovered her mother has lied to Klara her whole life. Klara has been told that her dad left them, abandoned her. When the truth is, he was killed in a train accident. When Klara discovers the truth, she immediately takes a sabbatical from her job as a professor and travels to Poland to uncover her father’s past and to reconnect with his family. It is not as easy as she expects.

Klara has been neglected for most of her life by her mom. So, my heart really went out to her when she discovers the truth. But, this does not stop her. I loved her tenacity and her intelligence. She also has some hang ups from her childhood and she struggles to overcome these challenges as she tries to navigate her new world.

This story is full of self-discovery history, mystery, family drama and a little bit of romance. I enjoyed the setting of Poland and especially the family history and emotional tales of the Holocaust.

Need a novel about family that is full of history and drama…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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