contemporary

The Patron Saint of Second Chances by Christine Simon

This is a cute and funny contemporary book about the self-appointed mayor of a tiny Italian village desperately trying to save his hometown no matter the cost. Signor Speranza is told by the water commissioner’s office that unless he can come up with 70,000 Euros to fix the town’s pipes, the water will be shut off and all of the town’s 212 inhabitants will be forced to disperse. So what’s an informal Mayor to do? Why, spread a false rumor that a famous heartthrob actor is shooting his new movie in the village, of course! His hope is that tourists will flock to the town and the revenue for the pipes will be raised.

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April 13, 2022 0

What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline

Your family has been attacked, never again to be the same.
Now you have to choose between law…and justice.

This was a great contemporary mystery/thriller that is fast paced and action packed. The story starts with one fateful night that changes a law-abiding family’s life forever. The story ends with how that family copes with the rest of their life.

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March 31, 2022 0

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Wow. Let me just say, I loved this book! I went into it not really knowing what it was about and the story was such a pleasant surprise. Now I know why it was all over Instagram! The story focuses on Daunis, an 18 year old girl living in a small Michigan town near the Canadian border. She is part Caucasian and part Ojibwe Native American. She doesn’t really fit into either world, and has hopes to start over while away at college. But, a family tragedy puts those plans on hold and she stays to care for her mother and ailing grandmother. Rather than out-of-town college, she plans to attend community college classes with her best friend.

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March 30, 2022 0

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

This is a very good contemporary mystery/thriller set in the Washington D.C. area. Avery is a therapist that lost her license. Since then, she’s developed a 10 step treatment method and has been using it to counsel those in crisis. She meets new clients Marissa and Matthew Bishop, a young couple that seems to have it all. But Marissa was unfaithful and she is desperate to repair her marriage, not only because she doesn’t want to lose her husband, but for the sake of their 8 year old son.

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March 11, 2022 0

Dating Dr. Dil (If Shakespeare was an Auntie #1) by Nisha Sharma

3.5 stars

This is a fun and flirty contemporary romance. Kareena Mann is an attorney living in her childhood home with her family. She just turned 30 and is more interested in restoring her deceased mother’s old car than dating. When she finds out her father is selling their home, she makes a deal with him. If she gets engaged in four months, he will sell the house to her. But, it won’t be easy because Kareena believes marriage should be a love match. While helping her sister who is appearing on a local tv show, she sees Dr. Prem Verma, or Dr. Dil. He believes that “love” is actually harmful to one’s health and believes that it is not necessary to have a happy marriage. In the middle of the show Kareena and Prem get into an argument that goes viral.

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March 6, 2022 0

The Little French Bookshop by Cecile Pivot

This is a good epistolary fiction set in contemporary France. Esther runs a bookshop and when she loses her father to suicide, she runs an ad in the newspaper inviting people to join her letter writing workshop. Five people sign up – a disillusioned businessman, a husband and wife struggling with her postpartum depression, a lonely elderly widow, and an awkward teenager trying to deal with his brother’s death from cancer. The group meet first in person to get to know each other, and are asked to answer one simple question: What Battles Are You Fighting?

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February 18, 2022 0

Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead (Finlay Donovan, #2) by Elle Cosimano

4.5 stars

Love, love, love this book!!! Cosimano knocks it out of the park once again. I was concerned that Book Two would suffer a sophomore slump and because I loved the first book so much, I started this book with a bit of trepidation. Happily, my concerns were for nought, because this book is everything I wanted and more.

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February 2, 2022 0

Chloe Cates is Missing by Mandy McHugh and Amanda McHugh

This is a very good mystery/thriller that will keep you riveted until the end. The whole story takes place in less than 24 hours, and the tension is palpable. The story is told in short chapters through four main characters’ point of view. There are plenty of unreliable narrators whose lies pile up one after another, and the author slowly dolls out twists and turns with each chapter. The ending was both satisfying and frustrating in that it leaves the ultimate conclusion to the reader’s imagination.

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January 23, 2022 1

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

3.5 stars

This is a pretty good mystery/thriller that is a quick and easy read. When Chloe was 12 years old six young girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. Chloe’s father was ultimately arrested for the crime and sentenced to prison. Twenty years later Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and engaged to get married.

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January 16, 2022 1