Book Review: The Stillwater Girls, by Minka Kent

The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Stillwater Girls. This psychological/suspense thriller begins in a small cabin in the middle of a dense forest occupied by Willow and Sage, two sisters left alone and seemingly abandoned while their mother took their baby sister, Evie, to see a doctor in town. The POV shifts multiple times in the story, which one would think would be distracting, but it fits just right with this story. The other story in the book is the marriage of Nicolette and her husband, Brant. Their marriage seems to be plagued with problems, and Nicolette, who believes she is unable to have a child, suspects her husband of being unfaithful and of having a child with another woman. The two plotlines intertwine at the point where Willow and Sage escape the cabin, and are taken in by Nicolette and her husband. The intrigue continues, chapter after chapter. Minka Kent's writing is clear and it is a pleasure to read any book that she has written. I HIGHLY recommend this book! I was able to read this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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The Secret Life of New York's Grand Central Terminal

If you have read The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis (or if you haven't yet read it but are dying to), take a glimpse into the background of the beautiful Beaux Arts landmark, New York's Grand Central Terminal, by reading this piece from Architectural Digest.








Grand Central Terminal in New York City

 

Review: The Last Mrs. Parrish--by Liv Constantine

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am regretting waiting so long to finally read this book! If you read just one book this year, have it be this one. I started and finished this book while on vacation and it drew me in like not many other books have been able to do. I could NOT put this book down (seriously, ask my child).

***SPOILER BELOW***

Plot--EXCELLENT. The book begins with narration by Amber, who, in few words, is an opportunist who is insanely jealous of a woman (Mrs. Daphne Parrish) and desperately wants to lead another woman's seemingly more privileged life. But appearances can be very very deceiving, as the reader discovers. Jackson and Daphne Parrish live a charmed life, where there is seemingly nothing money can't buy and no experience seems out of reach. Everything is possible. As Amber befriends Daphne and inserts herself into her life, using deception and charm, she plots and schemes to step into Daphne's perfect world. Amber's narration ends when she has begun a relationship with Jackson Parrish, a man who seems like the perfect husband, father and business tycoon.

Enter Daphne. Daphne is portrayed as an almost obsessive perfectionist, extremely anxious and eager to please. Once you learn Daphne's story, you realize that NOTHING is as it seems in this book. Living with a sociopathic monster has made Daphne become completely unraveled, and as Daphne's mother implies, Daphne's marriage to Jackson has made her become practically a shell of herself, completely disinterested in any of the pursuits and hobbies that she enjoyed prior to marriage. All Daphne really has is her 2 daughters with Jackson. Daphne learns of Amber's deception and, in an eager attempt to break free of her monstrous marriage, encourages Amber's relationship with Jackson while plotting her own escape. Once the pieces fall into place and Amber is expecting a son with Jackson, Daphne is granted a quickie divorce and finally can call the shots in her own life as well as the lives of her children.

We don't get to hear the story through the eyes of Jackson Parrish. Perhaps it is because he is such a despicable control freak, but I'm guessing it is because it would be useless to find out why he is the way he is. He is a monster who will stop at nothing to get his own way, no matter who he has to break in the process.

Eventually, Amber realizes that she has unwittingly become woven into a web of her own design, and learns that she may have become the new Mrs. Parrish, but all that glitters is not gold. Daphne helps to orchestrate Jackson's eventual downfall and arrest for tax evasion and other financial crimes. She also secures a future free of pain for her daughters. Daphne and Amber meet once more, at the Parrish mansion, and Amber comes away with the realization that although she may have lost the very things that made Daphne's life so desirable (wealth, expensive clothes, etc), she is left with only Jackson and their son.

Again, a really fantastic book.



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Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo--by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

LOVED this book. It has Old Hollywood with all of its glamour and glory, an aging movie siren who has made some very controversial decisions in her life and the plot manages to tie it to the present-day in a very big twist at the end.


Evelyn Hugo is a strong woman who has made very life-changing decisions in her life, but never lost control of her narrative. She married 7 times, each to a different man, but the men she married were never the loves of her life. She loved some deeply, and used others, while they were using her. I really enjoyed reading about this spunky, eccentric actress. This book was a relatively quick read and it was easy to get drawn into the story. Highly recommend!

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What I am reading this weekend....

Happy Friday!
I love weekends, especially long weekends with Monday holidays attached.

Plenty of rest & relaxation...and reading!


This weekend I will be reading:

• Not Pretty Enough:  The Unlikely Triumph of Helen Gurley Brown, by Gerri Hirshey

I was lucky enough to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway and I am thrilled to be able to read it.  I developed my love of reading at a young age and read everything I could while growing up.  I was the girl who would rather be reading than go out at night, and I still am.  My mom is a booklover as well, and she has an extensive home library.  One of the books I always remember seeing on her shelves when I was younger was Having it All by Helen Gurley Brown, then the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine.  It was a guilty pleasure to read that book, but there were some wise words to be found in it.   Helen Gurley Brown has always been fascinating in that she came from an extremely humble background and ended up becoming the editor-in-chief of one of the most well-known women's magazines in the world.  I will be posting my review of this book next week--stay tuned!

• Blind Item, by Kevin Dickson & Jack Ketsoyan

I first read about this book on Goodreads--it came up as one of my recommended books.  I read People magazine, and a couple other celebrity magazines on occasion, and have been known to visit PerezHilton.com once in a while.  Celebrity scandals are pretty common these days, but that does not make them any less exciting to read about.  This story follows Nicola, an assistant Hollywood publicist, as she mixes business with pleasure by dating a sexy movie star and quickly becomes a fixture of the celebrity scene that she writes about in her line of work.  So excited to read this one as well, and will also be posting a review next week.  I also think the cover is very inspired!

Book Review: Hello, Sunshine, by Laura Dave

On the morning of her 35th birthday, Sunshine (Stephens) Mackenzie's carefully-curated world begins to unravel in a very 21st-century fashion.  She has been hacked.  Her life as she knows it is gone:  the hit Youtube cooking show, her cookbook contract...her marriage...everything.  She has nothing left, and no one to help her.  Everyone has turned their backs.  What is a girl who built her fortune based on lies to do?  Go back to the truth...where it all began....home.

Sunshine begins to build her life back, slowly.  Her estranged sister and precocious niece are great characters--they cut through Sunny's persona and allow the real Sunshine to peek through.  I felt like Ethan did not add a lot to the story--he and Sunshine got close (friends?), but I did not like him as a character/person.  By the end of the book, I was happy that Sunshine unraveled the hacker's identity, but was disappointed in who it turned out to be, because that ruined that particular character for me.

It was hard for me to feel sympathy for Sunshine, but also hard for me to feel bad for Danny.  The ending of the book was a little unresolved for me...I would have wanted to read more about where Sunshine's path eventually takes her and if Danny is a part of her future.  All in all, it was a very fast-paced, enjoyable book that I recommend for reading on the beaches of the Hamptons or in your own backyard on a sunshine-filled day!

Book Review: The Necklace, by Claire McMillan (with spoilers)

I finished reading The Necklace over the weekend and can honestly say it is up there on the list of the best books I have read.  The plot moved along at a satisfying pace, and the characters seemed like people that we may have met one time or another in our lives.  The mystery surrounding the necklace spans from the 1920s until present day, and the time jumps add to the story, rather than distracting from it. 


The romantic entanglements between Ethan, Ambrose and May Quincy are best summed up in one word:  complicated.  May, out of obligation, marries Ethan, despite being in love with Ambrose.  The feelings between her and Ambrose only grow stronger despite being apart both in distance and by duty.  The necklace serves as a reminder of the love between Ambrose and May.


The modern Quincy relatives are an eccentric, spoiled bunch.  They behave like the spoiled heirs they are, and the only Quincy that I liked was Nell, who is a Quincy-once-removed.  Due to the way that Nell was treated by Aunt Lou, Lou bequeaths to Nell perhaps the most valuable item:  the necklace that belonged to Nell's grandmother, May.


This novel is full of intrigue, complicated family ties & emotions, and within it all: a love story.  I wholeheartedly recommend!!

Currently reading: The Necklace, by Claire McMillan

I am currently reading The Necklace, by Claire McMillan.  Touchstone Books was so wonderful to send me a copy of the book to review.

I'm about halfway through it--it is very hard to put down!   The characters are fascinating and McMillan's dialogue is refined and witty.  The Quincy family's dysfunctionality and elitism are very evident, and the book has (so far) been full of quite a lot of family drama.  The love triangle between Ambrose, Ethan, and May has been developing and I am anxious to see how that plays out in further chapters.


I have previously read another novel by Claire McMillan, Gilded Age, and it was phenomenal.  She lives near Cleveland, Ohio, where I am from, and it is always nice to read books published by local authors.  The Ohio/Cleveland references in The Necklace are nice as well :-)




I am loving it and will post another (longer) review when I am finished reading (hopefully this weekend).

Happy National Book Lovers Day!!!

August 9th:  National Book Lovers Day!


Celebrate by doing one (or more) of the following:

• Visit your local library.
• Read a book on your must-read list.
• Re-visit an old favorite (my pick:  The Street Lawyer by John Grisham)
• Take your love of reading outdoors and bask in the sunlight while getting your read on.
• Have a "book swap" party!  Invite some friends and have everyone bring a book that they would like to share and perhaps find a new favorite.
• Go to your local independent book shop and support your community while also picking up a new novel.

Book Review: The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff

The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished reading this book over the weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed it-- very well written and it was clear how passionate Ms. Jenoff is about history. As a fellow history aficionado, it was a more in-depth look at a segment of the population affected by the Second World War that I did not know much about, despite being a history major with an emphasis on European history. This is a novel that I was very excited to add to my library. I definitely look forward to more from this author and highly recommend this book.