Book Review: Hush by Kate White

Thursday 24 February, 2011 by 21 Comments


Title: Hush
Author: Kate White
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition
Publication Date: February 1, 2011
Paperback: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0061576652
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Mystery

From the Publisher:

When Lake Warren learns that her husband, Jack, is suing for full custody of their two kids four months after their separation, she’s pretty certain that things can’t get any worse. The upside is that she’s working with the Advanced Fertility Center as a marketing consultant, alongside the attractive, flirtatious Dr. Keaton. But the morning after their one-night stand, Lake finds Keaton with his throat slashed and discovers that things can indeed become worse—they can become deadly.

So as not to jeopardize her case for custody, Lake is forced to lie to the police. Having just been intimate with a man who has been murdered, and wanting to protect herself from being charged with the crime, she begins her own search for the truth. Meanwhile, the police start looking at her closely, people at the clinic start treating her with hostility, and strange clues begin dropping—quite literally—on her doorstep, and Lake realizes that she is dangerously close to dark secrets, both about Keaton and the clinic. But can Lake stop what she’s started before it’s too late?

My Review:

Hush by Kate White is a delightful suspenseful mystery. Lake Warren works at a fertility center, her husband is filing for custody of their children and Lake’s lawyer advises her to stay away from anything that might cause scandal. Fair enough or so it would seem, but poor judgment leads Lake to spending the night with her colleague. In her defense he was quite handsome, but she awakens to find him murdered in bed. Rather than phoning the police, Lake decides she will solve the crime herself, as one using poor judgment might, especially one fearing losing their children in a custody hearing. On a whole, Hush is an engaging mystery filled with some unexpected twists and turns. One character in the book I really enjoyed was the protagonist, Lake Warren, who the reader watches make a series of poor choices, which will either make Lake annoying for readers or wonderfully human, and I found her to be refreshingly flawed. Lake is frustrating and irresistible at the same time, and one cannot help but adopt her growing sense of paranoia. Lake does not know whom to trust nor does the reader, making the story fly by as the reader needs to know who will get custody, should Lake survive. Hush is neither dark nor deeply thought provoking, two traits I usually look forward to in my suspense books, yet I enjoyed reading Hush immensely and found it to be more of a suspenseful mystery than a full on suspense novel. White grabs the reader’s attention from the beginning and keeps the reader engaged throughout the book and gives the reader an inside look into fertility clinics. I would recommend Hush to any reader who enjoys a good suspense-filled mystery novel.

About the Author:

Kate White is the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and the New York Times bestselling author of the Bailey Weggins mystery series and several popular career books for women, including Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do. She lives in New York City.

To learn more about Kate White please visit her website or like her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of Hush by Kate White from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.


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Book Review: Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Friday 4 February, 2011 by 18 Comments


Title: Wench
Author: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Publisher: Amistad; Reprint edition
Publication Date: January 25, 2011
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0385341677
Genre: Historical Fiction

From the Publisher:

wench \’wench\ n. from Middle English “wenchel,” 1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.

Situated in Ohio, a free territory before the Civil War, Tawawa House is an idyllic retreat for Southern white men who vacation there every summer with their enslaved black mistresses. It’s their open secret. Lizzie, Reenie, and Sweet are regulars at the resort, building strong friendships over the years. But when Mawu, as fearless as she is assured, comes along and starts talking of running away, things change. To run is to leave everything behind, and for some it also means escaping from the emotional and psychological bonds that bind them to their masters. When a fire on the resort sets off a string of tragedies, the women of Tawawa House soon learn that triumph and dehumanization are inseparable and that love exists even in the most inhuman, brutal of circumstances— all while they bear witness to the end of an era.

An engaging, page-turning, and wholly original novel, Wench explores, with an unflinching eye, the moral complexities of slavery.

My Review:

In Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s debut novel Wench, the reader is brought into the lives of four slaves thrown together by chance and circumstances and the ties that bind them to each other and those that keep them forever apart. The story is told through Lizzie’s eyes, a slave from Tennessee, the only one of the four friends who is able to read and write. With vivid imagery and stunning detail, each woman comes to life and the reader is transported back into a time long passed. From the first page the reader becomes acquainted with George, Henry, Mawu, Reenie and Sweet and swiftly learns how Lizzie and Philip first become acquainted with each other on the way to Tawawa, a summer resort in free Ohio, where their respective masters have brought their woman and a trusted or valuable male slave. The first summer the four women, so very different from each other, become not only good friends, but also teachers to each other. It is during their first summer the women encounter those who are free. The notion of becoming free is a seed planted into each woman and their summers sustain them through the rest of the year until they are able to reunite. Wench is a heart-breaking and beautiful story of a turbulent time in history, which brings the struggle between slavery and freedom to light through Mawu, Reenie, Sweet, and Lizzie, as each woman struggles within herself. Wench is a novel that one will want to devour, digest and read again.

About the Author:

Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s fiction and essays have appeared in Robert Olen Butler Prize Stories 2009, The Kenyon Review, PMS: PoemMemoirStory, North Carolina Literary Review, and the Richard Wright Newsletter. She is a former University of California postdoctoral fellow and graduate of Harvard. Dolen lives in the Washington, D.C. with her family.

Visit Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s website.
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For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.


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Book Review: The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard

Saturday 11 September, 2010 by 11 Comments


Title: The Good Daughters
Author: Joyce Maynard
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: August 24, 2010
Hardcover: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-0061994319
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

The Good Daughters

They were born on the same day, in the same small New Hampshire hospital, into families that could hardly have been less alike.

Ruth Plank is an artist and a romantic with a rich, passionate, imaginative life. The last of five girls born to a gentle, caring farmer and his stolid wife, she yearns to soar beyond the confines of the land that has been her family’s birthright for generations.

Dana Dickerson is a scientist and realist whose faith is firmly planted in the natural world. Raised by a pair of capricious drifters who waste their lives on failed dreams, she longs for stability and rootedness.

Different in nearly every way, Ruth and Dana share a need to make sense of who they are and to find their places in a world in which neither has ever truly felt she belonged. They also share a love for Dana’s wild and beautiful older brother, Ray, who will leave an indelible mark on both their hearts.

Told in the alternating voices of Ruth and Dana, The Good Daughters follows these “birthday sisters” as they make their way from the 1950s to the present. Master storyteller Joyce Maynard chronicles the unlikely ways the two women’s lives parallel and intersect—from childhood and adolescence to first loves, first sex, marriage, and parenthood; from the deaths of parents to divorce, the loss of home, and the loss of a beloved partner—until past secrets and forgotten memories unexpectedly come to light, forcing them to reevaluate themselves and each other.

Moving from rural New Hampshire to a remote island in British Columbia to the ’70s Boston art-school scene, The Good Daughters is an unforgettable story about the ties of home and family, the devastating force of love, the healing power of forgiveness, and the desire to know who we are.

My Review:

Heart breaking, beautiful, and life affirming, The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard tells the story of Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson, known as the birthday sisters.  On July 4, 1950 at the peak of strawberry season in Bellersville Hospital, Edwin and Connie Plank welcomed their 5th daughter into the world and two hours later, the Dickersons were greeting their second child and their first daughter.  Maynard writes a beautiful, moving novel, and from the beginning it is fairly obvious what will eventually be confirmed, however knowing does not detract from the story.  The heart of The Good Daughters consists of the stories told through Ruth and Dana, two women who have lived dramatically different lives, yet each learned so very much from Edwin Plank, the lessons they have each accumulated over their respective fifty plus years of life, love, loss, and family.   I found myself deeply engrossed in each woman’s story and noticed I particularly looked forward to the sections where Dana’s voice came through as I formed quite a fondness for Dana and her life with Clarice.   The Good Daughters is rich in detailed prose and an absolute delight to read even through the sadness and hardships told by Ruth and Dana.  I would recommend The Good Daughters to anyone who is interested in reading a beautiful novel.  A word of caution, the reader may want to keep some tissues close at hand.

I received a complimentary copy of The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard from Harper Collins to review.  Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.


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Book Review: The Life You’ve Imagined by Kristina Riggle

Wednesday 1 September, 2010 by 11 Comments


Title: The Life You’ve Imagined
Author: Kristina Riggle
Publisher: Avon A
Publication Date: August 17, 2010
Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-0061706295
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

Is the life you’re living all you imagined?

Have you ever asked yourself, “What if??” Here, four women face the decisions of their lifetimes in this stirring and unforgettable novel of love, loss, friendship, and family.

Anna Geneva, a Chicago attorney coping with the death of a cherished friend, returns to her “speck on the map” hometown of Haven to finally come to terms with her mother, the man she left behind, and the road she did not take.

Cami Drayton, Anna’s dearest friend from high school, is coming home too, forced by circumstance to move in with her alcoholic father . . . and to confront a dark family secret.

Maeve, Anna’s mother, never left Haven, firmly rooted there by her sadness over her abandonment by the husband she desperately loved and the hope that someday he will return to her.

And Amy Rickart—thin, beautiful, and striving for perfection—faces a future with the perfect man . . . but is haunted by the memory of what she used to be.

Kristina Riggle’s The Life You’ve Imagined takes a provocative look at the choices we make—and the courage we must have to change.

My Review:

What if? A key question of The Life You’ve Imagined by Kristina Riggle as each of her characters takes a long look at their lives and ponders the ramifications of the actions they have taken thus far and the choices they have ignored.  Cami Drayton has returned home to her alcoholic and verbally abusive father, severely in debt due to her gambling addiction.  Maeve is Anna’s mother and harbors several secrets: her store is about to go through foreclosure and she has been in communication with her estranged husband.  Her daughter, Anna, is a successful lawyer who has returned home on forced bereavement leave after the death of her friend and mentor, August.  Amy Rickart is engaged to Paul Becker who happens to be brilliant, gorgeous and wealthy yet Amy may not be truly happy.  She is finally thin and appears to have it all, yet her self-confidence does not quite allow the happiness that one hears comes from being thin, lovely, and with a handsome man. The Life You’ve Imagined is about four women; Cami, Anna, and Amy all went to school together and are catching up with each other while struggling with their own personal demons and Maeve, who has enough issues of her own.  The story is told in first person and the chapters alternate between the four women.  Riggle writes an intriguing and fast-paced story of life and how the choices we make affect where we are today.  Riggle details the lives of each of the women to the point where the reader can easily identify with one, if not all of the characters.  My all time favourite character was Maeve, possibly because I am closer to her age than to Cami, Anna, and Amy and my least favourite character from beginning to end is Amy, to the point that I cringed when I had to read about her.   The Life You’ve Imagined is beautifully written and the characters are strong and witty and at times annoying, each sharing their joys and sorrows.  If anyone has read the book, please leave a comment; I would very much like to discuss this one with someone besides my cat.   I highly recommend The Life You’ve Imagined to any reader and think this would be an excellent discussion group choice.

About the Author:

Kristina Riggle lives and writes in West Michigan. Besides her debut novel, Real Life & Liars, she has published short stories in the Cimarron Review, Literary Mama, Espresso Fiction, and elsewhere. She is also a freelance journalist writing primarily for The Grand Rapids Press, and coeditor for fiction at Literary Mama. Kristina was a full-time newspaper reporter for seven years before turning her attention to creative writing and freelancing. On Mondays, she can be found blogging at The Debutante Ball, a group blog of authors debuting in 2009. As well as writing, she enjoys spending lots of time with her husband, two kids, and dog.

Real Life & Liars is set in Charlevoix, Michigan, a town close to Kristina’s heart as the home of her grandparents where she has visited often over the years. Some recognizable Charlevoix landmarks appear in the novel, as well as fictionalized versions of real places. The home of the Zielinski family on Dixon Avenue is based loosely on the house where her grandmother grew up.

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For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of The Life You’ve Imagined by Kristina Riggle from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.


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Book Spotlight: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Friday 20 August, 2010 by 5 Comments

Title: I Am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: August 3, 2010
Hardcover: 448 pages
ISBN: 978-0061969553
Genre: Fiction, YA, Sci-Fi

From the Publisher:

Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.

About the Author:

Pittacus Lore is Lorien’s ruling Elder. He has been on Earth for the last twelve years, preparing for the war that will decide Earth’s fate. His whereabouts are unknown.

Learn more visit the I Am Number Four website.

I received a complimentary copy of I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore from Mammoth. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.


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