All Books Considered

Death Checked Out (Larkspur Library Mysteries #1) by Leah Dobrinska Blurb from Goodreads : When in doubt, go to the library...and solve the murder mystery! Greta Plank, library director in the small, lakeside town of Larkspur, Wisconsin, prefers her rose-tinted glasses extra rosy, thank you very much. It’s how she copes with the hard stuff in life…like her sister’s death and her ex-boyfriend’s deception. But Greta’s cheery resolve takes a hit when she stumbles upon a dead body on her way home from work. What she assumes is a terrible accident Greta soon learns is something more sinister, and to make matters worse, a new-to-town detective cites her as not only his primary source for the case, but his top suspect. To clear her name and save her reputation, Greta decides to do some off-the-books clue cataloging of her own. After all, asking questions i...

Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen Blurb from Goodreads : It is the summer of 1994. In a small town on the Irish border Maeve and her two friends have just secured summer jobs in the local shirt factory. They plan to make as much money as they can while waiting for their A Level results before getting out of town and away to the UK. As the summer progresses and the marching season begins, tensions in the factory start to rise between the Catholic and Protestant workforce and events escalate putting Maeve's chance of escape in jeopardy. My Review: I did not know what to expect when I started this book and I'm so glad I didn't -- it allowed me to fully be submersed in this world immediately.  This felt so raw, so real and also completely irreverent.  It is honest, tragic, and also hopeful.  I really believe everyone should read this book -- it will make you think of the world in a new way and, particularly, Northern ...

The Only Way Is Up by Heidi Stephens Blurb from Goodreads : Twenty-five years in showbiz is a good run, right? Because after tonight, when her small (read: huge) wardrobe malfunction was broadcast to the nation's living rooms, Daisy's time in the spotlight might be over. It's all about damage control now, and Daisy needs an escape route. Fast. Especially when her sporting hero boyfriend publicly announces their engagement - the one she hasn't actually agreed to tell the world about. All she needs is space from prying eyes and time for the press to get bored and move on. But the only place she can run to at such short notice is the Cotswolds cottage she used to own with her ex-husband. Not ideal, but at least it's in the middle of nowhere and close to her teenage daughter. Seems like a perfect plan, apart from the person selling stories to the tabloids about her and Tom, the local headmaster. But tha...

The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook Blurb from Goodreads : Is it possible to love someone you've never met? A young woman finds out in this sweeping will-they-or-won't-they love story that begins with a chance wrong number dial. . . . When Hannah picks up a call from an unknown number, she doesn't imagine it will change her life. After all, it's just an easygoing American named Davey who misdialed her while calling into a job interview. And when Hannah jokingly wishes him luck after clearing up the confusion, she never actually expects to hear from him again. Then she gets a text saying he got the job and he'll be moving to London, and she can't help but smile. As they continue to message and their texts become phone calls that become video calls, their friendship becomes a relationship that they can't wait to start in earnest ...

We Are the Light by Matthew Quick Blurb from Goodreads : LIFE IS FULL OF GUARDIAN ANGELS. Lucas Goodgame lives in Majestic, Pennsylvania, a quaint suburb that has been torn apart by a recent tragedy. Everyone in Majestic sees Lucas as a hero—everyone, that is, except Lucas himself. Insisting that his deceased wife, Darcy, visits him every night in the form of an angel, Lucas spends his time writing letters to his former Jungian analyst, Karl. It is only when Eli, an eighteen-year-old young man whom the community has ostracized, begins camping out in Lucas’s backyard that an unlikely alliance takes shape and the two embark on a journey to heal their neighbors and, most important, themselves. From Matthew Quick, the New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook, We Are the Light is an unforgettable novel about the quicksand of grief a...

Marlowe Banks, Redesigned by Jacqueline Firkins Blurb from Goodreads : In Marlowe Banks, Redesigned, Jacqueline Firkins wonderfully captures the messiness of failure, forgiveness, and embracing a second chance on life and love. Marlowe Banks’s life has come apart at the seams. Her engagement ended abruptly. Her latest costume design was shredded by critics. Her student loans are overdue. Her parents have never been more disappointed. Desperate to hide from her failures, Marlowe flees New York City to embrace invisibility in Los Angeles as a menial Production Assistant on a popular TV show. While sorting socks and taking care of her boss’ spoiled Weimaraner, no one can confront her poor artistic choices or the end of her engagement, the end her ex refuses to accept. When a costume mix-up requires Marlowe to step into in a scene, the camera catches a ...

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman Blurb from Goodreads : A rich, eccentric family. A time-honored tradition. Or a lethal game of survival? One woman finds out what it really takes to join the 1% in this riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water. Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they've dominated headlines and pulled society’s strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in . . . After all, even though he's long severed ties with his family, Edward is set to inherit it ...