Tricia Nelson

This story grabbed me right away and kept me finding ways to come back to read more. The characters were so varied, but each character was given depth and attention by the author. This book was enjoyed by everyone in my book club, which doesn't happen very often! The characters are believable, and their reactions seemed ‘true' to us. We were rooting for the characters and felt that the author does a good job of respecting the story line and laying out a logical path for each.
For our book club, this book was a great one to discuss, and we shared our ideas about the book and topics related for a very quick 90 minutes. Everything from cultural differences to parenting to women's rights to the definition of ‘old' was discussed. We didn't even look at the book discussion questions that we found on BookBrowse until almost an hour into our meeting.
This book is a great novel in and of itself, and an excellent book club pick!
Note: I received this book as part of the Book Club Girls Book Club.

One of the reasons I like Danielle Steele is that I can get drawn into her stories quickly and they are a fast read. This was probably the heaviest story of hers that I have read and would speak to anyone who has lost someone suddenly, before their time. Not her best but a good book.

Five stars

I have always loved this author and she doesn't disappoint in her speech here. Great read and wonderful message about what is truly important.

I enjoyed this book! It made me laugh out loud like some of the earlier books in the series. Great easy and quick read.

This was a good book! I can see the crossover in the buildup of suspense with her JD Robb books. Enjoyed this quick read.

Loved this book! I've had it for a little while and have been looking forward to reading it, and it exceeded my expectations. It was a great story, with wonderfully full characters. Well written work.

Fast read, enjoyed the continuation of the characters from the first book. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

I picked this up as part of an online book club, and I'm so glad I did. It is beautifully written. It is also a book that will continue to sit with me as I think through my reactions to current events and attitudes toward those around me. My words don't do justice to the book. Just read it.

After the last book I read, I needed something light to read. This book fit the bill perfectly! It is a quick read with romance, small vacation town residents vs. vacationers, and of course dogs! It's a fun read that has you rooting for the main character as she navigates friendships, men, family, and jobs.

This book was a great read - the story grabbed me from the start and I didn't want to put it down. I love reading books that make me want to ignore my responsibilities and read. Having started my career at a defense contractor in the 80s, this story felt plausible with familiar cold war era themes. There is an added level of depth given the current news with Russia's cyber attacks and interference in the US elections and government. Great read - can't wait to start the second book in the series and see the movie!

I truly enjoyed this book. It's long, and I was a bit worried about reading it in time for my book club, but the story is well written and drew me in so the pages flew by. Our book club discussion was rich and there was a lot to talk about - women's roles, religion and acceptance of different beliefs, historical references, and more. The author did a great job of giving the reader a rich understanding of the time (1580s England), while incorporating that understanding into a story that had me anxious to see what happened next.

The author summarizes the book well at the end in her interview at the end, saying how she hopes the reader “feels a sense of history, but particularly, the humanity that links us across the eons - how, for all our differences and so-called advances we are more alike than not - we still love, laugh, make silly and great decisiions and gestures, suffer, long, grieve and triumph. “

I received this book as a member of the Harper Collins Book Club Girl book club.

This book was so so good! It's a great story, easy to get drawn into, and easy to read. Particularly good for anyone who is at a crossroads or time of change in their life. Lots of thought-provoking issues that the characters are dealing with, without being too heavy. Great summer read. Great read in general!
I received this book for free as a member of the Harper Collins Book Club Girl Book Club.

This was a good choice for book club as there were a good amount of things to discuss. The story had some twists and turns that surprised me, but made it more enjoyable. Good read!

It has been a long time since I had a book grab my attention and that I had such a satisfying day reading almost the entire thing. What a great story, and great, thought-provoking subject. Loved this book.

This book was a good story that captured my interest and makes me curious about the characters involved. My only reference point with Wallis Simpson is her portrayal on the series “The Crown”, but this book seemed to agree. I was a bit disappointed that the jacket seemed to promise a parallel Diana story with the Wallis story, when in fact the Diana portion of the 1990 story line was minimal. I don't think it was necessary to do that as the 1990 story line was compelling by itself, as was the 1930's story line. The main characters were fleshed out and complex, some likeable, some not. I was pleased to have a stretch of time today to sit down and enjoy the story to it's conclusion. Definitely worth reading, and a great book club selection.

I picked up this book on a whim without reading the back cover and it was not what I was expecting, but in the best way. Rather than it being a memoir of the more glamorous parts of her life and her experiences, it is a glimpse into who she is and how she has navigated a complicated and extraordinary career and life while dealing with things that many of us can relate to. She mentions in the beginning of the book that she wanted to write about her real life and not the celebrity ‘her', and she succeeds at that. This was a worthwhile read!

I'm 55, and this book brought me right back to when I lost my mom suddenly at age 17. The author absolutely nails all the feelings that I had, all while navigating high school. The numbness, the feelings, the “just getting from one day to the next”, all of it. I liked the characters, particularly Jessie, and found them to be real and believable. It looks like it's primarily a romance, but ends up being a great coming of age story about a young woman who is trying to figure out her place in the world after her world is upended in multiple ways, and where all these other people fit. The other characters in the novel were also complex, and dealing with their own issues, and likeable. Well done.

It's hard to succinctly say what I feel about this story. I liked it, but didn't love it. The author is great at developing characters that you care about, or like, or dislike. The ending left me and my book club feeling unsatisfied, though. Too many questions are left unanswered. After I finished the book, I read an interview with the author where he says that he put everything he has to say about the characters into the book. So perhaps the point of the book isn't so much the story as it is the characters themselves. The challenges they face, the mistakes they make, the complicated and messy feelings about family they have are all well developed and thought provoking here. It is a story that enabled our book club to have a great discussion about family, addiction, complicated relationships, and more.

I received this book from Harper Collins as part of their Book Club Girl book club in 2018.

This book was worth every minute I spent reading it. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the basic premise is that a woman in 1960 becomes a social worker as she feels called to help those less fortunate. She discovers that there are departmental/state/office rules that make life-altering choices for those in their purview, but this woman sees real people when she interacts with them, and by seeing them as people she feels at odds with the rules. What follows is a story with many twists and turns, some I saw coming, and some surprised me. The consistent feeling I had reading this book was anger and hope. Anger that these events happened, at what life was like for women in 1960, that poor people could be seen as non-people, and at the racial ‘rules' of the time. Hope that people with good hearts and clear eyes can make a difference, hope that things are somewhat, sometimes better today. So many layers and subjects are laid bare here there is much to discuss, and I am looking forward to our book club discussion. I was left questioning myself - why would I want people to read a book that made me so mad? I remembered the quote by George Santayana - “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” Does this book apply today? To how people view others in different socioeconomic classes or that look different or worship differently? Those discussions are worth having, and that's why this book is worth your time.

I read the first book in this series at the end of last year, and was so happy to have a chance to read this one. Just like with ‘Solace Island', this book let me dive in and immerse myself in the story and read the whole book (just about) in a day. I love days like this one when I can enter a book and spend the day with the characters. It's a love story and suspense novel in one, and the characters are likeable. The romance is predictable but I liked the way the characters were portrayed as strong and capable in their own right.

This book was different, but in a good way. It made me root for the characters, and wonder about where the story was going. The story left me with questions, but perhaps questions that are good to wonder about.

I've read all three in the Solace Island series now, and this one delivers on suspense, storyline and surprises. The author is skilled at setting a story that stands alone, but pulls in characters from other novels set in the same place to connect them together. The suspense on this one had me reading and finishing the book in a little over a day.

Loved this book! I can see why she was such a successful food critic because her descriptions of the food she tried and loved had me looking up the restaurant or chef to see if they were still open in NYC. In addition to getting a wonderful insiders view of the life of a food critic in NYC, she also successfully described how it can be hard to slip into and out of disguises without it affecting you and learning, perhaps, more about yourself. I loved the way she explained the ties many of us have with food and our heritage or our history. I found myself hearing my dad talk about how to pick a good piece of meat at the store by looking at the ‘marbling'. The trip through Brooklyn (of the 1990's) and the specialty shops had me wishing I could have tagged along. If the author set out to bring the reader into the life of a food critic and share all the pressures and craziness and wonderful food experienced, she succeeded!

This is the second book in the series, and cliffhangers continue! I'm glad I read the first book before reading this one, because I was more invested in the characters and their journey. In this book we hear from Rosie through her diaries, which provides a lot of backstory for her and Russ. The book has you rooting for the characters who are caught in the consequences of actions that were not their own. Can't wait for the final part of the trilogy!

I picked up this book because I was looking for something set in North Carolina, and a friend suggested this author, and I'm so glad I did. The book is very well written. So often of late books bop between time periods and characters and if it's not done well, the reader can get a little whiplash. This author does this very very well. The story pulls you in and keeps you there rooting for Ella and the other workers. If you like historical fiction, this is a great book about a little known event that impacted the textile mills in the South. Recently someone mentioned to me how history is written by the winners and the powerful. I was reminded of this when I finished this book and read the interview with the author at the end.