Luanne Oleas

What an awesome concept for a novel. I'm impressed (again) with Hoover's ability to pull me into the story and keep me on pins and needles when it comes to the characters' motivation and outcome.

For various reasons, Ben and Fallon only see each other once a year. On November 9th. It's the anniversary of the house fire that scarred Fallon very visibly. To the point where she thinks that is all people—especially men—when she meets them. But as Ben put it toward the end of the book, “But anyone who sees your scars before they see you doesn't deserve you.”

Ben has a few hidden scars of his own, which threaten to undo the fragile relationship he and Fallon forge during their brief encounters. Both characters are deeply influenced by their own parents. Fallon's mother says Fallon shouldn't fall in love until she's 23. When the book opens, Ben and Fallon are 18. Fallon's father is less than helpful when it comes to helping Fallon overcome the trauma from the fire. Ben's father is really not in his life, but he had brothers who try to help. His mother had a poet's soul with all the joy and tragedy that entails.

So, to one another, they are “Ben the writer” and “Fallon, the transient.” For having spent very little time together, they develop an overwhelming connection that weathers all the days of the year they are apart. Several small impediments, and one HUGE one, prevent them from finally fulfilling what they both want, to be in love with each other.

Overall, it's a touchingly impactful book.

I read the whole thing, so I'm giving it four stars. If I had a more interesting life, I would have put it down and lived. However, I don't.

At times, it seemed the author was introducing characters so people could hook up. However, the different aspects of running a hotel and living the super rich life were interesting. It did seem that the characters merely worked and drank though.

I give the author props for including a character with Alzheimer's Disease. A minor character but still, it was mentioned. The caregiving solutions made it seem easier than it actually is to have a relative with AD, but the issues covered were realistic. Mainly having the sufferer get lost, but the vacant stares and the stress on the family too.

Overall, this is a good beach read. Something to lets you get away from the news for a while and wish you were young and employed by your family who gave you free housing.

I finished this novel while mourning the disappearance of my cat. She was here one day, gone the next. Reading it helped me focus on something besides all the horrible things I imagined happening to her. To have the novel start with Blake Colwater telling his wife of 20 years, Annie, “I want a divorce,” is about as shocking as losing your cat.

Annie's retreat from southern California to the Pacific Northwest made me wish I could follow her. In fact, I sort of did. Virtually anyway. Annie stayed with her dad to recover/reorient her life. Of course, she ran into her old sweetheart, Nick, but this wasn't a simple ‘boy gets girl back' story. Not by a long shot.

Nick had his own issues, including a deceased wife and a mourning, young daughter who not only didn't speak anymore, but thought she was disappearing, one limb at a time. At first, it looked like the story would be Annie stepping into a new family. But that wasn't to be.

The roll coaster ride through love, commitment, and honor keeps the reader off balance until the very end. That said, without giving anything away, the end was very satisfying. It really helped me forget about my missing cat for a little while anyway.

Meghann and Claire are distanced sisters. Events from childhood both hold them together and tear them apart. Like most sisters, they are very different people. Meghann is success oriented; it satisfies the needs she ignores. Claire is a family person without much of a family.

Mom is basically absent unless she steps in to inflict trauma. Meghann and Claire relied on each other throughout their childhood years, but when mom grew even more unreliable, teenaged Meghann found younger sister's Claire's father, giving him the chance to bond with Claire—a chance he wanted, but their mother never gave him. Here's where the split occurs. Where Claire has the bare bones of a family, Meghann now has none.

(Note: I was familiar with Meghann from another Hannah novel, DISTANT SHORES, so it was interesting to know her backstory.)

Hannah does a classic job of describing the relationship between the sisters. Of course, each acquires a love interest over the course of the story—men as different as the sisters themselves. I think I like the character development and arc of Meghann's Joe and Claire's Bobby Jack as much as I do that of the sisters.

I enjoyed this story very much. While maybe not my favorite Hannah novel, (I'm trying to read them all) it certainly had enough substance and conflict to keep me engaged to the very end.

Second read. First review.

I think I loved it just as much this time as the first time I read it, which was around 1992. Of course the two main characters are upper crust. Why would you bother with a Victorian romance if they weren't? Kate Harvey (aka Lady Katherine D'Harnancourt) and Lucien Kingsley Tremaine are perfect for each other and perfectly flawed. Both lost their entire families, almost overnight.

Lucien returns from war to find himself revealed as a bastard son and striped of his inheritance. Katherine had to reinvent herself after becoming pregnant while unwed.

But anyone who reads you the story can tell you what happens. What I love about this book is what I love about any book that tries to tell a great story. Strong characters, lots of them, each with strong motivation. Excellent dialogue, believable (for the time) circumstances, and more obstacles in the protagonist's path than you could shake a stick at.

And love. The unending, unbreakable, forged from fire emotion that keeps you coming back time and again. Sure, it's 424 pages long, but it's so, so worth it.

Amazing book. I couldn't put it down. I loved “Like Water for Elephants,” so I couldn't wait to read “[b:At the Water's Edge 23209927 At the Water's Edge Sara Gruen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412194706l/23209927.SY75.jpg 42753039].” It was set during WWII, starting in the US and moving to Scotland. The main characters, Hank, Ellis, and Maddie are well off and well isolated from the war, but slowly get exposed in their own ways to the realities of it. As much as I liked this book, I kept getting side-tracked by Maddie's unending fainting. Not sure what that added to the story. Overall, though, the plot zipped along and the exposure to WWII-era Scotland's culture came through well. The author captured the lyrical speech patterns of the Scottish characters. I didn't guess the ending or even the middle for that matter. I stayed up until 4 am to finish this book. I loved it. But what's with all the fainting?

I had read the final three books ([b:The Rules of Magic 34037113 The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic, #0.2) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492802012l/34037113.SX50.jpg 55038896], [b:Magic Lessons 50892349 Magic Lessons (Practical Magic, #0.1) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593355938l/50892349.SX50.jpg 75786942], and [b:The Book of Magic 56898179 The Book of Magic (Practical Magic, #2) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631120142l/56898179.SX50.jpg 88976021]) in the “magic” series by [a:Alice Hoffman 3502 Alice Hoffman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1590599928p2/3502.jpg], but for some reason, I had seen the movie for [b:Practical Magic 22896 Practical Magic (Practical Magic, #1) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629464836l/22896.SY75.jpg 4030671], but hadn't read the book. So glad I finally did.As always, the book was so much better, and it made the other books in the series make sense. When you skip reading PRACTICAL MAGIC and only see the movie, you wonder where all these people/characters came from to populate the rest of the series.I loved this book! What I like the most are the passages where Hoffman addresses the reader. It's happens in the “you” paragraphs. You don't realize she doing it at first, but she is drawing you into the story when she does. For instance:“That's when Kylie comes down from her bedroom. Her face is pale and her hair is sticking straight up. If Gillian stood before a mirror, that was stretched to present someone younger and taller and more beautiful, she'd be looking at Kylie. When you're thirty-six and you're confronted with this, so very early in the morning, your mouth can suddenly feel parched, your skin can feel prickly and worn out, no matter how much moisturizer you've been using. “Another example is:“The most Sally can do is watch as Kylie's isolation becomes a circle: the lonelier you are, the more you pull away, until humans seem an alien race, with customs and a language you can't begin to understand. This Sally knows better than most. She know it late at night, when Gillian is at Ben Frye's, and the moths tap against the window screens, and she feels so separated from the summer night that those screens might as well be stones.”Hoffman's lyrical prose is like a character in the story. It inspires mystery, surprise, and despair, often multiple times on the same page. Not only do you need to read this book, you need to read everything she's ever written. But I'm hardly impartial. I love Alice Hoffman.

Holy cow! I give up. I'm never going to write another book. This was one of the best books I've ever read.

I'm not particularly a fan of historical novel or war novels, and this is both. But I learned so much and felt so moved by this book, I could not put it down.

The main characters (two sisters, Isabelle and Vianne) and the twist at the end really grabbed me. It was as if I was watching a car wreck. I wanted to turn away, but couldn't.

There are plenty of books about WWII, but not as many describe the war years in the south/southwestern part of France the way this book does. I'm familiar with that area, having visited several times. I'm not sure if that was what made the book seem so vivid, or Hannah excellent writing, but whatever it was, I was THERE!

Honestly, I got stressed out reliving the war years. Who knew how much women impacted the French resistance effort? So few are remembered in history. Let this book open your eyes.

You like conflict? HOME AGAIN has it in spades. Although the situation is unlikely—you are dear friends with the Catholic priest and brother of the boyfriend who left you pregnant—it gets even more unlikely—the female main character is a heart surgeon and the ex-boyfriend needs a heart transplant.

There just enough medical and religious detail to make the story cohesive without be a drag. I like to see how Hannah has her character's evolve. Not just the main characters either. The supporting cast, like the teenage daughter, also transforms.

The author also has a way of describing the scenery that makes it another character and not a weather report. The ending might be a little predictable but getting there was fun.

I loved this book. I loved the concept of reincarnation with its emphasis on love. I loved the long and frustrating chances that Tess/aka Amarylis/aka Lissa had to take to get to her chosen guy, Jack. It was like reading a wonderful dream. Even if parts of Tess living in the 1870s seemed a little too easy to believe, her determination was on point.

I kept waiting, impatiently, for Tess and Jack to connect. The author threw some great obstacles in their path to keep them apart.

I'm probably the worst person to ask to review this book because I seem to love everything Kristin Hannah writes. I think we may have been separated at birth. She explores so many topics I'm intrigued by. In this case, the thought of someone having a second chance—or in this case, a first chance—at real love thrills me.

I think upon death, everyone should be shown a series of pictures (as Tess is by Carol, her spirit guide) to pick the person they think they should be given a chance to have a loving relationship with. I mean, really, isn't that what life should be about? Not were you successful at picking winning stocks? Or were you tops in your career? I probably wouldn't pick anyone better than I did in real life, but I'd like to try.

I couldn't put this book down. I hope you like it too.

Maybe this isn't the best book to read when you are tired. Unfortunately, nighttime is the only time I have to read. I'm growing to appreciate big print and little words.

I spent a lot of time re-reading each sentence of this book. What ever happened to subject/predicate, topic sentence, and consistent timeline/POV style of writing? It's amazing to think it went through an editor at a major publishing (Random) house. Maybe Amy Bloom is a just that well-known. To me, it felt a little like she took each section of the book, ran them through in a blender, and then tossed them back on a page.

I would be giving it one star if I hadn't been somewhat enlightened by the historical aspect and what I believe, in my own, incompetent way, to be the overarching message of the book. And that might be that at times, we go on an epic quest and find what we weren't looking for.

Is it just me?

I love Queenie. I love falling in love with the man she falls in love with. I can remember it happening to me, so it's realistic. She makes unrequited love seem like the purest form.

I enjoyed reading THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY (also by Rachel Joyce) and I'm glad I read it before starting Queenie's side of the story. (If you have the option, read Harold Fry's story BEFORE this one, but if not, read either one. It's better than not reading either.)

My heart was breaking for Queenie and her hospice cohorts for much of the story. Still, I admired her and the way she lived her life. It might not have been what others would have done, but I'm glad she did what she did.

Rachel Joyce had a real gift of storytelling, from the way she slowly, masterfully unveils the plot to the delicious words she uses to do so. May we all strive to do as much good in the world as Harold and Queenie.

Amazing, historically fascinating book about the parallel lives of two girls in foster care: one in the early 20th century and one early in the 21st century. You get an accurate depiction of what their lives were like in this couldn't-put-it-down story. So well done.

To be honest, when I started reading [b:Farewell, My Lovely 2050 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1465778099l/2050.SY75.jpg 1263111], I thought I was reading a novel written by Joe Friday. A novel where men were men and women were dames, dolls, broads, or hags. I almost didn't finish it, but I'm glad I did.The books was published in 1940 and it shows. I'm old enough to catch a lot of the references, but many of them went beyond me too. Still, Chandler's style of writing is so engaging, you want to figure out what he's alluding to. His overall ability to set the mood is a wonder to behold. Of course, because of the time period, minor characters or people furniture are often referred by race and not always in a positive light. His main character, Private Detective Philip Marlow is far from politically correct.Still, his description are beyond compare. “He opened the door with a fingertip, as though opening the door himself dirtied him a little.”“Twenty minutes sleep. Just a nice doze. In that time, I had muffed a job and lost eight thousand dollars. Well, why not? In twenty minutes, you can sink a battleship, down three or four planes, hold a double execution. You can die, get married, get fired and find a new job, have a tooth pulled, have your tonsils out. In twenty minutes, you can even get up in the morning. You can get a glass of water at a night club—maybe.”The sparse dialog is just as moody and revealing. “You,” Nulty said, and looked at his toothpick to see if it was chewed enough.“Any luck?”“Malloy? I ain't on it any more.”“Who is?”“Nobody ain't. Why? The guy lammed. We got him on the teletype and they got readers out. Hell, he'll be in Mexico long gone.”Overall, this book was a lesson in how to write a crime thriller. Authors, take note!

This barely made the cut for my “Summer of Smut” reading. . . NOT because it was a bad story (it was terrific) but because it was low on the smut scale.... and HIGH on the plot and characterization scales.I adored [b:Just for the Summer 195820807 Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3) Abby Jimenez https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1692118145l/195820807.SY75.jpg 197775193]!! I kept hearing about this book and Jimenez's writing while perusing literary agents who represent what I write. So many asked for writing “like Abby Jimenez,” so I thought I should check her out.I love the concept of this book. Two people who seem to be the person dated just BEFORE the soulmate comes along. Emma read Justin's description of “the curse” on reddit. He explained how every girlfriend who broke up with him went on the marry the next guy she met while he remained unattached. Emma realized this was happening to her as well, so she commented on his post. In the end, they schemed that if they dated one another, and then broke up, they would both go on to find their soulmates. So started the summer of their discontent. Unfortunately, instead of just having the month or six week long affair, with the required 4 dates and one kiss, they ended up starting to like each other which wasn't the plan. . . but who didn't know that would happen?What does happen is both character have obstacles placed in their lives that do two things: - Help them learn what each is really made of - Discover that they really can't be together. . . wrong place/wrong time/wrong lifeWhat happens next is a fascinating story of self-discovery (and the tiniest bit of smut) that leads them both on a new path. And because it's essentially a romance, you might guess that the HEA will happen, you just won't guess how.If you want to read about how family dynamics can totally mess with your love life, read this book. You'll find the storytelling a grade above most romances. In fact, the romance is really secondary to a fascinating tale.

I'd give this book ten stars if I could. I finished reading in sprints. I'd sleep two hours, read a chapter or two, then sleep two more hours. I not only couldn't put it down, I am moving and I needed to pack it. But I had to finish. I love this book. It's about an era I lived through and didn't understand. Mostly because I was dating a veteran at the time and I couldn't understand what he had gone through. And he didn't talk about it with me. I knew he started life as a country boy who loved to hunt and fish. The military took these skills and made him a sniper.I watched him suffer through fits of depression, addiction, and an inability to commit or sleep or do a dozen other things. This book explained so much to me. What he went through, his bad dreams, and how that poisoned our relationship. Oddly enough, I received a phone call 30 years after our breakup with an apology. I also didn't understand that either until I read this book.The Vietnam “Conflict” was not well understood. I protested with veterans which gave me a different perspective than the average peacenik at the time. So part 1 of the book helped me understand the war years, and part 2 helped me understand the aftermath. I can't believe a book of fiction, though well researched, could affect me so deeply. It seemed all that the protagonist Frances (also my middle name) went through, was directly connected to me, even down to the city where the book ended which was where my relationship ended with my vet. I don't think this is a book I could read again. My emotions are still that raw, always have been when a quandary persists in your life for decades. Now I know more. I think I understand. It's a good and peaceful feeling with just a touch of sadness and regret.That's how this tremendous book affected me. I doubt anyone who lived through the war years could be unaffected. It was not just a great read; it was a learning experience. Thank you, [a:Kristin Hannah 54493 Kristin Hannah https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517255843p2/54493.jpg]!

What I love most about this book—and I do love it—is that it didn't seem contrived in the way most romances do. I believed the subplots that bolstered the main one about Eli and Rue's relationship.

It seemed real that a corporate takeover or slimy executive could cause mistrust in one's personal life, enough mistrust to derail a relationship.

Rue was naturally hesitant in her most normal interactions with other human, male or female, with the exception of sex. That was just a clinical necessity to her that could be handled matter-of-factly. The more dispassionately (here's my list of preferences and deal-breakers, take ‘em or leave ‘em.) Really there was always someone willing to play the sex game for one night because she didn't believe in second meetups. That was for people who wanted more than she could offer.

Eli thought he could be equally dispassionate, but he was fooling himself. His whole life had been one passionate act after another. Life had pushed him hard and he was managed, like a genius and skilled ice skater, to stay upright. And moral.

The fact that the two of them struggled to connect, Rue especially, wasn't helped by the jobs they had. His: corporate takeovers. Hers: the corporation being taken. It was a scientist (her) and a numbers guy, both finally making the money they needed. Really needed. Their desired outcomes, business-wise, were polar opposites. Of course they couldn't have a connection. Nothing permanent. She was willing to settle for less. He was willing to settle for anything, but that didn't seem like it would work.

BTW, the sex is hot, hot, hot.

Ali Hazelwood hits it outta the park with this one. Give it a read.

When I started this book, I was confused. I kept reading and became intrigued. I soon became compelled to finish it. I never went in search of a book based on living in a lighthouse in the southern hemisphere in the year following WWI, but that's what I got. And it turned out to be a great read.[bc:The Light Between Oceans 13158800 The Light Between Oceans M.L. Stedman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336683021l/13158800.SY75.jpg 18337340] The Light Between Oceans gave a glimpse of what it was like to live in Australia in the 1920s and '30s. Set on the most southwestern tip of Australia, where the Pacific meets the Indian Ocean, it becomes the chronicle of what NOT to do if you've had several miscarriages, live on an almost uninhabited island, and find a dead man's body in a boat with a live baby.I found the conflict of the situation fascinating. A young married couple, starting out life far from civilization soon become ensnared in a drama neither can handle. The young husband, a soldier haunted by WWI, wants to give his new wife everything he can, which is little. Tom has taken a position as a lighthouse keeper which pays little and promises a lot of work filled with long, lonely hours on a remote spot. His young wife, Isabel, is full of life, completely in love, and ready to start a family. Of course, the universe has other plans.After several, nearly deadly miscarriages, all occurring miles from any medical care, Isabel believes a shipwrecked rowboat that washes ashore containing a dead man and a newborn baby is a sign from God. Isabel wants to take care of the baby and convinces Tom not to tell anyone—at least for a while. It's an easy secret to keep when you don't get shore leave for 18 months, and supplies are only delivered once every three months. The moral struggle starts over whether the baby's mother is alive and missing her child. Both Tom & Isabel believe the dead man in the boat is the baby's father. Eventually, their ability to keep the secret about Lucy's origins begins to fray.I want to talk about the ending for a second, without spoiling it. It didn't turn out like I thought. It was well done and, in the end, believable. In fact, the whole book was well done, accurately evoking the time period and the continent in an eloquent way. I could almost feel the salt spray. READ THIS BOOK!

[b:Summers at the Saint 195790574 Summers at the Saint Mary Kay Andrews https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697249850l/195790574.SY75.jpg 197724423], a hefty story (448 pages) by [a:Mary Kay Andrews 21387 Mary Kay Andrews https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1616599433p2/21387.jpg], earned every page. I thought initially it seemed like a big book [b:Summers at the Saint 195790574 Summers at the Saint Mary Kay Andrews https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697249850l/195790574.SY75.jpg 197724423] because I was reading the “large print” edition (696 pages), but I'm glad I was. By the time I got halfway through the book, I didn't want to put it down and the large print edition let me read well into the night. . . long after my eyeballs normally would have given out. The book is somewhat a cast of 1000s, but, oddly, I didn't have trouble keeping track of them all. The author does a good job of reminding you who is who, especially if a character hasn't been mentioned in a while. This is a technique that usually goes unnoticed when done well, which it was. I wasn't flipping back through what I'd already read to figure out who someone was.I liked that the main character (Traci Eddings) was a little more mature while many of the other players were younger. We could see the story through a more thoughtful, mature viewpoint while the craziness of youth played out. I liked the setting as well, a resort on the coast in Georgia. A little southern charm never hurts. Traci ran the resort while the younger characters were working there, something Traci herself had done when she was younger before marrying into the resort-owning family. The Eddings were both good and bad—but when they were bad, they were awful! But, the same went for the young employees. Some fine, upstanding people, some cold heartless jerks. Of course, the sexy love interest for Traci, named Whelan, didn't hurt either.The action was non-stop. The conniving, the secrets, the danger just kept coming. It's the kind of book you almost break your arm patting yourself on the back for having found and read. Now I have to check out more [a:Mary Kay Andrews 21387 Mary Kay Andrews https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1616599433p2/21387.jpg] books. I hope they are all as good as [b:Summers at the Saint 195790574 Summers at the Saint Mary Kay Andrews https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697249850l/195790574.SY75.jpg 197724423].

I love everything by Colleen Hoover and this is no exception. However, I think the title should be “MIND OF A MAD MAN,” because Hoover exposes the antagonist's mind so well in this novel.

As always, I fell for the setup. Sloan, the female lead is stuck in a horrible situation through no fault of her own and for very altruistic reasons. Carter (aka Luke,) the male lead, can't be truthful for the noblest of reasons. And the bad guy, Asa, who has his own complex background that explains why he is as messed up as he is. Then, there's attraction a forbidden relationship provides. It's all here.

Because this book was written over a long period of time and published episodically, it does read a bit like a soap opera told from three points of view. The cliff-hangers were irresistible.

There is a possibility that there should be a trigger warning for this book when it comes to the unwanted sexual advances from the Asa toward Sloan. It didn't bother me, but I can see where it would others. I think it skates on the edge of unsavory until maybe the last scene.

Overall, another great story by Hoover that I read in a couple of days despite it being 384 pages long. Lost a little sleep doing it though.

Every time I read an [a:Elinor Lipman 63681 Elinor Lipman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1482327276p2/63681.jpg] book, I wonder, “where does she come up with these wacky situations?” (I'm hoping it's not real life, but the old adage is “write what you know” so maybe. . .)In this case, the reasons why the three main characters are unmarried and unemployed vary, but each stems from a unique neurosis. All of their wacky circumstances are brought to life with sparse description and vivid dialogue that makes the story sail right along.Possibly most entertaining were the ways Lipman expressed Margot's ex-husband “helping” the patients at his gynecological practice conceive—a practice that landed him in prison. Euphemisms abounded. Hysterically.Overall, it's a story of coping with good friends and a little time. Well worth reading.

You can read the first half of this book in public. The dialogue and narrative are next level.

I would not read the second half of this book in public. Don't take it to the coffee shop for a quiet chapter or two. Unless you are über friendly with the local barista.

Charlotte Stein hits it outta the park with this book, especially it the ballpark is empty and has a small bed.

Sunshine (aka Mabel) attempts to ghostwrite Grumpy (Alfie's) memoir. Despite her sunny disposition and his gruff exterior, they were both raised on the other side of the tracks. That early, you-aren't-worthy attitude stay with both through life, minimizing their successes. Mabel, being on the chunky side, wants to be cheery and invisible. Alfie finished a exemplary football career with aches for every great play feels his own lack of self-confidence. His reputation for only dating supermodels doesn't help Mabel.

They're amazing discussions while they get to know one another really soar. He doesn't want to let her in; she's gotta pry him open—first to write his memoir, but secondly to peel back his layers to find it something tender exists underneath.

Their NDA, uncertainty, and ill-timed remarks seem to stifle what should be a great love affair.

Again, you've been warned. Read the second half of this book at home. Alone. Or with a very willing partner. It's got smoke.

Like all novels by [a:Anne Tyler 457 Anne Tyler https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1529285150p2/457.jpg], the wonderfulness is in the details. Sure, it's a great story about a marriage that starts when WWII starts and ends just after Sept. 11, 2001. Still, it's the little stuff that stays with me.I love how Tyler gets into the husband's and wife's heads. As a married person, I can say this totally reflects how marriages work. The author details what each spouse thinks about what the other spouse says, does, and even what they think they think. The husband thinking about his wife:“She was a good person, really. Well, and so was Michael himself, he believed. It was only that the two of them weren't good. Or weren't . . . what was he trying to say, weren't nice. They weren't always very nice to each other; he couldn't explain just why.”Wife thinking about her husband when she tried a new recipe for dinner:“It would be a miracle if he liked it (there were water chestnuts in it), but for once he didn't make one of his disparaging remarks. Instead, he rose and went to the kitchen for. . . what? For butter. She took it as a reproof; he could have asked her to fetch it. She would have been glad to fetch it. But no, he had to limp all the way across the dining room, all the way into the kitchen and back, swinging his bad leg extra widely from the hip as he tended to do when he was tired. He placed the butter dish in front of his mother and inched back down onto his chair with a grunt. That the butter was for his mother added insult to injury; it implied that Pauline was not properly alert to his mother's needs.”It's the internal lives of the partners in a marriage that add depth to the story. There's what a wife and husband say to one another and then there's what each only thinks to him- or herself. Anne Tyler captured this marriage perfectly. Really none of us knows what were doing when we enter into it. Some just handle better than others. Great read!

I'm giving this book five stars because I can't give it six.

Want to read a good book? A book that you can't put down? This is THAT book. I started it one night, barely slept, and finished it the next. Yes, all 274 pages are that good.

I'm not sure who decided to categorize it as young adult, but because it has some very adult subject matter. The heroine is young (14) when the book starts but it covers a number of years, putting her near 20 when it ends. Almost all the other characters are older, including her love interest, four years her senior.

Judith, we eventually learn, was kidnapped, and not can't speak. Literally. It's a physical impossibility because most of her tongue was cut out. We eventually learn why, but the storyteller's strength in this book is her ability to give you just enough information to keep you reading another page and another chapter.

This vaguely historical fiction is set in an undefined time period where women were barely considered people and religion ruled people's lives. (It makes today sound scarier than it already is.)

The author handily leapt back in forth in time without giving the reader whiplash. There's a lyrical, almost poet phrasing used as well as mini-sections that almost act like diary entries. One of my favorite things about this story was that it never sounded trite or unbelievable.

READ IT, even if you never read young adult fiction.

Normally, I can storm right through Hazelwood's books, but this one took me a minute (read: days) to get into. I'm glad I persisted.

I think because I was a) not feeling well and b) wasn't used to the world building that this story required. I understand her world-building when it comes to STEM, but Vampyres (with a “y”) and Weres (for Werewolves) threw me for a loop.

However, I like Misery, the main female character, and her snarky approach to everything, her brother, her life, kids, you name it. It's what kept her sane through all the shuttling around in her childhood, where she was sent to live with humans by the Vampyre Council, headed by her father. She was a token known as Collateral in exchange to keeping the peace. It's how she met her best friend, Selena Paris, and the rift between Human, Weres, and Vampyres mostly controlled her adulthood too.

She was donated to be a bride to the head/alpha Werewolves, again as a token of peace between cultures. It wasn't a smooth transition for either Misery or Lowe, the alpha Were and her new husband.

By the time I understood all of this culture swapping, and some of the quirks involved in each, I wholly bought into the story and it went much quicker.

I'm not the vampire/werewolf type when it comes to reading so it surprised me that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. In the end, some of the animosity between cultures reflects what we see in the real world today. However, I think the sex is better in the book than in my real world.

A+. Read it.