Blue Moon Mystery Saloon

Family Tree

A Novel by Susan Wiggs, William Morrow, August 2016

* An e-galley was provided by William Morrow and Edelweiss for an honest review.

 

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

FAMILY TREE by Susan Wiggs is the intriguing story of Annie Rush's new beginning, both physically and emotionally. One DAY Annie's living in L.A., the happy producer of her husband's (Martin) successful cooking show, "A Key Ingredient", and the next YEAR, she's waking up from a coma where her whole life is different. Not only is she having to relearn everyday activities, like walking and talking, she's also trying to remember the bits and pieces of her past and how she ended up back in her hometown of Switchback, VT. Luckily she has her parents, her brother and sister-in-law, and her four nieces and nephews to help in her recovery. Another person invested in her healing is single father, Fletcher Wyndham, the high school sweetheart she left behind to pursue her dreams.

I really liked this book. The author does a great job creating complex and sympathetic characters and allows the reader to get glimpses of Annie's life as she remembers bits and pieces of her past. All her family is important to her, but it's the memories of her interactions with her grandmother that show how huge an influence she was on Annie's dreams and ultimate decisions. And as she heals, Annie realizes how important her hometown has been in her life.

The only con to this story is the frequent jumps back and forth from NOW and THEN, the reason why I gave it 4 stars. But I understand that to follow Annie's recovery through her eyes, the reader needs to understand how her memories are necessary to her improving health and to frame her future choices.

I recommend FAMILY TREE to fans of character-driven stories and anyone who likes a feel-good book. The unusual storyline is refreshing, and the plots and subplots nicely flow to a satisfying conclusion. And you can't go wrong with a Susan Wiggs book!

If You Like This, You Might Also Like: ROSE HARBOR SERIES by Debbie Macomber, BLUE HERON series by Kristan Higgins, ON THE ROCKS and BOND GIRL by Erin Duffy, HERE'S TO US by Elin Hilderbrand, SO CLOSE by Emma McLaughlin, THE ISLAND HOUSE and THE GUEST COTTAGE by Nancy Thayer, THE LAKE SEASON and MYSTIC SUMMER by Hannah McKinnon, SUMMER WITH MY SISTERS by Holly Chamberlain 

Insidious

An FBI THRILLER (Book 20) by Catherine Coulter, Pocket Books, August 2016

* An e-galley was provided by Gallery Books and Edelweiss for an honest review.

 

Insidious by Catherine Coulter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

INSIDIOUS, the 20th book in Catherine Coulter's FBI THRILLER SERIES, is a decent followup to NEMESIS, the previous book in the series, but didn't knock my socks off. In this book, married FBI Special Agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock investigate the attempted murder of 86-year-old powerful, wealthy society icon Venus Rasmussen in D.C., while Special Agent Cam Wittier flies to L.A. to help catch the Starlet Slasher.

Having known Savich his whole life, as she and his mother were best friends,Venus contacts Savich for help in discovering who is trying to poison her. The only people eating with her the three times Venus got sick were her son and a grandson, but loyal household staff can't be ruled out. Savich and Sherlock don't want to accuse family without hard evidence, but it appears that someone close to Venus wishes her dead. The two FBI agents must work quickly to find the culprit and prevent Venus's murder.

While Savich and Sherlock rush to keep Venus alive, Cam Whittier is in L.A. heading the investigation into the Starlet Slasher serial killings. A multi-municipal task force works around the clock to prevent more Hollywood starlets' deaths. Since the killer takes each woman's cellphone and computer or tablet, primary resources frequently used to help investigations, the task force lacks the immediate info to establish a connection between the murders. Cam has two resources that prove invaluable to get the info they need. Her parents, well-known actors who live down the street from one of the murder sites, know the ins and outs of the Hollywood scene and share their knowledge with the task force. Also, Cam runs into a friend from high school who is pursuing acting and who went to auditions with a few of the victims. The race is on to find the murderer before any more starlets are killed.

I've only read two other books in the author's FBI THRILLER SERIES, and the set up in this book is similar--two concurrent but distinct investigations linked by using staff from the FBI office. In this book, I didn't get a good image of Savich and Sherlock, but I guess after 19 books, fans would know the characters inside and out. Cam's background and motivations were more fully developed, so I felt I knew her better. And her investigation was much more interesting.

Though I enjoyed the plot and end of both investigations, they didn't seem to have much tension or subplots. And I felt as if I was getting two short stories instead of one compelling mystery book. So I give this book 3.5 stars. It's not a bad read, but if you're wanting to read a character-driven, tension-filled thriller, look somewhere else.

If You Like This, You Might Like: TRACERS SERIES by Laura Griffin, FORGOTTEN FILES and THE MORGANS OF NASHVILLE series by Mary Burton, MAX REVERE NOVELS by Allison Brennan, ALL THE MISSING GIRLS by Megan Miranda, GOOD AS GONE by Amy Gentry, WITH MALICE by Eileen Cook

The Hating Game

A Novel by Sally Thorne, William Morrow/HarpersCollins, August 2016.

* An e-galley was provided by William Morrow/HarpersCollins and Edelweiss for an honest review.

 

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THE HATING GAME, Sally Thorne's impressive debut work, is one of the cutest books I've read in a long time. It's a story about the love-hate relationship between Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeton, office mates and personal assistants to co-CEOs of the merged Bexley & Gamin publishing company.

From their first meeting, Lucy and Joshua have annoyed, ignored, and pushed the other in a constant dance of one-up-manship. They play little office games guaranteed to irritate (i.e., the Mirror Game, the Staring Game, the HR Game), the ultimate goal being to elicit smiles or tears. She wears bright red lipstick, and her wardrobe is full of knits and retro. His is strictly business suits and ties, colored with an array of starched shirts. She's only five feet tall. He stands over six feet. She takes baked goods to division heads meetings. He scares even the most hardened staff member. And when they become competitors for a newly created position just above their own, they do everything they can to win the sole promotion spot. So what happens when they realize just how much they love their "hate" relationship?

There are so many things I like about this story. First, is the writing style of the author. It's refreshing and engaging, and though I don't usually like books written in present tense, it works here. Second, I enjoy the main story and the subplots. They flow together seamlessly and come to a satisfying conclusion. Also, the two main characters have interesting backstories and are developed so well, I feel like I've known them forever. And finally, by the end of the story, both Lucy and Josh have grown and changed to the point you know that they'll have good things in their future.

THE HATING GAME is a witty, engaging debut book and one destined for my re-read shelf. The lighthearted story is perfect for a vacation or for a relaxing weekend at home and would be a great addition to your contemporary romance library. I look forward to reading future works by Ms. Thorne.

If You Like This, You Might Like: WEDDING BELLES and SEX, LOVE & STILETTO series by Lauren Layne, FBI/US ATTORNEY series by Julie James, GIDEON COVE and BLUE HERON series by Kristan Higgins, CHICAGO STARS series by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, HOT ZONE and LUCKY TRILOGY series by Carly Phillips



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The American Girl

A Novel by Kate Horsley, William Morrow/HarpersCollin, August 2016.

* An e-galley was provided by William Morrow/HarpersCollin and Edelweiss for an honest review.

The American Girl by Kate Horsley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

THE AMERICAN GIRL by Kate Horsley is a psychological thriller set in France in the present day. American exchange student Quinn Perkins is spending a summer in St. Roch hoping to become fluent in French. At the beginning of the story, she is in the local hospital trying to remember what happened to her. Reports state she was running out of the woods, barefoot and in a torn white dress, trying to flag down a motorist. Instead, she was run down and left her for dead. She has no memory of her life before the accident, and the psychologist gives her a videocam to record whatever thoughts come to her in hopes she will remember what happened.

Molly Swift is a Boston reporter who is just one of many descending into St. Roch to discover what has happened to Quinn and her missing host family, the Blavettes: Emilie, the weird ex-schoolteacher mother; Emilie's daughter, sullen teenager Noemie; and, Emilie's son, Raphael, a handsome, irresistable Sorbonne student. Molly gets close to Quinn by saying she's Quinn's aunt. And since Quinn's family hasn't bothered to visit her in the hospital, Molly hopes she can find the truth about what happened to the American student and the Blavettes before her ruse is discovered.

I've had some difficulty in how to rate this story. I started with 4.5 stars because, on the one hand, the narrative is well-written and definitely amps up the tension. However, the constant back and forth between time frames is confusing. At the beginning of almost every chapter, I had to flick back through the book to remember where I was in the timeline. I felt like I needed a complicated series of arrows, loops and stars on a whiteboard calendar to figure out where I should be in the story. And then there was the too-long length of some chapters. After a while I felt compelled to forget about 75 pages and read the last 50 pages. Once I was assured that the ending was worth pursuing, I went back and read the 75 pages I skipped.

My final deciding factor was the heavy use of cigarette smoking by every character in the book. Not that cigarette smoking, itself, should be a reason for decrease in rating. But I feel that the overuse of this habit in the book was basically filler for the actual story. Lots of space was used up in the narrative by people lighting, inhaling, and fiddling with cigarettes (and some weed). Plus, I couldn't help feeling disgusted by the idea that the characters constantly stunk of cigarettes--their breath, their bodies and their surroundings. The overuse of cigarette smoking did nothing for the story. Instead, I think it hindered the psychological buildup to the twist at the end of the book.

Overall, I think the author has a good writing style with strong characters. She is worth watching, and I will definitely read her future books. But with the timeline all over the place and the filler-ish use of smoking, I can give THE AMERICAN GIRL only 3 stars.

If You Like This, You Might Like: GONE GIRL and SHARP OBJECTS by Gillian Flynn, MORGANS OF NASHVILLE and TEXAS RANGERS series by Mary Burton, FBI THRILLER BOOKS by Catherine Coulter, LUCY KINCAID NOVELS by Allison Brennan, DARKNESS by Karen Robards




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