Here and Now by Santa Montefiore

 

Marigold is accustomed to helping those around her.  She works in the village shop/postal office helping everyone find what they need and send parcels.  At home she takes care of her husband, her elderly mother and her adult daughter Suze.  Now Marigold is happy that her oldest daughter, Daisy, is returning home from 6 years in Italy.  Daisy's nursing a broken heart and Marigold is happy to help her too.

But lately Daisy has caught herself forgetting things.  She's always been super organized.  But now if she doesn't write it down she just might forget.  A quick trip to the doctor tells her that at 60 these things happen - don't worry.

It doesn't take long for her family to realize that she is more forgetful than most.  Maybe it's time for them to start picking up some slack and helping their mother out.

I picked Here and Now to read because I thought the description sounded nice.  But quickly I realized that I had picked up one of her books before and couldn't finish it - it seemed overly descriptive.  I have to admit I almost put the book down and not picked it up again.  But I did pick it up again and I'm glad I did.  I thought Here and Now was a beautiful story.  I loved reading the details of Marigold's beautiful village.  Now I'm begining to think that the last Santa Montefiore book I picked up just caught me on the wrong day and I need to give it another try.

Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn

Bear Necessity is about a father named Danny.  He lost is his wife in a car accident nearly a year ago.  He almost lost his son, Will, also but fortunately he pulled through.  Since the accident nothing much has gone right.  Will won't speak - literally not a word to anyone.  His landlord raised his rent and his breathing down his neck.  He's also got a real jerk for a boss down at the construction site.

In a desperate move Danny buys a used panda costume.  He scrapes together a plan to start making money again and maybe get his rent paid before his knee caps get broken by his shady landlord's thug.  But time is running out and he's not sure the plan will be enough.

I thought Bear Necessity was a good story line but although it's not a long book there were parts that I thought dragged a bit.  There was a lot of swearing in the book that I didn't really think was necessary.  Although the cover accurately represents the book, I think it's a little too cute for the story.