One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

 

I was very excited to receive an advanced reader copy of Carley Fortune's newest novel.  I've loved all of her books and I've seen a lot of reviews saying how amazing One Golden Summer is and I wasn't disappointed.  Carley Fortune is definitely on my must pre-order list without even reading a description.  Bonus points that she is Canadian and all her novels so far are based in Canada.

If you haven't read any of Carley's books you may want to start with Every Summer After although it's totally not necessary.  But you really should read it first and don't forget Meet Me at the Lake.  Every Summer After is slated to be an Amazon series - no word yet on release date.

In One Golden Summer, Alice's grandmother - Nan has just broken her hip.  Alice is still nursing a broken heart.  Seems like the perfect time for both of them to head to Barry's Bay for the summer to relax and reset.  An old family friend agrees they can stay at their cottage.  Charlie Florek is in the cottage next door if they need anything.

Charlie is just what Nan and Alice needed to help them smile again.  He's handsome, helpful and most importantly so good to Nan.  Alice creates a checklist to help her have the summer she wished for  when she was 17 and Charlie is very willing to help her complete it.

By the time you have this finished you'll be searching for cottages in Northern Ontario.  This book would be perfect to read there if you already have one booked this summer.  Don't forget the kleenex!

My Friends - Fredrik Bachman

 

I've enjoyed many Fredrik Backman books over the years.  He's a wonderful story teller.  My Friends is another example of his wonderful storytelling abilities.

Louisa has grown up in foster homes.  She's bounced from home to home - some okay, some awful.   One thing she's always brought with her is a postcard she found at one of the earlier homes.  To most this postcard is just a picture of the sea but she's special.  She sees more than the rich fancy art buyers that are just looking for prestige pieces of art.  She sees the friends sitting on the pier.

The story begins with Louisa in a museum hoping to see the painting in real life just once.  She never intends to steal it or destroy it.  Luckily she bumps into just the right person while trying to escape the security guards.  He knows instantly she's one of them and needs to be protected.

The story flips between the story of the kids on the pier and Louisa who suddenly finds herself the owner of a priceless piece of art.  Making her way with the artists.

I found the middle of the story a little slow and I really had to push myself to keep going through this book.  But I knew like other Fredrik Backman books the ending would be worth it and I wasn't disappointed.  This is a beautiful book of art and friendship.  I loved the ending.

I would recommend My Friends to anyone who can appreciate a good story being told and can be patient for a great ending.

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

 

I recently received an advanced reader copy of The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose.  I had the first two books on my to be read pile for a while now and had never gotten around to starting them.  I'm really happy getting this copy got me to prioritize reading the first two novels because this is an excellent series.

Molly the Maid (she's heard the jokes before) loves working as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel.  She takes her role as Head Maid very seriously.  Molly takes great pride in doing the job well.  Her grandmother has taught her well.  Although these past years she's been distracted from her job by mysteries that have occurred at the Regency Grand.

In the first two novels, The Maid and The Mystery Guest, Molly finds herself in the middle of crimes and The Maid's Secret is no different.  When the Hidden Treasures reality TV show comes to the Regency Grand Molly brings a few of her treasures to be assessed not expecting one of her items to be the highest valued item the show has ever seen.  Molly has long treasured a jewelled egg she received as a child.  When the TV hosts tell her it's a real Faberge Egg worth millions Molly faints right there on the stage.

The Maid's Secret is told in alternating chapters - telling the story of her grandmother, Flora Gray, who raised her and the mystery of the Faberge Egg.  I don't want to say too much about this particular book as it may spoil parts of the first two novels.  

I really enjoyed all three of these novels.  I loved all the characters - especially Molly.  I loved that the novels had mystery - including murder - but handled them in a not so serious manner.  I highly recommend these novels to anyone looking for a lighthearted mystery series.  

As for the Faberge Egg - a few years ago while I was on vacation I passed a jewellery store on a cruise ship that had the most beautiful bejewelled egg.  After admiring the egg for a few days I finally stopped into the store to hear more about this egg.  The particular egg I saw was made by the grandson of the original Faberge eggs.  This egg was far less expensive and prized than the original Faberge Eggs but no less beautiful.  I came to find this egg that had caught my attention was over $20,000 so sadly it didn't come home with me.  But I was so excited to read more about the Faberge in all three of these novels.  Take a moment to read more about these eggs and if you ever get to see one and their intricate details you will be amazed.

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman

 

Viola Shipman is a new author read for me although she has many books published.  The Page Turner was a fun lighthearted read with some twists and turns.  You may even learn a few things you don't know about publishing a book and become inspired to write a novel yourself.

Emma Page has recently graduated college.  She still doesn't know what she wants to do with her life but she knows it involves books.  She's got her first manuscript finished but is it good enough to submit to a publisher?  And which publisher would she submit it to her?   Certainly not The Mighty Pages, they would never publish the fluff she likes to write.  Also, The Mighty Pages is owned by her parents and she definitely isn't ready for them to read it.

Everything would be better if her grandmother Gigi was still around.  They have always shared a love of books.  At least she grabbed a few of Gigi's old romance books to read before her parents tossed them.  But it's time to stop day dreaming and reading all day and commit to a career and stop wasting her degree.  But is there a future for Emma at The Mighty Pages?  She wants to be excited about books and she's not excited about the books her parents publish.

Milestones

 I started this blog in 2014.  Back then I was going to school to become a library technician - I graduated and worked as a library technician at one of the local schools for a few years.   I also had a goal to start reviewing books for my local newspaper - I sent them my very first blog post and they published it shortly after.  Since then I've worked for my local public library and Indigo (Canadian Bookstore). 

Recently I've hit a milestone of over 50,000 readers - I'm actually almost at 60,000 readers today.  Each month I get almost 2,000 hits on my blog and that's without even posting anything new.  

I've written over 200 book reviews.  My most read book reviews are:

Girl Wash Your Face  by Rachel Hollis

Sleeper by Eric Walters

Kay's Lucky Coin Variety by Ann Y K Choi

And Then it Happened by M & L Wade

Bookish People by Susan Coll

I'm pretty proud of my little blog.  It's been a great hobby and I enjoy writing my blog posts.  One time I got an email from the Huffington Post.  An editor there read my blog and asked if I would write an article on Bill Cosby.

So if you've been here reading my blog posts since 2014 - thank you.  I hope you've found something you've been inspired to read.

To Sicily with Love by Jennifer Probst

 

To Sicily with Love is the fourth book in the Meet me in Italy series.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was a series until after I finished book three, A Wedding in Lake Como.  But I promise you are fine to read them out of order.  If you love dreaming of vacations in Italy and reading about beautiful landscapes and delicious food you are going to want to read them all.

Aurora has a very structured life and everything is perfectly in order.  She's got a business working as a life coach and she's at the top of her game.  Her weight is perfect after a few years of struggling with it and her boyfriend owns a couple gyms which perfectly compliments her life.  They also swap clients back and forth which is very convenient.

Aurora's mom doesn't think her boyfriend is right for her.  She's not happy that Aurora won't eat the nice meals her mom makes.  Unfortunately, her mom suddenly passes away and their last conversation is a fight.  Now Aurora is struggling because both her parents are gone and was her mom right about things?  If only she could talk to her one more time.

A surprising twist has Aurora flying to Sicily to meet long lost relatives that she didn't know existed.  She didn't even know her mom was from Italy!  Now she's gone from no family left in the world to a large family of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  

To Sicily With Love is a wonderfully written novel and I intend to go back and read book one and two in the series and looking for other books by Jennifer Probst.  Also, I googled it so you don't have to - the author is no relation to Jeff Probst the Survivor host.

Beach Vibes by Susan Mallery

 

Susan Mallery is a great author with lots of light reading books.  Beach Vibes is her latest novel and I really enjoyed it.  Lots of twists and turns and definitely not predictable.

Beth has recently gone through a divorce.  She's not sad the relationship is over but she lost some friends in the divorce and she needs to find new ways to keep herself busy.  She needs to find some ways to make new friends and maybe find love again.  At least Beth is happy with her career.  She's been the owner of Surf Sandwiches since her Aunt and Uncle wanted to retire.  She bought them out and they agreed to help her brother through college to become a doctor.  He's always been the ones with the brains and she's not college material - at least that's what her brother always said.  

While volunteering at the food bank Beth meets Jana.  She's a single mom trying to work part time at the medical centre, go to school and take care of her daughter.  It's a lot of work but she lives with her single dad brother and his best friend helps out a lot too.  Beth and Jana bond over their food bank shifts and start having quick dinner together after volunteering.

Unbeknownst to the other Jana works at the same office as Beth's brother and he's been asking her out for a while now.  When Beth meets Jana's brother it feels like love at first sight.  But can Jana and Beth's friendship withstand them dating each other's brothers.  Both girls fiercely love their brothers and this could go great or very bad.

This whole love square (???) takes place in a beach town with many scenes at the beach watching the surfers.  Beth's sandwiches sound amazing and might inspire some new ideas for dinner.