Women’s Fiction | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

THE ASSISTANTS by Camille Perri

May 3, 2016

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Chick lit is back, and in a good way.

Tina Fontana has a great job, at least to those looking in on the outside. She is the executive assistant to Robert Barlow, the head of a multinational media conglomerate. My thought immediately went to Rupert Murdoch, but who knows.

While Tina seems to be in a rather powerful position, and in theory she is, having the ear of the big boss, the truth of the matter is that she doesn’t make much more than a bank teller or a teacher. She loves her job but wishes for more.

After a confusing mix up, Tina ends up having to put several thousand dollars of her boss’s travel expenses on her few credit cards, maxing them out. The charges get reversed, but Tina had already put in the expense seeking reimbursement. When the check arrives, she is torn; she knows she should return it, but it just so happens to be the same amount as the balance of her student loans. In a frazzled moment, she deposits the check and pays off her debt.

Of course she gets caught, but instead of getting fired, she is blackmailed into paying off someone else’s student loans. Then, as it always does with blackmail, it just gets worse. Eventually, things comes to a head, with unexpected and unbelievable results.

It’s always fun to root for the underdog, and Perri did a good job turning a criminal act into a cause célèbre. This is a fast, fun read, sure to appeal to any woman who feels stuck in a job that doesn’t utilize her education, skills and ambition.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE ASSISTANTS by Camille Perri. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (May 3, 2016). ISBN 978-0399172540. 288p.

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THE NEST by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

April 3, 2016

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This is the story of four siblings who stand to inherit an enormous trust fund when the youngest, Melanie, turns 40 years old. Of course, nothing goes as planned in this dysfunctional family tale of first world problems.

The Plumb patriarch didn’t believe in giving handouts to his kids, he wanted them to stand on their own feet. So he put aside a small amount of money for each of them, but he passed away and his money manager managed to grow the fund into millions of dollars. The Plumb mom, an odd duck to be sure, had control over the fund prior to inheritance. Shortly before the important 40th birthday, the eldest sibling is in a horrible car accident with a waitress – in a compromising position – a waitress who is not his wife. The mom decides to use the nest, as the kids call their trust fund, to pay his medical bills and more importantly, pay off the waitress and help settle his divorce.

The siblings are outraged when they find out their inheritance is but a paltry couple of hundred thousand dollars. They all have been living their lives depending on inheriting a great deal more, so they need to figure out how to live without it.

At times charming, but more often annoying, this was written in the vein of the much better This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. If dysfunctional family fun is your thing, you’ll love this book.

4/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE NEST by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. Ecco (March 22, 2016). ISBN 978-0062414212. 368p.

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THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE by Lynda Cohen Loigman

March 21, 2016

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I am often asked how I decide which books to review. I hear about new books from all kinds of sources, publicists, authors, various review journals, etc. If it sounds like something I would like, or something I think my library patrons would like to know about, I’ll take a look at it. In this case, I heard about this book from the author’s sister-in-law.

I was working in the library when a woman, her mother and young daughter approached the desk. The younger woman asked if I had this book available but when I looked it up, I saw that our copy was checked out and in fact, all the libraries’ copies were checked out and there was a waiting list. Usually the reaction to such news is disappointment, so I was surprised when these women got all excited about it. That’s when I found out the author was related. They told me about the book, but just from the title alone I knew I would want to read it.

I was born in New York, and the first two years of my life were lived in a two-family house. My parents and I lived upstairs, and a nice lady named Mary Jane and her family lived downstairs. Mary Jane’s daughter was my babysitter. I don’t really remember living there, but on an occasional trip to the area my parents would point out the house so I had a good idea of what it looked like – very much like the cover of this book. So I was intrigued.

The story is about a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York and starts out in the late 1940’s. Abe and Mort are brothers, and when their father passes away they inherit the family business, a box manufacturing company. Abe is a natural born salesman, but Mort loves numbers and wants to become a mathematician. It quickly becomes apparent that Abe cannot run this business alone, so Mort drops out of college to help out. He hates his job and is resentful of his brother for forcing him into this position.

Abe marries Helen, and short time later Mort marries Rose. Abe and Helen soon have four boys, but Mort and Rose have three girls, driving another wedge between the brothers. Mort is jealous that he has no sons to carry on his name and treats his wife appallingly. He is judgmental and controlling, has little use for his daughters, and Rose is docile and sad about it all.

The brothers live in a two-family house, and Rose and Helen become the best of friends, closer even than sisters, helping each other out with the cooking, the kids and everything else. Then they both get pregnant at the same time. A few weeks before their due dates, their husbands are out of town on business when one of the worst blizzards in New York history hits the city. Both women go into labor, ambulances cannot get through nor can the doctor, but luckily there is a midwife a few doors down who delivered a baby and was stuck there because of the storm. The midwife makes her way down the block and delivers the two babies, a boy and a girl. She steps out for supplies, and Helen’s oldest daughter, Judith, comes in and is holding one of the babies. She asks whether it is her cousin or her sibling, and the two women look at each other and a deal is struck.

This story follows the lives of these women, their marriages and families, and how secrets can destroy lives. I laughed, I cried but most of all, I couldn’t put it down. I loved it. If you loved Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale by Andrew Kane, or you are a fan of Naomi Ragen, then this is the book for you.

3/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE by Lynda Cohen Loigman. St. Martin’s Press (March 8, 2016). ISBN 978-1250076922. 304p.

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OPENING BELLE by Maureen Sherry

February 2, 2016

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I love me a good play on words, and the title here really fits the bill. Set in 2008 just prior to the housing and credit bubble bursting, Isabelle – Belle to everyone – is a young woman living the dream. She’s a top trader at a small, prestigious brokerage house, married with three children, living on the upper West Side of New York City. Her kids are in the best private school money can buy, and her husband is a stay at home dad.

Belle works a lot of hours and there is some resentment that her husband doesn’t work and doesn’t take care of things the way she would like, but for the most part she seems happy, at least when she has a minute to think about it, which is pretty much never. Then Henry pops back into her life.

Henry is her former fiancé, who unceremoniously dumped her when she caught him cheating. He is now working for her biggest customer, and their day to day contact has him working overtime to get her back, but on his terms.

Belle’s work place is like a frat party on steroids. It would be hard to believe that in the 21st century women are still objectified in a work environment, but I know a woman in a similar situation – maybe not so much grabbing going on, but a definite boys club, with no girls allowed.

As the market heads towards its inexecrable crash, so does Belle’s world – her marriage, her job, everything she has been juggling for so long. But she is a not a professional for nothing, and her strong backbone stands her in good stead.

Interesting characters and a compelling situation make this a terrific read, with enough humor to lighten the load. I enjoyed this fast paced story immensely.

2/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

OPENING BELLE by Maureen Sherry. Simon & Schuster (February 2, 2016). ISBN 978-1501110627. 352p.

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THE FORGOTTEN ROOM by Karen White, Beatriz Williams & Lauren Willig

January 30, 2016

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Olive Van Alan, Lucy Young, and Kate Schuyler – three generations of women all connected to one grand mansion and a mystery that stretches through decades of war and change.

In 1892, Olive Van Alan takes a position working in the grand Pratt mansion. Olive, the daughter of the very architect who designed the building, is on a mission that involves finding evidence that her father was cheated out of his pay and career by the Pratts. But then Olive begins to fall for the youngest member of the Pratt dynasty. THE FORGOTTEN ROOM by Karen White, Beatriz Williams & Lauren Willig

In 1920, Lucy Young rents an attic room in Stornaway House. But Lucy knows the building as her mother did, as the Pratt mansion. Lucy doesn’t know her mother’s exact connection to the home, but taking a position at the law office of Cromwell, Polk, and Moore brings her one step closer to the answers she seeks.

In 1944, Kate Schuyler is a doctor working in Stornaway Hospital when young Captain Ravenel is brought in as a patient. Ravenel immediately recognizes Kate, or seems to, though Kate has never laid eyes on the man. What’s more, he calls her Victorine.

The connections between these three women and the stories that have led each of them to their current positions are all part of the tale, and it’s one that the three authors have woven together almost seamlessly. I’m impressed at how fluidly the narrative works – chapters alternate between the three women and I can only assume that each of the authors handled a particular character/story line a piece. And while each character had their own voice and personality, at no point did it feel as though the story had been penned by three different authors.

The Forgotten Room is highly enjoyable and definitely one I’d recommend to fans of historical fiction, WWII historical fiction in particular considering it’s Kate who kicks off the tale.

1/16 Becky LeJeune

THE FORGOTTEN ROOM by Karen White, Beatriz Williams & Lauren Willig. NAL (January 19, 2016). ISBN 978-0451474629. 384p.

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THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND by Katarina Bivald

January 23, 2016

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This is the first book of the year that is sure to make my best books of 2016 list! Loved, loved, loved. Seriously.

Sara works in a bookshop in Sweden. She has been pen pals – letters written on actual paper – with Amy, an older woman in Broken Wheel, Iowa, a tiny, depressed town. They met online and started swapping books and a friendship was formed.

Sadly, the bookshop closes, and Amy invites Sara to come for a nice, long visit, and she does. But when she arrives in Broken Wheel, she is just in time to attend Amy’s funeral. The small town begs her to stay, and makes her feel welcome.

Eventually Amy falls in love with the town, and with Tom, Amy’s nephew. But theirs is a relationship fraught with doubts, misunderstandings and a sort of apathetic malaise. The town is full of interesting characters which truly bring this novel to life; George, a recovering alcoholic whose wife and daughter have left him; Grace, who runs the town’s only diner; Andy, who owns the town’s bar; John, the grocer and only black man in town and several others.

Everyone is so kind to Sara that she wants to do something nice for the town, so in one of the boarded up old stores, she opens a bookstore, stocking it with all of Amy’s books. This is not a town of readers, but Sara is convinced that there is a book for every person and she sets out to prove it.

Filled with tiny excerpts of classics and contemporary books, and many literary references, this book will appeal to anyone who loves books. It is a charming read, reminiscent of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and I loved it. Don’t miss it!

1/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND by Katarina Bivald. Sourcebooks Landmark (January 19, 2016). ISBN 978-1492623441. 400p.

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SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET by Debbie Macomber

January 22, 2016

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Blossom Street #6

This is the 6th entry into this very gentle series, which of course I started with book 10. When I need something I know will be light, sweet and ultimately satisfying, I turn to Debbie Macomber. It encompasses everything Macomber readers expect; women’s friendship, sweet romance and knitting. The series is set in Seattle and centers around A Good Yarn, a knitting shop. I don’t knit but I envy those who do.

Lydia Goetz, owner of A Good Yarn, decides to offer an evening knitting class called “Knit to Quit.” She gets an interesting mix of people. Phoebe Rylander signs up in hopes of getting over her broken engagement. Her fiance was arrested for soliciting a hooker – for the second time. She took him back once before and despite her mother’s pushing, not to mention his need to always be in control and working hard to get her back, she won’t budge. She hopes the knitting will take her mind off of things.

Hutch took over his family’s chocolate business after his father died very suddenly, and very young, from a heart attack. His doctor warns him that he is heading down the same path and recommends he takes up knitting as a stress reducer, so Hutch joins the class. And Alix Turner joins to try and help her kick the smoking habit since she wants to have a baby.

The young widow, Anne Marie Roche, is finally happy to be settled with her adopted daughter Ellen. They are a small family, and when Tim comes by the bookshop asking about Ellen, Anne Marie gets her guard up. Lydia and Brad decide they want to try and adopt a baby. Anne Marie loves being stepmother to Brad’s young son Cody, but two rounds of brain cancer left her unable to have her own so they hook up with a social worker to try and adopt. While they are waiting, a 12 year old girl needs immediate placement in a foster home so they take her in, which causes a bit of strain on the family.

All these women are friends, and their relationships and the budding romance between Phoebe and Hutch make for an interesting and enjoyable read.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and it was completely captivating and entertaining, despite the reader. Narrated by the single-named Delilah, who I did not love, to say the least. Delilah is quite the actress, or at least thinks she is, but was completely over the top here. Not to mention reading the same line twice on more than one occasion, and even worse, mispronunciations – I was especially annoyed when a thriller reader in the story was reading Brad “Metzler” books, who I happen to know as Brad MELTZER! Twice she called him Metzler. Arggh! I am very glad a different narrator does some of the later books, I won’t be listening to any more Delilah if I can help it.

1/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BLOSSOM STREET BRIDES by Debbie Macomber. Ballantine Books (March 31, 2015). ISBN 978-0345528865. 432p.

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THE LAST ORIGINAL WIFE by Dorothea Benton Frank

December 27, 2015

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I have been hearing about this author for years and finally picked up a book at random. It was a quick read, and an enjoyable one. Set in the South Carolina Lowcountry, a place I’ve never been that is described so beautifully, I can’t wait to go.

Wes and Les have been married forever and live in Atlanta, Georgia. They have two grown children who are making their way in the world, albeit not in the most positive ways.

Wes is a domineering and secretive husband with a bit of a temper. Not abusive, at least not physically, but certainly demanding and shouty. Les has been a stay at home mom and housewife for all of their marriage, just the way Wes wants it. They belong to the local country club and the two couples they’ve been closest with have undergone some changes. Harold left Danette for a much younger woman, and Paolo’s wife died, and he’s with another much younger woman. Les has nothing in common with these women, making their couple time together uncomfortable at best.

Les’s brother Harlan is gay and lives in the South Carolina Lowcountry, where Les grew up. Wes is completely homophobic and has forbidden Les from having her brother stay with them or even visiting him. One day at the club, the two young trophy wives get into a cat fight, and Wes yells at Les for “allowing” it. She is pissed, leaves the club and goes home.

Les finds the file cabinet open that her husband has always kept locked, and starts looking around. She is dumbfounded to find a financial statement in both their names with a balance of over $22,000,000. Her husband leases a new Mercedes every few years, but Les has been driving used cars and scrimping and saving for years, never realizing how wealthy they were because her husband never told her. She really loses it then and decides to run away from home.

Les goes home to her brother, who is off to Italy for a month. She spends some time alone, and then with an old high school boyfriend. Learning about the deception in her marriage forces Les to do quite a bit of soul searching, with interesting results. And she rekindles her relationship with her brother.

It was refreshing to read about a woman who was turning 60 and still had a life. I enjoyed this and will be reading more of this author.

12/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE LAST ORIGINAL WIFE by Dorothea Benton Frank. William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (April 1, 2014). ISBN 978-0062132475. 368p.

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SECRET SISTERS by Jayne Ann Krentz

December 8, 2015

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Madeline was a young girl at her grandmother’s hotel when a guest assaulted her. Her best friend, Daphne, woke up to see Madeline being dragged away and got help in time to save her friend. It was a night none of them would forget.

Many years later, Madeline is running her grandmother’s hotels, but that hotel, the scene of the crime, has been abandoned all these years. There is a caretaker, and when Madeline’s grandmother dies, she has to go settle up the estate, including that hotel.

No one ever knew about that night, and it’s been twenty years since Madeline and Daphne were together, but circumstances bring them back and the friendship picks up as if it had been two weeks. Madeline brings along her chief of security, Jack, and he brings his brother along to help with the tech stuff.

An attempted murder and a new romance make the pages fly by in the latest entry from one of the doyennes of romantic suspense. This was my first Jayne Ann Krentz book, and now I know why she has been on the bestseller list for so many years. This is an entertaining read for sure.

12/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SECRET SISTERS by Jayne Ann Krentz. Berkley (December 8, 2015). ISBN 978-0399174483. 352p.

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HEADS IN BEDS by Jacob Tomsky

November 25, 2015

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A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality

Jacob Tomsky works the front desk of high end, luxury hotels. Here he offers up the inside dirt on what really goes on, how to get the most bang for your buck, but really his point is how to beat the system – all told in a most entertaining fashion. Think of it like Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential for the hotel industry.

Not all of his tips are, how shall I put this…ethical? But he explains why you shouldn’t worry about it. Personally, I have to sleep at night so his tips on how to avoid paying for in room movies and the minibar just didn’t sit right with me. But I will definitely use his tips on how to avoid paying the cancellation fee, how to get upgrades, why and when you need the concierge, and why you should always use and tip the bellman.

I listened to the audiobook, which the author reads, and he does a really good job. I actually had to stop it a few times to take notes! But for the most part, the note taking portion is in the appendix. The book itself is by turns funny, horrifying and always interesting – at least to anyone who has ever stayed or is planning to stay in a hotel. A fun and informative read.

11/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

HEADS IN BEDS by Jacob Tomsky. Anchor (July 30, 2013). ISBN 978-0307948342. 320p.

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