A COWBOY FOR KEEPS by Laura Drake

August 18, 2020

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Chestnut Creek, Book 3

From the publisher:

From a “fabulous new voice in romantic fiction” (NYT bestselling author Lael Miller): an arrogant cowboy meets a headstrong woman determined to take custody of his niece, only to realize that she may be the family he was always searching for.
There’s not much that could rattle a cowboy like Reese St. James. But when his twin brother dies in a car accident, Reese is stunned to discover he has a six-month old niece, Sawyer. Wanting to make up for lost time, Reese heads down to Unforgiven, New Mexico, to bring her home. He doesn’t plan on Sawyer’s guardian giving him any trouble, but the intriguing, independent woman is turning out to be more than he bargained for.
Lorelei West had given up hope of having a family of her own until her sister’s tragic death brought little Sawyer into her life. And now there’s no way she’s going to let Reese take her away. Lorelei knows hotshot, good-looking cowboys like him — she’s dated enough of them — and she intends to stand her ground. Yet the more time Reese and Lorelei spend together, the harder it is to deny the attraction building between them. But opening their hearts to a baby is one thing — can they also open their hearts to the possibility of a happily-ever-after?

Lorelai is poor as dirt but determined to take of herself, her grandmother, and the ramshackle house they live in. At one time her family owned all the acreage around the house but it was sold off years earlier. Then Lorelai gets some devastating news. Her twin sister has been in a fatal car accident. The only survivor is her baby because she was with the babysitter at the time.

Lorelai didn’t even know her sister had a baby, but she is determined to bring her home and with the help of the social worker in the hospital, she gets Sawyer. Her sister was with a rodeo cowboy and he died as well. Shortly after she leaves, the cowboy’s brother shows up. He didn’t know about the baby either, but he has no other family and he wants her to grow up on the ranch he still lives on.

Reese is not your typical cowboy. For one thing, he owns the ranch and deals more with banking that cattle. He can afford to give that little baby anything and everything, but he quickly realizes that Lorelai isn’t going to be bought.

It takes a lot of time and patience for Reese to break through Lorelai’s walls, and it takes her a lot of time before she decides she can trust Reese. Then it takes a while longer for them to realize they are in love.

This was a good story with lots of drama and the socioeconomic class differences between them was stark. But I couldn’t help hoping that Lorelai would bend just the littlest bit before Reese ran out of patience so they could have their happy ending. And they did.

8/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

A COWBOY FOR KEEPS by Laura Drake. Forever (July 28, 2020). ISBN 978-1538746479. 352pages.

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MY HIGHLAND ROGUE by Karen Ranney

August 17, 2020

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Highland Fling, Book 1

From the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Karen Ranney takes readers back to beautiful Scotland in the first novel in her breathtaking new series.

Since she was a little girl, Jennifer Adaire, daughter of the Earl of Burfield, has loved Gordon McDonnell even though his station as the gardener’s son made him strictly forbidden to her. After Gordon was forced from Adaire Hall, taking Jennifer’s heart with him, he headed for London, intent on making a better life for himself. Though they’ve kept in touch through letters and Jennifer has waited patiently for him, it’s taken Gordon five years to return to Scotland. Now Jennifer doesn’t know if she can manage seeing again the man she loves—but can never have.

In the time since his departure, Gordon has achieved the success he’s always sought. When he learns that his father is dying, he returns home and discovers much to his surprise that the feelings he’s always had for Jennifer burn ever stronger.

But when a family secret surfaces, Jennifer and Gordon’s chance at a future together could be threatened…

So many secrets! Jennifer and Gordon fall in love but she is the Earl’s daughter, and he is the gardener’s son. That is no parent’s idea of a match, and Gordon disappears. Jennifer is heartbroken but doesn’t know her mother paid him to leave. He takes that money and goes to London where he parlays his windfall and becomes very successful.

A couple of years later he learns his mother Betty has died. They weren’t close, and he doesn’t see any reason to return. But a few years after that his father Sean is dying, and this time when Jennifer writes to let him know, he returns home.

Jennifer and Gordon soon realize that they were lied to and are still in love. The years didn’t seem to matter much. But as Sean is moments away from death, he reveals a shocking secret he learned about right before Betty died. Gordon is devastated, and once again disappears. Just when you think there is no way for this couple to ever get together, another secret is revealed.

This was a really good romance. I am very sorry to say that the author, Karen Ranney, passed away in June, so there may be one more book in this series or not. Only time will tell.

6/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

MY HIGHLAND ROGUE by Karen Ranney. Avon (July 28, 2020). ISBN 978-0063019928. 384 pages.

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THEN SHE VANISHED by T. Jefferson Parker

August 16, 2020

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Roland Ford Series, Book 4

From the publisher:

What if the client who’s hired you can’t be trusted…and the woman you’re looking for doesn’t want to be found? With Then She Vanished, three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times-bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker delivers a new and pulse-pounding thriller.

Private Investigator Roland Ford has taken a job for a fellow Marine and a rising politician, Dalton Strait. Strait is contending with unexplained bombings of government buildings in his district…but that is not why he hired Ford. Strait’s wife, Natalie, has gone missing, leaving behind a cryptic plea for help. Strait has made many enemies during his time in politics–including some of his own family members–all of whom could be looking for revenge. But as Ford digs into the details of a troubled marriage, Natalie’s disappearance becomes more and more complicated.

Meanwhile, the bombings in the city intensify, with a mysterious group known only as the Chaos Committee claiming responsibility. Ford soon learns that the seemingly random attacks may be connected to the case he’s on–and suddenly, his hunt for a missing woman might decide the fate of an entire city.

Roland Ford is a private detective that has appeared previously in Parker novels. In the current book, he has been asked by a fellow ex-Marine to find his wife who has disappeared and feared kidnapped. Dalton Strait the man whose wife has vanished is currently in the midst of a political campaign and indicates that he does not have the time to properly dedicate to searching for his wife. Concurrently happening at the same time as Dalton’s wife’s disappearance is a series of bombings and threats by a radical group calling themselves The Chaos Committee. The group makes public announcements calling for an overthrow of all current government agencies and supporting their demands with shooting and killings of police officers in California: the locale of the story.

Appearing with the Chaos Committee’s demands are various glimpses of Natalie, Dalton’s wife in which she could either be a prisoner or could also be allied with the Committee. And to complicate matters even more, Ford begins to doubt that he can trust Dalton. The novel goes into the search for Natalie and also the activities of the Chaos Committee which seems to have relevance to the kidnapping. And, oh yes, looks like Roland Ford has found himself a love interest along the way. Busy man.

The problems I found with this novel are the constant conversations and descriptions of everything and everybody that really do get somewhat tedious to go through in reaching the conclusion. The action is noted rapidly and is over when more descriptions are thrown in taking the story from a five-star read which is the author’s norm, to one that is not at his level.

8/2020 Paul Lane

THEN SHE VANISHED by T. Jefferson Parker.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons (August 11, 2020). ISBN: 978-0525537670. 352 pages.

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PARTY OF TWO by Jasmine Guillory

August 15, 2020

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Wedding Date Series, Book 5

From the publisher:

A chance meeting with a handsome stranger turns into a whirlwind affair that gets everyone talking in this New York Times bestseller. 

Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe’s mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can’t resist—it is chocolate cake, after all.

Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble—not just some privileged white politician, as she assumed him to be. Because of Max’s high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?

This is one of my favorite series that I didn’t even realize was a series until I was about three books in. So you probably don’t have to read them in order, but it never hurts to do so.

As you may surmise from the cover, this is a biracial romance and I liked the way that was handled here. It wasn’t a problem, but it was interesting. Of course, I didn’t notice the cover as I read on my Kindle and I am often oblivious to covers until I start working on my review. But I know Jasmine Guillory after reading five of her book,s so it was not a surprise that it would come up.

What I love about this series are the well-developed characters that make me feel like I know these people. The story is fun and there’s lots of angst with all the sneaking around. I was glued to the story and couldn’t put the book down until I turned the last page, digitally speaking. Another terrific read and highly recommended.

PARTY OF TWO by Alexis Daria. Berkley (June 23, 2020). ISBN 978-0593100820. 352 pages.

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THE MOSSAD JOB by Menahem Misgav

August 14, 2020

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From the publisher:

Back in the old days they used to do it for a living.

Now, they are looking for a revenge.

Rotem is a retired Mossad agent, a proud grandfather and a man who enjoys life to the fullest. One day while on a trip to Europe with his wife, he listens to an interview on local radio that utterly infuriates him.

The interviewee, Meshulam Muller, is a Dutch Jew who immigrated to Israel, was recruited into the ranks of the Mossad, and was subsequently fired from the organization while still in training. Ever since, he has been busy dealing in expensive works of art and most of all, tarnishing the reputation of the organization in every possible forum.

With the same focus and determination of his best days in action, Rotem decides to gather some friends who served with him in the Mossad. After so many years of Muller bad mouthing the organization that is so sacred to them, they decided to run a sting operation on Muller. This brilliant and precise scam will scare and embarrass him.

However, the members of the team, who were so used to being at the cutting edge, realize that times have changed. Situations they had never known in their operative past upset their reality through and through and with it, their entire operation…

A fascinating look into the Israeli Mossad the top tier of the Israeli clandestine spy organizations. The author apparently did not serve in the Mossad, but his insights into the organization seem to be founded on some inside information. The novel has an interesting plot, a cast of characters that are depicted as having served with the Mossad and are currently retired, and the villain of the piece who briefly served with the Mossad but was let go by them as being unfit for duty.

Meshulam Muller is a Dutch Jew that emigrated to Israel, joined the Mossad but was found unfit for the group and let go. Since his departure from the spy organization he has been dealing in expensive works of art and at the same time making sure that he continuously works at tarnishing the reputation of his short-term employer. Rotem is an honorably retired member of the Mossad; a proud grandfather and living with the love of his life. While on a trip to Europe with his wife he hears a radio broadcast by Muller the content of which infuriates him. He decides to exact revenge and does so in true Mossad fashion. He assembles a team, draws up an operation plan, and paying attention to the details proceeds to set up a scam on Muller. This is not to kill him but to get the man to give them a sum of money approximately equal to the funds he gained via utilizing the attacks on the Mossad. The aim is to get the money, donate it to charity and make Muller aware that he has been scammed.

The operation is described with the various retired Mossad agents playing the parts that approximate what they did while active. The novel is a short one and lends itself quite neatly to starting and finishing it in one comfortable read. It is also a reason to look for Misgav’s next book.

8/2020 Paul Lane

THE MOSSAD JOB by Menahem Misgav. Independently published (May 7, 2020). ISBN: 979-8643989912. 172 pages.

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AN HEIRESS TO REMEMBER by Maya Rodale

August 13, 2020

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The Gilded Age Girls Club, Book 3

From the publisher:

Can a scandalized heiress…

Beatrice Goodwin left Manhattan a duchess and has returned a divorcée, ready to seize control of her fate and the family business. Goodwin’s Department Store, once the pinnacle of fashion, has fallen from favor thanks to Dalton’s, its glamorous competitor across the street. But this rivalry has a distinctly personal edge…

And a self-made tycoon…

For Wes Dalton, Beatrice has always been the one—the one who broke his young heart by marrying a duke, and now, the one whose cherished store he plans to buy, just so he can destroy it. It’s the perfect revenge against a family who believed he’d never be good enough for their daughter—until Beatrice’s return complicates everything…

Find happily ever after at last?

While Goodwin’s and Dalton’s duel to be the finest store in Gilded Age Manhattan, Beatrice and Wes succumb to a desire that has only deepened with time. Adversaries by day, lovers by night, both will soon have to decide which is sweeter: winning the battle or thoroughly losing their hearts…

This is not a unique plot; lovers to enemies to lovers definitely makes its way through many a romance, historical and contemporary. In fact, I had just finished reading this book when I saw the beginnings of this same plot on a TV show I recently started streaming on Netflix, “Reign.” It was a CW show but I had never heard of it until someone recommended it to me. It’s my husband who loves anything historical on TV, I generally sort of watch while reading. “Reign” is very loosely based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, plus a lot of sex and sexy costumes that are definitely not of the time period. The music is modern, which at times feels jarring. But in these days of quarantine, we are watching more TV than ever so we just finished the first season, at the end of which arises a subplot much like the one of this book. And here we are.

This is also a book about women and how they are treated and it pushes the boundaries of historical romance about as far as it can get. Beatrice and Wes were childhood friends who eventually fall in love. But Wes works as an assistant in Beatrice’s father’s Manhattan department store, so no way can she marry him. Her parents have arranged a marriage with an impoverished Duke for her, and he whisks her away to England and his big old estate. Better to marry a poor man with a title than just a poor man. But Beatrice is miserable there. The Duke and his mother treat her abominably, and after not producing an heir for several years, she seeks a divorce. He is thrilled to be rid of her and ready to marry any younger, wealthy woman who can hopefully produce the requisite heir and a spare. Beatrice returns to America.

Once home, she visits the family store and is shocked to see it is full of out of date merchandise and empty of shoppers. Since her father’s death, her brother has been running the store into the ground. Meanwhile, across the street, is the trendiest, most successful store in NYC. It is so successful it doesn’t even have its name of the building; everyone knows it’s Daltons. Yes, that Dalton, Beatrice’s childhood friend, and teenage love.

Wes has been extremely successful. After Beatrice married the Duke, her mother paid him a few thousand dollars to keep away from Beatrice. He took that money and turned it into a fortune, one of New York’s richest men. He has been driven for years with revenge as his goal. But when Beatrice returns home, Wes is having second thoughts.

Beatrice takes over the store after her drunk brother is sent out to Long Island to dry out. She also joins a women’s group and they help support her and raise money for her. It’s all sort of fantastic but I went with it. She also gets her mother on board and tries to turn the store around.

Wes and Beatrice realize the old flame is still strong but a lot has to happen before they can reach their happy ending. This was a fun and sexy read with enough drama to keep the pages turning. I don’t think I’ve ever read a Maya Rodale book I don’t like, and I liked this one a lot.

8/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

AN HEIRESS TO REMEMBER by Maya Rodale. Avon; Reissue edition (March 31, 2020). ISBN 978-0062838841. 368 pages.

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THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR by Ellen Marie Wiseman

August 12, 2020

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A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

From the publisher:

From the internationally bestselling author of What She Left Behind comes a gripping and powerful tale of upheaval—a heartbreaking saga of resilience and hope perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams and Kristin Hannah—set in Philadelphia during the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak—the deadly pandemic that went on to infect one-third of the world’s population…

In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish flu. Funeral crepe and quarantine signs appear on doors as victims drop dead in the streets and desperate survivors wear white masks to ward off illness. When food runs out in the cramped tenement she calls home, Pia must venture alone into the quarantined city in search of supplies, leaving her baby brothers behind.

Bernice Groves has become lost in grief and bitterness since her baby died from the Spanish flu. Watching Pia leave her brothers alone, Bernice makes a shocking, life-altering decision. It becomes her sinister mission to tear families apart when they’re at their most vulnerable, planning to transform the city’s orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are “true Americans.”

Waking in a makeshift hospital days after collapsing in the street, Pia is frantic to return home. Instead, she is taken to St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum – the first step in a long and arduous journey. As Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost in the months and years that follow, Pia must confront her own shame and fear, risking everything to see justice – and love – triumph at last. Powerful, harrowing, and ultimately exultant, The Orphan Collector is a story of love, resilience, and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most.

Ellen Marie Wiseman presents her readers with the most hard-hitting and well-researched novel that it has been my pleasure to read. It provides a microcosmic view of a worldwide pandemic that devastated the world right on the heels of the First World War. The Spanish Flu, as it was termed, actually surpassed the deaths of the combatants in its mortality rate. Beginning in 1918 as the war was winding down towards its end, the first “wave” of the disease began and continued in two additional waves before it had run its course.

Wiseman uses two women living in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area during the period of the outbreak and spread of the flu as the principal characters of the novel. The first is a young girl of 13 who is faced with the most horrible situation that any human can encounter. Pia Lange is the daughter of a family that emigrated from Germany before the war began. In order to convince people that he was not a traitor Pia’s father enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to France and life in the trenches. Pia’s mother was forced to handle the family’s problems, tending to Pia and two twin baby brothers. There was very little social network support in those days and her mother was destroyed by both her work in the apartment they lived in as well as having to bring in money. When the lady died from being run down and contracting the flu, Pia had to take her place. Wiseman’s descriptions of Pia’s struggles and problems are heartbreaking when she is used as an example of how orphans were treated in the past.

Bernice Groves is the other woman involved in the story. She has just had her baby pass away due to the disease and is understandably devastated by it. Bernice sees Pia leaving her building one day and makes a decision that will affect both women and the near future course of their lives. The decision and its consequences are the gist of the story and the means of writing about the effect the flu has on everyone living at the time of the event. Wiseman is extremely effective in fleshing out the characters that take part in the novel and the personal agonies that they suffer in trying to survive a disease that seems to have no end in sight.

8/2020 Paul Lane

THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Kensington (August 4, 2020). ISBN: 978-1496715869. 304 pages.

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YOU HAD ME AT HOLA by Alexis Daria

August 11, 2020

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Brown Sisters Series, Book 2

From the publisher:

RITA® Award Winning author Alexis Daria brings readers an unforgettable, hilarious rom-com set in the drama-filled world of telenovelas—perfect for fans of Jane the Virgin and The Kiss Quotient.

Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers. 

After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.

Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy.

After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had.

Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.

With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.

I have never watched a telenovela and I gave up on Jane the Virgin after the first season. So while I may not be the targeted audience, I loved this book. The characters were interesting and authentic and the romance had the usual ups and downs, as it should.

There was an occasional Spanish phrase thrown in, sometimes translated and sometimes not but that’s what Google’s for. It wasn’t enough to drag me out of the story, but rather made me want to look it up and hurry back.

Interestingly, the main character, Jasmine, while Puerto Rican, is not fluent in Spanish. Many of her family are, and some of her co-stars are happy to help her when she needs it. Her accent is spot on though, and that’s important. I loved the idea of a television show like this, drawing from another culture yet not appropriating it but celebrating it. Not sure why Jane the Virgin didn’t work for me but it didn’t. Netflix, are you listening?

Ashton is a man of mystery. He comes to the set, always prepared, but disappears afterward. Jasmine is the type to try and create a working family out of her coworkers, planning Friday night drinks and other outings. She invites Ashton as well, but he usually refuses.

When their first kissing scene is a bit of a disaster, Jasmine draws enough courage to go directly to Ashton and convinces him that they need to rehearse. In private. Which leads to a very passionate affair, except Jasmine is constantly in the media and Ashton tries to keep as far away as possible. He has a secret that he does not want in the papers. Their affair seems like it’s headed south until the last possible moment when they reach their happy ending.

This was a terrific read, fast-moving, funny, and sexy. I highly recommend it and will be looking for her two earlier novels!

YOU HAD ME AT HOLA by Alexis Daria. Avon (August 4, 2020). ISBN 978-0062959928. 384 pages.

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THE SILENT WIFE by Karin Slaughter

August 10, 2020

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Will Trent, Book 10

From the publisher:

He watches. He waits. He takes. Who will be next . . .

THE SILENT WIFE

The New York Times bestselling author of Pieces of Her and The Last Widow returns with another electrifying thriller.

Investigating the killing of a prisoner during a riot inside a state penitentiary, GBI investigator Will Trent is confronted with disturbing information. One of the inmates claims that he is innocent of a brutal attack for which he has always been the prime suspect. The man insists that he was framed by a corrupt law enforcement team led by Jeffrey Tolliver and that the real culprit is still out there—a serial killer who has systematically been preying on women across the state for years. If Will reopens the investigation and implicates the dead police officer with a hero’s reputation of wrongdoing, the opportunistic convict is willing to provide the information GBI needs about the riot murder.

Only days ago, another young woman was viciously murdered in a state park in northern Georgia. Is it a fluke, or could there be a serial killer on the loose?

As Will Trent digs into both crimes it becomes clear that he must solve the cold case in order to find the answer. Yet nearly a decade has passed—time for memories to fade, witnesses to vanish, evidence to disappear, and lies to become truth. But Will can’t crack either mystery without the help of the one person he doesn’t want involved: his girlfriend and Jeffrey Tolliver’s widow, medical examiner Sara Linton.

When the past and present begin to collide, Will realizes that everything he values is at stake . . .

A brilliantly conceived story about a psychopath and one that is a complete one. A fiend that preys upon young women, capturing them, torturing them, and then raping their bodies after he has killed them. The author has used Will Trent, a detective with a police department in The Atlanta Georgia area, and his girlfriend Doctor Sara Linton, who is the medical examiner for the same police force. This is the 10th book featuring the two in the series, and I must comment that I like Slaughter’s treatment of them. They are normal police personnel, not super-beings pulling solutions miraculously out of the air. Both are dedicated to solving cases and bringing criminals to justice by slowly, but surely obtaining evidence in solving the crime.

In the book’s opening, Will is visiting a prison to interview a prisoner when he is pulled into talking to another man that claims he is innocent of a murder of a young woman and should not be jailed. Will, in thinking over what the second man told him, brings the situation to his department head and they decide to look into the matter. Their investigations unearth a series of murders in an area around Atlanta going back several years.

Karin Slaughter describes what has happened to the girls in great detail and it is not light reading. The descriptions describe the torture inflicted on them and the reader needs to understand that it is not gratuitous horror but the author’s need to bring out what women can go through when sick men decide to “punish” them. In an afterward, Slaughter does indicate that it was one of her intentions to bring out this situation.

Will and Sara’s group begin unearthing similar crimes that occurred in areas to the north of Atlanta and judicious study uncovers similar physical damages to the women inflicted by the murderer and which betray a knowledge of anatomy. Sara rereads accounts of the previous murders and skillfully sets up a profile of the killer. In two cases the victim has survived but will never completely recover mentally.

Slaughter describes the attempts to interview them, with both Will and Sara devastated by the accounts. The book is absolutely one that must be finished in one mesmerizing period after which some relaxation is necessary and time out awaiting the author’s next novel.

8/2020 Paul Lane

THE SILENT WIFE by Karin Slaughter. William Morrow (August 4, 2020). ISBN: 978-0062858108. 496 pages.

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THE FRIENDSHIP LIST by Susan Mallery

August 9, 2020

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From the publisher:

[ ] Dance till dawn
[ ] Go skydiving
[ ] Wear a bikini in public
[ ] Start living

Two best friends jump-start their lives in a summer that will change them forever…

Single mom Ellen Fox couldn’t be more content—until she overhears her son saying he can’t go to his dream college because she needs him too much. If she wants him to live his best life, she has to convince him she’s living hers.

So Unity Leandre, her best friend since forever, creates a list of challenges to push Ellen out of her comfort zone. Unity will complete the list, too, but not because she needs to change. What’s wrong with a thirtysomething widow still sleeping in her late husband’s childhood bed?

The Friendship List begins as a way to make others believe they’re just fine. But somewhere between “wear three-inch heels” and “have sex with a gorgeous guy,” Ellen and Unity discover that life is meant to be lived with joy and abandon, in a story filled with humor, heartache and regrettable tattoos.

Ellen and Unity grew up together, growing especially close after Unity’s parents are killed while she was a teenager. Ellen’s family took her in, forging a bond as strong as sisters. When Ellen got pregnant in high school, her parents weren’t happy, to say the least, but they helped as best they could. When Ellen finally was on her feet, having moved out, was working and raising her son, her parents sold the house and moved away. Although they did give Ellen enough money for a down payment on a house, their relationship dwindled to seeing each other every few years and talking a couple of times a year.

It is understandable that the women consider each other family and have each other’s backs. When Unity loses her husband, she descends into a deep depression that even Ellen can’t get her out of. What she can do is be supportive, and she is. When Ellen’s overhears her son telling a friend he can’t go away to college because his mom needs him, she is crushed. As much as she dreads him leaving, she wants him to go and live his best life. But she knows he won’t unless he thinks she is as well.

After their biggest fight ever, Unity comes up with a list of challenges for each of them to help them move their lives forward. She doesn’t really think she needs it, she is fine living her life one day at a time as she marches to her own death. But she is only 34 years old, and as the women get competitive about the challenges, Unity slowly realizes that she does have some issues and is working on them.

Then there are the men in their lives. Ellen is great friends with Keith, a teacher at the school where she teaches as well. Keith is also a former NFL player and the football coach. He is a single dad with a teenage daughter, and often turns to Ellen for advice. Ellen’s son plays for the coach and they share a lot of their lives with one another. They chaperone a trip along the California coast taking several students, including their own kids, to visit several colleges right before they start their senior year of high school. All of a sudden, their relationship starts to change.

Unity has a handyman business and her best customers all live in a large retirement community. Unity not only fixes what they need, she joins several of the social groups and even a grief group. When one of the women she has grown close invites Unity to dinner, she is delighted to go. Except when she gets there she realizes her friend has set her up with her great-nephew, a very good looking, wealthy man. But those aren’t his best qualities; it turns out he is exceedingly kind, and sensitive, and has enormous patience, especially for Unity.

Mallery does a great job creating these characters and imbuing them with the innocence that their backgrounds make possible. As they complete the challenges they give one another, they are growing and learning about themselves, and what their futures may look like.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a lovely escape from reality, and I was sorry to turn the last page.

THE FRIENDSHIP LIST by Susan Mallery. HQN; Original edition (August 4, 2020). ISBN 978-1335136961. 384 pages.

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