SISTERS BY CHOICE by Susan Mallery

February 20, 2020

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Blackberry Island, Book 4

From the publisher:

From the New York Times bestselling author of California Girls comes an all new original Blackberry Island novel told with Susan Mallery’s trademark humor and charm. Sisters by Choice is a heartfelt tale of love, family and the friendships that see us through.

Cousins by chance, sisters by choice…

After her cat toy empire goes up in flames, Sophie Lane returns to Blackberry Island, determined to rebuild. Until small-town life reveals a big problem: she can’t grow unless she learns to let go. If Sophie relaxes her grip even a little, she might lose everything. Or she might finally be free to reach for the happiness and love that have eluded her for so long.

Kristine has become defined by her relationship to others. She’s a wife, a mom. As much as she adores her husband and sons, she wants something for herself—a sweet little bakery just off the waterfront. She knew changing the rules wouldn’t be easy, but she never imagined she might have to choose between her marriage and her dreams.

Like the mainland on the horizon, Heather’s goals seem beyond her grasp. Every time she manages to save for college, her mother has another crisis. Can she break free, or will she be trapped in this tiny life forever?

These three women, Kristine, Sophie, and Heather, all have interesting storylines that overlap. Heather’s mom, Amanda, is Kristine & Sophie’s first cousin. Heather is the product of a one night stand when her mother was a teenager. Amanda is one of those people who always play the victim, never admits to any wrongdoing and never, ever takes responsibility for her actions. She is completely dependent on her 18-year-old daughter for financial support and everything else. Amanda has an enormous capacity for doing absolutely nothing. All of which makes me insane.

Sophie has built a very successful business but she is a terrible micromanager. If you’ve ever worked for someone like that, it’s not fun. When her business burns down (not a spoiler, it’s what starts the book) she decides to move back home to Blackberry Island. She has a big check from the insurance company so she will start over there. Not surprising, but none of her employees are interested in making the move. She hires Amanda to answer phones, and Heather to work in the warehouse. All Amanda does is complain and occasionally answer a phone call, until she decides she is entitled to more. Heather is going to the local community college but that is put on hold when her mother takes all her money to buy a car she can’t afford, That is the relationship and it is dysfunctional, to say the least. Heather feels trapped and try as she might, she can’t see a way out. Guilt is her constant companion.

Kristine is happily married with three sons. She has always had a dream, to open her own bakery. But that decision hits a major roadblock in her marriage. Her husband is on the Neanderthal side and is incensed that she would even consider such a thing. Their happy marriage isn’t quite so happy it seems. All I could think about when I read her story was how grateful I am, and how lucky, to have a husband who has always supported me in everything and anything I wanted to do, both financially and emotionally. Reading stuff like this makes me feel like I won the husband lottery.

Kristine and Sophie are close, and both adore Heather and want to help her. Kristine drags Sophie to her tai chi class because she thinks her cousin and the instructor will get along. It’s lust at first sight, and Sophie is happy to have a booty call after a long dry spell. But as she gets to know him, she realizes he is not just a pretty face and it pushes all her buttons. Her past with men has not been great, and she is skittish, to say the least.

There is romance here for sure, but it is a subplot. That said, this was my Valentine’s Day read and there was enough love there to make me happy. The book revolves around each of these women and their stories, and I couldn’t put it down. Another excellent addition to a terrific series.

2/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SISTERS BY CHOICE by Susan Mallery. MIRA; Original edition (February 11, 2020). ISBN 978-0778310020. 400p.

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THE HOLDOUT by Graham Moore

February 19, 2020

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From the publisher:

One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? From the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and bestselling author of The Last Days of Night. . . .

“Exhilarating . . . a fiendishly slippery game of cat-and-mouse suspense and a provocative, urgent inquiry into American justice (and injustice) in the twenty-first century.”—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

It’s the most sensational case of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar real estate fortune, vanishes on her way home from school, and her teacher, Bobby Nock, a twenty-five-year-old African American man, is the prime suspect. The subsequent trial taps straight into America’s most pressing preoccupations: race, class, sex, law enforcement, and the lurid sins of the rich and famous. It’s an open-and-shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed—until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, convinced of Nock’s innocence, persuades the rest of the jurors to return the verdict of not guilty, a controversial decision that will change all their lives forever.

Flash forward ten years. A true-crime docuseries reassembles the jury, with particular focus on Maya, now a defense attorney herself. When one of the jurors is found dead in Maya’s hotel room, all evidence points to her as the killer. Now, she must prove her own innocence—by getting to the bottom of a case that is far from closed.

As the present-day murder investigation weaves together with the story of what really happened during their deliberation, told by each of the jurors in turn, the secrets they have all been keeping threaten to come out—with drastic consequences for all involved.

Maya Seale is a rapidly rising attorney working for a top legal firm. We meet her as she concludes a case that involves proving that a killing by her client was, in reality, Justifiable Homicide. Her actions sum up her attitude towards the law. She evolved her leanings after serving as a juror on a murder trial ten years before the beginning of the novel. At that time an African American substitute teacher was accused of killing Jessica Silver, a girl in his class with whom he had been having an affair. The case was brought to trial with public opinion heavily on the side of convicting Bobby Nock, the man in question. When the trial concluded and the jury began its deliberations, eleven of the twelve voted quickly to find Bobby guilty. It was Maya that fought to acquit the accused and eventually convinced the others to change their votes. While serving on the jury Maya had had an affair with one of her fellow jurors. An affair that looked like it was leading to marriage but ended when the two disagreed on the outcome.

Fast forward ten years when one of the jurors on the Bobby Nock case sent notes around suggesting a 10-year reunion. The case had been so dominant in the country and the jurors’ lives that the idea of a reunion found all in agreement. On the first day at the meeting hotel, Maya got together with her lover from the jury that she hadn’t seen in 10 years. They met in her room, but Maya needed a break from the raw emotion involved in seeing him again and went outside walking around for a while. When she returned she found that the man had been killed by a blunt force blow to his head. Maya is suspected of the murder while the ensuing events open up vivid memories of the Nock trial and the fact that no killer had ever been caught.

The plot, the writing, and the descriptions flow onto the pages of the book dragging the reader into an extraordinarily vivid story. Moore’s views are apparent, issuing from the talks of the participants in the novel. His views are that simply put, the present American justice system is flawed; both stacked against the poor and favoring the rich. The opinion is there, but beyond that is an exceptionally well done novel that will certainly draw all to looking for Graham Moore’s future writings.

2/2020 Paul Lane

THE HOLDOUT by Graham Moore. Random House (February 18, 2020). ISBN: 978-0399591778. 336p.

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ONE MINUTE OUT by Mark Greaney

February 18, 2020

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The Gray Man, Book 9

From the publisher:

From Mark Greaney, the New York Times bestselling author of Mission Critical and a coauthor of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels, comes another high-stakes thriller featuring the world’s most dangerous assassin: the Gray Man.

While on a mission to Croatia, Court Gentry uncovers a human trafficking operation. The trail leads from the Balkans all the way back to Hollywood.

Court is determined to shut it down, but his CIA handlers have other plans. The criminal ringleader has actionable intelligence about a potentially devastating terrorist attack on the US. The CIA won’t move until they have that intel. It’s a moral balancing act with Court at the pivot point.

The only book more exciting and filled with action involving Court Gentry, “The Gray Man,” is another book about his exploits. And “One Minute Out” certainly fits the bill.

Gentry is an assassin. He works for the CIA but also does paid work for others and has made himself very wealthy doing so. The story opens as The Gray Man is in Croatia fulfilling a private contract. While in the process, he stumbles upon a worldwide human trafficking network and is forced by circumstances to go after it. It is a huge operation netting billions of dollars to its leaders, but in the process making slaves and ruining the lives of countless women and girls forced into sexual slavery.

While handling the Croatian contract, Court meets a young woman whose sister is among the many girls captured by the Consortium (the name of the network). For many reasons he indicates that he will help her rescue her sister and the action begins. Following the route of the kidnapped girls takes Court from the Balkans to Hollywood in the United States. The entire journey is filled with action, with Court and the young girl he is now loosely aligned with following the trail of the ring transporting the women to their ultimate destination where they are to be sold off as sex slaves.

An unforeseen obstacle presents itself when the CIA intervenes, prohibiting Court from killing the head of the kidnapping group as the individual is supplying information to the agency about various criminal activities. Greaney does not hide his feelings about any government agency condoning turning people into slaves under any circumstances. The horrors these women meet when captured is described in graphic detail including their murder when their useful life is overdue to physical impairments.

The author is a master at grabbing his readers, getting them drawn into the action and keeping them glued to the book until finished. This novel is the ninth involving the Gray Man and is another five star read with the reader anxiously awaiting the next one.

2/2020 Paul Lane

ONE MINUTE OUT by Mark Greaney. Berkley (February 18, 2020). ISBN 978-0593098912. 512p.

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THE GOOD KILLER by Harry Dolan

February 17, 2020

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From the publisher:

In the newest thriller from best-selling author Harry Dolan, Sean Tennant stops a deadly mass shooter. And that act of courage may get him killed.

Sean Tennant and Molly Winter are living quietly and cautiously in Houston when a troubled, obsessive stranger shatters the safety they have carefully constructed for themselves. Sean is at a shopping mall when Henry Alan Keen, scorned by a woman he’s been dating, pulls out a gun at the store where she works and begins shooting everyone in sight. A former soldier, Sean rushes toward Keen and ends the slaughter with two well-placed shots―becoming a hero with his face plastered across the news.

But Sean’s newfound notoriety exposes him to the wrath of two men he thought he had left safely in his past. One of them blames Sean for his brother’s death. The other wants to recover a treasure that Sean and Molly stole from him. Both men are deadly and relentless enemies, and Sean and Molly will need to draw on all their strength and devotion to each other if they hope to elude them. Thus begins a cross-country chase that leads from Texas to Montana, from Tennessee to New York to Michigan, as the hunters and their prey grow ever closer and, in a heart-stopping moment, converge.
A wickedly clever and exhilarating thriller, The Good Killer offers a sophisticated, breathtaking look at the extremes people will reach for love, greed, and survival.

Sean Tennant and Molly Winter are a young couple that are currently living in Houston, Texas. We know that they have come there after fleeing from something in their past. They live quietly and don’t mingle with others very well. Suddenly fate takes a hand in their lives. Sean is walking through a mall when shots ring out around the area. A man named Henry Alan Keen who has just been dumped by his girlfriend and has been looking for her has spotted her in the mall. He pulls out a gun and shoots a man standing near her killing him. Keen than grabs his ex-girlfriend’s arm and begins dragging her around while shooting at people.

Sean is an ex-soldier and carries a concealed weapon. He runs towards Keen, calmly pulls out his gun and shoots the killer dead. Anyone witnessing this scene immediately thinks of Sean as a hero for his actions but does not understand his quickly getting out of the area. He also does not stop for any photos of him. The mystery about Sean and Molly deepens as instead of waiting for the police and the praise they would certainly have made plans to immediately leave Houston.

The novel turns to two different men that have been searching for the couple for several years. One blames his brother’s death on Sean and the other is looking for both in order to get back a fortune in rare antiquities they have stolen from him. The story follows the chase after the couple once the two men recognize them from TV. Action and plenty of it runs from Houston to Montana from Tennessee to New York with an aside at a rundown settlement deep in the woods. The pace of the novel keeps the reader glued to the book with every incentive to finish it in one splendid read. And a very good read it is supplying every reason to pick up Harry Dolan’s future books.

2/2020 Paul Lane

THE GOOD KILLER by Harry Dolan. Mysterious Press (February 4, 2020). ISBN: 978-0802148414. 304p.

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WET WORK by Mark A. Hewitt

February 16, 2020

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Duncan Hunter Thriller, Book 5

From the publisher:

Law enforcement agencies have chosen to ignore rather than investigate dozens of political figures and defectors who have died under mysterious circumstances. When a Democratic National Committee staff member is murdered before the presidential election, Washington, D.C. police is also uninterested in investigating the crime.

The President is well behind in the polls. Some powerful people want assurances that the President will never take the oath of office if he unexpectedly wins.

On Election Day, the Central Intelligence Agency Director uncovers treachery at the highest levels of his organization. A rogue group of senior intelligence officers may have exposed themselves for who they really are before disappearing with a secret experimental weapon. Mounting evidence suggests the President may be in peril but the Secret Service isn’t interested in conspiracy theories or implausible weapons with impossible capabilities.

Will CIA pilot Duncan Hunter save the President from a group of assassins?

Mark Hewitt presents the 5th book in his series headlining Duncan Hunter, a pilot for the CIA. The book opens at a point where Hunter destroys a field of marijuana via the use of computer-aided weapons. And as in previous books, he jumps right into more action.

A plot is discovered by the CIA director in which it appears likely that a rogue group of high-level government officials have stolen and fled with a secret weapon. The weapon is unknown to most people and involves a gun that can be aimed, fired, and effective up to 10 miles from the target. The fleeing rogue officials are feared to want to assassinate the new, recently elected president of the United States and claim a reward for doing so from the Soviet Union.

Hunter goes right into the pursuit of the officials aided by his wife, and also his daughter from a previous marriage who is coincidentally working for the CIA. Their hunt for the rogue group is hampered by the inability of the CIA to understand that a weapon unknown to them would have a feasible killing range of up to 10 miles and not be more than a weapon carried by one person.
The action takes place over a complicated mix of politics, tradecraft, political realities and normal government functions giving the reader a very solid conspiracy theory novel and a couple of all-night reads. The ending finds Hunter and his family on vacation but called upon by his supervisor to drop everything and get back to headquarters to move into another sequence of battle against America’s enemies. No rest for the weary, but good reading material.

2/2020 Paul Lane

WET WORK by Mark A. Hewitt. Black Rose Writing (January 2, 2020). ASIN: B07YR2GLVT. 669p.

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ADAM by Chris Keniston

February 15, 2020

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Farraday Country, Book 1

From the publisher:

Welcome to Farraday Country, a twist on the popular 7 brides for 7 brothers set in cattle-ranching west Texas, with all the friends, family and fun that fans have come to expect from USA TODAY Bestselling author Chris Keniston.

On a barren road in the pre-dawn hours, Adam Farraday, the oldest of seven siblings, happens upon a disabled sports car and an angel in white searching for a disappearing dog. What is it about this secretive redheaded beauty that intrigues him as no woman has before?

After learning her fiancé’s true nature minutes before her wedding, Meg O’Brien drives as fast and as far away from her world as she can. Stranded with no money, and nowhere to go, the city girl must learn to fit in to small town life and all its quirky trappings. Too bad falling in love with her handsome rescuer is not an option.

This was a free ebook I got through BookBub. I know I’ve mentioned this before, so feel free to skip ahead to the review. If you are not familiar or if you haven’t heard about this site, check it out. If you like inexpensive or free ebooks, it is definitely worth a visit. I think the most expensive book I’ve seen on there is about $3.99, many are $1.99 or free. You can specify the genres you like and that’s what they will send you. It’s one of the best emails I get every day.

I have noticed many of the free books are self-published, which as long as they are edited, is fine with me. I always check the reviews, and this book had over 1700 reviews with a 4.5-star rating. It is well deserved! Have you ever looked at some of the 1-star reviews? They are often rants about late arrivals, authors’ notes they don’t like, or other silly things that have literally nothing to do with the book they are reviewing. But I am digressing again, mea culpa.

This is a very short book, probably a novella, so it lacked some of the depth of character that I like. That said, it is the first book of a series, and it is well written and a good story, so I am not going to complain too much. I really liked the premise of the book, and admired Meg for taking off the way she did. That could not have been easy, from a physical standpoint (no money) or an emotional one. The Farraday family is a good one, and I am looking forward to reading more of their stories.

It looks like the Kindle book is still free, so if you like sweet love stories and fast reads with some humor, grab it. I’m very glad I did.

2/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ADAM by Chris Keniston. Indie House Publishing (October 13, 2016). ISBN 978-1942561095. 162p.

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THE WORST BEST MAN by Mia Sosa

February 14, 2020

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From the publisher:

One of Oprah Magazine’s 21 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020, EW’s 20 New Books to Read in February, and PopSugar’s 25 Brilliant New Books Hitting Shelves. A LibraryReads Pick for February and Amazon Best Romance of the Month!

Mia Sosa delivers a sassy, steamy #ownvoices enemies-to-lovers novel, perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Helen Hoang, and Sally Thorne!

A wedding planner left at the altar? Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch… she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials.

Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.

If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own.

Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again…

Imagine you are a wedding planner, a job you love. Imagine you are at one of your most spectacular weddings, and one of the guests turns out to be looking for a wedding planner. Not for her own wedding, but for the high-end hotel she manages. Imagine she invites you to compete for the job against one other wedding planner. Then imagine you are forced to work with her marketing team, one of which is the man who left you at the altar, and the other his brother/best man, who convinced him to do it.

Not an auspicious beginning, but it sets into motion a series of events that conspire to make a terrific romance. Lina panics when she sees who she has to work with, and pretends she doesn’t know them, thinking how would this woman hire a wedding planner who was jilted at her own wedding! The men, surprised, go along with it and that leads to a lot of trouble and a lot of fun.

I also loved the multi-cultural aspects of the story. Sosa brings you into her world in the most gentle and comforting way, yet it is also the root of some revenge fun. I learned about some Brazilian foods, the Capoeira, and the dancing. There is some Portuguese sprinkled throughout the book, and while it isn’t translated, it is easily understandable in the context it is used.

Sosa has a deft touch with love and sex and humor, all of which combine here to make a magical mixture. These characters feel like real people and you can’t help but root for them to resolve their issues and get to their happily ever after. I understand that some people may not like the fact that these men are brothers, and Lina goes from being dumped by one to falling in love with the other. It is an unusual situation, but I thought Sosa made it work.

2/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE WORST BEST MAN by Mia Sosa. Avon (February 4, 2020). ISBN 978-0062909879. 368p.

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KEEP ME WANTING by Angela Addams

February 13, 2020

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From the publisher:

All I’ve ever tried to do is keep the people in my life safe. That’s gotten me into hot water more times than I can count. Hell, the last time got me four years behind bars.

So when my favorite barista tells her mom that I’m her boyfriend to stop the woman’s endless criticism, I can’t stop myself from helping her out. But she’s too innocent and I’m too damaged for this to ever be the real deal.

I can’t allow myself to touch her, not when making her mine will drag her into my world and drown her in my messed up life. What I really need to do is stay away.

Except every touch and every accidental kiss breaks my control. I want her.

Then I find out her dad is the detective who put me away…and he’s trying to take down my family.

I don’t blame him. The secrets I’m keeping are big enough to destroy everything.

This is a quick read of the fake date trope, which is time-tested and works beautifully here. To add to the tension, Liam is an ex-con, and Maggie’s dad is the police detective who put him away.

Liam has been coming into the coffee shop where Maggie works for months. He doesn’t flirt or anything, and neither does she, but both are very much aware of the other. Eventually, Maggie finds herself in the position of having to attend a big family reunion, and if she doesn’t have a date, her mother will be all over her. Cornered, she asks Liam if he could just pretend to be her boyfriend for a few minutes, as her mother is stopping by the coffee shop. Maggie figures she’ll introduce her fake boyfriend, then make excuses why he can’t attend the family reunion. Problem solved.

It doesn’t quite work out the way she planned, and Liam comes to the reunion, determined to give Maggie a good time but keep sex off the table. Ha! Needless to say, that doesn’t work and there is plenty of steamy sex all weekend long. There are also some very funny moments, and some really serious ones as well.

I really liked these characters, and that surprised me for such a short book. Maybe it helped that the story was told in alternating voices from Maggie & Liam. All the characters worked, the plotline while simple, was effective, and I couldn’t wait for them to get their happily ever after. This is a fun, sexy read and I really liked it. I will have to see what else I can find by this author.

2/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

KEEP ME WANTING by Angela Addams. Entangled: Embrace (February 10, 2020). ASIN B082GRQVQQ. 252p.

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WINNING THE BOSS’S HEART by Hayson Manning

February 12, 2020

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From the publisher:

Mason Christian has twelve weeks to flip something old into something new, and then he’s getting the hell out of Footsteps Bay – a tiny New Zealand coastal town. Not even his temporary secretary and personal assistant–the feisty, luscious Billie McLeod–will deter him, but there’s no denying she makes him feel alive. More alive than he’s felt in three years…

Billie has one dream: save enough money to finish her degree. That’s why she’s agreed to work for hard ass, all-business-no-pleasure Mason Christian–a man who has every intention of destroying through modernization the town’s most cherished historical home. Before she can say ‘see ya’ she’s signed on the dotted line and is contractually bound to be Mason’s forty-second assistant. But working with male perfection every day is awesome with a capital A–as long as they can stick to a hands-off policy that gets harder every day…

Entangled Publishing is on to something. I’m not exactly sure how this all works, but it seems like most of the books I’ve read from them have been written by authors on the other side of the world. They specialize in ebooks that are set in Australia or New Zealand or I’m not even sure where (I am somewhat geographically challenged) but the stories, the characters work just as well over here. I know that American authors often have their books sold to other countries, translated to other languages, but I never really thought about the reverse so much. Every now and then I read a translated book that was originally published in some other country, and I invariably enjoy them. I like learning about other cultures and reading translated books really gives an insider’s perspective that I really like, rather than an American who took a vacation somewhere and decided to set their book there. That works, too, but in a different way.

From what I can tell from my reading, and from my husband’s working in Australia back in the early 80’s, it is very much like America. Liane Moriarity (and her writing sisters) spring to mind – I love her books, and it was always sort of secondary that they were set in Australia. For TV, they moved Big Little Lies to Malibu and it worked perfectly.

So this book was sent to me by the publisher as a “second look,” which means it came out a while back. I didn’t care, if I haven’t read a book then it is new to me. This is a contemporary romance of the rich boss & his assistant variety and that worked for me.

Mason has some secrets he just doesn’t share. He has kept himself closed off, is basically punishing himself, and avoiding relationships. He is a tough taskmaster and expects his assistant to live, work and breathe whatever project is currently underway. In this case, it is a house flip in the small oceanside town. He goes through assistants so frequently that he doesn’t bother to learn their names; in this case, he calls Bilie “42”. Yep, there have been 41 assistants before her. He has her sign a tough contract, and off to work they go. But Billie, even though she really needs the money, is no pushover. And her pushing back causes sparks to fly.

This was a very quick read, I would have like to know more about what they were doing in the renovation – rooms just were magically done. But that’s me and my HGTV mentality, I guess. It probably wasn’t such a big thing back in 2013 when this book was first published. It was an entertaining read, and that works for me.

2/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WINNING THE BOSS’S HEART by Hayson Manning. Entangled: Indulgence (September 9, 2013). ASIN B00EBRKWEC. 220p.

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BEEN THERE, MARRIED THAT by Gigi Levangie

February 11, 2020

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From the publisher:

A hilarious novel full of Hollywood glitz, glamour, and scandal from New York Times bestselling author Gigi Levangie.

When he changes the locks, she changes the rules.

Agnes Murphy Nash is the perfect Hollywood wife – she has the right friends, the right clothes, and even a side career of her own as a writer. Her husband Trevor is a bigshot producer, and from the outside it looks like they’re living a picture-perfect celebrity life, complete with tennis tournaments and lavish parties.

But the job description of a Hollywood wife doesn’t cover divorce, which is the way Agnes’ life is headed after she comes home one day to find her credit cards cancelled and the security passwords to get into her enormous LA home changed. Oh, and there’s a guy there whose job it is to tase her if she tries to enter…which she does.

Needless to say, Agnes’ husband is dead set on making sure she loses big time, but Agnes isn’t the type to just lie down and take it. In a world of fremenies and hot nannies, personal psychics and “skinny” jello shots, Agnes may be losing her husband, but could that mean getting her own life back?

Been There, Married That is a drop-dead hilarious battle of wills that will make you laugh out loud, cringe, and keep turning the pages to see what crazy disaster will happen to Agnes next…and how she’ll rise from the ashes.

Agnes Murphy Nash comes from humble beginnings but has managed to turn herself into the perfect Hollywood wife; the world revolves around her husband, and every single decision she makes, from the sheets on the bed to who she lunches with, is in service to his ego.

The level of Hollywood narcissism shown here is astounding and makes it hard to empathize with or even believe the characters in this marital farce. Trevor Nash is the Oscar-winning producer who wants to divorce Agnes, because he is no longer happy, whatever that means. Together they have a daughter, and she is the unlikely pawn, also known as “leverage,” in this divorce.

Agnes is more self-aware than many of her contemporaries, realizes she is living in a bubble but likes it there. We get to read her every thought, and she has them at a dizzying pace making this a quick read, at times humorous, but mostly just exhausting.

Verdict: For fans of the Kardashians, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and the latest celebrity memoirs. Buy for demand only.

©Library Journal, 2020

2/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BEEN THERE, MARRIED THAT by Gigi Levangie. St. Martin’s Press (February 11, 2020). ISBN 978-1250166814. 336p.

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