The Stopped Heart by Julie Myerson

This book made me uncomfortable from the start.  The way in which it is narrated - past, present, and jumping around within the two, was not even the reason why.  I actually liked that.  The author gave tiny bits of information at a time and the puzzle was intricate.  However, the heaviness, depression, dread, grief..... You feel it all yourself.  You are forced time and again to absolutely KNOW that bad things are coming and the characters you have come to know so well are going to somehow suffer.  And then you suffer with them.  There were so many parts that made me cringe and dread what was coming.  I devoured the book but it was, in a way, to rip the band aide off.  I was terrified to reach the end, but I also knew I really needed to.  This book affected me in a very powerful way.  Just.... Wow.

We bought a house!!!!!! I see myself reading a lot of books out here!

The Beach House - Jane Green

Wow, not impressed!  It seems as though the author took no time at all to research American slang or even conversational norms.  Also, I bought the Kindle edition and it was atrocious.  There were absolutely no space breaks between narrators, which made for a very stilted read.  Extremely distracting!!  I'd be reading along, finally becoming invested in a character's storyline when suddenly, and without warning, the narrator would change.  At least give me a few spaces between paragraphs so I know we're transitioning!!!!  Infuriating!  

The story itself was full of extremely predictable plot and characters that tell you EVERYTHING instead of letting the reader do some thinking.  

Sadly, this will be my last Jane Green read.  

The Last to Know - by Lisa Caretti

3.5 Stars!!  I absolutely loved the premise of this novel!!!  Not to mention the location, and the characters were pretty interesting too.  Bretta basically lives my dream - to have the money and resources to restore a victorian mansion in a small town and spend her days cooking and playing in the garden.  Yes please!!  However, I think the editor of this book needs to go back through it and take their job a bit more seriously.... LOTS of typos, missing words, etc.  This only bothered me slightly, but I know it would really annoy some readers.  

Overall, this book was fun and there was enough suspense to keep me happy throughout.  Very entertaining mystery with a few twists along the way!  👍🏻👍🏻

I can't get out of bed......

Can't. Stop. Reading.

When I'm Gone - Emily Bleeker

I was given a free copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Full disclosure: I was worried when I began reading this. I felt as though it was going to be a Nicholas Sparks-ish retelling of the movie, "P.S.- I Love You". I was wrong. I am not going to spoil the story, but there were enough twists to keep me very happy. Also, I loved the very real emotions felt by Luke throughout. He isn't putting his wife on a pedestal after her death. He's seeing her as a person, one who has made mistakes that hurt him after her death. Luke is honest, vulnerable and raw throughout the first 2/3 of the book. Slowly he begins to transform into a survivor from death. Someone who had tragedy touch his life, rip his wife from his safe nest and devastate his family. He handles this with strength and honesty. Sometimes he makes mistakes, sometimes he lets anger take over, but he never gives up. I admired him, my heart broke for him and I found myself cheering him on. 

The reason for the 4-star review: It felt as if Luke was a very REAL character and I enjoyed getting to know him. However, I felt that more character development could have gone into the other characters, i.e. his children. They seemed rather generic and their feelings and reactions weren't quite as well developed.

Overall, a very emotional and engrossing read. Oh!!!! And if you don't like an ending that isn't neat and tied with a bow - you will be angry at the end!

This made me giggle!!!