Leave Me by Gayle Forman - Reshelved Books

Hello Deweys!

I have SOOO many books in my to-read pile, it's insane.  Really, it's definitely become a problem.  But despite my current overflow, I bought Gayle Forman's adult fiction novel, Leave Me, at Barnes and Noble the other week, and I don't feel guilty.  I read this book in ONE day.  It was that good.  And even if I didn't read it in a day, it's not hoarding if it's books, right?

So has anyone ever fantasied about running away?  I have! *Raise Hand*  I even took a mini vacation alone recently, but it wasn't as wonderful as my fantasy made me think it would be.  So the premise of the book is sort of like that, a woman who fantasizes about running away, and does.

So in this novel, Maribeth is a mother of two twins.  She lives in the very expensive NYC, so both her and her husband work full-time to support their family.  Between, work, family, and the constant running around of day to day life, Maribeth is exhausted. She's so busy and so involved with her family that she doesn't even realize that she's having a heart attack.  Her gyno realizes something  isn't right with her when she reluctantly goes for a long overdue regular visit.  So Maribeth needs heart surgery.   Her husband calls her mother over to stay and help out at the house, and sure the husband pitches in a little bit, but after a couple weeks the family sort of stops helping.  She's not healed, she needs a break, and she feels like no one cares.  Honestly, it comes across as though they take her for granted.  So, Maribeth leaves a note, withdraws like $25k from their account and moves to.... a city in PA  (Pittsburgh or Philly  I can't remember which...)

This is where the book takes a turn for the fantasy.  She moves to PA, lives a new life in PA, has no contact with her family or young children, misses Thanksgiving....
and....

***Mini Spolier***
Despite her many months of silence, the book ends neat, tidy, and happy.

Is this book realistic?  No.  Do many women (and men) feel like running away?  Definitely?  Would things end well if they did and changed their mind?  Probably not.  My conclusion: If you view this book as an exploration of a fantasy, you'll love it.  If you view it as realistic women's fiction, you won't.  I personally loved the writing, the pace, and the fantasy exploration, so I'm giving it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

~Jessica

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand- Battle of the Book

It's the start of the fourth week of July... 

Which means....

This Tuesday is when The Spine Breakers meet!

Which means... 

This post is for the monthly Battle of the Book!

*The crowd cheers* 

I’m going to start off this review by saying that this is the BEST Elin Hilderbrand book that I’ve ever read.  And I’m totally a fan of her.  When I met her at Bookcon in 2015, I totally had a fangirl moment.

Jess did a really great job at explaining how The Perfect Couple opened. You can read that here.

Just to rehash- Greer Garrison Winsbury is hosting her son, Benji’s marriage to Celeste. The morning of the wedding, Celeste, finds her best friend and maid of honor, Merritt dead! (Yes, you heard me correctly- dead!!). 

Will Celeste still marry Benji? What happened to Merritt?

But, the story isn't all about solving this murder. No no. There is more covered!

Celeste's mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and her prognosis isn't good.  The story looks at Linda's relationship with Bruce and how Celeste sees them as being the "perfect couple".  The story also looks at the relationship between Greer and Tag - do they fit the notion of being a "perfect couple"?

Heck, are even Celeste and Benji the perfect couple??

Hilderbrand tells the story of what happened and how everything came to be in past tense and present tense. She does so in such a way that it’s not confusing (which is *awesome*).

She also unravels all of these relationships to show what is beneath the surface and how everything isn't always as it seems. 

I'm with Jess on this one - 5 coffee beans out of 5!!

This is seriously an awesome beach (and you betcha I've been telling patrons who check out this book at the library the same thing!).

It's even a great rainy day read! Since that's what the weather will be like here for the next few days.

~ Jillian

The Night the Lights Went out by Karen White - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I absolutely adore the cover of Karen White's novel The Night the Lights Went Out.  I think it's absolutely gorgeous, or maybe I just like the girl on the cover's outfit.  But nevertheless, this is a book that I was immediately attracted to.   I purchased this book even though my to-read pile is wayyyyy to high.  I also purchased this book while I was at the grocery store, eyeing up the cutest man I have ever seen while he too did his early morning grocery run.  He had a cart full of bananas.  

Anyway, onto the book.  This book takes place down in Georgia (at least I think it was Georgia, don't you hate book brain memory fog?)  and it follows the story of Merilee, a recently divorced mother of two who's husband was cheating on her with their children's elementary school teacher.  The teacher is now pregnant.  It is very scandalous.  So, Merilee rents a home from Sugar Prescott, an elderly woman with a history full of her own stories, secrets, and heartbreak.  Sugar doesn't really like many people, but for some reason she like Merilee. 

So Merilee struggles to fit in with her new town, and specially the mothers at her children's school.  She's a single working mom, and most of the other mothers aren't single and they don't work.  There's a blog that spreads gossip, but it isn't entirely nasty, and actually has the undercurrent to warn people that what you hear may not always be the full story...

This novel switches between Merilee's current story, and Sugar's past, and it also has an interwoven mystery, that appears about halfway through, which was not something that I expected.  Just when the novel began to feel little bit slow, it suddenly became a whole different beast, which I COULD NOT PUT DOWN. My grandma agrees.   

So thank you, grocery shopping banana man, for inadvertently making me buy this book so I would look less awkward.  I'm rating this book 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans. 

Until the next read!
~Jessica  

A Date with Darcy (Bookish Boyfriends #1) by Tiffany Schmidt - Reshelved Books

July is here!

Here on the East Coast, July decided that it was going to start with a bang... in the form of a heat wave... 

A heat wave that landed me in the bookstore not once but twice in two days. (Yes, I know that I have a book problem.  My book problem is not as bad Jessica's though. haha). 

I've been reviewing a lot of adult fiction lately.  I felt like I needed to go home to my roots and pick up a good ol' YA book. 

You guys, I am so glad that I did. 

When we were at Bookcon this year, I stopped by one of the publisher booths and I picked myself up a copy of this book.  Like some of the other books I have read and posted about here, I first saw this book when it came through as library loan at work. 

I decided that Wednesday would be the day that I would start this book.  I did not think that Wednesday would also be the day that I finished this book.  I did not think that I would start this book at 7:00am that morning (while I was on ambulance duty) and finish it that afternoon. 

It was just THAT good. 

This book also totally fits the criteria for being a beach ride (#deweyattheshore2018)

Onward to A Date with Darcy!

In A Date with Darcy, we are intorduced to Merrilee Campbell, a 15 year old who is a total bibliophile!  Merri always has her head in book, and she believes that boyfriends are better in books (I would like to second this notion, as a 28 year old. haha.)

Merrilee Campbell is a high school sophomore who is a new student at Reginald Hero High.  Her first date at her new school is not off to a good start... She has run in with the Headmaster's son, Fielding Williams when she goes to throw away her garbage in the recycling bin.  (In her staff, the markings for the bins were on the ground and not on the receptacles themselves.)


Fielding makes it VERY clear to Merri that is not amused by her and her "antics".  So much so, that these two develop a rivalry with one another!


On her first day, Merri saw who she thought to be perfect- he has dark hair and was all broody. To her, he would have been her prefect literary boyfriend. 

Little did Merri know, this brooding boy turned out to be a real life Romero.... and not so much in a good way... :/

Moreno (see what Schmidt did there? Genius!) is a high school junior. He’s VERY theatrical. So much so, that he embodied the actions and lines of Shakespeare’s very own character, Romero Montague from the classic “Romero and Juliet”. 

Not gonna lie, when I was reading through everything going on between Merri and Monroe, I was confused as WHY the title involved Darcy and not Romero. Monroe’s character also started to get on my nerves. In the worst way possible. 

I’m glad that Merri came to her senses and was able to dump crazy pants Monroe. Ugh. He gave me a serious case of the heebee-jeebees. 

*****************************************************

This where I’m going to say a spoiler. Soooo if you don’t wanna know that I’d advise not to continue on!! 

I’m really upset that Merri didn’t pick Toby!! He seems so cute and he seems that he really does care for her and that he would be a good boyfriend to her. 

It made me sad....

Spoiler over. 

*****************************************************

I would give A Date with Darcy a solid 4 coffee beans out of 5. 

It was a cute story and I’m very excited for the books that will proceed this one. 

(Check out my photo posted to IG to see what the author, Tiffany Schmidt, thought! This is the second time an author has commented on one of our photos and let me just say, it’s the coolest feeling!) 

I have a review that I’m waiting to take a bookstagram over and type up.  Hopefully I’ll get that up tomorrow since it’s going to be short and sweet. 

See ya back here then!

- Jillian aka “The Bookterminator”

The Wife by Alafair Burke- Battle of the Book

What's up everyone? 

I hope all is well!

The June book for The Spine Breakers was The Wife by Alafair Burke. 

Yes, another psychological thriller.  This book club group seems to be following the theme.
That being said The Wife was definitely the psychological thriller that I enjoyed the most. 

Angela (nee Mullen) Powell's husband, Jason is accused of rape and sexual misconduct toward two women.  
Burke's story follows Angela has she discovers his husband's infidelities and how her past that she worked so hard to keep buried in the past, might come to light. 

Is Jason innocent? Did he really do the things that he's being accused of? Will Angela always be faithfully by his side? 

In between character narratives and flashbacks, Burke weaves in emails and police reports to help tell this story. 

Burke made sure that the story wrapped up nicely at the end. (Which, is a big thing to me!).  I saw a few people on Goodreads had asked questions about if there would be a sequel.  I gotta be honest, I don't think that I would want there to be a sequel.  I liked it just the way it ended. 

Bookpage conducted an awesome interview with Alafair Burke.  You can check out the interview here. 

The Wife tackles topics that are very irrelevant for 2018.  Which, to me at least, kicks it up a notch. 

Jessica read the book before I did and I remember texting her being like "Colin did it, didn't he!?".  Followed up with "NO! It wasn't Colin.... It WAS Jason!"  I was all over the place with my guesses but that's what made it fun.  Trying to figure out what happened and the who done it.  I'm sure for some people, it's going to be totally obvious who did what - but for me, I had no idea. 

I definitely think that The Wife qualifies as a beach read. I give The Wife 4.5 coffee beans out of 5.  It was a definite page turner.  I liked how the ending played out and I thought it was well written and that it brought to light a topic that is very much real and happening in 2018. 

~JB

Beach House Reunion by Mary Alice Monroe - Reshevled Books

Guys, I love Mary Alice Monroe's The Beach House series.  I found the series years ago when my Grandma's friend gave her book #2 in the series, Swimming Lessons, which we both devoured.  So just like last year, when I heard that Monroe was coming out with yet another Beach House book, I just HAD to read it.  However also like last year, after reading it I was left little disappointed.  

So this latest installment is called Beach House Reunion, and it follows the story of Cara after her husband's death, picking up where the last one left off. The first two (even 3.5) Beach House books are WONDERFUL.  They don't have to be read in order, they teach you about sea turtles, they paint pictures of family and romantic relationships, they're just REALLY, REALLY good.  The last two.... eh :( 

Like last year's novel, Beach House For Rent, this new installment would be lost to a reader if they did not read the books prior.  I enjoyed reading the book, but it didn't leave me wanting more like the first few had, it left me... well it left me feeling like I had enough of the the whole Beach House story line, which made me kind of sad.  I was also disappointed to find some inconsistencies in the text.  Around page 100 (or it could be 200, I gave my copy to my Grandma so I can't look back and check) there's a young girl in the park.  In one sentence the girl is Maddie, then in the next she's Jessica.  Also, without giving too much away, one of the characters has a baby.  On one page the baby is five months old, on another she's screaming "mama," then she's almost a year old, and then on the same page she's being called a toddler.  

Ugh.  I love the Beach House and I love Mary Alice Monroe, but this one just fell flat compared to the others.  So I'm giving it 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  Any less would make me too sad. 

~Jessica 

P.S.  Did anyone watch The Beach House movie on the Hallmark Channel?

I'll be Yours by Jenny B. Jones- Reshelved Books

Hopefully the 4th was with everyone on Friday, and everyone had a nice cool margarita yesterday on Cinco de Mayo! 

It was finally warm and sunny here in New Jersey... Now it's chilly and raining...

We've gone from Winter right into Summer and now into Spring. 'Cause you know, that's how we do it here on the East Coast...?

 
First things first, I started to read I'll be Yours by Jenny B. Jones but then I stopped because the rescue doggies made me really sad. Given my current situation with my dog, I don't like to talk about them or think them because it just makes me too sad. 

Secondly, I was watching a Country music countdown last weekend and they mentioned an artist by the name of Cale Dodds and I saw that they wanted you to vote for his new video. As we know from previous posts, sometimes when I'm reading a book, I like to associate songs with the story. 

(I'm always down for checking out a new musician!)

I listened to a couple of songs for a few days before picking this book back up. 

While I was reading, all I could think of were the few Cale Dodds songs that I had heard. 
This post is not by any means a PSA for Cale Dodds BUT if you're interested in a new music, I strongly suggest checking him out. 

Now, getting us back on track to why you're here....

Shirt: Banana Republic Factory, Jean Jacket: J. Crew Factory, Bracelet: Kendra Scott, Nails: OPI Humdi-Tea

In I'll be Yours, we met Harper O'Malley and Ridley Estes. Both Harper and Ridley attend the same high school.  Ridley is friends with Harper's older brother, Michael.  We learn early on that Ridley has a verbal agreement with Coach O'Malley (Harper's dad) to play for the USK Eagles next year.  Harper agrees to tutor Ridley, IF Ridley tutors Harper in the ways of love. 

Now, I'm not going to lie... I was caught a little off guard by that. I was thinking to myself "What kind of book is this?!"

Ridley is the kind of guy that my 16 year old self would have loved to date. Heck, my 28 year old self wishes there was a 28 year old Ridley out there! 

(As you get further into the book, you'll understand where I'm coming from on this end).

Harper has her eyes sent on new student, Andrew.  To her, he is the Ying to her Yang; he is the perfect nerd for her.  Unfortunately for Harper, she's never once had any interaction with a boy that she's liked before. This is where she needs Ridley to come in. 

We learn that Harper was adopted at a young age after tragedy strikes her.  Harper is taken away from her mother and placed with the O'Malleys.  I don't want to give too much away because there would be no point in anyone reading the book, you know? 

After one chance encounter at Ridley's house, Harper and him are pulled together in a new way. This encounter helps to bring Harper and Ridley closer together and in a way, I think it makes him more real to Harper.  He isn't this all star jock football player, who for lack of a better word, is a d*uche. 

Unknownst to Harper, Ridley is a lot like her.  Harper and Ridley were able to let their guards down in front of each other.

Don't get me wrong, I loved a lot of things about this book but I think my favorite line might be when Ridley tells Harper: "I don't kiss other people's girlfriends".  For some reason, I found that to be so very powerful.  It definitely was a pivotal point in the book and it changed the way how I thought the book would end. 

I'm currently reading another book by Jones entitled In Between and I can safely say that I'm really enjoying it! The tone is different, Katie and the characters in this book are definitely making me laugh out loud.  Jenny B. Jones made me giggle and laugh just like Kristan Higgins did. 
If you're looking for a good way to kick off your summer, I would like to think that this is a solid recommendation. 

I'll be Yours gets a solid 4 coffee beans out of 5!

Have a great week everyone!

~ Jillian