review: ain't she a peach? by molly harper

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After Margot moved to Georgia in Sweet Tea and Sympathy, she discovered her extended family is full of colorful characters. One of the most interesting was cousin Frankie, whose story is told in the second book of the Southern Eclectic series from Molly Harper. Frankie is the county coroner, but she's also quite childish continuing to live with her parents and engaging in an ongoing feud with a high school boy. Frankie was both awesome and aggravating as she sought to prove the teen was responsible for vandalism at the McCready funeral home. Fortunately, Frankie grows up a lot over the course of Ain't She a Peach? as she stands up to her parents, whose unwillingness to let her grow up stemmed from their fear of losing her (she had cancer as a child). Although the feud plot was annoying at times, the quirky McCready family is a treasure.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.

review: i'm kind of a big deal by stefanie wilder-taylor

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Much of I'm Kind of a Big Deal is Stefanie Wilder-Taylor's purportedly wild times as a 20-something in Hollywood in the late-80s to early-90s. At one point though, it changes without warning. Suddenly it is 15 years later and Wilder-Taylor is dealing with serious issues regarding her dad. Then just as suddenly, Wilder-Taylor is a mom writing letters to Angelina Jolie to commiserate. It made the narrative jarring. Some of the early chapters were mildly funny (she tracks down a dating show contestant she decided was "the one" only to discover she didn't find him as attractive in person), but there was also a lot of Wilder-Taylor getting into awkward situations due to a lack of self-awareness or by simply not looking around (like for no parking signs).
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.

review: shelter in place by nora roberts

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Shelter in Place begins with a shock--three teenage boys are shooting random victims at the mall. Simone is saved when the large Fanta she drank causes her to leave her friends for a bathroom break. One of those friends is gravely injured while the other is killed. Numerous others suffer the same fate. Simone, as the first 911 caller, is credited with preventing the shooters from killing more people with her quick alert to the police. There are other heroes that night too--a fact that doesn't sit well with one person, who will continue the horror years later.

The latest from Nora Roberts is a romantic suspense that's light on both the romance and suspense as it focuses more on what life is like for Simone and Reed (also at the mall during the shooting) in the years that follow. After the initial distressing scenes, the pace slows. Simone struggles through college while Reed becomes a police officer. It isn't until a few years later that anyone realizes someone else was involved in the mall shooting. Although the middle drags some, the action scenes are gripping and the opening triggers a lot of emotions.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Press.

review: how hard can it be? by allison pearson

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Seven years ago Kate left her high-powered job to stay home with her kids, but now her husband is out of work and spends all his time cycling; it's time for Kate to get a job. As she's about to turn 50, Kate decides it'll be easier to get a job if she reinvents herself as a 42 year old. Although she does get the job, Kate realizes the lie is hard to keep up—she must change the ages of her kids and her résumé could give her away with a reference to taking O levels (Kate is British). Allison Pearson tries very hard to make How Hard Can It Be? funny, but falls flat. The running joke of "Roy" as Kate's assistant for her perimenopause-addled brain grows old while the so-called disasters are either ridiculous or should've been easy to solve. The writing is choppy with little sense of any character other than Kate which makes it hard to rationalize some of her decisions.
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Press.

review: if i die tonight by alison gaylin

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When a has-been pop star reports a high school football standout was killed in the course of her being carjacked on an isolated road, there are plenty of rumors and suspicions in the small town of Havenkill. Amy, with a history of addiction, is suspected of making up the carjacking story, but others in the town think Wade, an outcast at the high school, could've been the carjacker. Alison Gaylin shifts perspectives between a number of characters which keeps the reader guessing what really happened in this outstanding mystery. The different perspectives could've made the narration confusing, but Gaylin gave each person a unique enough voice that it was easy to follow along. The subplots develop the characters and are woven in expertly so that nothing seems extraneous.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.

review: the drafter by kim harrison

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With the world building not coming until chapter 5, The Drafter gets off to a confusing start. Set in the not too distant future, there are people known as drafters who can rewrite the past. These drafters require anchors, who as the name indicates, anchor the drafters to reality. It takes trust because the anchor could mislead the drafter. The plot has potential, but the poor character development combined with very little world building make for a tedious, uninteresting story.
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket Books.

review: the myth of perpetual summer by susan crandall

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Tallulah James had a childhood filled with "hurricanes"--that's the word Tallulah and her siblings used to describe the unpredictable behavior of their father (clearly suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness). Their mother, who preferred to be called Margo, frequently ran off to volunteer for a cause like civil rights. So when things really fell apart for the James family in the 1960s, Tallulah took the opportunity to flee Mississippi for California. It's not long though before another family tragedy brings her home.

With the narrative shifting between Tallulah's teenage years and her later return to Mississippi, not enough attention was given to the catalyst for Tallulah's return or the revelation about a murder that happens because of it. In fact, all of it is wrapped up in a few paragraphs. The journey there is excellent though with Susan Crandall creating a vivid depiction of life for the James family in 1960s Mississippi.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.