review: mill town by kerri arsenault

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Growing up in Mexico, ME, Kerri Arsenault didn't realize just how many of her neighbors had cancer. Later, as her dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer, Arsenault returned to her hometown and began talking to others who'd been touched by "Cancer Valley." While the people she spoke with offered anecdotal evidence and there were some news reports to back the claims against the paper mill that employed most residents including Arsenault's dad, the author doesn't have anything concrete. The mill, of course, denies the claims.

Perhaps because Arsenault doesn't have hard evidence that the chemicals used by the mill increased cancer rates in the surrounding area, she frequently delves into her family history. It's an interesting story in itself, but feels out of place except for when she ties in her dad's work at the mill and death from cancer.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Press.

review: the queen's secret by karen harper

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Taking place during World War II, The Queen's Secret focuses on Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. While the plotlines involving the war were quite interesting, Karen Harper tries too hard to make The Queen's Secret a titillating novel. Apparently relying heavily on a book by Lady Colin Campbell, Harper reveals one of the secrets held by the queen was that she and a brother were actually the offspring of the family's cook. Harper makes further scandalous allegations involving the queen and her husband's brother, Edward, who abdicated the throne. Yes, The Queen's Secret is a work of fiction, but as it involves real people, it feels wrong to present such things as fact. Although Harper wants these possibly fictional elements to be the centerpiece of her story, they actually bog down the plot and the distract from what could be an incredible story of how The Queen Mother helped her country during the war.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, William Morrow.

review: the german heiress by anika scott

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After World War II ends, iron heiress Clara Falkenberg flees Essen under an assumed identity as she and her father are both charged with war crimes. But at the start of The German Heiress, Clara decides to return home and sends ahead a coded letter to her best friend. The letter is intercepted by the British soldier who seeks to arrest her, so Clara must use all her skills to escape arrest (and she gets some assistance along the way in the form of a wounded German soldier). Anika Scott develops the plot in such a way that the shades of gray are very apparent when it comes to the Falkenberg family. It's an interesting perspective that isn't typically shared. Although a fictional story filled with deceit, family drama, and adventure, The German Heiress is based in the reality that there were plenty of people who, like Clara, did small things but didn't fully participate in the resistance fight and thus could be implicated as Fascists. It's a powerful and touching story.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, William Morrow.

review: stone cold heart by laura griffin

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When bones are found by rock climbers in a remote area, the Springville police call the Delphi Center for assistance. As a forensic anthropologist, Sara Lockhart is the one who heads up the recovery of the bones while Detective Nolan Hess takes the lead on the criminal investigation. Although the bones are the right gender and age, they are not a match for the missing woman Springville police have been searching for. Soon Sara and Nolan realize there's a serial killer in the area and Sara gets a little too close for comfort.

As one might expect from the 13th novel in the Tracers series from Laura Griffin, there's a lot of suspense as Sara and Nolan work to discover the identity of the serial killer. It's a well laid out plot where every bit is important—there are no unnecessary details here! The romance is a little flat though. Sara and Nolan just didn't seem to click as anything more than investigators, but there they were jumping into bed despite both having reservations. And when they reached what served as the turning point, it just didn't seem like Sara, who was set up as fiercely independent, would be interested in taking that relationship step in that moment.
4/5
Review copy provided by the author.

review: hello, summer by mary kay andrews

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When Sarah Conley Hawkins (who prefers Conley) learns her new employer has lost all its funding and shut down, she heads home to Silver Bay, FL instead of Washington, D.C. She's a newspaper reporter and no one is hiring despite her skills. As it happens, her grandma is the owner of their hometown weekly newspaper and her sister runs it. While her grandma is thrilled to have Conley home, Grayson is resentful of her younger sister who left for the big city and rarely returned. There's plenty of tension, but then Conley happens across a fatal single-car crash. The fatality happens to be the beloved Representative Symmes Robinette, who just happens to have a scandal in his past, and whose car crash may not have been an accident. Soon Conley is entangled in not only the Robinette story but her own personal dramas.

Hello, Summer contains a bit of filler as well as some inconsistencies regarding ages and dietary habits. Mary Kay Andrews also makes the same mistake that many others do and conflates the generational group Millennial with young person. Both Grayson and Conley make remarks about the generation as though they are not members despite their ages of 36 and 34 placing them firmly in the Millennial group. Hello, Summer also falls short when it comes time to wrap up the mysteries. A few are solved, but other big parts of the plot are left as loose ends. It is a gripping story though with enough twists to keep the pages turning until the end.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Press.

review: the shape of family by shilpi somaya gowda

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Wow, The Shape of Family took some turns I was not expecting! The novel follows the Olander family as they make their lives in California. I expected a portrait of a family with typical struggles, especially as the story starts in 2007 and the father is a banker, but The Shape of Family takes a much more tragic turn. As the Olanders drift apart, oldest daughter Karina suffers terribly. And just when everything seems to be getting back on track, there are more blows for the Olanders. This is a deeply emotional novel that illustrates the importance of sharing feelings and truths about difficult situations before there's no turning back.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, William Morrow.

review: home truths by susan lewis

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Home Truths by Susan Lewis begins with a shocking crime—a devoted family man is brutally murdered by a gang his oldest son has become involved with. Lewis then jumps forward two years to his wife and two younger children still struggling. Finances have become a big issue. All the problems have become far worse than they should've been because, as Angie puts it, "I buried my head in the sand and told myself it work out somehow." This is one of my big problems with Home Truths. The problems the family faces wouldn't have been so catastrophic had Angie simply faced reality and sought help earlier. My next huge problem is the unrealistic way it all gets solved. Home Truths turns from a portrait of a struggling family to a stereotypical "knight in shining armor comes to the rescue" story. There's also some unnecessary subplots just to make the family's issues all the more melodramatic.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, William Morrow.