The Stories We Cannot Tell by Leslie A. Rasmussen - #BookReview

 

It had been an exceptionally warm February in Los Angeles, but for the last four hours, rain had been drumming on the windows of Rachel's classroom, leaving her no choice but to keep her kindergarten students inside for both recess and lunch. The caged-in five year olds were bouncing off the walls like tennis balls from a high-speed launcher someone forgot to turn off.

Rachel worked in an upscale private school, the kind of place where kids would bring sushi in for lunch instead of a turkey sandwich. She loved her students, except when they forgot to take their lunchbox home on Fridays.

***

There can come a point in life where you'll always remember what came before and what came after.

Rachel is a thirty-year-old married Jewish woman who's wanted a baby for a long time. Katie's a thirty-two-year-old single, catholic woman who has been trying to find a man who'll stick around. We follow the women individually as they find themselves pregnant-Rachel happily, Katie, not. As they enter their second trimester, they're shocked to hear that there's something very wrong with the babies they're carrying. Rachel and Katie meet in a support group and bond as they help each other through not only the excruciating decision they need to make but through the issues that come with making that decision. The Stories We Cannot Tell explores friendship, loss, love, hope, and family.

***

I like books about strong women, and this book offers us two main characters, Rachel and Katie, who fit the bill perfectly.

Rachel and Katie are two very different women who find themselves in a similar situation. Katie is Catholic and Rachel is Jewish and it was interesting to read of the impact that their different religious backgrounds have on the very difficult decisions that they both face. I liked the way the book alternates between the two characters and allows the reader the opportunity to appreciate the dual perspective of their lives.

It is a well written book which deals with the difficult topic of pregnancy that can go wrong, infertility and loss. The author deals with these subjects with enormous sensitivity. Speaking as a woman who has faced loss during pregnancy, at no point did I find the book traumatic. Instead, Ms. Rasmussen uses her pen to convey compassion at the difficult choices women sometimes have to make.

I enjoyed the developing friendship between the two characters and how it served to illustrate the support that women sometimes need from each other. The author developed her characters extremely well and I felt as though I personally knew them both by the end of the book as they were so easy to engage with.

It is a thought provoking and heart-felt book which moved me greatly. It encourages readers to think how they might react in a similar situation, and although the subject manner is an uncomfortable one, it is ultimately a book about hope, resilience and strength.

I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

ISBN:  978 1956851601

Publisher:  TouchPoint Press

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  326 (paperback)

About the Author:

Leslie A. Rasmussen is the award-winning author of the novel, After Happily Ever After. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. She went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. After leaving the business to raise her boys, she obtained a master’s degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Recently, she’s written over twenty essays for Huffington Post, and Maria Shriver, and spoken on panels discussing empowering women in midlife and other women's issues. 

Leslie is a member of The Writers Guild of America, as well as Women In Film and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. In her free time, Leslie loves to read, exercise, and hang out with friends. She lives in Los Angeles and is married and has two sons.

(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(all author info courtesy of the author's website https://www.lesliearasmussen.com/about)

(all opinions are my own.)

Maybe It's About Time by Neil Boss - #Bookreview #Blogtour @WriteReadsTours @iamneilboss #maybeitsabouttime #neilboss

 

The concourse at Waterloo Station was rammed as Marcus Barlow emerged from the warm cocoon of the Underground like a pupating moth. Thousands of Monday evening commuters were awaiting their fate at the hands of South Western Trains. He took his AirPods out of their case. For years he had resisted, insisting they looked like hearing aids. Now they were as much a part of his uniform as his Cartier cufflinks and Ferragamo tie.

His smartphone came to life. A picture of his family taken the previous year on holiday in the Maldives. Four tanned bodies, squinting into the sun waist-deep in a turquoise ocean. A happy picture taken at a happy time...

***

Two people trapped in their different worlds. One by wealth and one by poverty. Twenty years working for The Firm has given Marcus Barlow everything he wants but has taken his soul in return. Finding a way to leave has become an obsession.

Claire Halford’s life hits rock bottom when she is caught stealing food from Tesco Express. Left alone by her husband with two small children and an STI, her suicide music is starting to play louder in her head.

A chance meeting brings them together. As a mystery virus from China starts to run riot across the country, their world’s collide and they find they have more in common than they knew.

Set in the early months of 2020, Maybe It’s About Time is a story about the difficulty of changing lives for the better. Starting as a funny and satirical view of the egocentric world of professional services, it gives way to a heart-warming story of an unlikely friendship that rejuvenates Marcus and Claire, giving them both hope for a better future.

***

There is something original about this book, and it kept me completely hooked. Set during the run up to, and during the pandemic lockdown it was so much more than a novel of 'unprecedented times'. 

There were some marvellous characters in this novel. The main characters, Marcus and Claire were both well drawn and utterly believable. However, the author does an equally good job with the secondary characters. I loved Mr Mahoney and Claire's other neighbours. Equally, Marcus' family were well portrayed.

I laughed at the way Marcus' colleagues were depicted as soulless human beings and it was a joy to see him come to understand his role within this. It was no surprise to discover that Mr. Boss has worked in the corporate sector and I suspect that much of himself is reflected in Marcus.

The novel is about self-evaluation, and questions what constitutes a family. It was also about friendship and how it can occur in the most unlikely of places and situations.

It is a fairly lengthy novel at just over 500 pages but it was worth every page and I flew through it. It was both heartwarming and funny whilst dealing with a serious subject. I did not anticipate the ending, and I cannot wait to read the sequel when it is published.

ISBN:  978 1803135038

Publisher:  Matador

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  552 (paperback)

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About the Author:

Neil retired from a career in the corporate world in November 2019 with three objectives. To travel around the world and fly fish in the most exotic locations, to play his electric guitar better and to write a novel that he could be genuinely proud of. The pandemic and lockdown in March 2020 put his first two objectives on hold leaving him no option but to start writing. Two and half years later, Maybe It's About Time, his first novel, was published.

As a piece of work, he is incredibly proud of it. It makes him laugh and cry in equal measure. He is even more proud that readers seem to be enjoying it just as much and it is getting great reviews.

Travel and fly fishing has now started again, his guitar playing is improving and a sequel to Maybe It's About Time is planned to start in 2023!

Support Independent Bookshops - Buy from Bookshop.org *

*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.

(book provided courtesy of The Write Reads)

What Eden Did Next by Sheila O'Flanagan - #BookReview

Darling You,

I went to the beach before sunrise this morning and stood at the water's edge, allowing the softest of waves to break gently over my feet while I wriggled my toes deeper into the cool, damp sand. When a whisper of breeze kissed the back of my neck, I took a deep breath and stretched my arms as high as I could over my head before exhaling slowly and lowering my arms again.

It was a perfect moment.

And then, as the sun peeked over the horizon, I felt the ache of your absence and I wished you were at my side.

***

Five years after the death of her firefighter husband, Eden knows better than anyone that life can change in an instant. Now, instead of the future she had planned with Andy, she has Lila - the daughter he never got the chance to meet. And instead of Andy, she has his family.

Then Eden meets someone. Someone she knew before Andy, before Lila, before the tragedy. Someone who reminds her of how she used to be. But Andy's mother has other plans. And Eden is facing an impossible choice. One that could tear a family apart . . .

Honest and emotionally gripping, What Eden Did Next is an irresistible, sometimes heart-breaking, ultimately joyful, novel of love, loss - and finding your own way to happiness.

***

It has been about a decade since I last read a book by this author. I am not even sure which titles I read, and as this was before I began the blog or using Good Reads to record my thoughts on what I read, I have no way of checking. All I remember is that I enjoyed reading them.

So, it was lovely to reacquaint myself with Ms O'Flanagan's work. It did take me a little while to get into this book. Plot wise, nothing seemed to be happening. However, what the author was cleverly and carefully doing was laying out the thoughts and feelings of the main character, Eden, and I am so glad that I persevered with it as it is well worth reading.

It is very much a character driven novel and Eden was a delight to read about. She is caring and considerate of others despite having been widowed very young. Eden still chooses to see the best in people and in life in general. As a reader it was impossible not to become engrossed in her character and her circumstances.

Even though Eden is a rounded and well portrayed character, the author portrays the secondary characters with equal diligence and detail. I loved Elizabeth, who Eden is caring for, and Lila and Poppy were delightful children to read of.

Although this novel is about grief and how to move on, it is ultimately a heartwarming and uplifting story that gave me a little satisfied tingle as I read the final page. I absolutely will not be leaving it another decade before I read another book by this very talented author.

ISBN: 978 1472272676

Publisher: Headline Review

Format: e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages: 464 (hardback)

About the Author:

What Eden Did Next is Sheila O'Flanagan's 30th book to be published. When her debut novel, Dreaming of a Stranger, was first published twenty-five years ago, she never imagined that it was the beginning of such an amazing writing journey.

She was born in Dublin and has always lived there.

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith - #BookReview #BlogTour

 

Greta is standing at the window of a hotel in West Hollywood when her brother calls for the third time that day. Across the street, there's a billboard with a sleek white yacht surrounded by turquoise water, an ad for a new kind of beer, and something about it - that feeling of being adrift - makes it easier to say no when she finally picks up the phone.

***

Just after the sudden death of her mother - her most devoted fan - and weeks before the launch of her high-stakes second album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing. Greta's career is suddenly in jeopardy - the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always warned her about.

Months later, Greta - still heartbroken and very much adrift - reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. It could be their last chance to heal old wounds in the wake of shared loss. But the trip will also prove to be a voyage of discovery for them both, and for Ben Wilder, a charming historian who is struggling with a major upheaval in his own life.

In this unlikeliest of places - at sea and far from the packed venues where she usually plays - Greta must finally confront the heartbreak she's suffered, the family hurts that run deep, and how to find her voice again.

***

This is a well written and compelling novel that gripped me from the start. Greta is an interesting character, and one who is very easy to identify with, even though she is a rock star! The story dealt with the Greta behind the lights and the music. She is a multilayered and engaging character who is struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother whilst also fearing the loss of her career.

Whilst the book deals with the difficult issue of grief and bereavement, it is not done in a depressing or mawkish manner. Rather it is heart felt and sensitive and allows the reader to empathise, not only with Greta, but with her father also.

Her relationship with her father has been problematic at the best of times but now that they are both swaddled in their own grief, they are emotionally further away from each other than ever. Taking her mothers place on the cruise, and being forced to spend time together in this way is a great plot device on the part of the author, because it informs the reader that this will either resolve or exacerbate the divide in the relationship.

Ultimately, the story's central message is of hope, love and inspiration. The way in which the author took what could have been a joyless subject, and turn it into such a positive and heart warming story demonstrates her skills as a writer and when I reached the end of this novel, I gave a huge satisfied sigh of satisfaction.

Additionally, if the author had intended to make me want to head off on a winter cruise she has been hugely successful. Having read this book, I am now longing to go on a winter cruise. The author's descriptions of the beauty of Alaska would challenge anyone not to feel tempted.

I highly recommend this wonderful book.

ISBN: 978 1529416435

Publisher: Quercus

No. of pages: 320 (hardback)

About the Author:

Jennifer E. Smith is the author of nine books for young adults, including The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between,  both of which have recently been adapted for film. She earned a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her work has been translated into thirty-three languages. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

(author photo and bio info from the authors own website athttps://www.jenniferesmith.com/about)