The High Tide Club by Mary Kay Andrews

Grab your beach bag, a cool drink, and some sunscreen – you’re going to want to sit outside and enjoy this read for as long as possible.

Jacqueline, an heiress in her nineties, has some unfinished business she wants to take care of before she passes. Brooke is a single mom and struggling to make it as an independent lawyer in the South. When Jacqueline hires Brooke to try to save her private island, the complicated history of a group of friends called The High Tide Club starts to unfold.

Mary Kay Andrews is the epitome of summer/vacation authors for me. While her books have gotten a bit more serious over the years, she makes the South and its quirks come alive with the stories of realistic and powerful women. Her books always contain a tad of romance, a dollop of mystery, and a large helping of strong women getting stronger. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the song Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves!

While Brooke’s character takes the spotlight, I found the stories of the minor characters to be more compelling. Varina, Millie, and Ruth all led such fascinating lives that I couldn’t help but want to know more about their stories. We spent a lot of time getting to know Brooke in Andrews’ previous novel, Save the Date, and I felt as if I already knew her and didn’t need as much time with her as I did with the other characters.

I definitely recommend this book – especially if you are looking for a great summer read. What summer reads are you looking forward to?

Well, hello there

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged at all, let alone post book reviews. I’ve been missing it lately, so I decided to start over and blog about the books I’m reading, the teas I’m drinking, and just other fun stuff in general.

Since I’ve switched jobs, I actually have time to read for pleasure and not just for the book clubs I was leading – there’s such a feeling of freedom and lack of pressure with finally reading all of those books I put off trying to catch up with reading for work.

Feel free to comment with what you are reading – I love to hear what people are actually reading as opposed to the books being promoted by the publisher.

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

I have so many feelings about this book! Grace is a food buyer for Harrod’s in England and has never found Mr. Right. She is the guardian of her sister with Down’s Syndrome, Millie, and she travels a lot for her job, so she has a lot on her plate when she meets and marries the Perfect Guy. Or is he? DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN….

After Grace marries Jack, there is an abrupt change in his demeanor and we slowly figure out what is really going on. Not to give to many spoilers, but we quickly find out that Jack isn’t exactly the guy we think he is. The book is told from Grace’s perspective alternating between the present and the past.

Paris is great at creating suspense in the first portion of the book, but I think once we find out what is going on, it’s more of a “oh crap how are we getting out of this situation” kind of vibe which goes on a bit long. Some of the plot points are a bit week, but what really bugged me was abuse of an animal – I honestly just couldn’t handle reading those parts and so I kept skipping over them.

I also am troubled by how many thrillers I’ve read where a woman lacks power in a relationship and this leads to *bad things*. I feel that women are portrayed too often as weak or doe-eyed in thrillers and can only become powerful through ridiculous struggles. Why can’t a woman start out as powerful and savvy and still overcome the adversity she faces?  Why does a woman have to be clueless to start with?

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel – the narrator was perfect for this book and did a great job at leading the suspense with her voice. Overall, I think Paris has a knack for suspense writing, and this being her debut novel, I think I will definitely check out her other books.