The September House by Carissa Orlando

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐✩

The September House by Carissa Orlando - 344 pages

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.

Margaret is not most people.

Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.

This book was a bit different than normal ghost/haunted house books, in that the home owner doesn't seem fazed by the haunting at all.  She dug in and refused to move.  Her husband abused her, and this house is in a way doing the same.  Her daughter, Katherine, is quite the brat until she learns what is truly happening within the house. It took me a bit to get into the book, but overall it was good.  

Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent

 ⭐⭐⭐✩✩

Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent - 260 pages

Oliver Ryan, handsome, charismatic, and successful, has long been married to his devoted wife, Alice. Together they write and illustrate award-winning children’s books; their life together one of enviable privilege and ease—until, one evening after a delightful dinner, Oliver delivers a blow to Alice that renders her unconscious, and subsequently beats her into a coma.

In the aftermath of such an unthinkable event, as Alice hovers between life and death, the couple’s friends, neighbors, and acquaintances try to understand what could have driven Oliver to commit such a horrific act. As his story unfolds, layers are peeled away to reveal a life of shame, envy, deception, and masterful manipulation.

This book wasn't bad, but it didn't "wow" me either.  Sure, Oliver wasn't a good guy, but I expected worse.  Not a bad read but won't need to read again.

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, 385 p.

CW: Domestic abuse 

"Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened."--Goodreads blurb

Colleen Hoover is loved by many a reader. This was my first foray into her books, and I did enjoy the writing and the story kept me interested. But I'd heard that I'd be sobbing on the floor while/after reading this book. That was definitely not the case for me as I found myself more angered than touched by this storyline. This was another case of a book's hype perhaps ruining a bit of the experience of reading said book. I will be trying another Hoover book in the future, though.

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, 385 p. 

TW: domestic abuse

"Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened."--Goodreads blurb

This was my first Hoover book and honestly, I WANTED to love it. It fell totally short for me, which I know puts me in the minority. I was expecting to be blown away by the story considering how much hype I've read over Hoover online. Her dialogue was great and the story did keep me interested, but it just didn't do it for me. I will try Hoover again, though.
 

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, 328 pages

It's the 80s (my favorite decade) and high schooler Eleanor has just returned to her very abusive home. Overweight with frizzy hair, poorly dressed Eleanor tries to keep a low profile and ends up facing the horrors of bullying ... at home and at school. She keeps it together by forming an unusual friendship with Park. Park is oriental boy who is very small in stature. He has his own demons to fight but for some reason comes to Eleanor's defense (passively) by offering her the seat next to him on the bus. Every day they ride together to school without a word to each other. Every day Park notices Eleanor watching him read his comics. He starts to share them with her and slowly music is added to the mix and they become friends. Their friendship is a life line for both. As Eleanor opens her world to Park they realize they are much the same in likes as much as their worlds are very different. Park does what he can to save Eleanor from the horrors of home and school. It's such a beautifully written book alternating from both viewpoints that I found often found myself with tears streaming down my face. This is a book every child (and parent) should read and understand what bullying does to a person. Sometimes all we see in kids is the shell... and not what is inside. Such bittersweetness ends this story and I think that it ended exactly as it should have.

Nicole Brown Simpson: The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted by Faye Resnick with Michael Walker

Nicole Brown Simpson:  The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted by Faye Resnick with Michael Walker, 244 pages

It is hard to believe that Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were murdered almost 20 years ago.  This book was more of a diary of Faye Resnick's life than Nicole's, but I guess that is understandable considering the circumstances.  Faye's claim to fame is most recently being on the television show, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, being in Playboy, and being a socialite.  What she writes in her book is what we all know but were waiting for someone to write a book to find out what actually happened between OJ and Nicole.  One interesting incident was how he beat her and locked her out of a hotel room in Las Vegas.  OJ seemed to sweet talk his way out of being the abuser because of his status as an athlete and superstar.  Faye tells how OJ "discovered" Nicole at the age of 17 and molded her into the person she was.  Nicole tells Faye she feared OJ and knew someday he would harm her.  Just makes one wonder why she kept running back to him and why their friends did not step in to stop the abuse.

Charmed Destinies: Mercedes Lackey, Rachel Lee and Catherine Asaro

Charmed Destinies - 3 stories in 1,  384 pages

Counting Crows by Mercedes Lackey is a story about a young woman who is wedded to a border Lord to protect the king's claim on the land and to keep the young woman's father safe from a neighboring dark wizard. After being "Glove Fasted" to a husband she's never met, Gwynn heads to her new home escorted by rough soldiers accompanied only by her half-sibling Robin. She is determined to love her husband and be a good wife. When she meets him, however, she finds him to be a true terror and faces beating after beating at his hands. But, she is not without resource. Gwynn is also a sorceress and the way she deals with her abusive husband will leave you smiling.


Drusilla's Dream by Rachel Lee is a funny tale of two modern day office workers. Their desire for each other meets up in a fantasy world reality. As each begins to spin their own tale in their fantastical worlds, they are interrupted at key points by every day life like the janitor mopping the floor or the computer having an error. You'll find yourself chuckling at their creative imaginations that play out like dreams. In the end, will they finally confess their mutual attraction and live the fairytale?

Moonglow by Catherine Asara was by far my favorite tale in this book. Iris is a powerful young mage who thinks her power is quite limited. Jarid is a young prince who watched his parents die before his eyes before he lost his hearing, sight and voice, and was raised by one of the murderer's as a son. Each has hurts that they bury deep inside leaving them crippled to their true power. When Iris accidentally discovers that Prince Jarid is still alive, the kingdom works fast to set the new King on the throne. Because Iris is the strongest female mage in the land, she becomes Jarid's wife before he can see/hear/speak with her. Yet they can reach each other through their emotions and in that comes great healing. This a warm fuzzy story that will leave you sighing with contentment.

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James, 532 pages
(2nd book in Fifty Shades trilogy)

Wow. I seriously don't know what possessed me to read the second book after the first "eye rolling, lip biting, smoldering look, etc." Fifty Shades irritated me so much. Okay, so I was hoping that Anastasia would finally learn some self respect and Christian would learn how to treat her -- and I was challenged to read the whole series before making a judgement call. Nope. Once again we are led through a flimsy storyline that is very disappointing. I can sum the book up pretty shortly -  Anastasia and Christian resume their "romance". Christian buys the company where Anastasia works and fires her boss (who seriously got what he deserved and was a redeeming quality in the book). One of Christian's old "flames" is actually quite crazy and stalks Anastasia. Elena (aka Mrs. Robinson) gets her just desserts. And, yep, Christian declares his love for Anastasia and asks her to be his wife. The only part of the book that was interesting was Christian's background -- why he is the way he is. Granted your past, no matter how troubling, does not negate/excuse how badly you treat people in the future ... but there you go. All in all, I'm glad I'm done with the second and flat out refuse to read the third.

Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason

Silence of the Grave: A Thriller by Arnuldur Indridason; translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder --- 279 pages

This is the second book in Icelandic author Indridason"s series of gritty crime thrillers featuring Detective Inspector Erlandur Sveinsson. Erlandur and his team are called out to the scene of a grisly discovery: the bones of a corpse found by children playing on a construction site where a new housing estate is being built on the outskirts of Reykjavik.

Already in this second book it seems well established that Erlandur and his team deal in cold cases --- old murders long unsolved. In this instance, Erlandur must first determine whether this is a murder at all, and if so, how to identify the victim. Only by slowly gathering and assembling bits and pieces from old records and fading memories does Erlandur uncover the dreadful family history hidden in this silent grave. What he learns also forces him to confront the reason for his own failed relationships, especially with his defiant and self-destructive daughter.  With its jaundiced view of human nature and brooding Icelandic setting, this is another example of the "crime nordique."

A Woman of Consequence by Anna Dean

A Woman of Consequence: The Investigations of Miss Dido Kent by Anna Dean --- 384 pages

Third volume in the new series of Regency mystery-romances by English author Anna Dean, with a heroine obviously patterned on Jane Austen, and with plots that combine elements of Austen's life with elements drawn from Austen's books.

Dido Kent is an impoverished gentlewoman dependent on her brothers for her support and maintenance, too intelligent for her own comfort, and chafed by her dependency and the assumption that she is at the beck and call of everyone around her. At the age of six and thirty she is aware that her family and friends have consigned her to spinsterhood, but unknown to them, she has received a proposal of marriage from the very personable Mr. William Lomax. Unfortunately, Mr. Lomax, while powerfully attracted by Dido's intelligence and wit, is equally dismayed by her independence is exercising that intelligence, and her penchant for involving herself in situations that "no gentleman wishes to hear from a lady he respects and esteems."

The current situation to which Mr. Lomax objects, concerns Dido's efforts to uncover the truth behind the recent discovery of the remains of a woman, found when an ornamental lake was drained during improvements to the grounds of nearby Maddenstone Abbey. The remains are identified as those of Miss Elinor Fenn, a governess employed at Maddenstone, who walked out of the house fifteen years ago and was never seen again.  

The coroner's jury declares a verdict of suicide; but if this were the case, Dido reasons, why would some unknown person now go to great lengths to remove all remaining traces of the dead woman's history and connections at Maddenstone? And why is no one willing to admit who ordered the draining of the lake? What is causing the apparition of the "Grey Nun" to manifest itself in the Abbey ruins and even to appear in the Great House itself? Why is a gazetted fortune hunter like Captain James Laurence pursuing Penelope Lambe, a pretty but penniless orphan of unknown antecedents, while simultaneously persuading Miss Lucy Crankford to agree to an elopement and clandestine marriage?. Why should Lucy's elder sister Harriet be so adamantly opposed to their brother Silas' attachment to Penelope?

Despite Mr. Lomax's disapproval, Dido knows she cannot stop until she finds the answers to these and other questions, so that justice may be done, the dead laid to rest, and happiness restored to the living. But even in this, Dido finds to her dismay, there may be a vast and seeming unbridgeable gap between a woman's notion of justice and a man's.

Secrets of Eden Chris Bohjalian

Secrets of Eden  -  Chris Bohjalian  - 362 pages
This is the first Chris Bohjalian novel I have ever read.  This was a great story revolving around several different types and complex characters.  The murder/suicide of Alice and George Hayward,  the local pastor Stephen Drew, author Heather Laurent, and the orpahn Katie Hayward are the main players in this story.  Domestic abuse, the secrets of marriage and spiritual breakdown are the dramatic plots of this small town Vermont thriller.