If I Were You by Lynn Austin

If I Were You by Lynn Austin

464 pages / 13 hrs, 35 mins

"1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve's secrets--and the complicated history of their friendship--to the surface."  --from the publisher.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've read other books by Austin, but this one is far and away her best yet. It did drag a bit for me in one spot, but it didn't last long. I loved the characters, and Austin's exceptional presentation of complicated moral decisions, relationships, and extending grace to others. The ending was a bit simplistic, but I do love a happy ending. I give it five out of five stars.

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks, 398 pages

The Longest Ride is Nicholas Sparks most recent novel.  I have read all but two of his novels, so I was anxiousl to read this one. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed.  This book took me a while to get into.  Unlike most of his other novels, I was not real interested in the characters in this story and felt it was very slow moving and boring. Usually, in his books, I feel like there is some big twist.  In this novel, I kept waiting for the unexpected, but it never happened.  I thought the whole story was corny.  The book flashes between two couples, Ira and Ruth and Sophie and Luke.  Ira is a ninety year old man who has driven off the road and is trapped in his car in the snow.  While trapped, he sees images of his deceased wife Ruth.  The book bounces back and forth between Ira's life story, and college student Sophie and rodeo star Luke's blossoming romance.  The ending is predictable, if not, corny.