I received this as an advanced reader copy from the Publisher via NetGalley.

This is probably a 3.5. Since finishing it, it is growing on me. There are many complex characters in here with many emotional/mental layers to them.

This is another in a series of books that I seem to be gravitating to lately. Stories of women who are missing/abused/killed, etc and set in London. I really need to find a new line of books, they are all meshing together.

I did like this one better than a couple of the others I have read.

This book tells the stories of two women, who through varying circumstances, end up having lived in the same apartment. One to discover that the prior died while living there.

Many parallels are drawn through their time spent living there, that you feel like history is going to repeat it self, maybe for the third time. As we discover that the landlord/owner/architect's wife died there as well. Both women look like the landlord's deceased wife. Both end up enjoying the rules of the house and having relationships with the owner.

This isn't a normal apartment lease. There are rules and stipulations to living there. Tenants must undergo psychological questionnaire's and be subjected to routine monitoring. The apartment is austere and minimalist in design, and tenants must keep it that way.

The mastery of this story is that what we see and think are not always the truth. It is a great whodunnit mystery. However, at the same time you are left with a general unease of how characters are manipulated.

This was a bit more dull of a novel than I expected. I was completely captivated by the authors debut "The Coincidence of Coconut Cake" I expected more of that here, but found the spark and missing. But then again, this is a completely different story.

Here we follow MJ as she and her husband are distancing themselves from each other after 20 years of marriage. She blames him and then in her attempt to reconnect with him via poker, she dives into the world of poker playing. She herself ends up distancing herself from her entire family as she finds this as her escape.

The last third of the book is what I was looking for the entire time. Its here where we really get to see MJ really evaluating her life and marriage. We see her passion, not just her escape. Even though she comes close to having an affair, we see that she has been living a dormant life and really needed to reconnect that with her husband.

I loved watching the Minneapolis shows of Rehab Addict and loved Nicole Curtis, so when this came across my hands at work, I thought--Why Not?

And I'm glad I did. She writes just like she is in her show. In this book she gives a bit of background to her life prior to the show. Her midwestern values of working hard. Nicole is definitely a strong, determined, honest, independent woman. She knows what she wants, and works towards that goal. Always looking to the what is possible, not what is going wrong.

It was interesting to learn the events that lead to the Rehab Addict show. Balanced with stories of her real life along side.

If you are a fan of the show, you should read this.
If you are a fan of women who are strong, powerful, resilient then you should definitely read this.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley.

Love, love, love. Amy Reichert's third book is the best yet. She masterfully weaves the developing story with hints of the backstory for all of the characters.

The story is told through alternating view points of Sanna and Issac.

Sanna has grown up living on an apple orchard with her father. Her mother left when she was young and her brother moved away after college. She loves spending her day in the simplicity of the chores of the orchard and developing cider. She has chosen this path as a haven. Isolating and protecting herself from get hurt. Hardening her heart as a means. She lacklusterly "dates" the boy next door.

Issac is from California, and has run away with his son, Sebastian, for the summer. He is running away from the death of his ex-wife, who we find out was addicted to drugs. Issac has not yet told Sebastian and hopes to have one last summer of youth for him before his life is forever changed.

Issac finds himself in Door County and taking a job at the orchard. From there the attraction between him and Sanna grows, with both of them trying to deny it.

When an outside firm comes in and tries to purchase the orchard to build a waterpark/hotel (YUCK--seriously I would hate to see this in Door County). The layered storylines of Sanna and her family are slowly revealed to us. Sanna starts to open her eyes to the truth of life around her.

And we see a small cameo of Lou and Al from "The Coincidence of Coconut Cake" The book that started my love affair for Amy Reichert's writing.

I loved the way Amy Reichert slowly revealed the past, while creating the tension and suspense of the present day story. No too sugary sweet.

Beautiful dreamy illustrations for a bed time story.

Animals whisk you away to the jungle, the sea, or the stars.

Meh.

Read more like a chronology of events and thoughts than a compelling novel. Not to say it wasn't interesting, but there wasn't a spark or a pull to make it feel like I was being drawn into the story.

Of course, it has been touted as an updated twist on The Great Gatsby, which I have never read (GASP!), so it might be just as it's supposed to be. And don't be fooled by the inside cover description. Well true, it isn't an accurate representation of the story within.


The story centers around Sylvia and Ava's lives, mother and daughter. Set in Pinewood, NC, where the furniture industry is quickly shuttering its doors and leaving all the shift workers in a poorer state than they were before. They live in the run down parts of town at the base of the hill where the rich white homeowners live, in sight of what they cannot have, and know they will never be able to even desire. Ava, being the next generation, has made her way into a pretty good career in banking, but is stuck in the traditions of marriage that were passed down to her from the generation before. Ava eventually breaks free from this way of living and "saves" herself. To move beyond history repeating itself, and writing her own story.

"But soon and in clearer moments she knew she had made her own choice not to lose him or at least not to lose all of her memories of him. She wanted the past where they lived and struggled and loved each other. A past couldn't and shouldn't be erased. The possibility of the past, if it is a good one, or even if it has good moments, is that it can be alive, if you let it. All of it alive, not just the terror, but the beauty too. And the young encompassing and smothering love she'd felt for her lovely man--all that alive too. Otherwise all those years, her years, her life had not meant a thing.

There is tons of truth in this story.
How you can love someone, even when they change and you change, even when they do things that hurt you.
How all the money in the world can not solve the loneliness in your soul.
How even though you have failed before, you get up and keep trying.

These three things are the biggest lessons I will take from this book.

Stunning, Stunning, Amazing, Stunning

Joel Sartore's photographs are absolutely breathtaking. They capture the beauty of each animal. Including snakes and insects. You can almost visualize each animal's persona.
Paired with Kwame Alexander's haikus, this book is sure to delight children, as well as their caregivers.

Joel goes on to explain the Photo Ark effort, emploring people to care for and help conserve and protect our vulnerable species.

This was a library copy. I did a browse through. So many delicious recipies. I have not made any, but I want to purchase this book.

Written by a winner of Cupcake Wars