A kid walks into your bookstore and… Guess what? He’s your son. The one you put up for adoption eighteen years ago. The one you never told anyone about. Surprise!
And a huge surprise it is.
It’s a huge surprise to his adoptive mother, Monica, who thought she had a close relationship with Matthew, her nearly adult son. But apparently, he felt the need to secretly arrange a vacation to Cape Cod for the summer so he could meet his birth mother…without a word to either her or his dad.
It’s also a surprise— to say the least—to Harlow, the woman who secretly placed her baby for adoption so many years ago. She’s spent the years since then building a quiet life. She runs a bookstore with her grandfather, hangs out with her four younger siblings and is more or less happily single, though she can’t help gravitating toward Grady Byrne, her old friend from high school. He’s moved back to town, three-year-old daughter in tow, no wife in the picture. But she’s always figured her life had to be child-free, so that complicates things.
When Matthew walks into Harlow’s store, she faints. Monica panics. And all their assumptions—about what being a parent really means—explode. This summer will be full of more surprises as both their families are redefined…and as both women learn that for them, there’s no limit to a mother’s love.
A LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE by Kristan Higgins is an emotionally intense women’s fiction family drama with romantic elements featuring a bookstore owner on Cade Cod and the son she gave up for adoption eighteen years previously. While this standalone is a great read, it has a cover which may lead you to believe this is a light summer read, it definitely is not.
Every year the Patel family takes an extended summer vacation to a different location. This year seventeen-year-old Matthew has talked the family into going to Cape Cod. He and his father arrive first, while his mother and younger sister will arrive when her school year is over. Matthew and his father go into the local independent bookstore and when the owner, Harlow sees them, she faints.
Harlow secretly placed her son up for adoption the summer between her freshman and sophomore year of college. She picked the family her son would go to, but he was not supposed to be able to contact her if he chose until his eighteenth birthday. He found her online and did not tell his adoptive family that this was his reason for the Cape Cod vacation. Now he is here for the summer and while she is excited, she is also about to have her quiet life blown up.
There is so much happening in this story. Harlow is dealing with seeing a beautiful grown son who wants to get to know her and her family. She also must tell her family about having a child at eighteen for the first time. Monica Patel is dealing with a son who has lied to the family and the fear of him choosing his birth mother over her love. The two mothers’ emotions and point of view pull you into this drama because you can empathize with both. Matthew is dealing with questions children of adoption are known to have and his emotional shifts are as heart wrenching as the two mother’s stories. There are several characters with side stories woven throughout that lighten the emotional angst at times, or bring a bit of romance into the plot, but overall this is a story where you will want to have the tissues close by your side.
I highly recommend this emotionally charged women’s fiction!
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About the Author
Kristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels, wKristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have sold millions of copies around the world. Kristan has been praised for her mix of “laugh-out-loud humor and tear-jerking pathos,” which the author attributes to a diet high in desserts and sugar-based mood swings.
Kristan’s books have received dozens of awards and accolades, including starred reviews from People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, Kirkus, the New York Journal of Books, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, National Public Radio and Booklist. She personally responds to every reader letter she receives, even the mean ones.
Kristan is the mother of two ridiculously good-looking children and the grandmother of the world’s cutest baby. She lives in Connecticut and Cape Cod with her heroic firefighter husband, a rescue mutt and indifferent cat. In her spare time, Kristan enjoys gardening, easy yoga classes, mixology and pasta.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FAMOUS IN A SMALLTOWN by Viola Shipman on this HTP Books Summer 2023 Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Summary
Fried Green Tomatoes meets Midnight at the Blackbird Café in USA Today bestselling author Viola Shipman’s FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN, a heartwarming story about intergenerational friendship and self-discovery, set in beautiful Northern Michigan.
In 1958, 15-year-old Mary Jackson became the first woman ever crowned The Cherry Pit Spittin’ Champion of Good Hart, Michigan, landing her in the Guinness Book of World Records, and earning her the nickname Cherry Mary. Nearly 80 years old at the story’s start, Mary runs The Very Cherry General Store, a business that has been passed through three generations of women in the family. While there is no female next of kin, Mary believes the fourth is fated to arrive, as predicted by “Fata Morgana,” a Lake Michigan mirage of four women walking side by side.
Becky Thatcher (yes, like the Mark Twain character), an Assistant Principal from St. Louis, has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend and heads to Good Hart for a healing girl’s trip with her best friend. When Becky drunkenly spits a cherry pit an impressive distance, Mary urges her to enter the upcoming contest, and wonders if Becky could be the woman she’s been waiting for.
Bursting with memorable characters and small-town lore, FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN is a magical story about the family you’re born with, and the one you choose.
FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN by Viola Shipman is a wonderful women’s fiction story with romantic elements that is full of Michigan summertime vacation nostalgia, generational family drama, the bonds of friendship, and the discovery and belief in the power of women all delivered with a cherry on top. This is the perfect summertime read, especially if you are a fan of all things tart cherry.
Mary Jackson became “Cherry Mary” as a girl of fifteen when she won the cherry pit spitting distance contest in her small hometown of Good Hart, not only beating all the men, but also obtaining the Guinness World Record. Sixty-five years later, she is now eighty years old, still undefeated and runs her family’s Very Cherry General Store and waits for the girl she was told in her visions would come to carry on.
Becky Thatcher has turned forty and feels stuck in a monotonous life, with nothing to show for it. She and her best friend, “Q” take off for a vacation in Good Hart to relive the fun childhood holidays she remembers with her grandparents. When Becky spits a cherry pit, Mary witnesses the record breaker and believes Becky is the girl she has been waiting for. While not the vacation she was expecting, Becky works under Mary’s wing and soon discovers peace and beauty in the small town and the belief that Mary may be right, and this is where she is meant to be.
Enchanting, emotional, and memorable characters and landscapes are all present in this story. It is summertime memories, trips with grandparents, small town nostalgia all intertwined with everything tart cherry. The strength and power of women is a recurring theme throughout. The sweet romance is a relatively small subplot in this story, but it is relevant to both main characters. I feel this is the perfect summertime read and I loved it.
I highly recommend this very cherry women’s fiction!
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Excerpt
THE LAKE EFFECT EXPRESS
August 1958
“Good News from Good Hart!”
by Shirley Ann Potter
It was the spit heard ’round the world!
Our town is still atwitter over the news that the daughter of Mr. Peter Jackson was crowned the 35th Annual Cherry Pit Spittin’ Champion of Leelanau and Emmet County last Saturday. Fifteen-year-old Mary Jackson, an Emmet County high-school sophomore, was not only the first woman—uh, girl—to win the contest, but her stone flew a Guinness Book of World Records–breaking distance of ninety-three feet six-and-a-half inches, shattering the previous record set by “Too Tall” Fred Jones in 1898 at the state’s very first Cherry Championship right here in Good Hart.
News of her accomplishment has flown farther than her cherry pit, with reporters from as far away as New York and London anointing our town sprite with the moniker “Cherry Mary.”
I caught up with Mary at the Very Cherry General Store—our beloved post office/grocery store/sandwich-
and-soda-shop run by Mary’s mother and grandmother—to see how she managed such a Herculean feat.
“My mom taught me to whistle when I was a kid (“A kid!” Don’t you just love that, readers?), and I had to be loud enough for her to hear me when she was down at the lake. I think that made my lips strong,” Mary says. “And I started eating sunflower seeds when I was fishing on the boat with my grandma. She taught me how to spit them without having the wind blow them back in the boat.”
Mary says she practiced for the contest by standing in the middle of M-119—the road that houses our beautiful Tunnel of Trees—and spitting stones into the wind when a storm was brewing on Lake Michigan.
“I knew if I could make it a far piece into the wind, I could do it when it was still.”
While her grandmother was “over the moon” for Mary’s feat, saying, “It’s about time,” Mr. Jackson says of his daughter’s accomplishment, “It’s certainly unusual for a girl, but Mary isn’t your average girl. Maybe all this got it out of her system, so to speak. I hope so for her sake.”
The plucky teenager seems nonplussed by the attention, despite seeing her face all over northern Michigan in the papers and the T-shirts featuring her face—cheeks puffed, stone leaving her mouth—and the words Cherry Mary in bright red over the image.
“A girl can do anything a man can,” Mary says in between retrieving mail, spreading mayonnaise on a tomato sandwich and twirling a cherry around in her mouth, before perfectly depositing the stone in a trash can across the room. “You just gotta believe you can. That’s the hard part. Harder than spitting any old pit.”
Mary seems ready to conquer the world, readers. Cheers, Cherry Mary! Our hometown heroine!
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BECKY
June 2023
“Okay, Benjie, would you like it if Ashley did this to you?”
He scrunches up his face to stave off tears and shakes his head. “No.”
“Well, it’s not a nice thing to do.”
I study Ashley’s hair, then take her face in my hands. “It’s going to be okay. Trust me?”
The little girl nods her head. I give her a hug.
I walk over to my desk and open the bottom drawer . There is a large jar of creamy peanut butter sitting next to a bag of mini Snickers. The peanut butter is for emergencies like this: removing gum from a little girls’ hair. The Snickers are for me after I’m finished with this life lesson.
“Well, I’m just glad neither of you are allergic to peanuts,” I say. “Allows me to do this.”
I cover the gum stuck in the back of Ashley’s pretty, long, blond hair and then look at her.
“I promise this works,” I say. “I’ve performed a lot of gum surgery.”
She nods. Her eyes are red from crying, her cheeks blotchy.
“Why did you do this, Benjie?” I ask the little boy seated in the chair before my desk.
He ducks his head sheepishly, his brown bangs falling into his eyes, and murmurs something into his chest.
“I didn’t catch that,” I say. “What did you say? Remember it’s okay to express your emotions.”
He looks at me, freckles twitching on his cheeks. “I can’t say,” he whispers.
“Yes, you can,” I say. “Don’t make this any worse than it already is.”
Benjie glances toward the door to ensure that it is closed. “Tyler Evans told me to do it or he’d punch me on the way home.”
Being a grade-school administrator is akin to being a detective: you have to work the perp to get the truth. Eventually—no matter the age—they break, especially when a verdict on punishment is waiting in the balance.
It’s the last day of school. Benjie does not want his summer to be ruined.
I lean down and slide the gum out of Ashley’s hair. I go to my sink, dampen a cloth and put some dish soap on it, return and clean the rest of the peanut butter off her locks. I move to a tall filing cabinet and retrieve a clean brush. The filing cabinet is filled with bags of sealed brushes and combs, toothbrushes and EpiPens, certificates and old laptops. I run the brush through her hair. I hold up a mirror for her to see the back of her head.
“See, good as new.”
“What do you say to Ashley, Benjie?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do you accept his apology?”
Ashley shakes her head no. “You ruined the last day of school. You’re a big ol’ meanie.”
“Ashley,” I say, my tone sweet but authoritarian.
“I accept your apology,” she says.
“You’re free to go,” I say to her.
“But you’re still a big ol’ poop head,” she says, racing out of my office, bubblegum-free hair bouncing.
I actually have to clench my hands very hard to stifle a laugh.
Big ol’ poop head.
How many times a day would I—would any adult—like to scream that at someone?
“Are you telling my parents?” Benjie asks.
“I have to,” I say, “but I’ll tell them why you did it, and then I’ll have a talk with Tyler.”
“No!”
“I have to do that, too,” I explain. “And I’ll talk to his parents as well.”
He looks at me, his chin quivering.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy here for bullying,” I say. “Trust me, Tyler won’t do it again. You have to stand up to bullies. You have to show them the right way to do things. Otherwise, they never change.”
In addition to being a detective, an assistant principal is also akin to being the vice-president of the United States. Everyone knows your name, everyone knows you’ve achieved some level of status, but nobody really understands what the hell you do all day.
“I promise it will be okay,” I say. “Just promise me you won’t do it again. You’re a nice boy, Benjie. That’s a wonderful thing. Always remember that.”
“I promise.” He looks at me. “Can I go now?”
“One more thing. You know you aren’t supposed to bring gum to school.”
“I know. But one of the moms was handing it out before school.”
Mrs. Yates, I instantly know. She wants to be the cool mom. She’s Room Mom for 2A, and, Mrs. Trimbley, the Room Mom for 2B, told me that competing with her this year was like being a contestant in Squid Game.
Benjie continues. “It’s Bubble Yum. My favorite. My mom won’t let me have it because it’s bad for my teeth.”
Benjie opens his mouth and smiles. He resembles a jack-o’-lantern. He’s missing teeth here and there, willy-nilly, black holes where baby teeth once lived and adult teeth will soon reside.
Too late, I want to say to Benjie, but he won’t get my humor. Only my best friend, Q, understands it, and my grandparents who made me this way.
I think of how much I loved chewing gum as a kid.
“Do you have any more?”
“Am I going to get in trouble again?”
“No,” I say with a laugh.
He reaches into the pocket of his little jeans and hands me a piece of grape Bubble Yum.
My favorite.
“Do you know what my teacher used to say when I’d sneak gum into class?”
“You snuck gum into class?”
He stares at me with more admiration than if Albert Pujols from the St. Louis Cardinals suddenly appeared with an autographed baseball.
“I did,” I say. “It was about the only bad thing I ever did. My teacher used to hold out her hand in front of my desk and ask, ‘Did you bring enough gum to share with the whole class?’”
“Did you?” Benjie asks, wild-eyed.
“No,” I say. “That was the whole point. She wanted to embarrass me. And it always worked. Teachers just liked to say that.”
I take the gum from Benjie. “This is just between us, okay?”
He giggles and nods.
I pop the gum into my mouth. It’s even more insanely sweet and sugary and tastes even better than I remember. My taste buds explode. I chew, Benjie watching me with grand amusement, and then—looking out my window to make sure the coast is clear—blow a big bubble. A massive bubble, in fact. It expands until it’s the size of a small balloon. Benjie continues to watch me in silence as a child today might do today trying to figure out how to use a rotary phone. After a few moments, the flavor subsides.
“Want to learn a trick?” I ask.
“Yeah!”
“If you ever get caught chewing gum, don’t stick it in a nice girl’s hair or swallow it. Learn to do this.” I narrow my lips as if I’m going to whistle, puff my cheeks and spit my gum into the air as if Michael Jordan were draining a game-winning three-pointer as time expired. The purple gum arcs into the air and deposits directly into a trash can next to a low-slung sofa ten feet across my office.
Benjie pumps his fist and lifts his hand to high-five me.
VIOLA SHIPMAN is the pen name for internationally bestselling LGBTQIA author Wade Rouse. Wade is the author of fifteen books, which have been translated into 21 languages and sold over a million copies around the world. Wade chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen name to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction. Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Michigan Notable Books of the Year and Indie Next Picks. He lives in Michigan and California, and hosts Wine & Words with Wade, A Literary Happy Hour, every Thursday.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WHERE THE GRASSGROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs on this AME Blog Tour.
Below you will find an author Q&A, a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Author Q&A
How did you do research for your book?
Where the Grass Grows Blue is set in Kentucky, where I was born and raised, so I was comfortable with most topics—food, dialogue, and setting. But I did write in flashbacks and had to study pop culture during those decades so as to not get the year wrong. I also had to do some serious research into genetic diseases, as they are a plot point for my protagonist.
Which was the hardest character to write? The easiest?
The hardest to write by far was the main character, Penny. She is a complicated and sometimes frustrating character by design.
The easiest was Bradley, her love interest. I might have developed a literary crush on him while writing.
Where do you get inspiration for your stories?
I want to bring the charm of the South to a wider community of readers. It’s my goal to immerse them in the culture, food, and characters, so I look around my surroundings or dig back to my upbringing to find inspiration.
What advice would you give budding writers?
In the words of Nike, “Just do it!” You’ll never know unless you try. Of course, there are going to be bumps, sometimes mountains, along the way, but if you believe in yourself, your voice, and find the right support system, you can make it happen too.
Your book is set in Kentucky. Have you ever been there?
I was born and raised in the Bluegrass State. I still consider it home, though I’ve been gone for decades.
If you could put yourself as a character in your book, who would you be?
Penny’s best friend, Dakota. She is a truth-teller and doesn’t worry about what anyone thinks of her. She’s also fiercely loyal.
Do you have another profession besides writing?
I was a stay-at-home mother of five for twenty-five years. A few years ago, I started re-evaluating my life. At that point, it hit me. My children would soon be leaving for college. So I started “journaling” on a laptop. That lasted about a week before I noticed I wasn’t writing about my feelings or goals—I was creating a character. Now that my children are grown, I’m writing full-time. But that’s only one part of my “writing life.” I’m also a tour guide for Bookish Road Trip, an upbeat community of book lovers, authors, and bibliophiles. You can find them on Facebook, Instagram, and on their website. I’m in charge of the Author Take the Wheel program.
How long have you been writing?
I started about five years ago. It’s been a wonderful creative outlet.
Do you ever get writer’s block? What helps you overcome it?
Of course. Music has been a huge part of my creative process. It really inspires me and allows my mind to go places, creating new worlds. Also, running and exercise helps. Some of my best ideas happen when I work out.
What is your next project?
I’m almost finished with my second book, Ashes to Ashes. It’s an upmarket fiction book, set in the South, of course, that focuses on a tight-knit group of women whose world is rocked after the unexpected death of their dear friend, Ellen, under mysterious circumstances. But before they can even process their grief, they stumble across a web of secrets and lies, unraveling Ellen’s perfect life—the one she tried so hard to project to the outside world. Now they must rely on each other to find out who the real Ellen Foster was while grappling with the idea that they never really knew her at all.
What genre do you write in?
Women’s fiction and contemporary romance. But my third book will be historical fiction because it’s set in the early 1970s. I don’t want to be boxed into one genre.
What is the last great book you’ve read?
On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster. I can’t tell you how much I loved that book.
What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
“The author’s writing was like paint on a canvas, creating a vibrant picture of life in Kentucky, so much so that I was easily transported there.” Reader Views review.
If your book were made into a movie, who would star in the leading roles?
This is fun! Because it has dual timelines (flashbacks to the 70s and 80s and a “current” timeline set in 2009), I would have to cast young and older actors.
For the adult Penny, Elizabeth Olsen would be the perfect choice and for the younger version, circa 1985–89, it would absolutely be Sadie Sink. The adult Bradley? It’s Henry Cavill all the way with Tanner Buchanan taking the younger role.
As for Ruby Ray, Penny’s beloved grandmother, she would be played by Laura Dern (in the 1970s flashback) and Diane Ladd as the older Ruby Ray. They are two of my favorite actresses of all time and they are mother and daughter.
And finally, Dakota, Penny’s best friend with a salty tongue, would be played by Rashida Jones while Margo Martindale would make a fine Miss Paulette, Camden, Kentucky’s premier town gossip.
Maybe I should be a casting agent!
If your book were made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?
It’s funny you should ask. I literally made a playlist for this book as I was writing it. Whenever I was in the car or exercising, I listened to it over and over again.
Name by Goo Goo Dolls
American Girl by Tom Petty
Heaven by Brian Adams
When the Roll is Called Up Yonder by Johnny Cash
Cruel Summer by Bananarama
Let It Be Me by Ray LaMontagne
Feels Like Home by Edwina Hayes
The Promise by Tracy Chapman
Fix You by Coldplay
All That You Are by Goo Goo Dolls
What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing your book?
The biggest challenge was deciding where to start. To be honest with you, I had no idea what I was doing. I spent about three and a half years writing, rewriting, and editing my novel, Where the Grass Grows Blue completely by myself. This was the first book I had ever written, so there was a lot of trial and error involved.
What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring author?
Write, write, write. It’s the only way to get better. Also, I suggest joining writing groups. I’m a member of the WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association). It’s been a wealth of knowledge and has connected me to so many authors and aspiring writers, who are the most generous people on the planet with their time and advice.
Which authors inspired you to write?
Elin Hilderbrand. She’s the reason I started writing in the first place. I adore her. I even traveled to Nantucket last fall with a group of girlfriends to have the Elin “experience.” It was an absolute blast, plus I met her! On my website, you can find a blog post I wrote about that trip.
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Book Description
Penny Crenshaw’s divorce and her husband’s swift remarriage to a much younger woman have been hot topics around Atlanta’s social circles. After a year of enduring the cruel gossip, Penny leaps from the frying pan into the fire by heading back to Kentucky to settle her grandmother’s estate.
Reluctantly, Penny travels to her hometown of Camden, knowing she will be stirring up all the ghosts from her turbulent childhood. But not all her problems stem from a dysfunctional family. One of Penny’s greatest sources of pain lives just down the street: Bradley Hitchens, her childhood best friend, the keeper of her darkest secrets, and the boy who shattered her heart.
As Penny struggles with sorting through her grandmother’s house and her own memories, a colorful group of friends drifts back into her life, reminding her of the unique warmth, fellowship, and romance that only the Bluegrass state can provide. Now that fate has forced Penny back, she must either let go of the scars of her past or risk losing a second chance at love. Can she learn to live an unbridled life?
WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs is a heartfelt, enchanting, and beautiful Southern women’s fiction/romance story that I found impossible to put down. This is one woman’s journey that will resonate in part or in total with so many real-life women’s stories.
Penny Crenshaw is far from her poor and emotionally fraught upbringing in Kentucky and is a happy housewife and mother in affluent Atlanta until she discovers not only is her husband having an affair, but he is divorcing her for a much younger woman. Even with their divorce, her husband still controls Penny’s life.
When he takes their three boys on an extended African vacation with his new wife, Penny returns to her small hometown of Camden, Kentucky to get the house her grandmother left her ready for sale. Penny knows the memories will be difficult, but she still has relatives and friends to help. The one person she is determined to avoid is Dr. Bradley Hitchens. He was her best friend, keeper of her most emotionally shattering secret, and the one who shattered her heart.
With Southern comfort and grace, Penny will struggle with her past, find comfort in old friends and relations, and learn to live without fear for a second chance at a soul deep love.
This is an emotional roller-coaster of women’s fiction/romance with exceptionally crafted characters. I love Penny and Bradley’s second chance romance. Penny is discovering sometimes you just cannot outrun your past; you must return and face it head on to move forward. Penny’s journey is written intertwined with exquisitely descriptive small town Southern cuisine, gardening, church, supportive relatives and friends to interfering gossiping busybodies. This is a story and characters that I will be thinking about for quite some time.
I highly recommend this wonderful story!
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Author Bio
Hope Gibbs grew up in rural Scottsville, Kentucky. As the daughter of an English teacher, she was raised to value the importance of good storytelling from an early age. Today, she’s an avid reader of women’s fiction. Drawn to multi-generational family sagas, relationship issues, and the complexities of being a woman, she translates those themes into her own writing.
Hope lives in Tennessee with her husband and her persnickety Shih Tzu, Harley. She is also the mother of five. In her downtime, she loves playing tennis, poring over old church cookbooks, singing karaoke, curling up on her favorite chair with a book, and playing board games.
Hope has a B.A. from Western Kentucky University and is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.
THE SEASIDE LIBRARY by Brenda Novak is a women’s fiction/mystery/suspense mash-up with romantic elements. From my initial impression of the title and cover I was expecting more of a romance, but that is not the focus of this story.
Three friends, Ivy, Ariana, and Cam are inseparable on Mariners Island even though their family circumstances are very different as they grow up. During the summer of their sixteenth year, a young girl goes missing and the police are focusing on Cam. Ivy and Ariana swear to protect him even though they must lie to the police.
Twenty years later, the case is still unsolved, but a walker and her dog uncover the girl’s body. Ariana has returned to the island for the summer, Ivy runs her family’s library and Cam has become a restoration architect, but the rumors and accusations against him still abound. Over the summer, the friends are determined to find out what happened that night. Will it fracture their friendship or bring them even closer together?
This was not the story I was expecting, but I did enjoy it. The three friends are well developed and realistically drawn. The cold case murder mystery/suspense kept me turning the pages with unexpected revelations interspersed throughout. There is a balance between trust and suspicion between the friends throughout the story with a budding romance that I feel was handled believably. All the plotlines are pulled together in the end and left me satisfied.
An entertaining read about trust and friendship with a cold case mystery.
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About the Author
Join Brenda at one of 32 stops when she goes on a two-month traveling bookstore (Airstream) tour across the United States—from Sacramento to Connecticut—in April and May of 2023 to celebrate the release of THE SUMMER ON THE ISLAND, which comes out April 11th. For more information, go the events page of my website or sign up on my mailing list. www.brendanovak.com
It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s career as a bestselling author–she caught her day-care provider drugging her children with cough syrup to get them to sleep all day. That was when Brenda decided she needed to quit her job as a loan officer and help make a living from home.
“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda says. But she sold that book, and the rest is history. Her novels have made the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and won many awards, including eight Rita nominations, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Book Seller’s Best, the Silver Bullet and the National Reader’s Choice Award.
Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are proud parents of five children–three girls and two boys. When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually playing pickleball or raising funds for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). So far, Brenda has raised $2.6 million!
Longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy has made a career out of putting others before herself. When an unexpected upheaval sends her away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page.
But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a “friendfic” diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline—a guidebook for getting started on a new path.
Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest. As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side—if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back.
Honest and deeply emotional, Georgie, All Along is a smart, tender must-read for everyone who’s ever wondered about the life that got away . . .
GEORGIE, ALL ALONG by Kate Clayborn is a beautiful journey of self-discovery and finding where you belong along with quirky hippy parents, a best friend who seems to always have it all together, and a one-time town troublemaker and his dog. This is a standalone women’s fiction/romance and the first, but will not be the last, book I have read by this author.
Georgie Mulcahy has made a living from putting other people first. When Georgie’s current Tinsel Town client decides to retire, she does not know what she wants to do, but her best friend is pregnant and asking for her help, so she returns to her hometown. She returns to her parents’ home to find they have also allowed Levi to stay while his house is being remodeled. Levi is basically a hermit after being a troublemaker in his youth and opposite the open Georgie.
Georgie finds an old “friend-fic” while helping her friend and decides this just might be the guidebook she needs to start a new path. As Georgie and Levi spend more time together, Levi wants to help Georgie with her old to-do list, and they discover they both have pasts they need to accept before they can move forward.
This is a deeply emotional attempt to go back to find your future. Georgie is a giver and fixer who feels empty personally and as you read along you find you are yelling at the book, trying to tell Georgie she is perfect just the way she is. Levi is a wonderful grump who proves to be so much more and is a wonderful counterpoint to Georgie’s openness and caring. The parents of both Georgie and Levi could not have been more different and I know which I prefer. Levi and Georgie are wonderful together and I was happy with the family reconciliations in this story and glad that others were not forced to make a resolution. The story would have felt false to me otherwise. Being a pitbull owner myself, all Hank’s traits made me smile and I know the difficulties are real that Levi faced at times with others.
I highly recommend this wonderfully uplifting women’s fiction/romance and I am looking forward to checking out other books by this author.
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About the Author
Kate Clayborn is the critically acclaimed author of six novels. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Bookpage, and more. By day she works in education, and by night (and sometimes, by very early morning) she writes contemporary romances about smart, strong, modern heroines who face the world alongside true friends and complicated families. She resides in Virginia with her husband and their dig.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE SISTER EFFECT by Susan Mallery on this blog tour.
Below you will find an author Q&A, an about the book section, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Author Q&A
1) What inspired you to write about sisters? And do you have a sister story to share?
I think I’m inspired to write about sisters precisely because I don’t have any of my own. I’m an only child. My parents were onlies, too, so I didn’t even have any cousins growing up. But I did have a good friend who came from a big family, and I absolutely adored going over to her house. It was so delightfully loud! So beautifully chaotic! (Maybe part of the reason I loved it so much was that I could leave and go home whenever I wanted. My friend envied the quiet and the privacy at my house.)
I wrote The Sister Effect because I wanted to explore the idea of two sisters who experience the same event—going side by side through childhood—but who perceive it differently. And their different perceptions create a ripple effect through the years that sends their lives in different directions. When Finley and Sloane were young, their mother and grandfather got into a custody battle for them. The court decided in Mom’s favor after Finley told the judge she didn’t want to lose her mom, so grandpa turned his backs on the girls. Can you imagine how traumatic that would be? They loved him, and they thought he loved them, too, but he reacted out of his own pain rather than out of thinking of what was best for them. Finley became terrified to trust her heart to anyone again. Sloane turned into the wild child of the family, larger than life on the outside to disguise her pain.
As The Sister Effect starts, the sisters are in their thirties and estranged. But they both deeply love Sloane’s young daughter, and their love for that little girl will open their hearts to one another so they can become true sisters once again. This book is painful and funny and uplifting, with so many juicy topics for bookclubs to dig into. I hope you’ll love The Sister Effect as much as I loved writing it.
Although I don’t have a sister story of my own to share, I did invite some of my favorite writers to share a True Story of Sisterhood. You can read them at https://sistereffect.susanmallery.com. There, you’ll find heartwarming stories of sisterhood from Maisey Yates, Carolyn Brown, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Mariah Stewart, Christine Rimmer, Alexis Morgan, Debbie Mason, Robyn Carr, Lori Foster, Brenda Novak, and Christina Dodd—plus some wonderful stories shared by my readers. It’s a true celebration of sisterhood, both biological and sisters of the heart!
2) What is the biggest challenge you face when you start writing a new book?
Because I’ve written so many books, my biggest challenge is to find fresh stories to tell and fresh ways to tell them. I try to make each book a little better than the one before. In The Sister Effect, I deal with a topic that I’ve never written about—I’ll let you read the book to find out what that is—and it was an exciting challenge because it was so new to me. I’m also incredibly nervous about this book, which is a good sign. I have found over the years that the books that make me the most nervous are the ones that readers love the best, because my nerves are a sign that I stretched myself as a storyteller.
3) If you were not an author, what other profession would you choose to be a part of and why?
I have a powerful imagination, but it’s really hard for me to imagine being anything other than a writer. I was published just months after I graduated college, and I’ve never had another job. However, I graduated in accounting, so I suppose I would probably be an unfulfilled accountant.
4) Does this book include any favorite recipes as some of your other books do?
Just one—but it’s a total wow! When I was writing The Sister Effect, I imagined a decadent breakfast that Sloane might serve at her restaurant, Life’s a Yolk. I called it Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum and described it in the book as a cross between French toast and bread pudding. But it only existed in my imagination. . . until, in a case of life imitating art, I created a recipe to go with my imaginary recipe title. It. Is. Fabulous. Yum Yum Yum Yum YUM! The recipe is included with the book club discussion guide at the end of the book. Enjoy!
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About the Book
Susan Mallery’s newest hardcover is an emotional, witty, and heartfelt story of Finley who is raising her niece because her long-addicted sister, Sloane, abandoned her. When Sloane reappears, eager to build a relationship with her daughter, Finley will struggle with forgiveness, the ties that bind a family together, and the fragility of trust.
Finley McGowan is determined that the niece she’s raising will always feel loved and wanted. Unlike she felt after her mom left to pursue a dream of stardom and her grandfather abandoned her and her sister Sloane when they needed him most. Finley reacted to her chaotic childhood by walking the straight and narrow—nose down, work hard, follow the rules.
Sloane went the other way.
Now Sloane is back, as beautiful and damaged as ever, and wants a relationship with her daughter. She says she’s changed, but Finley’s heart has been bruised once too often for her to trust easily. With the help of a man who knows all too well how messy families can be, Finley will learn there’s joy in surrendering and peace in letting go.
Mallery, with wisdom, compassion and her trademark humor, explores the nuances of a broken family’s complex emotions as they strive to become whole, in this uplifting story of human frailty and resilience.
THE SISTER EFFECT by Susan Mallery is an emotionally intense women’s fiction/romance featuring two very different sisters, their complex relationship and their generational family’s interactions and struggle for forgiveness. This story includes scenes revolving around realistic depictions of alcohol addiction, the struggle for sobriety, and a sub-plot involving infidelity.
Finley McGowan is the younger sister, but she has always been the strong sister, who worked hard and stayed on the straight and narrow path. When she and her older sister, Sloane were growing up, their mother would leave them with their grandfather as she went in pursuit of stardom. Their grandfather tried to gain legal custody and it split their family with their grandfather disappearing from their lives and the girls feeling abandoned.
Finley is now an adult, living with her mother and raising her eight-year-old niece, Aubrey. Sloane has returned, says she is sober, has a job and a place to live and wants more of a relationship with her daughter. Finley has been burned one too many times and doesn’t trust her sister’s sobriety. Finley is fiercely protective of Aubrey and her own heart. When she meets a man who understands how messy families can be, Finley finds a release and understanding that just may allow her to find peace in letting go.
This is an emotional and heartfelt deep dive into families with realistic problems. Ms. Malley’s story pulls you into the serious repercussions of addiction, abandonment, and infidelity, but also has lighter happier moments layered throughout the story. Forgiveness is a big theme in this story, and I feel everyone will have their own beliefs on how they feel about the way Finley and Jericho moved from injured parties to understanding and forgiveness. Individuals dealing with alcoholism or any addiction in their families have very differing experiences and resolutions. I was happy with the resolution for both sisters in this story.
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About the Author
SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.
Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the Ragdoll cat and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.
