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The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Book Blurb:

From the author of the “engrossing” (People) and “poignant” (Booklist) international best seller The Room on Rue Amélie comes a remarkable and moving story of love, danger, and betrayal: two women in France in the darkest days of World War II and another in present-day America on a quest to uncover the secret that connects them.

At the dawn of the Second World War, Inès is the young wife of Michel, owner of the House of Chauveau, a small champagne winery nestled among rolling vineyards near Reims, France. Marrying into a storied champagne empire was supposed to be a dream come true, but Inès feels increasingly isolated, purposely left out of the business by her husband; his chef de cave, Theo; and Theo’s wife, Sarah.

But these disappointments pale in comparison to the increasing danger from German forces pouring across the border. At first, it’s merely the Nazi weinführer coming to demand the choicest champagne for Hitler’s cronies, but soon, there are rumors of Jewish townspeople being rounded up and sent east to an unspeakable fate. The war is on their doorstep, and no one in Inès’s life is safe – least of all Sarah, whose father is Jewish, or Michel, who has recklessly begun hiding munitions for the Résistance in the champagne caves. Inès realizes she has to do something to help.

Sarah feels as lost as Inès does, but she doesn’t have much else in common with Michel’s young wife. Inès seems to have it made, not least of all because as a Catholic, she’s “safe.” Sarah, on the other hand, is terrified about the fate of her parents – and about her own future as the Germans begin to rid the Champagne region of Jews. When Sarah makes a dangerous decision to follow her heart in a desperate bid to find some meaning in the ruin, it endangers the lives of all those she cares about – and the champagne house they’ve all worked so hard to save.

In the present, Liv Kent has just lost her job – and her marriage. Her wealthy but aloof Grandma Edith, sensing that Liv needs a change of scenery before she hits rock bottom, insists that Liv accompany her on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive – and some difficult but important information to share with her granddaughter. As Liv begins to uncover long-buried family secrets, she finds herself slowly coming back to life. When past and present intertwine at last, she may finally find a way forward, along a difficult road that leads straight to the winding caves beneath the House of Chauveau.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network, The Winemaker’s Wife is an evocative and gorgeously wrought novel that examines how the choices we make in our darkest hours can profoundly change our lives – and how hope can come from the places we least expect.

My Review:

Well, I really enjoyed the description of the Champagne area of France during WWII. The characters not so much, but then one of the characters becomes the main thrust of the switch between time periods and the book takes off.

Liv is the granddaughter who accompanies Grandma Edith back to France where it’s anticipated she’ll reveal a secret too large to divulge in the US. Since the blurb covers pretty much the entire story, there is little to speak of the storyline, although the characters (both WWII and contemporary) still suffer under heavily weighted romance threads, which quickly become tedious.

I enjoyed the historical aspects of the Champagne area under German occupation as well and their need to enjoy the fruits of the French countryside. Loved the information regarding the massive tunnel system and the stashes of wine and champagne. The resistance, mentioned in the blurb, gets very little elaboration beyond what is already noted and it would have been nice to have had a little more of their exploits.

The contemporary story has Liv embroiled in an “instalove” situation as well, and the romance angle seems to overshadow the earlier time plot of the Germans in occupied wine country.

Can you say twisty? There were quite a number of them, crafting a narrative that quickly layers complexity. I didn’t understand Grandma Edith’s gnarly attitude or her relationship with Liv, and with all the affairs going on in, wasn’t crazy about the WWII generation.

Having read The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau in September, I thought I’d try another of the author’s novels. I think I see a common plot device here using an octogenarian in present day with historical time line sub-plot. I found that narrative strangely compelling, almost more so than this one.

If you can overlook all the romance entanglements, there is a story there and the plot moves at an even pace. Extensive research is obvious and the denouement satisfies sufficiently to add back a star.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The narrators do quite the job with accents and added authenticity. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: World War II & Holocaust Historical Fiction, World War II Historical Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B07NJFDHYH
Listening Length: 11 hrs 32 mins
Narrators: Robin Eller, Lisa Flanagan, Madeleine Maby
Publication Date: August 13, 2019
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling, USA Today bestselling, and #1 international bestselling author of The Paris Daughter, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and are sold all over the world.

Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late 1990s. In addition to a long magazine writing career, primarily writing and reporting for PEOPLE magazine (as well as articles published in numerous other magazines, including American Baby, Men’s Health, Woman’s Day, and more), Kristin was also a frequent contributor to the national television morning show The Daily Buzz. She sold her first novel in 2004, and it debuted in February 2006.

Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts and spent her childhood there, as well as in Worthington, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduating with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her husband and young son. She is also the co-founder and co-host of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.

Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog #NetGalley

Book Blurb:

In the peaceful California coast city of Playa Maria, CRIME WRITER ZOEY KOZINSKI joins a local police officer for a ride-along in hopes of breaking through her writer’s block. But during a routine traffic stop, the cop is shot, the victim of a brutal homicide.

Zoey realizes she is the only witness and the number one target on the killer’s hit list. PTSD kicks in, sending her into a tailspin. It doesn’t help that she lives on an illegal cannabis farm and that her estranged mother has just arrived. Even the police officer’s widow points a finger at the writer, claiming she was a distraction, and the police department knew it.

Lurking on the fringes is a man who stopped briefly at the crime. Good Samaritan or sinister suspect? For her safety, Zoey needs to find out.

My Review:

I’m fence-sitting on this one. I liked it okay, but didn’t really feel compelled to sit down and finish it up.

It’s one of those that gives you the who as it hooks. That doesn’t mean it’s all over. No. Zoe is up to her eyeballs in the thick of it, having witnessed the killing of the police officer who allowed a ride-along for Zoe, who is experiencing writer’s block.

Unfortunately, not only does she witness the killing, but she is, in turn witnessed. Not the best thing if she wanted to remain hidden and anonymous. Of course, her notes for her book appear to implicate her in the murder of the officer (something his widow latches onto—her being a deadly distraction)…and I always hate that obvious assumption. We know there are so many ways these days to prove it wasn’t her.

Zoe might have had some additional development, although she is not one-dimensional and she has an interesting friend in Harvey. I love the location, beautifully depicted in description as well as the town’s inhabitants. Once she realizes she has been exposed, things get dicey and ramps up the suspense considerably.

You can’t say it isn’t entertaining. I love those small California coastal town settings; they create such a vibe, but you’d better know the town better than the perp if you’re to survive! If you enjoy suspense thrillers, you may very well give this one a try.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Murder, Psychological Thrillers, Murder Thrillers
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0FMGNWM2D
Print Length: 307 pages
Publication Date: September 9, 2025
Source: NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Vinnie Hansen fled the South Dakota prairie for the California coast the day after high school graduation.

A reading addict since childhood, Vinnie is now the author of the Carol Sabala mysteries. The seventh installment in the series, Black Beans & Venom, was a finalist for the Claymore Award. She’s also written two stand-alone novels titled Lostart Street and One Gun as well as over 60 published short stories. Her flash fiction, “Bad Connection,” won the 2015 Golden Donut Award from the Writers’ Police Academy.

Vinnie is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

Still sane after 27 years of teaching high school English, Vinnie has retired and lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her husband and the requisite cat.

Happy Autumn

Impostor Syndrome: A Thriller by Andrew Mayne #BookReview #TerrorismThrillers

The Specialists Book #2

Book Blurb:

Two fearless investigators unite to stop a media-savvy serial killer from carrying out a cataclysmic crime for all the world to see in a riveting thriller by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

The FBI calls on former agent Jessica Blackwood to look at a puzzling crime. A wildlife officer has found the body of a popular YouTuber encased in an obelisk made of salt in a remote refuge. When the agency is tipped off to a second body, that of a TikTok star chained to the bottom of Nevada’s Pyramid Lake—her hands clasped in prayer—Jessica recruits a trusted colleague of her own: Floridian underwater investigator Sloan McPherson.

It appears to be the work of a ritualistic serial killer preying on influencers. That tracks when a third victim—a fantasy-game live streamer—barely survives a pipe bomb attack. But in navigating the social media world of instafame, manipulation, and deception, Jessica and Sloan know how illusory appearances can be. As the threats multiply across the country, they fear they’re playing with something more extreme than they imagined: a killer’s endgame that could be nothing less than apocalyptic.

His Review:

Bodies are showing up in very unusual places! Two are found in Pyramid Lake area east of Reno, Nevada. One of the two bodies was found in the lake, and one was encased in a couple of tons of salt! Why would anyone encase a body in a couple of tons of salt and then dump it where it could be found? Could this be a sign of witchcraft or a cult?

The FBI calls in Jessica Blackwood to help the investigation into this bizarre event and she in turn calls underwater investigator Sloan McPherson. Has a new cult been formed to fight perceived witches in the West? Why would the FBI be called in to this remote area of Nevada to help with such an investigation? And can the purchase of such a large amount of salt be easily tracked?

The author has developed a very interesting insight into some of the strange rituals that are secret. Old ranches and barns dot many areas in this part of the country, but some of these events cannot be hidden by burning the evidence or facilities.

The investigation leads to a faction cloaked in mystery with Jessica and Sloan working together. Then a third victim is found—alive. The victims do have a connection and the team works solidly to build a suspect pool. Plot and pacing move smoothly and the storyline is clever and keeps interest.

This tome is well written but begs the question, why? I found myself wanting more answers to this and other questions! Secrecy is a main pillar of any cult and many religions. This seems true and the story raises more questions than it presents answers. Read and be bewildered! 4 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Terrorism Thrillers, Conspiracy Thrillers, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ISBN-13: 978-1662522499
ASIN: B0DSLW8Z39
Print Length: 287 pages
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Andrew Mayne is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author whose books include The Naturalist, a Thriller Award finalist and Black Fall an Edgar Award finalist Black Fall. He’s the star of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week special Andrew Mayne: Ghost Diver, where he swam alongside great white sharks using an underwater invisibility suit he designed and also was the star of A&E’s Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne. He currently serves as the Science Communicator for OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT and GPT-4.

@AndrewMayne
AndrewMayne.com

Mature man with glasses reading a book on his cell phone. — AI graphic courtesy Gemini

Our Souls at Night: A Novel by Kent Haruf #AudiobookReview #bookclub #TBT

Editors’ pick Best Literature and Fiction

Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Fiction (2015)

I attended the Y Book Club in our area yesterday for their September selection: Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. This book club meets once a month and is very popular. I can see why—the moderator does a great job keeping us to script—and the group is active and friendly.

My Thoughts

An unusual book for the book club in that it’s under 200 pages long. Not so unusual is that it’s a rather sad literary peek at the state of love in aging seniors.

The loneliness in seniors is a theme rapidly becoming popular, although this was written back in 2015, released as I understand it, after the death of the author. This is an in-your-face confrontation with that popular theme, suffered by two who’ve survived the death of their spouses in rather unhappy marriages but now find their homes and lives rather lonely and empty.

Amazingly, it’s Addie Moore who surprises her neighbor, Louis Waters, with an unusual request. They live in a small town, so of course, they will know each other, their families, and history. It’s the solitude of the evening hours that propels Addie to make the proposal to Louis. Shocked, he is rather slow to agree, but does so. The first few nights are awkward.

Frankly, I struggled through the book though the narrator’s delivery was spot on conveying the misery of loss, solitude, and isolation. I loved their little adventures, and particularly when Addie’s grandson was introduced to the narrative, then was crushed by the conclusion, even with the little ray of connection offered at the end.

Book Club Thoughts

The Y Book Club is exclusively made up of women, most of them seniors, a few of them widows. It’s a novel that strikes to the heart of most and as always provided for lively discussion.

Once again, an emotional wallop, depressing, depending on who read and their own stories. It would appear seniors are either portrayed as having too much free fun, food, and adventure, or depressing scenes of the end of years. Ugh.

This was apparently a very successful author who solicited help from his wife for this, his final book, before he died young at age 71. Particularly the last quarter of the book appears to have her heavy contribution to the manuscript.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Book Club rating 3.5 stars

Book Details:

Genre: Literary Sagas, Romance Literary Fiction, Contemporary Literary Fiction
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 978-1101875902
ASIN: B00PP3DNDI
Print Length: 184 pages
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Kent Haruf - author — Photo courtesy Goodreads

The Author: Haruf was born in Pueblo, Colorado, the son of a Methodist minister. He graduated with a BA from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1965, where he would later teach, and earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1973.

Before becoming a writer, Haruf worked in a variety of places, including a chicken farm in Colorado, a construction site in Wyoming, a rehabilitation hospital in Denver, a hospital in Phoenix, a presidential library in Iowa, an alternative high school in Wisconsin, as an English teacher with the Peace Corps in Turkey, and colleges in Nebraska and Illinois. He lived with his wife, Cathy, in Salida, Colorado until his death in 2014. He had three daughters from his first marriage.

All of Haruf’s novels take place in the fictional town of Holt, in eastern Colorado. Holt is based on Yuma, Colorado, one of Haruf’s residences in the early 1980s. His first novel, The Tie That Binds (1984), received a Whiting Award and a special Hemingway Foundation/PEN citation. Where You Once Belonged followed in 1990. A number of his short stories have appeared in literary magazines.

Plainsong was published in 1999 and became a U.S. bestseller. Verlyn Klinkenborg called it “”a novel so foursquare, so delicate and lovely, that it has the power to exalt the reader.”” Plainsong won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award and the Maria Thomas Award in Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.

Eventide, a sequel to Plainsong, was published in 2004. Library Journal described the writing as “”honest storytelling that is compelling and rings true.”” Jonathan Miles saw it as a “”repeat performance”” and “”too goodhearted.””

On November 30, 2014, Haruf died at his home in Salida, Colorado at the age of 71. He died of interstitial lung disease.

(Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia courtesy Amazon bio.)

Book Club meeting — AI generated graphic courtesy Gemini

Die Again: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen #BookReview #MedicalThriller

Editors’ pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Rizzoli & Isles #11

Goodreads Choice Award-Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2015)

Book Blurb:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are back—and they’re going into the wild to find a killer. Die Again is the latest heart-pounding thriller in Tess Gerritsen’s bestselling series, the inspiration behind TNT’s hit show Rizzoli & Isles.

When Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are summoned to a crime scene, they find a killing worthy of the most ferocious beast—right down to the claw marks on the corpse. But only the most sinister human hands could have left renowned big-game hunter and taxidermist Leon Gott gruesomely displayed like the once-proud animals whose heads adorn his walls. Did Gott unwittingly awaken a predator more dangerous than any he’s ever hunted?

Maura fears that this isn’t the killer’s first slaughter, and that it won’t be the last. After linking the crime to a series of unsolved homicides in wilderness areas across the country, she wonders if the answers might actually be found in a remote corner of Africa.

Six years earlier, a group of tourists on safari fell prey to a killer in their midst. Marooned deep in the bush of Botswana, with no means of communication and nothing but a rifle-toting guide for protection, the terrified tourists desperately hoped for rescue before their worst instincts—or the wild animals prowling in the shadows—could tear them apart. But the deadliest predator was already among them, and within a week, he walked away with the blood of all but one of them on his hands.

Now this killer has chosen Boston as his new hunting ground, and Rizzoli and Isles must find a way to lure him out of the shadows and into a cage. Even if it means dangling the bait no hunter can resist: the one victim who got away.

My Review:

Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are back in the eleventh installment of the series, and Jane again pursues with the heart of a pit bull. I always enjoy the female buddy leads who often bring an emotional quality to the novel not found in male-dominated crime fiction.

The first part of the book is first person by the lone survivor of a mass killing in Botswana. A tourist safari gone way, way wrong. The suspense starts the novel on a high note and seldom falls as the intermittent voice of the African survivor is plunked into the narrative of the gruesome murder in Boston, revealing details about the unique death.

“A woman in love is a poor judge of character.”

The account of the survivor and how she manages to live is gripping. Unfortunately, the killer also begins his unique MO in Boston and guess who discovers it? The settings are descriptive down to the buzzing of the insects and calls of the wild. Jane, herself, becomes a tiger, sure she’s caught her man until an operation proves otherwise. Still, she perseveres.

There are a few twists; it wasn’t easy to catch this guy but it’s always the ride, not the destination, right?

I enjoy how the two, Rizzoli and Maura work together, although opposites in manner and procedure. (Also a popular series on TNT). They are not so fleshed at this point in the series; assumed by now you know their intimate details. (I could do without the Jane mom thing though.) I think you’d still be able to pick up Book 11 of the series and enjoy independently.

Loved The Spy Coast back in November 2023, the first in a new series. A proven author you can really look forward to reading. Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Medical Fiction, Medical Thrillers
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 978-0345543868
ASIN: B00JI4ZSDI
Print Length: 353 pages
Publication Date: December 30, 2014
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.

While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction and in 1987, her first novel, Call After Midnight, was published. It was just the first of 32 suspense novels that she’s written over a 36-year writing career. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift,” which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.

Tess’s 1996 medical thriller, Harvest, marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list and her novels have hit bestseller lists around the world ever since. Among her titles are Gravity, The Surgeon, Vanish, Listen to Me, and her upcoming spy thriller, The Spy Coast, which has just been optioned by Amazon Studios for a television series. Her books have been translated into 40 languages, and more than 40 million copies have been sold around the world.

Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

She lives in Maine.

For more information on Tess Gerritsen and her novels, visit her website: http://www.tessgerritsen.com or
http://www.tessgerritsen.co.uk.

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Ain’t Nobody’s Fool by Martha Ackmann #BookReview #DollyParton #BiographiesofComposers&Musicians

The Life and Times of Dolly Parton

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

A larger-than-life new biography of country music legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton.

In Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton, Martha Ackmann chronicles the life of an American Original. From her impoverished childhood in the Smoky Mountains to international stardom as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist, Dolly Parton has exceeded everyone’s expectations except her own. During a time when the Beatles set the standard for contemporary music, Dolly appeared on a local country music television show that her high school classmates thought was pure cornpone. The day after her high school graduation, she boarded a bus for Nashville, but record executives turned her down. One said her voice sounded like a screech owl.

When Dolly finally got her foot in the door, her talent and focus catapulted her to the top of country charts, the pop world, and movie stardom. Yet her success came at a price. Shunned by many in Nashville who saw her ambition as a betrayal of her country music roots, Dolly became the target of death threats, lawsuits, and a judge who threatened to throw her in jail. She nearly collapsed on-stage and later succumbed to depression that pushed her to the brink, but she refused to be counted out and came back stronger than ever developing Dollywood, the amusement park that became the economic engine of East Tennessee, and founding the Imagination Library that provides free books to children around the world. Her philanthropy to health organizations led to creation of the Moderna COVID vaccine. And, finally, she returned to her roots, recording bluegrass albums that became the most celebrated of her unparalleled 60-year career.

Ain’t Nobody’s Fool is a deep dive into the social, historical, and personal forces that made Dolly Parton one of the most beloved and unifying figures in public life and includes interviews with friends, family members, school mates, Nashville neighbors, members of her band, studio musicians, producers, and many others. It also features never before seen photographs and unearthed documents shedding light on her family’s hardscrabble life. More than anything, Martha Ackmann’s fresh and animated new book proves Dolly Parton knows just who she is and she ain’t nobody’s fool.

His Review:

Being raised with a very poor family in the heart of the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee was not a bad thing. Little Dolly’s family had very little but the compensations were unabridged love and family values. A Parton family name meant many brothers and sisters, parents, and grandparents.

Being “dirt-poor” is the memory of many youths from the Tennessee mountain country but family was always there and love and nurturing always supporting. Dolly Parton was surrounded by family and shared everything available. She was a child prodigy and taught herself music and how to play by ear. Her pure tones were always present as she grew. Her family encouraged her musical development.

The polished multi-talented performer that is Dolly Parton is a gift from God and those Smoky Mountain families. She worked hard to become noticed and when it happened, she never looked back. There are those who feel they were instrumental in getting her recognized. This has some truth but her talents and stardom are the result of a lady who never took no for an answer.

Much of her music is derived from the struggles and determination of her youth. She is a self-made superstar and her songs a testament to the determination to escape poverty. I felt honored to read her story and mentally meet a person of her ability. Thank you for the journey! 5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this Advanced Reader Copy. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

Book Details:

Genre: Biographies of Composers & Musicians, Biographies & Memoirs of Women, Composer & Musician Biographies
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1250286864
ASIN: B0F5PB7WBG
Print Length: 304 pages
Publication Date: December 30, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Martha Ackmann is a journalist and author who writes about women who have changed America. Her essays have appeared in The Atlantic, the Paris Review, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. She also is a frequent commentator for New England Public Radio, and has been featured on CNN, National Public Radio, and the BBC. Martha is the recipient of fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Her books include: The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight; Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone, the First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League; and These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson. –This text refers to the hardcover edition. [Amazon]

Ms Ackmann was born in St Louis, Missouri and currently resides in western Massachusetts. Website: https://marthaackmann.com [Goodreads]

Happy Autumn Weekend to you from Rosepoint Publishing

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Book Blurb:

Harkening to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, this high-tension thriller follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them—from Ruth Ware, the New York Times bestselling author who “is turning out to be as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime” (The Washington Post).

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she agrees to try out with him.

A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla finds herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples—Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana—in order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.

My Review:

Well, not exactly a new idea for a plot, one that’s been done more than a few times before. This one starts with five couples.

Lyla is in a pickle with her contract for her research and at loose ends, and against her better judgment, agrees to go with boyfriend Nico to participate in a reality TV show called One Perfect Couple.

Something is immediately wrong when the deserted island that was supposed to be a paradise isn’t really ready. The two crew who delivered them have set rules which surprise a few of those so thrilled to be chosen that they neglected to read the fine print.

Unfortunately, the first round eliminated Nico who is sent back and Lyla is left without her partner supposedly waiting for further eliminations to see who will end up the one perfect couple.

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware - UK cover — One Perfect Couple – UK cover

To add to the debacle, there is a ferocious storm (hurricane?) that rips through the island almost immediately and leaves those on the island essentially without power or communication to the mainland. Taking inventory of stores, they devise a plan to survive until rescue arrives and one guy appears to take control.

Uh oh…predictably, things begin to happen and not in a good way. They begin the fight for food and water. As the drama ramps up, the group begins to lose a survivor at a time and the tension turns desperate, then deadly.

It starts a bit slow, introducing the characters and the plot device, but once on the island and the storm hits, it becomes engaging and entertaining. There are twists and a surprise in the denouement you didn’t expect. Who will survive to be rescued?

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publisher:
ASIN: B0CLHL3J44
Listening Length: 14 hrs 25 mins
Narrator: Imogen Church
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Ruth Ware is an international number one bestseller. Her thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs Westaway, The Turn of the Key, One by One and The It Girl have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and New York Times, and she is published in more than 40 languages. She lives on the south coast of England, with her family.

Visit http://www.ruthware.com to find out more, or find her on facebook or twitter as @RuthWareWriter

Happy Listening!

Peter Pulaski Must Pay: A Novel by Jen Lancaster #BookReview #WomensHumorousFiction #TuesdayBookBlog #

Book Blurb:

In this twisty, hilarious novel, New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster explores what happens when a marriage, friendship, revenge, and the human capacity for deception collide.

Call to order the Friday Night Doom Crew.

They’re an eclectic group of true-crime enthusiasts—a forensic psychologist, historian, and popular Instagram presence among them—dedicated to sleuthing out nefarious offenders and doing whatever it takes to set things right. But when dark secrets threaten one of their own, the Doom Crew grapples with how far they are willing to go to protect her.

Diana Pulaski is the crew’s meticulously organized beating heart whose physician husband, Peter, is secretly a swindler behind an illegal pill mill, not to mention a loathsome cheater involved in an online romance. When they discover the truth, the amateur vigilantes have a plan to make Peter pay. Unfortunately, the closer Diana’s friends are to hunting Peter down, the closer they get to discovering a secret Diana has been hiding.

As the fumbling Doom Crew’s wild ride of vengeance goes awry, they must navigate the consequences of their actions. And Diana, forced to confront the past, must decide to whom she will remain loyal—no matter the cost.

My Review:

I’m not sure what to think or say about this one. And reading many of the reviews, apparently those who’ve read her before are not sure about this one either. It’s supposed to be funny—hilarious even. A suspense mystery? Kinda like the Thursday Murder Club, except that this one is the Friday Night Doom Crew.

I guess the author has a solid, loyal following, but reading those reviews leads me to believe I’m not the only one excited about a premise with promise only to discover that Pulaski plummeted.

Basically, it’s a disparate group of individuals who met on Reddit, clicked, and eventually formed a physical group of true crime enthusiasts. Okay, I’m good so far. But these people start talking or thinking in first person, and although the chapter heading tells me who is speaking, it starts becoming blurry. Who is speaking in this chapter? They each have a deeply developed background and there are some distinctions between characters. There is a wide range of experiences and ages, but I began to get antsy waiting for something, anything to happen.

“…people use the word “irregardless” all the time, “irregardless” of it being incorrect. In which case it’s so commonly misused that it’s kind of okay, like how “whoa” is so commonly misspelled as “woah” that people totally use it now and it’s fine.”

The culture, generations previous to mine, got a bit weary with all the snark, sarcasm, references, and acronyms. The focus gradually points to Diana (within their own group), married to Peter, who is found to be the type of criminal in which they craft a just dessert. Diana is supposed to be a sympathetic character, but I was ready to slap her up side the head more than once. She has a daughter, Lilly, who will not be following in mom’s footsteps—thank heaven.

“…adore my daughter, despite the fact that she is a bona fide energy vampire.”

“…it’s never the wife’s fault but always her problem.”

It gets to be too much:

Sarcasm disguised as humor,
Clichés,
Negative energy,
Slower pace owing to over-descriptive flashbacks,
Age-shaming,
Twisted but stupid plot device,
Juvenile ending in disbelief…really?!

Don’t ask me why I hung in there—desperate for something to read and too busy to look for another book? I guess there is that curious tickle, gotta see where it’s going?

My first novel by this author. Interesting writing style I’m sure many younger readers might enjoy. It’s just not for me.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Two point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Women’s Humorous Fiction, General Humorous Fiction, Amateur Sleuths
Publisher: Little A
ISBN: 978-1662530715
ASIN: B0DTJBS579
Print Length: 311 pages
Publication Date: September 2, 2025
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Jen Lancaster is a New York Times bestselling author who has sold well over a million books. From Bitter Is the New Black to The Tao of Martha, Jen has made a career out of documenting her attempts to shape up, grow up, and have it all – sometimes with disastrous results. Her NYT bestselling novel Here I Go Again received three starred reviews (Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly). Her memoir I Regret Nothing was named an Amazon Best Book of the Year, and she’s regularly a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards. She loves bad TV, terrible wine, and will die before she gives up her Oxford comma.

Jen can often be seen on The Today Show, as well as CBS This Morning, Fox News, NPR All Things Considered, among others. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and her many ill-behaved dogs and cats. Visit her website: jenlancaster.com, Twitter: @altgeldshrugged, Instagram: @jennsylvania, or Facebook.com/authorjenlancaster.

Hear the stories behind Jen’s books on The Stories We’d Tell in Bars podcast, available on iTunes, Podbean, Spreaker, GooglePlay, and iHeartRadio, among other entities.

#TuesdayBookBlog