#TheArrangement – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – August Recap – #Audiobooks #LiteraryFiction #LegalThriller #HistoricalFiction

Rosepoint Reviews-August Recap

Well, we certainly started out like it was August, but August petered out and started acting like Fall halfway into the month. Cool enough temps to warrant a sweater—it’s a cool wind that blows off those Great Lakes.

Still, some warm days and cool nights along with a couple gully washers produced an abundance of cucumbers and cantalopes, followed immediately by a surplus crop of cherry tomatoes. (I started adding cantaloupes to the cucumber juice—pretty good!) Not sure what happened to the Early Girl tomatoes, but hopefully we can dry enough cherry tomatoes to make several days of candy—so sweet and good. Also, in the crop this year, purple bell peppers and Japanese eggplant. I’ve started a second crop of peas and beans in the hope they’ll be ready to harvest prior to the end of the season—but realize I’m pushing my luck.

The August book pick at the Y Book Club was The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I’d read it years ago for a library book club in 2020 and opted to listen to the audiobook this time. I enjoyed both but this application was to refresh my memory for the Y book club.

Book Club at the Y - August

Once again, I love the insight brought to the novels by the participants. Most of us had never been aware of the “blue” people prior to reading the novel. While I voted 4.5 stars this time, I was surprised to see the average at four stars. Looking back at the vote for the same book by the earlier book club, was further surprised to see the average was the same. Four stars.

We reviewed thirteen books in August—half of those in audiobook form. The source of our books is our library, NetGalley, author and publisher requests. As always, the links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.

Rosepoint Reviews - August Recap

Wild Instinct by T Jefferson Parker (CE review)
False Witness by Phillip Margolin
The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison (5 stars-audiobook)
Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak (CE review)
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
The Arrangement by Kiersten Modglin (audiobook)
Her Cold Justice by Robert Dugoni
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing (5 stars-audiobook)
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly (5 stars)
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping by Jesse Q Sutanto (audiobook)
The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb (audiobook)
Two Audiobooks Mini-Reviews by Freida McFadden
The Housemaid’s Secret
The Boyfriend

Favorite Book of the Month

This is a tough one as I believe I set a record at three books with five stars in August, only one of those by a favorite author, the other two being new to me. I love Michael Connelly’s books, but really, have to give the nod this month to Alfred Lansing and his book Endurance. I’ve set the CE to reading Mark Twain by Ron Chernow. If you know anything about that masterful historical writer, you know his books are seldom under 700 pages. The CE will be reading it for awhile. (evil grin)

Favorite for August – Endurance by Alfred Lansing

My Reading Challenges page…I’m behind again and doubt I’ll catch up in September as we will be taking a short vacation.

The Goodreads landing page shows 132 of a goal of 150 or 88%. I suspect I’m doing well in the audiobook challenge as well, but can’t vouch for the NetGalley goal. May have to reassess those goals.

As always, it’s your visits and comments that keep me going and I appreciate them all. Kids are back in school (they don’t wait for Labor Day around here) and now’s the time we enjoy a short trip.

The Arrangement by Kiersten Modglin #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Arrangement Novels Book 1

Book Blurb:

Ainsley Greenburg is a fixer. It’s what she prides herself on.

So when Ainsley realizes her marriage is at its breaking point, she makes a decision to repair it, no matter the cost. Approaching her husband to propose the arrangement is supposed to be the hard part, but Peter agrees to the salacious plan almost immediately.

The rules are simple:

They will each date someone new once a week.
They will never discuss what happens on the dates.

Soon, though, the rules are broken, turning terrible mistakes into unspeakable consequences.

When the only person they can count on to keep their darkest secret is each other, new questions and deceits surface. Can they truly trust the person they share a life with, or will the vicious lies that have mounted over the years destroy everything they’ve built?

Once, Peter and Ainsley vowed to stand together forever, but as they push boundaries of deception, suspicion, and temptation, each begins to wonder if ’til death do us part may come sooner than they’d intended.

My Review:

Maybe I don’t get out that much and apparently not in the loop, didn’t realize “open marriages” were still a thing (just plain old affairs now?). Back in the Navy, they called them “key clubs,” something the CE and I never would have subscribed to. We’ve been married much longer than Peter and Ainsley and wouldn’t have given a key club any consideration even then.

In this case, it’s an online dating service, proposed by Ainsley (which also surprised me). She explained “the rules” she created to Peter and he agreed. She thought the whole thing would work to light a fire under their sadly fading excitement with each other. They have three children, for heaven’s sake, and they couldn’t work out a date night for the two of them? You’ve no doubt read something about this in the blurb. But aren’t rules meant to be broken?

My first experience with this author, so I wasn’t prepared for the lengths she’d go to for twists.

This book is short and fairly fast paced, so after an introduction to the main characters and the reason for their perceived predictament, the plot pace ramped up pretty quick. I must admit that I was caught off-guard more than once, hitting a new level of surprise.

How could this simple idea go so far off the rails? I did appreciate the character of Peter, not so much Ainsley. But then Peter gets caught up in Ainsley’s drama and things go a little nuts. Or a lot nuts. Just suspend belief. I was left with questions, no answers, and now I realize it was Book 1. Duh.

Definitely not a plot I’ve read very often and certainly not quite this wild. You can’t say the characters aren’t engaging, the idea entertaining, until it gets to the creepy point. Maybe I’m easily entertained, but it did keep me listening to two talented narrators. It’s one you might enjoy as well, although I’m vacillating on reading Book 2.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC
ASIN: B091BDFT57
Listening Length: 5 hrs 42 mins
Narrators: George Newbern, Sarah Mollo-Christensen
Publication Date: June 29, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: Amazon-US
Amazon-UK

The Author: KIERSTEN MODGLIN is a #1 bestselling author of psychological thrillers. Her books have sold over two million copies and been translated into multiple languages. Kiersten is a member of International Thriller Writers, Novelists, Inc., and the Alliance of Independent Authors. She is a KDP Select All-Star and a recipient of ThrillerFix’s Best Psychological Thriller Award, Suspense Magazine’s Best Book of 2021 Award, a 2022 Silver Falchion for Best Suspense, and a 2022 Silver Falchion for Best Overall Book of 2021. Kiersten grew up in rural western Kentucky and later relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where she now lives with her family. Kiersten’s readers across the world lovingly refer to her as “KMod.” A binge-watching expert, psychology fanatic, and indoor enthusiast, Kiersten enjoys rainy days spent with her favorite people and evenings with her nose in a book.