#TheLastThingHeToldMe – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – November Recap – Look Out, Here Comes the Snow and Ice

Rosepoint Reviews - November Recap

UGH! Not a fan of this time of year, the temps already plunging to the low teens with a “feels like” of 3 degrees. (Yeah, the Chicago wind.)

As I mentioned last month, in quick succession, we celebrated our daughter’s birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, and if you celebrate Thanksgiving hope it was a good one and everyone is back home safe. All the cooking is getting to me and I’m beginning to check out the TV dinners in the grocery store. Problem with so many of those, of course, is all the stuff they put in the food, including Carrageenan (especially in pumpkin pie) and it really messes up my system. Of course, the CE loves his pumpkin pie and even homemade with evaporated milk contains the miserable stuff.

So, for me, Thanksgiving also kicks off the beginning of the Christmas holiday decorations. Usually have much of it done within a few days of Thanksgiving, but as our son is still here, I’m waiting a bit. It appears he’s got a house and will be moving out next week (it’s been a real struggle in a seller’s market). Of course, it’s also so cold I have no incentive to get the lights up outside either.

We celebrated Punkin’s first year with us. She’s beginning to blossom into a real dog, showing some personality. She’s doing better with potty time, adores her walks now with the CE and he is gradually allowing her more latitude, allowing her off-leash when they return to our yard. She takes in all the “messages” and then winds up to whiz into the house through the open door coming to a screeching stop and sliding on the laminate floor into her portable kennel.

Love those audiobooks at my local library, so many opportunities to listen to the books, otherwise, I’m busy morning to evening and don’t get that much reading time on my cell phone. Must admit they appear to be overtaking reading. Still, sources include NetGalley, as well as author and publisher requests and I’ve been mining Goodreads recommendations and blog reviews to find interesting books.

November reflected the blow to either reading or listening with only eleven titles. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

Rosepoint Publishing - November Recap

Summit’s Edge by Sara Driscoll
Waking Up in Vegas by J E Rowney
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (audiobook)
A Slay Ride Together With You by Vicki Delany (audiobook)
Yesterday’s Paper: The Knocknashee Story by Jean Grainger
Ruthless Tide by Al Roker (audiobook)
Dead Men Wag No Tails by Sarah Fox (CE review)
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (audiobook)
Omens by Kelley Armstrong (audiobook)
Sea of Death by Mark Nolan (buddy review with the CE)
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny (audiobook)

Did you vote in the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2024? I wrote regarding the Choice Awards back in November. December 1 (that’s today!) is the last day to vote for your choice of the final round nominees. I see several of my reviewed novels made the final cut: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty for Readers’ Favorite Fiction, The Women by Kristin Hannah for Favorite Historical Fiction and Favorite Audiobook, First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston for Favorite Mystery and Thriller, and Murder Road by Simone St James for Favorite Horror. Let me know if you found one of your favorites among the finalists.

Favorite Book of the Month

We posted three five-star reviews in November: Summit’s Edge, Yesterday’s Paper, and Sea of Death. Of course, each of these novels has radically different genres and Mark Nolan’s books are always a favorite. But then so are Jean Grainger’s and Sara Driscoll’s. The CE loves that Nolan’s books are fast-paced and action packed. I love that Grainger is pushing her boundaries with her historical novels and Driscoll’s books have my favorite dogs. Yeah, you’re right…it has to be:

Favorite for November – Summit’s Edge by Sara Driscoll

My Reading Challenges page…Reading Challenges page—always something that keeps me from catching up that page. My Goodreads Challenge is at 122 towards a goal of 130 for 94%. If we can manage our usual monthly number, should just make it.

Welcome to my new subscribers! And I always appreciate those of you who continue to monitor, read, and comment on my posts. Hope this recap finds you well and looking forward to the holidays!

Happy Autumn Sunday!

The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

A 2022 Audie Award Finalist

The instant #1 New York Times bestselling mystery and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick that’s captivated more than a million readers about a woman searching for the truth about her husband’s disappearance…at any cost.

“A fast-moving, heartfelt thriller about the sacrifices we make for the people we love most.” —Real Simple

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.

With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a “page-turning, exhilarating, and unforgettable” (PopSugar) suspense novel.

My Review:

Well, here we go—the stepmom valiantly trying to make friends with her new husband’s sixteen-year-old daughter. Might have been easier if she was five, but sixteen? Nope, nada.

So it’s no surprise that the daughter, Bailey, is surly, snarky, and stubborn. Bailey would prefer to go back to being just the two of them, her and her dad. Having lost her mother, she remains confused and angry. I don’t blame her.

Unfortunately, her dad has split, leaving deserted stepmother Hannah large and in charge. Of course, dear ole dad wants Hannah to take care of Bailey, protect her, raise her, keep her safe, etc. Huh? Wasn’t that his job?

Setting out to figure out why Owen chose to leave his loving family, they are supposed to work together to figure out where he went and, if alive, bring him back. Won’t happen.

In a number of ways, I thought Hannah used some good ideas to handle the prickly Bailey. I didn’t care for the character of Bailey, though felt the author nailed her level of sneer and lack of respect for Hannah perfectly, clearly describing a teen in the situation of having been left without explanation by the only family she had left.

Which, of course, did not include Hannah.

There are flashbacks, of course, to happier times between Hannah and Owen, the conversations remembered. Ugh. Did she really know him? Was everything a lie? Well, yes and no.

Then the storyline really goes off the rails to the standard mob trope and even worse, when Hannah discovers the connection and finagles a way to meet him.

There are revelations and twists and I had a problem believing the two of them, daughter and stepmom, could have turned the corner into a real familial relationship. It doesn’t come that easy or fast—could it be the circumstances?

The ending is perhaps what would have to happen, but again, I’m skeptical, remembering what my own mother told me—and she was right. I was out of there. Did she really love that man? Not as much as the daughter? This was a sacrifice that may or may never really be acknowledged or appreciated. I was left conflicted.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Suspense
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B08N393GT5
Listening Length: 8 hrs 49 mins
Narrator: Rebecca Lowman
Publication Date: May 4, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Last Thing He Told Me [Amazon]

The Author: Laura Dave is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me, Eight Hundred Grapes and other novels. Her work has been published in thirty-eight languages and six of her novels, including The Night We Lost Him, have been optioned for film and television. She resides in Santa Monica.