Pretty Girls is a perfectly executed, edge of your seat psychological thriller!  

Claire and Lydia's sister Julia disappeared over 20 years ago and her disappearance left an indelible mark on her entire family.  The sisters are now estranged but Claire's husband's murder brings their paths back together as they find something is a miss in Claire's husband's life.  

This book is one you absolutely will not want to put down and will keep you awake late into the night.  This book is not for the weak stomached as portions are gruesome, but necessary to develop the plot.  I had not read any books by Karin Slaughter before but will definitely be adding to my "to read" list.  Pretty Girls is full of twists and turns, worthy of the most ambitious roller-coaster.  I highly recommend putting this book on your must read list.  

I received this book as part of the FRC2015 from BookSparks in exchange for an honest review.  ​

Alyson is a highly protective mother for her daughter Lyla and she reluctantly has agreed to let Lyla have her first sleepover at her sister Tricia's house assuming she will be safe there.  The event doesn't quite go as planned and now Alyson and Tricia both have a whole different situation on their hands.  Now both of their pasts have come back to haunt them and influence their decisions.  

The Word Game was a quick and suspenseful read.  The author delves into family struggles and the secrets many families harbor.  The different perspectives were handled well in the story and hefty issues were explored with the right amount of detail.  If you enjoy mysteries, I would recommend picking up this book.  

I received this book as part of the FRC 2015 from BookSparks in exchange for an honest review.  ​

Weaving back and forth through time, The Black Velvet Coat tells the story of Anne McFarland, a struggling artist trying to make her own way in the San Francisco art scene, and a fifty years earlier, the story of Sylvia Van Dam, a young heiress, who finds her fiancée isn't exactly who she thinks he is.  What ties the two ladies together is a beautiful black velvet coat, originally owned by Sylvia and recently purchased by Anne from a thrift shop.  

The Black Velvet Coat definitely kept my interest as both characters were well developed and I wanted to see where their journeys would taken them.  I felt the ending was a little rushed, but otherwise I truly enjoyed this book.  

Vintage clothes certainly have stories to tell and The Black Velvet Coat was an intriguing book showcasing how certain paths converge in life.  I look forward to reading more stories by Jill G. Hall.  

I received this book from BookSparks as part of their FRC 2015 in exchange for an honest review.  ​

The Good Neighbor was a quick read but somewhat predictable.  The prologue grabs your attention quickly.  "I'm drowning.  The river's current is tearing me apart."  I wanted to continue reading to the story's end, but had pretty much figured out the conclusion.  I would have liked a few more twists and turns in the plot to create some additional suspense.  

​Overall, the book was enjoyable and I rated it three stars.  

I received this book through the BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2015 in exchange for an honest review.  ​

​Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres and I have read many novels set during World War II.  I was very much looking forward to reading The Girl from Krakow but found that it did not live up to my expectations. 
 
It does provide a slightly different perspective of the Holocaust and does give a picture of what life might have been like in several different cities during the war.  I was not drawn in by the story and often found myself bogged down with the details.  I wasn’t able to develop any real interest or connection with the main character and while I wanted to find out how her story would end, I did not find the book memorable.  I felt some of the love scenes and romantic relationships throughout the book were unrealistic and unnecessary. 
  
I received this book from Book Sparks as part of their FRC 2015 in exchange for an honest review. 

The Island of Worthy Boys is well worth your reading time!  

Set in 1889, Charles and Aidan are learning to survive on the harsh streets of Boston.  The young boys develop a friendship and they begin working together to keep themselves fed.  Charles has been without a home since his mother passed away and Aidan's home life is precarious.  His mother is ill and suffering from consumption, but Aidan wants to provide for his mother and younger sister Ella.  It isn't long before Charles and Aidan finds themselves on the wrong side of the law and they must make some drastic decisions.  

The Island of Worthy Boys is a debut novel by Connie Hertzberg Mayo.  The author does an excellent job of developing the characters and describing the locations.  I could really imagine how dirty and dark the streets of Boston were at that time.  I also had a sense of knowing Charles and Aidan, feeling their struggles to survive and their fighting spirit.  

I really enjoyed this work of historical fiction and rated it five stars.  I was most definitely immersed in the story and wanted to keep reading to learn where Charles and Aidan's lives would take them.  I appreciated the research the writer included about the real Boston Farm School.  The school's superintendent Charles H. Bradley sounds like a remarkable man and like the author, I too wish I had known him.  

I received this book from BookSparks as part of their FRC2015 in exchange for an honest review.  

​A coming of age novel filled with so much more!
 
Pretending to Dance caught my attention from the very first sentence and kept me reading until I turned the last page.  Molly and her husband Aidan are looking forward to adopting their first child, but Molly is concerned that her long buried past may come back to haunt her.  She ran away from her childhood home in North Carolina and has never looked back.  In order to move forward with her life and a potential adoption, Molly may have to unearth her secrets and face what she has long avoided. 
 
Diane Chamberlain knows how to write an excellent story.  I very much enjoyed this latest book and always look forward to reading more works by her.  She writes very relatable characters and I become so engrossed in the novel that time passes too quickly.  I would recommend Pretending to Dance to book clubs as there are many interesting topics to discuss. 
 
I received this book from BookSparks as part of their FRC2015 in exchange for an honest review. 

Just the Facts is the story of budding journalist Nora Plowright finding her way as a newspaper reporter in the 1970s. 
 
Honestly, I really struggled getting through this book.  If I had simply been reading it for my own reading pleasure, I would have quit.  That being said, at about 60% of the way through the book, the story did improve.  Overall, I was not able to relate to the main character and I found the writing very choppy.  Many times the storyline would veer off in one direction for no real reason or development to the plot.  The transitions also seemed jerky or non-existent. 
 
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I liked the concept of a book written about journalism in the 1970s and a woman’s role at that time, however Just the Facts did not live up to my expectations. 
 
I received this book from BooksSparks as part of their FRC2015 and She Writes Press through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. 

​The Legacy of Us by Kristin Contino has all the hallmarks of a story that I love; three generations of women, each telling their own story, with a little bit of a romance and mystery mixed in and getting to travel along with them to their interesting locales.

I enjoyed getting to know the three main characters Liz, her grandmother Ella and her great grandmother Gabriella.  I was concerned at the beginning of the story that it might be confusing to have both Ella and Gabriella, but the writing was so good that I didn't need to worry about that.  I was very impressed with the writing style since this was a debut novel.  Each character was well developed and relatable.  The pacing was excellent and I often was thinking about the main characters even when I wasn't reading the book.  Switching between characters, time and location, didn't prove a problem for the story and I truly loved reading this multi-layered book.

I hope that Ms. Contino has more books waiting and I will be definitely be adding them to my "to-read" list.  

I received this book from BookSparks as part of the FRC2015 in exchange for an honest review.