I wanted to share with you my Top Ten Books from 2017.  I hope that you find some books on this list that you enjoyed as well or that you can add to your reading list.  In no particular order:  

​The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg.  My review:  www.walleysbookreviews.com/edees-reviews/the-story-of-arthur-truluv-by-elizabeth-berg

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  This novel was one of our book club selections and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

​The Guests on South Battery by Karen White.  My review: www.walleysbookreviews.com/edees-reviews/the-guests-on-south-battery-by-karen-white

Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner.  My review:  www.walleysbookreviews.com/edees-reviews/right-behind-you-by-lisa-gardner

The Lost Order by Steve Berry.  Every Steve Berry novel is one of my favorites and this one was no exception.  Cotton Malone is one of my favorite literary characters.

The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White.  My review:  www.walleysbookreviews.com/edees-reviews/the-night-the-lights-went-out-by-karen-white

​One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline  My review:  www.walleysbookreviews.com/edees-reviews/one-perfect-lie-by-lisa-scottoline

The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin.  Another book club pick that really provoked some great discussion.

The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman.  My review:  www.walleysbookreviews.com/edees-reviews/the-life-she-was-given-by-ellen-marie-wiseman
​
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.  My review: www.walleysbookreviews.com/edees-reviews/before-we-were-yours-by-lisa-wingate

One of my top picks from 2017!  The Story of Arthur Truluv is such a beautiful moving novel that it should be on all of our "to read" lists.  

The Story of Arthur Truluv is more than just the story of one person.  Through the course of the novel, we meet Arthur Moses who spends lunch every day visiting his wife's grave at the cemetery.  There he meets 18 year old Maddy and the two develop an unlikely friendship.  It is Maddy that gives him the nickname Truluv because of his feelings about love and life.  We also get the opportunity to meet Lucille, Arthur's neighbor, and watch the relationships grow and change between the three of them as they form an unlikely bond.  

This novel touches on so many topics close to my heart and I really love the meaning behind the story.  One of my favorite sections in the book is when Arthur realizes that his relationship with Maddy is filling a loneliness that he never even knew existed.  I also appreciate how the author develops the characters of Maddy and Lucille over the course of the book.  Both characters undergo transitions that are amazing to witness.  For me, one of the main messages I took away from the story is that there is so much hurt and loneliness in the world and some of that can be changed just by letting people into your life.  

While I inevitably shed a few tears during my reading, it is a ultimately a very uplifting and powerful novel about love and life.  A five star read for me.  

I received this book courtesy of Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Allen Eskens' novels never cease to keep me  reading through the night.  The Deep Dark Descending delivers that same edge of your seat thriller that I've come to expect from Eskens.  

Detective Max Rupert has finally received a break in his wife's murder case.  Now, he just needs to follow the threads to their ultimate conclusion, but he also has a current murder case that he and his partner must handle and it seems that the top brass in the department are overly interested in the case for some odd reason.  Max is definitely a man on a mission to tie up the loose ends on the murder case and deliver justice to his wife's killer.  

I have yet to read an Allen Eskens novel that wasn't completely engaging and suspenseful and The Deep Dark Descending doesn't disappoint.  

I received this book courtesy of Seventh Street Books Random House through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  

A Bella Flora Christmas gives a glimpse into what the upcoming Ten Beach Road novel Best Thing Ever holds.  I love the ladies in Ten Beach Road and it has been so interesting to see their storylines develop over the last five books.  If you haven't started the series, I would really recommend you give it a try.  Each character is so unique and the books are fun reads.  

A Bella Flora Christmas is a novella that sets up the next novel and brings a little holiday spirit as well.  I always struggle a little with novellas, just because I'm usually ready to dive into the full novel and the novellas whet my appetite just enough to make me want to read more when I have to wait for the next book, but A Bella Flora Christmas is worth the read.  

I received this book courtesy of Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

I've read several Diane Chamberlain novels over the years and she never fails to deliver a well paced multi-layered story that keeps you engaged and turning the pages until the very end.  The Stolen Marriage is no exception.  

In 1944, Tess has the world on a string.  She is just finishing up nursing school and  engaged to the love of her life who just so happens to be a handsome doctor.  But all that changes on one ill fated trip to Washington, D.C.  Tess becomes pregnant from a one-night stand and her world is turned upside down.  Tess manages to track down Henry Kraft, the baby's father, to ask for money to start a new life, but surprisingly he asks her to marry him.  It isn't long before Tess finds herself trapped in this loveless marriage, residing in small town Hickory, North Carolina where she is an outsider at home and everywhere else.  Tess soon finds that everything isn't what it seems in Hickory and maybe she knows even less about her husband that she assumed.

The Stolen Marriage also touches on the polio epidemic at the time and the special hospital that was established to handle it in Hickory, North Carolina.  I enjoyed this novel and the various twists and turns that the plot took.  The book will definitely keep you reading and would appeal to mystery fans as well as historical fiction readers.  

I received this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.