Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having an enjoyable day.

I never sleep anymore.  I don't enjoy it.  I think it started with my mom insisting I take a nap when I was a kid.  I was old enough to be outside in the neighborhood playing with friends, when my mom would give a dinner bell ringing-ish yell to come home and take my nap.  Humiliating.  Not to mention I could hear my friends outside continuing to play without me.  Now, I can't sleep and I think it is stress and age related.  

Last night in the wee hours I was poking around Goodreads.  I noticed something odd.  People are putting reviews on books without having read them.  Some people were rating books five stars because they were really looking forward to reading it.  Seriously?  You haven't read it. What if I am considering the rating when I am picking a book?  I don't, but I'm sure lots of people do. Wait, strike that, reverse it.  I will consider reviews, not ratings.  I will still read books with a low rating.  What I am looking for in reviews are something that irritates me that I know will ruin the book for me, like repetitiveness, over and over (see what I did there...repeated the idea...sheesh...chuckle now, this is as good as it gets.... I don't sleep. Remember?). People were also rating a book one star when they don't have the book.  Rating it down because it was lost in the mail or arrived damaged.  Hellllllo, that has nothing to do with the author.  If you DNF (did not finish) a book because it wasn't for you, don't rate it low, just don't rate it.  Every book is not for every reader.  Now, if you DNF'd because of something specific, boring, slow pace, bad characters, etc., then you have a reason to rate lower. Once again, I'll get off my soap box.  You would think with all this complaining that my reading life is terrible, but by far the majority of books I read are fantastic.  The book review today is by hubby.  He has developed quite an affection for Beatriz Williams books.  They usually have a historic component, which he enjoys.  This one he grabbed before I could read it.

I recently read Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams.  Once again, this author takes us to New England beaches and exotic locales. The stages are set from pyramid to gilded age mansion and we have a front row seat as the lives of more of her strong women characters love those in their lives and fight for their loved ones and beliefs, in some cases no matter the dangers. As the back stories are revealed, often with a few surprises, we root for them and keep reading, hoping for happy endings along with them.

The pacing was good and the players well-composed.  Returning Williams fans will not be disappointed, and first timers will be searching for more of her titles.

Many thanks for Ballentine Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. (And for keeping hubby happy!)