The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

I've talked about our wedding before, how we only took a few days for a honeymoon and ending up at the Train Station (hotel) in Scranton, PA.  (it is better than it sounds). I regret not having taken hubby to the Concord Resort in the Catskills which has since been torn down.  We recently looked into the possibility of moving to my hometown.  Yes, I realize hubby, the eternal southerner, would freak out. Anyway, we were shocked to find out many of the places of my childhood have been torn down.  The Concord was bad enough, but that Kmart I worked at as a kid, gone.  The computer company my dad worked at, gone.  Even the Friendlys has been torn down.  Who tears down a Friendlys?  I can see tearing down the brussels sprout store but an ice cream place...please!  Sit down, it gets worse. Oh yes, the unimaginable.  Something I will never forgive the city planners for.  They tore down the hotel where our wedding reception was held.  It was on a river, with beautiful views.  It had a large dining room with a glass wall looking out over the water.  It had several ballrooms, hotel rooms, etc.  They bulldozed it to...wait for it...they took away those pretty views to build....an Aldi.  Yes, you read that correctly, an Aldi, small grocery store.  I'm all for cheap cheese and a 79 cent can of green beans but come on.  It makes no sense, and I am extremely angry.  How can I relive my wedding now? Talk about me feeling about a hundred and forty years old.

I recently read The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak.  If the author looks familiar, he wrote the popular Hidden Pictures, which I enjoyed. This time we are following a father, Frank, who is has just been contacted by his estranged daughter, Maggie.  She has informed him that she is getting married and would like him to participate. Frank discovers that the wedding is being held at the secluded private camp-like estate of a tech billionaire.  Maggie is marrying his son.  While hoping for a loving in-law family for his daughter, filled with security, Frank starts to question what he is being told. His future son-in-law wants nothing to do with his future wife's family. Why is Frank being asked to sign a Nondisclosure Agreement as a requirement of being allowed to attend the festivities?  Why are his hosts either missing or evasive? Not only are things not what they seem but something is very wrong.  Frank is certain that Maggie knows what is going on, but she insists all is well.  Does he investigate more and risk losing his daughter again, or sit idly by?

This book is quite the thriller, fast paced with frequent reveals and twists.  We are propelled forward, anxious to find out exactly what is happening.  We are given several possibilities, but the reader ends up siding with Frank and his need to know the absolute truth. The writing is descriptive enough to put you at the destination wedding but not too much as to be annoying.  Despite the many bizarre questions being asked about this wedding, all is told by the end, leaving the reader satisfied.  Engaging and very fun.  

We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

If you are in the United States you are likely preparing for Thanksgiving.  Is it me or are you seeing a lot of people making lasagna?  I used to see it at Christmas, but this year the dish seems to have turned up early.  It makes sense.  People have guests and they want something that can feed a crowd and be made ahead.  Not knowing if my niece and nephew would eat ricotta cheese, I made huge trays of baked ziti for nights before a holiday.  Of course, hubby probably likes the ziti better as I don't mess with the lasagna noodles.  I refuse to use the no-bake kind.  I want to know how much moisture will be in my final dish without having to guesstimate how much the pasta will soak up.  Anyway, it is always traumatic with the cooked noodles, I put them on an oiled cookie sheet to cool down and insure they don't stick together.  Only problem is then they are slippery.  Noodles hanging from any part of my body, including my head is not outside the realm of possibility.  The walls are definitely in danger, if not from them squirming out of my hand but from me chucking pasta at the walls out of frustration. Ah, nothing like the holidays.  You should see me when the cookie scoop gets stuck!  On a brighter, less housewifey note, hubby has been reading up a storm, more than me actually.  Here are his thoughts on a series he is totally into.

I recently read We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen. This 1936 historic fiction tells the story of a couple, Georgie and Darcy, tasked with hiding Wallis Simpson in their home.  Darcy is friends with King Edward and has been asked to house Wallis while Edward figures out what to do about their scandalous love.  The problem is, Georgie and Darcy do not own their home.  The owner of their "estate" decided to participate in the making of a movie about Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn and a film crew now rambles about the grounds.  Keeping Wallis hidden is getting to be quite the trick, especially combined with Georgie and Darcy caring for their newborn.  Difficult enough? Nope.  One of the film crew is murdered on the grounds, adding a whodunit to the mix. Chaos ensues.

Once again, Georgie, the star of Bowen's Royal Spyness series, weaves her way through a colorful cast of characters. The pacing was good, along with an atmosphere that allowed you to feel the foggy November chill as you flipped the pages. This installment of the series works well as a stand-alone or an additional volume following Georgie. Highly enjoyable. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the early peek.

Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

Well, the elections here are over.  While not discussing the outcome, I could not be happier that the process has ended.  Last time we met, I chronicled the depth of my family being literally harassed by both sides of our political system.  On the last day before voting, we received 35 phone calls.  Yes, you read that correctly, THIRTY-FIVE phone calls, and that is just on the land line.  Then there were the cell calls and endless texts. The night into morning of the election...we received a text from a presidential campaign at 3:45 in the morning.  It was telling us to get up that the polls here opened at 6.  Talk about intrusive and presumptuous.  Next, we received texts repeatedly throughout the day, again from a presidential campaign, with our name, address, polling place, and hours.  Wanting to know when we were going to vote.  Would we be walking, driving, or carpooling?  Could we bring a friend? Before you say it, yes, I know this is public record but the fact they a party would look it up and coordinate it with my cell phone is just poking their nose in my business.  Then we received one of those letters in the mail that you likely saw on the news.  It had our name, address (obviously since it was mail), and those of our neighbors, and which elections we voted in and those we didn't and the same voting record for our neighbors.  It then threatened to tell them our record if we didn't vote and tell our friends and family.  Anybody that thought it was not threatening needs to learn to read.  It was like some movie with bumbling people running around, only sped up, with the phone constantly ringing on the land line, cell phone, texts, and mail flying up in the air.  Phew. To all of those in politics, I am an adult.  I am fully capable of making my own decisions.  I really don't need your party shoved down my throat.  Despite whom you preferred in the election, this behavior was coming from both sides.  Something needs to change. To be honest, my only escape has been reading, same with hubby.  He's been reading up a storm, including Beatriz Williams, one of his favorites.  He wants to recommend a book to you that will transport you away from your troubles.

I recently read Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams.  This is a story about loyalty, to country and to family. Ruth is working in a fashion house in New York.  She receives a postcard from her sister, Iris.  Iris is decidedly cheerful, unusual since the last time they spoke, many years ago, they had a falling out.  Making things more suspicious, Iris and family, including American diplomate husband, are in Russia. Alarm bells start going off for Ruth, as she realizes something is very wrong.  Ruth soon finds herself posing as the wife of Sumner Fox, a counterintelligence officer in an effort to get behind the iron curtain and into Moscow to save her sister.

This book is high on character development and, of course, plot.  Well-paced and as you might suspect given the topic, there is lots of suspense.  Interesting and enjoyable throughout, we are rewarded with a satisfying end.  If you like spy thrillers, definitely worth your time.