Showing posts with label Park Row Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Park Row Books. Show all posts

Saturday, March 23, 2019

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff






Hello everyone,

Have you noticed a change in the air lately? No, I haven't stopped cooking fish. We love fish and it is good for you, not to mention we live near the ocean. Nope, it's not the spring flowers starting to bloom. At our house the skies have parted and the book Gods have shined upon us once again. Oh yeah, you guessed it...hubby has started reading! All those years of me telling him endlessly about the books I've read and nah...he'd rather not read. I start burdening you, dear internet, with the books I MUST discuss and don't tell hubby...BINGO now he wants to read. Sure, he read a couple of thrillers last year just so he could see if he could spot the twists I missed. I am not talking about that. I am talking about bona fide, "Hey, that book sounds interesting, think I'll buy it and read it" kind of reading! Yes, I realize my purchases are increasing because he is now buying books, but this does give me the chance to  grab one for him, then tell him that while I was there I cleared just a "few" things off my wish list and chuck some books in the cart for myself. Tricky huh? I'm telling you, if you try you can justify anything to yourself (or sneak past hubby without leaving purchases in the trunk of the car).

So, I know you're curious as to what has drawn my non-reader into the world of ink and wonder. Well, for one think he loves how books smell, the older the better. I thought it was a wacko thing (although I like old book smell especially when combined with coffee) but I asked around and lots of people like the smell. It was actually spy novels. Now I love action books that often have some spy or a little military edge to them, like Green Zone Jack or my endless supply of James Rollins. I adore those kinds. No, he likes more hardcore spy stories, especially those that have to do with WWII and women. He says that women in France did a lot of spying at that time. Who knew? Course, if I read more spy stuff I guess I would. Anyway, I asked him to write just a paragraph about two of his recent reads. He is a much better writer than I am so please, do not get used to it. Here is the first one, it is The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff.

Risky shortcuts often take their toll, and postwar Manhattan is no exception. The romantic notion of American women returning to suburban homes from factory jobs has yet to be realized as citizens and an influx of immigrants maneuver for new lives in the melting pot. Widowed and set adrift in an unplanned existence, Grace inexplicably finds herself obsessed with solving a mystery. The reader is not left without the back stories, and is given an intimate look at the wartime lives of two women intertwined in the conflict across the Atlantic . The suspense builds, and the tale of survival and betrayal shines light on a less familiar but no less admirable group of women. Is Grace’s trust in the handsome friend helping her justified? This story of the British women’s effort in the French resistance keeps the reader intrigued to the last chapter.

Yep, hubby really liked it. He was "intrigued" which means he often asked to turn off the TV to read! If that isn't the sign of hubby enamored with a book I don't know what is.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Beautiful Bad Keeps You Guessing






Please don't hate me for telling you about a book that does not launch until March 19,2019. I cannot help myself. I know...I know, the wait is long for this one, but totally worth it. If you are a thriller lover, get right on over to your bookseller's page and preorder.


Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward is one of those thrillers that actually thrill readers by twisting them this way then that. The book opens with a residential attack. We don't know who lives in the house and if any have died or survived. The story slowly introduces you into the small cast of characters, revealing their past. The story shows how these people are linked together for good and sometimes for not so good. Obviously, these people are linked to the beginning of the novel. The reader spends the book trying to figure out who the evil person is. First you lean towards one then the other, back and forth as the story is masterfully woven. It races to a conclusion that isn't a conclusion at all, there is yet one final twist, then again, an encore twist just for good measure. This book holds you tightly until the very last word! 

This review was written for BookishFirst. Many thanks to BookishFirst and Park Row Books for the Advanced Copy of Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward.